Shadow Slave

Sunny was on the deck of the Chain Breaker once again. He straightened and looked into the mist, his eyes sunken.

"Doesn't work... that doesn't work. Should we abandon the caverns route?"

His bleak voice was quiet enough to not be heard by Nephis and Cassie. Although Sunny had been careful not to overwork himself too much again, the strain of surviving... and failing to survive... on Wind Flower was slowly getting to him.

It was hard, to keep himself from succumbing to hopelessness and numbness. Sunny had known many bitter defeats, but being crushed over and over again still burdened him. More than that, his mindset was slowly deteriorating into not caring about whether he lived or died at all...

Why would he care if all that waited after death was another revolution, and then another, and another, endlessly and without reprieve?

If there was one thing that kept him grounded and served as an anchor for his sanity, it was the fact that watching his companions die was always an agony. Even knowing that they would be reborn in the loop did not ease the pain and desperation Sunny felt each time he miscalculated and led them to their deaths.

If he was by himself, he probably would not have given up... but his focus and determination would have deteriorated much faster.

He had to take the members of the cohort away from Wind Flower, though... Jet, Cassie. Effie and her baby. Nephis...

That thought kept him motivated.

He was the only one who could. Due to a random twist of fate, Sunny possessed a cursed sword which made him able to remember the previous revolutions. That alone placed him ahead of everyone else on the island... in fact, simply knowing that they had to escape was already half of the victory.

It was just that the other half had turned out to be insurmountable.

And it was hard, to carry all that burden all by himself.

"No, the cavern route is the safest, which makes it the fastest."

Sunny remained silent for a few moments.

of Truth, that is the answer. I should make it reflect more Nightmare Creatures... ah, but not

was motionless, going over the collection

on Wind Flowers that both fit the criteria and could be caught in the reflection of the Mirror of Truth without getting him killed.

were Undying Slaughter and Devouring Beast, as well.

frowned and tried to discover its source... what was it?

that Cassie and Nephis, who were supposed to be discussing the Guiding Light behind him, were

girl had already used the sacred staff to determine where Effie was located. Nephis was studying

His frown deepened.

'It... changed? Why?'

heard him muttering to himself. Had he done something else to affect the usual flow of events, or

don't think I

face. Perhaps his posture or presence influenced Cassie

"Sunny?"

shook off his confusion and looked

do. Stay calm. I'll summon the Fragment of Shadow

mounted Nightmare and left the Chain Breaker once again. He found Jet and

copy Soul Flame and heal her right away, though. Although it was a little cruel to Jet, Sunny could not allow himself to

returned to the Chain Breaker, the strangeness continued. The conversations seemed to be the same,

what was wrong. Jet

girl seemed strangely distracted, moving slower

It all started when she failed to make her usual remarks about

that Cassie was behaving strangely that late because she usually kept quiet while the others talked. Her subtle reactions, however, had been different from the familiar

'What is going on?'

doing and stared at Cassie with a slight frown. Eventually,

everything alright with