Shadow Slave: Shadow of Blood

The ride to the Sanctuary was silent, there was not much to say, Sunny simply caught up Nephis on the Nightmare, what happened and their objective.

Her reaction was as Sunny expected, she simply raised her brow in slight confusion and nodded.

"Transcendents huh… And one of them is named Solvein. But this Demon of Desire, Hope, she infected everyone?"

[Shadow]: "She amplified their desires basically."

"Does that include us?"

[Shadow]: "Maybe, why do you ask?... Oh…"

Nephis hid a blush. She was talking about their kiss, how much they wanted each other.

[Shadow]: "I… Don't know, but the desires are there in every one, her power simply amplifies them, I think…"

"So… Did you want to do that…?"

Sunny stared at Nephis, if he had a body, he would be blushing, terribly.

[Shadow]: "Y-Yes…"

Sunny looked away, and so did Nephis.

The rest of the trip was a tide of a thousand thoughts, from both sides.

— —

Eventually, they reached the Sanctuary. As Dreadwing landed on the walls, Sunny helped Nephis down, helping her as she was still getting used to her new body weight.

As the Shadow Raven returned to his soul sea, he guided Nephis through the temple.

By sheer coincidence, they encountered Noctis, who had been in the gardens building statues of himself that got progressively uglier.

The charming Transcendent turned to the Shadowspawn in the figure of a human and a wide smile illuminated his face.

"Sunless! My little nephew, took you long enough, did you find the Glass Knife?"

Only after finishing the sentence did he notice the beautiful and graceful figure of Nephis, his mouth almost gaping.

"Oh my! And who is this?"

Since Sunless couldn't physically answer, he was saved from-

"Almost forgot, here is your gem. Don't know why you refused to keep it with you."

Noctis threw the green gem that made the thoughts be projected outward, and Sunny caught it without missing a beat, not wanting to get on Noctis' bad side.

The result was his shadow form promptly rippling repeatedly as if twitching his eye, and inevitably, his thoughts were projected.

"I really don't like this."

"But it is the only way I can talk to you! Come on, tell me what happened so we can talk to your friends."

Sunny groaned as his thoughts were projected.

"I went to the Fortress of Steel and was about to begin scouting when I noticed one of my companions…"

He gestured to Nephis.

"Was trapped inside the maximum security, so I did what any sane person would do, I got her out. Unfortunately, the Glass knife wasn't there, It must be in the Temple of the Chalice."

Noctis nodded along.

"I see! That is surprising, I mean, to think my dear nephews are friends with such exotic people! A soldier from the Ivory army, a priestess from the North, a strange creature, and now a descendant from Sun God?!"

The Transcendent shrugged.

"Oh well, the more the merrier I suppose!... Hang on, did you deal with the Fortress quietly or…"

"It's burnt to the ground."

Noctis' face suddenly dropped, and a nervous smile creeped onto his face.

"W-Well, this is… Unexpected, I'll have to make haste then! Go to Seishan, I will be in my quarters!"

Just like that, the Noctis left without looking back, leaving both Sunny and Nephis stumped.

The girl turned to Sunny with an eyebrow raised.

"Why does he call you nephew?"

Sunny answered without hesitation.

"He is a descendent of Beast God, and since me and Shan have the Lineage of Beast God, so he thinks we are related. Which is kind of true, whatever, he saved Shan, that is what matters…"

Sunny froze, noticing something important.

"Wait… A priest from the North? A strange creature? Who was he talking about?"

"... I think our cohort found their way here."

—

So it was the case, a woman with long dark hair and a blindfold covering her eyes, wearing black garments and keeping a rapier close to her, together with a man bearing the most charming smile, hiding so many secrets.

Cassie and Mordret.

They were both incarnated in the North of the Chained Isles, where after much time, they were able to find each other and figure out the objective of the Nightmare, after which Mordret destroyed the city using his power to create reflections and killed the Chain Lord there using the knife Cassie found. Only possible due to the Transcendent having long lost her mind.

Mordret had the power to somehow shatter himself and create reflections of powerful beings, be it humans or creatures.

How did that work? He didn't want to say, unfortunately for him, Cassie could see his runes.

"He has a Divine Aspect, that is why he is as strong as you both, he uses his cores to create reflections."

Everyone in the room turned to Cassie, Mordret having the most annoyed smile in the world, while Seishan and Kai paused in confusion.

"Divine… Aspect?"

Kai was completely out of the loop.

Nephis looked at the archer and approached him, harnessing her flames, she touched his still bandaged chest, healing him. However, her hands kept trembling, something that Sunny noticed…

In fact, she had been slightly trembling ever since she entered the room, not even being able to look anyone in the eyes…

In a moment, all his burnt body was healed, returning to what it once was. His hand and legs were rebuilt, his eye was back, and the white skin shined brighter than ever.

"Nephis… Thank you!"

Nephis nodded, but her hand quickly retreated, not daring to maintain contact. Her response came out low.

"No problem, now, you better stay in bed, there is much to talk about."

—

After an hour of catching up with each other and explaining about Divine Aspects and history, which made Kai's head turn a few times, it was clear they needed to go to the Temple of the Chalice, get the Glass Knife, then acquire the Ruby Knife right after, then fight against three Transcendents and their army.

But… Sunny and Nephis wouldn't go.

"I already told you, you need to rest!"

Sunny was trying to keep Nephis in her new room, but she wasn't making things easy.

"I am fine Sunny, I already got used to this body, there's no reason for why we can't go to the Temple."

Sunny pretended to roll his eyes.

"Neph, you just returned from who knows how many nightmares, you are not fooling me."

Nephis grimaced slightly, her mouth going back by millimeters and her eyebrows descending, looking down in something akin to annoyance. It was true, she hadn't fully recovered, the memories of the years of mental torture still there.

But her stubborn side still held on.

"I can swing my sword and wield my flames."

"And end up hurting yourself and the others? Neph, you trembled for just touching Kai, Kai of all people!"

Her eyes opened a little, as if surprised that he noticed.

"I only saw a fraction of what you had to go through, but I do know no one would be able to get out of that unharmed…"

Nephis unconsciously grabbed her chest, remembering more horrible things… One of the nightmares had her die by the hands of Kai, an arrow directly into the heart.

Sunny grabbed her arm gently and looked directly into her eyes as she raised them, the green gem still in his hand.

"Let them deal with the Temple, they are more powerful than you think. You've done more than enough, rest a little, then we can talk about fighting."

Nephis stared at the unreadable face that was Sunny's current form, for the first time in a long time, he could see her vulnerable face, her expression… Pain was clearly still there.

"Why aren't you going?"

Sunny wished he had time to think of the right answer, unfortunately, the damn gem didn't distinguish between his thoughts.

"Because I need to stay with you."

A faint blush appeared on her face, even though her expression didn't change, she merely nodded, turning around to enter the room, her wings almost hitting him.

But before the door closed, Sunny heard her say something, her voice as quiet as a low whisper…

"Thank you…"

She closed the door and went to lay on the bed, not to sleep, but to rest, to let the silence govern her mind after so much chaos.

Sunny touched the door, he would join her eventually, he just had to do one more thing.

Sounds of heels stomping on the ground echoed through the corridor together with subtle steps.

He turned his head to see two women approaching, one wearing a red blood dress that hugged her figure perfectly, and the other with black garments.

Seishan was not exactly happy, while Cassie was rather indifferent more than anything.

The gem made Sunless start the conversation.

"I know what you are going to say."

"She has a Divine Aspect?!"

"Knew it."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed his collar.

"Since when did you know?"

"Since the Dark City, when I became a Demon, she told me."

Seishan sharpened her eyes and turned to Cassie.

"And I guess you know too, don't you?"

Cassie, who was seemingly lost in thought, turned her head to the daughter of Song and simply nodded.

Clicking her tongue, Seishan turned to Sunny again.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because she asked me to."

"Really? She just asked you and you accepted? If mother knew, she would actually fight to keep her on our side. Do you have any idea what the King of Swords will do if he discovers this? He will never let her go!"

"Yes, yes, and yes. I know, but if I told you, I would be breaking her trust."

Seishan groaned.

"Let me speak with her–"

Sunny got in her way immediately.

"No. Let her rest… She needs it…"

Seishan widened her eyes as Sunless' form rippled. Soon enough, she softened her gaze, understanding passed through her eyes.

"Sunny… What happened in that prison?"

He didn't take long to explain…

When he was finished, Cassie was gripping her arms, while Seishan looked down, passing her hand through her hair.

"I… See. That's why you don't want to…"

Sunny let go of the green gem and put it in his pocket, there was nothing else to say. He merely looked at the door.

After a few moments, he felt a foreign presence disrupt his form. That disruption was in the form of a hug, the presence was his sister, hugging him.

He barely reacted as Seishan hid her eyes on his shoulder.

"You love her, don't you? You made a Connection with her…"

Sunny froze.

'H-How–'

As if reading his mind, Seishan completed his thoughts.

"How did I know? You are not subtle when it comes to her little brother, neither is the girl herself… When you actually pay attention."

She let go of the hug and looked directly at him.

"Just remember to think of the bigger picture from now on, and I'll forgive you…"

However, she didn't look as pleasant as she turned to Cassie.

"But it still doesn't explain your actions."

Cassie couldn't help but twitch her head in confusion, so Seishan clarified for her. Approaching while glaring with her red eyes, a scarlet smile appeared on her lips, not bothered by the seer's lack of sight.

"You are on thin ice as it is, if it wasn't for your power or Hel's insistence, you wouldn't even be standing right now. If you hide anything else from us… I don't need to finish, do I?"

Cassie swallowed, nodding uncomfortably.

The elder child of Song was about to leave, but the blind seer had something to say.

"I didn't hide it."

Seishan widened her eyes.

"I told Death Singer."

Seishan stood still for a few seconds, not daring to look at the Heir of Weaver, before she sighed.

'Hel… What are you doing?'

Before she could leave, Sunless made sure to reach her and touch her shoulder.

About to ask something, she felt a chill run down her spine, something was bonding to her, joining her soul…

A tattoo of a dark serpent began moving through her skin, Sunny's Soul Serpent.

He had given to her through the [Grace of Shadows] ability of the Shadow.

[Shadow]: "In case you need it. Be careful, he bites."

Seishan smiled genuinely and nodded. Proceeding to leave the corridor, leaving the Witch of Fate and Divine Shadow alone.

"You won't say anything?"

Sunny looked at Cassie while he grabbed the gem and crossed his arms.

"Not particularly, I figured you and my sister held many, many secrets. But Seishan isn't one to let things fly."

"Hmhm… I can't blame her. Either way, I have a present for you."

Cassie reached out her hand, offering it, curious, Sunny accepted it, and the Spell resounded on his ear.

[You have received a Memory.]

The runes were… curious.

Memory: [Shadow Chair]

Rank: Awakened.

Description: [A comfortable chair. Figured you'd like it.]

Sunny looked extremely confused for a moment.

"Oh, and I can create Memories."

He snapped his head at Cassie, who was now bearing a sweet, innocent smile, enjoying his bewilderment.

"The Lineage of Weaver really is strong, don't worry, I'll make sure to compensate you for giving it to me. But keep your questions for later, I'm sure Neph is waiting for you."

Sunny pretended to sigh exaggeratedly, which made Cassie smile.

She was about to turn, before remembering something.

"One more thing…"

He looked at her.

"Would you mind if I am a bit more honest with you, Hollow Death?"

— — —

[You have been bestowed a True Name: Shadowkeeper.]

[You have been bestowed a True Name: Lost in Time.]

[You have been bestowed a True Name: River of Lost Souls.]

— — —

Mei had always been disciplined.

Born to Ayakashi and Yuki Raiden, she was the first and last daughter of Clan Raiden to come into the world.

Despite all her will, Mei's mother left the living soon after her daughter was born, victim to a disease that couldn't be cured.

As a result, her father had to raise her all by himself, so he did it the only way he knew how, by training her.

He took her to the Dream Realm after getting permission of the Raven Queen, into the Citadel he controlled, a secluded one circled by mountains, close to the hot land of Godgrave, and trained her.

Every day she was taught something new, cared for and trained to be able to survive the Nightmare Spell. From swordsmanship to survival, Ayakashi didn't save expenses to make sure his daughter was strong.

Mei didn't mind the harsh routine, quite the opposite, she wanted to be trained, to have this order. She understood every reason her father had to give her this pressure, she also suffered from the loss of the mother she barely knew, the routine and discipline kept her mind at bay.

She learned a lot, she grew, she trained… And despite the cold childhood, she knew her father cared, even if he didn't show it very much.

She was the ideal daughter for a Legacy Clan, never once did she wavered or complain, she fought until her bones gave in or her father said it was enough.

She followed every rule her father gave, for years…

Until one day, she disobeyed him for the first time in her life.

"Never leave the Citadel. Much less reach the outer mountains."

But curiosity took the better of her.

She wanted to know… What were those monsters that people feared so much, to see them up close, all using the training given to her to stay out of sight…

She was able to stay sneak past Awakened, and even some Ascended with the Charm her father gave her, why would a nightmare creature be any different?

What a fool she was…

For the mountains that protected the Citadel weren't a threat to the strongest of Godgrave.

Neither did all the Awakened stationed at the border could even hope to thwart it.

Nothing could stop a Great Demon.

And amidst all the massacre, it found Mei.

The poor girl was too traumatized by all the blood to move, shock corrupted her body as her eyes followed the enormous monstrosity that slowly got closer, its corrupted gaze showing amusement.

The girl was so weak it could simply breathe and she would die.

Mei couldn't move, look away, or blink, if she did anything, she would die. If the creature wanted her to die, she would die, even if it was dozens of meters away, she would die…

Even at such a distance, Mei would have been killed if the creature took one more step at her.

And as it did, the skies darkened, and thunder struck loudly, followed by purple lightning.

The Great abomination widened its maddening eyes and moved its hand, slashing at where Mei was, its target was someone else.

The next thing she knew, Mei was in her father's arms, safely, in the Citadel…

In his left arm, as the other was destroyed.

"Goodbye, Mei. I hope you live long enough to forgive me…"

It was the last time she felt the warmth of his arms, the next instant, he had disappeared in purple sparks. Returning to face the Great abomination.

If he hadn't lost an arm, maybe he could have survived… No, he would have survived, he would have beaten a Great Demon alone…

Ayakashi Raiden sacrificed his life, in doing so, he killed the Great Demon.

Mei lost everything that day. Even herself.

Much happened after that day, as the Clan had no other Transcendent, the Citadel was given to what was considered the closest friend of the past ruler, Saint Selena, the Frostblade, but as she had many more obligations, she rarely visited her own new home… Not that she ever considered hers.

Mei… She was both the disgrace and the hope of Raiden, if she hadn't been there, their leader wouldn't have been killed, at the same time, her newfound power after completing the Fist Nightmare made her invaluable.

[Aspect Rank: Sacred.]

The number of individuals with such a power could be counted by hand, yet that power gave her no joy, nor did it fill the hole in her heart.

She couldn't trust herself anymore, why would a power such as this matter?

She wanted to die.

Especially with how much her flaw mocked her.

Flaw: [True Blade.]

Description: [This blade is your life, your soul, your Aspect, and your being.]

A pristine violet katana, with a case for it. From now on, that was who she was. If the blade cracked, her soul was damaged, if she was angry, the sword grew unstable, anything she did was reflected onto the blade.

It was her life. A blade that reflected her own rank and who she was.

The problem was that the blade never reflected anything. It only reacted to her Aspect, nothing more, nothing less, otherwise, it was just a violet, Dormant katana.

Because she was hollow.

And to add to the mockery, her hair and eyes turned purple after Awakening, the same colour of her father's power…

She wanted to join them, to ask for forgiveness from her father. But he… He wanted her to live.

So she did, even if she didn't want to, maybe she could do something good in her worthless life…

Oh, how the Spell mocked her, putting her in a Death Zone with no escape.

In the beginning, she didn't fight or hunt, she didn't want to, she was weak. She dealt with enough pain in her life, no point In struggling to survive In this cursed world.

And with her flaw… Regardless of a strong Aspect, a simple Fallen strike would kill her.

She had created every excuse to die.

That makes you wonder… If she wanted so much, why did she fight so much once it came?

The creature that invaded the outer settlement was about to kill her, to end her suffering, and yet… She unsheaved her katana and slayed the beast.

From that day, she joined the hunters, begrudgingly following Gamma due to his experience, she had better chances to live under him.

And she continued to live, without knowing why… Until that boy came…

Sunless Song…

He became the way she would find her peace, if she could serve Song like her father did, maybe she could make up for her mistakes…

Maybe her sword wouldn't be hollow anymore.

Maybe she could find some meaning in her life.

And his actions proved her right.

She would be the blade that annihilates anything in his way until nothing but ashes are left.

A Shogun that serves the one who gave her a real reason to keep going.

A River that gives solace to all Souls that are Lost in the quiet shadows of Hollow Death.

— — —

The space was disrupted in the building of the Shadow Watchers, as the rooms containing the sleeping pods were being opened together, which were also destroyed as a result.

Dense winds bursted the capsule open

Blue shockwaves exploded the wires and circuits.

Hundreds of slashes picked the piece of technology apart.

Extreme heat ignited a blue flame that consumed the whole pod.

Strands of pink essence creeped their way out of the pod, opening it subtly.

Mist spread through the whole room that the pod was stationed in, so dense that not even a Saint could see through it without a Memory or Aspect.

Neon lines infected the pod with a powerful… 'Virus', letting butterflies slip through the pod.

When Mei woke up from the Nightmare, she immediately used her newfound strength to violently burst open the pod. She couldn't linger, not even activating her new Ascended Ability.

Getting out, she was breathing heavily, a determined expression overcame her as she looked to the side, the room on the far side was Lycon's, the one she needed to see.

Grabbing her katana that for a moment, didn't even seem to be there, and held the hilt of her blade.

She needed to be sure…

Activating her Awakened Ability, she slashed the air and created a rift in reality. Her ability lets her travel between two spaces tearing reality apart to allow passage. Of course, things aren't so simple, if she wasn't careful, she could end up stuck in a wall with no way of getting out depending on where she landed.

And it consumed a ridiculous amount of essence for even a short trip of even two meters, the longer the distance, the more essence it consumed.

But now that she was Ascended and had the Soul Serpent making her essence consumption more efficient, she could reach where she wanted, and she knew where she wanted to go…

She jumped into the rift, for a split second, she saw eternal darkness spreading through the endless space, in the next second, she was in Lycon's room…

Mei landed on the ground, sliding through it while keeping her balance.

She glared up, where she could finally see… Lycon, he was different.

Of course he was, he forgot too much after overusing his Aspect.

In the Nightmare, Lycon and Mei ended up against a Corrupted Monster, in the fight, Lycon was forced to use his Aspect to regress time… Several times.

From using his Awakened to his Dormant Abilities, he not only regressed himself, but also the Transcendent. Luckily, the Nightmare ended before he used it until the Transcendent got too young, but the fact he did it at all was already too much.

So now, Lycon was a complete unknown.

He was leaning at a table, his table, somehow smiling despite having lost most, if not all his memories.

He looked up at Mei, and his smile widened, it was the same practiced smile he always used, as if he was always in control.

"Oh my? Mei, why are you barging in like that? Don't you know how to knock?"

Mei sharpened her eyes, he was speaking as if it was a spectacle, like he was hiding something.

'He remembers me? No, that isn't good, if that is the case, what did he forget?'

She raised herself and moved her thumb to unsheave only the slightest part of her katana.

"Lycon, who are you loyal to?"

He blinked repeatedly, as if baffled by the question, and raised his arms.

"I'm… Sorry? What kind of question is that? Lord Sunless of course."

Mei flinched, unconsciously reaching her blade. Something was wrong with the way he said that…

No, he wouldn't say it like that.

He didn't even question why I asked him this.

"Lycon… Why do you hate your blood family?"

His smile froze suddenly, and he began to chuckle.

The chuckle became a laugh, a sarcastic, humorless laugh.

Then he finally stared at Mei, his eyes cold.

"Oh, please 'Mei'... I have no reason to hate my family."

The room immediately trembled as the River of Lost Souls unsheaved her blade completely. A violent storm of purple sparks rushed out of it, she was activating her Ascended Ability.

Her eyes shot up, and a vague tint of red sparks could be seen in the storm of purple as she flicked her blade and lowered her body to attack.

A violent tide of black water cascated out of the violet blade, as fast as it appeared, it flooded the ground, turning into an abyss of calm waters of darkness that only rippled where she stood.

From the blade, darkness also expanded outward, consuming all of the outside, including Lycon.

The only light that came from the space was a giant black hole that absorbed all light, her soul core, transformed as a consequence of her Ascended Ability as it absorbed all essence that it could to maintain the space that had been created.

Black rain incessantly fell on the waters, not moving them in any way, beneath the waters, shadows ruled everything, slowly rising from the waters to reach the skies.

All of it happened in an instance, and Lycon was inside the Aspect of Mei, not moving a muscle.

In a flash, Mei moved, not caring for the consequences, she slashed at Lycon's direction, a purple slash moved for not longer than a second, before cutting his body in two.

Lycon didn't react, he couldn't, he dropped on the floor.

The second Lycon's body reached the dark waters of the space, the sea immediately vanished, the sky returned to the katana, and the black hole returned to being her soul core, returning to normal, leaving his body limb on the floor of his own room.

Mei breathed in, taking a long, deep breath and closing her eyes… Before opening again, of course it wouldn't be that easy.

Lycon was there, unharmed, still using the same smile.

"That was impressive, I must say, you are powerful, really powerful, makes you wonder why you are willingly summiting yourself to Song."

Mei sighed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

"You were loyal to Song."

"Oh, sorry, I don't remember that, I do remember entering the clan, but I don't remember why… Doesn't really make sense unless I was supposed to be a spy…"

He chuckled to himself.

"After all, blood does run deeper than water, whatever happened for me to leave Pillaris, it must have been a ruse. No matter, I have no intention of following this 'Sunless' of yours, if I was really one of his subordinates, I would have that tattoo of yours."

Mei sharpened her eyes, Lycon's memories were probably a jumbled mess, his mind scrambling to make sense of them.

But that didn't matter, what mattered was that the door to the room was opening. After all, almost her essence had already been exhausted.

And Lycon didn't like that.

"Hmm, looks like my time is up, well, I'm sure my family will love to hear everything I learned about Song, goodbye Mei, I hope you die."

Mei widened her eyes and tried to reach her sword again, but Lycon was already gone.

In a sonic boom, the room exploded as Lycon activated his Ascended Ability, launching Mei backwards and making her hit a wall.

When she recovered, the only thing remaining was a hole in the wall, his means of escaping…

The door finally opened to reveal the rest of the Shadow Watchers, Kira walking inside with strong steps, watching the broken wall with a stoic facade in his mask.

"What happened here?"

Kin quickly approached Mei, crouching to help her get up, she looked up at Kira with a sharp gaze.

"Lycon overused his Aspect, he forgot even Lord Sunless… And why he hated his family, but he doesn't seem to have forgotten about us, or our secrets.

Motza, who was in the corridor, listened to her and immediately turned to Kira.

"He can't escape then."

The knight pondered for a second before nodding, he turned to everyone of the Watchers, they were bewildered, but all knew this was a possibility, even Merlin swallowed her emotion and looked at Kira with determination.

"Nix, inform the Song sisters."

"Understood."

"Lauma, take away all of Lycon's clearances and access"

Lauma turned to the corridor and went to get her tablet.

"Merlin, Lan and Kin, search the perimeter.

The three got up and summoned their Memories while running.

Kira turned to Motza and Mei, and gave his final order.

"You'll invade the Pillaris and search for him."

"What about you?"

Kira looked at the hole in the wall again.

"I'll go to the Dream Realm, and make sure the bastard doesn't escape."