'What the?'
A gate opened just as he used the Memory?
A Category Four gate, at that?
'Could the regression have failed?' Sunny despaired.
No it couldn't have.
Not for him.
Not for—
BZZT
Just then, his thoughts froze, and so did the world, as if holding its breath. And then... it turned.
Backwards.
Blood that spewed trickled back into its vessel. The very blade that lacerated the flesh sewed it shut. And flung bones rewound as they assembled.
Every man, every creature, and debris was pulled back, as if by an intangible force. Rubble fused into stone, and rips in reality welded themselves.
Time was marching backwards.
...just as they did in a Nightmare.
'It worked!'
Sunny felt his lungs breathing in reverse. It was strange, yet not too disorienting, as if only the order of inhales and exhales had been swapped.
And yet, he felt breathless nonetheless.
It worked!
'But what about Neph?'
He hoped it worked for her too.
It had to.
Sunny witnessed the scene for a while until...
A wailing sound could be heard from the room, it was a child crying.
The child suddenly puked, and stoped crying.
That was never a good sign.
Sunny blinked, surprised. How did his three year old self survive the regression?
He felt himself almost having a Nightmare seed inside him... and that was when he saw his dad.
Sunny instantly used what remained of his, almost drained, essence and transferred tne seed to him.
It would all lie on him now.
If his dad failed then there was no hope for his parents.
And definitely none to live with Rain.
He hoped fate would be kind to him once but who was he kidding?
There was nothing he could do right now.
Nothing about this.
He watched as his dad rushed towards him, and suddenly—almost—lose his balance.
He staggered, and fell, but not before reaching Sunny. He quickly got up, and then helped Sunny up. Embraced him.
Sunny—he... He missed this.
The warm embrace of his parents.
All the warmth he lost... Everything.
Everything he desired. He felt an involuntary smile appear on his face but it wasn't for the fact his plan worked.
It was because he felt his father's love...
"Sunny... Are you ok?" He heard his dad ask, looking down at him. Worried.
His dad didn't notice the smile, because Sunny hid it. The moment wasn't appropriate.
'I missed you. Dad.' was what he wished to say, but instead:
"Yeah... I'm fine." A lonesome tear appeared in his eyes. "I- I had a bad dream."
He sobbed.
"Dad... Are you fine?"
"Yeah, I am fine." His father responded with a smile. A fake smile. A mask.
A lie.
A lie parents always kept... or so he heard, atleast.
And so he saw... Back in Antarctica.
"Honey, are you okay?" He heard his mom ask his dad.
'Do I take after my dad as much as I took after my mom?'
Well... Before Awakening atleast.
Both his parents had a short stature, and black hair. The difference lied in their eyes and face's structure. His dad had black eyes, and head close to symmetrical face whereas his mom's eyes leaned towards brown, and a perfectly symmetrical face.
His mom... Who used to be the pinnacle of beauty to him, wasn't right now.
Not after he spent a lot of times with Masters and Awakened. But still... He didn't care. She gave him the warmest of smiles and happiness in life. She showed him what kindness was.
'Do I deserve this?'
He didn't.
Couldn't.
Not when everything was his fault.
Like always.
Like every damn time. For every damn thing.
It was always him.
Him and his cursed fate. His True Name.
Lost from Light.
Fucking Lost from Light.
Fucking—
"Red? Sunny?"
His mother's voice cut through his thoughts.
'Who?'
A deep, yet jubilant voice echoed back, "Coming, honey!"
'Ah, dad... right, their names aren't Mom and Dad.'
Every child thought that it was, and Sunny was the same. Before he could uncover their real name, they had long since passed away.
His mom was called Dew, and his Dad was Red.
"Yes." Both Sunny, and his dad answered..
"I think I might be infected... But I'm not sure because we've never seen one ourselves."
No one, from the outskirts,
that is, survived the Nightmares.
"You should go to the police, and ask for the third division" his mom replied.
Sunny looked at them and blinked in surprise.
'It feels nice having a family...' he turned to looked away from there.
He didn't deserve them.
How could he... after causing their deaths?
If they found out, they would leave him.
Leave him to die...?
Maybe.
He was a cursed person.
"Sunny, are you alright?" Dew asked, sitting down on one leg, the other raised. She cupped his face with a worried look, wiping the lone tear from his eyes.
Sunny nodded.
"Don't worry, your dad will survive the Nightmare." She spoke with absolute certainty but her face betrayed that.
Just slightly.
Just enough for the regressed Sunny to notice.
His mental age was around the same as his Mom right now...
He sighed internally, and saw his dad give a cheerful nod and a thumbs up.
It would be okay...
Somehow he felt reassured despite knowing the nod was fake.
He watched with sadness as he watched his dad leave.
If he died again, then it would be all his fault.
Suddenly, he noticed scales moving in a corner.
'Serpent?'
How was it here? How did it travel with him?
It made no sense.
Was it because Serpent was inside of him when he used the Memory?
How was he concealed?
Sunny, no longer, had a core. Did it listen to him? To test it, Sunny mentally commanded Serpent to bestow the [Grace of Shadows] to his dad, and it worked.
Few hours later, they heard a call.
It was his dad.
He was, indeed, infected by the spell. That was the price for regression.
Now his dad would go through training for about a week before the Nightmare.
His dad called every few hours, saying how much he missed them, and talked about this and that. He would talk with both Sunny, and dew. As for Rain, he would simply ask how her health was.
She was still only a few months old thus she couldn't talk.
Sunny often looked after Rain while his mom went out for work, and he enjoyed it.
Enjoyed the time with all of them. With Rain.
The person he live for... for years.
The sister he failed...
A week later, they got a call.
He was now infected.
All they could do was wait... Wait till it was over.
As for Sunny? He had to suggest his dad to take Wilderness Survival.
It was a necessity. Maybe even hide his Aspect rank so as to not be exploited. Not over worked like with Jet.
Three days later he woke up. Sunny was, in fact, sitting outside.
Waiting.
Waiting with his mom and Rain.
Waiting to meet him.
"Hello there."
Red surprised them when he walked out. Unannounced.
Sunny ran over to his dad, and pulled him into a hug.
Then, in an excited voice befitting a child, "Dad! Did you get a True Name? What's your aspect rank?"
Red looked at his son, he felt confused.
He was happy when he got his flaw... It was basically like another Aspect or a good Attribute!
Who would think being able to see through people's mask was a flaw? He even had a Supreme aspect, too boot!
Well... That thought was destroyed as he saw his son hug him.
He didn't feel happy... Well he did but it wasn't just happiness.
Yes, there was relief. There was happiness. There was curiousity.
But that wasn't all. He even felt guilt, sad, and protective.
Protective was a weird thing to see in a three year old, especially when it was directed to their dad. Guilt too.
Guilt was weird when they had no reason to feel so.
There was something else... Sunny looked down at his shadow.
Red's shadow.
The place a serpent lurked during his Nightmare.
His mind drifted to his attribute...
[Grace of Shadows].
Was his son... Even his son?
"I missed you... Dad."
Those words were true.
He meant it.
Sunny... Did he consider himself as his son.
That was terrifying... Was his son some deity?
Was he *a regressor* like from the webtoons?
Who was he?
Sunny saw the confusion appear on his father's face, as it turned around slightly. His eyebrows were raised in doubt. Shock.
'What the hell happened in his Nightmare...' Sunny felt worried.
"I missed you... Dad." The words escaped his lips before he could stop them.
It was true but to say it out loud? What if he got paranoid from this?
Luckily those words seemed to ease him instead.
'That worked out.'
Now all Sunny had to do was convince his dad to hide his Aspect rank if it was high enough and get him to take Wilderness Survival.
And maybe keep his aspect a secret, if possible.
BLOOPERS 1:
Lost from Light.
Fucking Lost from Light.
Fucking-
"Red? Sunny?"
His mother's voice cut through his thoughts.
'Who?'
A deep, yet jubilant voice echoed back, "Coming, honey!"
'HONEY!?' He thought. He abhorred the name
'no but dad... wait, their names aren't Mom and Dad?'
Blasphemy!
BLOOPERS 2:
Lost from Light.
Fucking Lost from Light.
Fucking—
"Red? Sunny?"
His mother's voice cut through his thoughts.
'Who?'
A deep, yet jubilant voice echoed back, "Coming, honey!"
'Ah, dad... wait, their names aren't Mom and Dad?'
Blasphemy!
And what did he call her? Honey!? Why would anyone ever refer to their beloved with such a vile, putrid moniker?
'Are they on the verge of a divorce!???'
There was simply no other line of reasoning.