Shadow Slave

Nephis looked at Sunny, while Cassie shifted slightly and faced him. Both waited for what he would say next intently, tension and anticipation written clearly on their usually reserved faces.

However, Sunny lingered.

He had to think about what to say and how to say it. This matter concerned the Tomb of Ariel, after all — it concerned him and his fate — and therefore, most things he could share with them would be immediately forgotten.

Beyond that, Sunny had to gather his thoughts first.

‘The answer is oblivion.’

The phrase had been used to describe the Key of the Estuary by the Mad Prince. It held several meanings...

The first and most obvious of these meanings was the answer to the simplest of questions: who was buried in the Tomb of Ariel? The answer... was Oblivion. The Demon of Oblivion, who could hardly be remembered by the world, had been entombed in the great pyramid after dying a lonesome death, both her passing and her burial forgotten. No one knew how she had died and where her final resting place was — except for Weaver.

Weaver, the Mad Prince, and Sunny.

In a broader sense, the great tomb had been built by Ariel to help him forget the unbearable truths he wanted to be free of. And then there was the personal meaning the Mad Prince imbued the description of the Estuary Key with.

The Mad Prince had wanted to conquer the Third Nightmare and escape the Tomb of Ariel together with Nephis. But he could not, because his soul had been infected by the Defilement — and due to the Sin of Solace, he would remember the same forbidden knowledge that had corrupted him at the start of every loop, therefore locking him into an inescapable paradox. Ironically enough, it was the Sin of Solace that had prevented him from fully losing himself to Corruption, as well. In the end, the Mad Prince had found a way to silence the loathsome apparition and erase his own memories of the Defilement by escaping to the next loop while in possession of the Estuary Key — an impossible Memory he had created to fulfill his desperate, dire wish.

The true key to his liberation was oblivion. But what did the Mad Prince, the Estuary Key, and the Tomb of Ariel have to do with Asterion? Why had Cassie sent herself this cryptic message?

‘Why is it so cryptic, to begin with?’

Before considering the content of the message, Sunny thought it prudent to consider its form.

Although Cassie was an oracle — or had been, at least — she was under no obligation to deliver her prophecies in a vague and cryptic manner. In fact, that would only be counterproductive. If she had indeed foreseen that Asterion would become a deadly threat once, and even gleaned a strategy to defeat him, she could have just explained it to her future self plainly.

Go there, find that, recruit those people, avoid making these decisions... something like that. The message encouraging her to find a man named Sunless and wish him a happy birthday on the day of the winter solstice had been worded quite straightforwardly.

This time, however, she had only sent one mysterious sentence.

Why?

‘Well. First of all...’

Even though the message had been delivered to Cassie, it was not meant for her.

Nephis and Cassie did not know it, but Sunny had immediately realized that he was the intended recipient, instead. Because he was the only one who remembered the events that had transpired in the Tomb of Ariel clearly, as well as the only one who remembered the description of the Key of the Estuary.

Even if the others had seen it, they were not capable of remembering it.

So, then...

‘Doesn’t that answer my question?’

Why was the message so cryptic? To make sure that only Sunny could understand its meaning.

And why would Cassie only want Sunny to grasp the meaning of her message? Because she didn’t want someone else to understand it.

It wasn’t difficult to realize who it was that had to stay blind to the meaning of Cassie’s message at all costs.

‘The Dreamspawn.’

Asterion knew many things. In fact, his knowledge of all events, both past and present, was eerily systematic.

It was unclear whether he could spy on them at that very moment, either — the possibility that he could was high, and even if he couldn’t, he would easily glean the significance of this conversation if he or one of his thralls met them face-to-face one day, and therefore gained access to their innermost thoughts.

So, it wasn’t surprising at all that Cassie had wanted to keep her message away from the prying eyes of the Dreamspawn. After all, the secret of his downfall was quite possibly contained within it, and therefore, he would do everything in his power to prevent them from acting on this information if he ever found out.

‘Clever.’

At that moment, Sunny realized one more truth.

It was that Asterion was aware of what had transpired in their Third Nightmare, as well. Or he had been, rather... which meant that now, he could not access these memories fully, just like the rest of the world.

Because his memories were obfuscated by the fog of fatelessness, as well.

That was another barrier that prevented Asterion from understanding the significance of Cassie’s message.

So, in conclusion...

Cassie had known that Asterion might become a dire adversary of the cohort one day. So, she sent a message to the future Sunny that only he could understand — a message that was meant to help him defeat the Dreamspawn.

Nobody else was able to understand the meaning of the message, so even if Asterion intercepted it, it would be of no use to him. On top of that, Sunny had to make sure not to reveal the truth while explaining what they had to do aloud.

But what did they have to do, really?

He remained silent for a while, considering. The message was not merely a clever puzzle. It was a call to action.

Where was it calling Sunny, then?

The answer was quite obvious.

It was calling him back to the Tomb of Ariel.