A charming young man with long, curly silver hair and metallic red eyes was resting on the sidewalk of a road. His back was resting on the bottom of an overturned government PTV.
The man wore a gray-white armor with excellent finishes. In the center of the armor, on the breastplate, there was a symbol of a ethereal, silver flame. His left hand was resting on the shaft of a polished silver elegant spear whose blade seemed to reflect the world around it like a mirror. On his shoulders, there was a red mantel with golden ornaments.
Around him, the street was strewn with debris and rubble.
William sighed, looking out at the ruined road ahead with a tired expression.
Another Gate's emergency has hopefully passed away. This time the victims weren't so many, at least not among the awakened ones. Only a pair of awakened but almost half of the passengers of a PTV for public transport who had the misfortune to be there when the gate appeared.
And this just for a Gate of the second tier.
All these deaths could have been avoided if only the Clans cared about the areas surrounding NQSC.
William watched the paramedics tend to the injured as the government agents sealed the gate, now free of nightmare creatures. He had no intention of helping them after everything he had already done to resolve the gate calamity.
He is tired now.
Then, William noticed the policeman, to whom he had given earlier the order to isolate the area, approaching him.
The policeman turned to William, quickly and stiffly placing his right hand between his right eyebrow and his temple, in a military salute.
"Sir! All nearby residents have been evacuated without accidents."
"Good." William nodded. Then he looked better at the man: "Refresh my memory a little, what was your name?"
The policeman lowered his hand, "Bob, sir! I'm Bob, a mundane one."
He said with a radiant and harmless smile.
"Hm!" William only said.
William, now, looked away. His gaze was fixed in a particular direction, where the Awakened Academy stood in the distance; he hasn't forgotten what day is today.
Today was the Winter Solstice.
William sighed, the Oath made with Sunless, by now, disappeared a while ago.
Even though he couldn't have done otherwise, Sunless kept his word, yet he wasn't angry with him when they said goodbye.
Sunless accepted his apology.
In the end, William truly regretted having forced him to do that. This ability of his has already ruined several of his relationships.
William wouldn't have minded having a friend for once who didn't judge him for being one who abuse of his Aspect, like so many actually do.
A pity!
His lips curved upward, William smiled as he looked in the direction of the Academy like the one he was about to talk was right there in front of him.
"Now, Shadowspawn." He said, "Show me your motivation!"
🎶I am the storm that is approching.
Provoking,
Black clouds in isolation 🎶
William tilted his head, looking around to figure out where this song was coming from.
🎶I am reclaimer of my name
BORN IN FLAMES 🎶
He then noticed that a communicator was ringing in one of the pocket of the policeman.
"Eeehm?" William looked at him, inviting him to respond.
Meeting his gaze, Bob finally noticed the ringtone.
"Oh! I'm sorry sir, I'll go to answer."
So the policeman pulled out the communicator from his pocket as he moved away from William to answer.
CLICK.
"Hello?"
William, after this, shook his head and resumed to look ahead at the road, resting after his fight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Sunless!]
Immediately after hearing the greetings of the Spell. Sunny found himself falling from the sky.
He instinctively summoned the [Puppeteer's shroud] and the [Gift of the sea], bracing himself to drown in the depth of the dark sea of the Forgotten Shore.
Instead...
THUD!
"Oooooh!"
Sunny landed on a jagged rock surface, cursing fate for his costant mockery. Gladly, the armor cushioned the fall.
In the middle of a damned interdimensional sea, he really had to land here!?
'Why? Thank you, fate! That's really sweet of you. ASSHOLE!'
Pulling himself up, Sunny saw a starless grey sky above him and a seemingly endless dark sea with underneath, most likely, his lesser abominations waiting for him to lunch.
Looking down and leaning slightly off the platform, he finally realized where he actually was. He had just landed on the Forgotten Shore, right above the headless statue who gave shelt to Sunless in his first nights on this forsaken land in the Novel.
On the horizon there were only the unfathomable darkness of the starless sky and the water that made up the Great Titan's body.
His situation wasn't just desperate.
It was hopeless!
But he didn't care nothing about it.
Seeing where he was, Sunny started to course aloud and kick the rocks off the cliff, launching them in the sea in the process.
Don't trust your memories... Don't trust your memories... Don't trust your memories...
These words still echoed in his mind, like a blade stuck in his abdomen.
Why did it have to be this way? Aside from that shit that happened in his First Nightmare, everything was going so well!
Hell! Jet did even gave him a kiss, A KISS.
Three years of courting and teasing finally paid off, he had finally reached the first base with her.
No, wait! When you put it that way it just sounds pathetic.
SO WHAT? If he had to, he will surely do these for another three years just to step on the second one.
Finally calming down for a moment, Sunless sat in the central part of the cliff, leaning the head between the knees raised from the ground, the feet resting on the heels.
Sunless rubbed his face with both hands, trying to make sense of that damned message Yuki left him.
To be safe, Sunny activated his shadow sense to ensure that no nightmare creature would attack him unawares.
Don't trust your memories.
What did she mean?
Which memories?
These of his past life?
But it can't be!
And why it can't be?
Because these were not memories at all.
They were more like a reminiscence, blurs at most.
He knows what he was in his past life.
He was just a student eager to enter into a faculty of medicine. Meanwhile, he was taking on occasional part-time jobs to make the day.
His past life has been very monotonous. Aside from medicine, he never had any other dreams or ambitions, not because he was short-minded but because he hadn't had really many incentives. He had a normal family, a pair of friends, and at one point he even had a girlfriend. Though the two of them never got beyond holding hands.
Damn him and his gentlemanly code!!!
His parents and friends also did not give him any incentive at all. His only hobbies that allowed him to escape from that sterile and repetitive reality were reading novels and video games. As Sunless, he only had access to the former, from them he started to dream about hanging out with many girls.
He didn't even like these harem stories back then, but now, after dying once, they didn't displease him anymore.
Now he wanted to live his new life to the fullest, after all, what would you have done in his place?
The point is: he remembers everything!
But when he tries to recall his name, the faces of his dear ones, or put a shape to those blurry images...
A flash of pain rises from the depths of his mind and he immediately lose the grip on these blurs and start inevitably to think to something else.
Even a few weeks ago, when he was on his way to his date with Jet to retrive those Memories, he had tried to remember his school life back then, but the pain has prevented him from doing so.
He's not an idiot, he knows that happened. Even if it took him a while to realize this the first times.
However, he knows that his memories of his past life are true, and for this very reason he can say that they are intact, albeit unclear.
As for the memories of his life as Sunless... Well...
It seems like everything is fine here too.
His mother died when he was five. After the bereavement, he took himself and his sister to the orphanage. Rain was eventually adopted right away, while he remained there for a whole year, unwanted by nobody. So he decided to abandon that shack that passed itself off as an orphanage and live on his own, making use of the knowledges he had from his past life. Three years ago he met Jet and his life started to change for the better.
These nine years spent on the Outskirts had been a living hell. It's a real miracle to think that the original Sunless survived in that hellhole without his advantages.
"No, wait!"
A light of a doubt started to appear inside his mind.
Sunny rubbed his chin, thinking.
"I'm 17 from today. I left the orphanage when i was 6.
17-6=11. So...
...
Yep! I lived nine years in the Outskirts, there is nothing wrong even with these memories.
What was I doubting to?
Then... Where am I supposed to look at?"
But if these memories are intact as well... So what was Yuki referring to in the message she left him?
And why couldn't she tell him directly?
For the umpteenth time Sunless found himself with many questions but no answers.
"Think, Sunless! THINK! What am I missing!?"
He groaned as he pressed his hands in the temples to figure out the enigma.
All these mysteries were really driving him nuts.
He had literally read the story of this world in his past life! HE SHOULD BE THE ONE TO HOLD THE UPPER HAND. NOT THE OTHERS!
Suddenly...
Two shades who entered inside the range of his shadow sense caught his attention.
Sunny let go of his temples and turned towards these. Seeing if they were friends or foes.
"Serpent!? What is that idiot doing?"
Sunny recognized Serpent. His shadow was swimming at great speed towards him with Cassie on its back.
Why? Sunny hadn't ordered him to do this!
Serpent's job was just to stay with Cassie and protect her until they could be reunited.
Maybe she asked him? But that's not possible. Cassie doesn't know Serpent is intelligent. To her, it's just an Echo like the others.
Anyway! Cassie apparently spawned next to him in this timeline around.
Then Sunny sensed a third shade right behind Cassie and Serpent. This one wasn't a friend.
"A Corrupted Devil!"
Without thinking twice, Sunny immediately got up from where he was and dived into the waters of the Dark sea, trying to reach his friends before that thing could do it.