Shadow Slave

Sunny shuddered.

The voice he heard… was not his own. It sounded pleasant and calm, and seemed to have come from the darkness of the Sky Below itself.

'...Have I finally lost it?'

His first thought was that he had gone crazy again and was now hearing things.

His second thought was much less comforting…

'Damnation!'

Had he summoned some unholy titan from the depths of the Sky Below, after all?!

Sunny outstretched one hand, ready to manifest the Cruel Sight, but then hesitated.

If the owner of the voice was not a figment of his imagination, but some harrowing being of the void, was it really wise to agitate it? Would the silver blade even do anything against it?

'Calm down. Calm down. Maybe you just imagined the whole thing…'

As if to answer his thoughts, the void laughed softly.

"Ah, my apologies. I seem to have startled you."

Sunny gulped.

The pleasant voice seemed to belong to a young man, but no matter how hard he looked into the darkness, he couldn't see anyone… or anything… nearby.

He was reminded of his first meeting with Kai, only this time... this time, things were much more frightening.

"N—no worries. I just… didn't expect to hear another human's voice here. You, uh… you are a human… right?"

The void was silent for a while, then answered in a neutral tone:

human? I used to be a human

the direction from which the voice was coming. It

then

what

for a few moments, then sighed. Finally, it

"...Lost."

Sunny blinked.

hell does

in lost in the

out a sad

Not in the Sky

run down his

say that I am one of the Lost. My body in the waking world was destroyed, but my soul continues to exist here, in the Dream Realm. I hope that explanation is

One of the Lost…

never met one in person. Just like there were Hollow — people whose souls were destroyed, leaving an empty body behind — there were also the Lost. People whose bodies

a little… not that he had any reason to believe that the stranger was telling him the truth. He could have been a Nightmare Creature,

Or something worse...

explain how they were able to converse. The Lost, from what Sunny knew, were just like any other Awakened in the Dream Realm. It was just

they certainly were not were

shifted his weight slightly, ready to… do something to protect himself, if need be,

to hear that. But how is it that I

some time, that answered with a

a

waited patiently for him to expand on that answer, but that seemed to be it.

you going

the voice

descending into the Sky Below? This is

couple of times,

Sky Below as I am falling into it. I got stuck on an island because of the Crushing, and sadly, that island broke off its chain. So, I had to jump off. And here

Then, he frowned.

I haven't seen anything dangerous

lingered for a while, then