Sunny made his way to the alleyway he had once occupied before. He knew how long Kai was going to take, but he didn't know what kind of changes would be made because of his sudden appearance. Last time, it had been a few hours before Nephis had come to talk to him. But this time, Sunny was sure the rumor of his return — and his beauty — would spread amongst the outer settlement like wildfire.
Therefore, he should be ready for an early confrontation. But for now, he had time to pass. So, Sunny decided to check his runes — specifically, the runes of his aspect abilities.
Aspect: [Shadow Slave]
Aspect Rank: Divine
Innate Ability: [Shadow Bond]
Master: --
Aspect Abilities: [Shadow Control], [Shadow Step], [Shadow Manifestation], [Shadow Incarnation], [Shadow Legion].
'Hmm… I know the requirements for both the Shadow Step and Shadow Manifestation, but what about my other abilities?'
Sunny was curious about the different requirements for his other abilities since Shadow Step and Manifestation made perfect sense. Sunny dove into the shadows when he used Shadow Step and he made objects out of shadows when he used Shadow Manifestation. But he had a feeling the other aspect abilities wouldn't be as straight forward.
[Shadow Incarnation]
[Your shadows can take on your natural form.]
[It is unbecoming of you, a shadow cast by the god himself, to only cast one shadow. Once you regain your seventh core, you shall have this ability once more.]
Sunny blinked a few times.
'There's no way…'
A snicker left Sunny's mouth, followed by a fit of laughter.
'This poetry… it's worse than mine!'
Whoever made these descriptions were as unimaginative as him! Of course, Sunny didn't say that. He still thought of himself as an ingenious and practical poet, despite the fact everyone — even his own sister — seemed to think otherwise.
But despite Sunny's happy mood, he had to face the facts. He had to obtain all seven cores again to regain Shadow Incarnation. But Shadow Incarnation was by far his most versatile ability. It was what made Sunny into the Lord of Shadows, the fearsome hermit Saint of Godgrave. It also made him Master Sunless, the porcelain beauty of the Brilliant Emporium. And it made him Shadow, Rain's teacher of four years. But now, it had been locked behind a feat Sunny had only completed weeks ago!
'Damnation! It's hard enough for me to gain shards as it is!'
As much as Sunny lamented the absurdly high requirement for Shadow Incarnation, his answer for why was in plain sight. It was in the description of his new attribute, [The Precipice of Fate]:
'Solace is not the answer.'
Whatever placed him here clearly didn't want things to be easy for him. But what did this description even mean? Sure, Sunny had taken the easy way out during his battle against the King of Swords, but he was ready to re-enter the fight as a newborn Sovereign. He had not anticipated being sent back into the past — and sealed as well.
But Sunny didn't really care about that damned attribute. He was going to fix his past mistakes and problems he couldn't solve before.
He was going to make sure more of the sleepers of the Forgotten Shore would survive
He was going to make sure the Falcon Scott wouldn't fall.
He was going to make sure the Realm War wouldn't happen.
Hell, he might even kill those ghouls as soon as they chose to show themselves.
But that was for another time. Sunny still had a lot to prepare, and he had to actually become a Sovereign before he could fight against Ki Song and Anvil. He also needed to regain Saint, Mimic, Fiend, and Nightmare before he got too far ahead.
It didn't seem too hard, though. He already had Saint's echo. Mimic and Nightmare would be easy enough: one would be within Chainbreaker, and the other was within his second Nightmare. But Fiend was a product of Sunny's influence during Antarctica. He only became the creature he was because he escaped Sunny's blade and ate his flesh. So, he might have to recreate the same conditions so that he would be able to regain fiend. Otherwise, that would be a huge loss.
However, before Sunny could continue with pondering about his future, he was thrust out of his thoughts.
A familiar shadow was approaching him.
Soon after, Nephis's voice called out to him from behind:
"Hi, Sunny."
Sunny turned around. His face was curved into a mischievous grin, eyes filled with mirth. Last time, it was Nephis who had caught him off-guard. And Sunny wasn't one to let go of things so easily. So this time, he would be the one to catch Nephis off-guard.
"Hey, Neph."
Sunny faced Nephis, his grin stretching from ear to ear. Nephis looked exactly as she had in the past. Silver shoulder-length hair that exuded an aura of maturity and femininity. Her lithe figure was covered by the Starlight Legion armor, a white cloak sat at her shoulders, all but cementing her as the Forgotten Shore's "Saint." Confidence and conviction radiated out of her grey eyes in a seemingly infinite amount. But all of that went out the door as soon as Sunny came to face her.
Nephis froze, her eyes became wide and her face contorted into an unusual expression. But Sunny knew exactly what that expression meant — he had spent years by her side, after all: she was beyond flustered. His suspicions were confirmed when a slight blush made its way onto her beautiful ivory face.
Her mouth opened, but no noise came out.
Sunny snickered and then decided that Kai wouldn't be the only one he teased.
"Neph? Are you okay?"
Nephis broke out of her stupor as soon as he said that. She coughed a few times, trying to mask her embarrassment, before responding.
"Yes, thank you for asking. But if I may ask… why do you look like… that?"
Sunny looked at Nephis innocently, yet his smile betrayed how smug he felt beneath it all.
"Oh, it's nothing really… I became Supreme, that's all. But I'm not Supreme right now though, I'm merely a shell of what I once was…"
Sunny whispered under his breath, a tone of frustration present.
"...for a few minutes."
But Nephis didn't hear Sunny's short-lived vent. Nephis's confusion was still very much apparent. She did not know what Sunny meant by becoming Supreme. To her knowledge, there were only three Sovereigns in the world, and Sunny, the pervert and cockroach of the academy, was not one of them. However, Nephis was more confused on how beautiful her mischievous student had become. Surely, it wasn't because of their fight…
"Interesting."
Nephis cleared her throat to say something, but of course, Sunny already knew what she was going to say.
"You want to talk to me about something that's a matter of life or death, right?"
Nephis looked at Sunny with a stunned expression. Her words had been taken right out of her mouth.
"Yes, that's correct."
Sunny sighed before leaning against the nearest wall in the alleyway.
"I'll go to the meeting, but not right now. I'm waiting for someone to get back to me, and I'd rather not stand him up."
Sunny gestured towards the majestic Bright Castle. There was still a decent amount of time before Kai made his way back, but Sunny wanted to take his time before reuniting with the cohort. Once he got there, he would reach the point of no return. So for now, he just wanted to be free of any stressors or questions that would force him to reveal more than he wanted to.
Nephis nodded and turned to leave. She turned the corner, presumably gone. But much to Sunny's surprise, her shadow remained there.
Sunny turned towards Nephis's direction, and spoke in a bewildered tone,
"Neph… I still can see you, you know."
Her shadow froze, as she likely did. Suddenly, Sunny saw her shadow bolt off as the sound of rushed footsteps resounded through the alley.
Sunny was beyond confused. Why had Nephis stayed?
Sunny's first thought was that she had feelings for him, but he quickly dismissed those thoughts. If there was anytime that she felt something for him while she remembered him, it would've been during their Third Nightmare. After all, it had been just them on the back of a dead Great Monster. Could it get any more romantic?
But other than that, there wasn't really any reason for her to stick around. So Sunny let go of the subject and decided to wait for Kai.
* * *
"So, let me get this straight. You want me to come to your cohort's meeting to make sure they aren't lying to you?"
Kai walked beside Sunny as they made their way to Stev's shop. Kai had come back at roughly the same time as before, and since Nephis wasn't there to interrupt their meeting, Sunny decided to inform Kai on what had transpired.
"Yes, I do. But not for the reason you think."
Sunny knew that Nephis was going to ask him to go on the expedition and then rope Kai into the whole thing. So all he was doing here was making sure Kai would be on the expedition.
"I see… we're here, by the way."
The two sleepers made their way into the Memory Market. Sunny recognized every nook and cranny from his previous visit here, nothing looked out of place. And sitting in the corner of the shop, collecting dust, was the Mantle of the Underworld.
Poor Stev was oblivious to the scam he unknowingly brought upon himself.
Stev approached Kai and Sunny with a satisfied look on his face. Kai decided to break the ice and introduce the two:
"Sunny, this is Stev. He owns this place."
Stev offered a hand to Sunny, to which he gladly accepted it.
"It's good to see you, Stev."
Stev looked at Sunny with a confused expression, but it faded a few seconds later. After all, such a beautiful man was sure to lighten up anyone's expression.
Stev gestured towards the countless display's of memories.
"Since everything seems in order, I'll let you guys browse the catalog. Come back to me once you've found everything you need."
Sunny perused through the different memories on display. His main goal was to get to the Mantle of the Underworld without seeming interested, but he wanted to make sure he could get as many cheap memories as possible so he could level up Saint once he obtained his second core.
Eventually, Sunny ended up choosing the same memories as before. But now, it was time to haggle for one of his most prized possessions.
"What kind of outrageous piece of crap is this?! Is this even for sale?"
Sunny pointed at the damaged Mantle. Stev laughed awkwardly as he approached Sunny.
"Well, that piece of crap supposedly was an armor worn by the first Bright Lord. But now all it does is collect dust. It's kind of the shop's mascot, if it were to be anything else."
Sunny looked at Stev with a pitiful expression.
"You know what, I'll take it off your hands. Removing this onyx junk would surely brighten up the place and attract more customers."
Stev looked taken aback, but soon nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, you're probably right."
Sunny smiled in pure glee.
"Alright then, I'll take these ten memories here and that piece of junk."
Stev looked at Sunny with deep confusion and then looked to Kai for confirmation, who merely shrugged and sighed.
* * *
After negotiating the prices, the total cost ended up being cheaper than it had been in the past. So, Sunny decided to let Kai keep a few shards as commission.
Kai seemed very surprised by Sunny's sudden generosity, but he gladly accepted. Anything that could help him survive easier in this hellhole was very welcome.
Now, only one thing remained on Sunny's list. It was time to meet up with the cohort.