Shadow Slave

Sunny had felt the weight of the scroll throughout the last few days, busy and chaotic as they were. A million things demanded his attention after weeks of absence... and yet, he could not help but think about the vessel of Weaver’s will that lay on the altar of the Nameless Temple’s replica, deep within his soul.

Now that things had settled down a little, he could finally face it.

Sunny remained silent for a long while, then smiled and looked at Jet.

”Well, how was it? Your personal adventure with the Lord of Shadows. Was it all you had hoped for?”

Jet chuckled, her icy blue eyes narrowing a little.

“Oh, it was... unforgettable. Effie and Kai weren’t lying”

She fell silent for a moment, then added with a shrug.

”Granted, it was far less educational than I had thought it would be. I do not feel like I’ve learned something. It feels more like... I passed an exam.”

Sunny scratched the tip of his nose.

“Well, I wouldn’t know. I don’t think I ever took a single exam in my entire life. I wouldn’t presume to have what it takes to teach the infamous Soul Reaper Jet a lesson, either”’

Jet smiled, then looked away.

”What about you?”

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

“Me? What about me?”

She looked at him and shrugged.

“You said that these excursions were to prepare us for the Fourth Nightmare, but to me, it seemed like you were searching for answers of your own. So, have you found them?”

Sunny stared at her for a few seconds, then turned away with a quiet chuckle. ”Ah... perceptive as always. As it happens, yes, I somehow stumbled on the answer I had been looking for ever since becoming a Saint. Maybe even longer. Thank you for that, by the way.”

Why was it that every time he was in dire need of advice, Jet was right there to share some hard-earned wisdom with him? Sunny really did not know how to thank her... but then again, she wouldn’t know or remember what it was that he was thanking her for. So there was no point.

For now.

‘Oh.’

Sunny remained motionless for a little while, basking in the realization that he had already started to regard her inability to remember him as a temporary affliction. One that would be cured soon, no less.

The same went for everybody else.

It was as if he finally saw light at the end of the tunnel.

Jet smiled and rose from the ground.

“lam not sure what I did, but I am glad that it helped. We outskirt rats should stick together, right? There’s not a lot of us left, after all. And since the outskirts are more or less gone, there will never be more. We’re a dying breed”

She glanced at him with a deadpan expression, then added:

”Well, in our case, I guess we’re a dead breed. But whatever.”

With that, she chuckled and headed away. “Come find me again if you ever need a hand, Lord of Shadows. Raising hell with you... ah, it felt strangely enjoyable! Like that is how things are supposed to be.” Sunny watched her go with a distant expression.

When she was gone, he looked down. ”Right”

Jet always joked about being dead. But at the moment...

She seemed like the most alive person he had ever known.

”How things are supposed to be.”

***

Sunny remained in the garden for a while longer, looking at the grass and contemplating silently. The weight of the future was pressing down on his shoulders heavily...

But luckily, his shoulders were quite strong. ”Why do I feel so anxious?”

Everything was happening on schedule, but somehow, he felt like they were running out of time. It was an ominous sensation.

In the end, he sighed and outstretched a hand.

A few seconds later, an ancient silk scroll appeared on it, emanating a subdued, but terrifying sense of unrestrained power. Despite having been hidden in the heart of a star for thousands of years, it was completely intact, with not a single burn marring its smooth surface.

The spider silk was woven so finely that touching it with his mortal hand felt like sacrilege.

Sunny remained motionless for a while, then sighed and slowly unfurled the scroll. Inside, an elegant weave of runes was painted with black ink, and at the bottom, a gorgeous blue snowdrop decorated the corner, embroidered with such skill that it seemed entirely real.

Sunny shook, suddenly finding it difficult to breathe.

Somehow, he knew that both the runes and the flower were left on the fine silk by Weaver’s own hand.

Calming his widely beating heart, he inhaled deeply and concentrated on the runes.

He did not know what to expect, but... whatever message Weaver had left, it was bound to be important.

Or nebulous and mystifying. He was going to know soon.

..The runes read:

[Weaver was the first one to be born.

And Rime was the first one to die.

Broken and shattered, she succumbed to harrowing wounds and found herself in the embrace of Shadow.

And there, in the darkness, Shadow offered her solace.

“Rest well now, child,” whispered the darkness. ”Your torment is over. Stay here with me, unhurt and at peace.’

But Rime refused.

“Your world is too dark, it is too quiet and hollow. Out there are vast oceans, boundless heavens, and flowers that bloom in the light. | want to swim in the oceans and conquer the heavens... | want to explore all of existence and gather all flowers, to bask in the beauty and enjoy pleasant scents.”

“The flowers are bristling with thorns,” pleaded the darkness. ”The oceans are cold, and the heavens are empty. Your life was short and brutal — and now, it has come to an end. Stay with me, child. Do not refuse my embrace.’

But Rime laughed.

“The thorns are what make flowers beautiful. Cold is what makes warmth desirable. An end paves the way for a new beginning. Even if I can find peace in your arms, Shadow, I want to leave. I want to live, no matter how much it might hurt.”

The voice of the darkness grew cold then, turning into a terrible hiss, ”But you are mine now, child. You belong to the shadows. lam Death, and no one escapes Death... not even a foolish spirit like you.”

It was then that darkness became her chain, and solace became her collar.

Peace became a prison.

Time flowed, and the world slowly changed. Only silence remained the same.

Shadow refused to let Rime go...

So, in the end, she shattered the walls of his realm and escaped into the light.

That was how the Demon of Repose, who had been the first one to die, became the first one to escape Death as well.]

Sunny stared at the runes, drawn into their meaning.

‘Rime, the Demon of Repose... so she was the one who had escaped the Shadow Realm...’

As expected of a daemon. The relationship between her and Shadow God was... strangely ambiguous. It was very interesting, too.

All of it was terribly interesting.

However...

‘Where the hell is my Lineage?’

Why would Weaver leave behind noting but a strange fable on the silk scroll?

Frowning, Sunny brushed his hand across the runes.

And there, almost by accident...

He sensed a subtle irregularity.

It was so minor that anyone else would have missed it. But Sunny’s fingers had been unnaturally sensitive ever since he assimilated Bone Weave, so he felt the difference in the weave of the silk under a short set of runes.

‘Oh?’

Just three words.

Sunny traced them with his fingers.

[..A new beginning.]

And as he did, it was as if a nebulous voice resounded in his ears, making him shudder. He froze, realizing what this hidden message was.

It was...

It was the will of Weaver, the Demon of Fate, woven into the ancient scroll by their hand. Once Sunny realized it, the remnant Will of the treacherous daemon surged, reshaping the world to match it.

In the reshaped world, his own Will was different from before.

He had absorbed the Spirit Weave.

‘Wow. I didn’t even pass out this time.’

Just as Sunny thought that, a wave of indescribable agony washed over him like a tide...