Before Sunny's eyes the world shifted, going from a dark abyss so something seeming more sinister...
Sunny opened his eyes and looked around in confusion.
The world was enveloped in a strange, dim twilight. Deep shadows surrounded him, shrouding the tall walls that were cut from black marble. Looking between the mighty columns, Sunny saw the black circle of the sun burning in the lightless sky.
'An... an eclipse?'
No, wait... what walls? What columns? Wasn't he supposed to be sleeping in his room?
...What was happening?
Suddenly, a woman's scream tore the silence like a sharp knife. It was full of pain and suffering. Sunny tried to summon the Crymych into his hand... only to realize that he had no hands.
Then, something else resounded from the darkness.
...A baby's cry.
'Wh—what the...'
Almost at the same time, Sunny realized something.
This was a dream. He was dreaming.
The dreamscape that surrounded Sunny was ephemeral, shifting, and shrouded in shadows. Above him, the sun was like a circle of darkness, with crimson light drowning in a burning sea of clouds. However, none of that light reached him.
In the tenebrous hall of black marble, there was nothing but empty silence.
...Which was now destroyed by the sound of a baby crying, of course.
The woman's screams had long grown silent. Peering into the stygian depths of the dark marble hall, Sunny saw nothing but endless shadows. The baby's cries were coming from somewhere beyond them.
...Or from within them.
A subtle thought entered Sunny's mind. The monumental walls, the colossal columns, the grandiose hall... all of it looked strangely familiar. As though he had already been here once, a long time ago.
All that was missing were the signs of desolation and a large altar cut from a single block of black marble. In fact, it should have been standing right where the crying sounds were coming from.
Familiar words appeared in his mind, now full of new meaning.
'...Child of Shadows?'
In the next moment, everything disappeared.
In fact, Sunny found himself in the body... of a toddler. He was currently held gently by a young woman who was walking down a long stone corridor, which was dimly lit by burning torches. Hence, the swaying.
The girl was very young, not older than Sunny himself — his actual body, that is. She was slender and exquisitely beautiful, with soft porcelain skin and long raven hair.
The lissome beauty was dressed in a flowing silk tunic that left her delicate neck and shoulders exposed.
A black serpent was coiled around her arms and neck, its scales so intricately tattooed that sometimes, it seemed as though the creature was moving.
Whoever marked the girl's skin with this image was a true genius of their craft. Sunny had never seen anything like it in the real world.
...This was the mark of a slave who belonged to the Shadow God.
The young girl was a temple slave, just like he had been in his First Nightmare.
The serpent coiled around her neck and arms served both as her collar and her shackles.
The ones that he had escaped from… Or ones that were seen at least…
She was also the toddler's mother. Sunny could tell from the love with which she held the child and the quiet smile that appeared on her face every time she looked at him.
Soon, the young girl entered a vast hall that was shrouded in darkness. Judging by the black marble walls, they were in another part of the ancient temple.
Sunny couldn't see much of his surroundings, but he could somehow tell that they were underground.
In the center of the hall, seven tall braziers were burning with strange, pale flames. On the edges of light, motionless, stood a dozen or so people.
Sunny shivered, suddenly reminded of the silent shadows populating his Soul Sea. However, these were not ghosts, but humans. There were several other slaves, while the rest appeared to be priests.
Approaching one of the elder slaves, the young beauty entrusted the child to her.
The young woman, slowly walked into the circle of light. Her movements were elegant, flowing, and graceful.
Stopping at the very center, she stood motionlessly between the seven pale flames, surrounded by seven shadows.
Sunny stared at the beautiful slave, feeling that something important was about to happen.
But... what?
As he became pensive and uneasy, a sudden sound broke the silence. It was the deep and reverberating ringing of a zither.
As the musical instrument sang, the slave girl suddenly moved.
As she did, her seven shadows moved with her.
'This... this is...'
With his eyes wide open, Sunny watched the young woman.
She was dancing.
The beautiful slave danced in the circle of light surrounded by impenetrable darkness, her every move full of indescribable grace and clear, but elusive purpose. Her young body was flexible and lithe, but also strong and trained as much as a warrior's. Her skill as a dancer was like that of a battle master.
It was mesmerizing.
The young woman weaved a beautiful pattern with her movements, their cadence and nature simultaneously firm and flowing, sharp and gentle, clear and unpredictable. She danced alone but also with seven partners, effortlessly controlling both her own body and the seven shadows cast by it.
At times, it was hard to tell which one of them was real.
Her dance was... insidious, shapeless, and everchanging.
Sunny froze.
He recognized these movements. They were the same as how his shadow moved.
This was the source and origin of the battle style he wanted to create.
This was Shadow Dance...
______________
Hello!
Just saying that this text above is directly from Shadow Slave!
I only wrote the first line and maybe a few words here and there but other than that it is all from shadow slave!
_____________
Sunny woke with a sharp gasp, eyes flying open as he took in the destruction scattered around his room, the ruff walls, the overturned furniture, the deep cuts left by careless swings of his blade.
A shaky breath escaped his lips.
"Th-this… this is it."
He didn't waste another second. Sunny pushed himself out of bed and moved to the center of the room, his body already remembering the dream before his mind could catch up. He began to practice the movements he had witnessed.
It was a dance.
A beautiful one.
And a deadly one.
Revel had once said that when a battle art was perfected, combat would stop looking like fighting and begin to resemble dancing. At the time, Sunny hadn't fully understood what that meant.
Now, he did.
He let his body flow, imitating the movements of the young woman from his dream. Sweat quickly gathered on his skin, muscles rolling beneath it as he moved. Every step felt natural, every shift precise, as if his body had been waiting for this all along.
When the dance felt stable… solid… Sunny pushed further.
He sharpened the movements, turning grace into lethality. Imagining a sword in his hand, he cut through the air with smooth, deliberate arcs, transforming the dance into a killing art.
A deadly performance.
"More… I need more."
Sunny lost himself in it.
Hours passed without him noticing. He only stopped when a bright ray of sunlight slipped through his window, forcing him to squint. His gaze drifted to the clock beside his bed.
His chest rose and fell as he exhaled deeply.
With stiff limbs, Sunny headed for the bathroom, planning to get ready for breakfast. It was only after stepping out of the shower that his stomach twisted painfully.
"…Damnation."
He sighed, staring at his disheveled reflection before shrugging.
"Whatever. I doubt anyone's still in the cafeteria."
Wrapping a towel around his neck, Sunny left his room and made his way through the halls. Before he realized it, he was standing in front of the cafeteria doors. He pushed them open in one smooth motion.
The noise hit him immediately.
It wasn't deafening—but it was lively.
'…Damnation. Why are there so many people here?'
Almost every table was occupied. Sunny stiffened, instincts screaming at him to retreat. Instead, he lowered his head, grabbed his food as quickly as possible, and slipped toward the quietest table he could find, one occupied by a single familiar girl.
"Good morning, Cassie," Sunny said as he sat down, his tray piled high with food.
Cassie's face lit up.
"Good morning to you too, Sunny!"
⸻
Time slipped by faster than Sunny expected.
Before he realized it, a full month had passed, and only two days remained until the winter solstice.
Sunny yawned and stretched in bed. He was finally growing accustomed to life at the academy. Every night, without fail, he had practiced the dance. He had focused on flexibility of his body and how to precisely control it with maximum efficiency.
It had only taken a little while for him to become comfortable with the strain it placed on his body.
And yet…
He rubbed his eyes.
"…Damnation. Something's missing."
No matter how hard he trained, something refused to click into place.
With a sigh, Sunny rolled out of bed and headed straight for the shower.
"I guess I'm going home today."
Before dawn, he was already standing in front of a familiar door.
He knocked twice.
Two long minutes passed before the door cracked open.
"H-hello?" Cassie's soft voice sounded uncertain.
"Hi, Cassie."
Her face immediately brightened.
"Sunny! What brings you here?"
"I'm leaving today."
Her smile vanished.
"…What?"
Sunny nodded, then quickly clarified.
"I promised my sisters I'd return before the winter solstice."
Cassie stared at him. The calm mask she always wore finally cracked. Her lip trembled. Her eyes, eyes Sunny had grown used to seeing steady and composed… filled with tears.
"Sunny why are you leaving, I wanted my last moments on this planet to be with the person I can consider my friend…"
Before Sunny could say anything Cassie's thoughts were layed bare.
"what if I die? What if I can't survive in the Dream World?"
It was only a simple sentence but it defined everything Cassie thought as soon as she had gotten her flaw.
Sunny froze.
Only then did he realise, Cassie had been carrying this fear since the day they met.
He stepped forward and pulled her into a tight embrace. Cassie clung to him, her quiet sobs filling the space between them.
"Cassie," Sunny said softly, struggling to find the right words, he had never been good at comforting people. "I want you to survive. No… I want you to live... I've taught you everything I can this month. Even without sight, you're one of the strongest people I know."
He pulled back just enough to look at her.
"So promise me… we'll see each other again."
Cassie trembled, then looked up and nodded her red puffy eyes staring at him, her voice shaking.
"I-I'll try my best…"
They stayed like that for a long time before finally parting and saying there goodbye.
⸻
Sunny stood at the front gates of the academy, staring at the car waiting to take him home. He reached for the handle—
"Where are you going?"
He stopped.
Sunny turned to face the source of the voice.
Nephis.
"Home," he replied flatly. "Why are you asking? And why did you follow me all the way out here?"
She tilted her head.
"Why are you going home?"
Sunny resisted the urge to rub his temples.
"My sisters want me back. So I'm leaving."
This was how it usually went, one question after another… yet she never answered his in return. More than once, Sunny had wanted to pry into her mind and see what she was thinking. Still, over the past month, he had noticed something about the last daughter of the Immortal Flame Clan. She wasn't arrogant or dismissive… she was simply socially awkward. Because of that, Sunny had learned to be lenient with her questions.
Nephis studied him.
"You have a true name, don't you? How did you get it?"
Sunny stiffened.
"…I do. I earned it in my First Nightmare. How else?"
She was silent for a moment.
"If we both make it back from the Dream World, I'd like to spar with you."
Sunny paused, then glanced back at her.
"…Sure. If we both make it out alive."
With that, he got into the car. The engine roared to life, and the vehicle pulled away, leaving Nephis standing alone before the academy gates.