Sunny stood absentmindedly in the Shadow Realm, his soul burning with the glow of seven dark sphere, each one of supreme rank.
But they were empty.
Not a single Shadow resided within them. His summons were gone, neither roaming the Dream Realm, nor resting in his shadow cores.
Because they were dead.
Serpent. Saint. Nightmare. Fiend. Mimic. Slayer.
All of them, lost.
Just like his friends and family—Kai, Effie, Cassie, Aiko, Quentin, Rain, Professor Julius, the Fire Keepers, Beth… The names stretched on, an endless list of ghosts.
Even Changing Star was dead.
It had all begun when Mordret achieved Supremacy. That vile fiend had reached it before them, and in his wake, Bastion and the seven Saints fell. When Nephis faced him after ascending to Supremacy herself, she failed to stop him.
Thus even the nigh-immortal Nephilim perished.
But in the end, Mordret had been weakened, and Sunny had finished him. The Sovereigns were dead too, but their war had reduced humanity to near extinction.
And so, he was alone.
Truly, utterly alone.
Except for one insufferable, talkative skeleton.
---
Sunny had come to Eurys, not out of any desire to discuss the future, but simply to hear another voice, just to remind himself he still existed. In hindsight, it may have been the best decision he had ever made.
Even the ancient undead was shaken after learning what had transpired. He sat in silence for a long while, his bones still and unmoving, before finally speaking.
"You know, Sunny boy… it seems your kind's era has truly come to an end. There's nothing you can do to salvage the present anymore."
Sunny's hands clenched into fists.
"You think I don't know that, you bastard!?" His voice cracked, raw with grief. "Even if I could save us, what would be the point? Everyone I cared for is dead!"
"But that's the present, boy. You are a Weaver, are you not?"
Sunny scoffed bitterly. "Spare me the riddles, Eurys. I'm not in the mood."
The ancient skeleton regarded him carefully, as if looking at something fragile instead of the most powerful Sovereign he had ever known.
"What I'm saying is... Weaver's little spell has been weaving incredible relics of incredible powers, yes? And you are capable of the same. Isn't there any Memory capable of reversing time? Surely that could solve your issues?"
Sunny froze.
His thoughts—consumed by the torment of his friends' deaths—suddenly cleared.
"There was a Memory like that… yes…" His voice dropped to a whisper as he recalled. "Jet had one that repeated a single day…"
But then his expression darkened.
"Going back a few days won't change anything. Even if we kill the Sovereigns again and anticipate mordret in time, Earth is still being incorporated into the Dream Realm. The Nightmare Creatures will continue to evolve, growing stronger. Sooner or later, we'll be overwhelmed."
His mind churned with possibilities.
"Not to mention… Asterion still hasn't made an appearance. Does he even exist? No…" He exhaled sharply. "I need to go back—not just a few days, not just a year—but decades. I need to return to the moment of my birth and change everything from there."
Eurys, who had been listening silently, suddenly let out a small, amused laugh.
"And how exactly would you accomplish such a feat? To rewind time that far, you'd need at least a Sacred-tier Memory! And the materials for such a weave? Where would you even find them?"
Sunny met his gaze, voice eerily calm.
"I already have more than seven Sacred Soul Shards," he said matter-of-factly. "And as for the most durable material…"
His onyx eyes gleamed.
"It's standing right in front of me, talking."
A visible shudder ran through Eurys's skeletal frame.
"Don't you dare experiment on me, boy!!"
The King of Shadows persisted, his tone not at all befitting of a harbinger of death.
"Oh, come on, Eurys. I can't kill you as I am now, can I? If you want to die, you'll have to help me. I promise to come back stronger after I'm done rewriting the past."
The ancient skeleton sighed in resignation.
"Well… fine then. Do what you must. But don't forget—places like Ariel's Tomb will remain unaffected by your little trick. And the force of Corruption? It won't return to its previous state completely. This time, it will be stronger."
Sunny's expression hardened.
"I'll handle it."
---
Sunny spent years crafting a Memory capable of time travel.
To forge it, he used a Divine Soul Shard taken from the Ivory Tower and six sacred soul shards from the ancient residents of the shadow realm. He anchored it with the most resilient material he could find—Eurys himself.
He brought the skeleton out of the Shadow Realm, returning to the Forgotten Shore to complete his work.
At last, the Memory was born.
"Second Chance"
It bore three enchantments:
1. Soul-Bound – The Memory would bind to a single individual, affecting only them and working only once, easing the strain on the weave.
2. Regression – Instead of reversing time itself, the Memory would transport the bound soul back into the past, inhabiting their younger body. Sunny wasn't certain why this distinction mattered, but it made the weaving far easier.
3. Memory Retention – The bound individual would retain all their memories, perfect and untouched.
Sunny stared at the result of his work, the weight of his decision pressing down on him.
A slow breath.
A step forward.
A flow of essence to the memory.
A leap into the past.
And the world turned dark.