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Sunny was walking absentmindedly. He didn't know where he was going. His feet were taking him on their own. He tried to resist. To run away. From this whole situation.
He was afraid. Afraid of the truth. But he also wanted to know. That's why his feet moved towards the outer settlement.
Things have changed. So much. This place doesn't look like how he had left it. It was bigger, better, full of life.
He didn't pay anything any attention. He couldn't. His mind was a mess. His thoughts were all over the place.
"Can I help you?" He was stopped by a female voice.
He looked for the voice and found an unfamiliar woman standing in his way.
"I'm here to meet Cassie." said Sunny.
"Cassie? Do you mean Lady Cassia? Sorry, do you know her?" Asked the woman.
"Yeah, we are frie....., we were friends." Said Sunny.
"Ok, so what's your name?" asked the woman again.
"It's Sunless." Sunny replied.
"Wait here, let me inform her." The woman left. Leaving Sunny standing behind.
'Things have changed. A lot.'
After five or so minutes, the woman appeared again. But she wasn't alone.
Another female with golden hair and pale skin was moving with her. Holding her hand. For support.
She was blind.
"Sunny? Is that you?" Asked Cassie, a bit surprised.
"Yeah it's me." Sunny replied.
"It's really you, long time no see, Sunny. How are you?"
"I'm go... I... can't say." Sunny replied with a bit of difficulty.
"Let's talk inside the camp, shall we? May, guide us towards my tent." Cassie said raising her arm.
The woman held her hand and guided her. Sunny followed.
Soon they reached the camp. A cozy tent. It even had furniture for guests.
"This is my room. And Neph's. We live together. This place is also used for meetings but... Sunny?" Cassie paused.
Sunny didn't reply. He was still standing on the entrance. Not sure if he wanted to go in or not.
"Sunny? Come inside. Why are you still outside?"
Sunny moved. Towards a chair. But didn't sit.
"Leave us." Cassie said, the girl beside her left the tent.
"You can talk now, what is it?" Cassie asked, a bit worried.
"I want to know" Sunny softly said.
"I want to know if you really did it."
"Did what?" Cassie asked, a bit confused.
"Did you tell her? Did you tell Nephis? ...My true name?" Last part was barely audible.
But seeing her reaction, Sunny knew she heard it.
Cassie's eyes were widened, mouth open. Wanting to say something. But the words didn't come out.
A minute passed. Then two. Neither side was saying anything. Afraid to break the silence. Afraid of the truth.
"How did you know?" Cassie asked at the end.
Sunny was stunned. He didn't know what he was expecting to hear. But he definitely wasn't prepared for this.
"Someone told me." His flaw forced him to respond.
Silence again.
"Why?" This time the voice came from Sunny.
"Don't you already know?" said Cassie.
"I want to hear it from you." Sunny said, a bit of force in his voice.
"Ok, I'll tell you. I had to choose a side. So I chose her. Simple as that." Cassie said as if it was obvious.
"You have to choose? Why? Why you had to choose between me and her? Why couldn't we stay just ...like old times?" said Sunny, hurt by what he heard.
"You don't understand, Sun-"
"THEN MAKE ME UNDERSTAND, I'M HERE ALL DAY. JUST MAKE ME UNDERSTAND THIS. MAKE ME Understand why I have to be her slave? Why wasn't there any other choice. OF ALL THE FUCKING THINGS, WHY IT HAD TO BE THIS WAY. MAKE ME UNDERSTAND IT, CASSIE."
Cassie was silent.
She didn't know how to express what she had seen. She didn't know how to explain this to the person who she had wronged.
But she steeled herself. She had to make a choice. So she did. Nothing was wrong with it.
"It's fate." She said simply.
"It's all fate. Everything that had happened, everything that is happening and everything that will happen, it's all fate."
"It's all written. Already. Everything that will happen, it's all fixed. We are just playing the roles that are set for us, Sunny. Set by the strings of fate. We can't change it. No one can."
"That's why, That's why. It is your fate that you'll kill her. I saw it. with my own eyes. I saw the Angel. Getting devoured by shadows."
"I didn't want that to happen. So I made a choice. To give her a way. To survive. So that it will never come true."
"You understand? You understand I had to choose between this or her death?" said Cassie, her voice pained, her eyes moist a bit.
"Why?.... Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell us anything about this? Why didn't you tell either of us? We could have found another way. We could have talked this out. We could have found a way together?"
"I asked you." Cassie said softly.
"What?"
"I asked you, didn't I? I asked you to protect her, on that day. I asked you will you take care of her or not? And you refused. You said you couldn't. That's why I know, that it will happen. You and her, you are going to fight. and she'll die."
"That's why I chose to do this."
Sunny was stunned. He couldn't believe it. He didn't wanna believe what he was hearing.
'So that's the reason?' 'So that's the reason she did it?'
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND, YOU GODDAMNED BITCH. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR HEAD. DOES THAT THING MAKE SENSE TO YOU. DOES THIS BULLSHIT MAKE SENSE IN YOUR HEAD."
"YOU SAY YOU TOLD ME? AND I REFUSED? WHEN DID I DO THAT. I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER. BUT I Know one thing. If you asked me to not kill Nephis, I would have said yes. I would have agreed. I would have agreed a thousand times. YOU HEAR, I WOULD HAVE AGREED A THOUSAND TIMES."
Cassie was stunned. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
It didn't make any sense. It didn't make any sense at all.
How could it? She has seen it with her own eyes.
Why would she doubt something she has seen so clearly.
"You didn't tell me anything. You didn't tell Nephis anything. You acted like we were fools. Like we are puppets. Puppets that couldn't move on their own. Is that what we are to you? Something to control from behind a screen? And what are you? Our puppeteer? YOU ARE NOT. You are just a blind girl. You can't decide how we do things. You hear? You have no right to choose."
"You know how it feels?.... You know how it feels to get turned into a slave? How could you?... It's like you are getting shattered from inside. It's horrifying. Seeing yourself moving against your own will. It's like a nightmare. You want to stop. You know you have to stop or you'll die. But you have no control. Your body moves on its own as if not yours. You know how that feels? It feels wrong. It feels so fucking wrong. It's worse than any pain. It's worse than getting gutted alive by some monster ..... It's worse than death."
Cassie had tears flowing down her cheeks like never ending fountains.
Sunny was fuming with anger. He said whatever came inside his mind.
He couldn't help it. The situation called for it.
He knew there were two perspectives to all things. That's why he came here.
To hear what she has to say. To hear the excuses she had come up with when she did this.
And what he heard only made him more angry.
"You know, you were weak, pathetic, blind. Someone that was meant to die. But we protected you. We took care of you like you were our little sister."
"To tell you the truth, I wanted to leave you behind. When we first met, I wanted to leave you behind. But then things changed. Things changed so much that I risked my own life to save you. You hear that? I risked my own damn life to pull you out from that monster's clutches."
"And I'll tell you this, if I had to choose between you and Nephis, I would have saved her. I would have saved her one hundred times over you. Not because she will be more useful. Not because she is capable of protecting me. It's not that."
"It's because I like her more than you. Simple as that. Do you hear?"
"And you still think I could kill her?"
There was no reply.
Only tears. Unstoppable.
Nobody spoke afterwards.
....
....
....
About ten minutes passed in silence.
The tears had stopped. The mood was a bit lighter. Way lighter than it was just few minutes ago.
"So what do you wanna do now?" asked Cassie with a heavy voice.
Sunny didn't speak.
"Sunny.... what will you do now? Now that you know, now that you understand everything. What choice are you going to make?"
"It's simple..... You will get what you have seen. You were so sure that it will happen right? Now it is going to happen. And remember, you are the reason behind it."
"If she didn't knew, I would have left her alone. But she knows. So she has to die. YOU have to die."
"Everyone who know will die. Even that bastard." said Sunny as if revealing a great plan.
"So you are going to kill me?" asked Cassie, with a shaky voice.
"Damn sure I will. What did you expect after you pulled this on me. On me, who is the most petty person in this world. Two worlds even." said Sunny a bit proudly.
"So any last words?" asked Sunny as he moved closer towards her.
Cassie stayed silent.
"Oh, I forgot, you have allergy from sharing words with other, do you? Ch, ch, ch, how could I forget. Oh, what's it called again? Burden? You said it was Burden, right? Something about Knowledge being burden? Well, let me tell you another thing about Knowledge, it is powerful too. It is so powerful that it can lift any burden."
"Stop."
"What?" Sunny asked, a bit surprised.
"I said stop." Cassie repeated strongly.
"And why do you think I'll listen to you, hah?" asked Sunny a bit mockingly.
"You will."
Sunny kept moving.
"Stop, Stop Lost from light!" Cassie said finally.
Sunny froze.
Not moving. As if something stopped him from moving.
But that didn't last. He continued forward.
As if what was said didn't mean anything.
"How?...."
"You wanna know how? How am I walking? Why I'm still left capable of walking? You really wanna know?"
"I'll tell you. It's because you didn't become my master. So your words have no value. Your words don't have power against me."
He leaned over her, placing a hand over her heart.
He moved his face towards her ear and whispered, "Because I already have a master."
A ghostly blade suddenly appeared in his hand, piercing the girl's chest, going in her heart.
Blood gushed out. Sunny didn't back down.
But then he heard something else.
"I'm glad"
"What?" Sunny didn't understand.
"I'm glad, Sunny....I'm glad that I didn't have to make that choice after all." said Cassie.
"I ...cough cough cough.... I ...I haven't told her"
"What?" Sunny asked, surprised.
"I haven't told her... Not yet."
"I haven't told Nephis. Your ...Cough Cough, I haven't told her your true name yet, Sunny."
Sunny was stunned. He didn't know what to do.
Cassie was dying. A dagger was in her heart. She was coughing blood. Nonstop.
But she didn't look afraid. She even looked a bit happier. Relieved from something maybe.
"So you don't have to ...cough cough... So you don't have to kill her."
"You said yourself right? That you ...cough... Cough..." She had a bloody coughing spree.
"You said you wouldn't kill her if she didn't know."
"I'm telling you she doesn't know. So now you have a choice too."
"You can kill her, like I have seen, and prove that I was ..cough cough.... prove that I was right..... Or you let her live and I'll admit I was wrong. I'll admit that I was wrong about this whole...cough cough..." She again started coughing violently.
"Just remember one thing, Sunny."
"A dying person never lies."
"####### ########### ######### #####."
She was dead.
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