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 as he

creature I killed. I took it with

of anguish in it. The owner of the

dead.

it fell

After a while, he

you're not going to be angry

resounded from the

Why would I be angry with you? You are not to

Beast becoming separated from its creator — and eventually dying by his hand — was extremely lucky that the owner of

Then, he asked cautiously:

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

voice seemed more in control of itself when it answered after

an Echo, you can say. I… I created him when I was just a lonely kid. We were together for a long time, before…

tilted his head,

you mean, a kid? A kid with an Aspect

The voice laughed bitterly.

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

Sunny blinked.

Nightmare at twelve… of course very few

by the Spell were 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 it usually happened to someone older than the norm, not someone

I thought that I was

throat,

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

voice, however, didn't respond. It seemed that its owner had once again spent all of his soul essence… or whatever it was that allowed him to communicate with Sunny… and was now

Sunny sighed.

I didn't even have time to ask him

he

***

to not be falling. The darkness seemed to be eternal and everpresent, as though he had always been

'Maybe it was?'

no, it wasn't. He was

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

treasure chest and training to better control the flow

"...You practice archery?"

glanced into the darkness, then