Shadow Slave

Soon, Sunny and Jet continued their journey. The landscape of East Antarctica remained the same, and so did the dangers they faced. The two of them traveled across the desolate plain, sometimes avoiding the Nightmare Creatures, sometimes engaging in short and furious battles. Sunny felt a little bit numb, and was glad to have a task to focus on. With all his attention concentrated on keeping them alive, he had no time for unnecessary thoughts, which suited him just fine.

Jet, meanwhile, was slowly recovering her powers. The more abominations she killed, the less like a corpse she looked. At some point, she allowed herself to summon a few Memories, and was now wearing a light suit of armor that was made of black, lusterless leather. Now that she wielded a weapon, her lethality had soared, too.

For Sunny, it was fascinating to watch Jet slowly come back to life. Her eyes were once again the familiar icy blue, her movements becoming as swift, murderous, and purposeful as they had been before. This was the fearsome Soul Reaper he knew - she might not have reached her peak condition yet, but she did not resemble a shambling corpse anymore, either.

Most interesting of all, her lifeless shadow had regained its vitality. By now, he would have never suspected that the person in front of him was not actually alive.

A few days passed, and then a few more. Two whole weeks had passed since the destruction of Falcon Scott. They had spent half of that time crossing the strait, and half traversing the snowy plain. The plain was as inhospitable and vast as ever.

Sunny made Nightmare stop, waiting for his shadows to assess the size of a distant horde of Nightmare Creatures. These past few days, there had been more and more abominations around, all moving in the same direction. Weaving between them was growing harder.

Somewhat bored, he shifted in the saddle and asked: "Hey... do you think the government considers us dead?"

Jet, who was sitting in front of him, turned her head and gave him an amused look. Sunny sighed. "No pun intended."

He knew that his friends had to be aware that he was fine - Nephis could see his runes, after all, and she would have informed the rest. However, being pronounced dead by the government was a bothersome affair. His merchant license would have been revoked, for example, which would put Aiko and the Brilliant Emporium in a tight spot. His home could be auctioned off, too.

Jet chuckled. "I don't think so. They have ways to know such things - the diviners, for example. We were probably marked as missing in action. If anyone even had time to do the paperwork."

Sunny wanted to continue the conversation, but then fell silent, a slight frown appearing on his face. Soul Reaper raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

He shook his head. "Shh. Listen."

At that moment, the wind carried over the sound of distant thunder. It sounded like a rainstorm was raging somewhere far away, but Sunny had spent too much time with the army not to recognize it.

The two of them exchanged a meaningful glance. Jet smiled. "Railguns."

Indeed, the thunderous sound could only be produced by the massive armaments.

Commanding Nightmare to turn, Sunny sent his steed in the direction where the thunder had come from. The black stallion flew across the desolate plain, eventually cresting a tall hill.

In front of them was a vast lake. In the dim twilight, its surface seemed restless and grey. The shield of ice covering the lake had long been broken, with many gargantuan carcasses floating in the cold water like dark islands. Smaller Nightmare Creatures were swarming around them, greedily devouring the flesh of the fallen giants.

On the other side of the lake, tall alloy walls rose from the shore, with thousands of armaments unleashing a devastating barrage of tungsten rounds on the encroaching mass of abominations. Sunny could even discern the small shapes of soldiers and Awakened on the battlements.

A long sigh escaped from his lips. "A siege capital."

Summoning the Sin of Solace, Sunny closed his eyes for a moment. Then, he sent Nightmare galloping down the hill.

The black steed rushed toward the lake, surrounded by a tide of moving shadows.

***

Returning from the dead had turned out to be much more chaotic than Sunny expected... and fighting through the horde of Nightmare Creatures to reach the siege capital was not the most tumultuous part. He was actually accustomed to things like that.

The reactions of the people inside the stronghold were much more intense. At first, the commander of the city defenses seemed polite, but unfriendly - after all, the sudden appearance of two Ascended outside the walls during a fierce battle had put a lot of pressure on him.

Fields of fire had to be rearranged, a safe corridor created... perhaps his soldiers would even have to sortie to protect the unexpected guests. However, the latter measure had not been needed. Sunny fought his own way to the wall, and then scaled it himself.

And when the Master in charge learned that the two Ascended had come from the Antarctic Center, his demeanor completely changed.

"Falcon Scott? B-but..."

The man stared at them with wide eyes for a moment. Then, something akin to joyous pride ignited in them.

Sunny did not really know what the Master was feeling so proud about, but at least the unfriendliness immediately disappeared.

"Gods... great! This is great! I need to inform the... no, wait. Are you guys wounded? Do you need medical attention? Crap, what am I saying... wait, Antarctic Center? Then you are Soul Reaper Jet? Ascended Jet, ma'am... of course, you would make it!"

The news about the annihilation of the Antarctic Center field army must have already spread through the Quadrant, so the sudden appearance of two Ascended survivors had an explosive effect. The soldiers, who had been depressed and despondent about the fate of their comrades, were all suddenly full of joy and ardor.

It was as though their own siblings had returned alive from beyond the grave.

Sunny had not experienced being stared at so intently even when masquerading as Mongrel.

The two of them were promptly brought to the local government headquarters and showered with attention... especially Jet. From what Sunny could understand, the government Saint stationed in East Antarctica was coming to the siege capital to welcome her back personally.

Sunny was soon going to meet the Saint, too.

After a short debriefing, during which the government agents could not stop staring at him, he could finally exhale and relax a little.

'That was strangely exhausting.'

Sunny spoke to Jet, agreeing to meet the next morning, and then spent a little time in the living quarters assigned to him. He enjoyed a warm shower, a scrumptious meal, and some peace and quiet.

Peace and quiet... it felt so strange, to not have to fight for his life, and the lives of millions of other people, without a reprieve. He wondered how long that peace would last.

Eventually, Sunny placed a tether inside his room and quietly slipped out of the waking world.

He went to visit the Ivory Tower.