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Sunny couldn't reach far.
He was forced to stop.
Because of his flaw.
He had agreed to a deal. He couldn't just walk away from it. Or his words would become a lie.
And he couldn't lie.
He could get around it, if he had a good reason. Like leaving it for the future.
But he couldn't just decide to never see the 'man' again. That won't be possible with his flaw.
So after deciding to never show his face to anyone, Sunny still found himself standing outside his secret base.
'Damnation!'
He peeked inside the room. Ready for any 'attacks'.
But to his relief, the stranger was still sleeping...
...with a sword clutched in his hands.
'Why is that guy holding the sword while sleeping? Wasn't the sword supposed to guard him?'
He couldn't understand, so he just waited for the man to awake. Which wasn't a short amount of wait.
The man slept till noon, with no regards to whatever was happening around him.
During this time, Sunny understood some things.
'This might be a misunderstanding.'
'When I first saw this man, he was wearing dirty and tattered clothes, like he didn't have anything else.'
'He even told me he wanted some clothes, and the only clothes around here are in that wardrobe, which ....aren't usually suitable for a man, but... maybe it's still better than wearing rags.'
'....But who moves around a public places wearing something like that? Does this man have no shame?'
" Uhhhh, mmmmmhhh, YAAAAWN, haaaanh ... Man, ..that was the best sleep I had in months. This bed is really amazing, it was like I was back at home." The stranger was awake.
The sword was too. Rising in the air as if it had just woken up.
"YO, good morning, Sunny. I see you are an early riser. Good, good. Man, the last night was great." The stranger said.
A chill ran down Sunny's spine.
'...great night? ...no.. don't think about it... Don't think about it.'
"Man, I'm hungry. I can eat a whole nightmare creature." The man said, getting up from the bed.
He picked up the food Sunny had gone to get the other day and started chewing on it.
'....That isn't ...cooked...' Sunny was having a hard time keeping up with this strange man's behaviour.
"So where were we? Yeah, our trade. I did my part of the deal, oh, and I even gave you that dagger as a bonus. So it's your turn now." said the stranger with food in his mouth. The blade floated beside him, pointed at Sunny.
'What is wrong with that sword? No, what is wrong with this man? HELL!, WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS WHOLE DAMN WORLD!' Sunny shouted in his mind.
...
...
"Actually... I don't know your name, ... Mister." Sunny said with a bit of embarrassment.
"Mister? Mister? Did you call me mister? ...after everything we have been through? After everything I did for you yesterday?... And you call me mister?" The stranger said with a hurt expression.
"We are practically best buddies at this point, after all the things we have been through together. You can think of me as your homie, your roomie, your bro. And name's Raine, by the way." The stranger, Raine, said with an easy smile.
"Raine? And what were those words? They sounded so disgusting?" Sunny asked, a bit creeped out.
"Disgusting? Hey, they are cool slangs. Where I am from, that's what bros use to call each other... And my name means a person with authority, like a ruler." Raine revealed.
".....A ruler?.... Are you a legacy?" Sunny asked, wanting to gather information on this stranger.
"Nah, not a legacy, but my family was rich, so it's a bit similar?" Said Raine.
'Family...' Suddenly an image of a young girl came to the surface of Sunny's mind. A young girl who used to follow him like a little duckling. Sunny grew a bit sad.
"Hey, what's that expression for? What happened?" Raine asked like someone concerned.
"It's nothing important. I was just reminded of my little sister after hearing your name. She also got a similar name to you. Her name is Rain. Like.... A literal rain. She was born when it was raining. So my mother named her after it. ....she had a poetic soul, you see." Said Sunny, a bit nostalgic.
"Pfffffffffff..." A muffled laugh was heard. Sunny looked at Raine, confused.
"Hey, what's so funny?" Sunny asked, thinking the man was laughing at him.
"Pfffffffttt, it's nothing. Nothing important. Pfffff, you know, I was thinking you were really lucky you didn't have another sibling."
"Like, with a naming sense like that, I don't know what your mother would name her third child. Imagine she saw her first time after giving birth, and she would be like, 'oh, it looks a bit ugly,... Hmmm, Ugly. It's a real nice name.' That would be hilarious, don't you think.. Hahhahaha. Oh man, I'm sure that child got lucky not being born or it would be called something even worse like Bloody or Wetty, or .....hey, why do you have that sword? Hey,... hey..., stop."
After this, Sunny promised himself that he would never tell anyone about his mother's poetic soul.
....
....
"So about our deal..."
"I don't think I can do that. You know, turning your Echo into a Shadow."
"It's not possible."
"I can only turn the creatures who are slain by me personally, you got it? It's because, to turn them into a shadow, I need to have their real shadow in my soul sea. And that won't be the case with your... Echo." Sunny explained.
The listening side was silent. Both Raine and the sword.
"But I'll give you something of equal value.... I have a Shadow who can grow stronger, just like you wanted," Sunny summoned the Saint, "She may not be as ...expressive and .. protective as your sword, but she is really strong, and she will become more powerful with enough time." Said Sunny.
"I only have her at the moment, but I don't think this will be enough... in exchange for what.. you have given me, you know." Sunny said, a bit emotional.
"Hey, don't be sad. I did that because you needed it, man. And as for your Shadow, I don't need that....." Sunny looked at the man, a bit puzzled.
"You think I don't know about how your ability works?... I know..... But still, ....Prisma isn't like any normal echo. She is alive, she got a personality... She is ...special."
"I don't know if it will work or not, but I just want you to try it. You know, if there's even a bit of a chance... If it's not possible then that's ok too. I won't lose anything, but if there's a chance that it's possible..... So, you understand me right? I just want you to give it a try, that's all. Our deal will be completed even if it's not possible." Raine said.
Sunny went silent.
'So he was chasing after a chance that might actually be impossible? Is this man for real? What's so special about that sword?' Sunny thought in his mind.
'Now that I think about it, what is actually special about that sword? It's so alive, like a thinking, breathing person is inside that sword. It floats and attacks as if it can see and hear everything around. A normal Echo isn't like that. They also have a bit of understanding but not this clear. They need instructions. But this sword move as if it has it's own mind....so where did this man even found such a weapon?'
'And why does he sleep while holding it,... He even refers to it as 'she' as if it's a female. Wait..... Don't tell me...'
'.....IS THAT HIS DEAD WIFE WHO IS NOW POSSESSING THAT SWORD?' Sunny got a chill when he thought this.
'.....Now it makes sense..... Now it makes sense why that sword protects him like that's its duty, and why he talks to it like it's a woman, and.... he even sleeps with it.'
Sunny looked at the man. The man looked young. Just old enough to be married.
'And his wife is dead already... Poor man. They must have loved each other so much that they are still together even after she is dead. Is this the power of true love?'
"Uhm, where did you get lost! We were talking about you trying to upgrade her. Can you do that?" Raine asked him again.
'And he's so desperate too. Why, this poor man.....'
....
"Ok, I'll do it."
"I mean I'll try to do it." Sunny announced.
"I'LL TURN YOUR WIFE INTO A SHADOW."
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