Shadow Slave: Re Route

Sunny looked down from the top of a building, looking at the snow. It was a few days till Twilight, and the war loomed over their head like a guillotine.

He started to recall everything, every good moments and bad.

He remembered his cohort...

Sunny was making a slave collar, a way to remind himself of what he was, and would forever be.

Chains that would bind him.

The collar was a reminder to Nephis too.

For what she took.

For what she would take.

And keep taking.

The best part? It could also act as an armor, or well, would after he was done with it.

"Boss? What are you doing?"

It was Luster who just opened the door.

"Nothing!"

"Don't worry, sir, we accept you!" Luster spoke, a teasing smirk on his face.

"It's not what you think. It's a gift for someone else. A gift." Sunny replied, his ears turned slightly red as he realised the implication. The gift was anything but friendly, or wishing well. It was a painful reminder for what she took.

Time trickled away in his memories, and soon he found himself at the moment he summoned Sin of Solace for the third time ever.

This happened while they were on their way to Eurbus Field.

He realised it's true nature, and needed a reminder for everything.

"How long are you going to blame Neph for YOUR mistakes."

Sin of Solace's lips parted into a smug grin, "You really are pathetic..."

"First your mom."

"Then your dad."

"And finally Rain."

All of it was Sin of Solace, and all of it was the truth.

"You're a failure.

Nothing but a failure."

A laugh escaped Sin of Solace's lips.

"SHUT UP"

He summoned SoS for reminding himself of his failures, and he could actually lie to it since it was a part of him.

Outside the room, he could hear his cohort talking about him... They figured out what happened—till some extent—between him and Neph.

He assumed all his nightmares made him talk in his sleep, they were calming down recently though.

They asked him about it, just indirectly, quite a bit though... And he felt thankful for them? He wasn't sure... being thankful made no sense so it was probably something else.

Sunny snapped out of his memories when Jet came back after a mission.

"The government propeganda for us is still going on, they're even making a movie for you. Congratulations Sunny." She laughed with a teasing smirk on her face, "Ah! Apparently you and Mongrel are dating there."

Jet tried to nudge him, but Sunny simply moved away, "WHAT?"

"How could they not think about that when she poked your cheeks." She was still laughing! Laughing at him!

"It was all Saint's fault!" He replied with a defensive tone, to which she simply laughed more.

"Stop it!" Sunny tried to reach for her, while she simply side stepped letting him almost fall on the ground...

He barely kept his balance...

"Anyways, how is Song Clan treating you?" He hurriedly changed the topic, with a slightly red face.

"It's treating me well." She broke into another fit laughter, between breaths, clearly amused. "If things were different... I could have been close with them"

A silence fell.

He knew what she meant.

He knew damn well what it meant... How different would his life be if he, too, was adapted? He most likely wouldn't be a slave right now... That was for sure.

What about her? Would she be a walking corpse?

Well that depended on her but it was unlikely! She would have a higher chance of surviving, that was a certain fact.

What would their life be?

Meeting Nephis was the best thing that ever happened to him... Until it was the worst.

Especially Cassie... He treated her like a sister, and how was he paid back?

He paused at that memory...

'What if they would be like Cassie? What if *Rain* would be like Cassie too?'

What would he do if that was the case?

It wouldn't matter.

He would still save Rain

"You know... Since you're the only one I shared this with." Sunny breathed, a hint of hesitation was visible on his face which twitched, "I-I don't know if I would ever be happy, even if Song adapted me..."

This time, he shivered remembering his true name.

"My attribute... And my True Name."

He paused, seeing a wide-eyed Jet.

"I got it in my First Nightmare."

This time, she gasped in genuine surprise, but seeing Sunny's shoulders drop, and distant almost teary eyes, made her not want to congratulate him.

"You see... While most people consider revealing their True Names as a boon... It isn't. Especially so for me."

"Do you mind me asking on why? For, both, you and anyone else." She asked, mindful of his flaw...

He was glad for it.

"I don't... Its not like I'll live past this month anyways... Maybe not even one more day!" His jaw clenched, and shivered.

He would finally have his revenge...

...and technically he wouldn't die, but those were the details!

In a sense... He would.

"For me... If someone spoke my True Name I would become a slave. That's what Changing Star took from me. My freedom."

Jet's shoulder tightened, and she tensed... A questioning look appeared on her face.

"Yep. That is the true face of Changing Star. She would sacrifice anything and anyone for her goals... And try appearing as a damn saint!"

Sunny paused, and breathed in deeply.

"As for True Names... Their weakness is that if someone knows it they can use sorcery on you... Like how I weave."

Jet was surprised, and baffled by the new information. A gasp escaped her lips.

"W-what? You're telling me sorcery actually exists?

"Yep. Revealing your True Names is a bad idea in front of a Shaper. Even other sorcerers shouldn't know them but Shapers can kill you easily knowing your True Name."

"Thank you. Sunny... Really! A-and I really hope you can do what you're planning to. I know you've got some other way to survive... You always do."

Sunny froze, his eyes widened before he made them perfectly normal. He needed to mask himself. Even if it was Master Jet.

She hugged him, and held him tightly, "I don't know exactly how you're feeling but I hope it becomes better a-and I hope you take care."

Sunny felt his lips parting into a smile.

"Yes. I promise I'll take care." As he said that, he looked away.

He was feeling sorry for leaving her here.

But it had to be done.

It needed to be done.

Sunny hugged her back, and pulled her closer and tighter. He... He felt safer in a hug.

He needed them.... needed them after he heard about Rain.

Her death broke him.

All the guilt he had saved up...

All the self loathing...

Everything that was held back by knowing Rain was alive... Broke.

The dam that held it all back broke.

He let it come down completely for a few days straight.

He was sitting, not moving an inch, under the tree.

"Master Jet... Would my parents want me? After everything that happened."

She didn't know the full extent... All she knew was that he blamed himself for Rain.

But wasn't that enough of a reason for his parents to hate him?

He was Lost from Light.

He was Fated for a life of loss.

What good could someone like him deserve?

What happiness would someone like him feel?

Or atleast... What happiness could he feel without betrayal?

For someone who thought he lived through the worst already... It somehow became much worse than he ever thought was possible. It was all because of him Awakening.

His life became worse than it should have. Infact, it should have been good!

Yet here he was... A lost and lonely slave in a battlefield. A person who had no desire to do anything.

A person who was all alone.

"Yes... They would." Master Jet replied, pulling him closer and tightening her grip around him.

It was more comforting than he thought, causing Sunny to smile.

Sometimes simple words were truly enough.

Time trickled away, like sand in an hourglass. And before he realised it, a war was upon them.

Mordret broken decided to change the orignal plan and lure the two sides to the war, this starting it earlier than expected.

It was the Battle of Black Skull.

Sunny took a deep breath, Before summoning his Memories.

It was time for war.

Sunny looked at the discussion going on, which turned to a full fledged war because of Song's side! Those idiotic Saints, who got too cocky.

Was this a way for them to see Sunny's cards?

It was still too suicidal!

They decided to have a war against War's childern?

Really?

A one on one would have had a higher chance of success.

Atleast it played out how he wanted, he could kill Nephis now.

Kill the girl he loved...

But first it had to be Cassie.

"Before we begin..." Sunny took a deep breath, getting ready for the fights that would follow, "I am Lost from Light. I am the rightful heir of death, and the bastard Son of Fate."

He raised his sword, pointing it forward, against valor.

It was stupid, to reveal his True Name like this, but he wanted to. Atleast he could be cool before "dying".

This way, Changing Star could see how far he was willing to go...

"Now watch as Shadows cover the world..." Sunny summoned the fragment of Shadow's Domain, surrounding the world in endless shadows. He then lowered the sword, pointing it towards the enemy, "And learn the Fear of Shadows."

All around them, sudden sounds of violins played.

And all of it screamed one thing:

DEATH.

The violins tuned all around them, loud and clear.

Fear struck the souls of both the sides, a hint of hesitation appeared on most people's body as some swords dropped.

Ofcourse they did, the way the sounds came was from a group of modified [Extraordinary Rock]s.

The violin play was recorded a while back, with a fear inducing tone, the world shook. Shook in fear. Shook in response.

The shadows stirred, awaiting the call of their Master. Well all the shadows but the ones which had an owner, or were from the Fragment.

Atleast he could share senses from it, this sensing the whole battlefield.

A laugh escaped his lips.

This was the Fear of Shadows.

BLOOPERS:

"Master Jet... Would my parents want me? After everything that happened."

She didn't know the full extent... All she knew was that he blamed himself for Rain.

But wasn't that enough of a reason for his parents to hate him?

He was Lost from Light.

He was Fated for a life of loss.

What good could someone like him deserve?

What happiness would someone like him feel?

Or atleast... What happiness could he feel without betrayal.

For someone who thought he lived through the worst already... It somehow became much worse than he ever thought was possible. It was all because of him Awakening.

His life became worse than it should have. Infact, it should have been good!

Yet here he was... A lost and lonely slave in a battlefield. A person who had no desire to do anything.

A person who was all alone.

"No... They won't." Master Jet replied, pulling him closer and tightening her grip around her.

It was more comforting than he thiught, causing Sunny to smile.

Sometimes simple words were truly enough.

CREDITS: thanks to absurd lmfao, he saw the wouldn't instead of would 😭

(An actual blooper lmfao, I wrote this while travelling a while back)

Chapter goals: 110 kudos (thats 13 more than right now), 15 votes on this chapter of Wattpad, no goals on webnovel and 85 hearts on the discord thread (that's 2 more)