Years passed in reverse.
Sunny felt his body shrinking, growing younger and younger until he found himself back in the Outskirts, just three years old. Only then did the Memory shatter, its power expended.
He could feel it—Corruption had weakened, almost as much as it had been in his childhood. But not entirely. It was stronger than before, just enough for Sunny to realize two things:
He had only one chance at this. Another regression would make Corruption too powerful to defeat.
And he had to grow stronger—far stronger.
But for now, there was something more important.
Today, his father was supposed to die.
When Abel left for work, he would be killed in an industrial accident at the factory. Sunny had chosen this moment in time because he intended to change that.
He could have gone back to just before the First Nightmare, but that wasn't enough. He wanted to save his parents. They were perhaps the people he cared for the most—right after Nephis and Rain. And that was only because they had died before he had ever truly known them.
With the last embers of his supreme will, Sunny reached out and changed his father's soul.
Or rather, his shadow.
---
Abel was an upright man who had continued to do honest work even in the bleakest conditions of the Outskirts. A rare thing.
He was a curious case—never given a name by his parents. He had lived namelessly until he met his wife.
She, too, had a story. Her mother, resentful of the burden of a third child, had named her Three in disdain. But instead of breaking under the weight of rejection, Three had developed a poetic soul. She wanted to name everyone beautifully.
And when she met a nameless man with kind eyes, she called him Abel.
Their lives had been anything but poetic. Abel had died in a factory accident. Three had succumbed to an unnamed disease. Their children had been left alone in the world.
But not this time.
---
Before Abel could leave for work that morning, his body suddenly collapsed. When he woke hours later, disoriented and drenched in sweat, Three was hovering over him in concern.
"Are you alright?" she asked, handing him a glass of water.
Abel drank deeply before waving her off. "Just a headache. I'll be fine."
"You've never collapsed like that before," she pressed. "Do you think you could have been infected?" Her voice laden with anxiety.
"You mean with the spell?"
"Yes?"
"People our age don't get infected."
"But still—"
"Okay, okay," he relented with a chuckle. "I'll go to the police station and get checked. Now, don't worry about me, dear, or Rain will start crying. She needs you more than I do."
"And what about you?"
Abel smiled, turning to his son. "Sunny will take care of me, won't you, son?"
The toddler, usually blunt and clumsy with his words, responded with perfect clarity.
"Yes, Dad. I'll take care of you. Don't worry."
Abel and Three blinked in shock at their son's sudden eloquence.
"Are you sure you're not the one with a fever?" Abel asked with a perplexed face.
Sunny simply smiled, overwhelmed by the sweet, sweet sound of his parents' voices.
'Everything will be fine. I promise.'
---
The next morning, Abel reported to the police station.
A tired officer barely looked up from his desk. "Ugh… what do you want? Look, if you lost your kid, we can't-"
"As per the Third Special Directive, I'm here to surrender myself as a carrier of the Nightmare Spell."
The officer immediately straightened, his tired eyes sharpening.
"You're infected?" He scrutinized Abel. "You don't strike me as the young kind… When did it happen?"
"Yesterday," Abel admitted. "I wasn't sure at first, but after waking up still feeling exhausted, I'm sure of it now, there is a growing feeling inside me, as if my very soul is being gnawed at."
"Alright. You'll spend the next few days here until you enter your Nightmare. I'll contact your family."
Abel was shown to a room, where he received basic combat and survival training for six days. Then, the Nightmare took him.
When he woke, something about him had changed—something invisible, yet undeniable. everyone could tell that he had changed but no one could see the changes take place. Afterall peaking into someone else's soul was vile and treacherous, befitting a daemon more than a human.
He had awakened.
A rare case—an adult awakening long past the usual age. The government was immediately notified.
---
Awakened Bolt was assigned to oversee Abel's case.
A veteran of the government, he had once served in Master Vandal's cohort, back when Vandal was just an Awakened. Bolt had a soft spot for non-legacies, and it was his first time seeing an Outskirts rat survive the First Nightmare.
He felt strangely responsible for him.
Abel was granted a room in a government building near the Academy, where he would live with his family. He would only enter the Academy for training. He didn't mind being surrounded by children—if it meant securing a future with his loved ones, he would endure anything.
This favourable treatment was because he made a simple, innocent mistake.
He told the government about his transcendent Aspect.
Instantly, they took interest. If he survived long enough to return from the dream realm, he would be recruited into the government without question.
It wasn't necessarily a bad thing for him, but the government had essentially recruited him similar to jet in the original timeline without giving him time to choose.
Unaware, Abel trained harder than ever, determined to prove himself by the Winter Solstice. He formed a fast friendship with Bolt, and soon, another with Professor Julius when studied under him, courtesy of bolt's advice.
When the Winter Solstice arrived, he was sent to the Chained Isles, where he remained among the government Awakened stationed there.
And with that, Sunny's entire life changed.
His mother's disease was treated with ease. His family moved to a better district, a far cry from the misery of the Outskirts.
Abel could have chosen to live among the elite, but he refused. Perhaps because of his nature.
"Or perhaps, because there's nothing as beautiful as my wife!"
Three scoffed, trying to push him away. "Let go of me! You're an Awakened now—you'll squish me!"
Abel loosened his grip dramatically, pouting. "I'll be careful..."
Three rolled her eyes. "You should be paying more attention to our son. He keeps glancing at the neighbor's daughter."
Abel followed her gaze. "Well… he is a boy, so—"
A sharp elbow to the ribs cut him off, followed by soft laughter.
"So what? You think he's like you?"
Abel's arms tightened around her. "Mhm. What do you mean like me?"
---
Of course, Sunny hadn't been looking at the girl next door out of infatuation.
He had recognized an old friend.
Cassie sat in her mother's arms, a two-year-old mesmerized by the world. Even at that age, there was an innate curiosity in her gaze, as if she longed to explore.
Oblivious to the fate that awaited her.
"Of course Fated can't stay still… That thing is probably drawn to me even without my Aspect. How did I end up next to Cassie, of all people?"
He exhaled.
"Well, it's a good opportunity. If I gain her trust before the Forgotten Shore…"
Hope flickered in his mind.
"We only fought because she had to choose between me and Neph. This time, that won't be the case."
His fists clenched.
"And this time… I wouldn't sit in the background watching the events unfold, I will take matters into my own hand, conquer the forgotten shore, and bring every single of the sleepers back."
The pictures of gunlaug and his cruel guards flashed in his mind. For a moment the shadows around him grew darker.
"Or at least...most of them."