Clasping Caster's hand, Sunny gripped it firmly.
"Ah, thank you Caster. I'm Sunless, no affiliation."
Despite his polite tone, Sunny was struggling to hold his distaste in check. This damn brat had no idea what he was getting himself into, going after Nephis.
Nor was he aware of the Great Clan's disregard for his life.
This time Caster's smile didn't quite reach his eyes, and after the austere hand shake he took his hand back.
"No affiliation?"
"That's right."
Caster's face twitched, and his polite facade slipped momentarily. He definitely did not believe that.
Sunny had thought about how to approach Caster, and in the later future the other clans. Should he identify as an independent again? Or use his own Shadow Clan as a title?
But ultimately, Sunny chose to remain independent in name. There was no telling what the Clans might do if they learned of his Shadow Clan, especially the Sovereigns.
And it did not exactly exist yet.
Dismissing Caster, Sunny walked past him and got changed. This seemed to have bothered Caster, but if he had any complaints he kept them to himself.
Sunny held no interest in dealing with these pleasantries right now anyways. Partly due to his spar with Nephis, it was friendly in nature, but he still... Harbored certain feelings about their Shadow Bond.
It was still a fresh wound on Sunny's already shaken soul.
Sunny could hear the teens chatter away behind him, trying to learn the identity of the girl who destroyed them all was.
"..."
"Why? Is there something special about that peasant girl?"
Caster's eyes widened.
"Peasant… peasant girl? Do you really not know who she is?"
Caster opened his mouth several times, as though not sure what to say. Finally, he shook his head and answered wearily:
"She is Nephis of the Immortal Flame clan."
As soon as he said that, the arrogant teen Legacy became deathly pale. Not paying him any attention, Caster continued.
"I trust that I don't need to tell you about her grandfather. Her parents were Smile of Heaven and Broken Sword."
Sunny shook his head and left the locker room. There was no need for him to stick around for their gossip.
Walking the halls of the training facility, Sunny went deep into thought. Despite his reluctance to be around Nephis right now, he had to. They had much to discuss still regarding the Forgotten Shore, and past that.
Sunny knew that his feelings while valid, were of no fault to Neph. He was being unfair by holding what happened against her, after all he was the one to suggest it.
If anything, maybe he was in the wrong by burdening her again with it.
Moving past those grim thoughts, a few things about their future in particular stuck out to Sunny.
Would there be deviations in Cassie's prophecy in the Forgotten Shore? If they kept Caster alive, and he became the Soul Conduit he and Neph could escape, but would there be larger consequences to that?
Knowing what a monster Mordret is, Sunny could keep the prince of nothing locked away this time. That alone, could be a boon for the future. But how would he convince Cassie? After all, she had orchestrated everything not for Sunny's sake, but for her own.
Sunny's so-called freedom had simply been a byproduct of her attempt at cutting Fate.
The biggest possibility though that had nagged at Sunny was Antarctica. There, he had gained so much, and lost even more. Was there any way he could save the millions of lost lives, including his soldiers? What about LO49? Ah, it was troublesome to think so much about the future.
Was this how Cassie felt?
After making his way into his room, Sunny rested for a while. In truth, his spar with Nephis had drained him more than he wanted to admit. But it helped him tune his Shadow Dance a little more to his body.
Diving into his Soul Sea, Sunny observed its quiet nature.
'It's so weird not having thousands of abominations and people staring emptily at me, never thought I'd miss their company.'
All those he had slain vanished without a trace, well except for the familiar few. Those from his First Nightmare remained as hollow as ever.
'That begs another question though. Why was I specifically sent to after my First Nightmare?'
Sunny rubbed his chin in consideration, before dismissing the question. Maybe there would be more answers later down the road.
Even more odd though, was he and Neph's lack of memory at Godgrave. The most either of them could remember was entering a battle against the Song Army, and engaging their Saints in combat. But neither of them could remember past that. It was as if it was... Erased?
'Damnation. If only I could reme-'
"Sunny?"
A soft voice called out from beyond his door, snapping him out of his train of thought. It seems that Neph had beat him to it in the end.
"Come in."
The door slide ajar and Neph slipped through. Wearing a simple black t-shirt and pants, she still managed to shine.
'So pretty... No Sunny! I'm still upset about what happened! Right?'
Shaking his head, he patted the spot next to him on the bed. Accepting his invitation, Neph sat down. For a moment it seemed that neither of them knew what to say.
The elephant in the room - whatever an elephant was - kind of... made it hard to talk anyways.
"How are you?"
Sunny faced Neph and smiled faintly. Though it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"I'm taking it as it comes. Not too bad though."
A small flash of concern washed over Neph's face, clearly not fooled by Sunny's vague answer. It made sense though, Neph knew to an extent just how much her bond to him affected him in the past.
"Alright. We should start planning for the future events."
Nodding, Sunny breathed out wearily.
Her flat tone was still laced with a hint of concern, but Sunny paid no mind to it.
"I agree. I think the most pressing obstacle right now is our approach for the Forgotten Shore. There's a lot we can do now that we know relatively everything."
Nephis tilted her head.
"Did you have anything in mind so far?"
"Yeah, aside from bypassing a lot of detours, I think we can save a lot more lives in the Dark Castle this time."
Sighing, Sunny continued.
"We can keep Caster as the Soul Conduit, and we can hunt more Nightmare Creatures on the way to the Dark City to increase our strength. I think those are the two largest changes."
Nephis looked out to the window quietly.
"I'd like to keep Caster alive. I will convince him to drop his naive mission. Every asset we gain will help against the Sovereigns."
Sunny looked at Neph, and shook his head somberly.
"Neph I don't think that will work, he's a hard headed Legacy - no offense - who lives solely by his clans will."
Nephis frowned slightly.
"I can make it happen."
"And I'm saying you can't! He's already too far gone Neph."
For a moment, Nephis did not respond. Her frown deepened ever so slightly, then suddenly changed into a playful smile.
"Could it be that the Lord of Shadows, the Devil of Antarctica himself, is jealous?"
Sunny's cheeks turned a shade a of pink, and his eyes widened.
"Wha-why would I be jealous?"
The playful smile turned into a devilish smirk, and Neph leaned closer to Sunny's face. There was something dangerous laced in her expression, akin to a wolf relishing in its catch of the day.
"Mhm..."
"Hey! You know that I'm telling the truth."
Leaning closer, she whispered into Sunny's ear.
"You didn't deny it, though."
Bewildered, Sunny kept his words to himself. Maybe he was a tad jealous. Only a little though! He still held a grudge against Caster for his treatment in the Dark City, as petty as that was.
But Sunny was nothing but petty.
"Don't worry Sunny, you're the only one who can make me sweets on demand. I do miss them rather thoroughly."
Sunny let out a small chuckle. In truth, he did miss being able to cook for Neph. Maybe this time around he would assume the role of the cohorts personal chef.
"I'll make sure to treat you after we get out of the Forgotten Shore, alright?"
Nephis pulled away from his ear, and brought her face mere inches away from his. Her face really was beautiful, those gray eyes of hers still as deceptively lively as ever. And her lips were so enticing...
"Hmm, well in the mean time how will you make it up to me?"
"Would a kiss suffice, Lady Nephis?"
"Maybe more than one would, Master Sunless."
Leaning in closer to her face, Sunny's lips brushed against hers, then parted away. For a moment, they gazed deeply into each others eyes. A subtle connection of trust and safety danced between their eyes.
When was the last time they had been so... At peace? The academy life was without problems. No life or death situation waiting for them, no political scheming, just pretending to learn and quality time.
Ah, Sunny was going to miss this.
Sunny awoke from his slumber with a familiar head resting on his chest.
Lying comfortably on the bed, it seemed that the two of them had fallen asleep. A subtle stream of moonlight was spilling out from the illusionary window, illuminating the room ever so slightly.
'I think this is against academy policy though. What rule breakers we are.?'
Smiling contently, Sunny gazed over Neph's sleeping body. Despite not being a Saint, she retained most of her innate beauty. All the while, Sunny was much more rugged and scrawny looking.
Seriously, not fair.
Closing his eyes again, Sunny gave in to his temptation. He had avoided checking the runes ever since they had established their new Shadow Bond, but his curiosity had finally gotten the better of him.
Name: Nephis
True Name: Changing Star
Rank: Dreamer
Core: Dormant
Fragments: [0/1000]
Memories: [Dream Blade], [Fair Steel], [Not Forgotten]
Echoes—
Attributes: [Dreamspawn], [Nephilim], [Flame of Divinity], [The Fire]
Aspect: Light Bringer
Aspect Rank: Divine
Aspect Ability: [Soul Flame]
Flaw: Pristine Soul
'Those are new Memories, at least I think so?'
One of them was most likely the armor given to Cassie when they had entered the Forgotten Shore. Aside from that, everything seemed rather normal.
They stayed contently cuddled up on his bed for a couple hours, before Sunny gently woke Neph up. Despite his content with their peace, he'd rather not have Nephis get caught leaving his room in the morning.
Reluctantly, Nephis left his embrace with a kiss.
"I'll see you soon, so don't look so sad Sunny."
"Mhm, sleep well Neph."
She gave Sunny a sly wink, and closed the door.
"She knows how cute that is dammit." Sunny grumbled out.
Sighing, Sunny looked at himself in his mirror. There was so much depth, so much hidden behind those onyx eyes of his. And yet, he had no scars to show for his struggles.
That part irked him still.
He had lost Saint, Nightmare, and Fiend. Was he going to be able to get them back? Maybe he could get Saint again, and Nightmare shouldn't be impossible... But Fiend was an peculiar case.
He had been born from a mistake on Sunny's part, and he couldn't imagine replicating the circumstances tied to Fiend. Not without sacrifice. But was it worth it, to repeat those same mistakes? Sunny couldn't determine. Nor did he want to right now.