Shadow Bond (A Shadow Slave Fanfiction)

Lost From Light

While in the Induction Ceremony:
'[Wow, Sunny look at all these people, they're handsome. Not as handsome as I used to look of course, but a close second, although right now I think we're second to last on the attractiveness scale.]'
'(Being attractive was never a high priority in the outskirts, I had to spend most of my time surviving.)'
'[Yes of course, you have my sympathy. So whats the plan?]'
'(I have to try to look weak and stupid, which hopefully won't be too difficult.)'
'[Well as long as we don't get slapped again, you can do what you need.]'
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After the Induction Ceremony:
'[...Sunny, I get that you want to seem stupid, but did you have to make all those comments when talking to our peers? Especially about you killing a man for his boots.]'
'(Yes.)'
'[Sunny... I think our nose might be broken from you getting punched in the face so many times.]'
'(Don't act like a baby, the bleedings already stopped.)'
'[Can we eat lunch then, you're hungry, which means I'm hungry, plus the other people have already left?]'
'(Sure, there should be plenty of food leftover anyway.)' Sunny begins walking towards the food court full of the most delicious looking food Wyatt has ever seen.
'[So, these are the "leftovers" you were talking about. This looks fit for a king. Remember, don't be modest, grab as much as you can, multiple plates if that's what it takes. I'm going to need your help to try out as much of this delectable cuisine as possible.]'
'(I don't need your reminders to eat as much as I can, I was going to do that anyway.)'
With a plate filled to the brim Sunny starts walking towards the seats only to find a certain blonde haired girl eating alone.
'I wonder, was she useful enough to be worth the risk of a repeat of what happened at the end of the forgotten shore arc?' 'Yeah, according to the book, she saved the cohort multiple times with her warnings.'
Wyatt begrudgingly decides to introduce Sunny to Cassia.
'[Hey, you see that girl over there? Well she's another one of the three I promised to tell you about. Don't let her Flaw decieve you, underestimate her at your own peril.]'
'(Yeah I do, and why, is she some kind of strong fighter)'
'[I'll tell you tonight as per our deal, besides after what you pulled earlier I'm think you'll get plenty of chances to talk with her]' Wyatt says as the pressure from his flaw flares up.
'(What does that mean?)'
'[It means that you're both as good as dead as far as everyone else cares.]' Wyatt says as Sunny begins to walk over to Cassia to introduce himself to her.
"Hello, do you mind if I sit here?" Sunny asked.
"Alright." Responded Cassia while keeping her eyes down.
After their brief exchange they stay silent until Cassia finishes her food and slowly gets up and tries to leave.
'(Her Flaw is that she's blind isn't it?)' Sunny asks Wyatt.
'[Oh, you sure picked up on that quickly.]'
'(How could she possibly be one of the three most important people in this academy?!)'
'[The Spell gives and takes away Sunny, if she's blind, then what do you think that says about her ability?]' Wyatt says in a cold voice.
'(It means that it is powerful, right?)'
'[It means that it's useful. I want to go check out that Wilderness Survival class.]'
'(Alright, lets go.)' Sunny gets up and throws his trash away.
Walking towards the Survival class, Wyatt struggles to hide his excitement at finally meeting Teacher Julius. Passing through the Academy he can see many different classes focused on fighting; Fighting Theory, History of Fighting, On Battling Nightmare Creatures, and Fighting Practice just to name a few.
'Heh, look at these fools, fighting each other instead of gaining true enlightenment from Teacher Julius. Don't these fools know that Wilderness Survival is the only class where all of its students were able to survive the Forgotten Shore? It might only be a sample size of one, but that includes Sunny, so it's still impressive.'
"Hello Teacher Julius, its nice to meet you, am I early?" Sunny says.
"Ahh, you must be Sleeper Sunless, you're right on time." Teacher Julius responds.
"Oh, is everyone else late?" Sunny wonders.
"No, no, you actually seem to be the only one taking this class." Julius seems to frown as he says that.
"Really, but a Master recommended this class to me, shouldn't it be more popular?"
"Ah, well that Master must certainly know their stuff, which one was it?" Julius asks, starting to perk up.
"Master Jet." Sunny responds, to Teacher Julius' shock.
"Do you mean THE Soul Reaper Jet?! Her?!"
"Yes, is there something wrong with that?"
"No, but it appears I should be giving her more credit. Now then, that aside which other classes are you taking?"
'[This class during the day and another at night, I'm not sure which I want yet.]'
'(Why do you want to take a class, that'll ruin my image of a weakling?)'
'[I'll act pathetic, don't worry, but I know for damn sure that I'm not staying in your room all night.]'
'(Fine, but do anything stupid and I'll take my body back.)'
'[You're so kind! I'll make you proud.]'
"This class during the day and probably another one at night." Sunny responds when his flaw starts getting painful.
"Are you sure, even Sleepers need sleep Sunless, it's in the name."
"I'm think I can handle it teacher."
"Very well, as long as you try your hardest, I'll make sure you know everything about the Dream Realm by the end of these 4 weeks." Teacher Julius said with absolute confidence.
'We may not have truly had a chance to talk yet Teacher but I already feel that I am learning so much. You truly are one of the most important characters in the webnovel.'
Teacher Julius started teaching Sunny as Wyatt is left in awe at all the dense knowledge that his new teacher has. Wyatt occasionally interjects to give Sunny what little information he can, but he mostly just stays in the background listening, constantly picking up new information that he never could have gotten through the webnovel.
As the lesson passes, Wyatt notices that although he sometimes feels tired when listening, he can choose to stop focusing on his surroundings for a few minutes, and he quickly becomes re-energized as though he just took an nap.
'Does this mean I don't have to sleep? Oh praise whatever god still exists out there, I thought I'd have to mess up our sleep schedule to move around at night.'
At Sunny is leaving the class, right before dinner, he notices a bunch of people surrounding a announcement poster on the wall. Looking past the group he manages to get a good view of the poster and is surprised to see Nephis' picture on the wall, but his shock doubles when he sees the caption stating that Nephis has a true name, "Changing Star". Wyatt is also shocked but for a different reason.
'Oh no! Did I actually forget the story, I though it was also mentioned that she had a Divine Aspect early on?!?! Did she really only tell people her true name?! Wait, when was it revealed that she had a Divine Aspect.... arghh during the battle at the crimson spire!! So her having a Divine Aspect really was top secret information!'
'(Did you also know that she has a true name?)' A startled Sunny asks.
'[Of course I did, I know alot remember, even her true name!!!]' A still flustered Wyatt responds.
'(Yes, I remember.)' Sunny says almost unnoticeably quieter than before. '(Does that mean you know my true name?)'
'[Of course!! ..... not.]' Wyatt responds without thinking and reveals that he knows Sunny's True Name before he can stop himself.
'(I knew it, you've known this whole time! You probably know my Aspect Ability as well, thats why you stayed quiet about my True Name too!)'
Wyatt is unsure of what to do at this point, he wants to lie, but he knows that there's no way Sunny would believe him, especially not with how secretive he's already been. With him seeing no other choice he decides to be honest.
'[Yes, I know about your True Name, I also know about what will happen when I say it. I know why you're so worried so please let me adress your concerns.]' Wyatt says in as calm a voice as he can muster.
'(Then first tell me what you intend to do with my True Name.)'
'[Alright, I'll give you the emotional reasoning and then the logical reasoning, is this acceptable?]'
'(Yes.)'
'[Ok. First off, I've known you, or at least known about you since long before you ever knew about me. I've got to see you grow, ever since you lost your parents, and went to the adoption center where you lost your sister as well. I know about your struggles in the outskirts, about how you hired a private investigator to find your sister, even your heartache as you chose to leave your sister alone as you saw how well she was doing without you. I  saw your treacherous struggle against the smart slave and Auro of the Nine in your First Nightmare. This isn't all I've seen either, although my Flaw will stop me from saying everything else, however please understand I've seen you suffer and grow. I've seen you improvise, adapt to and overcome every challenge life threw at you, because no matter what happened from when you were getting threatened by gang members in the outskirts, to when you were being threatened by an awakened tyrant, you survived through your own determination, your intelligence, and insane will to survive. I want you to know that I value you as a person, and I need you to know that I won't take your freedom.]'
As Wyatt is giving his speech, Sunny is silently walking to his room, still shocked at how much the strange voice in his head seems to know. He wants to ask how long he was being watched, and if anyone else was watching him since he was a child.
'(So, whats the logical reason, what do you gain out of keeping me free?)'
'[Because off of an assumption I made; one of my attributes is [Bound], I can augment you and your abilities, however the more I think about the more likely it seems that there is a specific reason that I have been bound to you.]'
'(Because of my [Shadow Bond] ability?)'
'[Yes, I have a feeling that your ability gave me an anchor for both myself and my own ability, however, because your [Shadow Bond] is my anchor, I might also suffer from the effects of someone saying your True Name, which is to become unable to disobey their commands.]'
'(But how would this affect you if you were the one to say my True Name?)' Sunny asks laying down on his bed and staring at the ceiling.
'[Even if me saying your True Name would have the intended effect, and there's no saying that it would if I'm part of it, I would still have to follow my own orders due to the effect of that ability. If I were to say, for example: stop, then I might also have to stop due to it being my own command to both myself and to you, with little way to differentiate.]'
At that Sunny sits up and asks somewhat angrily.
'(But neither you nor I can prove that theory of yours, now can we?)'
'[That's why I gave my emotional reason first, to assure you that even if you've known me for less than a day, I've had far longer to see your individual value. And there is a way to prove it albeit a way that we both will hate.]'
'(What is it? Tell me!)'
'[We both take turns saying your True Name.]'
'(...)' Sunny spends an oddly long time thinking this suggestion over.
'(And just why should I believe that this isn't a trick, you might not even know my True Name?)'
'[Because if I didn't genuinely believe that, then besides my emotions there would be no reason for me not to say... Lost From... and well, you know the rest.]' Wyatt says briefly dropping most of Sunny's True Name.
'(Alright, we'll go with your idea, on one condition.)'
'[What is it?]' Wyatt asks curiously.
'(That I get to go first.)'
'[Deal. Make sure to say it as quietly as possible though,  actually just go into the forest right outside the academy so no one will hear us on accident.]' Wyatt says this as he remembers what happened when Sunny first said his name out loud in the webnovel.
'(Alright, good idea.)'
Sunny walks over to a forest near the academy, telling the guards that he wants to see real pine trees before entering The Spell. The guards take pity on him and allow him to leave temporarily. When entering the forest, Sunny checks for any cameras and Wyatt makes sure there is no one around.
'(Ok, I think we're safe, I'm gonna say it now.)'
'[Sure.]'
After their brief exchange Sunny says in the weakest whisper he can manage.
"lost from light"
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Seconds pass as nothing happens, causing Sunny and Wyatt to feel relieved. However when it comes to Wyatt's turn they hit a setback.
'[Sunny, how do I use your body?]'
'(Probably the same way you used to use yours, why ask me that?)'
'[Do you mind staying still for a moment, this happens to be my first time possessing someone.]'
'(Sure.)'
Nearly an hour passes as Wyatt tries to use Sunny body, starting from moving the toes and fingers to trying to stand on two legs. Finally after practicing by saying random words, Wyatt is able to speak in Sunny's body, and he also says as quietly as possible...
"lost from light"
Seconds pass, and then minutes, as nothing happens and Wyatt enjoys moving around in a real body, even if the last time was only yesterday to him.
'[What did I say, what did I say?]'
'(Yes, thankfully you were right! However I never got a chance to ask you for your name?)'
And with Sunnys body he slowly says.
"Wyatt Johnson, but you can just call me Wyatt."

End Chapter 4