A Sunless Dream

Orions words cut through the air like a well-honed blade as Sunny stared at him wide eyed without saying a single word in response. He was no stranger in hearing threats to Changing Star's life however the man that stood before him was the only one who had the ability to take her life in seconds.

Gritting his teeth, rage fuelled Sunny's body as the thought of losing his lover for the second time rang through his head. He couldn't let this fiend make her suffer, he wasn't going to let that happen, he would kill him before he tried.

Sunny ran a hand through his hair as it was held firmly by his own blood as his eyes began to bleed due to the strain, he had been putting on his body. In a split second, he was in front of Orion levelling a bite aimed at his throat which Orion leaned back to dodge.

Then, recovering quickly Orion shot a punch at Sunny's chest which he grabbed and summoned a sword attempting to cut off his arm. He only had forty seconds left before Orion discovered every secret in his back of tricks. Orion levelled a kick at Sunny's side as Sunny jumped over to it before slamming a sword down to slice off his opponent's arm.

Immediately, Orion summoned a sword to block the attack once more as sparks flew through the shadowy air of the citadel. When seeing that didn't work, Sunny resolved himself to attempting to bite down on the man's arm which again was repelled by a kick to his chest.

Sunny flew back slightly as he rushed in for another engagement. He wasn't using a fighting style anymore; it was pure physical force and lethality made incarnate that fuelled his combat ability. He sent a low kick aimed at Orion's thigh as Orion brought up his shin to block the blow, then, Sunny sent a punch to his chest which Orion caught and redirected before Sunny used the force of his redirected punch to send a powerful knee into Orion's stomach.

The force of the knee strike drove them both into the wall and as the dust settled Sunny saw his knee being blocked by Orion's. "If you wanted to gouge out my guts, you probably want to do it something like…this."

In one fluid movement Sunny was in the air, he didn't even know where the kick had come from as a sharp pain tore through his entire head. Sunny used some shadow arms to dig himself into the ground before propelling himself at Orion once more 'It'll work this time! Work, work, work, kill the bastard, don't care about what happens!' the thoughts that flashed through Sunny's mind were outpaced by his movements as he soared through the air at Orion like a bullet.

Sunny had dismissed his sword and so Orion did the same as he shot up at Sunny. Both levelled punches at each other however Orion's was faster. His fist inched closer to Sunny's face however Sunny's punch immediately morphed into a grab. Sunny grabbed Orion's fist and felt the force of the punch almost shatter his wrist, ignoring the pain, Sunny pushed his fist to the side fuelling the motion for a spin.

In a split second, his knee drove straight into Orion's face. A clean hit. Orion shot into the wall of the citadel and the air of bloodlust he exuded was still for a moment. Not one to take chances, Sunny fled the citadel at high speeds, he didn't even waste time returning into the form of a shadow as his body pierced through the sound barrier as he ran.

He grabbed Cassie before she even knew what had happened, blood was leaking out of her nose and ears due to the immense strain the mental link placed on her although Sunny was moving too fast to pay attention to such things.

In about a minute, Sunny was already out of God Grave leaving his clone within the citadel to recover from the attack Sunny had laid into him at full force. Back at the citadel, Orion slowly picked himself up from the dust before dusting himself off and taking off his mask.

Raising a hand to his mouth, he felt a single drop of blood contact his pristine skin as he grinned to himself. "My original sure is interesting! I'm going to love ripping you into pieces, limb from limb!" he roared to himself, allowing his laughter to echo throughout the destroyed citadel. Orion laid on his back for a moment before raising a hand to the sky.

"I should go visit Revel."

Sunny continued to hold Cassie in his arms and once he felt he was at a large enough distance from the citadel he morphed into a shadow and continued his escape in that form. [What happened Sunny?] Cassie's concerned tone illuminated Sunny from his state of stress induced clarity as he continued to move forward.

[He's a monster. I don't think the Sovereigns could beat him unless they combined strengths.] was all he replied, the battle continued to replay itself throughout his mind as an uncomfortable silence settled between the two as Sunny made his way back to Bastion.

The lonely shadow made his way back into his Café before setting Cassie down in one of the guest rooms to rest. She had put herself through enough stress already keeping up the mental link and he wasn't going to make her go through any more on his behalf.

Immediately after, Sunny collapsed in the middle of the Café, whether it be due to his injuries or exhaustion nobody knew. Nephis heard the sudden noise and made her way outside the room before rushing to Sunny's side, her hands twitched then immediately begun glowing healing all his body.

After an hour, Sunny's eyes slowly cracked open only to find his head on Nephis thighs. Her hands were running through his hair slowly as she looked at him with a smile "You did well, Sunny."

He felt like crying, the situation was entirely hopeless however he needed to make a brave face for all those he cared about. Cracking a smile, he looked at Nephis then nodded before slowly sitting up "How long was I unconscious?" Sunny asked, he couldn't allow all his allies to surpass him in strength while he was busy doing nothing.

"Only for a day, we've been training hard ever since you went with Cassie" Nephis replied, she took a deep breathe in before grabbing Sunny asking in a quiet voice "Did you ever end up forgiving Cassie?" The question shook Sunny, he didn't want to give a response, but his flaw forced him to anyway.

"I'll never forgive her" Sunny replied, his voice was solemn as he watched Nephis expression turn slightly downcast he continued "But she's family, I'll love her all the same anyway." With that, Nephis pulled him into a deep hug before kissing him on the lips.

Sunny was taken aback by her sudden display of affection however went with it, anyway, returning the kiss they continued till Sunny was struggling to breathe. Pulling back slowly Sunny looked at Nephis in the eyes and laughed before pulling her into another hug.

After a while, Nephis fell asleep in his arms. Not wanting to wake her up, Sunny made a clone of himself allowing it to hold Nephis in his arms as he shadow stepped out the door. The sun was setting in the dream realm and as he gazed upon the horizon, memories of his fight with Orion flashed through his brain like a storm.

He sat down slowly, alone. There was nothing he could do, no matter how much he trained he wouldn't be able to enter the depths that Orion could without losing himself. Sunny ran through battle strategies however the better they did the heavier the weight of death that was promised by fighting Orion became.

And so, in the face of hopelessness. Sunny laughed; he laughed because he didn't understand what was next. He laughed because anything else would be inappropriate to portray his spell.

He laughed because there was nothing more he could give.