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Sunny was returning to his secret base. Slowly.
Nobody had stopped him. Nobody had heard them. Even after all the shouting.
So no one ever imagined that he had killed the person he came to meet. That's why no one blocked his path when he got out. Just what he was hoping for.
Or there might be few more corpses lying in outer settlement.
"Damnation" he cursed, "what do I do now?"
He was thinking about what Cassie had said. Before dying.
'Was she telling the truth? Did she really not tell Nephis about my ... weakness?'
But then he remembered.
'A dying person never lies.'
"Ahhhhh" he shouted at the sky.
He wanted to believe that. He wanted to believe her.
But still,
"But after everything she has done, everything I heard she will do, it's really hard to believe anything coming out of her mouth."
And he was right. With how good at acting she was, it wouldn't be a surprise if she miraculously came back to life and said 'It was all part of my plan.'
Sunny shuddered just thinking about it.
He returned to his chamber.
The strange man was still there. Lying on 'his' bed.
"So you finally return? How did it go? Did you get all your doubts clear?" the Stranger asked with a smile.
"Yeah. Everything was good. I heard it all from her own mouth." Sunny said.
"Then I killed her."
The stranger didn't reply. Not immediately.
"You had the right. You had the right to do it. So I won't blame you." The stranger said.
"But you were wrong. Not everything you said was true." Sunny told the stranger.
"And where was I wrong?"
"She didn't tell Nephis. She told me she didn't tell Nephis about it... Not yet, atleast."
"Ok....I did tell you my knowledge wasn't absolute, right? Things could be different. I even told you that I am not sure if she has told her yet or not." The stranger said with an easy smile.
"Not only that."
"What?" Stranger asked a bit puzzled.
"It's not only that. She told me ######## ##### ###### ####."
The Stranger's eyes widened.
....
....
....
About a day before.
Sunny opened his eyes. He was lying in his bed. He didn't remember how or what he was doing before he slept.
"Strange, this never happened to me before."
He got up, intending to ask his lazy shadow about the situation.
But then he froze.
A blade was pointed at his face. Ready to strike.
But no one was holding the sword.
Memories returned with a cold chill.
"So you are awake? Good, we have a long talk ahead of us." He saw the same beggar. From his nightmare that he just woke up from.
....
Sunny opened his eyes. He didn't know when he had fallen asleep.
'Strange, this never happened befo....' a chill ran down his spine. No, he remembered something like this, and it was a fresh memory.
He scanned his surroundings. Found the floating sword pointed at him. Found the stranger sitting on the couch.
"Are you able to talk now?" He heard the same frightening voice.
.....
Sunny woke up. Again. This time he couldn't get up. But he knew the situation.
He remembered what was happening to him.
So he didn't try to get up. He ignored the blade pointing at him. He ignored the man sitting on the couch.
Sunny stared at the ceiling.
He understood one thing. He wasn't in immediate danger.
His worst fear didn't come true. Not yet.
So he calmed down.
"I see you are not trying to kill me anymore. Does that mean we can talk now?" He heard the stranger say.
Sunny didn't turn towards him. He kept staring at the ceiling.
"I want to know....." Sunny said finally. "I want to know everything."
"Glad you asked." The stranger said with a smile. "But just so you know, we still have that deal ongoing, ok?"
Sunny didn't reply. He just listened. He listened to everything that the Stranger told him.
Everything.
The Action. The reason. The result. Counter plans. The price.
The stranger didn't leave anything behind.
Sunny just stared at the ceiling. His eyes moist. But tears didn't fall.
He wasn't weak.
No, he was strong. Very strong.
But a blow on the heart completely ignored all the defences.
"I'm going to release you now. Don't do anything stupid. Or my sword might actually kill you. It's very pissed after you almost killed me on the rooftop. So don't do that again. Do you hear me?" said the stranger as he untied Sunny from the makeshift ropes that bound him to his bed.
Sunny nodded weakly.
He got up. Looked at the stranger. Hoping for....he didn't know what he was hoping for. Something good? Something bad? He didn't know.
After staying silent for a while, he finally asked in a weak voice.
"What should I do?"
The stranger smiled.
"That depends on what you are trying to achieve, my friend. Tell me what you want to happen first? Then maybe I can tell you what actions to take? What do you think?" replied the stranger.
"I want..." Sunny paused. "I want to fix everything. I want everything to go back to normal. Like it had been before." Sunny said.
"What? Do I look like a Genie to you? My eyes might be a bit blue but... Wait that's not the point. The thing is, it can't go back to how it was before. You can't just go in the past to escape from the present. You need to move forward. You got it?" said the stranger. "So choose another path."
Sunny thought for a moment.
"I.... I want it to end in my favour. Where I win. Where I don't have to be tied to her. You said it's my fate, right? Then I want to defy my fate." said Sunny strongly.
"Well, well, well, look at you talking so big with that small... Ok, I got you now. So you don't want to be tied to her, right? We can do that. Well, that's actually pretty easy to do." said the stranger with a smile.
"We just need to turn you into a slave before she gets the chance."
Midnight Shard appeared in Sunny's hands once again.
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