Shadow Slave Memoirs

[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell!] 

[Prepare for your First Trial…]

Sunny dreamt of a lighthouse. 

In the dark abyss called night, it shone with such radiance that only the silver moon hanging in the sky could be its sole competitor. 

The sea was beautiful, shining, ships occasionally passing its waters, their horns resounding throughout the area.

Waves would crash rhythmically onto the cliffside over and over again, a deathly dance for all eternity. 

Suddenly, the moon fell all over the horizon. The sun streaked across the sky and disappeared in the east. The sea rose and fell, and ships flew back in reverse, their horns blaring and dying in mere seconds. Sunny realized that he was seeing the flow of time in reverse.

In an instant, hundreds of years flew by. Snow danced onto the ground, and disappeared on impact. Leaves grew and withered, old, ancient trees becoming young once again. 

Time slowed, stopped, and resumed in its usual place.

[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell!]

[Prepare for your First Trial…] 

The Spell once again whispered, its voice indifferent and monotone. 

'What… What the hell is this?'

Step. Step. Another step.

Sunny was slowly ascending the stairs of the lighthouse, panting as he walked up to the very top of it, walking hand in hand with the person he assumed was his 'father'. Not his birth one of course. His real father was long dead.

'What kind of situation is this? What am I supposed to do?'

Sunny looked up and down, noticing the various infrastructure of the lighthouse, as well as 'father' who was holding his hand. He was tall and broad shouldered, long grey hair that at least reached the shoulders tied into a ponytail, his striking grey eyes shining with years of experience.

"What's wrong Ivan?" The man asked, turning his body slightly, "You asked me to show you what the job looks like, didn't you?"

Ivan. Not Sunny. Or Sunless. He wasn't in the waking world anymore, but in a Nightmare, a Nightmare that wasn't his.

If it were any normal person, they would most likely panic and say the wrong thing, but Sunny was from the outskirts, lies and deceit were as easy as breathing to him. Acting as someone else shouldn't be that hard, should it?

He scratched his head, before having eye contact with the man, "Nothing father. I was just… distracted."

The man gave a curt nod, "The job demands focus. You have to prove your competence."

Sunny wanted to punch the man. 'Proving competence!? Why do I even want or need to do that! All I wish is to survive, damn it!'

But of course, he quietly restrained himself, the man wasn't someone he wanted to cross.

Giving a forced nod, they continued the ascent to the top silently. 

Climbing over the last steps of the staircase, the man pushed the door open, beckoning Sunny to go in first.

'Well at least this 'father' guy has some manners…'

Walking in, Sunny was instantly taken back. The view on the lighthouse was even more breathtaking than the one he had seen at night.

Clouds rolled lazily across the horizon, as the sun shone its lights onto the ever moving sea. Waves slammed onto the rocks below the cliff, and ships sailed quaintly from the east to the west, their horns blaring whenever they arrived near the lighthouse. 

For an outskirts rat like him, it was a view that he would have never seen in his entire life.

'If there was any place that beautiful that is… And those places are long gone.'

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The man asked, a serene calmness in his gaze. 

In his splendor, Sunny had forgotten the man, with his undivided attention on the view before him.

Sunny stayed silent for a while, before he conversed with the man again.

"Yes. I will never see anything that could ever compare."

The man let out a wistful sigh, "You can stare some more Ivan, I'll go check the lights then."

"Alright." He said, his eyes never moving from their place, never looking directly at the man, "Alright, I'll be there soon."

Quickly engraving the image of the place into his mind, Sunny thought of more important things, such as…

'What the hell am I supposed to do!? How am I supposed to conquer the Nightmare!'

Suddenly remembering that he had yet to check his Aspect, and instantly thought of words such as 'status', 'myself' and 'information'. Indeed, as soon as he focused, shimmering runes appeared in front of it. And although he didn't know anything of the ancient alphabet, the meaning behind it was somehow clear.

He quickly found the runes describing his Aspect, and finally, lost his composure.

'What!? What the actual fuck!?'

Name: Sunless

True Name: –

Rank: Aspirant

Soul Core: Dormant

Memories: –

Echoes: –

Attributes: [Fated], [Mark of Divinity], [Child of Light].

Aspect: [Lighthouse Keeper].

Aspect Description: [Lighthouses are a beacon of light in the darkness, both literally and figuratively. As a keeper of it, you cull both hope and guidance.]

Speechless, Sunny stared at his runes, trying to convince hinself that maybe he was just seeing things. Surely, he couldn't be that unlucky, right?

'No useless Aspects my ass!' Sunny exclaimed at the depths of his mind, and in an attempt to comfort himself, thought: 'At least it wasn't 'slave'... Who knows what the Nightmare Spell is thinking…'

As soon as Sunny finished thinking that, something behind him roared to life, and he flinched under the sound. 

The man stared at him, his eyes narrowing, "It's the fire." He said, before resuming whatever work he had to do to keep the flame ablaze.

Sunny walked over, and silently watched as the man did whatever was required to maintain the light. 

After a while, he turned to him, and this time, his eyes were sparkling, "Did you see that Ivan?" 

Sunny nodded.

"That's what we do, us lighthouse keepers," He paused for a while, "I'll give you the ropes tonight, for you have to learn."

Sunny frantically nodded, and willed his eyes to shine with curiosity that was expected of him. 

The man smiled, and Sunny thought that maybe… 

Maybe the man wasn't all that bad…

And perhaps,

Maybe, this Nightmare isn't that bad…

—

Once the sun dipped across the horizon, the man led him to the top of the lighthouse, a torch of fire in his hand. When they reached the top, he passed the fire to Sunny, and Sunny lit the wick on fire. 

They watched in silence as a flame bloomed in the night, shining radiantly among the darkness of the sky, and the sea.

Sunny looked back, staring at the man's eyes. They were strangely blank as they stared at the horizon, yet when he turned his head, and looked at him, they were as warm as a sunny day.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

The man cocked his head, "Distracted, Ivan?" He asked.

Sunny shook his head, "Just thinking."

"You have to keep watch of the fire, and the fog if it comes," The man said with a smile, an eerily chilling smile, "You still have much to learn."

Something was wrong.

He nodded, and the previous silence descended once again upon them.

When he once again looked into the man's eyes, they were devoid of emotion, just like before.

'Why is that?' He thought, and suddenly, realization came to his mind, 'Unless… Something about this lighthouse isn't what it seemed.'

Sunny gulped, before he resumed the watch. 

That night, there was fog. 

Deep, thick, and all encompassing fog.

—

The next morning, Sunny woke up, feeling that something was indescribably wrong.

'What is it…' He thought, 'What is it that is wrong?'

Rain was alright, wasn't she? Then everything had to be alright!

'Who's Rain?' A part of his mind whispered.

'That's right, who's Rain?' Sunny thought, and in the next few seconds, he felt like a part of him was lost, like he had forgotten something indescribably important.

"Who's Sunny?" He asked the man.

The man, no, father answered, "I don't know, Ivan."

That's right, he is Ivan, the son of a keeper of the lighthouse, and the keeper of this lighthouse in the near future.

"Father," Ivan tilted his head, "I just had the strangest dream, I was a man named Sunny."

His father gave him a smile, the first he had given in so long. 

"Don't dream, Ivan. You'll be alright here, tending to the light of the lighthouse, serving after me."

What a strange thing to say. 

"Alright father." He said, and soon left.

'Father' wickedly grinned as the shadow of his son ascended the lighthouse, "Sleep Sunny, and never awaken. Never plague my dear Ivan with your nightmares once again."

…And like that, decades flew by, and Ivan aged. Yet 'father' still looked the same.

—

Nephis stared at her runes, her face indifferent, betraying nothing of her panic, she had long learnt how to control her expressions after all. 

Name: Nephis

True Name: –

Rank: Aspirant

Soul Core: Dormant

Memories: –

Echoes: –

Attributes: [Dreamspawn], [Flame of Divinity], [The Shadow].

Aspect: [Temple Slave].

Aspect Description: [Slave is a useless wretch with no skills and abilities worth a mention. A Temple Slave is just the same, except much rarer.]

Her Nightmare would be hard, extremely hard. 

But…

If that was her will, who dares stop her?

She is Nephis of the Immortal Shadow after all.