It was Nothing, floating aimlessly in the abyss. It was Nothing. Nothing... No, It was Something. But what was It? Who was It? It did not know. It could see Nothing, hear Nothing, say Nothing, feel Nothing. It had no eyes, ears, mouth, or body. But It was here, barely an existence at all.
"I love you."
These words It could not understand brought a sensation similar to breaking the surface tension of water throughout Its being.
"Lia, let's just focus on what's important."
...
...
...
"Wha?"
*GROOWWWWLLLLLLLL*
"huh?"
...
...
"Hey... are you alright?"
'Satella?'
The silver-haired girl had approached Sunny in his dazed state, seeing as he didn't react, she figured his head had been seriously injured in the earlier brawl. Reaching for his temples; Sunny snaps out of his stupor, falls on his ass, and clutches his stomach. Oddly, he didn't feel any blood or guts.
'ow'
[Your Aspect has been revealed.]
[You have gained an attribute.]
[You have gained an attribute.]
A voice resonated through his mind, a voice he had heard once before, the Nightmare Spell.
Bewildered by everything, Sunny hurriedly checked his runes.
Aspect: [Return by Death]
Aspect Description: [I love you.]
Attributes: [...], [...], [Shadows Embrace], [Miasma].
'Death...'
"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you—
...You don't have to be so afraid."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Those words hit him like a tire iron.
'Hmm~ you don't have to be so afraid. I don't bite.'
Images flashed in his mind. The Loot Barn: Elsa—that monster—Rom, Felt, Satella, and finally himself.
'She slaughtered us all.'
Sunny hunched to his side and puked. He wasn't easily queasy, but the sensation of death was overwhelming. He had thrown absolutely everything he had at Elsa, and it meant nothing in the face of overwhelming power.
Leaning his head back as if he did not just vomit, he was met by two very different reactions.
"S-Sir, would you like some help?"
"Sir??"
"Now that's nasty—wanna tell us what happened?"
"..."
Sunny didn't know how to proceed from here. He had too many questions, but he was in a position to ask none of them. He had been taken back in time after he died, and it's just his luck to be right in front of Satella and Puck.
'Satella...'
"I would." nodding to her question, he looked at the cat.
"What's there to say? I threw up a little."
"—That's not what I'm talking about."
He tilted his head in confusion, putting on a little show of ignorance. He realized that Puck had some method of sensing lies, but he didn't know the details.
"Well—I did just get my shit rocked, so all things considered, I'm fine. "
"Language! And hold still, please!"
"Alright alright..."
After his head was healed, he figured it was time to talk. Sunny had already decided what he was going to do.
"So you got something stolen?"
"Mhm. It's reeeaallllly important!"
"I see. I think I know who you're after. I heard her names' Felt or something. She runs her petty thievery back to the slums."
Pointing in the general direction of the Loot Barn, he gives them a vague but honest answer. It took him little over an hour to find the loot house, and he doubted she could find it in the same amount of time.
It's around 5 in the afternoon now, looks like the sun sets in an hour, that's when Felt arrived at the Barn. Elsa arrived soon after. He couldn't tell if Elsa had been there from the start and only made herself known when Sunny approached the door, or if she had simply arrived at that very inconvenient moment.
'Who am I kidding? No doubt she was there before I arrived. Better to assume the worst.'
"Say, why don't you bring some guards with you?"
"...That wouldn't be a good ide-"
"It's a great idea!"
Overplaying his hand, he coughed and restarted.
"I-I mean that the slums are quite dangerous for a pretty woman like you to walk around unprotected."
"I don't understand. I'm strong enough to defend myself."
"You better get your mind out of the gutter, mister!"
"What the Spell are you talking about! I'm saying you'll get attacked if you snoop around the wrong places!" Sighing dramatically, he hoped this was enough to convince the girl but threw in one last comment to seal it. "At least check the guard station for more information first."
"I-I see, I understand. Thank you for your help sir, I mean it."
Awkwardly, she turned to leave. But before that, he had something he wanted to confirm.
"Wait miss! May I know your name?"
"It's...
Emilia. Just Emilia."
"—Thank you for healing me, Emilia."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Casually strolling down the busy Lugunican street, Sunny finally had a moment of peace. If it could be called peace. He had successfully convinced Emilia and Puck to visit the guards' station—wherever that was. He wondered why Emilia had lie about her name, but he had bigger concerns. Hoped the guards would stall them for at least an hour, he had to think quickly.
Snagging an apple from a local stand, several thoughts raced through his mind.
Should he run away? He certainly could, and he hadn't completely dismissed the idea. But the image of Felt wailing over Roms' corpse weighed on him more heavily than expected.
Satella, too—or rather—Emilia. She had shown him kindness, and while he did not feel obligated to die for her, he did not want her to die either. And he still suspected she was the key to passing this Nightmare.
Mostly he wanted to kill Elsa. He really wants to kill that twisted bitch. He doesn't know how he'll do it though... The fact that she could heal threw a real wrench in any plan he created. He saw two options—
Option one, a battle of attrition; This was not favorable, at least not under the current circumstances. The four of them simply weren't enough, and he didn't know if Puck was reliable. He needed more people, more power, more everything. Ideally, he'd even set up a trap ahead of time.
'Trap...'
That barn was already a trap.
Option two, overwhelming power; Obliterating the assassin in a single strike would probably work. Sunny watched her get blown away by Emilias' ice magic, but her attacks only cut and impaled Elsa. He assumed the woman was somewhat injured in the attack, but it was not enough, as she had healed and hunted them down in minutes. 'Perhaps crushing her could work... but that'd be nearly impossible without wearing her down first.'
The biggest problem was time.
Finishing the apple; he took a moment to re-evaluate his runes.
[Shadows Embrace] Attribute Description: "Shadows embrace you."
[Miasma] Attribute description: "You smell of the -unknown-"
'I know I smell goddamnit! Did it really need to be an attribute!'
The fact the Spell didn't tell him what this mysterious -unknown- smell was— is concerning, but Sunny was more interested in his other attribute
'Shadows Embrace me, huh.'
Walking into yet another alley, he chooses the darkest corner available. Upon entering the shadows he notices something interesting. His skin has greyed, and the outline of his body blurred slightly. From an outside perspective, it would look like he was submersed in water. He's not invisible, but it does give him a stealth advantage. Better yet, his footsteps made no sound in the shadows.
'Intresting. I wonder if there's more to it than that?'
He attempted to move the shadows around him, but to no avail. 'Seems like a no.'
Exiting the alleyway, he noted there was roughly 15 minutes until sunset. He hoped Emilia was still busy with the guards, and entered the slums. He planned to scout for escape routes, but something caught his eye—or rather someone—actually no, it was three someones; down the street he saw the backs of three stooges turning a corner out of sight.
'A distraction...'