It was night.
The dipped headlights of a PTV could be seen speeding along one of the bumpy Outskirts roads just outside the NQSC's urban area.
The vehicle was significantly exceeding the speed limit, but who dared to stop it here in this lawless land?
Wherever the driver was heading, one thing was certain, he or she was in a hell of a hurry.
After a while, the PTV stopped in front of a neighborhood kiosk.
The surrounding area was dirty and infamous, a strange smell hung in the air, and the menacing gaze of the locals welcomed any challenger foolish enough to come and eat here.
The door of the PTV opened, stepping out of there, the driver revealed himself to be a stunning young woman with raven-black hair and blue eyes.
At this time, Master Jet should have been already in her office, inside one of the many government buildings to work, but circumstances required otherwise for her.
Fortunately, nobody will question her later; being a Master has his own privileges after all.
She's here because the people inside that kiosk are supposed to help her in a certain matter.
We Outskirts rats should always help each other, that's what he always say.
On the day of the Winter Solstice, two bodies were found within the Academy's walls.
They were Ascendants.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Somewhere in the Dream Realm...
In one of the tallest towers of the Jade Palace in the citadel of Ravenheart.
A young maiden was leaning toward a glass window, looking at the view below; her head was resting on her arms crossed over the window ledge.
She had a very sadness look on her delicate face; her dark eyes were red from the shed tears, and her long, silky black hair were all disheveled.
The young maiden was Rain; princess Rain of the Song Domain.
She was worried.
Even though she had gone to visit Nephis at the Academy during the Solstice, escorted by her big sister Revel, and seeing that she was fine, Rain was still worried.
And how could she not be?
Her big sister, Seishan, was just as strong and determined when she entered in the Dream Realm, Rain still remembers her, and yet, she still hadn't returned home yet!
In moment like this, Rain really wished she was strong enough to protect her friend and bend the world with her will to bring Nephis and Seishan back home, but sadly, Rain knows that she is not capable of such a feat!
She is too weak.
And weakness in this world -two worlds, actually-is equal to be useless.
So... all Rain can do now is stay here.
Alone.
Trying to hold back the tears.
Mother and her sisters hate to see her sad, they would kill to see her happy again, literally!
That's why she is hiding here, so they wouldn't have to see her like this.
Alone and sad, Rain promise to herself that one day she will be strong enough to never cry again; strong enough to be worth something; strong enough to shape the world with her will and call the storm with a word.
A promise of distant future for now.
A promise of a distant sky.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Returning to our shadow.
Sunny was rubbing his temples to try to wrap his head around what Cassie had just asked him.
What did it mean that she couldn't see Yuki and Jet's runes as she couldn't see his?
'No, but... what the FUCK, MAN!?'
It's one thing if Cassie could not see only his runes -after all Sunny has any to no clues as how different [Foreign] is supposed to be from [Fateless]-but it's another if she could not see those of two random people too.
Actually!
They are not two random people.
They are two people that he knows!
Sunny honestly doesn't know what he should think about Yuki.
First she acts as his stalker, then as a friend, then she kisses him, and finally and most cursed of all: that damned message that practically made his world fall apart.
Yuki was a real mystery to him.
But Jet?
He's known her for three years by now. He cares deeply for her and, if that kiss wasn't just a courtesy, she cares for him just as deeply.
There's no way Jet was hiding something from him, or at least not something that important; after all, it's natural for everyone to have their own secrets.
As he thought about it, time passed and the pain of his flaw pushed him more and more to answer.
"Ghhhh!!! I... I don't know, Cas! One of my attributes give me an affinity of sorts with fate, but it's a uniqueness that only I have, and I seriously doubt that they have something like this as well."
After answering her, he rubbed his forehead to lessen the pain, why the hell his flaw has to hurt SO MUCH!?
Cassie listened to his answer in silence with her blue eyes, then she lowered her head, thinking about what he had just said.
"I see." She said and raised her head to meet his gaze again.
"Sorry if I asked you something too personal, but it's a question I've been meaning to ask you for a while."
Sunny reached out to pet her head.
"Don't worry! Ask me whatever you want whenever you want. Just promise me... that I can do the same with you."
Cassie's cheeks flushed slightly from the caresses, but she wasn't pushing them away.
She nodded to accept his proposal.
And note well!
Sunny didn't ask her to be honest, just to answer his questions; he is already forced to answer her honestly due his flaw.
Sunny trusts Cassie with his life, really! But not blindly.
So he won't ask her to be honest, whether she lies to him or not her shadow will reveal it to him.
As Sunny was caressing Cassie, an idea to tease her came to his mind while a devilish smile appeared on his face.
"So! Seeing the future, the past, and now the runes even, huh? I must say! I didn't expect that our shy, sweet Cassie was such a voyeurist." He said to her slightly laughing.
Cassie's cheeks blushed even more as she puffed them out, offended by his teasing.
"I am not a voyeurist!" She said.
Meanwhile Sunny continued to pet her with a smile full of happiness. "Sure! Sure! You are just a voyeurist crybaby."
At this point Cassie started to feel a little angry.
She leaned forward and hammered repeatedly her fists against his chest, not enough to hurt him but enough to make him stop teasing her.
Sunny laughed even more at her reaction while Cassie clenched her eyes for the shame.
Who would have thought teasing her could be so much fun?
Sunny was truly enjoying the moment.
Meanwhile, the Priestess and the Gloomy shadow were witnessing all this behind them amused.
Suddenly...
Something caught back their attention.
Sunny and Cassie noticed that they could no longer hear the sound of the waves crashing against the cliff.
A ray of light touched their faces.
This time, thanks the dead Gods, it wasn't a Nightmare creature.
The dark sea was starting to retreat as a pale sun rose in the sky above them.
'Already? I hadn't noticed. Dammit! It's hard to measure the time when there are no stars in the sky.'
Ten minutes later.
The dark sea had already disappeared; the creature of darkness wasted no time when the light appeared.
Beneath the cliff, which of course turned out to be the headless statue, the Crimson labyrinth of the Forgotten Shore could finally be seen.
To be safe, Sunny sent his shadow to scout the terrain below to see if it was worth going down or not at the moment.
The Gloomy shadow descended the statue quickly and smoothly, Sunny could see everything through it.
Once on the ground...
'May the dead gods help me! How the hell are Me and Cassie supposed to find our way around here!?'
"Sunny? What do you see?"
Looking back, Sunny saw Cassie with the Shadow Priestess beside her; at his command, she had shaped some shadows around in a bow, he had already give to her [Bad grudge] and [Tear of thunder] ready to use.
"I'm checking our surroundings; there is a crimson labyrinth down here. Let me look at it for a moment, then I'll tell you."
Cassie nodded, in this situation she could only rely on him to move forward.
Sunny resumed his focus on what his shadow saw.
After a few minutes, it saw something coming.
'HOLY SHORE! The hell is this?'
The Gloomy shadow had just spotted a Nightmare Creature, it was a Carapace scavenger with a missing limb.
Sunny watched in a twisted expression the scavenger walking through his shadow.
'I remembered the Novel describing these... things? As a mix between a demonic crab and a centaur, but this... this is an abortion! An abortion of a mix, nothing else!'
It was no coincidence that they called them Nightmare Creatures, but even the Mountain King looked cute in comparison.
The scavenger didn't notice his shadow, so Sunny decided to send him towards its to see if he could block him in the place and kill him from afar with an arrow Memory shot by the Priestess.
His shadow was now on that of the scavenger.
Sunny looked at the scavenger's shadow, a bit curious to know how a shadow of a corrupted looked like, and upon a closer look...
"Aaaaaaaah!!!"
"SUNNY!"
Sunny collapsed backward, holding his head with both hands over his ears.
Cassie and the Priestess immediately ran toward him, alarmed and worried.
What Sunny had just seen... was...
Was so wrong!
The weaves binding the shadow to the scavenger... were wrong!
Usually the weaves that bind a shadow to its master are harmoniously ordered and peaceful.
But these...
These weaves were pure chaos.
So wrong.
Sunny could even feel that, if it weren't for [the Death], just by looking at them, a spark of corruption would have already formed in his core.
But that wasn't the reason he'd collapsed backward and was now covering his ears tightly.
The shadow of the Carapace scavenger... was screaming.
It should be impossibile, it's completely irrational, but that shadow was screaming.
Sunny could hear it.
It was a painful scream, a sad scream.
The shadow was screaming because it mourned the solace that it was denied to him, the solace of death.
And Sunny?
Sunny is the apostle of death and his heir.
He is bound by his Crown, the Lightless Crown, to bring the solace to all who called for it.
As he lay on the ground, the screams of the shadow continued to grow in his head, he could not help but hear them.
Cassie was still there beside him. She was calling his name, worried and unaware of what was happening to him, but Sunny couldn't hear her sweet voice clearly; the screams were covering it.
The Priestess was there as well. She knows what was happening. After all, this was supposed to be his duty one day, and that day is already here.
Unable to bear the pain of the scavenger's shadow any longer, Sunny stood up.
He ordered the Priestess to stay there and protect Cassie while he climbed down from the headless statue to perform his duty.
He must do so, he is bound to do so.
He must to bring the mercy of Shadow.
The mercy of death.