Shadow Slave AU: Fluid Fate

[9]To Trust Is To Risk Betrayal, Especially So To The Treacherous

Nephis and Cassie were in shock. There were too many things that did not make sense. Across from the girls, there sat a boy. His black hair was lusterless and matted with dirt. He had a short stature and pale skin that made his pale frame almost ghostly.

It wasn't his appearance or the fact that he was trying to sew together makeshift pants with a broken hand that shocked them.

Just a few moments ago, Sunless had claimed that his Flaw prevented him from lying or refusing to answer questions. It was a reeling discovery, to say the least. Just who the Spell would even tell that to anyone anyway? He did it right before telling the girls that if they asked him about his secrets, all three of them were probably going to die!

Cassie and Nephis were too stunned to speak, and Sunny took advantage of that opportunity to continue to drop knowledge bombs on them.

"My Aspect seems to require me to kill creatures to increase my essence pool and strength. On a positive note, for some reason, this process tends to not involve the soul shards of the creatures I kill, meaning that I can grow by killing monsters, and still leave their shards for the two of you."

"As for what I have told you about my Flaw, it's pretty understandable that you don't believe me, but I really am taking a ridiculous risk trusting two people I've barely spoken to at the Academy with my greatest vulnerability."

"What's important is that I have more harrowing secrets than this. I won't trust you with them willingly though. Rather, I'd like you both to follow some rules about me. That way, I can refuse to tell you both things that I shouldn't say, and you can trust my words a little more, even if I embellish the truth by stretching my words or exaggerating a bit."

Indeed, as if Sunny were their leader, he was taking initiative in the conversation and trying to establish ground rules. It was stupid to openly challenge Nephis' authority, but also not at the same time. If Sunny didn't lay out some rules, he might get asked a dumb question and accidentally backstabbed by his allies.

Repeating Sunny's feats of amazing luck and perseverance on the journey to the Bright Castle would be suicide as it was. He had barely made it through the labyrinth the first time he came here and he wasn't about to tempt fate again, especially with the ominous wording of his new [Rewoven] attribute.

For some reason, unknown to him, he knew that Cassie couldn't see it either. His intuition was telling him that trying to convey the future to anyone was a grave, horrible mistake... was this how Cassie felt?

Most likely. Ever since she ascended, Cassie had cut herself off from everyone and grew increasingly distant. Sunny knew that her behavior was a conscious decision and that there was a lot she hid from himself and the rest of the people she loved.

Back to the subject at hand, Sunny was currently waiting on Nephis to process what he had told her. He summoned the Azure Blade while she was in shock, and it made her jump back and away from the fire pit.

Contrary to her expectations, Sunny used the blade to flip the meat on the makeshift fire pit. He then dismissed the memory and continued to look at her. He had even put down the seaweed pants he was trying to sew together.

Finally, the gears in Neph's head began to turn again. Her face finally returned to its blank state. Sunny was a little sad about that, considering how rare it was for her to emote, especially now in the past, before she grew close to the people around her.

Nephis walked back up to the fire pit. Their dinner was going to burn if she didn't bother to continue cooking.

Finally, after a minute or two of getting the meal back on track, she spoke up.

"Why would you tell us all of this? How could we believe you?"

Sunny smiled darkly. He had not joked around nearly as much as he had before. The contrast of the grim expression he had worn constantly and the sickening smile he wore now was indeed quite stark.

"I need to grow as fast as possible. So much so that I'm willing to do things that scare me to my core. As for how you'll believe me, if you agree to my conditions, you'll never doubt my trustworthiness again."

***
It was night now. Nephis and Cassie had eaten their dinner in silence. Sunny had already listed his conditions earlier.

The conditions he set were actually pretty simple. All Sunny had asked was that the girls make a conscious effort not to ask about his past, remember carefully that Sunny was forced to answer their questions promptly and against his will, and try to strive not to abuse his flaw to get answers out of him that he didn't want to give.

Nephis was confused about what conditions he had set, and decided to take her time with her and Cassie's answer.

Back to the present, Sunny had clearly explained the uses of his shadow and the divine nature of his original traits.

Cassie and Nephis became suspicious that he might have used his powers in strange ways, but Sunny claimed with a blank face and in no uncertain terms that he had not used his shadow to do anything strange.

They were still suspicious of him, but Sunny knew that they would lay their fears to rest soon.

Cassie ended up sharing her powers with Sunny, and Nephis, had acted been vague with her attributes and abilities, just as she had before Sunny had regressed to the past.

After waiting for a long time into the night, Cassie and Nephis had agreed to his conditions. Finally, Sunny could begin his plans to change his Fate.

By now, Sunny had half way made some pants. He was planning on giving Nephis the Puppeteer's Shroud tomorrow, so he had been working on making pants, ignoring his clumsy and painfully fractured fingers.

When Nephis finally told him that she was done talking to Cassie about his conditions to reveal why he was so confident that they would believe him about his Flaw and why they couldn't ask him about his past, Sunny was more scared than he had ever been before.

He knew that he could possibly lose his free will itself if Nephis betrayed him. He knew that placing his slave collar into Neph's hands willingly was the most terrifying thing he would ever do. She didn't know yet that she could do easily make him a slave, but Sunny wouldn't be so angry about it if his life was in danger or if he one day grew to to trust Nephis' so much that he felt like the slave bond would make no difference. However, that day was not today, and he still didn't know if he wanted to force her to stay behind on the Forgotten Shore or not. After all, her harrowing experiences in the nightmare desert had shaped Nephis into who he knew her as before he died.

Actually, it seemed like a scarily easy decision to make knowing that she could survive that crucible. Sunny just didn't know if he could change everything that happened back at the crimson spire and yet still get her to stay behind alone. He certainly didn't have the resolve to stab her in the back and leave her himself. There was also the secret she told him that seeing his runes had kept her sane.

'Crazy. I almost considered enslaving myself for a moment just to make sure that she doesn't go crazy in the desert.'