Shadow Slave: Prince of Shadows

"Oh! Sunny!?" Sunny woke up with a start. The volume of Nephis' voice jolted him awake and he jumped to his feet.

He quickly analysed the situation before him. Nephis was standing up with her sword drawn and a surprised expression. He instantly understood what happened and coughed awkwardly.

"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you last night…" The previous night Sunny had managed to fall asleep near Nephis without her noticing due to his natural stealth within darkness. She was justifiably surprised to see someone next to her when she woke up.

He shivered a little. How close was he to being attacked in his sleep? Sunny shook off the discomfort and smiled.

"It's nice to see you," But his expression quickly grew grave as the floor beneath him trembled. He quickly turned around and witnessed the Black Turtle move to attack the Azure Serpent that had followed him the entire way.

The ground beneath him swayed violently. He watched in astonishment as the Azure Serpent fought the Black Turtle.

'What a crazy bastard.'

Sunny felt something akin to admiration for the Serpent as he watched it fight. The outcome of the battle was obvious, at least he had thought that at first.

It was common sense that a Beast would lose to a Monster of the same rank, but the Azure Serpent broke this principle.

Soon after the battle started, the Azure Serpent managed to get under the shell of the Black turtle and began to eat a hole through it.

The Black Turtle convulsed and writhed, forcing Sunny to hold on for dear life, but it soon grew still and the Azure Serpent emerged once again.

It was significantly more battered, but it kept its hatred filled eyes fixed on Sunny. He met its gaze for a while but soon turned away.

The Serpent didn't seem to be able to get to him anyway, so there was no point paying it any mind. 

He simply decided to spend this rare moment of safety with Nephis instead of worrying about the Azure Serpent that could do no harm to him.

Sunny gave the snake one final glance before redirecting his attention towards the one he wanted to focus on the most right now. His gaze softened, as he took in the figure of Nephis, who was idly waiting in front of him.

Sunny's eyes wandered over Nephis as he took in all of the familiar features of the woman he loved dearly.

The long silver hair, the calm grey eyes, and her tall, confident stature were still just as beautiful as he remembered. For a second, he forgot about all of his worries.

Seeing the person he longed for the most made his thoughts wander into dangerous territory. He imagined scenarios he didn't dare to continue just yet. 

'Stop thinking about that, you fool!' Sunny yelled internally, while shaking his head to bury the thoughts in the darkest corner of his brain. Even though he tried to focus on something else, his eyes seemed to inevitably drift back to Nephis.

Nephis was in front of him, and that was a fact. There was absolutely no reason for him to cage himself inside of his thoughts, since he had all the time in the world to spend with Nephis now.

"Sunny, is everything fine? You're staring." Nephis' expression was monotone and she stood composed, but it only seemed like that to people who didn't know her like how Sunny did.

Because of having spent so much time with Nephis, having fallen in love with her and having admired her for so long, Sunny could read Nephis like an open book, so he saw beneath her uncaring exterior with ease.

Sunny was possibly the only one who would notice, but right now, Nephis' cheeks were definitely reddening—If only slightly.

He felt the pressure of his Flaw building up, but before he could find a suitable answer, it was already too late.

"With you here, I'm starting to believe that everything really is fine."He sheepishly smiled, slightly regretting his choice of words.

"I mean, of course everything is fine! Now that there's two of us, we can clear this Nightmare, right?"

Sunny laughed awkwardly after he attempted to save himself, but as he moved his eyes upwards, he noticed how Nephis was simply looking at him with a stone-like expression.

His awkward smile grew strained, as Nephis just continued staring at him intently. Sweat rolled down the side of his temple, while an uncomfortable silence, which made him feel nervous, hung in the air.

Sunny didn't know it, but inside of Nephis' mind, there was just as much chaos. 'W–why did he have to make it so awkward!? C–calm down Nephis… calm down…'

Nephis' stoic expression remained unchanged. However, the storm inside her mind kept on raging, growing with each passing second.

Sunny's eyes still wandered all over the place, steering clear of the girl in front of him. Moving his body, which had turned rather stiff, he clapped twice in an attempt to break the tension.

Nephis was snapped out of her thoughts and she simply turned around, walking off. Sunny could swear that he had heard Nephis huff as she left him to fare for himself.

Sunny remained frozen, as she looked after the disappearing silhouette of Nephis. 'W–what just happened?'

The answer to that question was simple—everything he had desperately tried to avoid.

'At least she didn't stab me.'

***

Later, Sunny watched the beautiful girl's graceful movements while she sparred with Saint. Her blade was ruthless, every step she took had meaning, and no attack was able to push her back.

His fascination with the calculating battle machine, which was fighting before him, grew ever so deeper. At that moment, Nephis looked like a goddess that descended upon the battlefield. An absolutely gorgeous goddess… 

'Pull yourself together, Sunless! I–it's just a spar, there's nothing to drool at!' 

His shameful thoughts continued: 'W–wait! N–not drool! Look! I meant look!' Sunny began to panic, because his thinking had turned to that particular direction yet again.

"Loser." The Sin of Solace, who stood a few meters away from him, scoffed.

"... Shut up."

Muttering under his breath, Sunny continued to watch the captivating woman and her beautiful swordsmanship. However, as he peeked closer into the intricacies of her style, an unknown sensation took place.

Thanks to Shadow Dance—his Aspect Legacy—he was able to grasp the essence of a battle style. It was a crucial ability that had guided him into becoming the capable warrior he is today.

This power of his, albeit immensely useful, was not able to spot everything that had been offered by the style. But now, it seemed to let him have a much deeper view.

Nephis' swordsmanship was stunning. She developed a style, which perfectly complimented her Aspect and its capabilities. Prioritising offense in return for forsaking defense and even letting herself get hurt at times, knowing that practically any injury could be healed in a matter of seconds. 

It was an incredibly risky and irresponsible decision. However, it worked—and beautifully so.

"Sunny?" Nephis' voice cut through the silence, bringing him back into the present. He noticed that Nephis was making her way towards him, her slender body glistening with sweat from all the sparring.

Her sharp grey eyes were locked onto his, and for a moment, it felt as though the whole world slowed down just for them. Nephis stored her sword back into her Soul Sea. With her hands now empty, she moved one of them in front of her mouth and cleared her throat.

"Oh, uhh.. I just got lost in thought." Sunny muttered, giving the silver-haired girl an embarrassed smile.

Nephis remained silent, a little while too long for Sunny's liking. Her eyes were looking his body up and down, making him feel fully exposed.

"You're acting differently than usual." Nephis stated matter-of-factly. 'What is she talking a–'

His thought process was cut short by the words that came next.

"How about a spar?" She asked simply. There didn't seem to be any catch, which made Sunny even more confused.

Sunny blinked a couple of times. The offer that Nephis gave him was unexpected. "You want to spar with me instead?" Sunny asked bewildered. They hadn't fought—or basically even sparred in ages. She merely nodded and awaited his decision.

After the raging waves in his mind quelled, Sunny put up a smug expression onto his pale face and said: "Sure, bring it on, princess."

***

Their fight ended with a draw. Neither of them went all out, which was understandable—it wasn't about hurting one another, but more related to their current situation. Any unwanted attention, during the day, might have spelled immediate doom for the two Masters. Unbeknownst to them, apart from the Azure Serpent, the latest danger—in the form of the Dark Butterfly—would only appear around a month later.

However, during their sparring session, there was a moment in which Sunny lost all composure. In the midst of their battle, Sunny pushed through Nephis' wide slash, attempting to drive her back. As he got closer to her, he couldn't help but get lost in her striking grey eyes. They were utterly mesmerizing.

Blocking another one of her slashes with the edge of his sword, they achieved a stalemate. Both fighters gazed into each other's eyes. Sunny was unable to take his eyes off the gorgeous young lady before him. Her calm, seemingly colorless eyes were breathtaking. He began blushing crazily as she continued to stare at him. He jumped back to distance himself from her. 

In the end, the battle might have ended with a draw, but the mental battle had ended with Sunny's complete defeat.

After having jumped backwards, Sunny felt himself unable to move. As his heart was pounding like a smith's hammer, his eyes continued taking in the cool features of Nephis' beautiful face

Throughout all of his embarrassment, the spar also unveiled an unexpected change inside of him—Sunny's perception of a battle art's essence was behaving abnormally. It wasn't worse, it was actually better now. And he was even able to spot many issues in some of the styles he had learned during his journey to reaching the second step, fixing them and making them far more useful.

He could not grasp the reasoning for this sudden boost in power—it was completely unfounded. For now, he had concluded the trigger for this occurrence to be his entrance into the third Nightmare. However, Sunny was certain that there was much more to it.

Another thing that couldn't be explained was his sudden obsession with Nephis. It was unlike ever before, just a glance practically made Sunny's heart jump out of his chest. He had to be by her side at all times, he had to look at her at all times. He even wanted to touch her all the time, but was able to control himself.

It almost seemed like he became—or was becoming—a completely different person…

***

As the night approached, with the seven shining suns slowly hiding beyond the horizon, Sunny and Nephis hid in a temporary camp that was situated in one of the deeper dents of the carapace. From their observations, they had concluded that lighting a small fire is relatively safe at later hours, and so they did.

They were starving, but thankfully, Sunny owned a particularly useful Memory in the form of a treasure chest, one that could store basically anything.

That was the Covetous Coffer.

Summoning the chest from his Soul Sea, he ruffled through its contents and took out several items. These items being: some firewood, a selection of spices, a cast-iron skillet, and most importantly—a sleeping bag.

Although he spent last night by Nephis' side, which brought him great joy, the memory of having glided over the Great River for many days left him exhausted and tired. Plenty of catching up on sleep was in order.

Putting away the sleeping bag, Sunny scooted over closer to Nephis and brought his hand forward. He held a bunch of spices, waiting for her to choose which ones she'd use for their meal.

They had gathered some meat from the dead turtle. The Great Monster's meat was bound to be delicious, yet tougher to chew—however, they both were Masters, and very powerful ones, so it wasn't a problem for them.

As Nephis went on to grab the salt in Sunny's hand, her palm lightly grazed him. Sunny could feel the warmth of her body, even if it was just for a second. The touch of the ivory hand, which was without any blemishes nor calluses, thanks to her status as an Ascended, made his heart race.

For some inexplicable reason, Sunny dropped everything and grasped her hand tightly, basking in the heat. Nephis shook with embarrassment, her widened eyes locked onto him. He merely stared at the hand he was holding, unbothered by the nature of his actions.

"S-Sunny?" A weak whisper from Nephis woke him up, his face turned red. Pulling away swiftly, he turned around before shouting out stutteringly "S-Sorry!"

He promptly used Shadow Step to appear on the other side of the Black Turtle. Sitting down, he began breathing harshly, his heart was about to burst any minute now. With cheeks flushed, Sunny muttered under his breath:

"What's going on with me…"