Shivering, Sunny gripped the Guiding Light and lowered it slightly, ready to defend himself…
It was then that a harrowing voice resounded from the darkness, enveloping him like a hiss of the lightless abyss:
"Turn back."
Sunny gasped, feeling an almost overwhelming desire to kneel under the cold authority of that sinister voice.
He swayed, leaning on the Guiding Light for support. A tortured groan escaped from his lips, but in the end, Sunny somehow managed to remain standing.
'Damn it…'
He muttered a stifled curse and gritted his teeth, staring blindly into the darkness.
The shadows did not respond to his calls.
Sunny felt… strangely betrayed by their silence.
The harrowing voice resounded again, making him shudder:
"Leave."
Sunny grimaced.
Then, he sighed, and answered in a dark tone:
"...You can drop the theatrics, you know."
There were a few moments of silence, and then the voice resounded again.
This time, it did not sound like the hiss of the abyss itself. Instead, it was quite human, although still strangely coming from all directions.
The voice laughed.
"Ah… damnation. I really wanted to give a good performance. You are such a killjoy…"
The darkness was suffused by the dying echoes of humorless laughter for a few moments, and then the voice added, its tone incredulous:
"But then again, I can't really blame you. I vaguely remember this conversation, after all. It's a bit weird, to finally find myself on the other side of it."
Sunny winced, a resentful expression appearing on his pale face.
'Curse it. Of course, this had to happen… why the hell wouldn't it?'
He had already dealt with a past version of himself. The Mad Prince was no more.
Now, however…
There was the future version of himself, as well.
The voice — Sunny's own voice — spoke placidly from the darkness: