A Sunless Dream | Shadow Slave Fic

A pale lithe body spun in the air multiple times as a streak of black followed every movement without fail. As the movements increased in speed, a small tornado formed around the man as he finally slammed to the ground with a swing of a scythe.

Overtime, Sunny was getting more used to using a scythe. The idea had never come to him previously however witnessing Jet's mastery of the weapon only enticed him to seek mastery of it himself.

Walking towards Nephis, she clapped proudly with an amused expression on her face as she handed him a towel to clean his sweaty form. 'Although I'd like that he didn't' she mused to herself as Sunny slowly wiped himself down before her.

After running a hand through his hair, Sunny stared at the sky with a contemplative expression, what he was thinking about as unreadable as ever. "I've settled it, we're going to Bastion to see Nephis."

Nephis internally gasped at the proclamation. With how far away from Bastion they were currently, she would not be given enough time for Cassie to be informed of her return, nor who she was returning with.

"Why the sudden drive to go there? Didn't you say you hated Nephis, and didn't want anything to do with her?" her prodding questioning was justified, Sunny always made it sound like he wanted to be as far away from her as possible, however, from the flames of longing in his heart she knew that wasn't completely true.

Turning to her, Sunny nodded in acknowledgement before releasing a sigh "I do but at the same time I don't. It's very complicated, hopefully giving myself time to expose myself to her will help clear up what I feel."

Releasing another sigh, he summoned his scythe and swung it in anger, cutting a large portion of the floating island they were on in the process. "I know it's unfair to you and I'm sorry, but it keeps eating away at me and I don't know how to get it to stop."

Nephis stared at him with pity, if he knew that the person he was looking for had been in front of him the entire time, she didn't know how he would react. With a sigh, Nephis shook her head and lightly placed her hand on his chest "It's fine, I'll come with you but drop me off near God grave for a bit and I'll meet up with you later."

Sunny raised an eyebrow, "God grave? Orion's territory? Why would you ever want to go there?" his eyes were clouded with an expression of surprise and worry as he stared at her waiting for a response.

"I just want to get in contact with someone, it will be fine I promise." Nephis smiled at him to placate him further which worked on Sunny much easier than he would like to admit. With a sigh, Sunny extended his arm and his serpent like tattoo moved from his body onto the ground beneath him, turning into a figure of a woman with flowing brown hair and blazing red eyes.

"Serpent, follow her and make sure no danger happens. If there isn't anything don't make your presence known." Serpent nodded at it's master before disappearing into Nephis shadow. Sitting down for a second, Sunny's eye twitched slightly as though he was speaking to somebody in his head.

Nephis suspicions were proven true as Orion appeared beside him, leaning on his shoulder to further accentuate his superior height. "I'm not your personal taxi, whatever a taxi is. But this looks like it'll be interesting, so I'll humour your...spouse? Girlfriend? Whatever you two are."

Shooting a knowing grin at Nephis, Orion made his way towards her and grabbed her by the shoulder. In the next moment, they were in God Grave. Shoving his shoulder off her roughly, Nephis dismissed her memory as a burst of essence was released from her body.

"I'm going to Bastion; you can follow me if you'd like fiend" Orion smiled at the venom used to reference him before two wings made of shadow protruded from his back. As Nephis took off with blinding speed, he easily kept pace as he flew in front of her.

Folding his arms as he flew backwards, Orion smiled at her. "Why are you going to Bastion? Let me guess, you want to let Song of the Fallen know something that you can't have Sunless know." Nephis didn't grace his statement with a reply as she increased her speed, flying past him.

Shrugging silently, Orion followed her and soon enough, they were in Bastion. Nephis landed next to the Ivory Tower gracefully as Orion made his presence scarce by hiding in her shadow, eager to watch the events unfold.

Noticing her presence, Cassie sprang from her chair and rushed to Nephis enveloping her in a deep hug. "I haven't seen you in weeks, where have you been!" Nephis turned her head in embarrassment before quietly replying.

"With Sunny." The mood instantly shifted; Cassie's face instantly became serious as she shut the door of her room. "What! How? Did he try to kill you again?" the barrage of questions caught Nephis off guard as she shook her head slowly.

"I was out in a disguise; I noticed Sunny training and I couldn't help but talk to him. We've been together for all the days I was gone. It was quite...pleasant" Cassie raised an eyebrow at the statement before grabbing Nephis by the shoulders.

"If you're in a disguise, then he must have said something to you right? Has he mentioned your name, or mine?" Nephis nodded, "He plans on coming here to meet me, the real me. His feelings about me are very conflicted and he's returning to clear them up."

Gritting her teeth slightly, Nephis continued "But I doubt he'll be here permanently. Which leads to why I'm here, I want you to make it known to him that I am out on a mission and explain away my absence. If he discovers the person he's been in bed with is the woman he hates, I'm not sure we'd be able to stop him."

Cassie nodded in agreement before pausing, a teasing grin sliding onto her face as she poked Nephis in the chest. "Been in bed with? What have you guys been doing in my absence?" Nephis took a step back awkwardly before replying in a whisper.

"We've kissed, hugged, slept together. But that's it." Her face grew red as Cassie laughed teasingly "No matter what form you take; it seems he'll always love you!" she exclaimed happily before Nephis face turned grave.

"Which leads me to another issue, I know you're there so come out!" in a moment, Nephis shadow bubbled and twisted unnaturally as Orion's form slowly appeared from her shadow. Before Nephis registered what happened, Cassie's face turned red with rage as she swung her rapier at his throat.

Orion caught the blow with his hands alone before slowly gripping tighter onto the sword, threatening to break it. Cassie dismissed the memory however before she could follow up on her attack Nephis stepped between them. "Nephis, why is that fiend here!" Cassie roared.

Placing a finger on his lips, Orion smirked at her maliciously letting out a small laugh. "Quiet blind girl, you don't want anyone knowing that you made a deal with Anvils son, do you?" Cassie shook with anger, preparing for another attack however Nephis placed a hand on her shoulder.

"This scum has given me three weeks to reveal my identity to Sunny. And I'm unsure how to approach the situation without straining our relationship further than it already has been." Shooting a glare back at Orion, she turned her attention back to Cassie as she continued.

"I need your advice."

Before Cassie could respond, shadows twisted and undulated in the corner of the room. Slowly darkening as a form made itself known in the room, Sunny had arrived. Cassie opened her mouth to speak, but in a moment, Sunny was in front of her. His hand firmly placed on her face.

"I'm only going to ask this once, where is Stella."