Shadow Slave

Everything that needed to be said had already been said. Everything that needed to be done had already been done. Granted, there was not much to these preparations. Sunny and Nephis were in a desperate situation, and they could only escape it by resorting to desperate means. This was going to be it. They were either going to live, or die.

Sunny looked at the weathered surface of the Black Turtle's shell as they walked to the shore. The black rock, the green moss, the deep fissures with murky water glistening in some of them... he had spent the first month of the Nightmare here.

It was a harrowing place - or rather, it was supposed to be harrowing. But, strangely, all he could remember about the dark island were happy memories.

Training with Nephis until sweat covered their bodies and a pleasant fatigue settled in their muscles. Laying on the moss and staring at the dreamlike sky, unbothered by the movements of the world. Eating delicious meals and drinking cool, sweet water. Bathing in the warmth of a campfire as they talked to each other, surrounded by darkness.

All of that was coming to an end. It already had.

He... was reluctant to let go of this harrowing paradise.

But there was no other choice.

'Maybe I truly am mad.'

Sunny had entered the Nightmare utterly crushed. From Falcon Scott to the Battle of the Black Skull, he had tasted nothing but bitter failure. He had wished to be strong. He had made this wish come true, only to find out that it was of no use in the end.

As if to mock him, fate had obliterated everything.

However... somehow... he had truly been content on the dark island. Sailing through a river of unholy blood on the corpse of a dreadful monster, being pulled into the past by the current - he had been happy on that journey, and happier still to share it with someone he... was fond of. Was fond of so much.

He had been having fun in the depths of a nightmare.

'...So what if I'm mad?'

would need madness to survive

and Nephis, and Saint - reached the slope of the island. Below them, the Great River was flowing endlessly, bleak because

darkest hour - the brief time after the suns had already plunged into the river but before the

a deep

this... you've been preparing this whole

Sunny had not spent the whole month simply relaxing and spending idle time with Nephis. He had always known that this unexpected respite was not meant to last. And so, he had

had learned everything about it - how the serpent fought, how the serpent thought. What emotions

the smallest detail, as well as how the great river serpent commanded water to turn

things... Sunny knew for a fact that he would never be

But...

Azure Serpent was healthy and

It was not anymore.

Beast had been ravaged by the battles with the Dark Butterfly, the harrowing assaults of the krill swarms, and the insidious attacks of the marauding abominations. Its flesh was shredded and frayed, its strength

a chance of

they would have to leave the dark island immediately and never look back. Otherwise, the monstrous

lost,

he would die first, turning the words the Sin of Solace had whispered once into a

'I'm ready.'

her a faint smile. He lingered for a

one is

completely missing the humorous

"Of course."

then took her hand, transferring the

joking, you

Suddenly, she gripped his hand tighter and looked him straight in