Today was the 18th of July, his dad's birthday. They had prepared a present for him. An adorable birthday card by Rain. Jet gave him a Memory which would form a connection between her and him.
For Sunny, he wrote something for his dad and helped his mom and Jet in buying new clothes for his dad. Of course, like any normal child, he got a gift for himself too, a toy sword.
He dressed up for the party that the Government helped them organise. Red, one of their few powerful Ascended, was precious enough for them to do so. Anyway, they all had decided to give him the gifts after the party, which was scheduled during lunch.
The party had been a last-moment addition which made them change their plans. Atleast it wouldn't last for too long.
Probably. Hopefully.
"What's the worst that can happen?" Rain looked at him, laughing as if she read his mind.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Sunny, Jet and Red blinked while looking, horror growing on their faces as if they were confronted by an unholy terror.
"S-she did it!"
"Oh no, I can feel the world ending. Rain... What did you do!"
"Something is definitely happening! I mean the last time someone said this we ran into a damn Ascended Tyrant!"
Sunny gasped. Red covered his mouth. Jet grabbed her head. Of course, they were being over-dramatic, but still! Who said that they couldn't!
Rain, yet again, burst into giggles.
"All of you, stop fooling around! Get ready." Dew, Sunny's mom, shouted from across the room
***
"Do you want some tea?" A soft voice whispered in his ear as the waiter carried a tray full of cups. He could smell the freshly made, warm tea inside them.
The tea had a deep amber color that caught the light like polished bronze, its surface calm and clear. Its scent was warm and inviting, a mix of malt, dark chocolate, and damp earth, with just a hint of spice and fresh rain lingering in the background.
Sunny sniffed, taking in its aroma, before putting the cup close to his lips. The tea tasted smooth, with the mellow richness of malt and dark chocolate. A faint tang of tamarind added brightness. Yet, it was balanced by the earthy undertones.
It wasn't bitter, just warm and rounded, leaving a soft sweetness and a hint of spice that lingered gently on the tongue.
'This tastes nice... I should ask dad if he can get the recipe later.'
---
"The tea is made from an elephant's poop."
Pfft
'What?'
Why did this always happen to him!? Was some being like Weaver writing his damn life with a sadistic smile!?
Sunny tried his best to not puke and soil his clothes. Well, at least he got the reason for the sense of Deja Vu... It was the same thing that happened with coffee!
'Never again...'
Never again was he drinking something random without knowing how it was made first!
'Humans are worse than Nightmare Creatures...'
Who ate some creature's shit or excretion!
'I don't get paid for this... Even if someone did pay me, I still wouldn't drink it!'
---
The dinner with his family was over. Red looked at Sunny as he prepared to go sleep in his room, and followed him upstairs, while using his aspect.
He saw as Sunny looked at the bed, then around himself before sighing. He could see Sunny's eyes drop as he let himself drown in the comfort of the bed.
Then, using his newly acquired Memory, he decided to enter his dream...
Sunny looked around himself, it was the same place with nothing even a little off. All around him he could see stained mirrors—green, blue, red, grey, everything.
Red noticed something here. The colors represented what feelings the person felt during a memory. He watched as Sunny brought his hands close to his chest.
Loneliness.
Sadness.
Fear.
Red could feel it. It was just like always.
Whenever Sunny thought no one was around him, he let his guard down revealing everything he felt.
Whatever had happened in his past must have driven him to this. To suppressing everything so deeply that even his flaw couldn't detect it anymore—a skill he'd honed deliberately, as if determined to hide it all from him.
Red knew that Sunny never felt a sense of belonging, and that he was selfish, but he didn't know why.
Every time he looked at Sunny's loneliness, he realised that Sunny was surviving for the sake of it... But then, he seemed to have a purpose now.
'He belongs with us now. And I do want to know him.'
They would never hate him.
He looked around, to the mirrors which showed Sunny as a child. As a seven year old. As a child who looked haggard. As an outskirt rat?
Looking around, he followed Sunny.
There, in front of him, was an icy blue mirror. In the glass, wisps of red and grey mingled with Sunny's reflection.
The copy tilted its head slightly and curled its lips, staring back with malicious, bloodshot eyes. Red noticed Sunny shiver as Sunny reached out to touch it...
---
Sunny blinked, looking around and watching the people from his dad's workplace coming and announcing his death. Sunny, at the moment, didn't know what happened... But he looked at his crying mom and knew it was bad. He hated seeing her cry. She was a deity for him, capable of doing miracles. She was one of the few people he cared about.
It took him a while to realise that—that Red was never coming home.
Behind him, their only family frame—which rested on an excuse of a table—shattered where his dad stood.
From the corner of his eyes, he saw his dad standing there. His eyes wide. His ghost stared at them.
Then he found himself sitting with Rain and his mom, all of them eating. The same thing happened, just like how he usually saw, where Rain asked for some more, and he echoed her request.
"No, wait... Asshole, just eat your own food..."
The words escaped Sunny's lips, he reached out to stop him only to be powerless. He couldn't.
"Bastard... Why did you do this? HUH? COULD YOU NOT TELL SHE WAS ABOUT TO DIE"
Sunny broke, little drops of tears flowed down his eyes; he felt his cheeks turn warm and wet. Just like always, he was crying.
"Stop it... Please... Why did you have to do that."
She—her only crime was caring about him. The only sin.
The reason she died.
"If—if only I di—didn't exist."
Then everything would be better.
"Why? Why did you have to die."
And then he found himself beside her deathbed, right next to his mom, watching as a smile crept across her pale lips—soft and sweet, carrying muted forgiveness that he didn't deserve, telling him without words that none of this had ever been his fault.
"Mom... Don't go. Plea—please stay."
"Stay with me."
"Don't leave me."
'I—I don't know what I would do without you.'
And then, he heard the photo frame crack again, this time his mom was gone—but, as always—there was a Sunny behind him, holding a scythe at his neck.
"Who gave you the right to be happy?"
Suddenly thick grey fog clouded his vision and he felt nauseous. The world spun. The world twisted. The world shattered like glass. Finally, he was back in the mirror maze.
THUMP THUMP
His heart raced against his chest, threatening to escape.
"Why..."
Why was he always the one?
Why did he have to suffer?
"Because you killed our parents." The reflection smiled, and reached towards him with a hand, shattering the glass.
Then, it was gone.
"Haah haah"
He panted. He clawed the ground. He gasped.
Then, he fell on his back, tired.
Sunny laid there—for what felt like eternities—before finally standing up.
ㅤ
Red watched all of this with his eyes wide, looking at him with surprise.
'W-what the hell did I just see? We die? Do we leave Sunny alone?'
Why does he blame himself for that? What happened to Rain?
Then, Red coughed, realising he forgot to breathe.
'If all of this happened to him... Then how did he find a way to regress? Or whatever he did?'
Time was an absolute law, and not just anyone could do something like going against its flow.
'Is the spell connected to all this?'
It probably was… but how, and why would the spell do it?
'How did he even survive his Nightmare?'
Looking around, he found the next mirror—shattered, its surface scattered with shards that shimmered in different hues. Each fragment seemed to hold its own light, faint but alive, waiting for something to stir.
The first fragment bled into black, the shade shifting as if shadows were learning to breathe. The second dulled to grey, draining the warmth from the air. The last came alive in red—a faint pulse that reached for the mirror, cracking the glass with a whisper. The veins of color spread, twisting together until they began to move.
The colors mixed. The colors swirled. The colors screamed. And then, they turned hideous.
His vision turned foggy, enveloping his body and making him feel nauseous before he found himself atop the Crimson Spire—looking at the woman he loved.
Silver hair. Silver eyes. Ivory skin. A vicious grin.
"Neph... Why are you smiling like that?"
Her lips were twisted, her smile not quite reaching her eyes, and her eyes were glowing—with the same look which she had when she was planning to sacrifice everyone in Forgotten Shore...
Sunny felt something cold going down his spine as he trembled.
'Does she—does she know?'
She shouldn't.
Couldn't.
He never once said it out loud.
But if she did then that would mean...
A girl with blonde hair appeared in his mind.
No.
No wa—
"Stop Lost from Light."
Suddenly chains erupted from behind him, reaching out to grab him and tying him down. A pillar rose from behind him. Chaining him.
Chaining him like a war prisoner. Pinned against the pillar of light. All around him, the chains were still surrounding him... and they were all bright like Nephis' Soul Fire.
"N-no."
Cassie—no, Cassia—appeared from behind Changing Star, standing besides her with a smile which was a perfect copy of Nephis'.
He watched as they left, and continued looking there, desperately wishing it was him instead. He, who left. Instead of them.
But then why was he glad that they managed to escape? And why did he feel the pain from their betrayal... He was used to this. He kept everyone locked away.
So why?
And why was the ghost of his dad watching him right now? Looking at him?
And then the spire crumbled, the chains broke free of the pillar—but they were still tied there.
He tried to reach out towards the gate but failed.
And then everything turned dark.
ㅤ
Red watched everything with wide eyes, seeing the sudden betrayal, seeing the same girl who he met across the road only recently, just that her hair wasn't silver back then. It was black.
'Did—did he love her?'
He saw Sunny get chained. Enslaved. The bright light started to consume him. Even control him.
'Is that his flaw? And was that his True Name?'