Shadow Slave: Prince of Shadows

Sunny laid on his back, drifting slowly along the waves on top of the flotsam. He was filled with anticipation, but there was nothing he could do at that moment.

He had far more patience than any other person he knew, so it wasn't torture. His need to see and be with Nephis soon, was relative.

To Sunny, soon was fifty years away. His life had lasted far longer than any human had any business living for, so he was used to waiting long stretches of time.

In the case of Nephis, he was uncharacteristically impatient, and was only willing to wait for two months.

But in the meantime, he could only spend his time with the Sin of Solace by his side. The blade, which took on a human form, resembling the same young man the Mad Prince was right now, gazed at him with an expression of hate and disgust. 

If spending a month with that annoying bug meant finally being close to Nephis again, so be it. 

"You're truly pathetic, you know? Is that girl the only thing you can dream about? What makes you think that you can live with her happily this time? You've failed over and over again.This time will be no different." The Sin of Solace spat.

The sword's words had struck a nerve, but it didn't make Sunny react. At no cost would he give the blade the pleasure of seeing him riled up. So in the end, he decided to feign ignorance by turning around on the flotsam.

Nothing would stop him from reaching his goals, even if he needed to walk through hell and back. It was nothing he hadn't done before either.

'Nephis… Nephis. I'll soon be with you. Just give me some time and we'll spend the rest of eternity together.' Sunny fantasized with a solemn expression before cracking up and giggling like a maniac.

***

After a while, the current suddenly sped up. The piece of flotsam Sunny had been sitting on was flipped, and he was thrown overboard.

He staggered briefly as he felt his body coming in contact with the cold water. He didn't expect to abruptly fall into the lake, so he didn't react instantly.

This didn't stop him from orienting himself again though, quickly grabbing the floating piece of wood once again.

Sunny pulled himself onto it and noticed that the mist had cleared. The familiar sky with seven glowing suns greeted him beyond it.

He took a short moment to admire the view, before turning his attention elsewhere.

What lay ahead of him was more waiting, he was planning to follow a story that had worked before to avoid an adverse reaction from fate.

This meant that Sunny had to wait for the Azure Serpent to come to him before setting off to find Nephis.

As he waited patiently, he continued to think about Nephis and what he would do once they met.

Soon enough, at least for Sunny, the thing he was waiting for, arrived.

Large amounts of water suddenly started to move, the sound churning all around him. It felt like the lake was making way for some creature that demanded respect.

He briefly managed to catch a glimpse at what lay beneath, and sure enough, it was the bruised and battered, but still colossal, Azure Serpent.

Sunny stabbed himself with the Heavenly Burden. The small needle pierced his skin, yet no blood came out. Rising into the skies, he turned to the direction of the Black Turtle and glided above the gargantuan river.

As he was flying, Sunny saw a big shadow moving underneath the waters. It was the Azure Serpent, and it had already noticed him.

Though, that wasn't Sunny's concern at that moment. He was way too preoccupied with daydreaming about his loved one.

While he was stuck in his own imagination, rising and falling while gliding through the skies, several days passed.

He was fully alert the entire time despite his preoccupied imagination, so he didn't miss when the first sign of the Black Turtle appeared.

Looking forward, a black blob protruded through the surface of the Great River. It may have looked tiny now, but he knew that it was only due to the distance between it and him. And he also knew that she was waiting for him there.

Slowly, but surely, the gap which separated them was narrowing. Sunny couldn't help but grin at the thought of them finally being together again.

His meeting with Nephis was, by far, the event he looked forward to the most. None of the other members of the cohort mattered at that moment. Their friendship, and the memories he had gained with them didn't matter. Even his sister, Rain, and the days they've spent together didn't matter. All he wanted was to see Nephis.

Sunny felt his chest tighten. All of the other emotions he had been holding back, broke the dam he had meticulously built and came flooding into him.

He loved her first and foremost, but in that moment the unimaginable guilt he felt towards and for her overshadowed it.

Sunny had watched her die over a hundred thousand times. Each and every time, it was either by his hand, or a direct result of his actions. All the pain, sorrow, and guilt he had contained within him burst free into a raging storm.

'Maybe I don't deserve her…' He would gladly die for her, his love was unquestionable, but what about her side of things. Was the man who had done those terrible things to her really deserving of her love?

He wasn't sure, and his emotions were thrown into turmoil. He couldn't sort out the remnant emotions that formed over several millennia in such a short time, so he didn't.

It was possibly the worst course of action he could have decided to take, but it was also the only one he feasibly could.

Sunny didn't need to sort out his emotions anyway, he was currently a marionette following a script. All he needed to do was be the Sunny who had just entered the nightmare.

He was the Sunny that didn't know anything, the confused, scared, cowardly and treacherous version of him.

'Pathetic.' He couldn't help but scoff. He wasn't ashamed of his past, but rather wished he could return to it.

Sunny wished he could be free of the internal conflict and endless amount of pain that tormented him. He was jealous of his past self's ability to simply love Nephis without the crushing pressure of a million years of guilt.

He began to miss his corruption. At least when he was corrupted he didn't need to grapple with these things.

Sunny pulled himself together, he would never be able to sort out his emotions in the time it took for him to conquer the Nightmare anyway.

He cleared his mind, delving deep into Shadow Dance. His eyes brightened. They were still dark, but were now not a bottomless abyss. He had become himself of past.

The torrent of emotions that had been tormenting him incessantly, ceased to exist. His memories past what he should know were banished to the deepest recesses of his mind.

Sunny was about to meet Nephis after all. He needed to be Sunny and not the stranger that was The Mad Prince.

The only evidence of the man that had lived through the nightmare, was a simple subconscious trigger. Once his part was played, he would reawaken with everything and tear down the nightmare, once and for all.

Sunny smiled, he didn't know why, but something within him had caused him to smile.

'Weird…' He brushed it off and corrected his expression. He was currently worried about how to get to the land in the distance and had no space in his mind to consider his strange behaviour.

'I wonder where the rest of the cohort ended up…'

***

As the land in the distance entered his sight, Sunny noticed something that made his skin crawl. He had originally suspected it was land, because of its size and shape, but he now knew better.

The aforementioned blob was—in actuality—the carapace of an enormous turtle, spanning over a kilometer. The Great Beast that he had dubbed "Azure Serpent" looked like a regular snake in comparison.

Underwater, The Azure Serpent continued making its way towards the Black Turtle, while Sunny did the same, the only difference being that he was high in the air.

As the distance between Sunny and the Black Turtle shortened, he shifted his vision and peered into it. Resting within the colossal turtle were two seething masses of darkness of the same size as the one inside the Azure Serpent. It was a Great Monster—A tier higher than the Serpent was. 

Sunny's skin crawled. He was somewhat adverse to seeking refuge on the back of a Great Monster to escape a Great Beast, but it was unavoidable.

He was comforted by the fact that the Great Monster didn't seem to have any of the unusual grudge that the Azure Serpent held against him.

Time passed as Sunny occasionally pierced his own skin with the heavenly needle, flying into the air and then taking it out and gliding down again. He noticed that the sky was slowly getting darker.

The Great River's seven suns eventually all fell beyond the horizon, turning the sky into a dark, starless void. The sky may have been devoid of light, but Sunny noticed a white spark coming from the shell of the Black Turtle. He wasn't certain why, but it felt as though he was being called to it.

Sunny was slowly covering the distance between him and the giant carapace, practically dying to know what that light was. His reaction seemed strange to him. It was completely hopeful and wasn't born of any logic.

However, since the serpent was still following him, he decided to just go with the flow. Surely, the sheer size of the turtle would intimidate the Great Beast and it would finally leave Sunny alone.

An hour or so later, he was gliding right above the island. The spark had disappeared long ago, but he was able to vividly recall its precise location. He slowly descended and his feet landed on the Great Monster.

The surface was indeed akin to an island. Patches of moss covered the steep rocks that formed the shell. Small dents filled with water, forming multiple tiny lakes, could be observed.

Sunny turned around and made his way toward the source of the spark. He felt an unnatural lack of caution about seeing it and he didn't even bother sending the gloomy shadow to scout the area.

About 50 meters ahead, a tall, silver-haired girl was lying on the ground. She seemed to be asleep, completely relaxed and uncaring of their unfortunate situation.

'Neph!'

She was there. At that moment, Sunny forgot about his bizarre inclination to get closer to the colossal monster, thinking that it was due to the Shadow Bond formed between them. It all made sense! Of course he would feel that way, it was Nephis after all!

He approached the girl slowly, not wanting to wake her, he simply stared at the beautiful, dozing face below him. Her ivory skin, her silky silver hair, her slender body, even the way she breathed was intensely attractive to him.

Sunny's eyes remained on the slender girl for many more minutes. After a while though, he noticed how another silhouette was staring at the sleeping beauty. It was another him, the cursed blade, which took on a phantom form of Sunny himself.

"You realise how creepy you look right now? Ogling at her while she sleeps. And oh god, let's not even get started on your thoughts. You really are pathetic." The Sin of Solace mocked the pale young man. 

Sunny forcibly calmed down and looked away. As much as he hated the irritating sword and its sharp tongue, Sunny couldn't help but think that the words had a semblance of truth to them. He didn't wish to look like a creep! Although, it might have been too late to concern himself with such thoughts. He walked slightly closer to her, sat down—leaning his back against one of the rocks—and closed his eyes.

Sweet fantasies about a life together with her made their way inside his mind. Ever since entering this Nightmare, he felt strangely passionate about Nephis. Sunny never acknowledged these thoughts, but he had loved her for a long, long time now. He still couldn't grasp why he was acting this way. Perhaps it was due to her face and her words at the end of the battle of Black Skull?

Unfortunately, no matter how much he wanted to solve this mystery, the exhaustion from the past few days finally hit him as he drifted off to sleep as well.