Shadow Slave

Sleep was avoiding Sunny. For a while, he sat silently in the darkness, listening to the calming rumbling of the waves. In this rare moment of respite, memories of the past few days came flooding into his mind. However, he was too tired to seriously think about anything. He was warm, full, and relatively safe. For now, that was more than enough.

Soon, the rhythm of Cassia's breathing changed, indicating that she fell asleep. Nephis was guarding the camp, motionless and, as always, a bit distant. With her silver hair and fair skin, she looked like an alabaster statue.

Sunny sighed. He struggled for a bit, and then said quietly:

"Hey. Can I ask you a question?"

Nephis glanced at him and shrugged. The lack of an audible response clearly indicated that she remembered about his ability to see in the dark.

"Sure."

'Would it be too personal?'

Sunny hesitated.

"I thought you Legacies come into the Spell with a whole inherited arsenal of Memories. I mean, that's supposed to be your main advantage. How come you only had three?"

Nephis was silent for a few moments.

"Actually, I only had two. The rope came from Cassie."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh. I see."

Realizing that her answer wasn't really an answer, Nephis thought for a while and added:

"We lost most of our Memories when my father passed away. The ones that remained were sold one by one over the years, to keep the family afloat. This sword and armor came from my First Nightmare."

So that's how it was. Sunny realized that the fall of the Immortal Flame clan might have been more thorough than he had thought. Still, something about it didn't make sense.

"Surely, with your clan's reputation and standing, there were other ways to make money."

Without any strong reaction, Nephis simply said:

"There were other reasons."

Then, she unexpectedly turned her head in his direction.

"Can I ask you a question in return?"

Sunny swallowed.

"Yeah, go ahead."

Nephis tilted her head.

"How did you know that I'm a Legacy?"

'What? That's it?'

"Simple. I heard Caster mention it. He was scolding other Sleepers to make them treat you with respect."

She gave him a nod and turned away. What thoughts were hidden behind her calm grey eyes, Sunny did not know.

to ask. Before doing it, though, he made sure that

I ask another

getting a negative response, he

burdening

Changing Star's mouth

"Why? Wouldn't you?"

Flaw pushing the truthful answer out of his

"No."

moment that the answer would be "yes". But one of the things he had lost after the Nightmare was the ability

not something

he couldn't help but be

not seem to judge him. She showed no reaction at all. After a few moments, she

"Because I want to."

'Because… she wants to?'

not the response Sunny expected to hear. He was pretty sure that she would either lecture him about virtue and compassion or disclose some

to the point of sacrificing

'Ridiculous!'

response as a non-answer. But the more he thought about it, the more

maybe, it was actually

Sunny had never really done things because he wanted to. Most of the time, he was doing them because he needed to. It was never a question of "want"... it was always a question

upbringing, but they weren't as ample as he had imagined. She had no wealth and no arsenal of relics to empower her. However, she did have a mentality

need in favor of something as frivolous as desire, and do

helping a blind girl simply because

that mentality was the greatest advantage

real barrier that separated Legacies

lot to think about. However, before Sunny could

"My turn."

mean it's her

that was what she meant. Changing Star once again turned to Sunny and, after a

the legend of

sort of a weird

Then, remembering

"No."

turned away. A

so ferocious even the God of War was wary

blinked, staring at the

come from?

Meanwhile, Nephis continued:

prepared to sail home. However, the gods cursed him to endlessly wander the seas, never to return. Over the years, he survived one horror after another and lost all of his companions. Then, shipwrecked, he found himself

darkness, creating an enthralling atmosphere. Sunny couldn't

wonders, delicacies and delights. As long as loving Calypso was by his side, Odysseus was even immortal. But…

Nephis smiled.

abandoned the island, leaving all its delights, the beautiful fairy, and even his immortality behind. So,

Sunny blinked.

'What?'

a mind game was that? He even considered that Nephis was mocking him, but it didn't seem to be the case. It looked like she was sincerely interested in

'Weirdo!'

thought for a bit, and then said without

he was far away from

appeared on Nephis's

from home. Hm.

turned away and lowered he head, becoming