In a tower nestled along the jagged wall of the Dark City, a young woman tended to meat skewers above a crackling fire. Hazel eyes flickered in the flame's light, and her braided brown hair caught a reddish sheen in the glow. Tall and athletic, her olive skin bore no wounds, though the bloodstains atop her bronze armor suggested otherwise. Beneath, a simple white tunic clung to her frame, revealing more skin than could reasonably be considered modest.
Opposite her, a small heap of Nightmare Creatures lay strewn in butchered repose. A bronze spear leaned casually against her side as she tore hungrily into her meal. Each gnawed bone joined a disturbingly large pile beside her, the mound growing with every bite.
Along the dim edges of the firelight, two figures approached silently through the shadows. The woman remained engrossed, unaware—until a pair of lips brushed her ear and a mischievous voice whispered:
"Boo."
She jolted, muscles reacting before thought could catch up. Her spear slashed wide in a brutal arc, but met only air. The momentum sent her sprawling to the ground.
Laughter rang out as two figures crumpled nearby, both clutching their sides—one voice sonorous and delicate, the other smooth, almost girlish but not quite, with a sharper edge beneath the softness.
Color rushed to the huntress's cheeks. She scrambled to her feet, gripping her weapon in a defensive stance.
Of the pranksters, the girl recovered first, though she waited in amused silence. Eventually, the boy managed to speak, his tone even despite the chuckles that bubbled through.
"Consider that joke me getting even. Preemptively."
The huntress blinked, lowering her weapon slightly, her blush deepening from embarrassment to indignation. She glanced at the boy—and something stirred.
Emotions not her own were revealed in her mind: amusement, touched by wistful memory. Nostalgia, clear as day, yet nothing in the boy's appearance nor articulation suggested it. She knew it intuitively, she could see into his emotions.
'Curious.'
"For a joke," she muttered, eyes narrowing, "that wasn't very funny... Who the hell are you two?"
The boy responded casually. "We're Sleepers—arrived in the labyrinth on the winter solstice, we just made it here today. My name's Sunless, but you can call me Sunny."
An unspoken realization flickered behind Cassie's neutral expression.
'A friend.'
"My name is Cassia... but you can call me Cassie," she whispered.
The huntress gestured toward the fire, her expression easing.
"Nice to meet you, Sunny and Cassie. My name is Effie, at least that's what people call me. I'm also a Sleeper. Have a seat."
Once they'd settled around the flames, Effie nodded toward them and continued.
"Surviving a month in the labyrinth—that's no small thing. Congrats. Still, risking it all with that dumb prank? You wouldn't have been laughing if I continued attacking you."
Sunny's grin widened. Effie felt through his Flaw again—that amusement bubbling up again, nostalgia melting back into mischief.
"If we had fought," he said, "you wouldn't have stood a chance."
Effie leaned forward, narrowing her eyes.
"Confident, huh? What makes you so su—"
"BOO!"
Effie toppled forward with a yelp. Her spear lashed backward in a flash of bronze and fury. Just in time, a small snake darted out of the strike's path, the Ordinary Rock clutched in its maw.
***
Sunny had known the risks his flaw would pose the moment he and Cassie stepped into the Dark City.
Flaw: [Transparent Conscience.]
Flaw Description: [You cannot lie, and your true feelings may not be hidden.]
His solution?
Befriend his former allies. Acquire the Mantle of the Underworld, then steer clear of Bright Castle until they had the strength to bring down Gunlaug's regime.
And what better way to win back future allies than to lay all his cards on the table?
After all, he already knew them.
"You should know something, Athena," Sunny said, his voice suddenly grave.
Effie's grip on her spear tightened. She didn't need assistance from the boy's flaw to recognize that his emotions grew sober and cold.
"How do you know that name?" she asked, her voice sharp. "I never told you."
Sunny met her gaze, his expression hardening into something far too severe for someone so young. His eyes weren't a boy's anymore. They belonged to something else.
A killer.
No—a murderer.
"We were allies once," he said coldly. "Not that you'd remember."
Her grip slackened, just slightly.
"Explain."
Sunny paused to gather himself. Then, with quiet intensity, he spoke.
"In a lost future, us three—and a few others—were part of a cohort. We were Masters, fleeing certain death. We escaped into a Seed of Nightmare... and challenged it."
Grief had entered his mind, trying to wrest control from the steadiness he maintained. He masked it outwardly, though Effie could still somehow perceive it.
"That trial was... an anomaly. Even for a Third Nightmare. It unfolded in a place beyond time itself. The peculiar circumstances of its ending saw me sent back. Back into my younger self. Back here."
Effie scoffed, unimpressed.
"Neat story. Why should I believe any of it?"
Sunny rolled his eyes, the motion exaggerated just enough to be theatrical.
"Because of my Flaw," he said dryly. "I'm compelled to answer any question honestly. I can't lie. And my emotions? They bleed out of me. Anyone sees me knows exactly what I feel. Literally, as I'm sure you have surmised."
Effie studied him in silence. That last part, at least, rang true.
"But really," he continued, tone shifting to one slightly more upbeat, "whether you believe me or not doesn't matter right now."
He stood, as his... Echo? shapeshifted into a weapon in front of her very eyes.
"You only need to respect my strength. So..."
A grin tugged at the edge of his mouth.
"Shall we spar a bit?"
***
Effie never stood a chance.
She was hopelessly outclassed. The scrawny boy moved with a precision and elegance that eclipsed even the finest warriors in Gunlaug's ranks. His swordsmanship wasn't just efficient—it was beautiful.
He made a fool of her in every exchange. She had more strength, speed, and reach. None of it mattered. He effortlessly read her every move, countering moves she hadn't yet committed to. It was as if he saw the future.
That thought—unsettling on its own—gnawed at the back of her head when paired with his earlier claim.
Worse still, as far as she could tell, he wasn't even using his Aspect. Effie was among the most talented Sleepers of the Dark City, possibly the entire world. This scene seemed utterly impossible.
He had the sort of domineering strength Gunlaug himself possessed, but not through the luck of stumbling into a Transcendent abomination entering death's door. His power was his own. And, from what she could tell, still not even shown in full.
Cassie didn't look up from the fire as she flipped a skewer of meat.
"Sunny wins again," she said flatly. "Still want to keep going, Effie?"
Effie collapsed onto her back, breath ragged.
"No," she gasped. "I give up."
Sunny strolled over, grabbed a skewer, and dropped beside her with casual ease.
"Here," he said, offering the food. "Eat. I need your Flaw satiated before we head to the castle."
The meat was hot in her hand, but her thoughts ran cold. The gnawing at her thoughts bit harder.
What disturbed her most wasn't the loss itself, nor the boy's impossible power—it was how he acted while fighting.
He hadn't even been focused.
His Flaw, at least the emotional transparency part, left no room for misinterpretation. She could sense it clearly: boredom, distraction, the occasional wistful flicker and pang of sorrow. But never bloodlust. Never elation at triumph. Never that focused stillness she expected from someone truly engaged in a fight.
He hadn't humiliated her on purpose.
The fight simply wasn't important to him. It was only a simple demonstration while he collected his thoughts.
And that, more than anything else, sent shivers through her spine.
He was a monster.
Between voracious bites, Effie spoke.
"If you want to get into the castle, you'll need Soul Shards. How many do you have?"
Sunny shrugged. "None. Not a problem—we'll just kill whatever we run into along the way."
Effie paused, mid-bite, squinting at him.
"You do know the city has Fallen-ranked creatures, right? I don't care how strong you are—there's no way you're getting through a fight with one of those unscathed."
Sunny raised his brows.
"I've been mapping a route with my shadow while we sparred. I already planned a path that ensures we'll only encounter Awakened creatures."
It was then that Effie noticed, he lacked a shadow.
Not only was he clearly reminiscing—given the nostalgia and sadness she saw wrestling for control in his emotions—he was also fighting her while using his Aspect to map out nearby terrain.
He made it all look so effortless. She hadn't even realized that at some point she started to believe the boy was telling the truth.
Sunny stood, brushing dirt from his clothes. His voice was calm but commanding.
"We're heading to Bright Castle. Once we attend to our errands, we'll be leaving indefinitely."
Cassie spoke up, not looking away from the fire, tapping a finger to her chin.
"I assume there will be others here too," she mused. "Our cohort was surely larger than four."
Effie noticed the math didn't quite add up—but she said nothing.
Sunny turned his gaze to Cassie.
"You're correct. We had one more cohort member, one more ally, and one temporary cohort member."
Cassie tilted her head. "If you don't mind, would you care to share who they are? It was rather rude of you to spring this meeting on me without telling me this was an important friend."
Sunny coughed.
"Why are you complaining? That's how friendships work—you meet someone new, you talk, maybe you even traumatize them a little. I'm not using my knowledge of the future to handhold you through making friends."
He stood and fetched another pair of skewers, handing one to Effie.
"Kai—better known as Night—was a key ally and cohort member. His Flaw lets him tell when others lie, so I want to find him first before making any recruitment pitches. Famous singer. You should know him."
Cassie blinked in surprise. "The Night? He was—"
Sunny pressed a finger gently to her lips.
"Let me finish."
His tone grew more serious.
"There was also Caster. We met him at the Awakened Academy. You wouldn't recognize the name, Effie. He was a traitor before, though maybe in this timeline we can stay on more amenable terms. I doubt it, though."
He paused, then shrugged and let his voice lighten.
"There's also Aiko—the girl who runs the gambling den. I hired her to manage a shop for me in the waking world. She never fought, but I trusted her."
He furrowed his brows in thought, before snapping his fingers.
"Oh—and nearly everyone who survived the siege of the Crimson Spire became our followers when we Ascended."
He gave a satisfied nod.
"That should be about it."
The two women sat in silence for a while, processing everything.
Effie was the first to speak.
"You're fucking mad, you know that?"
Sunny chuckled.
"Far too well. Anything else? Or should we be on our way?"
Cassie spoke up before either could move.
"Are we taking Aiko with us, too?"
Sunny answered without hesitation. "Aiko? No. She's safe where she is—and she's not a fighter."
Cassie frowned. "So? Need I remind you I'm literally blind, and yet you taught me how to fight? How bad could it be? Is her Aspect useless? What does it do?"
Effie's jaw dropped. The revelation hit like a stone through glass—That's why she never looked at the sparring matches. It's why she never made eye contact. It's why she smelled the meat so much while cooking. It suddenly all made sense.
Sunny groaned. Cassie was usually good about not peppering him with questions, aware of his Flaw. Clearly, something about Aiko struck a nerve.
"You don't need to remind me you're blind. Or that I trained you. But yes—it could be bad. You grew into a competent Awakened. She didn't. Her Aspect gives her weak telekinesis. It's not particularly strong."
Effie slammed her fist on the ground. "I knew she was using some kind of trick with the dice!"
Cassie hesitated at the outburst, then continued evenly.
"Telekinesis is a versatile power, even if weak. And if she was a loyal ally... why don't you train her the same way you did me?"
Sunny replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"Because she doesn't have the mindset for battle."
Cassie didn't flinch.
"I had already accepted my demise before you gave me Shadow's Lineage. What's the difference?"
Sunny's expression darkened. Cassie's tone wasn't just defiant—it was agitated. That was rare. In this life... and the one before.
He studied her in silence for a moment.
"Fine. If she agrees to come... I'll train her alongside you all, but she's your responsibility to keep safe."
Cassie nodded.
She remembered all too well the feeling of powerlessness—and she refused to let anyone Sunny cared about be left like that.