Shadow Slave

Sunny turned away from the chilling testament that Ariel had left behind in the silent waters of the still lake and continued forward.

There were a million thoughts in his mind. The magnitude of the revelation he had received dwarfed almost everything Sunny knew — the very reason for the cold reality he was born into now had an explanation. The future, too, had become much clearer. And it was a frightening future, as well.

The gods were dead... but not all of them.

The seventh god was still alive, slumbering in the cradle of the Void. All of existence was already infected by the horrors of his nightmare, and once the Forgotten One awakened, even that ailing world would come to an end.

And yet, Sunny had no desire to ponder these truths right now.

The matters of corrupted gods and dying worlds were far away. The dreadful future they promised was far away, too... although perhaps not as far as he would have hoped for. In any case, none of it held any meaning as long as he was bound.

As long as he wasn't free.

Free to live his life the way he wished to live it, as well as free to try and change the predestined outcome. Even if the end promised by the truth of Ariel truly came before Sunny died peacefully of old age, even if he failed to change anything, in the end... there was really only one thing sadder than living as a slave.

It was dying as one.

So, Sunny wished to gain freedom even more desperately now.

And, unlike the dreadful truth, his freedom was near.

The Guiding Light was still shining, pointing across the dark waters. Sunny followed that light through the darkness.

As he walked across the still lake, subtle ripples spread from where he stepped. His reflection walked alongside him, and a few steps back, the Sin of Solace followed, staring at Sunny with hateful eyes.

'Why is he being so quiet?'

There was something strange happening to the sword wraith. He seemed... different, somehow, ever since they had entered the Estuary. Sunny had long grown accustomed to the company of the loathsome apparition, but now, he was growing wary of its presence.

Not the least because he knew now what harrowing knowledge the Sin of Solace was harboring, prevented from sharing it only by the seal placed on him by the Estuary Key.

Just like the Void could break its seal and consume all of existence, the knowledge of it that the wraith possessed would consume Sunny should the Estuary Key disappear.

The thought was chilling.

I never tried to transfer the

the dark lake, losing all sense of time —or rather, what little of it he had

calm before, was slowly growing restless. There were powerful currents moving underneath the surface, making the

in the distance. Jagged rocks were rising from the water, resembling cliffs. The water was flowing between them, restless, and wisps of mist rose

silence was broken by the sound of rushing water and the whispers of distant

a complicated expression. There was a labyrinth formed by the passages between the jagged

roar in the distance, as

very fabric of reality grow thin

'What is this place...'

did not know... but he had a

he noticed something at the base of one of the cliffs. There, a mark had been left on the black stone,

"sun",

Prince passed

And not only him.

sure that here,

of time, the

the streams, he would most likely be able to exit the Estuary. He would also enter the Great River at a point in time different from where he had left it

far

the day he

of the Great River where he was not meant to exist — and had

had her exact

River, the two of them meticulously prepared the playing field for the arrival of

had not paid attention to these words back then, overwhelmed by other matters,

existed outside of time... or rather, time itself did not exist yet in the Estuary. So, the relationship between this eerie place and the rest of the Tomb of Ariel was tenuous

and travel to a different time — not the subjective time of the Great

find a way to come and go as he pleased, visiting different eras of the Tomb of Ariel. He could even travel to a time before the Plagues invaded the latest cycle, prepare for their arrival, then destroy

as powerful back

Civilization would not decline as fast. Perhaps the Twilight would not

be destroyed by the forces of the Defilement, and the beautiful cities of

case, he did not have a

He barely had one.

and followed the

to