Shadow Slave: Prince of Darkness

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Sunny saw how both Nephis and Cassie looked skeptical, while Raizel still has his emotionless face, but Sunny could tell that even he doesn't believe him.

'Damn it!!'

Sunny couldn't help but curse mentally, not knowing how to get out of this situation he has got himself into, as he was about to think of different solutions, when he head Raizel voice.

"Sunny have ever used your ability on me." asked Raizel while looking at Sunny, his eyes were crimson red as he stared at Sunny with such instantly making him feel heavy pressured on his shoulders.

'Damn!'

Sunny paled a bit before answering, he need to be careful with this one.

"Yes, i did but only when you were fighting the sleeper on the combat class."

After hearing his answer Raizel didn't said anything, he become completely silent.

But to Sunny it seems he didn't believe him, Sunny gritted his teeth as he said roughly.

"I had more important things to do than... than whatever you're thinking about! I spent almost every waking hour learning how to survive!" his tone contain a bit of anger.

Hearing this Nephis spoke, with her eyebrow raised.

"Really, I haven't seen you in class even once." 

What she said was right as Sunny haven't appeared on the combat class, in which more then half of the sleepers of there branch were present.

But Sunny hearing this wasn't angry nor frustrated as he merely chuckled, then replied.

"Of course, you didn't. While you and Raizel were busy wiping the floor with other Sleepers, I was studying Wilderness Survival."

Hearing this Raizel raised an eyebrow but didn't asked further, Nephis looked confused as to what he was talking about, while Cassie also seems equally puzzled.

"Wilderness... what? There is such a course?" said Cassie in a tone laid with confusion.

"Yes, there is. It might seem like an afterthought for most people, but for an outskirts kid like me, who never went to a fancy school or saw a private tutor, learning how to survive in the wilderness is the difference between life and death. Without it, I would have drowned the moment we were sent to the Dream Realm." 

As he spoke Sunny couldn't help but be grateful to Master Jet who has given him this life saving advise.

'I really need to thank her, if i ever got out of here alive.' thought Sunny as he noted the first thing to do after getting out of here alive.

He quickly come out of his thoughts as he saw a bewildered look on Changing Star face which surprised him, since he hasn't seen any emotion on her face, the entire time he had been with them.

'Interesting, so she can feel emotions too.' thought Sunny as he couldn't help but feel surprised by his new discovery.

His gaze landed at Cassie who also has a shocked expression on her face, but the thing that made him surprised was Raizel as he was the only one who did not show a single expression on his face.

'He must have known beforehand or it must be something that doesn't interested him that much.' 

Sunny could only think of these possibilities, not knowing how perfectly right he was.

Nephis rubbed her wrists as she thoughtfully stared in his direction, then said. 

"I see. I didn't know."

'Yeah as if you know anything Princess of Fallen clan...' thought Sunny with a grimed look on his face, he could not help but feel a bit envy from someone like Nephis, to him she has everything talent for fighting, a good reputation, better resources and tutors that trained her for nightmare.

But the most important thing that she is even taller then him, which he actually hated the most, not like he is going to admit it himself.

"Well it's only natural for someone of your status not to know..." said Sunny trying to keep his tone as polite as possible, and trying his hardest to not split the venom.

After that he continued.

"Anyway, that's my Ability. As for Memories, I have three. One is an armor, one is a sword, and the last one is a really loud bell."

As he finish his part, he waited for other to speak since it was now their turn to share there abilities. 

After a short pause, Nephis spoke

"My attributes give me an affinity to light and fire, as well as a strong affiliation to divinity. I have two Memories: a rope..."

As Nephis was speaking, Sunny was looking at Cassie trying to see if Nephis was lying or not by looking at her expression.

'Hmm, Nephis is telling the truth but not the whole truth and judging by how hard Cassie is trying to hide her true feelings, i can say she is still not telling the whole truth' thought Sunny, as he look at Cassie.

Suddenly his gaze turned to the left side of Nephis, he saw Raizel looking at him with his glowing red eyes that made him averted his gaze.

'Don't tell me he can see in the dark too!!'

Sunny shiver at the thought of the possibility, then he quickly shifted his gaze back to Changing star.

Sunny doesn't know why but whenever he looked at those eyes, he always felt naked as if all of his secret were exposed in front of him.

"....and a sword. The rope is very sturdy and can change its length. The sword is very sharp and can protect its wielder against souls attacks, to a certain extent. My Ability... can be used to heal"

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Sunny (pov)

Wait did i just heard it right!!, Did she just said "Can be used to heal"... does this mean that its main purpose is something else? However i am pretty sure that she will not reveal all of her cards, but having someone with healing abilities is good but why did she say can be used to heal does that mean that it is not limited to healing but wouldn't that make her aspect overpowered. 

But then again she is Changing Star just like Raizel she is also one of the few people in history to receive a True Name in the First Nightmare. If i were to consider my own Aspect Ability, then nothing seemed impossible.

'I wonder what's her Aspect rank is.' i thought as i looked at her then i outwardly pretended to be excited and spoke.

"You're a Healer? That's great! Having a Healer among us is incredible luck!" 

Cassie also nodded her head and smiled as if agreeing with my statement but when i looked at Raizel he has the same expression his face almost as if he wasn't even interested.

'Does he not know how rare the healer are or is he just pretending' i thought, i couldn't understand what's cooking up inside his head. Then my gaze shifted towards Cassie as she spoke

"Neph is also an amazing fighter! You should have seen her dealing with those scavengers. Well... I also did not actually see it. But it sounded very scary." 

You don't need to tell me how formidable of a warrior Nephis was, i have seen it with my own two eyes well not my eyes but shadow's eyes. Well... whatever as long as they were eyes.

Anyways as i saw Cassie sigh, then spoke

"It's my turn? Uh... my attributes are nothing special. I guess I have an affinity to revelations and fate. My Ability is like I told you before. It's not very useful. About my Memories, I have three: the bottle, the wooden staff and this armor. You already know about the bottle. The staff can create wind. The armor is actually of the Awakened rank... uh, Neph gave it to me when we met. It has a very powerful protective charm." 

'So... she's not only carrying Cassie on her back, she even gave away her only armor? An Awakened-rank armor, at that?... what is Nephis thinking about?' i couldn't help but thought as i looked at her then at Nephis. I don't know what will she get by helping a dead weight.

I might have sounded a bit harsh but it is the truth.

The blind girl turned away and added after a while:

"I used to be a pretty decent fencer... before. Now I can't really fight"

As i heard the last two sentences which were obviously related to her Flaw. I, Raizel and Nephis decided to kept silence. I decided to kept my secret which i will kept it till my grave. Despite knowing the flaw of your companion's is also important for cooperation and having each other's backs, sharing something like that demanded a very high level of trust which i don't have for any of them.

'Right now, there was no trust between us. And even if there was, i do not plan to ever share my Flaw with anyone. i think Raizel and Nephis also seems to agree with my statement as they too have a lot of secrets.' 

I thought, then my gaze shifted to the last person of the group who just staring at the dark sea. He looked at us with his glowing red eyes. Then he spoke in an emotionless tone.

"It's seems like i am the last one to go huh..."

He paused before continuing.

"My aspect is nothing special as it just give me highest affinity for 'Darkness'..."

I stopped when he said "Darkness". 

'Wait!! did he just said Darkness, does that mean he can control shadows too.... if so then isn't it just like mine'. As these thought were going inside my mind, while Raizel continued.

"I can see in Dark too, and i can also fly for once a day."

'So I was right huh... ' i then shifted my gaze to Cassie too see if what Raizel said was true or not but i was surprised to see a shocked and a surprised expressions on her face.

'Why does she has that kind of expression on her face ?' i couldn't help but think, i mean she can see the attributes of someone, and judging by her expression.

'Is he telling a lie.' i mean their a high posiblity for him to be lying, since nobody trust each other right now.

'Or it could also mean that he is hiding something else.' something really dangerous, but there is one thing i know and that is, i need to keep my guard up against him all the time.

'Who knows what he has gotten up his sleeves.' i thought as i heard Raizel continuing with a slight pause.

"... and as for memory i have a sword, an armor which i am wearing right now and a ring which can be used to store non-living things..."

'Damn he has gotten some pretty goods memories, even his armor looks so cool.' i thought with a slight envy but i mask my thoughts as i said with a friendly smile.

"Really well those are some goods memories you have gotten there Raizel. So anyways, i think we have enough tools to survive, provided if we use them right. I guess it's time to sleep?"

Suddenly Nephis tilted her head, she looked in my direction with a distant look.

'Why is she looking at me like that' i thought, then it suddenly clicked on my mind, is it because of my reputation in the academy and what happened earlier, Damn i need to clear my name if not then they will always think me as a pervert.

"Alright. I'll... take watch first." i said as decided to be helpful, then i continue.

"Actually, my shadow doesn't sleep. It can wake us up if something happens."

Now they will trust me a bit, as i looked and saw Changing star smiling slowly.

"I'll take watch first." 

Feeling a bit of coldness in her voice, i just sighed and shrugged.

'Suit yourself. What are you going to watch, huh? You can't even see anything! Whatever. Just don't blame me when something giant swallows us in the middle of the night...'

Then suddenly my body shrugged as i thought.

'Wait!!... that was not a death flag!!, right!? Right, of course not, hah!... No way... 

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Unknown person(pov)

Raizel wasn't asleep, he gaze landed at Cassie who was hugging him and resting her head in his chest she seems to be sleeping peacefully, but he was listening to the calming rumbling of the waves, his senses which were now ten times higher then a normal sleeper.

To him not even an ant that was crawling 50 meters away could go unnoticed.

But his mind was not on the calm waves nor on the ants that were crawling on the ground.

He was thinking about his past , yes about his past, the things he gone thought in his early years.

'Who would have thought that i was who was getting tortured for 13 years would now sleeping peacefully beside some people who i know everything about....' Thought Raizel as a sigh escape his lips. 

"sigh"

He couldn't help but think about all of the things he has been through, the inhuman torture his mother has made him go though, for what some bit trivial amount power which he didn't sign up for.

Remembering about those times just made him feel more empty then usual, his emotionless attribute seems to be working perfectly, masking or hiding his emotions even from him, his purple eyes which was supposed to shine like a cosmic stars were now dull and empty as if they had lost their brilliances long time ago.

'But does emotions truly matter.' thought Raizel, after all every emotions has it own down side.

For eg- love is a beautiful feeling but only for those who got it on first try, not for those who were left broken by it. 

Or those who never got the feeling of love, like Raizel.

Then there is another one which is Anger, if used right it can be the deadliest weapon in the world, but at the time if lost control of it, it can also ruin someone's life.

Raizel has always been thinking if he really were to get his emotions back or if he really were to feel then again, would he still go after the revenge, or would he still persuade his dreams or goals.

At the end of the day, the only the question is "What if ?"

'Well it's not like it will be an easy task.'

After what he has been thought, graining those lost emotions would be hard task more harder then his revenge for Amaris, for it he need to start all over again, which he wasn't planning on doing right now.

'But after completing my revenge, i will try work on getting my emotions back.' thought Raizel as he has already made another goal, he need to achieve.

Suddenly he felt the girl beside him trembling, Raizel Glanced at her he could feel her body getting cold, a scared expression her innocent face, it seems like she was having a nightmare.

'Or perhaps an oracle about the future.' thought Raizel as he brought his right hand and started patting the girls back, trying to give her a sense of comfort or warmth.

It seems to be working as the girl calm down, her breathing become stable.

'I don't blame her.' Thought Raizel, to him she was the most normal human in this little group of their.

Raizel knows that if he were in her shoes he would most likely ended up in a worst kind of situation, the spell wasn't kind to anyone and it certainly will not be kind to someone like him, for him it will try to take everything from him and will also try to make his life miserable. 

Cassie has a normal childhood with both of her parents, unlike certain heiress of the fallen clan she was not surviving everyday from trained killers that were after her, nor unlike a certain shadow she did not live her life in in slums, but seems like spell has different plans for her, so Cassie was lucky that she met Nephis if not, then for any nightmare creature she would have been an easy prey.

'It can also be something planned by spell, to make them come together.' thought Raizel as it is also a certain possibility.

He knows that the chances of someone like Cassie to appeared beside Nephis were slim, or zero to be exact.

But yet here she is surviving with them.

After seeing that she has calmed down, he shifted his gaze to Nephis who was guarding the camp, motionless as always, and also bit distant. If it wasn't for her breathing anyone would have thought that she was an statue.

'Nephis true name Changing star of the immortal flam clan.' to Raizel Nephis is somethi- someone he respected.

'Surviving 2 years alone in the realm filled with madness, and deaths is not something any sain person would do.' Thought Raizel as he remember the 2 years she survived in dream realm.

Nephis mentally was not always this strong, the turning point in her life was when her own nanny tried to kill her, that was the movement she felt the feeling of powerlessness, but she was saved by her instructor who was passing by there, and that was also the movement she felt the true power.

Raizel remember the incident when he met Nephis, that time she was way younger and also a bit naive.

Flashback

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Picture of past.