Shadow Slave

Sunny remembered the first time he went all the way to the northern boundary of the Chained Isles vividly. Back then, it had taken Cassie and him around a month to reach the Night Temple from the Sanctuary of Noctis.

The Southern Island was further away from the Hollow Mountains than the Sanctuary - and yet, Sunny made the journey in under a week. Even then, it had only taken him that long because he was taking his sweet time.

He did not need to traverse the heavenly chains to get from one island to the other anymore instead, he simply turned into a crow and flew north, landing from time to time to rest or take a look at something peculiar.

The Crushing was of no issue because he could escape it at any time with Shadow Step. The Nightmare Creatures of the Chained Isles were too weak to pose a serious threat to him, at least as long as he stayed alert. Most simply fled, frightened by his dark presence.

Strangely enough, Sunny felt that he was more at home in the Dream Realm than he was in the waking world. It was as though being a Transcendent finally made him suited to exist in this land of beauty and dread.

Soon, he saw a black line on the northern horizon. The line grew darker and taller as he ventured further north, until he finally could make out the jagged peaks of the Hollow Mountains.

The great mountain chain pierced the sky like the fangs of a giant dragon... at least that was how Sunny always perceived it before. Now, however, he knew that they were simply a scar left on the surface of the world by the fall of a Void Creature that had been killed here at the dawn of time.

True darkness was born from the blood of that abyssal being, which had seeped into the broken earth.

Having beheld the draconian peaks, Sunny lowered his gaze and looked down.

The Northern Island had been destroyed in the battle between Sky Tide and Saint Cormac, so the chasm separating the Chained Isles from the Hollow Mountains was wider than before. Across the dark abyss of the Sky Below, the mountains rose steeply into the distant sky, white mist rolling down their slopes.

It flowed into the abyss like a wall of clouds, disappearing into the darkness.

Sunny exhaled slowly.

He was standing on the edge of an island, with the broken chain that had once connected it to the Northern Island rattling quietly far below, Far away, on the other side of the chasm, the great anchor chain that had once connected the Chained Isles to the Hollow Mountains was hidden by mist.

He was not alone.

Saint, Serpent, Nightmare, and Fiend were standing around him. Gloomy, creepy, haughty, naughty, and crazy shadows lay on the ground, as well. Only the happy shadow was missing, busy with its own mission.

Sunny exhaled slowly, then looked at his retinue.

He remained silent for a while, then said with a pale smile:

"The smart way of doing this would be to send one of you into the mist first. To see how it goes."

None of them showed any reaction... except for Fiend, who tried to hide behind Saint without drawing attention. Sadly, with his current size, hiding behind Saint was not as effective as it had been before.

Sunny grinned.

"...Luckily for you, no one has ever accused me of being smart."

He had been complimented on his wit from time to time, but never in an accusatory tone. So, the statement was technically true.

body. Then, he dismissed the

‘What a bother...'

sense a single shadow on the other side. In fact, he couldn't sense anything. It was as if... nothing existed beyond the veil of

Perhaps quite literally.

'Here we go.'

emerged from them in the form of a crow. Flapping his wings,

chains behind and glided on the winds above the bottomless abyss of the Sky Below. The

I really just...

bad? After all, he was all but erased from existence, already.

the hell... of course,

wanted to live... in fact, he wanted to live more

he wanted to survive, out of nothing but pure spite. Now that the

out another caw, Sunny plunged into the white

Immediately, he felt..., strange.

‘Ah…’

what was

describe it. However, it was debilitating enough to make him fall

limbs. The Crow Shell had collapsed, and he was back to his human body.

the hell... is

completely different. At the same time, it was like a soul attack, but

way Sunny could describe it was that, suddenly, he felt as if he was dreaming. Or rather, had been dreaming

dream, and all his life had been one long, meaningless nightmare.

and none of him

was slowly dissolving under the numb indifference of that obvious realization, as if he was being pulled into

never existed, and would never

He…

He…

He did not exist.

as he acknowledged that

started to lose strength,

His thoughts turned slower.

‘That is right.’

Sunny smiled faintly.

nothing.

sense the mist flowing

Through him.

transparent? If so... that was alright. That was

Only...

me... then why does it hurt

existence once, already. That pain would have been meaningless if he had never existed, in the first place...