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:

to be a

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

then

what

a few moments, then sighed. Finally, it

"...Lost."

Sunny blinked.

hell does he

lost in the Sky

out a sad

in the

cold shivers run down

to anyone in a long, long time. Instead of lost, It would be more proper to say that I am one of the Lost. My body in the waking world

One of the Lost…

an empty body behind — there were also the Lost. People whose bodies had somehow died in

of the voice was one of these lost souls made Sunny relax a little… not that he had any reason to believe that the stranger was telling him the truth. He could have been a Nightmare

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 Dream Realm. It was just that they couldn't return to the

not were disembodied

ready to… do something to protect himself, if need be, and

that. But how is it that I am able

for some time, that answered

a

him to expand on that answer, but that

you going

the voice

the Sky Below? This is a

blinked a couple of times, then

stuck on an island because of the Crushing, and sadly, that island broke off its chain.

Then, he frowned.

Why is it dangerous? I haven't

for a