About half an hour after she fell asleep, a bite from the [Covetous Coffer] finally woke her up.
Fortunately, the Memory had learned by now that it shouldn't bite hard enough to tear off a piece of skin to wake her—the first few times had been quite uncomfortable.
She remembered that the first time, she had to use her Dormant Ability because it had cut off a piece of her leg to wake her.
Obviously, she hadn't taken it lightly. She healed herself, grabbed the damned creature, threw it with all her strength into the sky below, and only unsummoned it a few minutes later—before it went out of range to do so.
Even so, the stubborn thing kept doing it, and the same fate awaited it every time—until it learned.
Now the [Covetous Coffer] behaves.
She got out of bed and began doing some light exercises to activate her body and clear the sleep cloud from her head.
Once finished, she left her room and went to the next one, where Kai still was. Knocking in a pattern only the cohort knew, Kai finally opened the door.
Once he did, in the same motion, he made a gesture for her to enter. Without uttering a word.
Only when the door was closed and Kai summoned a Memory to cancel the sound did she speak. But before that, she couldn't help but admire her friend's beauty—yes, at this point, she wanted to think she and Kai were friends.
Even though she had always been a huge fan of him as a singer, having him now as a cohort companion still seemed completely ridiculous! How did this happen?
She knew. It was thanks to Sunny…
Either way, the archer had become even more elegant since he Awakened, his perfect face even more handsome, and his electric green eyes even more hypnotizing. His luxuriant dark brown hair was perfectly cared for and emitted a glamorous aura.
Still, she now also had to admit that while men like Kai and even Arthur were very handsome, neither of them was her type.
She preferred someone more like Sunny.
Where she surpassed him in height and he looked more like a porcelain doll—though at first, Sunny didn't have that aesthetic. His time in the Forgotten Shore had caused his unhealthy, malnourished skin to take on a healthier quality, and she secretly found it very attractive.
Either way, she stopped thinking about Sunny because otherwise, she would start blushing. Besides, Kai was already looking at her strangely.
"Hi, Kai," she greeted quickly while trying to hide the pink color that had begun to spread across her cheeks at the thought of Sunny as someone she would be willing to have as a partner.
The handsome archer raised an eyebrow and returned the greeting. "Lady Nephis, it's a pleasure to see you." Then he asked, "Do you need something?"
After calming down, she replied, "Actually, yes." A slight pause. "I need you to create a distraction for me."
"What kind of distraction?"
Nephis was silent for a few seconds, eventually saying,
"Why don't you sing a few songs?"
Kai blinked. "Excuse me, Lady Nephis, but… why are you asking me this?"
She replied without changing her expression.
"I need to go to an island in a few hours, and I need no one to follow me."
The archer accepted her response with a smile. "Alright, but why sing?"
"Well, I thought that if the spies' attention was drawn to you, they'd focus on you and not on me."
Kai brought his hand to his chin and was silent for a few seconds, then shrugged slightly and replied, "Alright, I'll do it." Then he requested, "Still, I would like you to explain better what's happening once you return."
Nephis nodded and gave him one of her practiced smiles. "Thank you, Kai."
Kai nearly took a step back upon seeing Nephis's forced smile but politely decided not to mention anything. Then he summoned his armor and headed to the door.
"Wait a few minutes here while the crowd gathers, Lady Nephis."
"Just call me Nephis or Neph, please. We're friends, right? There's no need for 'Lady.'"
The archer stopped as he opened the door and, after turning around, smiled at her. "Alright, Lad—Nephis."
After that, he left the room, and the Memory canceling the sound was unsummoned.
Nephis waited, bored, until she began to hear noises outside, clearly indicating that Kai had already started the plan. Even so, she stayed a few more minutes inside the room, listening to the archer's enchanting voice as he sang.
She would really like to stay and listen to him sing. In fact, it was one of the things she had always wanted to do since she was a child, but she had never been able to go to one of his concerts due to assassination attempts, and since she returned as an Awakened, she also hadn't had time, unfortunately.
She also hadn't been able to ask for an autograph, though saying "been able to" would be incorrect. In reality, she hadn't dared to do it…
Still, she had already been waiting a few minutes, so she left the room and noticed that most of the Sanctuary was watching Kai. Taking advantage of the moment, she headed toward the edge, trying not to be noticed, and moments later, she climbed onto one of the chains connecting the island to the rest.
At that moment, she began to move along them as quickly as possible.
She was so fast that in less than two hours, she finally arrived at the island.
It wasn't special at all. It was one of the islands relatively closest to the Sanctuary but at the same time one that few people traveled to because it was a bit to the north—where the dreadful Hollow Mountains were.
Even so, Nephis didn't enter the island directly. First, she observed it from a distance, analyzing every possible threat and escape routes in case something unexpected happened—a habit she always had.
Even though Cassie herself had sent her, she wasn't going to lower her guard.
Looking into the distance, she couldn't identify anything strange.
The island was of average size, perhaps even smaller than most. It had a series of elevated rocks that created the entrance to a cave, and in front of it was a small lake with completely crystalline water.
Not noticing any threats, she began making her way along the chains connecting the islands. Fortunately, during the journey from the Sanctuary, she experienced no Crushing.
The closer she got to the island, the more she began to make out a black dot in the distance. At first, that was exactly what it was, but as she approached, the figure became clearer.
Until, once she reached the edge of the island and observed from a distance, she could identify that the figure had just emerged from the lake.
'Was it bathing?'
The figure was clearly human—or a creature with a human form—and was completely soaked right now. In fact, from the way her armor was all wet, Nephis concluded that he hadn't been bathing.
Even so, upon identifying a human figure, she went on full alert. With [Undying Chain] already formed over her slender body and preparing to summon [Cruel Sight] at any moment, she began taking calculated steps toward the figure.
As she approached, she managed to identify more features of the figure.
The scene reminded her a lot of when she had to kill the Mirror Beast to obtain Cruel Sight. That creature could take the form of any person, and the fight had been overwhelming. Only thanks to Effie and the Firekeepers' presence had no one died at that moment.
She kept approaching—never looking at the figure directly, always using the corner of her eye—and only when she was a few meters away did she begin to recognize features.
The first thing Nephis noticed was long black hair past shoulder length. Then his…her? physique was that of a woman or a short man. The figure was wearing armor that she swore she recognized from somewhere.
Finally, when she was at a closer distance, the figure turned toward her position, and immediately, Nephis took a step back. Completely terrified.
It was a human… his eyes were the last thing she noticed, and they were two pearls of complete darkness.
'Th-tha—that's—that's Su-Sunny…'
Her expressionless eyes widened like never before, and she took another step back.
'Nononono. It can't be Sunny! He… he's in another zo-zone!'
Nephis was completely shocked. There was no way the figure in front of her was Sunny. No, it couldn't be!
The only way to reach the Chained Isles was by climbing up from the Hollow Mountains! It was impossible for a Sleeper to do that! Besides, where was Arthur?
'Ah! How silly of me… I just thought of that, didn't I? It must be another Mirror Beast…'
This one must have some power to take the form of a loved one of the opponent…
Unfortunately for it, it had chosen the worst person to take the form of. How dare it disguise itself as Her! Sunny!
Rage and disgust began to form inside Nephis, and immediately, [Cruel Sight] materialized in her hand. With her face completely transformed by hatred, she began to approach the creature.
But as she did, she couldn't help thinking that something was wrong. The creature had the same expression she did when she first identified its form. In fact, it almost seemed to be smiling at her?
'No! It must be a trick to deceive me and make me lower my guard.'
Clenching her teeth tightly at this, she kept moving toward the creature. Not only had it taken the form of a loved one, but it had also tried to deceive her… Nephis would make sure it suffered.
Seeing her posture, the creature began to make gestures, surely to distract her, but Nephis paid it no mind.
Then, seeing that the gestures didn't work, Nephis noticed the creature try to speak, and immediately, she shouted at it,
"Do you think this is funny!? Not only do you take the form of one of the people I adore, but you also try to deceive me!" She clenched her teeth. "You're going to pay for this, you disgusting creature."
The Mirror Beast tried to speak, but Nephis intercepted it again. "SHUT UP!"
The creature's eyes widened, and an expression of deep horror was reflected on its face.
Blinded by her rage, she didn't notice it. She took one final sprint and positioned herself to strike right at neck height.
Her sword traced its path, but at the last moment, the Mirror Beast moved away from the blade, and in its place, a figure clad in black armor, with two ruby flames burning in the deep shadows of its visor, stepped in, intercepting the attack.
Immediately, Nephis took a step back, and her expression of rage changed to one of complete confusion.
She was so confused that she stood completely petrified, staring at the new figure. After a few moments, she tilted her head slightly and said, "Saint?"
The dark-armored knight simply nodded with her expressionless, beautiful face, and only then did Nephis realize the grave mistake she had made.
Immediately, she shouted, "Do as you wish!"
At that moment, the other figure let himself fall to the ground and let out a quiet "Fucking hell."
Nephis stood still in her place, and after [Cruel Sight] dematerialized, she said in a timid voice,
"Are you… are you my Sunny?"
He didn't answer at first. He just lay there, staring at the sky, letting the pain of his Flaw build.
'I hate this. I completely hate this.'
From one moment to the next, he had gone from abandoning Arthur against a damned Corrupted Tyrant and its minions to crossing through the portal, falling into a damned lake again, and minutes later, his Master appeared, and the first thing she did was try to attack him and even give him orders!
She even used the damned Bond!
Sunny clenched his teeth so hard he feared they would break. Fortunately, Bone Weave would prevent that from happening.
When the pain of his Flaw became unbearable, he propped himself up on his elbows and shot a murderous glare at Nephis.
"Your Sunny? Who the hell do you think you are to call me that!?" He clenched his teeth as he noticed Nephis take another step back. "Yes, I'm Sunny, but I'm not yours!"
She let out a small "I'm sorry."
"I don't care if you're sorry or not! The first thing you do when you see me after so long is attack me and then use the damned Bond!" Propping himself up on one elbow, he used that hand to point at her. "YOU! NEPHIS! You used the damned BOND AGAIN! Why should I care or believe that you're sorry!" he shouted at her, completely enraged.
Nephis lowered her gaze to the ground and didn't respond. Then her hands grabbed the edge of her armor and began to squeeze tightly.
The silence became completely absolute. The only thing heard on the entire island was the flow of the wind playing with their hair and the grass moving slightly.
Inside, both were completely consumed by thoughts. Nephis was feeling guilt and sadness she didn't remember ever feeling before.
Sunny let himself fall back to the ground because he was experiencing a complete fury of thoughts and emotions that he had no way to describe.
On one hand, he was still hurt by abandoning Arthur in that situation, but he was also angry at him. Why the hell did the others always have to sacrifice himself for him!?
Then there was the fact that he had almost drowned in that damned lake he fell into, and why the hell did he always fall into bodies of water!?
And to make everything worse, the first person he saw was none other than Nephis of all people!
The moment he noticed her standing there, he literally lost all sense of thought, and the air had left his lungs. Mainly because Nephis looked breathtaking. That was literally his first thought when he saw her.
Her slender, tall figure was more defined than before. Her expressionless face had a completely beautiful air, accompanied by her light gray eyes and her hair of the same color falling down her back.
The shock was so great that Sunny saw her approaching, and he couldn't utter a single word. He was completely mesmerized by her figure.
That was the reason he couldn't say anything at first. He even tried to gesture to her, but none worked. After breathing and swallowing several times, he gathered the courage to speak to her, and it was just when he noticed the expression of rage on Nephis's face.
And then she said what she said. When she mentioned "one of the people I adore," he realized that she probably believed he wasn't the real Sunny and tried to speak to tell her to calm her down, that it was him.
But then Nephis used the Bond and ordered him to shut up.
Because of this, he was also slow to react to her attack. Fortunately, he had his four shadows on his body, and Nephis wasn't going all out. Otherwise, he could have perfectly died if not for Saint.
And then she said something that made his blood boil… "My Sunny?"
He clenched his teeth again.
'My Sunny…'
Thinking more and more about that phrase, he let out a small laugh into the air.
It was funny because, in reality, he was "her Sunny." He was her slave, and she was his Master. His very Innate Ability made him her property.
He looked at Saint, who was still summoned, looking down at him, and said, "Funny, right? What do you think, Saint?"
The shadow didn't respond.
"Yeah, I know. But how could I?"
She didn't respond again.
"Yeah, you're probably right."
Then he propped himself up on his shoulders again and looked back at Nephis.
Even with the storm of emotions in his head, his stupid heart began to beat faster as he looked at her. She was still standing, looking at the ground, gripping the edge of her armor so tightly it was about to tear.
Watching her in that state, he felt a slight discomfort in his throat. Because he had really hurt her.
'But she used the Bond! She deserves to be hur—'
At that moment, Nephis looked up, and Sunny couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Nephis was crying.
Her gray eyes, which had always been formed by unshakable determination, were full of tears. Her stoic expression was completely dominated by deep sadness.
'She's crying… I made Nephis start crying…'
If he had already felt horrible before, that was the last straw.
Without thinking, he got up with the little energy he had left and, from one moment to the next, hugged her tightly around the waist.
Nephis let out a small sound of surprise at the contact and stood completely petrified again.
'Why is he hugging me? Why is he comforting me? I used the Bond… I ordered him to shut up. He should hate me… why doesn't he hate me!?'
In an uncomfortable and difficult-to-admit way, the fact that he had chosen to hug her and didn't hate her filled her heart with warmth.
A strange smile appeared on her tear-streaked face, and then Nephis brought her arms up and returned the hug with the same intensity.
Both remained in complete silence as they held each other. The air currents began to rise, and a ray of sunlight settled upon them.
Meanwhile, both had silly smiles on their faces as they maintained the embrace.
After several long minutes in that position, Sunny was the first to pull away, but not before hesitating several times about whether to do so or not. In the end, the position he was in was quite comfortable.
Holding Nephis's waist tightly and resting his face on her collarbone was strangely comfortable.
Though a few seconds after formulating that thought, his face began to turn red when he realized he was hugging Nephis's waist! and resting his face on her collarbone!
Pulling away abruptly, he took a few steps back.
As he did, he noticed how Nephis's arms wanted to hold him in that position a little longer, and when he looked at her face, he noticed that her ears were a little red too.
Still, his hug had served its purpose because Nephis had stopped crying, and something similar to a smile could be seen on her beautiful face. Even so, he didn't fail to notice how her shoulders were slightly tense, as if she feared he would do something.
Taking a deep breath, he began to analyze where the hell he was since he arrived.
The view around the island was completely beautiful. The enormous chains connecting other islands and how some of them in the distance were at different heights. But mainly, it was the air that caught his attention the most.
The air was completely pure. Even though in the Forgotten Shore and even in the Relictombs the air was of good quality, in this place, it was simply on another level.
Smiling at this, he looked back at Nephis and, swallowing, had to admit that while the views were beautiful, they didn't compare at all to the person in front of him.
Turning his head to hide the reaction that his intrusive thought had provoked on his face, he cleared his throat and asked,
"Where are we, exactly?"
Nephis looked away from him and began to take in their surroundings. "We're in the Chained Isles." Then, in a softer tone, she added, "It's beautiful, isn't it?"
"It is," Sunny admitted.
Then the silence returned, but it was no longer an uncomfortable silence. It was a mutual agreement to simply enjoy the moment.
However, Sunny noticed that Nephis wanted to ask him something but didn't dare. Letting out a laugh, he said, "I know you want to ask me how I got here."
She looked at him again. "Yes." A pause. "But I don't have the right to."
Sunny blinked, not because he was surprised, but because he already knew she would say something similar.
'I guess even months of not seeing each other couldn't remove the fact that I'm the person who knows her best in the world. Two words even.'
"There's a Gateway nearby, right?"
Nephis nodded. "Yes, it's a few hours away." She paused and added timidly, "I can take you there, if you want."
"As much as I'd like to Awaken as quickly as possible, I'm also tired." Then, looking toward the cave, an idea occurred to him. "Why don't we rest here for a while and then leave? It's still quite early."
She looked first at the cave, then at Sunny, nodding with a slight smile. "That sounds like a good plan."
After that, they both moved toward the cave, and moments later, Nephis took out some food from the [Covetous Coffer] while Sunny made a small fire.
When he finished, they both sat around the fire, facing each other. Nephis seasoned a piece of meat.
Minutes later, they were both eating by the warmth of the fire.
While they ate, Sunny asked a question that had come to mind when he saw her. "Neph?"
She stopped eating and looked at him. "Yes?"
"How much time has passed since the Siege?"
Nephis raised her eyes slightly, and after a few seconds, lowered them, replying, "Eight months."
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
"Then… Why are you still an Awakened?" Then he added, "I thought you would throw yourself into a Second Nightmare seed as soon as you returned."
She held his gaze and then lowered it to the fire. As the embers crackled and the fire intensified slightly, she replied,
"It hasn't been easy to continue my plans since the Siege," she admitted in a soft voice. "Every step I took forward was met by the world pushing me two steps back." Lifting her gaze, she added, "I'm very glad you're back, Sunny."
Then her voice changed again, but this time, it had a sad tone. "That's why I must also apologize."
Sunny stopped before biting his food and said, "You have many things to apologize and make amends for, but I don't see why you're apologizing for this."
"Because I had to join Valor—the clan of one of my father's murderers—and now that you're back, the clan will surely go after you too."
Sunny lowered his food and brought his other hand to his face, eventually saying, "Damnation."