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.'

Source — but not necessarily so. Sunny could have attempted to find the Estuary alone, for some reason. But he definitely had

therefore, an unknown

of the Sin of Solace, Sunny had grown immune to losing his memory of

that point, several

guided by unknown reasons, he continued to search for the entrance to the Estuary that was hidden somewhere in the mist of the Source. Perhaps, by then, he was already infected by the

the beginning of the Nightmare

of course,

were infected by

died at

on the deck of the Chain Breaker, Sunny shivered. His face

'What happened next, then?'

It was obvious…

released from Shadow Bond, finally fulfilling his

his freedom did not

was enslaved by one of the people he had surrendered to the Defilement — Kai. Then, the corrupted cohort found a new goal. To conquer the Nightmare and be released into the real world by obliterating the River People

And so…

the same time became foreign invaders of the new cycle. Sunny did not know how, but he had an inkling that the Source and

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 Nightmare

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

Six

to annihilate the River People. Even Twilight, the city of challengers led by the

should have conquered the Nightmare

for

twisted smile appeared on

wanted.

so, the vile madman

with spreading the Defilement to

know what

But he could guess.