Somehow, Cassie had long fallen asleep.
Yoru on the other hand, could not.
'How am I supposed to sleep if they won't stop talking?'
Sunny and Nephis had both taken watch, and the two of them were quietly speaking about things Yoru had already heard once before - how Nephis was perhaps the most ill-equipped Legacy imaginable, and the relentless pain imposed by her flaw.
The conversation wasn't something Yoru hadn't heard before. After all, he had read it. But then, Sunny said something which caused him to stir.
"Why are you burdening yourself with her?"
He must've been referring to Cassie. Yoru was well aware why Nephis chose to tend for her. It was simply what she wanted to do. But despite knowing how the conversation would turn out, Yoru's curiosity was piqued and he suddenly found himself being thankful for having not slept.
After a brief pause, Nephis responded with a question of her own.
"Why? Wouldn't you?"
It was dark and he was pretending to be asleep, so Yoru could not see Sunny's face, but he could imagine the troubled expression he was wearing, gritting his teeth against his flaw.
Eventually, Sunny answered:
"I'm… not sure."
Yoru's brow twitched.
"A part of me can't imagine protecting someone else, purely because I can't even look after myself. But another part says I can. After all, I've done it before."
'Huh. That's not what I expected...'
Sunny's answer was different from before.
Yoru could accurately remember him answering no to that question but It seemed his influence was once again taking effect.
A few moments of silence passed before Nephis broke it, her voice calm and unadorned.
"Well… my answer is because I want to."
'How ridiculous...'
The world did not operate based on the whims of human desires. That was evident in Yoru's old world and the same held true for this one.
Even as a so called "Will Shaper", his will was far from absolute. Losing his arm in his first ever battle was proof of that.
But then again, it was none other than Changing Star who had proclaimed such boastful words.
The same Changing Star who would one day accomplish things so vast and unthinkable that the world itself would be forced to acknowledge her resolve.
So was it truly ridiculous?
'Enough with the philosophical dilemma. Time to sleep,' Yoru thought to himself tiredly.
As his thoughts slowed, Nephis went on to tell Sunny about the legend of Odysseus, of defiance, of a mortal who resisted the will of the gods through sheer resolve.
And in that quiet, unremarkable night, Yoru unknowingly resisted fate as well.
***
They left at dawn, the pale light of the false sun steadily rising over the horizon, overlooked by the forever grey skies.
Their formation was simple, Cassie was at the rear attached to the golden rope, [Evertwine}. Yoru was ahead of Cassie in charge of leading her and holding onto the rope. Next came Sunny and ahead of him was Nephis.
Spearheading the group however, was the brave and admirable Shadow of Sunny, Gloomy.
Even if the shadow was incorporeal, Yoru commended it for leading the group. Someone had to walk first after all.
Or glide? Yoru didn't bother with the specifics.
Unfortunately, the delay in their departure meant that there would be more scavengers roaming the labyrinth than the cohort previously had to handle.
This made the climb down the hill take as much as a tole on Yoru's physical as it did his mental.
Truth be told, he was terrified of what awaited him in the labyrinth, the image of the scavenger who took his arm still fresh in his mind. But now with a much more competent battle expert such as Nephis - who was a healer no less - he felt slightly safer.
But Nephis was by no means omnipotent, nor was she his babysitter.
His life was in his own hands, so that meant he could not allow fear to freeze him in the heat of battle like before.
Fear would be the very last thing to kill him if anything. He swore it.
So even though he hated every second of it, Yoru forced himself to remain composed and steady.
'Don't think like a deadman until you're dead.'
They made good progress at first. Sunny remembered the path leading toward the statue, and his shadow guided them through the twisting corridors with uncanny precision.
Then Sunny stopped and he whispered:
"Halt!"
Yoru's fingers tightened around his spear without him realizing it.
"There are scavengers on the path ahead, six of them. They're slowly moving in our direction."
Nephis cast a gaze forward. There was a calculating look on her face.
"They're done with the carcass?"
Sunny thought for a moment and then shook his head.
"No, I don't think so. But maybe there's not enough meat for everyone anymore, so some stragglers had no choice but to leave with an empty stomach."
Nephis nodded and gestured to a nearby branching path.
"We'll circle around them."
The three Sleepers hastily moved forward and changed paths, giving a wide berth to the group of monsters. Tense and grim, they continued walking, trying to stay on course and not get lost in the labyrinth.
However, in the next hour, they had to turn in a random direction again and again, avoiding other scavengers. The distance between them and the giant statue was not shortening at all.
At some point, they were catching their breath near one of the numerous dead ends of the crimson labyrinth. They had no choice but to wait, since a large number of creatures was moving past their hiding spot, separated from them by a long length of a twisting coral passage.
Noticing this, Nephis said the dreaded words.
"We'll have to fight."
Sunny tried to hide his derision as he spoke:
"I know that you are skilled with the sword, but have you forgotten that each of those things is a whole rank above us? We won't survive in a fight against many."
Nephis nodded.
"We avoid large groups. Cut down smaller ones."
After a moment, she added:
"If there's one or two of them, there's a chance.
If we stumble on a single scavenger, I'll be the bait. My task will be to make it turn around and then restrain it, exposing the third weak point. Your task will be to kill it."
Sunny gulped.
"What if there's two of them?"
As usual, Nephis paused before answering.
"..I'll draw the attention of two of them. Yoru, you will act as bait and Sunny will deliver the killing blow."
Yoru did not argue. But he also didn't smile.
***
It wasn't long before they were left with no choice but to attempt a fight against the scavengers.
Behind them, there was a long stretch of the labyrinth with no suitable branching paths for them to turn onto. Ahead of them, there was a small clearing with only one other passage leading out of it.
Not far into that passage, three massive scavengers were moving slowly in their direction.
"There's… three," Sunny said quietly.
Cassie inhaled sharply, her fingers tightening around the golden rope as if it were the only thing anchoring her to the world.
Nephis remained silent for a while, calmly gazing at the clearing. Eventually she said:
"That's fine. It's only three awakened beasts."
Sunny pierced her with a disbelieving glare.
"Are you crazy?!"
Despite the bleak situation, and the fact that his death was quite literally around the corner, Yoru couldn't help but grin at this.
"He's right Nephis. It's not as simple as you make it out to be.
Honestly, you'd need a miracle to survive these odds... So how fortunate of you to have met me."
Sunny looked at him like he couldn't decide whether to pray or scream. His eyes flicked from Yoru to Nephis, then back again, before he shook his head and muttered:
"Lunatics... Both of them..."
Nephis began to walk forwards towards the clearing but as she did, Cassie grabbed her hand. Her face was pale and tense.
"Neph, you… be careful, okay?"
Nephis blinked and tilted her head a little. Then, she smiled.
"Uh. Sure."
The three of them soon entered the clearing.
Nephis strolled to the centreof the clearing, her shoulders relaxed and her back straight. An elegant longsword appeared in her hands, carelessly pointed to the ground. Yoru followed not far behind her.
Sunny's shadow flew out of the passage and reattached itself to his feet. Sunny himself took to the shadows and waited for his chance to attack.
Yoru wasn't entirely joking when he said they'd need a miracle to survive. Actually, he was quite scared. If they were to survive this fight, what would the price of his flaw be this time?
A few seconds after them, The scavengers appeared from the opposing side. upon catching a glimpse of the tiny uncorrupted souls of the beings in front of them, their beady eyes glinted with something worse than madness. Screeches tore from their maws, shrilling sounds that set Yoru's nerves on fire, as they surged into a charge.
The familiar fear began to creep and set into his bones.
So Yoru did two things he hoped would keep the terror at bay.
First, he internalised the Placate wish, calming himself down and suppressing the fear.
Then, he did something reckless.
A blue rain of sparks began to coalesce and form around his arm. Soon, a white sun-bleached glove was wrapped around his arm, Its tasseled ends floating in the wind giving the impression that some demonic entity dwelled within.
Yoru's plan was simple.
He would suppress and replace his fear with something just as strong and primal...
Bloodlust.
A/N: Sorry that copy and paste was most of this chapter, I really hate doing that but I felt it was necessary to include some vital information.