Chapter Text
Manifested arms were reaching out of the shadows, manipulating a vast network of ethereal shadow strings. Sunny had been working on this particular weave for over a month now. It was the only possible solution to his problem.
Sunny had collected all of Weaver's forbidden lineage except for one piece. Shadow Weave was forever lost. Broken Sword had absorbed it and then died. Sunny even scoured the Underworld, but Shadow Weave was gone.
However, Sunny was a tenacious and unrelenting man. He was going to need all the strength he could get if he were going to fight against Unholy Nightmare Creatures one day. This was why he came up with a particularly daring idea. He was going to go back in time and snatch it from Broken Sword before he absorbed it.
Broken Sword was still fated to die, so it wouldn't mess up the timeline. He would simply pop up in the past and return to the future with the weave. It offered some level of risk, but it was ultimately bound to be worth it.
Sunny dismissed his hands and stepped away. A miraculous weave surrounded him, and he studied it with prideful awe. Pouring shadow essence into a Sacred Soul Shard, he activated the weave.
'Here goes nothing.'
Lights flashed, and everything became disorienting. Sunny could feel the world warping around him, and suddenly, he was right in front of his target. Broken Sword was standing in front of him, alive and somewhat well. They were in the Underworld after all, and the famous Saint had gone through some tough battles to get here.
Sunny quickly snatched Shadow Weave and absorbed it before Broken Sword could even react. Both of them were looking at each other with wide eyes and surprised expressions, though not a word passed between them.
Then the weave started to pull Sunny back to the present. Hopefully, he would be fully back in the present by the time pain engulfed his form. However, things went horribly wrong. Broken Sword was not humanity's champion for no reason; he reacted with incredible speed, grabbing onto Sunny as he was pulled to the present.
As the weave tried to pull Sunny back to the future, Broken Sword was dragged along too. The issue was that the weave was meant for one person and one specific person at that. The weave quickly broke, and the two of them were sent into the equivalent of a time free fall. The world spun around them. Strings of fate seemed to tear and reform around them. Sunny could feel like he could see everything, almost as if he had activated the Where is my Eye? enchantment.
Sunny woke up screaming in agony. He wanted to gouge his eyes out and rip out his heart. His head felt like it was actively splitting open. But by far the worst pain was occurring in his shadow. It felt as though it was being torn apart and rebuilt. Then, after a while, the pain subsided and Sunny was able to take deep breaths. What happened to him?
Then he coughed horribly. Why was the air so bad? Sunny sat up and studied his surroundings. Well, he tried to get up, but he was bound by some sort of stone chain. It was so damn heavy, too! The next thing he noticed was a figure with black hair and gray eyes. He was incredibly handsome, and there was a dark gleam in his eye.
"B-Broken Sword?" Sunny said, not realizing he was speaking out loud.
Then he looked around. This was... this was one of the shitholes he stayed in before awakening. It was a tent in an alleyway on the outskirts. Broken Sword summoned a knife and put it to Sunny's throat. Sunny tried to summon the Jade Mantle, but he couldn't. He tried to Shadow Step away, but he couldn't. He couldn't do anything. Then a sickening realization hit Sunny. He was no longer awakened. He was back in time, back to about a year before he was infected by the Spell.
"Who the fuck are you? And why are we in the outskirts of NSQC?" Broken Sword asked, his blade threatening to draw blood.
"Look, sir. This is a REALLY long story, so I'm going to need you to take that knife away from me. I'm not supreme anymore. In fact, I'm not even a dreamer anymore, so I pose no threat to you."
Sunny spoke in a measured tone. Broken Sword thought for a moment. The boy in front of him had been older and a lot more powerful just a moment ago. He decided that he needed to trust the boy to get some answers. He pulled the knife away and sat expectantly on the gross floor.
Sunny took some deep breaths to calm himself before speaking.
"Ok, look. I'm from the future. I went back in time to get the Shadow Weave. I was collecting all of Weaver's forbidden lineage, but you were dead, so I needed to go back in time."
Broken Sword looked at him with an uncertain expression. Sunny was sure that learning about your death was not easy. Broken Sword coughed and then asked,
"How'd I die?"
Sunny sighed and responded.
"You had just conquered the Fourth Nightmare when your cohort betrayed you and killed you. They did it by ambushing you as you all were escaping the Underworld. They did it partly because your fame made having Weaver's lineage very dangerous, and partly because they're spineless fucks."
Sunny waited for Broken Sword to respond, but he didn't, so Sunny continued.
"Anyway, Nephis and I killed Anvil and Ki Song. The third one was imprisoned on the moon somehow. We hadn't figured that one out yet. Also, Nephis and I were dating. I guess we're not anymore, though."
Sunny coughed awkwardly after adding the last part. It was unnecessary, but he felt like it could bite him later if he didn't get that out of the way.
Broken Sword seemed to mouth Nephis's name to himself, but he didn't say anything else to Sunny.
"Now here's what I think has happened. I think that my sorcery only brought us halfway, but because you should be dead, and I already exist in this time, we royally screwed up fate in the process. If my theory is correct, this is a year before I originally got infected by the Spell, and many years after your death. That's why I'm in my body from this time, and you have your body from when you started the time travel."
Sunny paused to think, and then added on.
"There's a library nearby. I'll need to confirm that you're still technically dead to make sure we didn't destroy the timeline."
Then Sunny smiled darkly.
"However, if you are, then this could be good. All it would effectively mean is that I would be restarting my journey with lots of knowledge about the future, and Broken Sword would be alive this time. Though you're only a saint."
That last part got a chuckle from the champion of humanity. This was all a lot to take in for him, but hearing someone say that he was only a saint was odd. He was not just a saint after all; he was THE saint from a time when being a saint meant being at the pinnacle of humanity.
"Well... whoever you are. If what you say is true, then I must ask you, is it safe to go see my daughter?"
Sunny frowned and thought for a moment.
"No. Your former companions are alive right now, and they're sovereigns who command armies. They control the whole world. If they were looking for you right now, you'd already be dead. You can't walk right into where they're looking or give them a reason to look for you."
Sunny's words were heavy for the man in front of him. Broken Sword used to be the strongest, and now he was powerless. There was also the implication of the last sentence. Nephis was where they were looking. Did that mean that she had grown up with a life of hardship? How many assassins had tried to kill her? How many times had she lain in bed and cried for her father, who died on her? A tear rolled down his cheek, and he found himself asking a strange question to the young boy in front of him.
"I've abandoned my girl. I thought that it was for the best, but it got me killed, and all she got was a life of hardship. Am I a bad father?"
Sunny didn't know how to answer that question. He considered not answering it at all since he was no longer beholden to his flaw, but in the end, he simply said,
"I don't know."
The two sat in silence for a moment before Broken Sword dismissed Sunny's bindings. He stood and stretched out his gaunt limbs. His stomach ached with hunger, and weakness pervaded his body. Sunny missed his Supreme physique.
"I should have a small amount of credits saved up right now, let's go to a library and do some research. Can you find a way to be discreet?"
Broken Sword summoned a cloak memory that made it very easy to ignore him. The two of them set off, traveling through the outskirts until they got to a rundown library. After paying a fee, Sunny and Broken Sword entered the library and found some books.
Sunny was right. Broken Sword was known as dead, and the timing of it matched the original timeline. This was good, since his presence here hadn't messed up the timeline at all. Now they just needed a plan.
The two of them walked back to Sunny's ragged dwelling, both of their minds racing. It was incredibly dangerous for Broken Sword to reunite with Nepihs, but it could also benefit her greatly. She had been alone when she was first infected by the Nightmare Spell, and she was fueled by fury and bitterness. Sunny did not doubt that this played a large part in her flaw, and if the two of them reunited before her Nightmare, then maybe she wouldn't have to suffer so much to use her powers.
It was just a chance, but Sunny hated seeing her suffer, so it was worth a shot.
"You might be able to see her when she visits Smile of Heaven," Sunny mentioned out of the blue.
Broken Sword flinched when he heard his hollowed wife's name. After considering it for a while, he nodded.
"She visits her mother somewhat frequently. If there's any time when the Sovereigns turn their eyes away from her, that's when."
Sunny caught the cold gray eyes of Broken Sword and then looked away.
"Nephis gives people hope, and in the time I come from, the whole world leans on her. I've tried to be the one that she can lean on, but I can't be that right now. However, she can lean on you right now. The more I think about it, the more sure I am that meeting with her is worth the risk. Just be careful. Humanity can't afford to lose you twice."
Broken Sword considered his words. Then he spoke, voice softer than normal.
"I know that this was all one big mistake on your end, but thank you. I'm sure this isn't the last we'll be seeing of each other, so until next time, young one."
"You can call me Sunny."
Broken Sword nodded and stood.
"You can call me Victor," Broken Sword said before disappearing suddenly.
Sunny couldn't tell if that was an aspect of his ability or if he was just that fast, but it didn't matter. Sunny looked at his shadow. He had a lot of work to do now. However, when he thought about how much he would benefit from his future knowledge, he couldn't stop himself from grinning wickedly.
'I can work with this.'