Chapter 2: Chapter Two: Bizarre
Third POV:
The first thing Sunny checked was his Soul Sea. Seeing the familiar Black Seven Suns Sunny exhaled a sigh of relief but immediately a doubt took over his
Whole being.
'Am I dreaming? Is this even real?'
A flood of questions engulfed his mind as he tried to make sense of what he was experiencing at the moment.
Summoning his runes Sunny was more perplexed than ever.
Name: Sunless.
True Name: Lost from Light.
Rank: Awakened
Sunny's eyes widened slightly. Soon confusion settled in him.
Class: Titan
Shadow Cores: [7/7].
Sunny's Rank was reduced to a mere Awakened for some reason but his class remained the same.
'Maybe because the Class has something to do with the soul while the Rank has something to do with the body itself And since My Soul was already That of a Titan is that why My Soul is still able to handle my Cores?'
'That's of course under the assumption that I have really returned to the past.'
Sunny thought unable to get rid of the weird sense of doubt, excitement, and longing in his heart.
Thinking about it again weren't the classes of the nightmare creatures measured by how many cores they had?
Sunny pondered on it for a while, Even if the person infected by the spell survived their first nightmare if their soul couldn't handle the process of forming the core they would eventually die since their soul would collapse.
'I witnessed that first-hand in Antarctica after all'
It was a plausible explanation but it somehow made sense. It was as if the output was reduced to the bare minimum so the body could make use of the potent essence of Sunny's Shadow cores.
But then again.
The most important question remained unanswered.
Why?
'Why am I an Awakened in a place where I was supposed to be a dormant sleeper?'
'Was everything that I went through so far simply a nightmare?'
'Had I just woken up from my first nightmare?'
Sunny shivered at the thought.
Every struggle he faced, Every hardship he experienced, every battle he fought, every loss he endured, every nightmare he conquered, every pain he felt, every challenge he went through, and every death he suffered.
'Was it simply for naught?'
Sunny staggered backward.
'No....'
Sunny said looking to his side toward the shadows that resided in his soul sea. They were just as he remembered. There were about thirty thousand in total.
They were the evidence of what he had accomplished.
Sunny wrecked his brain trying to come up with an explanation but to no avail, he soon gave up.
He will find an explanation for everything.
He just needs time.
Looking back at his runes
Aspect: [Shadow Slave].
Aspect Rank: Divine.
Aspect Description: [You are a miraculous shadow left behind by a dead god. As a divine shadow, you possess plenty of strange and wondrous powers. However, your existence is empty and lonesome; you mourn the passing of your former master and long to find a new one.]
Aspect ability: [Shadow Step]
Ability Description: [You can move freely between shadows, traveling from one to another in an instant.]
His awakened ability was there as well. Looking down, his innate ability came into view.
Innate ability: [Shadow Bond]
Ability Description: [Find a worthy master and let them know your True Name. Once they recite it out loud, you will be bound to their will, unable to disobey any command. It is improper for a shadow, let alone a divine one, to walk around without a master.]
Unlike before his innate ability's runes weren't lifeless or Grey but radiant white just like how they looked before Nephis uttered his True name.
Speaking of which, her name wasn't written there, where it should have been...
Before even Sunny had realized that, he had taken her runes being written there for granted. It became an anchor for Sunny's Mind and a source of reassurance. From constantly checking her runes to track her growth to something that made him at ease whenever they were apart. Now the fact that her name wasn't there brought a pang of Sorrow to his heart that threatened to break free but Sunny held it in with everything he had. It was a constant reminder of his failure. Taking a deep breath a couple of times Sunny eventually managed to calm himself down.
Sunny soon realized that his attributes were all there. It seemed like his Rank was the only thing that changed from Transcendent to Awakened.
His Echoes...or rather Shadows were also present. They were resting and restoring themselves in his Soul cores due to the severity of the damage they sustained, so it was unknown how long it would take them to recover but it was safe to assume it won't be any time soon. Sunny was barely able to withdraw both Saint and Fiend just before they were destroyed, he was really lucky.
Skipping to his Memories, Sunny saw that his memories were also still intact. His eyes Glanced at Weaver's mask for a moment thinking about something but soon it glided toward the bottom of the list. Toward a specific memory.
Summoning [The Oldest Dream] Sunny read the runes.
Memory: [The Oldest Dream].
Memory Rank: Divine.
Memory Tier: VII.
Memory Type: Tool
Memory Description: [A ring as ancient as the time Made By an ancient Shadow. From the blood of the Hunter's Children, The Origin of Desire, the Descendants of the Light, the Dwellers of the Depth and the Pillars of Solace, and the Roots of all Hearts. To complete the Cycle of Birth and Death Once Again.]
Memory Enchantments : [Why Are You Here Again?]
'Who the hell?...'
Sunny was baffled. The name of the enchantment looked bizarre and ridiculous just like the enchantment of Weaver's Mask [Where Is My Eyes?].
Did Weaver create The Ring too? Just like the Mask?
'That couldn't be possible though, the description of the Memory said that it was made by an ancient Shadow'
Sunny sighed with a heavy expression on his face. The more he thought about this whole thing the more questions started to pop up, which was already taking a toll on his tired brain.
Soon he glanced at the last thing he wanted to check.
Enchantment Description: [Permanently Sends The Wearer Soul Back To A Chosen Moment In Time]
Usage: [ 7/7 ]
'Wait....'
'So this thing actually sent me back to the past?'
'Yeah if there was a memory that showed the strings of fate why wouldn't be there one that travels through time?'
It Took Sunny some time to adjust to the situation. If what the enchantment said was true, then wouldn't it be more beneficial to him that way? After all, won't his doubts be cleared? Sunny felt like a huge burden had finally fallen off his shoulders.
And it seemed like a one-way trip, not that he was complaining but that left a bitter taste in his mouth. Wouldn't it be cool if he could move back and forth between the past and the present? But thinking about it again the enchantment only mentioned "Back" so it might just keep sending him back again and again.
Yet Time wasn't something that could be altered easily and small changes in the past can cause major variables in the future. Wasn't that what the butterfly effect theory was all about?
Not to mention Professor Obel's theory about the Nightmare Gates and how it was associated with time and space. Since Obel's scale purpose was to detect the aftershocks that the Nightmare Gate sends through space-time It was safe to assume that things that happen in the future can also affect the past.
'And that Cursed thing might was the cause of the Sixth Catagory Gate break'
As Sunny trailed off in his train of thought. He soon noticed a subtle change in the runes of the memory.
To his surprise, the runes of the Ring dimmed and became lifeless. The Ring itself seemed to be evaporating into ethereal Lights. Soon the disappointed voice of the Spell rang into the space.
[Your Memory has been destroyed]
Sunny was startled for a moment but soon he found himself staring into thin air. Sunny couldn't help himself but hold a slight resentment toward whoever used the Memory six times before leaving it there.
Sunny sighed as withdrew from the Soul Sea.
...A bit later, he emerged from his secret chamber. Sunny's lair was situated in the upper part of a ruined cathedral, the entrance hidden behind a tall statue of some unknown woman which later turned out to be the Fallen Terror of the Crimson Spire. There was a small balcony that allowed him to observe the grand hall of the temple over the statue's shoulder, concealed from sight by the strands of her stone hair.
The balcony was really high above the floor, making it impossible for any creature to climb on it by accident. Falling down would certainly kill a normal human.
Inhaling the stuffy air of the ancient cathedral, Sunny sent one of his Shadows to the roof. He would rather Shadow Step to the roof rather than go through the trouble of climbing up, since he can use his essence now and he has a lot of it, he might as well spoil himself a little.
Once he was outside, the artificial sun had already died down, as darkness reigned over the world.
Somewhere in the distance, the waves of the dark sea were halting their eternal assault on the stone walls of the ancient city. These walls had withstood thousands of years of wear and abuse without allowing even a single drop of black water to seep through. Sunny knew that they would stand unbroken for a thousand years more.
He turned his head west and found the distant silhouette of the Crimson Spire. The menacing structure was looming over the Forgotten Shore like an evil omen, spelling doom to anyone who would dare approach it.
Looking around him Sunny felt a sense of nostalgia.
Around him, an expansive city lay in ruins. The beautiful stone buildings were broken and shattered, many of them turned into mere piles of rubble. There were no people walking along the wide streets, no clamor of voices to drive away the silence. Under the cold grey sky, the ruined city looked dead and mournful.
The Doom War has caused so much damage across the mortal realm and this was just a fraction of the actual damage it caused across the Seven Realms.
Many of the collapsed houses were blackened by fire, with claw marks cut into the still-standing fragments of walls. Here and there, monstrous bones of ancient horrors protruded from the ground, telling tales of desperate battles that must have taken place on these streets once, a long time ago.
Soon after Sunny extended his Shadow Senses. A surge of information flooded his mind about the nightmare creatures, routs, and buildings and he also felt the Fallen Devil that patrolled the grand hall and its vicinity killing anyone who dared to come inside.
"Hi there Old Roommate."
Sunny greeted his old roommate as he quickly drew a plan in his head for the best course of action to make use of his knowledge and avoid making any unknown variables.
Wasn't knowledge The pinnacle of Power?
The question of his bizarre rank was pushed to the back of his mind.
Feeling much lighter now that his mind was organized Sunny glanced toward the center of the ruined City. his eyes were drawn to the tall hill towering above the ruins. On that hill...
There was a magnificent castle standing on a hill in the middle of the ruins. It looked like something out of a legend. Its walls were built from radiant white stone, with tall towers and majestic spires piercing the sky. It stood above the city like a symbol of hope, the only thing in this city that seemed to be untouched by the darkness.
And there resided people who he genuinely missed and longed for. And one person who he has missed the most.
Nephis.
He wanted to see her.
Sunny was not the most emotionally intelligent person, or at least he had not been before. If anything, his emotional development had been stunted - first by the rough life in the outskirts, then by the ruthless reality of the Nightmare Spell.
Who had time to think about emotions when every day was a lethal battle for survival?
So, it had taken him a long time to recognize the truth of how he felt for Nephis ever since the Forgotten Shore. In truth, he had already been in love with her before they reached the Dark City... hopelessly so, perhaps.
The indescribable relief, joy, and completeness he had felt when she returned to the waking world. The maddening fury he had felt when she unanimously decided to join Valor. The deathly terror he had felt when the Skinwalker snapped her neck, and the indescribable pain he felt when his sword pierced her heart.
By now, there was no denying it. Ever since the loop on Wind Flower Sunny was sure of it.
Whether through fate or coincidence, for better or worse, Nephis was... his person. The only one there was and would be, for him.
Since he had long grown past the faze where he would ignore or deny or even shy away from his emotions, he wasn't going to hold it back this time.
Looking back in the distance, Sunny sensed a group of humans venturing carefully into the ruins of the Dark City.
'Just in time'
'It wasn't appropriate to visit someone without a gift No?'
Sunny Grinned as he dissolved into the shadows.
He had a princess in a well to save first.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Vn_bTw
Vn_bTw Yeah I ain’t holding back on the Sunphis. G3 had done enough!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone