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?"

answer for as long as he

powerful creature I killed. I took

of anguish in it. The owner of the voice tried very hard to suppress it, but his pain seemed to be too deep

dead. I

fell silent once

a while,

angry

sigh resounded from the

I be angry with you? You are not to blame

from its creator — and eventually dying by his

Then, he asked cautiously:

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

control of itself when it answered after a few long

I… I created him when I was just a lonely

tilted his head, then

kid? A kid with

The voice laughed bitterly.

Nightmare when I was twelve. It's rare, but does happen sometimes. Few children survive

Sunny blinked.

Nightmare at twelve… of

first generation of the Awakened had been, for example. And there were cases of this anomaly to this day, even though it usually

thought that I was

cleared his throat, then said

feel any better, the creature tried to say something before it died. Uh… we

owner had once again spent all of his soul essence…

Sunny sighed.

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

with how he chose his words, damn

***

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 though

'Maybe it was?'

it wasn't. He

only were the distant shimmering lights now closer and brighter, but it

control the flow of shadow essence. On the surface of the lid near him was a dark longbow and a

"...You practice archery?"

his eyes and glanced into the darkness, then