SS AU - Chapter 1 - Lonesome Shadow

*Sunny POV

Something wasn't right. I could feel it. This wasn't how my fight with Neph was supposed to go. It didn't make any sense. The cracks in the Spire were getting bigger, and more debris was falling around us. I could feel myself getting more and more exhausted, but I couldn't give up. The way home was right there. The Gateway was right there. Nephis and I clashed swords, and I could feel her exhaustion as well as my own. But still something wasn't right. She had made too many mistakes. She was the one who had taught me swordsmanship. Why? What was her purpose.

Suddenly, it dawned on me. Everything she was doing was so that I would win the fight. She was engineering this so she could lose, and I would win in clear conscience. But WHY? Why does she want me to win so badly? But if she wanted me to win, then that must also mean that she knew my True Name. But how? How could have…Cassie. Cassie must have seen it in a vision. My eyes widened in realization and in frustration. And then I changed my course of action. And for the second time in my life, I decided to be selfless. After all, the world didn't necessarily need an Outskirts rat like me, but it did need the last Daughter of the Immortal Flame Clan. Nephis could be the symbol of hope that this world needed.

I summoned the Ordinary Rock, and as soon as it appeared, I began moving. Neph must have seen something in my movements because her stance changed, but she wasn't fast enough to block the rock as I threw it at her face wrapped in my shadow. It connected with a hard thwack. I was already moving behind her, knowing that the hit to her head wouldn't have been enough to knock her out, but it was enough to stun her.

"Lost from Light," she called dazedly, but I was already behind her, and my hand, with my shadow wrapped around my fist, connected with the nape of her neck knocking her unconscious before she could utter a command. I caught her as she fell forward. I felt something stir within my soul. Something unbreakable, eternal, and irresistible. It made me complete and whole. I didn't have time to contemplate the meaning of this feeling as Neph began stirring in my arms. I dragged her over to the Gateway but felt a soul-scorching pain as I tried to carry her over.

'Damnation,' I thought. I checked my runes. I realized that it must be the new Attribute [Soul Conduit] that prevented me from crossing into the Gateway. Nephis was stirring even more so I unceremoniously threw her across the runic circle. I watched as the Gateway shimmered to life, and the unconscious body within it began to fade away. The ethereal radiance grew brighter and brighter, until it became hard to discern the human figure in its middle. Just as she disappeared altogether, I saw her regain consciousness, and I could have sworn I saw her scream as though in pain, or perhaps it was fear. Then, she was gone.

I watched as the crack in the floor reached the circle surrounding Gateway, and then watched in dazed horror as the Gateway broke completely. The artificial sun that was overhead pulsed and then exploded in fury. I was left alone in the darkness and shadows. The floor beneath me started cracking even further and realizing that my position was even more precarious than before, Gloomy and I began our descent back down to the bottom of the Crimson Spire.

The descent didn't take as long as the ascent. Mainly because I wasn't fighting coral golems, and also because I didn't have to look for a path for a hundred other people. I summoned the Dark Wings and Prowling Thorn. I floated down where I could, and used the heavy kunai where I thought the debris would hold. Gloomy and I made it down to the bottom in a matter of minutes, and then rushed out as the tower imploded. The world as I knew it was completely different. It was all darkness. At least I could see in the dark. I dodged and rolled as more debris crashed around my head. There were some Nightmare Creatures that had managed to escape the artificial sun's blast, but luckily for me, they were too hurt to worry about hunting down a lone Sleeper.

Once I was on at the bottom of the Spire, I felt something stir in my chest, a strange sort of heat and pain. I quickly looked for a place where I could hide and found a small outcropping that was small enough for me to squeeze into. The Spell spoke, as if it was continuing a sentence after being interrupted.

[Your shadow is overflowing with power.]

[You shadow is taking shape.]

[Your shadow is complete.]

I was in agony. I gritted my teeth to keep from screaming. I didn't know if there were any Nightmare Creature nearby, and I wasn't exactly in shape to fight them. I was no stranger to physical pain, but this. This was different. This came from my soul.

'Argh, damn it all,' I thought while gritting my teeth even harder and hoping that I didn't break any of them.

After a few minutes the pain lessened and faded. I felt refreshed and whole. I crept out of my hiding place and looked around. I felt stronger. Much, much stronger than before. I automatically glanced down at my body to see if Gloomy was wrapped around me, but to my confusion, Gloomy was still attached to my feet. But standing next to him was a second shadow.

'Wh…what the hell?' I thought in surprise. 'There's two of them! What does this even mean?'

With a muffled yelp, I dove into my Soul Sea. There hanging in the darkness were two black suns. 'There's two…I have two cores…why do I have two cores?' I thought in surprise. Had I been right? Was my progression path different from everyone else? A noise to left brought me out of my introspection, and I realized that I was still in danger. I would have to ponder this development once I was somewhere relatively safer. With a heavy sigh, I looked around for somewhere to camp. Not finding anything, I killed a few stray Nightmare Creatures and dressed them down for meat. I was once again thankful to Teacher Julius for his classes on survival. The safest place for me would be back in the Dark City. I was able to craft a makeshift bag from the hide of the Nightmare Creature, and then began the trek.

It had taken us almost a week to reach the Spire from the Dark City. With two shadow scouts and the fact that I was traveling solo, I was able to make the journey back to the Dark City, in two days, stopping only for food and the call of nature. I didn't dare to sleep out in the dying labyrinth. Even if the Nightmare Creatures seemed to be dying as well as the coral labyrinth, they were still a threat. I hid when I could and fought when I couldn't hide. By the time I climbed the outer walls of the Dark City, I was bloodied and broken. I made my way to my familiar cathedral, knowing that it, at least, would be safe. I looked down at bed, and something in me broke. Tears flowed down my face as I raged and cried. Cried for Cassie's betrayal, knowing it had been her that had somehow given Nephis my True Name. Cried for everything that I had lost. Raged against the cruelty that had been my fate especially with my [Fated] attribute.

I don't know how long I stood there in my room wallowing in self-pity, but it felt like hours. Once I was done with my pity party, I wiped my face clean. I summoned the Eternal Spring and drank some water. It was refreshing and cool. My stomach growled to remind me that it had been a while since I had last eaten. So I dug some meat out of my bag and cooked it. While my food was cooking, I decided that it was finally time to check my runes to see what had happened when Nephis had called my True Name just before I had knocked her out.

Name: Sunless.

True Name: Lost from Light.

Rank: Dreamer.

Class: Monster.

Shadow Cores: [2/7].

'Huh, so my progression path really is different,' I thought before continuing to inspect the runes.

Innate Ability: [Shadow Bond].

Ability Description: [Find a worthy master and let them know your True Name. Once they recite it out loud, you will be bound to their will, unable to disobey any command. It is improper for a shadow, let alone a divine one, to walk around with a master.]

However, the runes describing the Shadow Bond were gray and lifeless. 'Makes sense. After all, she's back in the waking world. Safe where she belongs. But, I'll show them. Just to spite them all. Damnit. I WILL MAKE IT BACK! I WILL,' I thought savagely before reading the runes below the ability description.

Master: Changing Star.

Name: Nephis.

True Name: Changing Star.

Rank: Awakened.

Class: Demon.

Soul Cores: [3/7]

Soul Fragments: [2749/3000].

As I read through her runes, I realized that she had a Divine Aspect same as I did. I read through her Memories and Attributes and glowered in the darkness of my room. It was no wonder that she always seemed to never saturate her core. How she always seemed so much more powerful than everyone else around her. I realized that during her fight with Gunlaug she must have been forming a new core and that's why she was so disoriented and weak. I swore silently. I had so much further to go, but then I clenched my fists in determination. My first Nightmare hadn't killed me; the siege of the Crimson Spire hadn't killed me, and I would be damned if I would let this kill me. I would catch up, and I could come back stronger for it.

I stayed in the Dark City for what I presumed to be five days. Without the rise and fall of the fake sun and the coming and going of the sea, it was hard to tell the passage of time. I slept when I was tired and hunted when I was hungry. But ultimately, I knew that staying in the Dark City was a death sentence. I remembered the map Nephis had laid out. There were several directions I could attempt, but something was me calling back south, to the Hollow Mountains. I knew that Neph had called it a Death Zone, but my intuition was telling me that something was waiting for me there.

So, I began making preparation for the long and arduous journey. I wasn't sure if I would be able to catch a ride on top of the walking statue again, and I had to take that into my calculations. I took my bag apart and remade it using some of the clothing from the wardrobe. I also went down into the settlement and found some hides and other pieces of bone and wood that I could use for fire and maybe craft some additional armor and weapons. I gained a few more Memories in my hunts, with one of them being a lantern-type Memory which would be helpful for when I tackled the tunnels under the Hollow Mountains.

At what I thought to be dawn of the sixth day, I climbed the wall of the Dark City once again. I didn't look back as began my descent. I had had enough of that place to last a lifetime, two lifetimes even, and I was ready to be rid of it. The labyrinth was crumbling and gray, and the Nightmare Creatures scuttled away from me. I knew that I would face greater dangers the further away I got from the crumbled heap that was the Crimson Spire, but I would face that when it came. With these thoughts, I hefted my bag and began walking towards the south.

I had been travelling for approximately two weeks. Time seemed to blend together in one nonstop loop. The fights were getting harder, and I had had a few close calls. But, between Blood Weave and the [Unbroken] Enchantment of the Midnight Shard, I was still alive. Something I hadn't quite been prepared for was the loneliness. I talked to my shadows, but of course, they had no vocal cords so they couldn't talk back. I had even gotten bored of talking to the Ordinary Rock although using that had gotten dangerous. But more than anything I was lonely. So very, very lonely. There were days when I thought of my time alone in the Dark City. What had Effie called me? Feral? Yes, she had called me feral when we had reunited. I could feel that I was slipping back into that madness and ferality. The only thing that truly kept me sane was practicing Shadow Dance. I had already claimed my first Legacy Relic, Soul Serpent, before leaving the Dark City, but it hadn't been too useful. I couldn't use the [Shadow Guide] Attribute of the Serpent because Sleepers couldn't use essence, and I didn't know if I would be able to call the Serpent forth in its weapon form.

I glanced up at the dark, starless sky and sighed. I packed my things back in my back. It was time to move. I could see the arch where we had had our "beach episode" in the distance and knew that I was on the right path. I had been retracing our path out of the Dark City as best as I could, but without landmarks, stars, or even the artificial sun, it had been difficult to know if I had been heading in the right direction. But I was finally making headway. I sighed again, sending my shadows off scouting. I summoned Saint and Serpent, and together, we began the climb. But above all, I was so very, very lonely.