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:

I used to be a human once,

he couldn't even pinpoint the direction from which the voice was coming. It was just… there, somehow. Everywhere. Around

then

to? Then what are

voice disappeared for a few moments, then sighed. Finally, it

"...Lost."

Sunny blinked.

hell does he

in lost

out a

Not in the Sky

run

to say that I am one of the Lost. My body in the waking world was destroyed, but my soul continues to exist

One of the Lost…

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 had somehow died in the real world, leaving their souls stranded in the Dream Realm. There wasn't a lot of them, since most of the time

that he had any reason to believe that the stranger was telling him the truth. He could

Or something worse...

even if he was Lost, that didn't explain how they were able to converse. The Lost, from what Sunny knew, were just like any other Awakened in the

were not were

something to protect

But how is it that I am able to hear your

time, that answered

is a good

answer, but that seemed to be it.

you

the voice

Sky Below?

blinked a couple

got stuck on an island because of the Crushing, and sadly, that island broke off its chain. So, I had to jump off. And

Then, he frowned.

it dangerous? I haven't seen anything dangerous anywhere in this dreadful

a