Shadow Slave - One Shots

(HAHAAHAHAHHAAHH I'm so delusional I have to add sunphis in ALL OF MY FANFICSIMGOINGCRAZYOGMYOGDODD)

(anyways sorry people if this is kinda of a snoozefest I just executed this good idea wrongly maybe my predecessor will continue it when I die of cooking the best sussie fit)

78ᵗʰ time

Sunny tilted his head, watching her with that unreadable gaze.

His voice, when it came, was softer than she expected.

"You sure you're alright?"

She hesitated.

No. She wasn't.

Her hands curled into fists at her sides, nails pressing into her palms. There was too much to say, too much to ask, and yet the words refused to form. As if the words were stuck in her throat.

Instead, she let herself lean, just barely, toward him. Not enough to touch, not enough to be obvious, just close enough to get closer to him.

Sunny stood still. He didn't move away.

Her breath left her in a slow, measured exhale. "I just needed some air."

Sunny didn't believe her. She could tell. His onyx eyes studied her, flickering with something she couldn't quite name. And then, to her quiet surprise, he shifted ever so slightly, just enough that their shoulders brushed.

It was brief. A touch so light it could have been an accident. But it wasn't.

Nephis swallowed.

He was giving her the space to speak, if she wanted to. He always did.

And yet…

She let the silence stretch between them. The steady sound of the ocean, the rustling of the sails above, the quiet murmurs of Effie and Cassie further away. It was peaceful, in a way that felt cruel.

Because she knew it wouldn't last.

Tomorrow, this would all be gone.

Sunny sighed. "You should get some rest."

Nephis turned her head slightly, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. He was still watching the horizon, expression calm, but there was something guarded in the way he stood.

She had the sudden, irrational urge to reach for him. To take his wrist, to pull him closer, to tell him that she knew. That she understood now.

Instead, she said, "You should, too."

A wry smile ghosted across his lips. "You know I don't sleep much."

She did.

Nephis hesitated, then, before she could stop herself, she lifted a hand.

Lightly, so lightly it barely registered in her brain, she brushed her fingers against his.

Just for a second.

Just to remind herself that he was real.

That this moment was real.

Sunny stiffened. Then, slowly, his fingers curled, as if he meant to hold onto the touch, but the moment passed too quickly.

Nephis had already pulled away.

Her voice was quiet when she spoke. "Good night, Sunny."

She turned and walked away before she could see his reaction.

She didn't know if she could bear it.

Sunny stood there for a long time after Nephis left, staring at the empty space she had occupied. His fingers twitched at his side, like they could still feel the brief, fleeting touch of her hand.

He let out a slow breath and dragged a hand down his face.

Something was wrong.

He had known it the moment Nephis returned from wherever she had gone earlier.

She was quiet in a way that unsettled him. Her usual poker face she carried with her seemed to have been torn through.

Something that felt like knowing.

And that terrified him.

His grip on the ship's railing tightened.

A cold gust of wind swept across the deck, carrying the distant sound of Effie's laughter from below. For a moment, it almost felt normal. Almost.

But it wasn't.

Because tomorrow, none of it would exist.

Sunny exhaled sharply and pushed himself away from the railing. If he thought about this any longer, he was going to lose his mind.

— if he didn't lose it already.

********

Nephis lay awake in her quarters, staring at the ceiling.

Sleep refused to come.

Wind Flower's words echoed in her mind, circling like vultures.

'Again and again, you have come. You have fought, you have died, and the world has reset around you.'

She had felt the truth of it in her bones.

But the worst part, the part she couldn't stop thinking about, was Sunny.

He had known.

She had seen it in his eyes earlier, in the exhaustion buried beneath his usual guarded expression.

How long had he carried this alone? How many loops had he endured before she had even started to suspect?

Her throat tightened.

She should be furious. She wanted to be furious.

And yet, all she felt was an aching sort of grief.

He had done this to protect them.

To protect her.

She turned onto her side, curling in on herself.

It wasn't fair.

None of this was fair.

The weight of the truth pressed down on her, heavy and suffocating. But she would not break.

Not yet.

Tomorrow, the day would reset.

Soul stealer would most likely kill them again.

Tomorrow, she would wake up and pretend she knew nothing.

Because if Sunny could carry this for so long, then so could she.

For now.

*********

79ᵗʰ time

Nephis sat on the deck of the Chain Breaker, watching the waves churn beneath the crimson sky. 

She turned her head and stared at the regressor. (get it i felt cool writing that)

He stood by the railing, staring at the horizon as if it held something only he could see. His armor, still scarred from the previous fight, caught the dimming light, casting long shadows across the deck.

Nephis rose and walked toward him. He didn't turn to acknowledge her, but she knew he had noticed. He always did.

"Sunny," she said softly.

A beat of silence.

"…Yeah?"

She hesitated.

She had wanted to tell him. She had wanted to let him know he wasn't alone in this anymore. That she understood now, the weight he carried, the quiet burden of knowing.

Of dying over and over and waking to a world that would never remember.

And yet, the words never came. Yet again, it became stuck

Instead, she reached out, fingers ghosting over his hand before curling around it. His skin was cool against hers, his grip hesitant at first.

He glanced down, his onyx eyes unreadable.

"You're acting strange," he murmured.

"So are you," she countered.

He huffed a quiet laugh, shaking his head. But he didn't pull away.

They stood there, together, wrapped in silence.

Then, without warning, Sunny exhaled sharply. His grip on her hand tightened ever so slightly.

"I love you."

The words were quiet. So quiet, she almost thought she had imagined them.

Nephis' stared at him, poker face as usual, however it had felt as if a massive weight was dropped on her.

His gaze remained fixed on the horizon, his expression unreadable. But she could see it now. The exhaustion. The resignation.

She swallowed.

"…Why are you telling me this now?" she asked.

Sunny was silent for a long moment. Then, he let out a quiet, bitter laugh.

"You won't remember this anyway."1

Something inside her twisted painfully.

And yet, she said nothing.

Because she knew.

And because, for now, she chose to keep that truth to herself.

It should have been beautiful.

But to Nephis, it only felt like an ending.

— Tomorrow, the loop would begin again.

80ᵗʰ time 

A brutal reset.

Soul Stealer had killed them both in their sleep before Sunny can even reach the new area he was exploring. He wakes up exhausted, barely able to muster the energy to pretend he doesn't know what's coming.1

81ˢᵗ time

Nephis watches him closer, testing small things.

She stood in different places in the other loops and taking forward the plan instead of Sunny.

Sunny doesn't comment, but she catches the brief flicker of recognition in his eyes.

He knows she's changing something. He doesn't press.

He simply does not care, anymore.

82ⁿᵈ time

Nephis searched the island while Sunny rescued Effie and Jet.

The result?

A massacre.

They regrouped on the Chain Breaker too late.

The loop resets.

83ʳᵈ time

A desperate experiment.

Nephis suggested attacking Soul Stealer head-on.

It ended badly.

84ᵗʰ time 

Sunny sat on a chair, enjoying the calm moment taking in the food Nephis had made for him. Despite the harrowing thought that they were gonna eventually die.

He's exhausted.

He doesn't care.

He needed this.

Nephis watched him, knowing he deserved the rest, but also knowing it won't last.

85ᵗʰ time 

Another change.

Nephis subtly guided their approach to the new found cave, testing if breaking the established pattern affects the loop.

The result was obvious.

But Sunny noticed.

86ᵗʰ time 

They reach the cave, but the monster inside wakes before they can retrieve the key.

They died before making it out. 

87ᵗʰ time 

Sunny stayed on the ship longer than usual, dragging out the quiet moments before he had to fight.

Nephis doesn't ask why.

She already knows. 

88ᵗʰ time 

Another attempt at breaking the cycle.

They had reached the cave, but Nephis changes her words, her actions.

Sunny plays along, but she sees the truth in his eyes.

He's already realised. 

89ᵗʰ time 

Nephis asked, "Do you believe in fate?"

Sunny's hand tightened on his sword.

He doesn't answer. 

90ᵗʰ time 

They almost make it.

Almost.

The monster in the cave was a step ahead of them. 

91ˢᵗ time 

Nephis sat next to Sunny on the railing of the Chain Breaker.

She lets herself lean into him just slightly.

He doesn't move away.

Neither of them speak. 

This small moment was for them and them only, knowing that both of them must of partially lost their minds at the loop.

Could you blame them?

92ⁿᵈ time 

They tried something reckless.

Nephis proposes a theory: that the flow of time is tied to their perception of it.

They push forward, unlocking the door in Windflower Tower.

The loop still resets. 

93ʳᵈ time 

Nephis stood on the deck of the Chain Breaker, watching the endless waves churn beneath the crimson sky.

She turned her head and looked at him.

Sunny stood at the railing, unmoving, staring at the island that had doomed them countless times.

His armor, still marked by the last battle, caught the dimming light. He looked like a ghost of himself, worn down, exhausted, but still standing. Always standing.

She walked to him, slow and deliberate.

Sunny did not turn to acknowledge her, but she knew he had noticed. He always did.

"Sunny."

A beat of silence. Then, the same quiet, measured reply.

"…Yeah?"

She hesitated.

She had played this moment out in her head for so many loops. When to say it.

How to say it.

If she should say it at all.

But in the end, there was only one way.

She exhaled softly and reached out, fingers ghosting over his hand before curling around it.

His skin was cool, his grip hesitant.

He looked down at their joined hands, then at her. His onyx eyes were unreadable, but she saw the question there.

She tightened her grip.

"I remember."

Sunny went very, very still.

The waves crashed against the ship. The distant cries of seabirds filled the silence.

Somewhere below deck, Cassie was speaking with the others.

And Sunny didn't move.

Then, after a long, painful moment, he exhaled through his nose. A small, almost bitter sound. His fingers flexed slightly against hers.

"…Since when?" His voice was quiet. Careful.

Nephis met his gaze.

"78th."

A dry, humorless chuckle escaped him. "Of course." He looked away, shaking his head. "I should've known."

"You did."

At that, he turned back to her, expression unreadable. She held his gaze.

"You noticed," she said simply. "Every time I did something differently. Every time I tested something new. You saw it."

Sunny was silent for a long moment. Then, finally, he sighed.

"…Yeah."

She swallowed. "Why didn't you say anything?"

His grip on her hand tightened, just barely.

"What good would it have done?" His voice was quiet.

Tired.

"We're still stuck here."

Nephis inhaled slowly. "Not for long."

Something flickered in his gaze. For the first time in countless loops, she saw it.

The same hope, the same burn in her eyes. The same eyes that..

— He had fallen in love with.

He tried to hide his expression, but she had spent too long watching him, learning him.

He wanted to believe her.

And she wasn't going to let him carry this alone anymore.

She shifted closer, just enough that their shoulders brushed. "We're getting out of this loop."

Sunny watched her for a long time. Then, finally, he let out a quiet, tired laugh.

"…Alright."

For the first time in what felt like eternity, they stood there, together, truly together.

And this time, when she reached for his hand, he didn't let go.