Edging before the nightmare

An year had passed since Sunny began training with Nephis.

During that time, he had long since mastered the Immortal Flame Style—truthfully, he had absorbed it within the first week, though he had pretended to struggle for a month.

Even after that, he continued to spar with Nephis, since their duels pushed both of them to grow, nephis had wanted to continue them.

They had grown close. Closer than Nephis had ever been with anyone outside her family and teacher.

And then, Lady Lunarin passed away.

Her death was natural—an almost merciful fate, considering the grim end met by the rest of her clan. The funeral was a modest affair, attended only by the remaining vassals of the Immortal Flame Clan. Other than Nephis and Sunny, no one else stood by her grave.

One by one, those last few servants would leave. And Nephis… she would be left all alone.

As the ceremony ended, the attendees slowly began to disperse. Nephis remained behind, standing silently in front of the grave, her expression unreadable.

Sunny turned to leave, giving her the solitude she likely wanted.

But then, he felt a gentle tug on his sleeve.

"Hey, Sunny… do you remember your grandmother?"

He turned back to face her. "No, She died before I was even born. People in the outskirts don't live long, you see.

Nephis looked down. "Oh… right. I forgot you used to be from the outskirts. Sorry."

"Don't apologize for something so trivial," he said. "Do you want some time alone?"

She hesitated.

"...No. Actually, I was thinking of visiting my mother." Her fingers tightened around his sleeve. "I've been treating her like a corpse all this time. But now that Grandma is gone… I don't have any family left."

She swallowed. "I don't know what to do. Should I just stay here?"

Sunny studied her for a moment before shaking his head. This nephis was young, she hadn't learnt to hide her emotions perfectly, she hadn't been left alone yet.

And most importantly, she had found support from the outside world, so she hadn't grown dissociated with others.

She was still human.

"No. You should definitely visit her."

Nephis bit her lip, then exhaled. "Would you come with me?"

"Of course."

She gave him a small, grateful nod.

She hid it almost perfectly, but sunny could tell, losing Lunarin had been hard on her. But it had also strengthened her resolve. And though it was a dirty thing to admit…sunny had been able to grow closer to her aswell.

---

Another year passed.

Nephis had grown stronger. Perhaps not physically—there were limits to what a mundane body could achieve—but her skill reminded Sunny of the Nephis he fought at the crimson spire. Sharp. Unrelenting. Dangerous.

As for him… his sixteenth birthday was approaching.

Not long before, he had asked Abel for an Awakened soul shard, claiming he wanted to study it. That had been a lie obviously.

The treacherous lost from height had planned something else.

Sunny had already calculated the exact time it would take for his Nightmare Seed to bloom. So, precisely seven days before the solstice, he shattered the shard.

A dormant human shouldn't have been able to do anything with a soul shard. But Sunny was not an ordinary human.

He absorbed the essence carefully, letting the power seep into his soul. He had never done this before, afterall his aspect forbade it. But the sensation was familiar—like remembering a song he had once known by heart. Tiny droplets of essence beads formed within him, and then...

He spent hours just reviewing the worst moments of his previous life, soon the spell reacted to the surge of emotions he felt, just like it had done in his last life.

All he had to do was wait.

Sunny could feel it inside him now. Growing. Spreading. Infecting his soul.

The seed had been planted.

He informed his family, then settled in to wait. He had timed everything perfectly. His Nightmare would begin just as the solstice ended, giving him an entire year to prepare for the Forgotten Shore—or whatever cruel fate the Spell had in store for him this time.

But he had underestimated one thing.

His family's reaction.

To them, Sunny had been infected mere days before the solstice. If he faced his First Nightmare before the appointed time, he would have no period of adaptation. He would have to face the horrors of the Dream Realm with no prior experience, no refined skills, no second chances.

Panic spread through his household like wildfire.

Abel began drilling survival tips into him as if Sunny was some clueless child. His mother kept giving him worried glances, her hands constantly twitching like she wanted to grab onto him and never let go.

Rain said nothing. But the fourteen-year-old girl was worried. He could see it in the way she clung to her communicator while talking to Jet—who, to Sunny's surprise, was actually free to take the call.

This Jet was different from the one he had known.

She wasn't as bound by the government, wasn't burdened by an impossible workload. Another Master existed in NQSC now, shouldering some of the responsibility she once had to bear alone. And, perhaps more importantly, she had never been swindled by the government in her early years. She still had a life outside of duty.

She and Abel weren't goverment servants this time, they just had day jobs in the government. So they were able to find time for worrying for sunny.

He almost wished they didn't have the luxury.

As the hours passed, friends from school came by to check on him, one of them was a boy sunny had become really close friends with, but he had to leave early for some unknown reason. Neighbors stopped by too, including cassie's family.

No one was as worried as his family, but there was still a weight in the air. A quiet concern.

Only one person stayed longer than the rest.

Cassie.

She had never had a relative afflicted by the Spell before. She had only heard of it. Now, she was sitting next to someone who would soon be thrown into that abyss.

She struggled to find the right words.

"You don't have to reassure me, Cas," Sunny said before she could even begin. "I'm probably the most excited person in the world right now. Two worlds, even."

Cassie sighed. "I know. That's what worries me. Don't get high on adrenaline again. You always do stupid things when you do."

"No need to lecture me, ma'am…"

For a moment, he studied her.

She was different.

This Cassie was more open, more talkative. But it wouldn't last. Once she completed her Nightmare , she would change. The weight of her Flaw would crush her down. If only he could—

No. That was impossible.

If he wanted to help her inside her Nightmare, he would need to unlock the third step of Shadow Dance within eleven months and send serpent with her. That was too little time. Even for him. His body wouldn't be able to keep up.

And his dormant soul would lose itself before he ever reached that point.

---

Later that evening, when everyone had left, Nephis arrived.

She was accompanied by Rengoku, but unlike everyone else, she didn't look the least bit concerned.

Sunny let out a breath of relief.

She studied him. "So. You're going ahead, huh?"

Words could not describe how happy Sunny was to not see another fear-laden face.

"Yeah. Sorry, I got bored of being mundane."

Nephis gave a slight nod. "Go ahead. You'll need the head start."

Sunny smirked. "Spent the entire day coming up with that line, did we?"

For a moment, Nephis' aloof facade cracked.

"No? I just thought of that."

---

Days passed.

The winter solstice came and went.

The current Sleepers of the academy vanished, transported into their Nightmares.

And the moment they were gone, Sunny felt it.

A weight pressing down on his soul. A force pulling him under.

He was inside a reinforced bunker within his home, guarded in shifts by Abel and Jet—both of whom had taken time off to be here.

Not that it mattered.

Because, in the end…

He wasn't going inside a nightmare,

He was the nightmare.

And just like that, his First trial began.