The momentary shock turns into alarm as the voice of the Spell rings clear in his head. In an instant, and with his entire body breaking into a cold sweat, Sunny sends a reflexive command for Saint and the autonomous spear to reach his side. In mere seconds, both are at his side, prepared for an incoming attack, covering each other's backs in a triangle formation.
"Come on! Attack! Make your move!"
Without losing a moment, Sunny calls the shadow enveloping Saint back into his own body and prepares for an attack to take place amid the tranquility of the stone forest. His eyes move from side to side, looking at the trees, the spaces between them, and at the elongating and slowly moving shadows of the trees that shift place as the sky turns darker.
With the Moonlight Shard in hand, Sunny continues to wait, his guard up and his body prepared to react at any second. All of a sudden, he feels something coming from the right, and without having to think about it, he turns in that direction and raises his hands to block the incoming attack.
"Here it comes!"
The sound of the wind moving through the trees is the first thing to reach his ears, creating that eerie sound and ruffling Sunny's hair lightly. The wind continues passing and eventually dies down, leaving the stone forest as quiet as it was a couple of moments before.
_________________________________________________________
With a thud, the Moonlight Shard hits the soft red soil in the exact same spot for what could have been the hundredth time, and disappears momentarily, leaving this world only to appear in Sunny's hand once again. He is currently sitting against Saint's back in the middle of the clearing, with a scowl on his face directed at the trees.
"This damn place and its trees!"
Sunny says this out loud to himself, recalling the Moonlight Shard to his hand and throwing it again. He does this out of boredom, and also to forget the embarrassingly long time that he stood back-to-back with Saint, waiting for an attack that never came. When the wait had grown too long for even his paranoia to take a backseat in his mind, Sunny—who deep in his heart is developing a newfound hatred for all tree life in the Dream Realm—got close to the deceivingly harmless tree. From deep within, an urge to chop down the damn thing made itself present, but with a lot of effort and self-restraint, he decided that knowing what happened is more important than retribution right now.
At first, Sunny doesn't know exactly what to do, since it appears that just touching the trees can kill you—if what happened to the Prowling Thorn isn't just a one-off coincidence. He could summon another weapon, one of a higher tier, and see if it would survive contact with the tree. He looks to his left and sees the autonomous flying spear making its rounds around the perimeter, and the decision only takes a second to be made.
"Am I out of my mind?! That thing cost me a finger, why would I ever risk it?!"
With the decision clear in his head, Sunny has to find another way of studying the trees. He decides not to use a Memory, and using his hands is obviously out of the question. That leaves only one option—one regrettable option that almost brings tears to his eyes.
"The soul cores it is then."
It is with great effort that Sunny summons his storage Memory and selects a few of the lower-tier ones. Even though they are mostly from the Carapace Scavengers, these cores are probably still worth tens of thousands of credits.
"Talk about burning money."
For now, Sunny only wants to know what exactly happens when something touches the stone trees, and if the whole tree is dangerous or just specific parts. For this, he decides to use only three soul cores, though he hopes that only two will be necessary for the experiment. Grabbing the first of his very valuable soul cores, Sunny stands before the tree and shakes his body in preparation.
"Come on! Let's do this in one try. No need to waste money on this stupid tree."
With his shadows surrounding his body, Sunny slowly brings the soul core closer to the trunk of the tree and narrows his eyes so as not to miss any details. As the soul core touches the tree, a violent force rips it from Sunny's grasp, no matter how hard he tries to hold onto it. In the end, he looks at his empty hand and scoffs.
"What a waste. If it was that simple, I shouldn't have even bothered."
In the brief moment that Sunny has to see what exactly happens to the core, he discovers what he wanted to know.
"It's like a storage Memory... well, not exactly, since it kills everything that goes inside it."
It should have been obvious to him, since when the Prowling Thorn was destroyed, he didn't even see the particles as it disintegrated; the Memory had just vanished from his hand via that violent force.
"Strange. I'm literally standing only a few paces away, but I don't feel any powerful pull. Could it be that it only acts if touched?"
Sunny crosses his arms and absentmindedly starts rubbing his chin.
"A defense mechanism... or a hunting tactic?"
In Sunny's mind, a brief memory of Teacher Julius talking about extinct plants appears. The lecture had not been long, since Teacher Julius emphasized that these plants were long gone, but he still wanted to tell the class about them. The plant in question had a complicated scientific name that Sunny didn't bother memorizing, since even among academics, the name flytrap was found to be more convenient when engaging in conversation.
"A plant that not only eats living things but hunts by just standing still and waiting for the prey to come to it. The representation of true laziness."
Other things Sunny has discovered are that the roots and branches of the stone trees are safe to touch. This means that he only has to avoid touching the trunk itself, which is a major relief, since having to watch out for fallen branches or overgrown roots would have been a major pain.
All this talk about trees makes Sunny think of the one back in the waking world—or more like the one back in that desolate, one-foot-in-the-grave park that was truly the definition of no-man's-land, with its constant stream of passed-out junkies and gang fights that ended with a couple of dead people. Coincidentally, these fights always took place in the drought season, which was fortunate for the plants since they could survive the drought season by drinking the blood of the wounded or dead.
A shiver runs down Sunny's spine at the thought.
"Guess that's why that tree looks so twisted and somewhat evil. Now that I think about it, was that a terrible choice for a grave... or was it more of a tombstone?"
He could remember that day like it was yesterday. He had chosen to turn himself over to the police, but only after running a few errands. First, after many days without sleeping—since he hadn't wanted to fall into the First Nightmare just yet—he had headed to the park before the sun fully rose in the sky in an effort to avoid any kind of trouble. Mainly, he wanted to avoid all the gangs he had crossed or owed money to. There was also the fact that most of the junkies would be asleep at that hour and wouldn't be able to ask him for money or try to mug him.
As he had hoped, the plan went smoothly. He got into the park and reached the tree without problem. Even more conveniently, on the way, he had found a sturdy-looking knife and had picked it up, leaving behind the sharp rock that he had originally intended to use for carving the lines. The knife had fresh blood on it, probably from a fight not more than a couple of hours prior, but Sunny hadn't minded the sticky feeling of the grip or even the faint odor that seemed to cling to the blade.
The carving of the three lines was quick and effortless with the help of the knife. Sunny didn't bother saying any words, since his parents had been dead for a long time by then, and also because he didn't know that it was a custom to do so. After all, there were no funerals in the outskirts—or, at least, he had never attended any.
Quickly getting rid of the knife, since he didn't want to be incriminated for anything, Sunny got out of the park and walked the long and arduous path to the edge of the outskirts, where people started to look less like bootleg thugs and more like bottom-of-the-food-chain civilized people. Around that area, he found a convenience store. He entered and saw a woman who looked to be in her twenties managing the register. Instantly, Sunny saw the uncertainty in her stance and figured out it must be her first day on the job.
Not wasting any time, he picked up a pack of ramen and started spinning a tale about how he only had enough money to pay for a third of the actual price—which Sunny knew was a complete lie. The young and uncertain cashier must have had a strong motherly instinct, because she caved in pretty quickly and even heated up the ramen in the staff room for Sunny, not charging him a single extra credit for the service.
"Why did I even do that?"
The thought comes to him along with a feeling that he can't quite explain. He had possessed enough money to pay the full price of the ramen. Hell, he had more than enough, which only leaves Sunny feeling more confused as to why he had even taken the time to perform a sob story just to avoid paying full price. To his mind comes the image of the young cashier. Even though he can't remember the name on her badge, he can remember her eyes, which for some reason reminded him of his mother's—not in shape or color, but in the feeling he remembered whenever she looked at him.
"I wonder how she's doing? Did I get her fired with my greed?"
After Sunny received the hot ramen, he had left quickly and couldn't even remember if he had said thank you to the kind cashier. He didn't eat the ramen on the way to his next destination, even though he knew it would get soggy. After much walking and taking a train toward the government sector of NQLC, he reached his destination just in time and sat down on a corner out of view.
As Sunny had suspected, the ramen had turned soggy, but that didn't matter to him now, since he came here just to see her for what would probably be the last time in his short life. A girl with ink-black hair that reached all the way down to her waist came out of a house with an insanely big window and walked with slow, dragging steps towards a corner on the footpath, where there were other children around her age standing near one another and talking about things Sunny was too far away to hear.
Like always, an ache manifested itself every time he saw his sister, Rain. It was both a sense of joy at seeing how much she had grown since the last time he had come to see her from afar, and a deep-rooted sadness at only being able to get this close to her. With the ramen in hand, he watched Rain reach the group of other children but not talk to any of them, and like many times before, a frown appeared on his face.
Rain stood not with the crowd of talking and laughing students, but apart at the edge of the group—looking at the ground, fiddling with her hands, and after a while, looking less awkward as she looked at something on her communicator. The scene had always given Sunny pause whenever he saw it happening again and again. Sunny, to his credit, knew that he wasn't exactly the most sociable person, but that was because of his upbringing in the outskirts.
The scene didn't last much longer as the school bus picked up the group of children along with his sister and drove away.
"Time to go."
Not bothering to look for a trash can, Sunny put down the empty ramen cup somewhere out of view and headed to do the last two things on his list. The walk to the coffee shop went by like a blur as he ordered the coffee, drank some of it, disliked it, questioned why anyone would buy such a thing, and finished it because he had already spent the money, so he might as well finish it. Soon after, he went into the police station and his nightmare began.
"And at the rate it's going, it might never end."
Sunny had long ago stopped playing with the Moonlight Shard and was just leaning against Saint, remembering the day he thought his life would end. He had made peace with that fact and with the reality that he might never see Rain grow up to resemble their mother. Sunny could see it clearly if he closes his eyes—how much of his mother Rain had in her. He had really made peace with the fact that he wouldn't be a part of her life. Of course, Sunny had no plans of rolling over and letting the First Nightmare kill him, but still, he knew that he would probably perish in that place.
But like everything in his life, it never went like he imagined. Not only had he conquered the snowy mountain along with all its perils without any prior training, but he had even gotten a True Name. Fortunately for him, life had not finished giving him gifts, since now he could see, clear as day, the possibility of actually being able to have a decent life with all the soul shards he had accumulated.
"If I remember correctly… there was a house directly across from Rain's that was for sale…"
Sunny feels his world become a little brighter at the possibility of not only owning a house, but one close to his sister—and also, he had to admit, the area around the house was not half bad either. Government people sure got the good part of the city.
While thinking about the house and all the things he would put inside of it—mainly a big, fancy refrigerator—Sunny's mind keeps coming back to the image of his sister standing apart from the other group of children.
"Could it be that she dislikes them?"
Sunny could accept that possibility, since he himself was no stranger to the feeling of disliking people.
"Tsk, rest in piss, Caster!" Sunny spits out.
But even though that could be a good answer, he feels deep inside of him that it was not the correct answer. Another answer springs up in his mind that he likes even less, but it could happen, given how cruel some kids can be to one another.
"Could it be that Rain is being ostracized by the other children?"
Sunny had only heard the word being used by Teacher Julius when he was describing pack behavior that could be found in certain classifications of Nightmare Creatures, and he didn't know if he was using the word correctly, but to him, it felt fitting. He didn't know why the thought bothers him so much. Sunny himself didn't mind being alone or apart from other groups of people, but the thought of Rain being excluded or being alone makes something in his stomach churn.
A feeling of anger suddenly floods his mind. Surprisingly, it is not directed at the hypothetical, cruel children from Rain's school, but at two people in particular. The faces of Nephis and Cassie emerge in his mind, becoming the center of his growing anger.
"They—they took it away from me! They took me away from her!"
The anger keeps growing as it continues its course through his veins, making his head ache with a sharp throbbing. Strangely, Sunny is not angry for himself, but on behalf of Rain. In some deep part of his mind, he knows that both Nephis and Cassie are responsible for him being stuck in the Dream Realm—and not only that, but in a death zone.
Sunny didn't know why, but somehow his brain had blocked out the fact that Changing Star had made him her slave and Cassie had stabbed him in the back without any provocation. Those two had possibly taken away the possibility of him being there for Rain. They had taken away his ability to use any kind of influence he might have gained in the waking world to help his sister train for the very likely scenario of her falling prey to the Nightmare Spell.
He had been so busy recovering after the Crimson Spire, digging the makeshift grave, hunting, and then making a plan to find another gate that he had never even spared a thought for all that was taken away from him. Surviving and moving forward was all he could think about, but now that he thinks about his sister, it is like a domino effect of despair running through his mind.
Sunny stands and starts pacing back and forth as each thought and its implications take up space in his mind. The memory of the house that was for sale in Rain's neighborhood comes to his mind, and along with it, the possibility of it already being sold attaches itself to the thought. This only makes Sunny madder.
His pacing stops, and he looks down at his hands. He continues looking at them, a blank expression on his face. After a while of standing still, Sunny lifts his head and looks in the direction of Saint. His trusty companion only looks back at him from her sitting position on the ground, impassive like always.
"I was betrayed."
Sunny doesn't know if he has said the words out loud or just in his mind, but all the same, he feels something shatter inside of himself just because they have made themselves present in his existence.
"How can it be anything less than betrayal?"
Uttering those words makes him feel cold and hollow. The anger has left him completely. Where did it go? Sunny doesn't know, but with its disappearance, he feels like all his strength has been zapped out of him. With heavy legs, Sunny drags himself and drops to the floor, leaning against Saint's back once more. He feels ill—like he wants to puke or something similar.
Without much thought, he raises his knees, which feel like lead is sticking to them, and puts his head between them. Sunny doesn't know why he does it; his body has just assumed the position, and it seems to be working somewhat.
"You know…"
Sunny's voice trails off in the wind, his head still between his knees.
"I had started to believe things could be different for me in the waking world…"
He talks, but Sunny doesn't know to whom. Was he speaking to Saint? Perhaps to his shadows? Maybe to himself? It could also be that he was responding to one of the wind's creepy sounds as it passed through the stone trees.
"I wasn't looking to replace Rain. I really wasn't—" His voice, low and dispassionate, grows with emotion as each word is spoken out loud, and a tight sensation makes itself present in his chest. "—but I had started to believe—I thought I could make up for the time I'd lost. It was like fate knew how much I wanted to be an older brother again, and it made me cross paths with her. It gave me Cassie. She was so helpless because of her blindness and the dreams that tormented her. It just—"
Sunny raises his head, straightening up against Saint and wrapping his arms around his knees with clenched fists.
"—it just woke something inside of me. Something that I knew in the back of my mind wasn't completely gone, but I hadn't felt in years. There it suddenly was—this porcelain-looking girl with her clear, blue, unseeing eyes. And as if that weren't enough, along with her came Nephis."
Sunny unclenches his fists and straightens out his legs along the red soil, his head turning to the ever-so-slowly darkening sky. His eyes are unfocused as he looks at the sky, and a corner of his mouth lifts slightly.
"Even though we had to fight for our lives, sleep cold and drenched, at some point, a part of me started believing those two were a gift from fate. How could I not? We went through so much together. So many near-death experiences, conversations around the fire... so many times where Nephis and I would stay awake watching Cassie sleep in an unspoken agreement, so that when those terrible, terrible dreams would afflict her and she woke up kicking and screaming, we would be there to help her calm down. We were… we were like a family…"
Sunny says the words fondly. In his unfocused gaze, he could swear that an image, clear as day, can be seen in the sky—the three of them talking around a fire in one of the rare moments where they allowed themselves to relax.
"A family. Yeah, I can see it. Cassie would be the needy, small child that always wanted her mother by her side, just like I remember Rain being when she was little."
A small chuckle escapes Sunny's lips at the memory.
"Mom really only put down Rain to cook or clean the house. At any other time, she always had her in her arms, giving her ticklish kisses or making funny faces so that Rain would laugh. That would be Cassie... and then Nephis and I would be..."
As Sunny continues looking at the sky, his eyes regain some focus, and it starts to be difficult to speak.
"Nephis and I—we both—I—I think I felt something. Not the same... not like Cassie. The—how it felt—looking at her felt different. I—"
Sunny rubs the heel of his palms against his eyes and pulls his hair roughly for a second before letting out a breath of frustration between his teeth, his hands falling to his forehead as if nursing a headache.
"Where had everything gone wrong! Everything was going so well!"
Sunny shouts in his frustration, at no one and everyone at the same time. He would have continued shouting, demanding answers from the universe, fate, or any other thing that would have answered, until—without warning and with the efficiency that characterizes her—Saint stands up in one smooth motion. This makes Sunny fall backwards, knowing that there isn't anything left to lean on.
Sunny's mind, even though it isn't completely back in the moment, knows how to recognize a signal for alarm, especially if it comes from his most trusted companion. He pushes most of his complicated thoughts to the back of his mind and joins Saint on her left, telling the Autonomous Trident to cover, to the best of its ability, their back. As he waits next to Saint, he notices that it has become completely night without him noticing. Along with this, strangely and without any logical explanation or evidence, Sunny feels like the air has turned sweeter.
A sound comes from the direction that both Saint and Sunny are facing, and he recognizes it as a strong gust of wind passing through the trees, making their creepy noises. The gust of wind doesn't take long to reach them, and after it does, the stone forest goes silent once again.
"Maybe this place is also messing with Saint?"
Sunny debates with himself if he should say something to Saint, and after a moment, decides not to.
"I'll just rest fo—"
"Sunleess..."
Sunny pauses mid-step, his whole body feeling cold to the bone. He blinks a few times, not believing what he is hearing. Whom he is hearing.
"Suuunless..."
Sunny quickly turns around and stands next to Saint, who hasn't even drawn her weapon and is just standing there, looking impassive like always.
"You let me diiiee!" "Yooouu leet me buuurn!"
Sunny's eyebrows furrow, and he turns his head slowly to Saint, not even believing what he is about to say.
"Saint... I can hear dead people."