Shadow Sweetheart (Part 1!)

It’s not everyday that your shadow talks to you. And it's not everyday that your shadow secretly has a crush on you.

Out of the corner of her eye, Vega saw the shadow staring at her. His head bowed over and held his arm like a shy boy. As she walked through the doorway’s hallway, the shadow clearly showed a greater and greater interest in her.

“...do ya want to ask me something?”

“Yeah-yeah! Sure-sure!”

For a bit, she played it off as him being quite lonely. She understood being terribly sociable and eccentric, she had done it all her life. However, she never had been on the receiving end of it.

“So what-what do ya do for fun? Fun-fun things?” He tried to be all cool, faking a confidence he didn’t really have, which Vega could tell immediately was fake.

“Talk-talk to my friends, play my guitar, and sometimes do illegal stuff.” Vega answered happily, glad someone was asking her about her interests. She didn’t feel creeped out by him, but she did know the rhythm of his heart.

“Haha! Ya are so funny Vega, can ya keep talking?!” Like a rapid drum beat, the shadow filled any silence with questions and forced and sometimes genuine laughter. The rhythm didn’t have any ups and downs, more a constant pace that the shadow wanted to keep.

“Wait, have about ya? Ya haven’t told me anything about what ya like? Do ya do science stuff-stuff?” Tapping her forehead twice, Vega encouraged the shadow to speak on what he enjoyed doing.

And of course, like a complete fucking coward, he dodged the question immediate.

“I, er, like-like the stuff-stuff ya like!”

“Sure.” Rolling her eyes, she knew getting a straight answer from him wasn’t going to be easy, so she decided to back off.

Exiting out of the dark, Vega covered her eyes from the toxic light of the dreamscape. Standing on an uneven, rocky surface, Vega sensed the environment had changed again. As her eyes adjusted to it, she found a place she recognized, if a bit vaguely.

A series of seaside cliffs that formed hexagons and squares, assembling into a mesh of skyscraping height. Like the cliffs of Cold Cavern, she felt a chill, also similar to the winds of her home village.

Except what didn’t remind her of anything were these harsh cut statues of clearly differ stone than the ones for the cliffs. Where the cliffs were a calm and stormy blue the statues were a warm brown. Protruding out like barnacles on the rock, these statues shifted and scattered whenever Vega looked towards them.

“Only way to go-go is up-up. Wait, maybe I can use my guitar or pickaxe then-” As she reached over her back, Vega felt a distinct lack of her gear. Placing both of her hands behind, she ran around trying to see her back until giving up.

“Yeah, I don’t think-think ya take your items into your dreams.” The shadow said all matter of fact like.

“Well according to my cAlCuLaTiOnS-”

“Whatever! Ya are just gonna have to work with-with what ya got.” Shaking his translucent dark head, the shadow gestured up to the cliffs.

“No doubt!” Vega cheered out, taking a few steps back and then running up and leaping onto the cliff. Falling for half a second, Vega grinded her hands and her feet against it, barely able to grab onto a few holes and cracks.

Looking down, Vega checked out if she had been damaged. A tiny bit of her gloves and her boots scraped off, but she felt no pain.

“Whew! Glad that’s over with!” Vega smiled and felt a wave of relief all over. She wasn’t sure if it was because it was a dream or she wasn’t using magic, but she was happy nonetheless.

“What’s over?” The shadow put a hand on his chin, concerned with what she just said. This was less of an action of a crush and more of a friend wondering about her wellbeing.

“All the pain-pain. I got a huge sense of pain whenever I was using all those Soul Gem-Gems.” Nonchalantly saying all of this, Vega climbed up the cliff face like what had happened was a bad headache. Since she had no idea of how truly severe her pain was, she had no real means to measure it.

“Sense of pain!? How the hell did that happen?” The shadow attempted to shake Vega by her shoulders, but hands simply phased through her. He swapped his persona from shy boy to disturbed student in a fraction of a second.

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“Dunno. Magic shit.” She shrugged on one shoulder before continuing to climb. As she did, the statues that ran and scattered became clearer and she could tell what she was looking at.

Distinct and exaggerated shapes, defined noses and strong hands. Like the Tripolian statues she had seen in the second tower. Still, why they were on the cliff face, she had no clue.

“Are ya really going to brush past your pain sensation!? That’s big-big news. Like… the biggest new-news of all time!” Shouting, he wanted to at least make Vega realize an inkling of its importance.

“Is it? I mean, I’ve gained senses and feelings all the time these past couple months. Anger, disgust-digust, a sense of caring for myself-”

“Yeah that’s all normal! But, a sense of pain, that’s unheard of!” Putting his hands on the side of his head, the shadow could hardly believe it himself. However the way Vega had not even played it up was all the evidence he needed.

“Huh? Really?” Less dumbfounded and more mildly surprised, Vega squinted at her shadow. In fact, she just thought that everyone had that chronic pain she had experienced.

“YEAH REALLY!” Screeching at her, the shadow made her stumble, losing her grip for a moment. She hugged the wall and climbed back up from where she fell.

“Geez I get-get it!” Vega yelled, not wanting to deal with the shadow as she was climbing over an infinite abyss.

“You have no clue how significant this breakthrough is.” The shadow responded, both amazed and terrified of the possibilities.

“I’m starting to think this is less of a dream-dream and more of a nightmare-mare.” Vega shook her head, just wanting to break out of this place.

Have you ever had a nightmare so bad that you piss yourself?

No?

Only me?

Fair enough.

“This pain-pain ya felt isn’t normal for constructs! Shoot, it isn’t normal for me.” The shadow poked his finger on his cheek (which one, I’ll let you decide).

“Clearly, I’m not normal.” Vega grumbled, reaching the top of the cliff. She pulled herself up and laid her back on the ground. The landscape before was an expanding tundra, filled with the same odd statues from the cliff. But now, she had noticed, the whole sky grew dark.

Like her dream had shifted into night, full of white and red stars. A relaxing scene, still unknown and changing. And yet it was calming. Just as Vega began to admire the change in color-

“Hey, do ya think I could test ya pain sense-”

“I’ve had enough.” Stomping down at her shadow, Vega held her fist to it. “Can ya tell me who ya are? I might be a bit more receptive and understanding if ya explained things?”

They stood there, in a cold silence. Growing tired of not having an answer, Vega knew that if she was going to get out of here, she needed all the information she could get.

Breathing in deep, the shadow cracked his fingers and thought on how to present the information without alerting the one that was listening.

“...Alright, look-look. You remember the statue? The one back in the tower?” He started with an event he knew that Ani Arma couldn’t have been present for.

“Yeah, I got its inscription and what it said.” Vega unclenched her and open her chest to show the paper.

“Yes!” Okay, good! Don-don’t say it out loud. Just… I’m the part where Kaliber refers to the maker. Ya know, the construct part-parts?” In the single sentence, the shadow gave Vega a lot of answers. That he was a construct of Kaliber.

Of the one who can play and one who could make it.

Snapping her fingers, Vega laughed and her mood brightened. She couldn’t care the shadow was getting annoying, he demonstrated how important he was. That he was the one in the third tower.

“I got it! Thank ya! Man, that actually puts a whole lot-lot to rest. Woo!” Vega sprinted forward, ready to face any of the shifting landscapes before her.

However, she skidded in her step, still having some doubts. Afterall, she didn’t quite understand the layout of the three towers. Of the Obstacles. And why the last one was in Jantok Sky.

“But wait, I have a question-question.” Vega slowed down in pace, keeping an eye for anything that could creep up behind her.

“About why I wasn’t in the first or second tower?” The shadow immediately asked.

“Yeah! Would have saved me-me and everyone a bunch of time. Also a lot of people died-died, which is also bad.” Vega grumbled, treating their deaths like a disliked gift.

“Thing is, it was a sort of safety thing.”

“Safety?” Vega said, not before bumping her head into a statue. Stopping for a moment, she took in its visage. A petrified face with a long frown, with a tree of leaves for hair. The shape vaguely reminded her of Kaliber, although it clearly wasn’t as pretty.

“Yeah, safety.” The shadow told as Vega passed by the statue. “Third tower is being those Black walls and no one is getting through those. Too thick, too tall, and the Jantok Sky has plenty of supplies so sieging wouldn’t work.”

“Okay, but still. Why not come to me?”

“A two part answer. You’re assuming that we knew-knew where ya were on the continent. Iozia is a big place.” He wagged his finger at her, and Vega nodded in agreement.

“Fair point. But why not after I opened the first one? Isn’t there some alarm thing ya guys could have done-done?” Vega waved her hand around in a circle, thinking of an easier and more convenient solution.

“That’s… a good point actually. Hold on, could we have…” This legitimately stumped the shadow causing him to fall begins Vega.

“Are… are ya fucking with me?” Vega asked, with the most polite and sensitive voice possible.

Vega knew that these questions were either going to get answered, or she’ll answer them herself.