Sunny stood on top of a small hill and surveyed the area, he could make out the details of the dark city and its surroundings from here, but something was different than he was used to.
The crimson labyrinth that once covered the entire world was gone, the only evidence of its existence once was the ashen dust that now covered the visible irregular terrain of the forgotten shore.
Sunny once theorized that the whole Labyrinth was a giant maw with which the Terror absorbed the soul essence of every creature that bled on the coral before it died, it seems his guess was right. And with the death of the terror of the spire, the crimson labyrinth disintegrated, leaving behind only ash.
Sunny sighed, it was still quite bizarre to stare ahead and not see the crimson red color covering the ground and stretching into the horizon.
Another huge change was the disappearance of the dark sea, banished by Sunny himself.
'It's so surreal.' Sunny thought to himself. The forgotten shore had been a battlefield for two colossal beings, the dark sea against the terror of the spire and its extension the crimson labyrinth. Their confrontation had been going on for what might be thousands of years.
Their battle made the struggle of the tiny humans trapped here seem insignificant.
Yet, the colossal beings were either banished or killed by two of the same insignificant humans, Sunny and Nephis.
'We make quite the pair, huh.' Sunny thought slightly amused.
Of course, they wouldn't have done it without the dreamer army and their sacrifice.
Suddenly feeling wistful, he glanced at the dark city one last time. If it was anyone else they would still be stumbling around in absolute darkness. But Sunny was special, his attribute [Child of Shadows] allowed him to see clearly in the darkness...or more accurately in the absence of light.
He and Nephis have been journeying for 3 days now, and he estimated they would be able to reach the ruined cathedral tomorrow.
Those last 3 days have been... uneventful to say the least, Sunny has been ready for an unholy abomination to drop on their head at any moment. But Sunny and Nephis haven't met a single Nightmare creature yet... well at least a living one, you could find bodies of abominations lying everywhere, dead without a single scratch on them.
Soul attacks are truly a horrifying thing.
Food and water were never a problem to them, thanks to Nephis' storage memory -which Sunny totally didn't envy- and Sunny's Endless Spring. Unfortunately soul shards couldn't be harvested from the bodies, the terror of the spire absorbed the essence out of every single one of them to fuel his evolution.
Sunny sighed as he walked down towards the little camp at the foot of the hill, it was too quiet and calm for his liking, his damn [fated] attribute has been unusually inactive lately.
'Damnation... what are you plotting you vile thing?'
Of course that's not to say that the last three days have been comfortable for him, quite the opposite actually, he was still feeling very uneasy around Nephis, anticipating the moment she might use the bond on him, the tension between them could be cut with knife.
The time they spent in the crimson labyrinth before reaching the bright castle allowed them to work efficiently without exchanging a word.
Sunny couldn't even pretend that everything was okay when the slightest movement from her forced his body into 'Fight or Die' state
It was maddening.
As for Nephis herself... Sunny couldn't read her anymore.
Not because he suddenly lost the ability to read the small changes in her expression. No, it's rather because Nephis' face didn't show any changes at all after the spire, it was as if her face was sculptured stone, not human flesh anymore.
It reminded him of Saint's expressionless face...it also unsettled him more than he was willing to admit.
Sunny sighed once more, he has been doing this more than usual lately, and rubbed his face tiredly. Before reaching the small fire at the foot of the hill, where Nephis was cooking their food, they didn't have to worry about attacks from any abomination attracted by the fire... not yet at least.
He sat opposite to her without saying a word.
She handed him his share of food silently.
The uncomfortable silence stretched between them, as they ate the tasteless meat.
Soon, they would reach the dark city.
And soon, He was going to confront Nephis about the bond. Sunny really wanted to pretend that everything was alright and that they could still work together to reach the waking world.
But he couldn't. He had to get answers from her.
The confrontation was about to completely change their relationship, for better or for worse.
A while later, Sunny sent his two shadows to scan the surrounding and also secretly monitor Nephis.
As his mind drifted to sleep, he thought of what would happen tomorrow.
He dreaded and anticipated tomorrow's confrontation.
*****
The dark city, which has always been filled with roars and howls of abominations roaming its streets, was unusually quieter than he remembered. It wasn't unexpected though, many Nightmare creatures must have perished from the terror's attack, but some of the dark city inhabitants remained alive, there was a lot of cover to shield them from the false sun's merciless light after all.
Sunny refocused his attention on the building in front of him. He never actually thought he would see it again.
The ruined cathedral stood in front of him like the first time he saw it. Sunny gazed at the cathedral silently before extending his shadow senses.
With the dark knight gone, killed by yours truly, a Nightmare creature has instead taken the cathedral as their lair. It was a huge gray wolf with multiple spider-like eyes, it was of the fallen rank, a beast or maybe even a monster. Strangely though, the creature was not moving. If it wasn't for the rise and fall of the wolf's chest, Sunny would have thought it was dead.
'it must have been hit pretty hard by the soul attack.' Sunny observed the creature for a while, he was going to kill it. But not now, he had more pressing matter to address.
Also, it would make a nice distraction if Sunny needed one.
Sunny signaled Nephis to follow him as he circled the cathedral to avoid alerting the fallen creature.
As he was preparing to climb to the cathedral's rooftop, Sunny pondered if he made a mistake by not confronting Nephis about the bond earlier during their journey from the spire.
Maybe it was Because he wanted time to collect his thoughts and clear his head.
He still wasn't as ready as he wished.
Or maybe he simply wanted to avoid it for as long as he could and bury his in the sand like an ostrich...Whatever an ostrich is.
He shook his head and climbed first, tying Evertwine — the rope memory Cassie gave to Nephis, around his waist.
After reaching the top, he pulled her up. While walking towards the hole in the roof to reach the priestess' room, Sunny realized he made a huge misjudgment.
Originally he intended to have their fateful conversation in the priestess' room. But maybe trapping himself inside a closed place with the person who could rob you of your will with a single word was not one of Sunny's brightest ideas.
'Ah... I must be more exhausted than I thought' he rubbed his temples and in the back of his mind realized that having such an important conversation with a tired mind was not going to end well.
At the same time, he knew he won't be able to get any rest until he resolved the bond issue first.
'I guess...it happening right here and right now.' He steeled himself for whatever to come and turned around.
Opposite to him on the roof of the ruined cathedral stood Changing Star, still covered in blood and grime... Sunny was sure he didn't look any better.
He stared at her for a while before saying "it's time."
She stayed silent for a moment before nodding, her face still a mask of indifference "Yes, it's time."
"Tell me, what do you wish to do with your slave, Master?" He practically spat the last word. His face contorting in rage, disgust and pain.
Nephis kept her silence, not showing any reaction. But Sunny noted the way her fingers twitched
"Nothing" She replied curtly
"Oh yeah? Because I remember clearly you did something with it Nephis, when you robbed me of my own body!" He raised his voice "When you robbed me of my own choice!" He took a breath before continuing "Don't you think that's something?"
Nephis mask continued crumbling, as something flashed through her eyes before saying "I did it for your own goodness, and you know that."
"Oh how benevolent of the saint Changing Star, to take pity on pathetic little sunless. And what better way to protect him than making him her obedient little Slav—"
"I didn't even know the effect of your true name. Do you truly think I wanted to make you my slave?!"
"I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE NEPHIS, MAYBE THAT WAS YOUR GOAL ALL ALONG." He paused and said in a lower voice with as much venom he could put into the words "Maybe you wanted someone who would do whatever you want without questioning, a human shell with no will." He glared at her "Admit it Nephis, you wanted your own Harus, but I proved to be more troublesome than you expected"
He extended his arms. Openingly challenging her "Go ahead Master, try and order me now" sparks covered his body, he was getting ready for battle. "Just know, I will separate your head from your body before you can complete your order."
Sunny's mind was clouded by rage, pain and...anguish. All his plans about running away was forgotten. He was going to fight for his freedom and survive, survive like he always did.
Nephis locked eyes with him, he didn't budge and glared back at her. Tension filled his muscles, he was ready to charge at Changing Star at any moment.
The wind blew sending their hair flying. They both maintained their position, the tension around them was suffocating... Nephis looked down at her clenched hands
Sunny's body coiled like a spring, anticipating when Nephis will make her move, at that point Nephis looked at him again...and Sunny paused.
Nephis' eyes looked different now.
It looked completely hollow.
Sunny once noticed, before the siege of the spire, that her eyes looked a bit hollow. But now? After her mask completely crumbled Sunny could see it was completely devoid of the flames that usually burned in her eyes.
The straight posture she always maintained was gone, replaced by slumping shoulders.
Nephis who always seemed like an unstoppable force looked so tired and fragile now... It threw him off.
"Do you know why I fought you on top of the spire even if I never intended to leave, Sunny?"
*****
Nephis watched as Sunny frowned, his body still ready to snap into action, before saying "You said I wouldn't leave willingly if you didn't otherwise"
She nodded before asking again in a quiet voice "And do you know why I wanted you to willingly go?... If my only true goal was to get you to leave, wouldn't it be easier to defeat you and drag you to the gate even if you didn't want?... Why do you think I didn't do that?"
Sunny narrowed his eyes and asked "Why Nephis?"
She smiled wryly "Because I wanted you to be free from any lingering regrets while you live your life and achieve your goals.... Quite the irony."
She remembered him talking about gathering memories and shards, opening a store to sell them and get rich, Nephis knew he wanted to use this money to enjoy all things he didn't get to in the outskirts, and maybe he could go and meet his sister.
"Really? Now you care about what I wanted, huh? A shame you didn't care when I told you let's go together in the spire!" Sunny retorted.
Nephis averted her eyes for a moment "it's because you have already told me your choice before, and you didn't know the full consequences of staying with me... But I did"
"What the hell do you mean I made a choice back then?! And what is that I don't know Nephis?!" He yelled at her, feeling irritated by her vague answers.
"...Aster, Song, Vale. I told you these 3 names before, those are the names of the three Ghouls... The three sovereign."
Sunny hesitated before saying "caster mentioned them."
She nodded then added somberly "they also are known as... The three supremes."
Nephis could practically see the gears in his head turning as he pieced everything together, she watched as his expression morphed into shock and horror. "Someone conquered the Fourth Nightmare?"
"Yes, a cohort of 4 saints challenged the Fourth Nightmare and conquered it... It was my father cohort." She pursed her lips before adding "after that, they betrayed and killed my father for some reason, and they made sure the immortal flame clan would fall... They were the ones who sent assassins after me."
"Anvil of Valor and Ki Song, those two rule the world using the great clans as a conduit for their will. They wanted me dead as a child and if we- No, when we return to the waking world, they definitely won't give up, they will definitely keep a close eye on me... I believe you can see it now, Sunny."
She looked at him sorrowfully "you staying with me would put you under their radar, you won't be able to hide your true strength from the great clans. And you will be forced to either become their pawn or die to avoid falling into their enemies hand."
Realization dawned on Sunny's face, his eyes widening in horror. But she wasn't done yet "And the worst part Sunny? You have a connection in this world they can use against you."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Your sister, Sunny." His face paled terribly to the point she thought he might faint.
"N-no.. I haven't talked to her since we were kids, they can't possibly know."
"They are the most resourceful humans in the planet Sunny, it would only take time for them to figure it out." She crushed his false hope, but she had to do it.
Sunny opened his mouth and closed it again. He gritted his teeth and asked "And what did you mean by I told you my choice before?"
"Back in that alley, when you walked away after cursing me. You made it very clear that you wanted nothing to do with my goal..."
She has been really shocked that day, she has spent a lot of time with Sunny and Cassie she thought they would always accompany her. She took it for granted without stopping even once to consider what her companion wanted.
She was so naive.
"That's why I refused to let you stay Sunny, that's why I had to send you away. Because you were going to commit a mistake you would regret for the rest of your life because of me." She clenched her hand and declared "And I couldn't live with that."
"Not to mention how dangerous the journey would be..." She trailed off.
Out of nowhere a small smile graced her face, the smile didn't reach her eyes though "Now that I say this loudly, it sounds like I did it more for myself rather than you... maybe I was just being selfish."
"Maybe I did it to protect myself... But couldn't I be allowed to be selfish once?" Her tone shifted suddenly filled with melancholy "I have buried too many people Sunny... I didn't want to bury you too..."
She took a deep breath before saying "You told me that I took the right to choose from you. Then Sunny, now that you know the whole truth, now that you know what I know, would you have made the same choice?"
Sunny's face twisted in grimace, most likely resisting his flaw, Nephis had a rough understanding of his flaw by now, she wondered why he was struggling so much when they both knew the answer. It warmed her heart nevertheless.
"N-no... I don't know.." the words were forced out of his mouth.
Nephis' head lowered. She had expected this, Sunny didn't want to entangle himself in a conflict with the sovereigns when he only wanted a peaceful life, and he most definitely did not want to endanger his little sister.
She raised her head and observed him, he was gritting his teeth and clenching his hand. She knew him too well to know what he was going to say. He would say it didn't matter what she believed and wanted.
He would say that in the end she betrayed and enslaved him.
She didn't give him the chance and said what she planned to say from the moment she saw the words "Slave: Lost From Light" below her runes.
"But I guess it didn't matter in the end" she smiled bitterly "...I never expected the effect of your true name to be permanent"
she should have considered it
"I never expected it to tie you to me for as long as we both live" she paused and clenched her hands "I never thought it would enslave you. When all I wanted was to set you free."
It was her fault. So, she did something she never did before.
"I am sorry" she apologized.
Nephis had been agonizing about how deal with the bond for the past 4 days. The first time she saw the [Slave] rune, it caused her more pain than her flaw ever did. It was as if the spell was mocking her for another one of her failures.
She was also painfully aware that It didn't matter if Sunny stepped through the gate or not, she had bonded him to her for as long as she lives. She didn't need to read the runes to know, she instinctively knew just like how she instinctively knew how to use the bond.
This defeat of hers felt particularly hard to swallow, especially after the bright castle bloodbath.
She pondered what to say and how to say it.
Would he even listen to her? Or would he just disappear at the first chance? Maybe even try to kill her.
Should she lie to him? Should she twist the truth like he taught her?
'No.' Nephis couldn't deceive him, didn't even want to deceive him again, she was just tired of it.
If this was the last time she would talk to him, at least it shouldn't be filled with lies and twisted truths. She didn't want to carry anymore regrets.
So, she decided to be sincere, to tell him the whole truth, to convey her unwillingness to use the bond ever again, and hope against all odds he would understand.
Shock flashed through his eyes before it disappeared just as fast as it appeared.
She said all that needed to be said, everything now was up to Sunny. So she waited patiently.
They stood there for...how long? Nephis didn't know, she lost her sense of time halfway through the talk. The silence stretched uncomfortably, until Sunny bit his lip, turned around and jumped into the hole in the roof.
She understood it must have been a lot to take in suddenly and he also needed space, so she didn't follow him...or maybe he decided she wasn't trustworthy enough and was already escaping.... either way following him was of no value
Left alone, Nephis slowly sighed, tension leaving her muscles gradually. She turned and gazed into the west.
Behind her was the bright castle. It was her first major defeat where she pointlessly lost 500 experienced sleepers that could have made the siege to the crimson spire more manageable.
Infront of her, to the west, was where the crimson spire once stood, where she failed to deceive Sunny into leaving her willingly and go to the waking world, so he can avoid the ruin and death that will always follow her.
And below her... Or maybe even far away now, was Sunny. The person she trusted the most, but also the person she put the slave collar around his neck, even if it was unknowingly.
Suddenly she smiled, it was a smile filled with bitterness.
'my true name is quite fitting, isn't it?' she thought self-deprecatingly.
Star Of Ruin... Star Of Misfortune.
Surrounded by her failures and reminders of her defeats, Nephis gazed at the dark, starless sky of the forgotten shore.
She was so so tired.
*****
Sunny stormed into his past room and punched the nearest wall.
Bang. Bang
Cracks started appearing on the wall as Sunny continued punching it.
"Damn Nephis. Damn the shadow bond. Damn the sovereigns... Damn it all!" Sunny kept on cursing until his throat was dry.
'Should I have just walked through the gate when I had the chance?... Should I have left her behind?'
The logical answer was: Yes.
He didn't share her insane goal, he didn't want to challenge the rulers of the world.
"So why?" He banged his head on the wall softly and mumbled "So why does the idea of leaving her behind feel so bitter?"
Nobody answered him.
After a long while, he walked towards his bed and fell into its warm embrace not offering any resistance.
He lay on the bed and gazed at the ceiling without moving at all, for a moment it looked like he became a statue. But his mind never stopped working.
He had a lot to process.
'I hope Rain will be okay.'
*****
Sunny climbed to the roof of the cathedral and looked around, eventually he found Nephis' figure, she sat on one of the edges of the roof and was gazing at the starless sky.
He stood there, his legs refusing to budge. Before he gathered his courage, and walked until he was standing next to her, gazing into the sky too.
He allowed himself a quick glance at her. She was back to her usual stoic expression but not the unreadable one anymore, he also didn't miss the relief in her posture after she noticed him.
Silence settled between them, it was far more comfortable than the previous ones but beneath it there was still the tension. it never faded, and it may never fade.
Eventually Sunny broke the silence with a question "Back in the spire you told me it was because you were far away from home too... what was that about?"
Nephis glanced at him briefly before looking into the horizon "do you remember your answer when I told you about the legend of Odysseus?"
Sunny considered for a moment before nodding "I said something similar."
"Yes" she confirmed before continuing "my aspect and attributes speak about a creature; a creature born of two natures but never truly belonging to one of them" she pursed her lips "it reminded me of your answer and I thought maybe... maybe I was like Odysseus. But unlike him I didn't have a home to return to" she turned and looked at him "And unlike you, I can't create one" she hugged her knees closer to herself.
Sunny stared at her. He didn't say anything, deeply affected by her words. After a moment of silence, he sat down next to her. And steeled himself.
"Nephis, look at me"
She obeyed
Now that he really looked at her closely, he could see the fatigue and tiredness weighing her down, eye bags surrounding her eyes. Clearly he wasn't the only one suffering from lack of sleep.
His heart ached for her, but he pushed it to the back of his mind for now, he had something more important to deal with.
"Nephis, what do you plan to do with the bond?" He asked her the same question again.
Her eyes never left his as she answered like the first time "Nothing."
Sunny searched her face for any signs of deception, he found none.
He sighed deeply, feeling very conflicted about what he was going to say.
Nevertheless he said it "Fine... I will trust you with the bond Nephis... For now" his tone suddenly turned harsher "But do not confuse my trust with obedience or surrender Nephis... The moment you use the bond again, one of us will die... And that's a fact."
"I understand." Nephis simply nodded.
For a while neither of them moved, staring into the horizon. Each thinking about the future.
Finally, Sunny stood up "follow me, I will lead you to my room. You will rest first. You need it more than me"
From leading the army and the siege, to the fight with the terror and him, and finally carrying his body from the collapsing spire and healing both of their injuries.
She must be hanging by a thread right now.
Nephis didn't object and followed him silently.
They landed on one of the wide support beams, and walked across. They entered the room through the small balcony.
Sunny was about to leave when Nephis called him "Sunny?"
"Yeah?"
She hesitated for a moment before finally saying "I am thirsty."
"Wha...ooh." he was bewildered for a second before realization hit him like a PTV.
He hasn't been giving her enough time to drink during their journey, part of it was because he was just acting on his spiteful nature.
The other darker part was that he was provoking her to react in anyway so he could lash out and do something instead of enduring the suffocating silence.
Now though he couldn't help but feel it was very childish of him.
"Uh..sure, here." He summoned and handed her the Endless Spring before turning around quickly to hide his reddening cheeks.
Gulp, Gulp.
Nephis drinking like she was a woman on the verge of dying from thirst didn't help his case at all.
Maybe she was dying from thirst after all.
'... Damnation.'
*****
Few days before, in the waking world, Cassie raised her cup of hot coffee and sipped from it
She had been discharged after the nurses ran some checks on her, finding no obvious problems beside signs of extreme stress.
After that she met her parents.
Cassie allowed herself to smile faintly at the memory, she honestly never expected to "see" her parents ever again after her first Nightmare. She was glad to hear their voice again.
Currently, she was in the Academy's cafeteria waiting for-.
"Yo, Cassie!"
"Hello, Lady cassia"
-Waiting for the rest of her cohort.