"Hello, sister."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'WHAAAAAAT!!!!!'
Sunny nearly spat out the water he was drinking.
When Nephis stood up to go where she was told, Sunny ordered the Gloomy shadow to separate from him and hide in hers.
The feeling of having two different perspectives was alienating, considering this was the first time he'd used it.
Because that way he could hide it in the interview with the excuse that he hadn't used it yet.
It was the method he had devised to get around his flaw in the interview.
Yet since he'd assimilated Shadow's lineage earlier, his shadow sense had spread throughout the whole academy.
He could easily narrow the field and focus it into one spot, still; it was a rather bizarre way of perceiving the world.
Seeing him choking, Cassie patted him on the back while Yuki handed him a napkin to wipe his mouth.
'Brother? Nephis has a brother? Damn you [Foreign]!!! How far has my reincarnation rewritten the plot?'
Wiping his mouth and hiding his shock from his classmates, Sunny returned his attention to Nephis and her brother.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hello, William." Said Nephis.
Before speaking, William took out a memory to isolate the room, but that wouldn't stop the Gloomy shadow hidden in Nephis's shadow from transmitting everything to its master.
"Don't you call me big brother Will like you did when we were kids?" William said with a sigh.
"You're not my brother anymore, and that ba***** isn't my father anymore."
William snorted. "Please, Neph! This again? You know damn well..."
"Enough!!!" Nephis interrupted. "I have no intention of having this conversation again. You and those old ghouls may have surrender to the Spell, but i'm going to burn that wretched thing down, even if i have to burn the entire world in the process!"
A silver flame appeared in Nephis's eyes as the room temperature seemed to rise.
William raised his hands in surrender and continued: "Okay, let's not talk about it now. Do it! Destroy the Spell. Do you even know how to do that? And after that what? How do you plan to do it?"
William's voice was calm, but his eyes clouded with anger at his sister's unwavering stubbornness.
"This is none of your business, if this is my will... who dares to stop me?" Nephis replied.
"If there's nothing else, I'm leaving." With that, she turned and headed for the door.
At that point, William stood up, is voice still calm.
"It's always like this, isn't it? When you get your mind set on something you don't care who pays for your escapades."
Nephis, whose hand was on the doorknob, stopped and turned to him again.
"Just like when we were kids. You trying to climb that big, dangerous tree in our yard, only to fall, and i, of course, catch you before you hit the ground."
And here William raised his voice.
"Only that the only one who gets hurt, back then, was me! The only one who gets scolded, was me! And Nephis? She continues undaunted as if nothing had happened."
William sighed and after a brief pause continued: "Only that we're not kids anymore, Neph. And that yard is the world now, but unlike the former, we can't play in it. Do you understand now?"
Nephis looked at William with her usual expressionless face. Then she said: "So? Do you expect me to thank you now? Did i ever ask you to help me back then?"
As she continued speaking, Nephis approached her brother.
"Every time you helped me, it was of your own will. I have never asked anything to anyone, and i never will. All those who have followed me and will follow me will do so only of their own will and with a smile even. Because they know i am right, that we can't allow the Spell to decide to play with our lives like it wants. That Fate isn't set in stone."
William looked at her, rubbed his temples, and said: "So let me get this straight. It doesn't matter how many people you drive to suicide. How many innocents die at your hands. All just to fulfill your goal?"
"If they die, it will be of their own choice." Nephis replied.
Their faces were now only a few inches away.
William, still holding his temples, glared at his sister.
"I've lost hope with you now." William said with a tired sigh. "Listen! Nephis... Come home. We miss you. I miss you. And so does our father. How long would you want to hide in Song's domain with the traitor's daughter?"
"If he really missed me, he wouldn't have abandoned us in that Mansion with our granny after Mom passed away." Nephis interrupted again. "If you really missed me, you would have looked for me sooner, and most importantly, he wouldn't have tried to use me as an excuse to unite our family with Valor's by betrothing me to that Han Li Clan's creep."
William stepped back and held up his hands in his defense.
"Hey! I don't like that Caster either. If he hasn't even seen you yet, it's thanks to me, after all. But unfortunately, you get your stubbornness from our father."
Nephis continued: "And the traitor's daughter has a name. And that 'traitor,' as you called him, was the only one who had the balls to rebel against all this. If Vale and Broken Sword killed him, it's because, unlike them, he was right. And if he was still alive today, this madness wouldn't even be happening."
Silence fell over the room again.
Then William asked her: "By the way. On the other side of the front, do you know if they've found his other son?" His voice was calm again.
"Are you asking that, or is our father?"
"Both."
Nephis stared at him, then answered: "No. She was found in an orphanage by Ki Song and adopted by her. Nothing is known about the other one yet. He could be alive or dead for all we know."
William sighed: "Neph. At least let me get you through the Solstice. I convinced one of Valor's saints to get you through the awakening. Her name is Tyris, she's someone you can trust. Then do as you please! If it's about the memories, i prepared some for you."
"I don't need your pity. Keep your memories! I can handle this on my own."
William grunted angrily: "Fine! Go screw yourself in the Dream Realm then!!! You'll see how much fun it will be!"
With that, William withdrew the memory that was sealing off the room and stormed out.
Before crossing the threshold, however.
He turned one last time to his sister and said: "One last thing, Neph."
Nephis turned toward the door and met his gaze.
"You don't know because you've been away from home... But the Dreamspawn was imprisoned on the moon a few years ago. Now both sides are evenly matched."
With that, William left the room. Nephis's fingers twitched angrily. Waiting until her brother had turned the corner, she also left and returned to the cafeteria.
The entire conversation lasted only fifteen minutes.
Unbeknownst to the two, the Gloomy shadow witnessed it all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, our shadow in the cafeteria.
'How... Nephis of you.'
Sunny was shocked. The mole of informations he received from the dispute between the two siblings was more heavier than a Cursed Devil.
He himself was impressed by how he maintained his composure during all those novelty bombs.
Even less enough to let the two girls sitting there eating with him not notice it. Especially the ice stalker who kept watching him for... the dead Gods know why.
First of all, from what he understood from their conversation, Sunless and Rain's father wasn't Asterion, but this 'traitor'.
It was also finally discovered that he didn't go out to get milk, but was eliminated by the Sovereigns. Yes, But then, why does Sunny -he- have the Heart lineage?
Had his father perhaps become one of Asterion's subordinates in this timeline?
Probably not, because from the way they talked about it, they were all peers in their cohort.
That Rain had been adopted by Song wasn't news to him, and this only further confirmed it.
The possibility of a future war already existed in the original timeline.
The same goes for the Dreamspawn being trapped on the moon.
But the Immortal Flame Clan? Hell! What's wrong with Brokensword this time around?
He was definitely a better father in death. Now he's just like Anvil, but a little better.
At least he didn't lock his firstborn in a cathedral after failing to kill him.
And what's the deal in having Nephis betrothed to Caster? Of all the idiotic firstborn males in Valor, why Caster?
At least her big brother, who shouldn't even exist in theory, had the good sense to stand up for her.
Sunny was brought back to reality by Cassie tugging at his sleeve again.
"Sunny?"
"Hm?"
Sunny turned to her. Cassie was pouting because he wasn't paying attention to her.
"Sorry, Cassie. I was lost in thought. What were you saying?"
"I was asking you what courses you took."
"Oh! Just Wilderness Survival. For someone from the Outskirts like me, it's a priority, and besides, i already have some combat experience. What about you?"
"I haven't taken any, what good would that do to me?" She said with a sad look.
"Well! Then you could come with me. Better than sitting around for a month doing nothing, what do you say?"
Cassie thought it for a moment, then accepted the offer.
"Are you sure that i will not cause any trouble? After all i'm not even registered in that class."
"Yep! Don't worry."
Sunny then turned to Yuki.
"What courses did you take?"
"Combat and Wilderness Survival." Her voice was cold and soft as usual.
"Good. Then i'll see you there later."
Yuki nodded but said nothing else.
Meanwhile, Nephis had returned to the cafeteria and with her the Gloomy shadow had reunited with its master.
Sunny gave his shadowy spy a thumbs up from under the table.
After eating, Sunny gently took Cassie's hand to lead her to the Wilderness Survival class.
As they passed, Sunny could feel the jealous glances of the other Sleepers and even a few understanding glances from the cafeteria's staff. After all, it was not unheard that many sought comfort in their last days before the Solstice.
Sunny felt a lot awkward about it, but in the end it didn't matter much.
If he can built a relationship with Cassie -maybe even more-before entering the dream realm, many things should become easier in the future.
'She said that she is useless. If not for her visions, the original Sunless and Nephis will not even made to the bright castle in the Forgotten Shore.'
Sunny thought, then glanced at the hand holding the blonde beauty next to him.
her hand was soft and smaller than his. Looking at her face, Sunny noticed the intense blush on her face, cause of their joined hands.
Seeing this, Sunny blushed too.
'The hell am i doing!? In my past life i had already have a relationship! Why am i acting like some naive teenager in his first love?'
But he couldn't do it anything, Cassie was, as a fact, too cute from is point of view, just only for her inexperience behavior with holding hands.
Remember that as you walk the path of ascension, every imperfection of the body is removed and you acquire an ever-closer beauty to the divine.
After a while, they stood in front the door of the Wilderness Survival class.