Shadow Slave - One Shots

Nephis took a deep breath, steadying herself.

Her eyes were still puffy red from crying, but she had managed to regain her composure.

Sunny, who had been holding her all this time, gently let her go.

He glanced around at the others.

Kai, Effie, and Cassie who were watching him with different expressions.

"Let's sit down," he said, gesturing toward a nearby table.

Sunny pulled out a chair and sat, resting his elbows on the wooden surface.

The others did the same, but none of them spoke at first.

There was just silence.

'Awkward..'

Sunny sighed. "Alright. Ask away."

Kai was the first to break the silence.

His voice was softer than usual, as if he wasn't sure how to approach this.

"How are you?"

It was such a simple question, yet it carried a weight that he didn't expect

He let out a dry chuckle, shaking his head.

"I don't know. I think I'm still trying to figure that out."

Kai nodded, not pressing further, though his emerald eyes studied Sunny carefully.

Effie leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands, her sharp eyes scanning him.

"Alright, serious question. How'd you get so damn handsome? You used to be so short and scrawny.. well you still are short but what the hell? Did you make a deal with a demon or something?"

Sunny blinked, caught off guard. "What?" He scoffed. "I didn't-"

"No, no, seriously!" Effie insisted, gesturing at him. "Your hair is all dark and mysterious now, your face is possibly perfect and you have that whole brooding thing going on. It's unfair!"

Kai smirked. "She has a point."

Sunny groaned, running a hand through his hair. "I didn't do anything! Maybe it's the lack of stress from not dying every other day?"

Effie grinned. "Or maybe fate felt bad for you and threw in a glow-up as an apology."

Nephis let out a small exahle that could be classified as a laugh.

Cassie, meanwhile, remained quiet, though her head was tilted slightly, listening.

Kai leaned forward again. "How did you survive all this time? Crossing the Hollow mountains and all."

'Guess that question was inevitable.'

Sunny's expression darkened for a moment, and he exhaled. "It wasn't easy."

He hesitated, as if debating how much to say.

"After… after everything, I didn't have anywhere else to go. The world forgot me. The Spell forgot me. I had no memories, nor did anyone remember me."

Effie frowned. "Damn."

"Yeah." Sunny's fingers tapped against the table absentmindedly. "But I had me myself and I."

He paused before, "And by me I mean my avatars."

He smiled sadly.

"The Hollow Mountains were hell. Being forgotten by the world, and crossing fog that took your identity away from you when you had none to begin with was.. hell. And, If I did lose to the fog, I'd forget everyone and be taken in too."

Nephis's grip on the edge of the table tightened slightly.

Sunny saw it but said nothing.

"After I made it through, I reached the Forgotten Shore again. Most of it was there, but the places we once knew were mostly gone."

He sighed. "The labyrinth, The Dark City. The Crimson Spire. I burned down that damned Tree. I even went back to Antarctica and killed that icy bastard. Most of him is inside my fridge."

He exhaled, shaking his head. "I don't even know why. Maybe I just wanted something to make sense again."

The table fell silent again as they processed his words.

Effie looked genuinely impressed.

"You really are insane, huh?"

"Took you this long to figure that out?"

Nephis had been silent this whole time, but now she finally spoke.

"How did you get your fate removed?"

Sunny turned to Cassie. His voice was calm, but there was an undeniable weight to his words.

"Do you want to tell them, or should I?"

Cassie flinched. She hadn't said a word this entire time, and now, with all eyes on her, she seemed smaller than ever.

Her fingers curled into fists in her lap. Her lips trembled.

Then, suddenly, she broke.

Tears spilled down her cheeks, her breath hitching as she covered her face with her hands.

"It was me," she choked out.

"It was my plan."

The room froze.

Cassie forced herself to continue, her voice trembling.

"After the Forgotten Shore… I wanted to break fate. I thought… I thought we could be free. So I had been plotting. I spent all that time, using my visions to my knowledge. Till."

She paused.

"The Well of Wishes, it was our chance. I manipulated Sunny into making that wish. I thought I was doing the right thing. But I-"

She sobbed, shaking her head. "I didn't realize… I didn't know it would take him away. I sacrificed my best friend. I left him to be forgotten. I broke fate, but I lost him. And now…"

She wiped at her tears, gasping. "Now, I don't deserve any of you. I don't deserve forgiveness. I don't deserve-"

Sunny moved before she could finish. He pushed back his chair, walked around the table, and pulled Cassie into his arms.

She stiffened at first, but then collapsed against him, her body wracked with silent sobs.

He held her tightly. "I forgive you."

Cassie gasped, her hands gripping his shirt. "But I-"

"I forgive you," Sunny repeated, his voice unwavering.

"It hurt. It really did. But you didn't do it out of cruelty. You thought you were saving us."

Cassie shook her head against his chest, fresh tears falling. "I was so wrong."

Sunny exhaled, resting his chin lightly against her hair. "Yeah. But we've all been wrong before. And I'm here now. So let's move forward. Together."

The silence that followed was heavy, yet somehow lighter than before.

Nephis finally spoke. "What happens now?"

Sunny looked at them - the people who had been his family, his friends. The people he had loved, lost, and been torn away from.

He exhaled. "I guess we figure that out together."

Nephis nodded. "Together."

For the first time in a long, long while, Sunny didn't feel so alone.