Sunny excused himself from the cafeteria soon after. Cassia, now insisting he call her Cassie, would have plenty to process. He didn't want to overwhelm her any more than he already had.
'That went well, all things considered. Now, onto the next.'
With breakfast behind him, it was time to head to Professor Julius' class. Did he really need the material? Not particularly. Though, he'd be asking about boat building—It would be useful to quickly escape the Ashen Barrow.
No, the real reason was simply because Sunny was fond of the old man. Well that, and he wished to befriend the teacher to give him early access to the juicy reports he was sure to write. The look of pure joy that captured him while he devoured the knowledge within was contagious after all.
As Sunny approached the old man's classroom, a voice resounded from inside.
"Come in, young man!"
Sunny offered a polite nod before stepping inside.
"I'm Awakened Julius. You can call me Professor Julius. Sit, sit! What's your name?"
"Sunless, sir. Though, please call me Sunny."
Julius raised his bushy eyebrows and flattened his messy gray hair.
"Ah! What an ominous name. But that is good, very good. After all, we have to deal with a lot of ominous things!"
Sunny glanced around the room as if searching for something, though his scanning was just performative.
"Do you not have other students?"
The professor snorted, his expression turning sour.
"No. Those brutes are only interested in swinging their fists and swords around. Very few are smart like you and know the true value of knowledge..."
Sunny seized the chance to endear himself to the old man.
"Well, that would be their loss. In my First Nightmare, the biggest dangers weren't from monsters but from the cold and lack of survival essentials. Your martial abilities don't matter at all in a fight against the elements."
Julius blinked, admiration flickering across his face. Then, his eyes lit up with excitement.
"Wonderful! Truly wonderful! You're an astute young man! Tell me, what other courses are you taking?"
Sunny's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.
"None. For the next four weeks, I'll be fully focused on Wilderness Survival."
The gleam in Julius's eyes grew uncontrollable, and his entire body seemed to tremble with anticipation.
"Marvelous! You have profound insight! Don't worry, in four weeks, I'll make you immortal!"
***
Sunny enjoyed his time with Professor Julius. Their discussions often grew heated, but the old man's enthusiasm made time fly by. More than once, Julius had declared his intention to make Sunny his official apprentice.
'I'll consider it,' Sunny mused to himself.
When class ended, instead of heading back to his room, Sunny made his way to an empty dojo within the sprawling academy complex. Was he allowed to be there? Probably not. Did he care? Also no.
He had to start conditioning his body. The rebirth granted by the Spell was powerful, but it wouldn't be enough on its own. Not if he wanted to actually use Shadow Dance. Flexibility would be incredibly important, and it wouldn't come from Shadow Fragments.
So, Sunny trained.
Until Ascension, his bodies in the two worlds would remain separate, but physical training he did before the solstice would persist in the Dream Realm.
This became his routine. He balanced helping Cassie adjust to her flaw, pushing his body to its limits, and attending Julius's class. His days were tightly packed, each hour accounted for.
But then, a couple of weeks later, something changed.
***
Like every other morning, Sunny joined Cassie in the corner of the cafeteria.
"Oh! Hello, Sunny! You won't believe what happened last night!"
Sunny pulled out his chair and sat, curiosity piqued. He couldn't help but wonder if she'd made a breakthrough with her progress.
Cassie leaned in, her eyes bright with excitement. "You were in my dream!" she blurted, grinning. "And now that I've had the chance to see you, I'll admit... you look a lot different than what I imagined."
Sunny's gaze sharpened. He clenched his jaw, suppressing a flash of icy tension in his voice. "Oh really? Tell me more."
Cassie clapped her hands together, enthusiasm abound. "It wasn't anything too special. It seemed like your First Nightmare had just ended. You somehow blew your restraints off—let me tell you, that was impressive—then you started talking to the nice lady who held a scythe to your neck."
She tapped her finger to her chin thoughtfully, brows furrowed.
"I couldn't figure the next scene I saw, though."
Sunny leaned forward, eyes narrowing in focus. "What was it? Maybe I can help."
Cassie nodded. "Alright then. The sun dashed across the sky several times, and I saw some kind of makeshift hospital room. There was a girl with silver hair, lying in a coma. When a lady came by to adjust her sheets, I noticed something strange—she didn't have a shadow."
She paused, eyes narrowing slightly. "You have powers related to shadows!.. Does it sound like somebody you might know? I hope not..."
Sunny's breath hitched, and suddenly, the room seemed to tilt. A wave of vertigo washed over him, his vision swimming. The Sleepers in the room who had Sunny in their periphery view shifted uneasily.
'The Spell always called me her shadow... but I didn't think it meant it so literally. What the hell am I supposed to do now? Was this what Cassie and my future self were warning me about? I rejected being her shadow, is she a Hollow now because she doesn't have one?'
His breathing stopped.
'Oh gods... How do I fix this? What do I do?'
His body froze.
'no. no. no. No. No. No. NO. NO. NO. Ņ̸̨̨̛̬̦̙̮̟̲̜̖̜͕̤͑̈́͌̍̓̍̈́̿̇̓̏̚͠͝O̵̺̦̰̹͖͙͇̹̰͇̮͙̍͋̌̊̈̚̚͜ -'
The world's noise turned to static.
***
"ny!...Sunny... Sunny!" Cassie's voice cut through the haze of his thoughts.
The overwhelming pain from his Flaw dragged him back to reality. He gasped, and words poured from his mouth unknowingly.
"She's our friend."
Cassie's face twisted in confusion and worry. "Our...?"
Sunny blinked, suddenly aware of what he'd just said. His mind cleared for a moment, but the weight of it all settled on him like a physical burden.
"I did say that, didn't I? Fuck... I... I need a second..."
Cassie, noticing his distress, reached out and gently took one of his hands. Her grip was warm and steady, a silent offer of support. At contact, dread took hold of her heart.
She could not 'see' Sunny's flaw in action, but for the blind... their touch is sight. A sudden understanding took shape within Cassie.
'Was it that damn white string? The one I saw while using Weaver's Mask?' Sunny's thoughts spiraled as he tried to make sense of what he had to do. 'Do I really need to accept it for [Unchained] to let her come back?' His fists clenched as frustration bubbled to the surface. 'Fine, Ȋ̶̡ ̴͇̆ả̷̪c̴̻̈́c̷͖͠e̵̡̍p̷̧̈́t̵̡͑ the damn string! Just give her back! You parasitic sorcery!'
But nothing changed.
'I said I̷̜̔ ̷̺͖̿͘a̶̯̚c̶̥͈̓̒c̴̛͖̹e̷̘̥̅p̶̗̀͆t̶͚̏! I don't care! Just—give her back!' His thoughts, thick with rage and desperation, felt like they were splintering his insides.
Yet, Fate remained indifferent.
"I SAID Ĭ̴̡̼̦̦̕ ̵̩̣̞̦̩̇̀̀̓̚A̵̜̩̜̽̅̉̐Ć̴̡̳̼̾̒̚C̸̨̱͍̄E̸͇̾͐̐́̂P̸͚̯͒̾͆̌̈́͠T̸̤̗̫̦̬̗̒̽̈͗!̴̥͚̞́̉͂̊ GIVE HER BACK!" His voice roared.
In the cafeteria, heads turned toward the disturbance. A wiry boy with black hair stood near a table in the corner, his hand gripped tightly by a trembling blonde girl. The air around them seemed to crackle, and a heavy tension filled the room. The onlookers flinched, instinctively feeling the weight of Sunny's flaw. Words couldn't describe his feelings, so instead they felt it — only a fraction, but still enough for it to feel as if it slipped beneath their skin like a cold hand intent on strangling their heart.
'Shit. I said that out loud, didn't I?' The realization hit him like a slap.
A high pitched ringing within his soul suddenly ceased. Without realizing it, his new Flaw had activated. Not to force him to speak the truth, not to reveal his feelings to those around him, but to prevent him from hiding his feelings from himself. No matter how much he loved Neph... he would never accept losing his freedom.
So, the elusive and radiant white string of fate that connected to a hollow Changing Star danced around the edges of Sunny's soul, teasing him with its promise.
A cry echoed through the room, cutting through the tension. It was Cassie's voice — sharp, and filled with panic. Sunny had lost consciousness.