In the depths of the abyss, a pale young man laid—still, silent, the skin around his heart silently mending, fixing themselves back. His eyes were closed, and a smile was drawn atop his ashen face, yet it was peaceful, too peaceful.
And at that moment, it descended—a silent, silver string, stretching and twisting into the boy.
A tear rolled down his cheek, falling onto a sea of inky black, rippling throughout it. Another tear fell, and amongst the sliver of light atop the broken sea, the sheen of red atop it could be seen.
Another crystal fell, again and again: the boy's soul rippling with a sheen of red atop its waters.
It went onwards, ever echoing around the waters, until it eventually fell into the depths of the horizon, the gluttonous shining sun above it swirling and devouring every single drop.
It did so again and again, until a brilliant, shimmering light exploded all around him. The sea had light no longer, and there was only a gaping black hole swirling and swirling, devouring anything that had the ill-fated chance of touching past it.
Something sparkled within the dark—the boy's skin of white was fixed, the rift of darkness within his chest mended, with the waters around him swirling and swirling and…
[You have received a Memory: Puppeteer's Shroud.]
A voice of nothingness descended, its waves of sound echoing throughout this sea of sunlessness, igniting a lake of memories forgotten.
Answering the call of the Spell, a silver glint of a nebulous star descended, briefly touching the boy before heading into the great horizon, finding its place amongst the fallen star.
And dance it did, resisting the call of the newborn soul core, defying the fate of all others that came before it—for it was a Memory of the Mountain King, a legacy for the broken slave.
[Aspirant! Your trial is over.]
The Spell called in its imperturbable voice.
[A nameless slave ascended the Black Mountains.]
[Both heroes and monsters fell by his hand.]
[Unbroken, he entered the ruined temple of a long-forgotten god and spilled his blood on the sacred altar.]
[The gods were dead, but their legacy listened.]
[And so heir of the one they call fate, descended.]
[It fell through the weave, and struck the heart of a nameless slave—and with that, he was nameless no more.]
With every word said, strings of shimmering silver danced, whirling around the corrupted sun, swirling with a will unsaid.
[You have slain a Dormant Beast: Mountain King's larvae.]
A whisper of a forgotten sound,
Forbidden dance in the gusts of wind:
[You have slain 3 Dormant humans: names unknown.]
A rumble in a sea of silence.
[You have slain an Awakened Beast: Auro of the Nine.]
A horn of a herald lost to fate.
[You have slain an Awakened Tyrant: Mountain King.]
…And the second of surprise before the chime of time.
[You have received the blessing of fate.]
It says, a glee unfound within its strings.
[You have achieved the impossible!]
[Final appraisal: glorious. Your defiance truly knows no bounds.]
An echo from the lost bell!
The silver from the ringing sounds,
A reminder for the wayward son,
Of a home long gone to the wild.
[Dreamer Sunless, receive your boon!]
[You have been bestowed a True Name: Lost from Light.]
The boy of black and silver stirred, his eyes flashing open to a new, new world.
—
[Dreamer Sunless, receive your boon!]
The Spell whispered, its voice almost gentle to his drowsy mind. But it was with that mumble he awoke, gasping and panting for air.
What… what was that? He couldn't help but think, his mind still reeling from what had happened moments ago. This… this isn't usual! No Nightmare had ever been as strange as this!
Besides, didn't the end of Nightmares start with announcing everything he had killed? At least…
However, he had been knocked out, and… he didn't remember much, only he flashes of clarity that came through the pain. Just thinking about it had brought back the ringing in his ears, waves of nausea crashing through him—
Sunny shook his head, it wasn't the time to think about this—
What… had happened? Sunny tiredly thought, as he blinked, adapting to the strange darkness that permeated the space. Yet every so often, he shuddered, as the memory of nether-black filled his mind, and the flashes of that indifferent sky appeared before his eyes.
What's this? In front of him, was a grand, vast sea, with waves rolling before him.
Reaching down, he flexed his hands through it, but it didn't feel wet. In fact, it was very much dry?
Strange… In a fit of curiosity, Sunny looked at the waves before him, taking in his ragged appearance, and… he was back to his condition before the First Nightmare, malnutritioned, eye bags heavy even under the darkness of… wherever this is.
Reaching towards his chest, he traced it in, well wondrously, or perhaps wearily—the hole that had been there was gone.
Was everything just a lie?
But the pain, the agony he had felt… Sunny knew it was very, very real.
His nightmare, it was no joke. From the very depths of his soul, its impact still reverberated, legacy echoing throughout the sea of wherever he was.
…He had to test something.
He called for his Attribute [Child of Fate], wincing as he felt its familiar tug. In just a second, those Strings of silver once again rose, rising from the waves of the sea to above wherever this was. They were the same as the ones around the temple, the ones that his eyes didn't bleed to just get a glimpse. Which is why—
He waited for a few more seconds, seeing if anything would happen… but nothing did.
Sunny even tried willing it to show him something, anything!
"Aba-kedabra! Show me your Fate!" He even said, much to his embarrassment. But still… nothing happened. Nothing!
It was like, he could only see particular fates of the very important people!
Then, Sunny changed his way of experimentation; there was one string he hadn't gazed into yet, a certain string of inky-black.
Lowering his head slowly, Sunny briefly gazed into the thread around his hands, before instantly looking away, head ringing and ringing and—
A boy of silver and black.
Star of Light.
Icarus.
A girl walking amongst the fallen.
A song of fate and shadows.
And then he was back.
Bad idea, Sunny thought, I won't ever try this again–
However, before he had more time to experiment with well, everything, the Spell interrupted him in just a second, its voice once again echoing into his mind.
[You have been bestowed a True Name…]
It whispered.
Sunny whipped his hand so fast that he was sure he heard something crack.
A true name? But that's… impossible!
Yet the Spell was invisible—colourless, odourless—no physical proof it existed. Only through the mouths of the Awakened did people know…
It never lied.
The Spell never lied.
At least till now.
Him? A True Name? Sure, his nightmare was strange, terrible, and agony personified, but it wasn't… it shouldn't…
Once again, the Spell cut through his thoughts, delivering a clean message:
[You have been bestowed a True Name: Lost From Light.]
And as if that were the trigger, flashes of judgement sped through his mind:
[Aspirant! Your trial is over.]
[A nameless slave ascended the Black Mountains.]
[Both heroes and monsters fell by his hand.]
[Unbroken, he entered the ruined temple of a long-forgotten god and spilled his blood on the sacred altar.]
[The gods were dead, but their legacy listened.]
[And so heir of the one they call fate, descended.]
[It fell through the weave, and struck the heart of a nameless slave—and with that, he was nameless no more.]
…
A whisper of a forgotten sound,
Forbidden dance in the gusts of wind:
A rumble in a sea of silence.
A horn of a herald lost to time.
And the second of surprise before the chime of time.
"You have received the blessing of fate."
It says, a glee unfound within its strings.
An echo from the lost bell !
The silver from the ringing sounds,
A reminder for the wayward son,
Of a home long gone to the wild.
Sunny fell forward, dizzy beyond belief, yet the Spell continued its speech:
[You have obtained an Attribute.]
It says, again.
He couldn't help but want to gag—those Attributes of his… they only brought trouble.
[Attribute: Revelations.]
[Attribute Description: You possess an affinity for dreams and revelations: they are the hand which guides you to the correct choice.]
Through the haze of memory atop memory, Sunny briefly registered the shining runes before him.
[Your Aspect is ready to evolve.]
The Spell says, once again.
[Dormant Aspect Temple Slave is evolving…]
[New Aspect acquired.]
[Aspect Rank: Divine.]
This… this couldn't be an illusion, right? Someone like him—divine?
Right, this must be payback for all the times I suffered… Sunny deserved it! Look what the Spell had done to his mind, it was mess right now! He just wanted to sleep and forget all his worries…
But the runes still shined, still forced him to see.
[Aspect Name: Herald of the End].
[Aspect Description: You are a harbinger of ruin blessed by the heir to fate. As an instrument of fate, you possess plenty of strange and wondrous powers. However, your existence is a lonely one— wherever you go, madness and decay follow.]
Madness and decay? That… was concerning, but—
As if in a trance, he continued reading, a kind of almost tired excitement filling him, like the period before receiving a reward after all his hardwork…
[Innate Ability: Clarity of the mind].
[Ability Description: The abilities of your body are amplified to the extreme—you absorb knowledge as if it were second nature, and remember things that others cannot; your senses detect even the most miniature of movement.]
…It would be an understatement to say that Sunny was shocked.
He was stupefied.
This was… almost too good to be true!