Longing Room | Cassie's POV
She felt sick.
Using her great experience to mask her emotions, she looked at those seated in that very room.
The Song sisters were discussing his aspect and soul sea. It made some sense, since some of them were on the losing end of fights against Sunny, their interest in his abilities was higher than when compared to other people's.
Morgan was talking with Kai, discussing how Sunny's strategy had been well planned and executed. Well, it was mostly the princess of Valor complimenting his strategic mind, in both schemes and combat, while the charming archer merely listened.
Professor Julius was rambling about historical facts from the Nobody's Report on Everything that he had seen in the viewing. Ling Ling listened attentively, even if he didn't understand everything, and asked questions from time to time. His parents also sat listening to their child's tutor, even if they weren't as interested.
The members of the White Feather Clan were conversing about the Nameless Temple's sudden appearance.
But there were a few silent figures in this room.
Nephis, Jet, and Cassie herself.
Nephis was not someone to talk in the first place, and at the moment, nothing needed to be addressed yet.
Jet, on the other hand, was staring silently at the timer. Cassie could only say that it might be some sort of excitement to see herself on the screen.
As for Cassie...
She felt sick.
Sunny was a slave. Someone whose True Name could be used to rob him of all freedom, and the mere thought of "Lost From Light", made her flinch. There was something about that name that felt unspeakable.
It felt like, if she were to say that name, a hot iron would appear to sear her tongue. Not because of any threat that Sunny would impose after becoming a slave, but because she was afraid of committing the same mistake again.
'The same mistake... Oh... Oh Gods.'
She had done it, hadn't she? She had chanted his True Name, found someone to do it, or pushed Sunny to a situation where someone would. Regardless, she felt it, she was behind the reveal of his True Name and for his freedom to be robbed.
And she could almost tell with certainty that she dangled that freedom to make him her weapon.
It was so obvious. The True Name was the link between Master and Slave, and Sunny lost his True Name by becoming Fateless, freeing him from that slavery.
She felt her eyes sting, her guts twisting, and her heart ache. A pain born not from memories but from deep emotion.
She wanted to cry like she used to when she first got her flaw.
She wanted to vomit like the first time she saw a vision of her parents' death.
She wanted to scream in agony at that feeling. Of something so precious that words could not describe, of that something distancing himself from her, no, he was not distancing himself, she was pushing him away.
Cassie was not aware of what she had ruined with her own hands.
'I... I can't stop now.'
His concerned voice escaped him when asking mundane questions like, "Have you eaten?" "Don't stay up all night, okay?" "We don't need to finish this part of research right now. Need a break?" It echoed in her mind like background noise.
She lamented what she had lost, of what could've been and what will not.
*****
Shadow Room | Rain POV
Rain was leaning back against the chair she was sitting in. It was frightening and awesome, but frightening. She always felt like she had gone through as much hardship as anyone that awakened through the Spell.
The time she had spent trying to finish her awakening was dreadful, to say the least.
Yet, her brother's First Nightmare was a true nightmare. They had both faced Awakened Tyrants, she had run away desperately, struggling to complete the process of awakening. While he managed to finish the nightmare while being hunted by the creature and the companions that were alongside him.
And that was why it was so awesome.
She was aware of how powerful and smart her brother was. But it was a different sense of power than just power, it was distant and somewhat cold, like a different existence altogether.
But the version of her brother on-screen, by all accounts, was weaker than she was, even if one considered the version of herself who was still mundane.
And yet he had managed nonetheless, his result was still as amazing as ever.
Even if the feat of defeating an Awakened Tyrant was nothing compared to whatever else he had done since she met him...
This was by far the most amazing in her opinion.
*****
Alter Room | Mundanes | Nephis' POV
She was surprised, to say the least. She was expecting a lot of stuff to be different from their world. Besides the various things they had learned across this viewing, such as ranks and classes of nightmare creatures and awakened, they also learned how dangerous it all was.
But the thing that struck her the most was Sunny.
He was both so different from the one she knew, and at the same time he reacted in ways that only Sunny could.
There were differences in their behaviors, like On-Screen Sunny was attached to lying greatly, while her Sunny was foolishly honest.
But they were almost the same person in others: incredibly cunning and aggressive when dealing with perceived enemies, besides being a little paranoid about some things.
And that made her feel strange.
Her own feelings, which she had still yet to properly manage, aside, there was a certain sense of worry about Sunny on-screen as if she was seeing her Sunny get hurt, yet they were different enough that she could properly distinguish the both of them.
'I... really want to hold his hand right now.'
Mad Timeline | Cassie's POV
"What a nostalgic True Name, don't you think so, Torment?"
Pushing down the familiar feeling of overwhelming and burning guilt, she tried her best to ignore his question.
"What a pitiful face you have there, Cas..."
The mention of her nickname made her feel the familiar warmth of his companionship, making her turn to him almost automatically, only to be met with the same mad eyes.
"... so much guilt and shame. You know how you could fix all that, don't you?"
It hurt.
It hurt having her feelings toyed with like this, and yet, she would never complain about it. Because she had played with him.
It was only fair.
Still...
'It hurts, Sunny...'
Perhaps more than ever, she once again felt like the helpless little girl who was merely the burden he would leave behind.
Mirage City | Sunny's POV
It was all so surreal. Monsters, Gods and superpowered humans. Just thinking that a version of himself was involved in so much was headache inducing enough as it is, but now he was a slave, blessed by a dead god and Fated, whatever that one meant.
The Detective started to think that maybe there wasn't any drink with enough alcohol to digest any of it, well, except by alcohol itself.
"Detective, maybe we should work on you alcoholic habits in our next session."
Beside him, the beautyfull Saint spoke.
"Huh?"
"And your severe Trust Issues."
"I don't have trust issues."
"?"
A raised eyebrow, so elegant that he forgot that she was doubting his answer for a moment.
"Y-yeah, I don't have trust issues."
"Could've fooled me."
He looked away, meeting the eyes full of intrigue of his colleague, Detective Effie.
"What are you looking at, fool?!"
Regression Timeline | Jet's POV
Once again, Sunny was not surprised by anything. Without a doubt, it could be because his nightmare was exactly the same, but after the first viewing, can I really trust that?
'Should I ask him?'
If their flaws were the same, surely he would answer the truth, right?
But, what answer was she really expecting.
'I will see the last viewing and then talk to him.'
MOW & TWNIS Inspired Timeline | Nephis' POV
She didn't feel that much different. She had already learned of his nightmare before, along with Cassie, back when they had his trust.
The only thing that striked them deeply was Sunny's talk about betrayal.
How he had never trusted anyone in that nightmare and how he already planned their deaths.
She and Cassie had healed him. They had shown him that he could trust, that he could have friends and that he could love.
They healed a wound just to make a worse one in the same place.
They had failed the one who trusted in them the most, the one who loved them the most.
But what could they change.
You can't break a heart that has already been ground into dust by its owner.
Bygone Future | Cassie's POV
She looked at the timer, the weird feeling of hollowness in her heart scratching at the few sentiments she held.
This nightmare was a great show of how distrustful Sunny was before awakening.
It was because of that distrust that she decided not to betray him. In her arrogance, she believed that she would break fate without sacrificing him.
The result?
The image of his impaled body, the blades of sacred swords sticking out of his chest, face, and arms, flashed in her memories.
That image appeared every time she did not look through others's eyes, the darkness of her flaw now accompanied by that single image.
In the same way that scream could not leave her ears.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Neph's scream was so loud that it had drowned her own ear-piercing cries.
Enemies Timeline | Hel's POV
She had met Sunny for a short period of time. It had always touched her the way he never dismissed or was annoyed by her prophecies.
"We are all going to die!"
"Yeah, that's how it works"
"I can feel it death is upon us!"
"Isn't it always? You are always on the verge of death, a single mistake, even now, could lead to your death a few days later."
His views on death and freedom were so entertaining to hear.
She had learned to value every single second she spent with him. Although he was a bit exasperated by her own teasing jokes, she knew he would never choose any of her sisters to replace her.
And besides all that, she felt like he was seriously amazing.
Someone capable of doing the impossible even when the impossible stares at him.
And this First Nightmare was just that.
Death everywhere.
From the cold, from the slaving soldiers, from the tyrant and its worms, and from the other slaves. And yet, he had done it.
Like always.
'How sinful, my lovable shadow. You are going to make me fall for every version of you at this rate.'
[Comencing...]
[Humble Beginnings | Fated Encounters]
**************
A/N : And with this the reaction to the 1stNM is over, next is the first meeting with Jet, Nephis and Cassie and the Theme will be finished. What do you think?
Check Out my other fanfics:
Cursed Shadow (JJK/JJK Modulo x Shadow Slave) [Yuji reincarnates in Shadow Slave with Sunny as his vessel]
Trailblazing Shadow (HSR x Shadow Slave) [Sunny in HSR, taking the place of the Trailblazer]