It sucked. Effie was bound to a bed as her body worked to open herself up. ‘This is worse than taking--’ the thought was cut off by another contraction, and Effie gritted her teeth. Princess was standing at the doorway to the cabin, watching with a passive look. Cassie waited at the foot of the bed while Jet was suffering from Effie’s grip. 

‘What kind of idea will they get when they see my company?’ Effie entertained the thoughts to forget the pain. ‘A corpse, blind lady, three psychopaths, and idol,’Effie listed. She chuckled and pounded the bed, sending up splinters. 

‘Get out already!’ 

Another surge of pain stopped her thoughts and she became distant. 

“Cassie, how long?’ Effie managed. The flustered girl looked up and then hesitated. “Only… two centimeters.” 

Effie let out a string of curses and slammed her pillow with the back of her head, shaking the whole ship. 

Sunny’s tea vibrated and another howl came from under the deck. He lifted the cup to his lips and sipped, trying to keep a clear mind. Comfortable in his shadow chair, he picked up the black cards in front of him. 

Kai and Mordret picked up their hands and they began to play. Sunny found that conjuring smaller objects and mimicking cards was perfect practice for shadow manifestation. He even played with the designs. 

Chain breaker shook under the infinite dawn sky, and Kai covered his ears after another painful cry. 

‘How long has it been?’ Sunny thought. With the sky eternally violet, he needed to rely on his internal clock. 

Finally Mordret broke the silence. “What do you think they’ll name the dreamspawn?” the Prince smiled and looked at Sunny with his mirror eyes. Sunny looked off at the remains of Twilight. The city was in ruins, corpses of thousands of creatures littering the drawing stone. Here they would forever remain in the still water. 

“Who knows,” Sunny shrugged. Then the wooden door came open. Effie stormed out with madness in her eyes. Jet was behind her, joy painted on her face, followed by an uncoordinated Cassie.

“And these are Kai, Nothing, and Doofus.” She said, Sunny was confused to as who she was talking to before his eyes landed on a bundle of cloth in her arms. 

“Meet Anke,” She grinned with glee. Sunny scowled at the huntress. ‘Doofus?!’ He wanted to shout, but he stopped, holding it in. 

The delicate baby opened its eyes to stare at everyone. Hazel eyes matching its mother’s and dark brown hair. 

“Congratulations!” Mordret clapped, staring at the boy. “How did you say his name?”

“An-Cae,” Effie smiled. “After that priest Doofus and Princess met.”

Sunny’s eyes narrowed and shadowy hands rose from the deck, blocking the baby from view. 

“Mordret!” He snarled. The prince snapped his head to look at Sunny and his smile deepend. ‘Can’t let this guy out of my sight.’ 

“Hey, hey. Turn the lights back on.” Effie said. Once the shadow’s receded, Effie moved to the table. “You try that and I’ll feed you to a butterfly head first.” She slammed the table with her fist, creating a web of cracks. The tea pot shattered.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Noted,” Mordret raised his hands and returned to his cards. “I was just curious. Is he awakened? What happens when we conquer this nightmare?”

Sunny was wondering the same thing. He waved his hand and the tea collected into a new black cup. 

“My son will definitely be stronger than you guys. Just you wait.” As soon as she said that, the baby closed his eyes. 

‘Something happened!’ Sunny peered into the kid’s weave and his heart sunk. Noticing his grim look, Effie's smile dimmed. 

“Doofus.” She said, “Doofus?!” She shouted. 

“I think…Anke just entered his first nightmare.”

[Welcome Aspirant!]

[Your nightmare begins]

The seven suns drifted overhead to the calm river water. Beholden to the current was a small boat. The bone body of the boat was damaged and red and it was a miracle that it still floated. In the vast expanse of nothing, a small voice called out. 

Anke tossed and turned, as the boat balanced on its undamaged side. Unable to fend for himself, the boy would die. But he was not alone. 

Standing in the center of the boat, shifting its weight to keep the boat floating was a man in his twenties. Human in all regards except it was devoid of vitality, just mindlessly standing there. Its mirror eyes reflected the seven suns as they made their pass through the sky. 

In the distance a long body slithered beneath the waves, leaving a bloody trail. However, it paid no attention to the wounded boat. 

A day went by, and the boat journey unhindered and unnoticed. The mirror beast continued its silent vigil over the newborn. But the boy was different. 

“A-h..aa-..h” Anke let out a low coo. The mirror beast’s head moved down and stared at the foreign view. And they continued to travel the river. 

Deep in the night, the boat shook greatly, threatening to capsize. The mirror beast held firm and shifted to oppose the force trying to drown them. 

Palms down, Anke pushed on the bone. His back was sweaty from his numerous attempts and his arms were ready to give out. 

Anke pushed and lifted his disproportionate body up. For the first time, Anke faced the mirror beast standing up. The boy lifted a small pudgy finger at the beast. 

“D…d-d…” Struggling to form the sounds, Anke puffed breath after breath as he tried to ask his question. The mirror beast tilted its head and hours after Anke sat back down, he got his word out. 

“Doofus?”

The toddler, now resembling a one year old, stomped around the boat and circled the still mirror beast. He stopped every now and then and chanted out the few words he could remember. 

“Net fish, Can’t see, Jet, Kai, Nothing, Doofus.” The mirror beast turned its head to the water and shifted. Anke ran into the beast’s leg, falling to his butt. He looked out and saw black waves approaching. 

“Doofus?!” The view looked exactly like the event from before and Anke waved at the water. 

The mirror beast put out its hand to stop the boy and sat him down. “Nothing?” The gesture was new and Anke sat in awe. 

The mirror beast’s body shifted and contorted, shrinking and falling into the water. Anke scrambled over to the edge and leaned over the boat edge, his nose hovering right above the water. 

The black wave was upon the boat and Anke ws thrown back as something passed under water, hitting the bottom. 

The boat spun with the foreign tide and it picked up speed. Anke held tightly and screamed in glee. It was the greatest ride ever. 

The black tide pulled the boat faster and faster upstream until what was a toddler grew into a young boy.

Water splashed into the boat and Anke was soaked head to toe. As he wiped the water from his eyes glowing images appeared in front of his face. 

“Doofus?” He reached out and tried to touch the glowing runes, but his hand passed through them. For some reason, he was able to read them. 

Understanding dawned on him and his memories of…yesterday? Two days ago? Resurfaced. 

“Butterfly,” A new word pooped into Anke’s head. He sat cross legged and peered at the translucent runes, sounding everything out. 

“Nam-me… Anke!”