Shadow Slave

After speaking to Rain about their parents, Sunny felt strangely at peace. The darkness surrounding the Nameless Temple was safe and nurturing, and the quiet rustle of the leaves was pleasantly soothing. Added to his previous euphoria, it seemed like nothing could spoil his tranquil mood. But, at the same time, he didn't feel quite well about himself. After all, he had unexpectedly dumped the knowledge that they were family on Rain, and then proceeded to give her a lecture about their dead parents… whom she did not even remember.

Rain was a young woman who was trying to find her place in the world while dealing with the appalling nature of war — the former was already difficult enough, but the latter was a mental burden that no human could carry well, let alone endure unscathed.

Sunny knew it better than most And yet here he was, adding to her burden. Feeling a bit guilty, he decided to sweeten the deal with some gifts. Luckily, there were the Memories he had prepared for her. Although Rain seemed a little distant and subdued, her eyes glistened at the mention of Memories. She had witnessed and survived so many horrors since the start of the war, after all, and unlike other Awakened soldiers, she had not received any rewards from the Spell in the process. The same Awakened soldiers were walking around with their shiny new Memories on full display, and she saw them every minute of every day.

Naturally, Rain was excited.

And Sunny's mood improved even further after witnessing her excitement. "Alright… here we go. Don't thank me too enthusiastically!"

With that, he summoned the [Bag of Withholding] and presented it to her proudly. However, her reaction was not what he had expected. Instead of bursting with delight and admiration, Rain's just continued to look at him expectantly. Her expression did not change at all.

She remained silent for a few moments, looking at him with lively anticipation, then blinked a few times and glanced behind him. Sunny tilted his head a little. "What's wrong?"

Rain smiled cautiously. "...That's not it, is it?"

'What a strange question…'

Still holding the Bag of Withholding in one hand, he scratched the back of his head with the other. "I mean… yes? That's it."

Her smile froze a little. Slowly, the excited gleam of Rain's eyes was replaced with something that strangely resembled fury. A seething kind of fury.

Leaning forward, she shouted suddenly:

"What do you mean, that's it?! One Memory? One?! After everything I went through, and all the abominations I killed? Am… am I a joke to you?! What kind of a damned Legacy lord are you, huh? Big brother!"

Sunny stared at her in shock. Then, he stared some more. After that, he let out a quiet sigh and said with reproach:

"Open it, you idiot."

Rain frowned, then grabbed the leather backpack from his hand — without spending even a second to appreciate the delicate stitching and tasteful decorative details, at that! — and opened the clasp roughly. A moment later, she forgot to breathe.

Sunny scoffed. "Such an ingrate…"

Rain raised her head, looking at him with burning eyes. Her expression was strangely intense. "Is that… a spatial storage Memory?"

And her voice was strangely hoarse.

Sunny nodded dismissively. "Yeah. Just a little something I crafted for practice… it's called the Bag of Withholding, by the way. I put everything else inside."

In the next moment, he was suddenly deafened by a high-pitched squeal, and then frightened by a low, completely unladylike boast of laughter. "Big brother is the best…"

Sunny's eyes twitched. "I told you to stop calling me that."

Rain continued to stare at the Bag of Withholding.

"Whatever…"

She studied the leather backpack with bright eyes, then nodded in satisfaction and finally looked up. "We can work on your naming sense later. Let's see what's inside!"

Sunny frowned in confusion.

'What? What is wrong with my naming sense?'

…But that was an exercise in self-delusion. In fact, he knew perfectly well what was wrong with it. 'Alright, alright. She's not wrong. But... at least I named the other Memories exceptionally well…'

Rain carefully took the Memories in question out of the Bag of Withholding. Soon, they were all laid neatly on the bench between them. Sunny pointed to a green flask housed in a black leather sleeve. "This is the [Green Canteen]. It can store a great amount of water, as well as purify it. Just like the last time, you need to infuse a bit of your essence to claim it as your Memory."

Rain did just that and smiled in satisfaction. "This is great. Not only can I drink as much as I want, but I can also use it if my water ration in the baths runs out!" Sunny nodded. "Yeah. Just don't forget to refill it from time to time. It is quite voluminous, but not boundless."

With that, he pointed to three arrows.

"These are [Heavy Burden], [Outskirts at Noon], and [Don't Cut Yourself]..."

Rain gave him a strange look.

"Really? Those are the names you went with?"

Sunny gritted his teeth. "Yes. If you don't like them, I can just take them back…"

Rain quickly swept up the arrows and pressed them against her chest.

"No, no! I like them a lot! I can't believe you managed to create something so ingenious, deadly, and aptly named! Uh… what do they do, exactly?"

Sunny gave her an unamused look, then a detailed explanation. As he talked, Rain's expression slowly grew more serious. Eventually, she nodded. "I see. Quite powerful, indeed… but I will have to use them tactically. Otherwise, they'll just drain my essence without accomplishing anything."

Sunny held the same opinion.

"It should become a bit easier as you absorb more soul shards, but yes. The potency of Memories I can craft for you is limited by the quantity and quality of your essence. The more powerful a Memory is, the steeper the price of using it will be."

Some of the more powerful Memories could even kill their wielder if used carelessly. Others came with their own kind of Flaws to balance their dire power… like the Sin of Solace, for example. That cursed thing...

Moving on from the three arrows, Sunny briefly explained what [Safety First] and the [Pièce de Résistance] did. Rain was especially impressed by the latter…

But not for the right reason.

"A cooling effect?! Ah! It's the best!"

Sunny stared at her for a few moments and shook his head in dejection. 'Does she not realize how revolutionary its other enchantments are… tsk! Too young, too naive…'

He made sure that Rain claimed and summoned both Memories before moving on to the last one. An additional layer of protection was added to the Puppeteer's Shroud, making the armor look much more suitable for intense melee.

Sunny appreciated the subtle, but tasteful blend of grey fabric and black leather, giving himself a mental pat on the shoulder. He had been sure of the defensive properties of this Memory, but worried a little about its aesthetic value. After all, it wasn't easy to design it in a way that complemented the look of the Puppeteer's Shroud perfectly. But he had done well. His sister looked positively… cool, sharp, and darkly formidable in this enchanted armor. Finally, he pointed to the sash made from glistening black silk.

"And this… is the [In Case of Emergency]. The most important Memory you'll possess during this war."

Rain frowned, then picked up the silk sash and tied it around her waist. It went well with the Puppeteer's Shroud, as well, making Sunny regret not having this version of the enchanted armor on the Forgotten Shore. A moment later, he shuddered in fright. 'Oh, no! Have I been infected by Kai?!'

Throwing the terrifying thought out of his head, he looked at Rain.

"Activate the enchantment."

She did as he told… and suddenly froze. Not just figuratively, but quite literally.

Even a few strands of her beautiful raven-black hair that the wind had been playing with hung motionlessly in the air, as if frozen in time.

Of course, they were merely frozen in space.

The only sign that Rain was still alive was that her chest was still rising and falling subtly. Sunny nodded in satisfaction. "Deactivate the enchantment."

Rain's hair fell, and she took a deep breath while throwing a complicated look at the silk sash. He sighed. "That is in case a Cloudbreak catches you unaware. Never take this Memory off while you're in Godgrave… do you understand?"

Rain threw a tense look at him, then nodded slowly. Sunny smiled. "Good. Well, then…"

Time was waiting for no one. There was one more thing he needed to talk to Rain about — quite an important thing, too — but it was going to have to wait. "You've been gone from the camp for too long. I better bring you back…"

Rain smiled. "Sure. Let's go."

She looked at him with mischief in her eyes, and added:

"Big..."

Before she could finish the sentence, Sunny dismissed the shadows forming the bench they were sitting on, and watched as Rain fell to the marble floor with a startled yelp.

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