Shadow Slave

Sunny stared into the void suspiciously.

"Yeah? And how come you are so concerned about my well-being?"

The voice remained silent for a bit, then answered wistfully:

"I haven't really spoken to anyone in a long, long time. It would be a shame to finally find someone to talk to, only for them to die soon. Don't you think?"

'That guy is definitely not just a simple Lost… what is his deal, really? Is he actually a human or only pretends to be one?'

Sunny thought for a bit, then said:

"I guess. And since we're on the topic… how is it exactly that we are able to talk?"

He expected the voice to change the subject or ignore the question, but to his surprise, it actually answered:

"I am not really sure. This has never happened to me before, either."

After a while, it added hesitantly:

"Have you… have you perhaps found a piece of a broken mirror somewhere?"

Something clicked in Sunny's mind.

"Broken mirror… Mirror Beast… Beastie…"

The Ascended Reflection! The shard of a mirror that the strange creature had left behind was still inside the Covetous Coffer… smeared with his blood…

'Crap!'

So the owner of the voice was the creator of the murderous Reflection Sunny had encountered on the Reckoning. That… that gave him as many questions as it had given him answers.

He couldn't really think about it right now, though, because the pressure of the Flaw was already building in his mind, forcing him to speak.

"Now that you mention it, I did, indeed, recently find a piece of a broken mirror. With the word "Beastie" written on it in a child's handwriting."

The voice remained silent for a while, then asked quietly:

"Oh? How exactly did you find it?"

long

mirror shard was left behind by a powerful creature I killed. I took it with me, thinking that it might turn out

spoke, there was a hint of anguish in it. The owner of the voice tried very hard to

dead.

fell silent

a

going to be angry with me for killing your

sigh resounded from

angry with you? You are not to blame

been responsible for the Mirror Beast becoming separated from its creator — and eventually dying

Then, he asked cautiously:

though? I have never

control of itself when it answered after a few

created him when I was just a lonely kid.

tilted his head,

you mean, a kid? A kid with an

The voice laughed bitterly.

First Nightmare when I was twelve. It's rare, but does happen

Sunny blinked.

the Nightmare at twelve… of course very

extremely rare cases, the people infected by the Spell were outside of the usual age range. The entire first generation of the Awakened had been, for example. And

thought that I was

throat, then said

for your loss. If it makes you feel any better, the creature

owner had once again spent all of his soul essence… or whatever it was that

Sunny sighed.

to ask him

how he chose his

***

spent a few more days plummeting into the void. By now, he was having trouble remembering what it even felt like, to not be falling. The darkness seemed to be eternal and everpresent, as

'Maybe it was?'

it wasn't. He was almost

the time the voice returned, the void had changed slightly. Not only were the distant shimmering lights now closer

of the treasure chest and training to better control the flow of shadow

"...You practice archery?"

eyes and glanced into the