Shadow Slave: The Weave of Madness

Sunny was in a good mood. Laying down on his bed, he recalled his spar with Nephis and smiled. Not only had he achieved what he set out to—shadow dance mastery of the first step—but he also made a positive impression of himself in Nephis's eyes. 

His heart skipped a beat as her smiling face flashed in his mind once again. 

'I can't wait to fight by her side.' 

If fate followed its twisted path, he would end up repeating the journey in the forgotten shore along with Nephis and Cassie. He had never imagined he would wish for the spell to do it. Yet now, he did. 

He was over the full moon, reliving the sweet memories of the days they had spent navigating the labyrinth. Despite the ever-present threat of death, things were so simple: how they worked as a team to kill the carapace scavengers, almost lost their lives beating the centurion, and summoned the dweller of the depths to eliminate the demon. 

...How they deceived each other, never truly trusted each other, never spoke their heart out, and always kept secrets. Sunny didn't reveal his flaw, despite learning theirs. He kept them at hand's length, creating a barrier of silence and half-truths between him and the only two people that mattered to him, and then he ran away. 

'It wasn't my fault. I couldn't risk them finding out my true name... taking away my freedom.' 

He added quietly.

'And it was her fault I left...'

If Nephis had shared her plan from the beginning, they could have worked things out.

A sharp, invisible pain lanced through his chest. He clenched his jaw, recalling the moment he had turned his back on her—her voice calling out to him to stop.

In the end, their downfall had been their own doing. 

As a result, Nephis ended up alone in the dream realm, Cassie was left alone after Sunny severed their bond, ...and Sunny was all alone after he cut Cassie off. 

Even though they had achieved the impossible, the price was almost unbearable. 

If only they had trusted each other more, if only they had spoken the words left unspoken, if only they had been honest instead of building walls they could never tear down...

Sunny exhaled sharply and sat up, his expression dark.

'I won't let it happen again. The future... it will be according to what we desire, and not some stupid play of fate.'

...

As she returned through the empty hallway, Nephis had a lot to think about. The fight had left her exhausted, and with more than a few cuts and bruises. Yet, as she stepped out of the training room, she was as good as new.

She would probably never need medical care or external healing, her aspect was better than most of what the world could provide. 

...Though it came with its fair share of pain. 

She let out a slow breath, her thoughts drifting back to the fight. The clash of steel, the thrill of a worthy opponent, the sharp edge of danger coiled between each exchanged blow. She couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun.

'Who was that guy? Is he really an assassin?'

The question lingered, tinged with uncertainty. She knew that some of the Sleepers here had been sent to kill her—there was no doubt about that. And her encounter with the guy had been a little more than a bit suspicious... 

Not to mention, he had been the first to approach her, even before the Academy gates opened. 

That couldn't be a coincidence.

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

'But what if he was telling the truth? What if he is an ally and not a threat?' 

At first, she was more than convinced it was the latter, but after sparring him she wasn't sure anymore. He had fought with skill, with precision, but not with deceit. No underhanded tricks, no hidden blades in the dark—just an honest contest of strength and talent. 

His master... someone who learned from her father personally.

The duel had lasted longer than she expected—longer than it should have. The guy was more than skilled if he could keep up with her the entire time. His eyes had a strange gleam, as if he had struggled a lot and endured the most harrowing trials of life. 

...Just like her.

Could such a person be a mere pawn sent by the ghouls to kill her? 

His face surfaced in her mind, and an unexpected pang of guilt gripped her.

The guy had been hurt just as badly as she had during their duel. The memory of his battered form gnawed at her. She wanted to reach out, to heal him, but she didn't. 

'...I can't carelessly reveal my aspect to someone who might be my killer.' 

Imagining him as her assassin hurt her deeper than she wanted to admit. 

She exhaled, frustration simmering beneath her skin.

'That guy... What was his name?' 

She hadn't even bothered to ask. 

She palmed her face in shame and frowned.

"Lady Nephis?" 

She turned, her sharp eyes meeting the gaze of a tall, brown-haired young man approaching her. His features were refined, his posture poised. Even in the dim light, Caster's presence was striking.

It was still late at night—the sun wouldn't rise for a couple hours. She hadn't expected to meet anyone.

"Do you wake before sunrise daily, or were you training all night?"

Nephis simply nodded. 

"As expected." His lips curled into a smile and bowed politely. "Your determination is truly a cut above even us ordinary legacies." Noticing a frown on her face, he added "If something is troubling you do let me know. I will assist you in any way I can."

Nephis gave her a long look and said, "Actually there is something I need your help with."

Caster's smile widened. "Of course. Just say the word."

She met his eyes. "Do you know a guy with black hair, about this tall..." 

Caster's gaze turned serious as Nephis continued to describe the guy she dueled with to the best of her ability. 

"That seems awfully familiar to a guy I share combat class with. Is he troubling you? I wanted to be friendly to everyone, especially someone as likely to die as him, but perhaps he needs to be taught a lesson..."

Nephis shook her head. "No. It's nothing like that. I just want to know his name." 

Caster blinked. "What?" 

"His name," she repeated, unfazed.

"Uhh... his name is Sunless. Pardon me for asking but... why do you want to know?" 

Nephis tilted her head slightly at the strange question. 

"Because I forgot to ask him the last night."

Caster stared at her. "You... last night? What?"

"Technically it is tonight, I guess." Shrugging, she nodded once. "That's all. Thank you for your help."

Then, without another word, she turned and walked away, leaving Caster standing frozen in place.

She cast one last glance at him before disappearing down the hallway.

His face had lost all color for some reason.

'Did I say something strange?'

She thought about it for a moment, then dismissed the notion.

'No. I don't think so.'

...

The night was short. 

Sunny washed himself and changed his clothes. He won't be sleeping tonight, not when he had an entirely new realm of possibilities to explore. He had acquired serpent as a sleeper, when he couldn't even control his soul essence. 

'I don't know what abilities seprent has now.' 

His brow furrowed. 

'Last time, since I was an awakened monster, serpent had 2 attributes [Shadow Guide] and [Soul Weapon]. This time though, I am a dormant beast. What will it have this time?'

Sunny removed his shirt and examined the tattoo on his body. He knew how valuable serpent was. Serpent could rival his most precious Memories, and his Shadows. 

'Now that I think about it, I never even checked my memories.'

The extra fragments had distracted him last time. He hadn't had a chance since.

Not that it should have mattered.

'I got Puppeteer's Shroud and Silver Bell in the first Nightmare. There's no reason for that to change.' 

...He didn't expect himself to tumble down getting off the bed as he summoned his runes. 

'W-What in the hell!?'

The familiar runes appeared before his eyes, flickering ominously.

Name: Sunless.

True Name: Lost from Light.

Rank: Dreamer.

Shadow Core: Dormant

Shadow Fragments: [68/1000].

Memories: [Silver Bell], [Puppeteer's Shroud],[...]

Echoes: —

Shadows: [Soul Serpent]

Attributes: [Fated], [Mark of Divinity], [Child of Shadows].

Aspect: [Shadow Slave].

Aspect Rank: Divine.

Aspect Abilities: [Shadow Control].

Aspect Legacy: [Shadow Dance]

Flaw: [Clear Conscience].

At first glance, everything seemed as it should be. His attributes remained unchanged. Soul Serpent was still present. However...

'One, two, three.'

Where there should have been only two—Silver Bell and Puppeteer's Shroud—three new Memories stood among them.

A cold sweat ran down his back as his gaze locked onto the unfamiliar runes.

Memories: [Silver Bell], [Puppeteer's Shroud], [Epitaph of Silent Rebirth], [Chrysalis of Eternal Eclipse], [???]

Sunny's hands clenched into fists.

'Where the hell did these come from?' 

His eyes narrowed

'And what's up with that last one? Why is it literally ??? instead of a name in the usual runic language? Is the spell playing tricks with me?

...Or is this that bastard's doing?'

Sunny shivered, remembering his dream once again. 

Could he really have done it? 

Sunny lingered, his thoughts spiraling back to that place.

Ariel's tomb.

He swallowed.

'Why not? If he could weave something as crazy as the Estuary key, I shouldn't assume anything to be beyond him.'

'But why?'

Why would the Mad Prince give him these three Memories?

More importantly... when had he even done it? 

Sunny frowned. He didn't remember anything like that happening in the dream. Then again, that whole experience was hazy and fragmented.

Pushing aside his unease, he pondered for a moment and entered his soul sea. 

The vast ocean stretched in every direction, silent and unmoving. Above, the sky was absent—there was no end in sight, only infinite, all-consuming blackness. At the center of it all was his soul core, surrounded by glowing orbs which were his memories. 

He concentrated on an orb and summoned it. 

A dark, rune-inscribed tablet materialized before him, suspended in midair. It seemed to drink in whatever meager light surrounded it, radiating an eerie, suffocating silence.

The moment his fingers brushed against its cold surface, the stillness broke.

The smooth black stone rippled like disturbed water, revealing glimpses of fragmented reflections. 

Then he heard whispers, like many lost souls wandering in the darkness, calling out their names as if their very existence had been lost. 

A cold chill crept up his spine, and he turned sharply. Nothing. There was no one around him, the whispers had no source, no direction. They were merely illusions.

...Or they only echoed in his mind. 

'That's not unsettling at all.'

He exhaled sharply and shifted his focus to the runes describing it. 

Memory: [Epitaph of Silent Rebirth] 

Memory Rank: Supreme.

Memory Type: Tool.

He stared at it.

'Of course a memory made by that bastard would at least be supreme.' 

Memory description: [Forged in the shadow of a long-forgotten era, this tablet was created by a treacherous soul-weaver who sought to escape his fate. The cost of using it was his identity, leaving his true self to echo endlessly in the void.]

Sunny's expression darkened.

'What in the spell is that ominous description?' 

He eyed the tablet warily, half-expecting it to consume his soul the moment he let his guard down.

A realization struck him.

His eyes flickered toward the endless void around him.

'A-are all these whispers... victims of this accursed memory!?'

His blood ran cold.

'Why would the Mad Prince give me something like this? Does he want to kill me?' 

No, that didn't make sense. 

Would he really travel to the past, escape Ariel's tomb, infiltrate the waking world... just to kill his past self?

Sunny paced in agitation, his gaze shifting to his shadow as if expecting it to enlighten him. 

It mimicked him for a moment... then shrugged, as if saying, "Who knows? You're a crazy bastard, after all."

Sunny shot it an unamused look before sighing and turning his attention back to the tablet. His lips curled downward.

'Too bad I don't have blood weave yet. I can't even see its enchantments.'

He doubted Mad prince wanted to harm him, but he also doubted the bastard had given him this out of kindness or some other positive goal. 

No... whatever sick game the Mad Prince was playing, Sunny wouldn't understand it until it was time. That's just how scarily devious and mad his future self, or his past self, was. 

Sunny smirked bitterly.

'Should I be proud about it or what?'

A fleeting smile touched his lips... and then vanished.

A sudden realization struck him like a bolt of lightning.

'Wait... 

How did that bastard even enter the waking world?'

Sunny's breath caught in his throat. The implications were too horrifying to ignore.

They had been inside a Nightmare. A damned Nightmare!

Even if the Mad Prince had somehow clawed his way into the past and escaped Ariel's tomb...

'He would still be trapped inside the illusory world conjured by the Spell'

There was no way out of a Nightmare. No return to the real Dream Realm.

Not unless...

A cold shiver ran down his spine.

'He cleared it!?'

The thought was like a dagger slipping between his ribs.

If the Mad Prince had cleared that Nightmare... then the rest of the Plagues might be in the real world as well.

Sunny's fists clenched. His vision swam.

A memory surfaced, unbidden.

The endless days on Windflower. The merciless torment of Undying Slaughter. His flesh ripped apart, over and over again. The agony. The sheer, maddening hopelessness.

The Plagues...

They were not just any corrupted abominations.

They were the future, transcended versions of his own friends. Beings who had spent Spell-knows-how-many centuries evolving into something so monstrous.

And now, they might be free.

His breath turned ragged.

If someone like Soul Stealer appeared in the waking world, stepping out of a mere Category Three Gate...

It might spell the end.

Not of a city. Not of a continent.

Of humanity.

Sunny doubted even the Sovereigns would be able to stop him before irreversible devastation was wrought. The only saving grace was that the corrupted abomination was nowhere as cunning as the real Prince of Nothing. 

'I-I hope that bastard already took care of the rest of them before escaping.' 

He was a corrupted Titan, and the rest of them, other than Soul Stealer, were mere beasts. And his aspect countered Soul Stealer's so that corrupted prince of nothing wasn't an issue.

'But could he really have killed them all? Alone? That too when the Dread Lord had already enslaved him? ' 

The odds were abysmal. Impossible, even.

And yet, somehow...

Sunny didn't doubt he could do it. Even though he didn't have his Shadows, he was strong, extremely so. He knew the Mad Prince had killed his shadows because he was a titan.

But why?

Why had the Mad Prince killed his own shadows? Why had he sacrificed Saint, Nightmare, and Fiend just to become a Titan?

It made no sense.

A Titan Core was powerful, yes. But was it truly worth the cost?

They were perhaps the only true shadow creatures in existence... aside from himself. 

The fragments he received after filling shadow creatures are about a hundred times more than any other nightmare creature. But killing his own shadows never made any sense. 

'Guess he is mad for more than one reason.' 

...

Sunny stood still, staring at the distant horizon of his soul sea.

He couldn't see them yet, but he knew they were there—lurking just beyond the periphery of his vision.

The shadows of the creatures he had slain.

And among them...

The shadow of the Mad Prince.

His hands curled into fists.

Sunny had killed him in that wretched dream somehow. By all logic, by all reason, the Mad Prince should be dead. But no matter how much he tried to believe it... He couldn't accept it.

'Mad Prince's shadow...'

His gaze remained fixed on the endless dark expanse, waiting—expecting—to see a familiar silhouette step out of the void. And then—

A horrifying realization struck like a hammer to his chest.

'No, wait a moment!' 

He stumbled back, heart hammering against his ribs. A sickening fear grasped him, invisible yet suffocating.

'He was a shadow creature, wasn't he?'

Then why—why in all the Spell's madness—had he only received fifty-six fragments?

His pulse thundered in his ears.

'That bastard!'

He wasn't dead. He was alive.

Hiding.

Somewhere.

...Or right here.

Sunny turned sharply, his entire body tensing. His eyes darted through the dark expanse, scanning the endless abyss of his soul sea. His mind conjured twisted images—Mad Prince lurking just beneath his feet, watching, laughing in an eerie, mirthless way.

Sunny forced himself to look harder.

Any sign.

Any inconsistency.

Anything.

...He found nothing. But that didn't mean anything at all. 

His throat felt dry.

'I won't find him unless he wants me to.'

The realization made his skin crawl.

'Calm down.'

He exhaled sharply, forcing his mind into clarity.

That thing—the corrupted Titan—whatever it was—was not the real Mad Prince.

Most likely, it had been conjured. Or enthralled. Or twisted into servitude by some other means.

Its only purpose... Was to deliver him the memories.

Sunny clenched his jaw and turned his gaze downward. His eyes landed on the dark tablet floating in the void. The sight of it made his skin prickle. Somehow, it looked even more daunting now. 

He let out a slow breath and dismissed the memory, summoning the next.

A translucent, black-and-silver cocoon appeared. It hovered, humming with an eerie, otherworldly resonance. Its surface was etched with shifting runes—half of them illuminated by a golden radiance, the other half drowned in abyssal darkness. Shadows swirled around it, shifting like a living storm.

The cocoon lay dormant. 

Lifeless.

...Or waiting.

Waiting for something to feed on. 

To drain. 

To consume.

Like the great spawn of the vile Thieving Bird.

Sunny shuddered. 

He could almost see it—true darkness resting in the cocoon's core.

'What in the Spell's name is supposed to hatch from this?' 

His breath came shallow, his heartbeat slowing. 

The presence of the cocoon was unlike anything he had ever encountered. It was harrowing, profoundly so, but what came next seemed to drain the living breath out of him. 

Memory: [Chrysalis of Eternal Eclipse]

Memory Rank: Divine.

AN: Do share your thoughts in the comments.

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