Shadow Slave

In the courtyard of the Nameless Temple, a lonely figure was sitting on the black marble plates, shrouded in shadows. It was a young man with alabaster skin and onyx eyes, clad in an intricate suit of fearsome armor. His hair was long, and darker than a raven's wing.

In front of him, a frail tree was growing in the darkness, its branches brimming with wilting leaves.

Sunny studied the tree and sighed.

'It's not doing well, despite my efforts.’

The tree was missing sunlight-what little of it there was in the outskirts of NQSC, from where Sunny had stolen it. But it was resilient, just like the people there were. It had clung to life for a long time in that godforsaken place, and now it continued to do so here, in Godgrave.

Sunny felt guilty towards the tree.

It was the one he had cut two lines into to mark the passing of his parents. After claiming the Nameless Temple and coming back to the waking world, Sunny visited NQSC and took the tree away from the pitiful park where it grew. Of course, he replaced it with a different one people of the outskirts did not have a lot of vibrant things to look at, and he didn't want to rob them of another one.

Not that it mattered too much. Most of the settlers who chose to pass through the Dream Gates were not citizens, but those who had been discarded by humanity and hoped to find a better place for themselves in a different world. As a result, the outskirts of NQSC were much less crowded than they had been in his time, and would only grow more desolate as time went on.

In any case, the familiar tree stood in the courtyard of his Citadel now, and Sunny often came to tend to it, or gaze at it as he contemplated various matters.

‘It seems that Valor and Song have started preparations. It won't be long now.’

He sighed, then closed his eyes and dove into his Soul Sea.

Such a simple thing, but it had taken Sunny more than a year to find a way back into the Soul Sea after being banished from the Nightmare Spell.

concentrating and meditating for a long time. At least for a while he could do it on a moment's notice once again after another year of

Soul Sea looked the same as

But also entirely different.

same. The six lightless suns hanging

It was a perfect replica of the Nameless Temple, which had appeared here on its own

Sea, were now gathered around the temple, Just as lifeless and motionless as they had always been... of course, there were much more of them

at any moment,

were somewhat different from those of lesser Awakened. A Soul

the Soul Sea of a Sovereign

soul of a

didn't know, yet... but maybe

now, he had come

summoned the

Nightmare, Flend,

He studied them silently.

more than one thing he had to discover anew after losing the helpful guidance of the Spell. Entering the Soul Sea was one,

had Sunny learned clearly where his Aspect ended and the Nightmare Spell began. Creating Shadows was a facet of his Aspect... making them stronger by feeding them Memories, however, was a helpful tool

Creatures to be dependent on them for growth. The same could be said about Echoes, which were

Sunny had to discover a new way - the true

succeeded

no idea how to create a Shadow without an

truly bottomless, The rascal had been feasting on all kinds of dreadful Nightmare

stronger, but Fiend had not gained any