Sunny had regained his fate and was remembered by the world.
Ironically enough, on the same day, the memories of most humans in the world were wiped clean of the events that had transpired in the last few years.
Some remembered more, while some remembered less — but almost no one remembered it all.
Needless to say, it was a mess.
In fact, it was a disaster. The entire world was thrust into a state of disorder and confusion, and the only thing that prevented it from sliding into a devastating panic was the fact that people who lived in the Age of the Nightmare Spell had developed a strong tolerance to peculiar calamities.
Some discovered themselves in new and unfamiliar places, having moved or resettled during the time that was missing from their memories. Some found out that their loved ones had passed. Some discovered that their children had grown, or that they were awaiting the birth of a new one.
Some people suddenly found themselves wielding Awakened powers, while others discovered that they had advanced to a new Rank, even if they could not remember having conquered a Nightmare.
It was a global crisis on an unimaginable scale, comparable only to the descent of the Nightmare Spell.
Humanity had learned how to better handle such a crisis, though.
Needless to say, every person who knew what had happened instantly became terribly busy in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.
In NQSC, Jet was barking orders in the conference hall of the government headquarters, pushing her dazed and disoriented subordinates to move.
Wake of Ruin was dead, but luckily, most of the high-ranking administrative personnel had survived the plague — so even if they did not know the details, they were able to begin working at mitigating the damage with a bit of guidance from Soul Reaper.
The government was the most important part of the solution, because it controlled the information channels and military forces of the waking world. However, even the great depths of its vast logistical network were not enough to deal with the consequences of the plague... or rather, of its cure.
In Ravenheart, Kai was trying to handle the situation despite having just experienced a traumatic encounter with a Cursed Devil... as well as the worst several months of his life.
In Bastion, Effie was commanding the escaped prisoners to take command of the people whom they had been fighting only hours earlier and pacify the reeling city together.
And on the Chained Isles, Nephis herself was taking charge of the great army of humanity.
Sunny was hiding in her shadow. Mordret whisked the white mist his predecessor had unleashed back into the eerie reaches of the Hollow Mountains and disappeared without a trace... from the looks of it, he wasn't keen on spending time with the other Supremes — or with any other human, really.
The Hollow Mountains welcomed him with boundless silence.
And Cassie...
Cassie was still asleep, having been utterly drained by the impossible undertaking of encompassing all of humanity in the invisible web of her Aspect.
It was unclear how long she would spend in the embrace of deep, rejuvenating slumber.
However, her life did not seem to be in danger, so all they could do was wait for her to wake up.
Sunny was busy, as well.
He had to retrieve Revel, Aiko, and the Shadow Clan from wherever it was that they had hidden themselves.
There was a disaster brewing on the Forgotten Shore, as well — from the looks of it, the ring of ancient barrows that surrounded the Burned Forest had begun to emanate some sort of ominous aura in his absence, and several hunting parties of the barrow wraiths appeared out of nowhere, ambushing for the Mimic.
That was a problem he would have to explore later, as well.
For now, though, in this time of turmoil and uncertainty, the agents of the Shadow Clan had a job to do. Their presence was desperately needed, so Sunny wanted to bring them back as soon as he could.
Everyone was terribly busy, and everyone had to do far more than what was humanly possible. The first twenty-four hours after the final confrontation against the Dreamspawn were especially chaotic, but on the other side of that day... a semblance of order started to reveal itself from the carnage.
People were still confused and disturbed, some mourning the loss of what they had forgotten, some having forgotten what they had lost. Others were coming to terms with suddenly discovering happiness they did not remember finding, instead...
But life went on.
Even if the soldiers stationed in NQSC did not remember how they had gotten to their posts that day, someone still had to man the walls of the quarantine zones established around the active Nightmare Gates, patrol the wasteland around the city, and watch over Sleepers undergoing their First Nightmares.
Even if doctors working in crowded hospitals did not remember the names of their patients, they still had to treat them. People had to feed their children, care for their elderly, and maintain the cities they lived in. Humanity had to continue moving forward... it had to recover and get back to work.
So, it did.
It began to recover, at least.
That was why, soon after the Dreamspawn was defeated, the members of the cohort arranged to meet in person at the Immortal Flame manor in NQSC. Their informal meeting was going to be followed by an emergency assembly of all the key figures of the Human Domain, but for now, the cohort was gathering in private.
Sunny arrived with a special guest, as well.
“Uncle Sunny..."
Little Ling was holding his hand as they emerged from the shadows in one of the corridors of Neph's manor. Sunny spared him a look.
"What?"
The little boy grinned.
“Can I have a nightmare horse, too? Please? Pretty please?"
Sunny chuckled.
“A fan of Nightmare, are you? Well, sorry to disappoint you. There's no horse like Nightmare anywhere in the world.”
In fact...
Were there even horses left in the world? Sunny was not sure.
They approached a private lounge hidden in the depths of the manor. Little Ling could not hear the voices yet, but Sunny could. A hesitant smile appeared on his lips.
Inside, Effie was speaking:
"What do you mean, his fate was stolen by a vile bird? What kind of... how does that even work? Ah, never mind!"
She fell silent...
But not for long.