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?"

as long as he could,

left behind by a powerful creature I killed. I took

an especially long amount of time. When it finally spoke, there was a hint of anguish in it. The owner of the voice tried very

dead. I

it fell silent once

a

be angry with me for

resounded

you? You are not to blame for what happened to

— and eventually dying

Then, he asked cautiously:

what exactly was it, though? I have never seen a creature

in control of itself when it

Ability. A kind of an Echo, you can say. I… I created him when I was just a lonely kid. We were together for a long

head, then

do you mean, a kid? A kid with

The voice laughed bitterly.

Nightmare when I was twelve. It's

Sunny blinked.

Nightmare at twelve… of

outside of the usual age range. The entire first generation of the Awakened had been, for example. And there were cases of this anomaly to this day, even though

that

throat,

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

owner had once again spent all of his soul essence… or

Sunny sighed.

I didn't even have time to ask him how to survive

he chose his words,

***

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 though

'Maybe it was?'

no, it wasn't. He was

the time the voice returned, the void had changed slightly. Not only were the distant shimmering lights now closer and brighter, but it also felt as if the air was getting

flow of shadow essence. On the surface of the lid near him

"...You practice archery?"

glanced into the darkness,