"Damn… I got rejected," Valen sighed, sounding genuinely wounded. "I put my heart out there Sunny."
He flopped back dramatically in the chair with a hand over his chest after his request for Master Jet's number got denied.
"You don't even have a phone," Sunny muttered.
Valen blinked.
"…True. So what was I gonna do with her number anyway?"
...
"I mean, what did you expect?" Sunny shook his head. "That was one of the worst pickup lines I've ever heard."
"It wasn't that bad, was it?"
"It really was."
They fell into the familiar rhythm of banter, voices light, but Sunny couldn't shake the unease crawling up his spine.
The aura around Valen—it hadn't changed. It felt too heavy. Like someone wearing his friend's face.
"Forget about that, Sunny." Valen leaned forward, his eyes sharp. "You survived your first Nightmare. Tell me... what was it like?"
Sunny grimaced.
Shit.
His Flaw — Clear Conscience — made it impossible to lie. If Valen asked about his Aspect or the Flaw itself, he'd be forced to answer.
For a moment, his expression was unreadable. Then he leaned back against the wall and exhaled slowly, like he was still trying to process everything.
"…It was cold," he said at last. "I woke up in chains, surrounded by people who'd already given up."
Valen raised an eyebrow.
"Sounds like a party."
Sunny smirked faintly. "Yeah. With something big hunting us down."
"The Nightmare creature?"
He nodded. "It tore through the camp like paper. Half of them died in the first minute. The rest… panicked. I didn't really have a plan. I just stayed quiet, watched, and learned."
Valen's eyes narrowed slightly. "Smart. And the others?"
Sunny glanced away. "…They weren't going to make it. Not all of them. I tried to help when I could. But in that place… helping someone usually meant dying with them."
"But you killed it, didn't you?"
"Not alone." His voice dropped. "Something happened. There was a temple. I ended up there. Maybe the place helped me. Or maybe the monster was just tired after killing everyone else."
"Modest for a change" Valen grinned. " I like this new Sunny."
"Yeah, well… Doesn't matter how it ended. I'm here now."
Valen's tone was light. "Whatever you did, it worked. You're alive. Stronger."
Then he smirked.
"Not taller though."
***
Sunny was in the showers, enjoying the hot water. . After their short conversation, Master Jet had sent him to clean himself, saying that he "reeked of Nightmare". The unnatural slumber of the Spell would slow down the body's metabolism, and the medical apparatus he had been strapped into was supposed to take care of the rest, but he was still asleep for three whole days
Now after that short moment of terror, when Valen had asked about the Nightmare… and Sunny had discovered something important.
He didn't always have to tell the truth.
His Flaw, Clear Conscience forced him to speak and just made it impossible to lie. But, if he could twist the truth, bend it, speak around it — then maybe he had more control than he thought.
Still, he knew Valen hadn't bought all of it. Not completely. But it was enough. No mention of the poison. No mention of the Shadow God. No mention of laying on that altar.
Some truths were too dangerous to share.
After a bit of time had passed, Sunny reluctantly turned the tap off and walked over to the towel rack. Coincidentally, he saw himself reflecting in the mirror.
The changes in his physique were subtle, but noticeable. His pale skin seemed a little healthier, his muscles a bit more pronounced. He looked slender and lean instead of emaciated and frail, as he did before. There was a slight luster to his dark hair and a shine to his eyes.
However, he was still rather diminutive. Not exactly a picture of masculine handsomeness, to say the least.
'Flower boy, huh?' Sunny thought, full of bitterness.
Then he suddenly froze, noticing something strange. As he was looking at himself in the mirror, the reflection of his shadow seemed to move. It was as though the shadow lowered its head and quietly facepalmed.
Sunny quickly turned around, piercing his shadow with a nervous look. However, everything seemed normal. The shadow was doing exactly what it was supposed to do, repeating his every motion.
"I clearly saw you move," he said, feeling a bit strange. "You have just moved on your own, right?!"
Sunny glared at the shadow, which obediently glared back.
"Did you move or not?"
The shadow enthusiastically shook its head.
'What the?!'
"What do you mean, "no"?! You've just moved your head! Do you think I'm a fool?"
The shadow seemed to think for a bit and then shrugged.
Sunny was left with his mouth agape.
"Your shadow is more independent than most. It is an invaluable helper," he muttered finally.
Right. This was how the Spell had described his Aspect Ability.
But what exactly could his shadow do?
He decided to experiment a little.
"Hey, you. Tell me what you can do."
The shadow was silent and motionless.
'Right. It doesn't have vocal cords.'
As though that made any sense! Shadows were not supposed to have muscles either, and yet it knew how to move.
"Uh… show me?"
No reaction. It seems the shadow was content pretending to be an ordinary, lifeless blob of darkness.
Sunny sighed.
'I'm doing this wrong.'
Independent or not, the shadow was still a part of him. It was a manifestation of his Aspect Ability. So instead of asking the shadow, he really should have been asking himself.
"Not going to talk, are you?"
Sunny closed his eyes and directed his perception within, exploring himself for the first time since returning to the real world. He felt the beating of his heart, the steady rising of his chest, the slight chill of the shower room. He heard droplets of water falling on the tiled floor. Felt the movement of filtered air against his skin.
And there, on the verge of his consciousness, something new.
A completely new sense.
Sunny concentrated on it, and suddenly a whole other world opened to him. It was hard to describe with words, just like one would have trouble explaining how hearing or touch feels.
It was as though he could communicate with vast forms that crowded around him and receive an understanding of both their own shape and the surrounding space, guided by the different degrees of pressure they exerted on his mind and each other.
That understanding came naturally and instantaneously, like an instinct.
These forms were shadows. And among them, one — not the largest one, but the deepest — didn't feel like an external entity. It was like a part of his soul.
Once Sunny grasped the feeling of it, he could sense the shadow just like he sensed his limbs. The only thing was that his limbs were made out of flesh, and the shadow was made from the absence of light.
Sunny opened his eyes and looked at the shadow. Then, with a thought, he willed it to raise an arm.
The shadow raised an arm.
He willed it to sit, stand, turn around, kick. Then he willed it to change shape, turning into a circle, then a line, then a monster. And finally, back to his own silhouette. The shadow was mercurial and fluid, like water. The only constant was its size.
"Ha! How about that?"
The shadow pouted, then reluctantly raised its thumbs.
"But how are you useful?"
He willed the shadow to strike the towel rack. It obediently moved and delivered a powerful kick. Of course, since it was just a shadow, its leg passed over the towels harmlessly, not even causing them to sway a little.
"Is that… all you can do?"
In his mind, the image of shadow tentacles tearing the mighty tyrant into little pieces cracked and shattered mercilessly. It seemed he would not be competing with Shadow God any time soon.
How regretful.
The shadow looked at him with disdain. Then it shrugged and stopped moving altogether, clearly offended.
Sunny sighed and took a towel off the rack.
"Alright. I will explore it later."
***
Hmmm...
He lied to me..
No not a lie. But not the truth either.
Valen stood still. Not a muscle twitched as he let the warm water wash away the months of dirt and grime.
He had replayed the conversation over and over again. Sunny's words. His expressions. His body language. All of it — rehearsed. Sunny had acted confused, acted tired, acted innocent. But it was obvious.
"Slippery" he muttered. "Clever too."
No mention of how he killed the creature.
No mention of how he had survived.
"Selective truth," Valen said, quietly.
Then the Crown whispered.
He dares.
He thinks you a fool.
He believes himself above you.
"No" Valen muttered. "Not above me."
Then why lie?
He clenched his teeth.
Sunny had gained something… or lost something. But he hadn't pressed. Couldn't. Not yet. He couldn't break this friend character — not so soon and what kind of friend interrogates someone after such a trauma inducing situation, anyway?
But Valen hated games.
His fist shot out and slammed into the tile wall, cracking it.
"What are you hiding Sunny?" he asked aloud — not to anyone present, but to the thought of Sunny in his mind.
***
After cleaning himself up properly, Valen walked to the mirror, checking his reflection.
A handsome young man stared back.
Black hair fell in soft, layers around his face, long enough to brush his jaw.
His eyes were long and dark, warm at a glance, almost inviting. Pretty in a way that was hard to place — like a warm cup of tea.
His nose was sharp but not severe, and his thin upper lip gave his face a soft, almost noble touch. There was a gentleness to the way his features came together — familiar, friendly, like someone you might've known once.
It was a beautiful face.
But it wasn't his.
Valen stared at it for a long time.
Then his expression darkened.
"All fake," he muttered.
The Mask memory warped his appearance, wrapping him in a persona that felt real — looked real — but wasn't. Only the black hair remained untouched.
He had erased everything else. But he couldn't bring himself to change that. That black hair… it contained precious memories, something priceless.
A moment passed as steam curled around him.
Then Valen leaned forward, his voice soft, almost a whisper.
"One day…"
His fingers grazed the mirror.
"…I'll rip this mask off."
A pause. His reflection flickered as if in agreement.
"And when I do…"
A slow smile curved on his lips, an unhuman smile.
"I'll get all the ladies"