Shadow Slave

Everything good had to come to an end. And so, Sunny’s and Effie’s last meal in the desolate, but cozy diner had come to an end as well.

They parted ways under the torrential rain that threatened to swallow Mirage City. It seemed unwise to separate while the Castellan was hunting them, but they had to keep playing their roles. Effie had to return to her family... more importantly, they wanted to split the team spying on them in two, so that escaping its surveillance was easier later.

Sunny glanced at Effie and lingered for a few moments just before they went their own ways.

“You... be careful.”

Effie met his gaze calmly and smiled after a long stretch of silence.

”You too, partner.”

With that, she was gone.

Sunny remained motionless for a while, then inhaled deeply and began walking. His PTV had been destroyed, the subway system of Mirage City was paralyzed due to the flooding, and there were no taxis around because of the congested roads. So, he headed for the nearest bus stop.

As Sunny walked and then rode on a crowded bus, he kept thinking about what Effie had said.

*Surrender yourself to the person you love... trust them completely...*

*And have faith in them, knowing that they will not abuse the power you gave them.*

Sunny scoffed.

It was easy for Effie to say.

But actually...

Maybe she was the best person to say it. After all, out of all his closest friends, Effie was the only one who had a family. She had a husband whom she loved, and who loved her back. They had built a life together and were raising a child — a Transcendent child, at that. It could not have been easy to care for Little Ling... in fact, it must have been uniquely challenging.

No one had ever faced such a challenge before, and yet, the two of them conquered all the obstacles side by side. That must have taken them an immense amount of trust in each other, and judging by how radiant and happy Little Ling was, they were doing a good job.

However, that was not even what qualified Effie to give Sunny that piece of advice. There was a different reason, as well.

It was easy to forget because of how vibrant and full of vitality Effie was, and because of how vivacious and tremendously vigorous the alluring image of Raised By Wolves was... but she had not always been the tantalizing picture of health and potency she was today.

Effie had spent more than half of her life confined to a wheelchair and barely able to move... in a world that had no patience or mercy for anyone, let alone people whom it considered defective and useless, like her. It was neither cheap nor easy to keep someone like her alive, and her family had not been affluent — she had a healthy sibling, as well. Taking care of a sick child was a heavy burden, and in the end, it had more or less brought her family to ruin. They loved and cared for her... but they must have resented her quite a lot in their darker moments, as well.

They had all the reasons to abandon her, but they never did. Effie was only alive today because her family had stubbornly refused to give up and instead took care of her, going against ruthlessly pragmatic societal norms at a great personal cost.

She had been completely and utterly powerless and at their mercy, depending on them for her most basic needs... more so than Sunny had ever depended on anyone, Shadow Bond or not.

So, she knew a thing or two about trust... about loving someone who held power over your life in their grasp, and trusting that they would never abuse it.

Exiting the bus and diving into the rain, Sunny sighed.

Sure, Effie did not have all the context — he did not explain to her what the Shadow Bond was and how it worked in detail. However, that might have been for the best. Maybe... maybe she saw something that he had failed to see, distracted by the mystical runes and a decade worth of scathing, complicated emotions. ṙ𝘼Ꞑ𝔬ΒЕ𝘴

Maybe at the root of it all, it was not about a dead god and the shadows he had cast. It was not about a Divine Aspect or its Innate Ability. It was not even about fate, or lack thereof.

It was simply about trust.

Or maybe not.

’What makes one a slave, anyway?’

If a tyrant put a collar on the neck of a powerless man or woman, and then forced them to serve him, they were enslaved. Theirs was a pitiful fate.

But if a knight gave an oath of loyalty to a noble monarch, swearing to serve them faithfully until the day they die, they were noble. Theirs was a virtuous life of esteem and respect.

Both of these paths led to servitude, but one was a curse, while the other was a blessing. There were other kinds of devotion, as well.

’I guess, in the end...’

It all came down to choice.

It was choice that separated a slave from a knight, a curse from a blessing.

And Sunny...

Sunny had to make a choice.

He was in a position to make a choice. Unlike a slave, who had all their choices taken from them.

’Damnation.’

It was late at night when Sunny finally made it to his destination.

He did not return home, though.

Instead, he was standing in front of a moderately affluent apartment complex, checking something on the cracked screen of his primitive communicator.

”Should be the place...”

Effie had gone home, but the Devil Detective... the Devil Detective was not going to be stopped by something as prosaic as being suspended and stripped of his authority as a police officer. He was still going to continue the investigation.

That was why Sunny had pulled some strings, utilizing a few contacts from the Devil Detective’s memory, and received an address.

Soon enough, he was standing in front of a particular door, pressing the buzzer.

The man who opened the door glanced at him with a bit of wariness and a bit of confusion.

“Detective Sunless? To what do I owe the pleasure? Is... is there news about Mr. Mordret?”

It was none other than the Other Mordret’s personal assistant — the person who knew the most about where the CEO of the Valor Group went and what he did.

“I wanted to ask you a few questions... and yes, there is.”

Sunny gave the man an amicable smile.

And then punched him in the stomach.