Shadow Slave

Eventually, Sunny and Nephis ended up in his underground dojo. Changing Star looked around, her gaze lingering on the racks of training weapons and the deactivated sleeping pod that stood forlornly in its alcove, all but forgotten by its former occupant.

After a few moments of silence, she asked:

"Do you make use of all these weapons?"

Sunny glanced at the training equipment, lingered for a moment, then shook his head.

"Yes and no. In the past two years, I did expand my repertoire to include all kinds of sharp implements. But I practice with something better."

He was still most confident when wielding swords akin to Azure Blade, Midnight Shard, and his serpentine odachi. His proficiency with spears was also quite high, and he was steadily improving his archery skill. However, while Sunny had learned enough to feel comfortable with other types of weapons as well, he had a long way to go before truly mastering them.

Nephis nodded thoughtfully.

"Do you use the... Soul Serpent?"

Sunny stared at her for a moment, then looked away.

"Yes."

He was reminded of the Shadow Bond that connected them. Beyond its main function, it also allowed Sunny to peer into some of Changing Star's secrets. However, she was able to learn a lot of his, as well.

Sunny had suspected that this was the case from the very start, but now those suspicions were confirmed.

He remained silent for a few moments, then suddenly grinned.

"Were you surprised?"

Nephis looked at him, hesitated for a moment, and said:

"I was. Very... very much."

She sighed, sat down on the floor, and crossed her legs.

"I always knew that you were extraordinary. I just didn't… didn't think that you possessed a Divine Aspect, too. To be honest, I thought that I was the first."

down opposite her and shook his

thought so too. But neither of us was the first. It was Mordret, instead. He is older than us by four or five years, and had his First Nightmare when he was twelve. So… he

and said

a Sleeper around the time my mother died. Oh… your mother is fine,

appeared on Neph's

"...Thank you."

for a

telling me where the Divine Memory

Sunny smiled darkly.

I'll tell you anyway… I found it below the cathedral in the Dark City, on an ancient corpse that turned to dust as soon as I took the mask from

tilted her head a

mind telling me

He laughed.

I'll tell you... it can reverse

Nephis looked at him, a hint of longing

have to do is to say the

a long time, then silently turned away and did not

Sunny's grin turned somber.

will save you from the pain? It won't. The Mask does not nullify the Flaw, it just reverses it. No matter what, the Flaw is still a curse. By now, we both should have a good sense about such things… chances are, the new curse would be more terrible than the old. Right

grew silent, and

too powerful to be used lightly. At least

few moments, then

don't need to be liberated from my Flaw. I don't need a powerful Memory

at her, then

two year of despair

remained silent for a while, and then smiled with

her eyes remained calm and

been desperate for much longer than that, Sunny.

out a long sigh, then looked to

So… Aster, Song, Vale. They

nodded silently, prompting him

once that just knowing these words can get a person killed. However, I went ahead and did some digging of my own. Aster, Song and Vale are Asterion, Ki Song,

looking at him intensely. Sunny