Shadow Slave

The heavy lid of the metal sarcophagus opened, letting out bluish light and wisps of cold mist. Soon, a pale hand emerged from inside.

Jumping out of the sleeping pod, Sunny landed on the floor, felt the ceramic texture of the armored plates beneath his bare feet, and let out a low, satisfied sigh.

'I'm back, finally!'

It was so nice to return to the real world.

After meeting the cohort of the Sanctuary Awakened on the Iron Hand Island, he traveled back to the Citadel with them. Some were curious about where he had been for more than a month, but most weren't even aware that Sunny had gone missing. He used the full scope of his formidable ability to bend the truth ever which way, and left them with the impression that his recent expedition had been long, but not very exciting.

…They did continue to give him strange looks the whole way back, though. For some reason.

But Sunny wasn't too bothered by that.

After entering the Sanctuary, he went straight for the altar. Since it was the middle of the day and the moon was hidden behind the horizon, he couldn't use the coins immediately. So, instead, he simply touched the altar and left the Dream Realm.

'Home, I'm finally home…'

Even though Sunny had not spent a lot of time in his new house, the feeling of safety both its walls and the real world gave him was extremely comforting. Miraculously, even though he had been gone for many weeks, his body felt completely fine. It was as though he had only slept for a night.

"That's the magic of technology!"

Glancing at the extravagantly expensive sleeping pod, Sunny decided that he had spent his money well, and headed for the exit out of the basement while whistling a cheerful tune.

Then, however, he froze.

'What the hell…'

Something was not right.

First of all, he had never used the lighting in the underground dojo. But now, it was turned on, drowning everything with bright light.

Secondly, the armored doors of the lift leading up were violently torn open. It was as though a massive Nightmare Creature had broken through the defense systems of the house and ripped them apart, bending the adamantine alloy like it was wax.

'Crap!'

Sunny jumped back and summoned the Cruel Sight.

What could have come here? Did a Gate open nearby?

Full of tension and grim determination, he used the stairwell to climb to the ground floor and cautiously entered his living room.

The first thing he saw there were…

Dirty… dishes? Lots and lots of dirty dishes...

The second thing he saw were two hazel eyes staring at him with scathing accusation.

'Have I gone really… really crazy?'

Somehow, Effie was in his living room, sitting in her wheelchair with a bowl of steaming cup noodles in one hand and chopsticks in the other. There was a very disgruntled expression on her face.

'What the hell is she doing here? What's going on?!'

Staring at Sunny, Effie swallowed a mouthful of noodles, and then said in a dark tone:

"You're back. Way to make your friends worry, asshole…"

***

As it turned, back when Sunny had been falling into the Sky Below and thinking about how no one would miss him… he was very, very wrong.

In fact, the opposite had happened.

About two weeks after he stopped answering their messages, both Effie and Kai got worried. Effie went to the Academy to check on him, and that was when they learned that Sunny moved out of the dormitory.

"Bastard! You could have told us that you bought yourself a house, you know? You owe me a housewarming party!"

Sunny blinked.

'A what party? Is there really such a thing or is she pulling my finger?'

Not knowing where to find him, Kai used his connections to learn Sunny's new address. Since he was limited in where he could go without drawing the attention of the press, Effie went instead. And when she found the basement locked… well…

"My… my armored doors! It was you, you broke them!"

She sneered.

"What are you crying about? Those "armored" doors of yours were pathetically easy to break, anyway. Buy yourself better ones! Anyway, I thought that I was going to find your corpse in the sleeping pod. Do you even know how that made me feel?"

A heavy expression appeared on her face.

"That would have been a… a real tragedy…"

Sunny sighed.

'Well. At least she cares.'

"...I mean, just think about it, all those amazing Memories you hoard, gone just like that! If you're going to die, at least give them to me before you do!"

'...Spoke too soon.'

After making sure that his life signs were stable inside the sleeping pod, Effie stayed to keep a watch on him, while both she and Kai tried to find out where Sunny was. Apparently, they went as far as contacting the representatives of the White Feather clan.

"You didn't!"

Sunny grabbed his head, realizing that he had a lot of explaining to do once he was back in the Sanctuary. A cohort of random Awakened was one thing, but if Saint Tyris herself was aware of his disappearance, things were going to get much harder for him.

Effie snorted.

"Of course we did! We also contacted Cassie and her Fire Keepers, since they have a cohort in that remote hellhole you are anchored at. But even she didn't know where the hell you have disappeared to!"

'Curses!'

They even brought Cassie into it…

Sunny groaned.

"But why… why would you do all this?"

Effie gave him a long look, then shook her head dejectedly.

"Doofus… can you stop being such a doofus?"

He stared at her in bewilderment.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

She shook her head again and activated her communicator.

"Ponder on it! And while you're at it, be quiet for a few minutes. I need to call Kai and tell him that you have turned up. Poor guy must have flown halfway to the Chained Isles by now."

Sunny eyes grew wide.

"F—flown… what?!"

Effie gave him a pitying look.

Then, she said:

"...What part of be quiet did you not understand?"