Shadow Slave

1489 A Variable

It had to be true.

The Mad Prince must have traveled in time to become Sunny… for one simple reason. Sunny could not possess the Key of the Estuary otherwise.

He took a deep breath and grasped his head, feeling dazed.

'There are answers… too many answers. For once.'

The turbulent swarm of revelations was yet to settle in his mind, and there was no clear picture.

'Everything makes sense now. But also, nothing makes sense.'

Sunny felt that he understood the true nature of the Great River. He also understood the sequence of events that had transpired prior to the current cycle. It all came together nicely… except for one glaring inconsistency.

The existence of the Six Plagues was a paradox that could not be explained by what he knew. But that was alright. He did not know everything, after all, especially not in a place as bizarre as the Tomb of Ariel.

However, if Sunny simply accepted the paradoxical existence of the Plagues as fact, everything would fall into place. For example, the fact that Wind Flower had met both the Mad Prince and Sunny — just like Effie and Jet coexisted with Devouring Beast and Undying Slaughter, Sunny coexisted with the memories of his previous self.

The vile madman was gone, but the scars he had left on the Great River remained. Like Weave, which he had destroyed. Or Ananke, whom he doomed to a life of loneliness and loss.

'So, how did it all happen?'

Sunny contemplated the Third Nightmare, numb to his surroundings.

The first thing he had to admit was that he did not know, and would most likely never learn, what the initial shape of the Nightmare had been. The reality of the Great River had been irrevocably changed by the Six Plagues. So, the challenge the original cohort had faced was entirely different.

It were the Six Plagues, after all, who had taken control of Verge and led the forces of the Defilement to devour the cities of the River People, undoubtedly accelerating the demise of the River Civilization. Without them, the cohort might have found many powerful allies to aid them in slaying the First Seeker.

However, during that first cycle, something had gone wrong. Somehow, the cohort ended up entering the Source instead of laying siege to Verge…

'No, not quite right.'

Sunny could have attempted to find the Estuary alone,

an unknown number

immune to losing his memory of the past cycles. Becoming... a

that point, several things could have

the lives of his companions, failing cycle after cycle and eventually going mad. Perhaps, guided by unknown reasons, he continued to search for the entrance to the Estuary that

case, eventually, there came a time when Sunny was returned to the beginning of the Nightmare already

of

were infected

at

the deck of the Chain Breaker, Sunny shivered. His face was deathly

'What happened next, then?'

It was obvious…

from Shadow Bond, finally fulfilling his

did

corrupted cohort found a new goal. To conquer the Nightmare and be released into the real world by obliterating the

And so…

before the first day of the Nightmare… and at the same time became foreign invaders of the new cycle. Sunny did not

eventually Transcending… or rather, falling deeper into Corruption. Ananke had already told Sunny that it was possible for those who followed the path of Ascension to reach Transcendence without conquering a Third Nightmare. Similarly, it was possible for Fallen

when Nephis killed her. The former members of Neph's cohort achieved a

thus, the Six Plagues

led the forces of the Defilement to annihilate the River People. Even Twilight, the city of challengers led by the Serpent King, fell

should have conquered the Nightmare decades ago,

for the Mad

eerie, twisted smile appeared on Sunny's

what the Dread Lord wanted. But

vile madman conspired

the Mad Prince was still harboring a desperate obsession. One that had nothing to do with spreading the Defilement to every corner of the Tomb of Ariel, obliterating the River Civilization,

not know

But he could guess.