One week.
Sunny had spent an entire week searching the city and had found absolutely nothing.
He had checked every house, every building, every shop he could find. Wide avenues, narrow streets, towers rising toward the gray sky, silent plazas where dust accumulated undisturbed. He had walked through all of them more than once.
More than twice.
More than he cared to count.
For seven full days, he had eaten nothing.
At first, the hunger had been just an annoyance. A dull reminder at the back of his mind, easy to ignore as long as he kept moving. But now it had begun to turn into something else — a constant discomfort consuming him from within.
It wasn't pain, not yet. Just an emptiness that refused to be ignored.
Saint and Serpent were currently roaming distant sectors of the city, moving methodically through districts he had already explored himself. His three shadows were scattered across the vast urban expanse, silently slipping through buildings, descending into basements, climbing towers, checking every corner that might hide something useful.
Food, clues, or an exit. Anything. And yet… nothing.
Not a single edible object. Not one preserved ration. Not even something dubious enough to risk poisoning himself.
It made no sense.
Whole kitchens remained intact. Pantries still contained shelves and containers. Tables set as if their owners had simply stood up for a moment and never returned.
But there was no food. Nothing that resembled provisions.
Sunny exhaled slowly, leaning against the smooth wall of a tall building as he watched the empty street stretching out before him.
"Shit… I'm going to have to do it, aren't I?"
He meant the hidden enchantment [???] of Weaver's Mask.
Sunny had given himself a deadline — one week. If after seven days of searching he found nothing useful, then he would resort to the unknown enchantment.
He didn't like the idea, but his situation left him no other options.
Compared to when he had first arrived in this zone, he could now circulate a bit more essence. Not enough to become Awakened naturally… but enough.
Enough to activate the enchantment. At least once.
Though that didn't make the decision any easier. Weaver was the Demon of Fate, and anything related to fate was problematic.
Sunny made a small grimace.
"...This is definitely a terrible idea."
He sighed, rubbing his face before letting his hand drop back to his side.
Still, starving to death inside a mysterious abandoned city protected by an invisible barrier wasn't a much better alternative either.
Sunny straightened up slowly.
In the distance, through the connection he shared with his shadows, he could feel Saint moving across rooftops while Serpent slithered through a vast hall that must have once served as some kind of meeting place. Unsurprisingly, they found nothing.
"Right," he murmured quietly.
The week was over.
Sunny summoned Weaver's Mask, but for a brief moment, he hesitated.
Then, with a tired expression and an empty stomach reminding him exactly why he was doing this, he dismissed Serpent and summoned it again in the form of a tattoo. With its help, he began circulating essence. A slow, careful flow.
'Let's see what kind of bad decision this turns out to be…'
He guided the thin thread of Shadow Essence toward the mask, activating the mysterious enchantment [???] of the Divine Memory.
The instant Sunny's essence brushed against the dark wooden surface of the Divine Memory, Weaver's Mask reacted immediately.
Something invisible latched onto his soul with terrifying voracity and began absorbing his essence without the slightest delicacy. It wasn't a gradual or controlled flow — it was as if the mask had found a spring after an eternity of drought and now drank without limit.
In less than a blink, all his shadow essence disappeared, drained completely until only a negligible residue remained… such a miserable amount it seemed hardly worth taking. And yet, that sacrifice barely managed to keep the [???] enchantment active for a fleeting instant.
That instant… nearly destroyed his mind.
An unbearable pain pierced through his eyes and sank deep into his consciousness. It was similar to what he had felt when consuming the Drop of Ichor… but incomparably worse.
Much worse.
His scream stopped sounding human almost immediately, distorted by an indescribable suffering.
Reality shattered. The world disappeared.
In its place appeared something that no mortal mind should ever contemplate.
An infinite expanse of intertwined threads filled all of existence. They stretched in every imaginable direction, crossing, twisting, tightening and relaxing in patterns impossible to fully comprehend.
Every thread connected something.
Every thread represented something.
Living beings. Inanimate objects. Ideas. Memories. Intentions. Decisions not yet made. Forgotten dreams. Nightmares that had not yet occurred.
Everything was bound by that endless web. There was no up or down. No distance.
The threads extended not only through space, but through time itself, penetrating the past, the present, and that which had not yet happened.
It was the very structure of fate.
Sunny's mind trembled under the weight of that impossible comprehension. It was absolute, overwhelming knowledge, far too vast to be contained by the consciousness of a Sleeper.
Blood began to flow slowly from his nose, dripping down his lips, while his eyes burned as if being consumed from within.
The scream that tried to escape his throat never formed.
His will barely managed to cling to a single thought.
'Search.'
There were countless threads near him.
Filaments surrounded his body in countless layers, passing through him, tangling in his soul, holding him firmly in place as if he were a puppet held by an invisible puppeteer.
He was bound to them. He existed because of them.
Among that infinite tangle, two stood out clearly above the rest.
One burned with a white, pure intensity, extending to an inconceivable distance, disappearing beyond his capacity for perception.
The other glowed with a deep, warm golden tone.
That thread… snaked through the city.
It curved in multiple directions, crossing streets, circling structures, changing height, descending and rising as it traced a precise path. It marked a route — one Sunny recognized.
The thread guided him directly toward one of the buildings he had inspected countless times during the week, but it didn't end there.
The golden line continued its path downward, passing through the building's floor, descending deeper and deeper into a darkness that his perception couldn't fully penetrate.
There was what he was looking for. And then… his essence ran out.
The power feeding the enchantment disappeared completely, and the vision crumbled instantly.
The threads vanished. The impossible universe disappeared. The pressure on his mind dissipated, but the damage was already done.
His thoughts scattered, unable to organize themselves as the real world came rushing back.
His eyes burned as if they had been scorched from within, and his body stopped responding to him. Strength abandoned his muscles without warning.
Sunny fell to the ground without even being able to try to stay on his feet. Before he could process what had happened… he lost consciousness.
Everything went black.
***
The first thing Sunny felt was something soft.
For a confused instant, his mind couldn't quite grasp what exactly he was perceiving. Only that… It was comfortable. Very comfortable.
Too comfortable for someone who had passed out in the middle of the street. His body was relaxed, sunk slightly into a firm but pleasant mattress. The fabric beneath his fingers was soft and comfortable to the touch. For a moment, he felt like trying to go back to sleep, but as soon as that thought came, another sensation appeared.
Pain.
It wasn't unbearable, but he could feel his eyes burning. It was a constant discomfort, an uncomfortable pressure behind his eyelids, but at least it was tolerable. Much more tolerable than the agony he had felt before losing consciousness.
Sunny frowned slightly, staying still for a few more seconds while his mind slowly sorted itself out. Then he opened his eyes carefully, expecting a sharper stab of pain… but it never came.
The room he found himself in felt familiar. It was the same house he had chosen as a temporary shelter during the week.
The pale walls, the old but elegant furniture, the thin layer of dust he had partially removed in the first few days… everything matched.
He hadn't been moved very far.
That was good.
Standing in front of the bed, completely motionless, was Saint.
Her dark armor faintly reflected the light coming through the window. Her posture was as perfect as ever, her presence silent but firm, like a living statue keeping watch without rest.
"Good morning, Saint," Sunny said, his voice somewhat hoarse.
The shadow observed him without showing any emotion on her beautiful face, then inclined her head in a slight gesture of acknowledgment.
Sunny let out a small smile.
"Thanks for bringing me here."
Saint nodded once more, and then Sunny noticed the rest of his shadows.
Gloomy was leaning against the wall, with his usual disinterested expression. Happy seemed unable to stay still, moving slightly as if he had energy to spare. Creepy, for his part, stood in front of the window, facing away, as if deliberately ignoring everything that was happening while taking more interest in what was going on outside.
The usual.
Sitting up slowly on the bed, Sunny summoned Endless Spring and drank greedily. The cool water ran down his throat like a blessing, relieving some of the dryness that had begun to accumulate.
He drank more than usual, and then a little more. Only when the hunger stopped did he stop drinking.
His body felt weak, and every passing day was worse.
"All of this is because I didn't get any Memory to store food," Sunny said through clenched teeth.
Forcing himself to shake off the anger, he stood up and walked to the nearby bathroom, where he washed his face. The sensation helped clear the last remnants of anger and sleep.
Returning to the room, he looked at his shadows.
"How long was I unconscious?"
Gloomy shrugged.
Happy immediately jumped in front of him, holding up four fingers enthusiastically.
Creepy didn't even bother to turn around.
"...Right."
'These guys are always the same.'
Sunny sighed and looked at Happy with a slightly furrowed brow.
"Four hours… or four days?"
'Please say hours.'
Happy nodded quickly and gestured, exaggerating the passage of time until it was clear he meant hours.
Sunny let out a sigh of relief.
Four days would have been a serious problem. Without wasting more time, he left the house.
The city air greeted him again, silent and still as always. Sunny closed his eyes for a moment, remembering the path he had seen. The sensation of the threads was still etched into his mind.
He could remember it with unsettling clarity. Every turn. Every street. Every change of direction.
He began to walk, accompanied by his shadows and Saint. Serpent remained in tattoo form, adhered to his body.
The route first took him through a wide avenue he had crossed countless times during the week. The buildings on both sides rose as he turned right at an intersection he hadn't previously considered especially important.
He continued straight for several minutes, passing by structures that seemed to have been workshops, small libraries, or residences of people with a certain status within the city.
The place where he had spent the most time was in those libraries, but the writings were in a language he didn't know.
He thought about taking a couple of books to study once he returned, but the lack of a Memory to store things made it impossible. Besides, there was the fact that he didn't know if the things he took would return with him.
Sunny knew that during nightmares, objects belonging to them were impossible to take to the Waking World, so he didn't know if that rule would also apply here.
Then he descended a slightly inclined street.
As he advanced, a strange sensation began to grow slowly inside him. It wasn't exactly fear, but it wasn't calm either. It was… anticipation.
His skin reacted before his mind. The hairs on his arms stood up slightly. Sunny frowned, but didn't stop.
He turned again, crossed a small inner courtyard surrounded by tall columns, and continued through a narrow passage that connected to another, wider street.
He recognized every place. He had been there before, several times. Yet now everything seemed different.
'I'm not drunk, am I?'
Finally, the building appeared before him.
It was a medium-sized structure, similar to many others in the district. It didn't particularly stand out architecturally, though the details of its columns and door frames indicated it had belonged to someone important.
Sunny had searched it at least three times during the week and had found nothing.
He approached slowly, his three shadows clinging to his body. The building's door was open — he had left it that way to mark which buildings he had already searched. Entering, he began to observe everything with a new perspective.
Letting himself be guided by instinct, he started searching again.
'The line was heading downward, right?'
He expanded his Shadow Sense, but perceived nothing. Even so, the instinct didn't disappear. He looked around the room attentively and decided to check the floor.
The floor was covered by an extremely comfortable rug. Carefully, and with Saint's help, he began to lift it little by little to avoid damaging it. As he progressed, the feeling in his instinct grew more intense. When he had removed about half of it, he saw something that shouldn't be there: a fixed hatch in the floor.
"What the hell? Why isn't my Shadow Sense working?"
The hatch was made of a material he didn't recognize. It emitted no perceptible signal and completely blocked his perception. The strangest part was that it had no handle, lock, or any visible mechanism to open it.
'How the hell am I supposed to open this?'
He felt a slight discomfort at the thought that he had come all this way only to be stopped by a simple door. He looked at Saint almost by reflex.
"Any ideas?"
He didn't expect an answer, but the shadow observed him for a few seconds. Then she lowered her sword, raised a hand, and pointed at her own eye.
Sunny frowned, confused. He blinked a couple of times while trying to understand the gesture.
'The eye? What does that mean?'
Then he had an idea.
He turned toward the hatch, placed a hand on its surface, and shifted his focus the same way he did when observing the spellweave of Memories.
Beneath the hatch's surface, he finally saw it.
A weave.
It was strange. It didn't have the typical structure of Memories, but it was clearly a functional pattern. He didn't have many options, so he chose one of the brightest nodes and sent a small amount of shadow essence into it.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, the hatch opened.
A stale smell rose from below, followed by a light current of air that hit his face, bringing with it a thin layer of dust. The cover continued rising until it stood at a perfect right angle.
Below was an enormous staircase descending deeply. The steps were disproportionately large, wide enough for a dozen Sunnys to stand on a single one, or perhaps an eight-armed Daemon.
The structure seemed stable. There were no visible signs of deterioration or immediate danger. The only possible direction was down.
He waited a few moments, then coughed and waved a hand in front of his face to brush away some dust that had lingered in the air.
"Ah, well. Nothing to worry about, then. Let's go!" Sunny looked at Saint, hesitated for a second, and added in a polite tone: "…Oh, ladies first."
The shadow tilted her head slightly and observed him with her ruby eyes. Then she simply advanced and began descending the stairs. Sunny waited a few moments and followed her.
Gripping the handle of Moonlight Shard firmly, he ventured into the darkness that extended beyond the entrance. The staircase continued descending for a long stretch until it finally led him to a corridor as tall as the accessway.
He continued walking behind Saint. They advanced through the completely empty hallway.
'Huh… whoever created this wasn't very decorative.'
Eventually, the corridor opened into a doorless hall. It was round and completely white. Several torches placed on the walls lit up as soon as he entered, illuminating the place.
The walls were covered with bookshelves, full of books. The quantity was such that it made him swallow. In the Waking World, physical books were extremely rare and expensive, but here there were endless rows in every direction.
At the back of the hall was a desk. Resting on it was a box that he identified as being made of the same material as the hatch.
Blinking, he decided to leave that for last. He took one of the books from the shelves, but it was written in the same language he couldn't read. He took another… and another… and another. All of them were in that language.
Without realizing it, he ended up checking almost all of them, until only one book remained, placed on the desk, next to the box.
He approached cautiously and signaled for Saint to stay by his side. From a distance, he noticed there was something else on the desk.
It was a small paper note.
As he took it, all the color drained from his face. Sunny blinked several times while raising the note to eye level.
"Those… those are runes…"
The moment his mind processed the information, his eyes widened.
He could read them. Not only that… they were in the common language. The note said:
"The book is for the other one. The box is for you. I hope you enjoyed this vacation."
Sunny slowly placed the note back on the desk.
"Th-the book f-for the oth-other one… does he mean Arthur?" He looked at Saint with a raised eyebrow. "The box is f-for me?"
The shadow observed him without reacting. Sunny interpreted her silence as absolute indifference.
He placed both hands on the desk and let out a short laugh while lowering his head. "Enjoy the vacation?" He straightened up and looked at Saint again. "Does this look like a vacation to you, Saint?"
There was no response.
"¡Exactly!"
He shook his head.
"Vacations should be on a beautiful beach, eating and drinking something nice with good company… not in a place where you can't even walk because a damn tornado appears out of nowhere right next to you! Or an abandoned city where there's nothing to eat!"
He finished the sentence with clenched teeth, still shaking his head slightly. Then he sighed and picked up the book that was on the desk.
This one was written in a language he could understand.
The title read: "Djinn Language Dictionary"
Sunny let out a short laugh.
'Definitely for Arthur.'
Then he frowned, "Wait! This was Fated to happen… how would Weaver know he would be with Arthur?" His expression became more confused.
"Does Arthur also have the [FATED] attribute?"
He had no way of knowing, and it wasn't his priority at the moment.
He left the book on the desk and finally turned his attention to the box.
Holding the box delicately, Sunny waited a few minutes, gathering courage. Then he sighed.
"It is time to see what fate has in store for me."
He opened the box carefully and slowly. His eyes hardened at the sight of the contents, and his expression shifted to one of confusion.
Inside was a single fragment of flawless alabaster bone, glowing with an intense golden radiance.
A single finger phalanx.
'All this madness… just for this tiny piece of bone?'
He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and took the phalanx.
Sunny had expected, almost by reflex, for the bone to disintegrate into a torrent of white sparks and for the Spell to announce the acquisition of a new Memory, just as had happened with Weaver's Mask… perhaps another Drop of Ichor.
But nothing happened.
The bone felt cold and smooth to the touch. Inside, there was still marrow, moist and impregnated with a bright golden radiance. Sunny tilted his head slightly, not understanding what he was supposed to do.
He frowned, unsure how to proceed.
Then, a scene suddenly appeared in his mind.
In the ruined cathedral of the Dark City, Saint stood over the rusted remains of the Black Knight, holding a black gem in her hand. With a dark emotion burning in her ruby eye, she raised the gem to her mouth… and bit it.
Before he could fully analyze the meaning of that memory, Sunny followed a strange impulse. Without giving himself time to think, he opened his mouth, placed the phalanx inside… and swallowed it.
'What?!' He blinked several times. 'What did I just do?'
Sunny stared at his empty hand, where just moments ago he had held a divine bone, his eyes wide. And then… it was as if a furious fire ignited in his chest.
"Shit!"
Sunny fell to the ground, feeling unbearable pain spread throughout his entire being. It was an agony he knew all too well… the sensation that his very nature was being forced to change into something it had never been meant to be.
Or perhaps something that was never meant to be allowed.
"Argh… h-here we go again…"
He could perceive nothing but the pain before losing consciousness once more.
***
Sunny woke up again in his room, letting out a small sound, and immediately rubbed his eyes with both hands as the heaviness of sleep faded.
In that unconscious movement, he noticed something strange.
Nothing hurt.
In fact, a deep sense of relief spread throughout his body. He felt… more solid, somehow. Stronger. Firmer.
"What the h…?"
The Spell's voice suddenly resonated, interrupting his thoughts. Was he imagining it, or was there a slight tone of excitement in it?
It said:
[One of your Attributes has evolved.]
[You have acquired a new Attribute.]
Sunny sat up quickly and summoned the runes.
#What… what have I done to myself this time?#
The runes glowed before him, suspended in the air. Sunny directed his gaze straight to the section describing his attributes.
Attributes: [Fated], [Flame of Divinity]...
That was new. He focused on [Flame of Divinity] and read the description:
Attribute Description: [Your soul is aflame with the light of divinity.]
"Huh… so now I have an even greater affinity with divinity."
After all, he had just swallowed a god's phalanx.
At the end of the list, new runes appeared. Sunny held his breath as he read:
Attribute: [Bone Weave].
He repeated the name mentally, feeling an intense, savage satisfaction growing inside him. He didn't yet know what exact effects this attribute granted him, but he was sure it would be something special. Blood Weave had saved his life countless times.
His bones felt much more resistant. Firmer. Stronger. His joints seemed slightly more agile, responding with greater precision to every small movement.
The strangest change, however, was in his fingers.
At first glance, there seemed to be no difference, but his sensitivity had increased. Touch was deeper, more detailed. He could perceive textures better, the small irregularities on any surface.
Even so, he had the feeling that the real change was deeper than what he could immediately notice.
Blood Weave had modified his eyes in a fundamental way… so Bone Weave promised a lot.
He stretched his limbs, testing his new mobility. He was already naturally flexible due to practicing Shadow Dance, which demanded extreme body control. Now that ability was even more pronounced.
Satisfied, he focused on the runes again.
Attribute: [Bone Weave]
Attribute Description: [You have inherited a part of Weaver's forbidden lineage. Your bones have been altered and imbued with steadfast temperance…]
He tilted his head, surprised by the information which, though expected, was still shocking.
'Weaver's forbidden lineage!'
So the severed arm really had belonged to the mysterious Demon of Fate. Despite everything he had seen and experienced, both wonderful and terrifying, Sunny felt a sense of awe. It was like being in the presence of something divine, but above all… he had swallowed a fragment of that being.
'This is insane!'
The description of Bone Weave wasn't finished yet. Several lines of runes were still visible.
He focused and read:
[…When children of the -unknown- rebelled against the gods, Weaver was the only one to refuse the call of war. Despised and hunted by both sides, they disappeared. No one knew where Weaver went and what they did… until it was too late.]
A chill ran down Sunny's spine then he realized something even worse.
He quickly got up from the bed and approached the window.
Looking toward the horizon, what he saw gave him an immediate sense of terror. He swallowed and blinked several times before taking a step back.
In the distance, kilometers beyond the city, the invisible barrier that protected it was… gone.
How did he know?
Because two enormous tornadoes were advancing directly toward the city… and they did not stop.
"Damnation."