Six months later
Sunny learnt pretty much eveything, he mastered the fourth step in [Shadow Dance] along with more weaves, he sill couldnt form fate strings of course but everything he could do as a master was done now. He tried just using the third enchantment of Weaver's mask along with a lot of resistance for his soul, spirit and mind. Despite that he still managed to almost die. Now it was time for goodbyes.
He was promised a total of three memories.
The first one was a memory called
[Re Route]
Memory Rank: ???
Memory tier: ???
Memory Type: ???
Memory Description: [A promise between a Slave and a Priest, both wishing to fulfil each other's desires]
Memory Enchantments: [Corrupted Relapse]
Enchantment Description: [Sends you back in time before a tragedy... Depends on escense. Needs a singular seed of Nightmare to be planted inside someone. Can bring two people upon direct or indirect contact.]
This was apparently given to Alex by Weaver, Sunny assumed Weaver made this. It was a beautiful ring with an opal stone attached to it, it looked unassuming and would continue being so unless they can tell the memory rank. He would receive this one at the end of the Nightmare.
The second memory was called
[A Tethered Thread]
Memory Rank: ???
Memory tier: ???
Memory Type: ???
Memory Description: [A singular thread to connect a lost Shadow with a singular chosen person to remember.]
Memory Enchantments: [Connected]
Enchantment Description: [It connects a singular thread of your Fate to someone else's upon description of it]
This one would be awarded to him after either first or second Nightmare in next try.
As for the third, that would be given to him upon end of this Nightmare. It was apparently a surprise gift for him...
Sunny looked at a list given to him. It was a list of people who needed to be ascasinated. He didn't know the details but apparently to pass the test given to him by Alex, he had to successfully kill them.
There were two people on the list.
He completed the test quickly and got the first Memory.
As for completing the Nightmare Sunny had to "betray" Alex and compromise his position to the current Lord of 'Forgotten Shore', he still called it Forgotten Shore because he wasn't informed of it's actual name yet. He said his goodbyes and made his way towards the castle.
After reaching near the castle he simply tipped someone of their location, reached an ally and Shadow Stepped away. He couldn't be seen anywhere around now after all since he was a Master and the sacrifices were pretty close now. This acursed place and their sacrifices were fuel the damn Sun.
He killed a couple of guards, all Awakened, on his way back by manifesting Shadow tentacles and ripping them apart.
Sunny saw the cathedral, and using the secret exit to enter the priestess' room. He had a bed to steal afterall! He quickly grabbed the bed and tossed it in his storage Memory before leaving from the way he came.
He continued Shadow Stepping all the way to the forest he used to hunt and started hunting Fallen creatures for Shadow Fragments. After his eigth kill he suddenly felt a piercing pain in his soul, the same kind which happened when forming a new core. He screamed.
[You have slain a Fallen Devil, Lost Herald]
[...Your shadow is overflowing with power]
[Your shadow is complete]
After what felt like eternities, he summoned his runes:
Name: Sunless
True Name: Lost From Light
Shadow Cores: [5/7]
Shadow Fragments: [2/5000]
Now he had to quickly meet Alex around their hideout to claim his third memory.
Reaching the place, out of nowhere, he was pulled into a hug. Sunny felt confused, no one, apart from his mom, ever hugged him before and he couldn't even remember the last time he was pulled into one.
It was a strange feeling.
Sunny knew he thought of Alex as a fatherly figure, despite never admiring it out loud even Alex knew that. He felt something protective in the hug which caused a lone tear escalation.
[You have recieved a memory]
[You have recieved a memory]
"Hail Nether
Daemon of Destiny
Lastborn of the for-"
Suddenly everything became dark.
[Your nightmare is over.]
[Prepare for appraisal...]
[Ascended! Your trial is over.]
'huh? Ascended? Right i naturally Ascended in the Nightmare so I guess it makes sense.'
A pause.
'Wait what was that at the end? First born of the what?' It felt like something along the lines of ''forgotten'' was said or "forget"? Something like that.
He didn't hear anything else the Spell said.
It took him almost the whole appraisal to remember something.
'What was it the spell said in his First Nightmare's appraisal? It mentioned a temple of a long forgotten god?' It was definitely something like that.
Suddenly he realised that the daemons were born from a god, without knowing the details.
[Wake up, Sunless!]
[Your nightmare is over.]
Sunny completely forgot about what he was thinking...
***
A week before valor ball
Nephis was walking with Morgan discussing Mordret's escape when suddenly Shadows around them grew colder, causing both of them to tense. The shadows covering a huge chunk danced as they saw their Master waking up.
Suddenly they heard a loud, sharp and shattering sound coming from closeby...
"That's Sunny's room" Nephis visibly panicked as she ran towards the room.
"Attention! All Awakened, a potential gate out break has happened in the Academy room B27" A voice spoke from the speakers as alarm bells rang.
Upon reaching the room she saw broken glass on the floor, the pod where Sunny was sleeping had its glass shattered. Nephis' face paled as she frantically looked around. When she saw, nothing she slowly walked towards the pod with a tear and found it empty.
Her legs felt weak...
***
A pale man with looks akin to a porcelain doll, mantled in darkness that covered his features, found himself looking around his surroundings. The shadows around him grew ever deeper and darker. The temperature dropped considerably, the pale man's breath seen clearly.
Sunny blinked, his gaze searching far beyond the walls before his eyes, his shadows cast within the home. He was calm, but his frantic search was anything but--shadows danced in every cranny of the home, searching from here to there as he desperately looked for Rain. He found himself at her room. Disappointingly, only sets of cardboard boxes greeted him.
'W-where's she? Shouldn't she be home by now' Sunny thought, hoping against hope that she was alive and well, maybe just with her friends.
Sunny waited till night hoping against hope that nothing bad happened before making way towards their door with barely suppressed shaking legs.
He knocked on the door softly...
Then a little louder...
Slightly louder again before the door opened.
"Where's Rain?" Sunny asked with a straight voice before even seeing who opened the door.
No response.
"Where's Rain?" He asked again, his voice a little shaken, holding the man's collar.
"S-s-she is d-dead"
Sunny released his grip and felt his legs give out.
"I-im sorry Rain, I'm such a terrible brother-" Sunny felt himself choking back his tears.
Upon hearing the word "brother", the man in front of him asked if Sunny wanted to stay the night? Sunny nodded, too distracted and shaken to think.
***
People at the academy went crazy looking for Awakened(?) Sunless, even "his" cohort was called to discuss where his location may be, the meeting with Morgan was postponded, and after a lot of meetings an alert was sent to the government agents.
"What if the great clans took Sunny?" Kai asked after calling up his contacts for their help in locating Sunny, "you know, for what happened with him"
"I don't think they would have done that now of all times but it is still possible" Nephis replied, still a little shaken.
"If Sunny woke up he would probably be back here for registring as an Ascended." Cassie told neph, calming her down slightly. "Let's stay here for today."
***
"Ford, how did you out of everyone, as a government agent no less, let an Ascended into our house" Noble sighed. The man looked quite broken so she didn't press further and understood the kindness.
"He asked what happened to Rain almost two years after her death, broke down after I told her she was dead, and called himself a terrible brother." Ford replied, "and apparently the government let out a red alert about a sleeper, from Forgotten Shore, waking up two years after the rest of them. His name is Sunless, and was from outskirts. You know the rumors we found while looking for her real parents don't you? There was a brother mentioned. He looks quite a lot like Rain too."
Ford breathed, before continuing.
"Do you think we should contact someone like the government?" He asked, "I want to give him atleast this night to sort his emotions out, its your choice Noble."
"Yeah let's let him stay here for the night" she said hugging Ford. "We can let him stay over for a breakfast, Rain would want that."