Shadow Slave: The Blessing of Fate

early birthday chappa here you go, hiatus/irregular release schedule still in place :)

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Just before the sun was about to set, Sunny approached Nephis with a revolving question inside his head. He had to know if he was able to augment her with his shadows, and be augmented by her flames.

Sunny never attempted it, since he assumed it would not work. 

Normally, the [Shadow Bond] ability would be required. However, now that he had learned about the effect his empowered shadows had with Nephis' flame, Sunny became awfully curious about what more could be achieved.

The girl in question laid with her back against the bone wall. Her eyes were closed, but she was not asleep. She was in a completely relaxed state. Sunny almost felt bad for disrupting her moment of tranquility, but his curiosity took priority.

"Hey, Neph."

She opened her eyes and turned to Sunny, staring at him with a blank face.

"Hey."

"I'd like to try something out before the sun sets, would you spare me a moment of your time?"

A gentle smile appeared on his face as he said that. Nephis raised an eyebrow, a hint of confusion was visible in her striking grey eyes.

***

The silver-haired Sleeper began practicing a set of training moves while augmenting her blade. When she started, Sunny summoned a group of shadows from within, and attempted to attach them to Nephis' blade.

He was unsuccessful.

The shadows simply bounced off once they approached the searing white flame. The same happened when Nephis augmented herself instead of her sword.

But Sunny knew there had to be something more to it. The difference in the fire encompassing Dream Blade in their battle against the Carapace Centurion was still on his mind.

'Think, Sunless, think…'

Sunny's shadows no longer tried to envelop Nephis and simply surrounded her, and then the effect he had wanted to produce finally appeared.

Nephis' flames grew dimmer, as if they were being suppressed by an opposing force. 

For some reason, he could not turn his gaze away from them. They were absolutely stunning. How could anything so beautiful exist in these forsaken realms?

To him, it was like admiring a gorgeous painting—a painting unlike any other. But there was also something strange about those flames. Although their radiance seemingly extinguished, the emanating heat suggested that the power of this fire was nothing short of incredible.

And so, he found it—the cause and the effect of the said change. Her fire grew dimmer and became incomparably hotter in the presence of the bizarre shadows. And in return, another effect came into fruition—one related to Sunny's power.

Compressed into a smaller field, the shade he had summoned became an impenetrable barrier. It was as though the outside world had been closed off.

The brighter the light, the deeper the darkness turns.

The deeper the darkness, the brighter the light shines.

Everything was about balance. It reminded Sunny of an old concept from the early days of Asia—Yin and Yang.

Two complementary forces—complete opposites, yet they fulfilled each other. The entire sensation was strange, to say the least. It was common knowledge that light was the rival of true darkness. But now, a new player joined the game.

A shadow is born from the absence of light, it goes hand in hand with it. Pure darkness was its own entity. However, Sunny's lightless shadows seemed to hold an abnormal role in this power triangle. To be able to fight the darkness and balance the light, they had grown into something much, much greater.

Free of the bindings of the world and its laws, they were the personification of freedom. And freedom could be shown in many ways. The freedom to grow being the most descriptive one in a sense. It wouldn't be farfetched to say they held boundless potential.

Curious about further possibilities, Sunny continued testing the relationship between his shadows and Nephis' light. By the time the artificial sun fell beyond the horizon, he was done.

***

Sunny found himself in a lightless void. Tranquil colorless waters sent waves in a circular motion around him as his feet grazed them. The Beast Core remained stationary above him, with multiple lights orbiting it.

Apart from that, there was nothing.

He was currently standing inside of his Soul Sea, it was quite the lonesome place. In the past, he had welcomed the shadows of all foes that fell by his hand into his soul, letting them rest within him. Because that was the mercy of Shadow—to bring solace, and peace to all that was consumed by it. 

Back then, countless dark shapes rose on the surface of the sea, assuming the forms of those fallen foes. It was also the reason as to why he could transform their Echoes into Shadows.

Though, that was precisely the thing that confused Sunny the most.

Now that he had the Carapace Scavenger Echo, he was able to see the interface, which came from the Nightmare Spell. The option to transform it into a Shadow was still there, and the cost remained the same as well. But how could that be? There was no shadow to shape it…

At least, he assumed that was the case.

Just then, Sunny noticed a tiny wave approaching him from his right side. Except for him, there shouldn't be anyone or anything that could cause one to be sent throughout the waters. He turned around and looked for the source.

'... Bubbles?' 

Bubbles rose to the surface on a particular spot. It looked as though a pot filled with water was boiling. Or perhaps like a person that had exhaled underwater.

He approached the spot and studied it thoroughly. With normal human perception, he was unable to see anything strange or wrong about it. The bubbles appeared seemingly out of nowhere. But at that moment, Sunny was certain he felt a familiar sensation.

Checking with Shadow Sense, he finally realized what was happening. The shadows were there all along, hiding in the literal depths of his Sea of Soul. However, as much as he attempted to push his hand through the surface of the water, he couldn't break through.

A sudden idea popped up in Sunny's mind. He used his Innate Ability, and then the waters revealed the contents beneath. Still unable to move his hand below the water, he was at least able to see clearly now. His pale hand rested on an invisible barrier that separated the outside from the inside. One could compare it to touching glass.

Plethora of tangible shadows stirred in there. They had no particular shape, changing their forms endlessly. Sunny was certain that this was the space he had once called 'Shadow Gate.' Although, with this revelation, perhaps 'Shadow Sea' was a more fitting name.

There was an undeniable correlation between shadows and souls. He had first learned of this during his assassination of Shadow Blade Kurt—the criminal he had once hunted alongside Jet. That psycho was able to turn a person hollow by attacking their shadow.

He was able to make sense of it without any trouble—however, there was something still bothering him.

If the shadows had no base form, how was the Spell able to transform an Echo in the first place? 

Sunny tugged on his connection with the scavenger Echo, many bubbles rose to the surface as he did. A shadow was taking form underneath the water—a form that was well-known to him.

The newly formed shadow of the Carapace Scavenger remained submerged underwater. It seemed to be unable to escape the depths, so it just floated in there.

In the appraisal of his First Nightmare—where he had obtained the [Lightless Shadow] Aspect—only his, at the time, brand-new Core and his two Memories were visible. There were no blobs, shapes, nor bubbles whatsoever.

Although he couldn't be certain, the most probable reason for that was simply the fact that he had unmistakably gathered many more shadows now, Shadow Fragments as well.

But one could never be sure when it comes to the unknown. That's why Sunny didn't completely dismiss the thought.

He decided to step out of his Soul Sea, finding himself back inside the spine of a colossal sea monster. A tall girl sat cross-legged close to him, once she had noticed his return, she simply nodded and laid down.

Glancing next to her, he saw Cassie already sleeping, cuddling up to Nephis slightly as if she was searching for warmth. The tall girl that now served as a body pillow turned to Sunny and casually patted the space next to her.

This simple gesture made Sunny go into complete disarray, she didn't seem to realize the implications of it. She was just too pure, unlike a certain young shadow.