A lonely Shadow

Guiding his way through the immense balls of fire that loomed within the sky below had been relatively easy with the help of Nephis. Although Sunny had theorized there was a gap between the balls of flame, being able to squeeze through said gap by himself would prove to be a much more harrowing task than he would like to engage in.

Nephis and Sunny currently found themselves in an ivory tower, Sunny had been made aware of an alabaster phalanx that was seated within the tower and unceremoniously devoured it in one go. His action only gained him a puzzled look from Nephis for his efforts as he looked at his hands with a smile on his face.

After a brief moment of pain, Sunny analyzed the runes of his newfound bone weave and decided to put it to the test. Grabbing his finger, Sunny bent it backward with startling force, Nephis reached out instinctively to stop him, however, she was stalled by Sunny's impressed expression.

"My bones became harder to break, regularly I'd have already broken a finger!" Sunny exclaimed excitedly. Nephis raised an eyebrow in response before replying, her tone diluted with an odd mixture of amusement and worry. "You've been going around breaking your fingers?" 

Nodding slowly, Sunny allowed a slight grin to appear before replying casually: "I did it all the time in the dream realm; it helped me focus." The casual tone in Sunny's voice sent flashes of sadness permeating throughout Nephis's form as she only nodded in reply.

Sunny continued to search throughout the tower before finally encountering what he needed. It was a broken shard of a mirror with an unknown entity's blood smeared across it, Sunny restrained his urge to taste the dried blood as he allowed a slight smile to settle upon his face. 

"Mordret, is this where you've been hiding from Valor?" he questioned. However, he received no reply. For Sunny to free Mordret from his captivity, he would need to find a suitable nightmare seed for the man to conquer to mark his ascension into mastery or have him possess the body of one who had a physical form in the real world.

Turning to Nephis, Sunny asked inquisitively, his tone as innocent and impassive as a man asking for the weather. "You wouldn't happen to have anyone you could sacrifice; this man's much more useful with a body than without one." Nephis shook her head, causing Sunny to sigh lightly before turning to Mordret.

"I'll have a nightmare seed arranged for you eventually. But for now, you'll be hitchhiking in my backpack." With that, Sunny picked up the mirror and placed it in his backpack, before turning around and making his way out of the ivory tower. Thankfully, the tower seemed impervious to the crushing that weighed down all entities in the chained isles with its insidious force, and its special ability to do so seemed to extend to the island it stood on as well.

"We have a day until Valor's ball." Nephis voice caused Sunny's head to snap backwards before his eyes opened in mild shock. "How were you keeping track of time? And more importantly, are you still planning to infiltrate their ranks from the inside?" Folding his arms in anticipation, Sunny awaited Nephis response with mild concern.

"I counted the seconds; it kept me from properly sleeping all this time, but it was worth it especially when I have such an important deadline. And my answer hasn't changed, pitting the two great clans against each other from the inside only furthers my goals."

Sunny's mouth opened to retort, but he quickly closed it and allowed a smile to settle on his face. From the look in her eyes, he knew nothing he said would change her mind. Shrugging, Sunny sighed before replying. "I'm coming with you, whether you like it or not." With that, Sunny began walking away, attempting to find a suitable place to hide Mordret.

It didn't take Sunny long to realize that the dream realm seemed to loop in on itself. After falling through the lightless abyss of the sky below, he flew past the stars and ended up finding himself back in the chained isles. How it had done this was fascinating, although still the least of his concerns now.

After hiding Mordret in an unseen location within the ivory tower, Sunny slowly began to make his way back to Sky Tide's citadel. His sudden absence would have him be forced to offer some type of explanation; however, it wasn't anything he hadn't prepared for.

A day had passed since Sunny was in the dream realm. He found himself in a clothing store, attempting to find suitable outfits to wear to go to a ball. Being from the outskirts, Sunny wasn't quite familiar with the customs and behaviors of aristocrats, so he found himself gaining information on how to act from the internet as well as pieces of advice from Jet.

He was currently with his fellow outskirts rat in the men's section of the clothing store. They had been running through pieces of clothing that were suitable for Sunny to wear, and although he wasn't quite particular about what clothing Jet decided to force him to wear, she was. Each time he placed on a new piece of clothing, Jet would analyze it for a moment before shaking her head and forcing him to wear a new one.

Now, Sunny found himself wearing a suit and tie with a white shirt that clung to his body like a second layer of skin. It wasn't quite uncomfortable it reminded him of the military bodysuit he was so used to wearing whenever he decided to assassinate his fellow human.

The shirt clung to his stomach, revealing every nook and cranny of his toned abs without leaving a single inch untouched. He almost felt that Jet had made him pick such tight clothing for her pleasure, and the slight flush on her face proved his suspicions right in seconds.

Although Sunny wasn't quite opposed to the idea of wearing it, especially when Jet approved. "That took long enough, shopping is more tiring than fighting!" Sunny groaned as he made his way out of the store with his suit neatly tucked away in a paper bag he was holding. Jet simply chuckled in reply before glancing at Sunny.

"You'll be doing this more once you get a girlfriend, you'll have to get used to it eventually." Sunny shrugged in reply before walking Jet home. He hadn't ever spent a night at her house, however, the pristine state she kept it in almost knocked him off his feet every time he arrived there.

He didn't pride himself on being an extremely clean individual, but he was quite sure he was far above average compared. And yet, her house made his look like a pig's enclosure. Turning around with a sigh of jealousy, Sunny Shadow stepped his way to the front of his house before gliding inwards quietly. He almost forced his mind unconscious as he collided with his couch with a quiet thud.

Tomorrow was the date of the ball, after all, he had to be ready.