A Sunless Dream | Shadow Slave Fic

Cold shadow bound steel fuelled with focused murderous intent was pointed by all members of the room. It didn't take much observation to determine that Sunny was furious, his grip on Cassie's face only tightened as the silence that settled over the room became more tense.

Nephis grabbed Sunny's arm, attempting to pull it off Cassie's face and to her surprise he relented. Grabbing Nephis by the collar, Sunny pulled her roughly, so she was level with his eyes.

By looking at them, beneath all the anger and rage that bubbled to the surface upon encountering the two, she saw the desperate desire to ascertain the safety of one close to himself. She knew Sunny was barely holding himself together as she turned slightly to look at Orion.

Grabbing her by the chin roughly, Sunny's glare hardened further "Don't look at him, look at me!" his breathe quickened as it hit against her skin. His anger almost felt palpable "Where is Stella. I was supposed to come here today with her, and then she follows that bastard and disappears!"

Pointing at Orion, Sunny's gaze shifted "You were supposed to keep her safe, you had one job!" his aggression filled tone did little to intimidate the man across from him as he simply raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Stella is safe, in fact you're the biggest risk to her right now."

Sunny's grip on Nephis relaxed as he took a step backwards. "What do you mean, where is she?" his voice began to stammer as he scanned around the room looking for Stella. Orion turned to Nephis and gave her a light nod, indicating what she had to do.

Taking in a deep breathe, Nephis spoke "Sunny, the person who you think is Stella doesn't exist" his head snapped towards her, rage burning in his eyes as he spoke. "I've tolerated a lot from you, too much to even list in one day. But this is too far, I've hit the end of my patience with you Changing Star."

Sunny moved to lunge at Nephis, sword directed at her throat however Nephis was faster. In a moment, she had activated the memory. Her hair turned brown as her body shifted, taking the familiar form of Stella that Sunny had been accustomed to.

Taking two steps back, Sunny placed a hand on his head "No, you're lying. You must be lying. Tell me you're lying!" Nephis could only grit her teeth in response as she slowly shook her head.

"Initially, I took the form only to have a little bit of an escape from everything. But then, you almost hit me out of the sky while you were training so I approached you with my disguise. I wanted to give you a bit of reprieve from all the suffering I've put you through, even if I wasn't completely honest."

Sunny's breathes quickened as he placed a hand on his chest, his heart was beating out of his chest as his eyes became unfocused. Making his way towards Nephis, his hand curled into a fist as everyone present prepared for a fight.

However, the monumental strength Sunny was capable of was not expressed. Leaning into Nephis slightly, he hit her on the chest before muttering out quietly "You dumbass." Cassie levelled another glare at Orion as the scene unfolded, who took the hint and made his way outside the room.

Hitting his fist against her chest lightly once more, Sunny buried his head into her neck as he whispered, "You dumbass, why would you do that?" His quiet breathes slowly turned into sobs as he continued to hit her "Why, why are you like this? Why am I like this?"

Instead of replying, Nephis simply pulled him into a deep hug. Like she had done throughout the weeks they had been together, Sunny's sobbing body convulsed slightly before beginning to halt in it's movements. "Why do you always do this to me? Why make me happy if you're only going to hurt me?"

Nephis held him tighter now, her expression quickly breaking down alongside Sunny's. Soon, low sobs escaped her lips. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry for the way I treat you. I'm sorry for what I've done to you even if I don't remember. I'm sorry for lying to you, I'm sorry for using you. I'm sorry for everything!" her grip on him became so tight her knuckles turned paler than usual.

Sunny pulled back slightly as he looked her in the eyes, she dismissed her memory making him flinch as he continued to gaze at her. Silence permeated through the room, Sunny's mind and heart going through trillions of emotions unseen to anyone present.

"I...don't know if I love you. I don't understand what we are, how am I supposed to love you when I'm your slave. How am I supposed to trust you when you hurt me the way you do?" His grip on her shoulders tightened as he continued to look at Nephis, tears pouring from their eyes.

"Just, give me a bit. I appreciate the lengths you go to just for my sake, you love me, and I can't deny it. But I need time, I need to rest, and I need to gather my thoughts." Nephis nodded slightly, with that, Sunny disappeared from the room in a swirl of shadows.

As he disappeared, Nephis fell to her knees. Cassie rushed to her side in moments and pulled her to her feet, sitting her on the bed. "How are you feeling?" she asked tentatively, Nephis continued to stare blankly before her eyes focused on Cassie.

"Why am I like this? Why do I do things this way?" shaking her head, Nephis steeled herself as her hands balled into fists. "I'll give him all the time he needs, but before then I'll make sure he's safe. Cassie you can borrow his senses, right?"

Cassie nodded tentatively; she didn't like the direction things were going. "It's best for us to just leave him be for a while, it's clear he still is affectionate towards you. Sometimes, time is all someone needs to heal."

Nephis nodded in response, signalling for Cassie to continue. "But before that, we need to monitor Mordret. And I think it's time I let you know what deal we made." The look in Nephis eyes focused as her killing intent flared to life. Ultimately, the situation she was in right now was partly his fault.

And she would make him suffer for it.

Millions of miles away, in the vast expanses of the dream realm. Stood Mordret, gazing over a titanic entity of monumental proportions. It's features escaped the eye; such an entity was not the type which could be captured in human words.

Although asleep, space warped around it, curving and bending towards it's will. It exuded passive amounts of essence that crushed everything, attack or will that attempted to impose itself upon it. In it's presence, everything became irrelevant.

Mordret had sacrificed thousands of bodies, nightmare creatures of several ranks, some even being corrupted titans. However, all were crushed and bent before he could even close in on the sleeping creature that slept before him.

The closer he got, the smaller the creature seemed to get, and the farther away he became. He found himself struggling to remain conscious as time and space bent towards the will the creature passively exuded.

"I'm going to conquer this bastard; I'll die before I stop trying." Mordrets strained voice echoed through the empty cavern as he sent another member of his possessed army towards the creature.

He had met many men, even the man who resided on the moon did not begin to compare to this creature in terms of strength. Even while asleep the laws of nature bent to it's will, everything twisted and bent towards it like a silent monarch ruling over the world.

Before him stood an unholy titan, and Mordret was going to kill it.