Fate’s Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

Gloomy slid off Sunny's body, causing the bat in his hand to disperse into ether. His facial muscles relaxed as he lost the demeanor that he gained when wielding the Destruction. He dismissed Saint, calling back the two shadows that had went to support her.

She had killed a few Nightmare Creatures — increasing his shadow fragment counter by around twenty. The small, yet gradual increase in power helped to saturate his newest Shadow Core, which would in turn allow him to form a new one.

"…I'm sorry."

At his companion's voice, Sunny turned to look at Seele. He could practically hear her gritting her teeth as she averted her gaze.

He wasn't sure what she was apologizing for, so he asked:

"What are you talking about?"

Her eyes gazed straight into his own. Her lips pursed and her eyebrows creased, forming a frown on her features.

"Because I asked you to take me here, you ended up getting hurt pretty bad… I'm not asking for you to forgive me or anything, but it would be wrong for me to not at least apologize."

Sunny stared at her for a second, before sighing in exasperation.

"What the hell… it's not like I lost an arm or anything. What's the point of apologizing for something so small?"

Seele narrowed her eyes, glaring at Sunny.

"Small?! You got stabbed in so many spots, I'm surprised you're still alive! Anyone else would have bled to death!"

Sunny scoffed, raising his hand as he flicked her on the forehead with his middle finger.

"Bleeding is too pedestrian, so I don't bleed. You shouldn't expect one such as I to follow the rules of humans."

Seele placed a hand where she had been flicked, growling at him with her teeth bared.

"Stop acting so cocky!"

A sly smirk slithered onto her face.

"I mean, all this attitude from a guy as tall as you? I guess your body couldn't contain it…"

Sunny's brow raised, a knowing look on his face.

"Aren't you shorter than me? Those heels are really giving you a confidence boost, huh?"

He paused, looking down at the article of clothing on her feet.

"…Speaking of which, how the hell do you fight in that?"

Although she was slightly embarrassed from being called out for her height, Seele gave him an unsure response.

"Uh… I'm not sure. Maybe I'm just really good at it?"

Now that he thought about it, March also wore heels — although they were not as long as Seele's. Sunny felt like they were much too obstructive for someone to fight properly with.

'Was there some sort of secret to it?'

Seele frowned slightly as she paused for a moment, before hesitantly asking:

"What do you want?"

Sunny blinked.

"…Pardon?"

Seele huffed as she crossed her arms, turning her head away from him.

"I'll do whatever you want — or give you whatever you want. I won't complain, not as long as it's possible."

Sunny's mind raced at a mile a minute. He was able to get her to do anything that he wanted?

Countless scenarios and ideas were formulated inside his brain. Some were mischievous, while others were pragmatic. Of course, thoughts of the more unsavory kind passed through his mind as well…

Pulling himself out of his self-made hole of debauchery, Sunny seriously thought about her offer. He didn't want to do anything too drastic, nor did she have much to offer him that he didn't already have. Despite her resolve, she couldn't do anything that she literally wasn't able to.

…Maybe he should test the limits of her resolve.

Gulping, Sunny took a few steps towards Seele. Once he was right in front of her, he looked around to make sure that nobody was nearby… which made him feel pretty stupid, since he would have known if someone was anywhere near them.

He leaned forward, his mouth moving as he whispered a few words to Seele.

"Hey, can you…"

Her emotions were written down on her face — which meant that the metamorphosis of her face reflected her true thoughts. At first, Seele seemed slightly confused. She had to ask Sunny to repeat his words multiple times to make sure that she wasn't hearing things. He wasn't quite sure why that was the case, since he thought his request was pretty straightforward.

Her cheeks took on a healthy shade of pink. Seele's lip quivered slightly — probably from anger or embarrassment. She tried to reply to Sunny, but all that came out was a repeated stutter as she couldn't even form a single word. At this point, Sunny started to fear for his life…

"I…"

Seele's suddenly cut herself off, seemingly contemplating something as she bit her lip. There was a small hint of fear in her eyes, but it wasn't directed at Sunny himself. Rather, it seemed that his absurd request had brought about a different fear within her.

She looked back at Sunny, a small furrow in her eyes.

"…I don't really know how I would explain this to the people I know in the real world, but I don't mind."

'You sure didn't look like you don't mind…'

Seele continued, a hint of trepidation in her voice.

"Are—are you really okay with this? You won't regret it, no matter what?"

Sunny narrowed his eyes. For some reason, he felt like she might have somewhat misunderstood what she was supposed to do. Due to the compulsion of his Flaw, Sunny cautiously responded:

"I mean, I guess I'm okay with it? I can't promise you that I won't regret it though…"

Although his answer was vague and non-committing, that somehow seemed to be enough for Seele. Her lips curled into a small, shy smile. She spoke, the world around them silent as they were the only living creatures nearby.

…By the time Sunny realized what the problem was, it was already too late.

After Seele spoke, Sunny just stood in his place. He didn't let his surprise show on his face — mainly for his own safety. The misunderstanding between them was much too great; solving it would only result in one of their deaths.

At least, he assumed so.

All Sunny did was nod and smile at her words, leaving her blissfully unaware of the storm brewing in his mind.

The walk back to the Sanctuary of Noctis was very awkward, at least for Sunny. Seele's serious demeanor had been replaced with a timid, yet not unhappy expression. He hadn't asked her to do anything lewd, but considering his request, he might as well have.

'Damn… this isn't right.'

What Sunny had originally wanted to do was to measure how far Seele was willing to go with her offer. Then, he would have given a much more appropriate request depending on her reaction.

However, he had not expected her to genuinely accept his request. Such a decision that could decide a person's entire future couldn't have been decided on the spot — with a person they barely knew at that.

And the worst part… was that Seele seemed way too damn happy about it!

If he even tried to brush it off as a joke or pretend that nothing ever happened, she might let her Flaw go on a rampage! He couldn't possibly take that risk… so he stayed quiet.

He'll play along, allowing her to live this strange delusion. Not for her sake, but for his own. Death was not a celebrity that Sunny wanted an autograph from.

Looking at Seele, Sunny slowly asked her something:

"…Why did you really want to go to the flower field in the first place?"

She looked back at him, the look in her eyes different from before. Sunny felt that the entire way she viewed him had changed, and that made him very uncomfortable. It reminded him a little of Sparkle.

Just a little bit though.

Seele seemed surprised at the question, but she answered it without hesitation.

"The place that I'm from is very cold — cold enough that plants can't survive. But it wasn't always that way."

Her voice trailed off for a second before continuing:

"My soul sea is made up of flowers. I've never seen any before, so I wanted to make sure that they were the same."

'Flowers?'

Compared to his own soul sea, it wasn't that strange. However, it was still very strange in the grand scheme of things.

The rest of the way back was uneventful. Sunny tried his best to turn his attention away from Seele, not wanting give more fuel to the fire he had burned himself in.

However, he simply could not do so. His situation was simply that severe.

Sunny thought about what his mother would want him to do in this situation. Before he was infected by the Nightmare Spell, his memory of her had started to fade away. However, [The War] not only enhanced his strategic thinking and skill during combat, but also his memory. Thanks to this, the only parts of his life that he didn't remember were the parts that he had forgotten after arriving in the Herta Space Station, and his infancy.

Sunny guessed that his brain must have not developed the ability to store memories very well at that point in his life, recalling things by feeling rather than description.

If his mother were to look at him now, she would probably reprimand him for getting into this situation in the first place. Then, she would probably make him see it through to the end, which would be quite long if nothing unexpected happened.

On the other hand, his father would have probably just laughed at the absurdity of the situation. He had died quite early in his life, so Sunny only remembered a couple months worth of time with him. Despite his short temper, the man had a tendency to not take things very seriously. Not only that, but he had also been quite mischievous…

…Sunny couldn't do this halfway. It was his own mistake, so he should obviously take responsibility for the consequences of his actions. His treacherous nature had gotten the better of him, and placed him in a unique situation. If he didn't handle it correctly, he might actually die.

It was only a possibility, but it was one he was very afraid of.

Sunny couldn't possibly face his parents if he messed up… he'd be a failure!

Once they had arrived at the Sanctuary of Noctis, Sunny felt the connection between his soul and body reconnect itself. Coincidentally, the time he had to spend in the Dream Realm had run out the moment he had returned to the Sanctuary.

Sunny turned towards Seele, a strange determination glinted in his golden eyes.

"I'm going back to the real world now. You'll be fine on your own, right?"

Seele scoffed at his words.

"Of course I will. What do you take me for?"

"An idiot."

"Huh?"

"…Hey, can you do something for me?"

Seele blinked at his words. She tilted her head in curiosity.

"Sure. What is it?"

'Not even an ounce of hesitation.'

Sunny was almost shocked at how easily she had agreed to that. However, considering how she had accepted his earlier request, it was not all that surprising. Fortunately, this favor he had of her was much more tame.

He thought about his words for a second, trying to make them as Sunny-esque as possible. He didn't want to sound unnatural.

Looking into Seele's eyes, Sunny spoke:

"When someone does something for you, don't apologize. It's kind of annoying…"

Before she could react to his jab, he frantically finished what he was trying to say.

"Instead, just thank them. That way, things would be a whole lot less awkward!"

With that, Sunny stepped into the shadows, zipping away at terrible speeds.

He did not want to stay even a moment longer. Sunny's real body might be killed at any second!

***

Seele watched as a silhouette moved across the ground, entering the Sanctuary of Noctis without being caught by the guards. As such, Sunny was able to get away unhindered.

'He must have been in a rush too…'

Seele herself still had to wait an hour or two before she could leave. She decided to just wait in the room that Sunny had shown her until it was time.

Staring off at where the strange boy had gone, Seele softly two words into the air, with nodbody around to hear them.

"Thank you."