A Sunless Dream

Wind whistled through the air as Jet closed the distance between herself and Sunny. If he asked for a spar, he was going to get one. She summoned her scythe as the distance between her and the dark haired reduced and swung it at him in one wide motion.

"The thing about Scythe's is, they're easy to counter when used improperly" Sunny mumbled to himself, as the tip of her blade closed in on him, Sunny ran forwards towards Jet as well before using his sword to swat away the handle of Jet's scythe sending it back in the same direction it came from.

Jet was unperturbed however as she used the force of the parry to fuel a spin in the opposite direction to hit Sunny in the back with the blunt end of the Scythe. Sunny blocked the attack once more with his sword which he was currently holding in one hand.

Then, with his free hand Sunny grabbed the Scythe and spun it around causing Jet to spin with it. Before she could regain her composure, Sunny was upon her inches away from levelling a slash at her neck. Jet grabbed his hand to reduce the speed of the blow and ducked under the attack if only just barely, only losing a few hairs in the process.

'Clearly the scythe isn't going to work on him' she thought before dismissing it, choosing to summon a pitch-black Jian as her choice of weapon. 'Like the sin of solace' Sunny thought to himself before engaging with her once more. She swung her sword at in him one fluid motion only for Sunny to parry it sending her posture off slightly.

Then, Sunny kicked her in the ribs bending her body with it as she flew to the opposite corner of the field. "This is where it gets brutal" Morgan commented to herself, Kai could only nod as he continued to spectate the incoming onslaught from Sunny. As Jet was soaring through the air, Sunny appeared above her and slashed downwards with Jet only instinctively replying with a thrusting attack of her sword towards where Sunny once would have been.

Both managed to dodge the attacks as Jet regained her footing, only to use both hands to support a block briefly stopping Sunny from bisecting her. Sunny continued his rain of attacks by flicking his sword into the air before jumping up and kicking it down at her. Before Jet could reply, Sunny was on the floor rushing towards her keeping pace with his sword.

"Look up, look down, you're going to get hit regardless" Sunny mocked as he sent a punch at Jets stomach. Jet grinned as she grabbed the blow, getting pushed back by it's force and spun Sunny like he had done to her previously. She then used her Jian to deflect the incoming blade as she swung downwards at her still spinning opponent.

"Now you know how it feels" she replied as her sword inched closer to Sunny's moving body. Sunny continued his spin and grabbed her sword in his hand, he then used the force of the spin to swing her whole body before she could release the Jian and slam her into the ground as well.

Before she could reply, Sunny was above her thrusting his sword downwards only missing Jet's arm by a few inches. He then dragged is sword across the ground in a quick motion kicking up dust and sending his ghostly dark blade barrelling towards Jet. Jet used her sword to parry the blow however was sent upwards slightly.

"Bad mistake" Morgan commented once more as Sunny grabbed her by the foot and swung her before slamming her into the ground. "Let's use our aspects" Sunny said, Jet happily obliged. 'At this rate he might kill me by accident' she thought to herself as mist immediately covered the field they were in.

Within the mist, Sunny stood there silently before ducking under an attack from Jet which surely would have hit his soul. 'Let's try something' thought Sunny as this time he allowed the sword to pass through him. To his surprise, his soul was not damaged at all and with a smirk levelled on his face he decided it was time to go on the offensive.

"How the fuck did he do that?" Jet silently cursed to herself as Sunny's presence was above her once more. She jumped forward slightly only to still be slashed across the chest by his sword which she was sure was too short to hit her. "If your sword damages the soul, it must directly go to my soul sea and attack a soul core. If I just place a clone of myself in my soul sea, I can deflect all attacks coming through there making me immune to your ability" he explained "bad matchup I know."

And with that, he was upon her again. Sunny had foregone the usage of swords instead focusing on creativity with his aspect. He only had a limited time in using it before that man began to search for him again and so he was going to use his aspect quite liberally.

Sunny shot out shadows from his body like spikes and then, he spun them rapidly dispelling the mist around them allowing the fight to become visible for the cohort once more. He charged at Jet, disappearing from her vision before reappearing below her sending an uppercut to her jaw which sent her into the air.

Then, he created two arms out of his shadows and slammed her into the ground with then before creating a semi birdcage around her immobilising her movements. "Well, that was fun. You might even be stronger than the girl from Valor, maybe I'm not sure" Sunny commented with a scratch of his chin.

Looking back to the rest of the cohort, Sunny picked up Jet's bruised body gingerly with his shadow. To his surprise and the rest of the cohorts, white flames appeared from his shadows and enveloped Jet's body quickly healing her and providing her the much-needed essence she had been missing out on throughout the engagement.

Sunny grimaced slightly before looking back at Nephis "So this is what your flaw feels like" he commented lightly before raising his hands, attempting to placate the suspicious glares that were being levelled at him from the cohort. "I didn't copy her, the other guy did. I can just use her aspect now" he replied trying to lighten up the mood of the people.

Effie shot him an incredulous look for his remark "Since when could you copy aspects?" she asked, upon hearing her question, Sunny's expression turned from a semi-serious smile to an expression of horror. Nephis ran up to him and quickly caught him before he could fall to one knee.

Placing an arm on his head, Sunny silently muttered to himself "Colour, you're losing your colour" his silent mutters elicited looks of confusion from Nephis however her arm remained firmly placed around him attempting to defuse him before he lashed out at someone again.

After a few tense moments, Kai couldn't remain silent any longer before turning to Morgan "What do you think happened?" he asked. As usual, all he received from Morgan was a glare and a turn of her head before responding "How should I know? Probably some downside from copying peoples aspects. Such an ability is quite peculiar, I wonder if he's directly related to any of the Gods or maybe a divine aspect user. It doesn't seem as if he relies on his aspect too much to be immensely strong."

Figuring out she was rambling; she turned to Kai to see if he was still listening only to find him laying his green eyes on her with an unwavering gaze causing her to redden slightly "Never mind" she said quietly before looking the other way and pretending nothing had happened.

Sunny slowly got up and peeled himself from Nephis arms much to his own dismay before whispering to her "Copying makes me lose myself, it's quite unpleasant" Nephis nodded without offering a reply. She didn't know what to say. After helping Sunny to his feet, she finally spoke "As we are, I doubt even our combined force would be able to take down the lord of shadows. Although training may reduce the gap, how we compare is still ambiguous. A treacherous option was never my first option but, I think I know how to beat him."

Her tone ripped all who were watching out of their silent conversations, as she moved to continue Sunny cut her off "The length of my fight with Jet, if any of you fight him for any longer than that we'll lose. He can copy our aspects as well as replicate our fighting style however it isn't instant especially for people as strong as us, five-minute intervals are all we need. We'll all go with whatever plan Nephis constructs but, everything will be for nothing if he is able to discern our moves before then."

Taking a breathe to gather himself, he continued "It will be a battle of skill and stamina, but what we're lacking in most is information. So, I'll have to go there tomorrow. Fight him, and relay information on his battle style to you all."

Cassie, who had been silent the entire time finally decided that it was appropriate to speak as she commented "I cant let you go alone, I'll go with you." Sunny looked to Nephis to protest however a small shake of her head was all it took for him to know he had no choice in the matter.

Sighing, Sunny shrugged before disappearing once more into Nephis shadow. Allowing the rest of the cohort to spar with one another.

Within a distant well-hidden mirror in the field, a man stood within it with an amused expression on his face. It appeared like he was on the cusp of breaking down into tears of laughter.

"Five minutes they say! They think they'll last for five minutes! Hilarious!"