For a while after the chaos of stories, the four of them just sat there, letting the fire pop and crackle.
Eventually, Sunny cleared his throat.
"Well, since you are coming with us, Juno, you should tell us in more detail about your Aspect and Memories."
With a bewildered expression, Juno turned to Sunny.
"Coming with you? Proposterous! What made you say such a thing?"
If it were anyone else, Sunny would've gotten confused and asked what Juno was talking about. But by this point, Sunny was already used to Juno's shit and replied without missing a beat.
"I know you're coming with us. Stop pulling our legs all the time and tell Nephis and Cassie what you can do."
'Sigh, how troublesome. I guess I will have to reveal some things about my First Nightmare…'
Leaning back, Juno started to scratch his chin and began to talk.
"My Aspect is around perception. I can magnify my senses to an incredible extent. For example," he pointed at the metal string, "I can ring that string and use echolocation to locate any presence inside Bongo. That's actually how I found you guys: by ringing it and using sound waves to feel obstructions.
The second part of this ability is perception. I can not only speed up my thoughts to think incredibly quickly, but it also makes the world seem to move slowly.
The final part is noticing. I can notice things, actions, patterns, and the like incredibly easily. The problem is I have to use my own smarts to connect these things together into something that makes sense, but that isn't always a problem. The problem is with something I am inexperienced with, like combat. Um, that's my Aspect."
Nephis listened without changing expression. Cassie tilted her head, polite but not exactly awestruck. To people who had seen fire, shadow, and visions of fate, "better senses" probably sounded underwhelming. Unless she had already seen the extent of Juno's powers through her visions, she, as a person with little experience in combat, wouldn't be able to tell the greatness of his Innate Ability.
Juno hid a small smile.
"That's the boring part," he said. "Memories are more fun anyway."
Sunny made a doubtful noise.
"If that was the boring part, I'm scared of the rest. You never told me what you had back at the Academy, you know. I've been curious for months."
Juno glanced at him, amused.
"Oh, right. You did ask a few times, didn't you?"
"You were busy being annoying," Sunny said.
"Whatever, whatever."
Juno waved a hand, then pointed to his chest.
"Anyway. Memories. This is my armor, Memory, the Azure Carapace. I got it from killing one of the Carapace Centurions, but it doesn't do anything."
He pointed at his boots.
"These are the Iron Boots, which I got from one of those Iron Arachnids. I don't know if y'all encountered one, but it's the Monster version of the Iron Spiders. These things also don't do anything useful."
Juno tapped the mask on his neck, having taken it off so the three Sleepers would see him.
"This might be one of my best Memories, the Snake's Mask. It's a fine piece of garment, Memory, letting me wear it at all times. The only thing it does is mask my presence. The way that works is the more living beings are around me, the more I remain hidden. I honestly don't know the limits, but I have been able to walk by without being noticed when there were about two dozen Scavengers around me."
Finally, Juno pointed at his canteen and sword.
"This is my Away from Home. Quite a simple Memory, allowing me to keep a couple of hundred gallons worth of water inside, and every time I drink from it, I get a boost to all my physical stats, be it healing speed or strength."
Cassie perked up a little.
"I have something similar," she said. "A Memory called Endless Spring. It has an endless supply of water, but it doesn't help the drinker. It's just… water."
Juno scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"That's great to hear. After this, I would like to ask you to fill up my canteen. At least a fifth of it is gone by this point, so a refill would be great."
After Cassie nodded, Juno moved on to his most prized Memory. Holding up the menacing short sword, he let the firelight run along its dangerous edge.
"And this," he said, "is King's Execution. Truly, this is my best Memory. It is an Ascended-level weapon, and it has two amazing functions. Firstly, it draws in all the blood it touches automatically, sometimes making itself stronger from it. Secondly, this sword makes all weak points in living beings even weaker. Without this Memory, I would have died many times over!"
Silence followed.
Sunny stared at the blade, then at Juno.
"You're a Sleeper," he said slowly. "With an Ascended weapon… how the hell?"
Juno smiled.
"Hard work and good decisions," he said. "Mostly good decisions."
Nephis studied Execution with open focus now, eyes tracing the edge.
"That would explain how you were able to kill a Devil alone," she said. "And so many Awakened Monsters."
"Hey, that's quite rude," Juno exclaimed. "I was the one who pointed this thing out, so it was actually mostly me who deserves the credit!"
Sunny snorted.
"Of course it was mostly you, Juno," he said, using the patient tone of a mother humoring a child. "Nephis just meant you were so extraordinary that you managed to get this Memory." He paused, then frowned. "Actually… how did you get this thing?"
All eyes were now off the blade and on Juno. During the recounts of his stay at the Forgotten Shore, he never mentioned killing a Fallen. That meant only one thing.
"How else? I killed a Master in my first nightmare, obviously. I wouldn't dare to be as reckless as to attack a Fallen at my current level!"
The silence that followed was almost physical.
Cassie's lips parted slightly. "A… Master?"
Many humans have done remarkable things since the descent of the Nightmare Spell. Some had killed Fallen Tyrants as Sleepers. Some had pioneered the act of conquering Nightmares. Some would, in the future, manage to defeat Fallen Terrors all by themselves whilst still being a Dormant. Or maybe kill a Great Devil with a single strike.
Some had even achieved Divine Aspects.
However, the act of killing a Master as essentially mundane was completely bizarre. What would happen next? Would humans survive in death zones by themselves? Would children become saints?
"Yes," Juno replied, as if confirming the weather. "Bastard was tough, too! I had to strike at him twice to get the job done."
Sunny stared. "How is that a First Nightmare?! How could any Dreamer manage to complete such a difficult trial?!"
Juno grinned. "When did I say the trial was about the Master? Technically, all I had to do was kill one Awakened, but that Ascended was just too sweet to pass up! You know how the Spell works — it always gives you a Memory or Echo from your first kill. Why wouldn't I try to get that from a Master instead of some random Awakened?"
He tapped Execution's hilt.
"Seemed like a good investment."
Sunny opened his mouth, clearly ready to start a whole new round of questions.
Juno clapped his hands once, cutting him off.
"Anyway," Juno said briskly. "That's my tragic backstory. We can circle back to it when we're all rich and not in immediate danger of being eaten."
He clapped his hands again, less dramatically and all for show.
"Please inform my humble self of the same things I've told you… Sunny, you first!"
…
It was now an hour or two later. The conversation about Aspects, Memories, Abilities, and the like had dragged on for an incredibly long time.
After Juno mentioned how he had begun practicing swordsmanship, Sunny wanted to start talking about that, which derailed the conversation. Then, Juno wanted Sunny to slash at him with his sword to test out the Azure Carapace, derailing the conversation again.
There was also that moment when Juno wanted to see Sunny's Echo. When Sunny had told him about the description of it, he and Juno launched into a discussion about their theories on the Crimson Labyrinth, Bongo, and the whole Forgotten Shore. They had both been taught by one of the most prolific researchers and adventurers, after all. The love both held for mystery was beyond reason.
Then, Juno and Sunny wanted to compare the water between the Endless Spring and Away from Home. Also, that moment when Sunny tried on the Mask, and Juno managed to see what having less presence looked like.
His outline seemed to blur, his breathing sank into the background, and even knowing exactly where he sat, Juno's eyes kept sliding away from him.
"Creepy," Sunny said, pulling the Mask off and tossing it back. "I love that."
"Beautiful," Juno said. "I love that too."
By the end of what was supposed to be a short discussion, the sun was already high in the sky. More importantly, it seemed that Nephis was beginning to be fed up with the dynamic between Juno and Sunny. Luckily, the duo managed to notice this before they got beaten to death, so they shut up and began to behave.
Nephis seemed like she had something to say, but Cassie's stomach growled first.
"…Food," she muttered.
That broke the spell. They dug into what was left of Juno's monster meat and the supplies Sunny's group had brought, eating quickly and mostly in silence. Talking all night tended to burn through both energy and appetite.
When the edge of hunger had dulled, Juno wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and leaned back against the wall.
"So," he asked, looking at Nephis, "now that we've admired each other's brilliance and not died for another night… What's the plan? Long‑term. Where are we going from here?"
Nephis did not hesitate.
"West," she said.
She paused, studying him for a moment.
"You have been here longer than we have. What lies west of… Bongo?"
Juno clicked his tongue, thinking about how to arrange it in a way that did not sound immediately terrible.
'Eh, even if it does, Fate has a mysterious way of working, so…'
"First, nothing," he said at last. "Just an empty stretch of grey sand and bone. Flat, dead, and quiet. No cover, no shade, no convenient places to hide from anything that decides we look edible."
Cassie shifted slightly, as if she could already feel that hollow openness.
"Then?" Sunny asked.
"Then there is the place I dub the Ashen Borrow. " Juno replied. "A sort of… island of death in the middle of all that emptiness. By itself, the island rises above the peak of the Dark Sea, even in the middle of a storm. In the center of it stands what I call the Evil Tree."
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
"Evil because it tried to kill you, or evil because you are dramatic?"
"It did not," Juno said. "I did not get that close. From a distance, it looks… fine. A pale tree, big, old, with branches like bones. I've never gotten close to it, but every time I looked at it from afar, my instincts would scream at me. Personally, I believe it doesn't come from the tree but from what is under the tree."
Cassie wrapped her arms around herself.
Nephis frowned slightly.
"What is under it?" she asked.
"There is an Awakened Demon from the Carapace Legion that keeps to the Barrow," he said. "Bigger than the Centurion, much heavier armor. It circles the place like a very patient, very murderous watchdog. Anything that strays too close is torn apart. I watched it hunt once. That was enough."
The fragile ease they had built up over the night began to fray.
Sunny's expression darkened.
"And if we try to go around it?" he asked.
Juno looked past them, as if seeing the landscape again.
"Past the Barrow," he said slowly, "there is a crater. Massive. The kind that makes you feel small just by looking at it. Bone and sand just… fall away into the Dark Sea. No ledges, no spits of land, nothing you can climb onto if you slip. Just a sheer drop into black water."
Truth be told, Juno had never actually explored west of Bongo. He didn't really care about it, and he already knew what lay in that direction from the novel. He much preferred to hunt and become stronger, rather than look at what he knew with his own eyes.
The silence that followed was heavy and real.
In the middle of that silence, Juno noticed weird prickly feeling on the back of his neck. He wasn't sure what it was, but it felt like someone or something was watching him, and if he had noticed it only now meant they were a strong existence. He had turned and looked around, but nothing was there, so he ignored it.
After a few more breaths, Sunny turned his eyes to Nephis.
"So," he asked quietly, "what do we do, then?"
"There is no path to the city that does not pass that way," she said. "We cannot go around the crater safely. We cannot remain here."
She lifted her gaze.
"We kill the Demon," she said simply. "Then we cross the Barrow, find a way past the crater, and continue west. It can't be that hard to kill a Demon, after all."
Cassie sucked in a small breath.
Sunny stared at her, incredulous.
"Kill the—" He stopped himself, then rubbed his face with both hands. "Are you crazy? Sure, Juno had killed a Devil, but he explained that the only reason that was possible was that it was a regular bird with absolutely no defense! That Carapace Demon is all defense! "
'Rude! Why are they all so rude?'
"In that case," Juno said aloud, letting his tone turn more focused, "it is very lucky for all of us that I have been thinking about this for a while."
Three sets of eyes turned to him: pale flame, blind darkness, and shadowed annoyance.
"I have an idea," Juno said. His hand drifted, almost unconsciously, to rest on Execution's hilt. "About how to kill your Demon."