Shadow Slave

Sunny was on his feet even before fully waking up. Somehow, Azure Blade was already in his hand. His shadow was hovering beside him, ready to either wrap itself around the sword in case he needed to attack or around his body, in case it was already too late for that.

He tried to understand what was going on. Nephis was nearby, her longsword raised in a defensive stance. Cassie…

'Where's Cassie?'

Fearing what he might see — giant tentacles reaching for them from the darkness — he looked around. The eastern horizon was just beginning to show the first hints of dawn, adding a tiny shade of grey to the blackness of the world. In that blackness, there were no signs of danger.

Finally, he saw Cassie.

The blind girl was stumbling at the edge of the platform with a horrified expression on her face. With her blond hair in a mess, she was stretching her hands out, clearly lost in space. Of course, there were no walls for her to find. The platform was opened to the elements, and the only thing waiting for Cassie was a plunge into the dark, tumultuous waters…

Before Sunny knew what he was doing, he was already running. That wasn't a very smart thing to do — after all, he did not know what had caused Cassia to scream and if there was some hidden danger nearby. Plus, it was still too dark for Nephis to see. His sudden lunge could have caused her to lash out with the sword before asking questions…

All of these were good reasons to wait and observe first, but in an uncharacteristic and completely irrational manner, Sunny acted before thinking.

He caught Cassie moments before she took a step off the platform and, holding her tightly in his arms, dragged the blind girl back.

"I got her!" Sunny yelled, letting Changing Star know that there was no need to stab him with a sword.

And then, in a quiet voice, he said to Cassie:

"I got you. It's alright. Everything is fine. Calm down…"

He felt the girl's body trembling and looked around again, trying to understand what had scared her so much. But there was nothing.

Nephis was listening to the sea for the same reason. After a few seconds, she asked:

"Do you see anything?"

Sunny helplessly shook his head.

"No."

He helped Cassie sit down in the center of the platform. While Nephis stood guard above them, he looked the blind girl over to make sure that there were no wounds on her body. Everything seemed to be fine.

"She's not hurt anywhere."

Changing Star looked down. Although her face remained indifferent, he could tell that she was a bit flustered. After a second or two, she asked in something that might have been her version of a calming tone. It sounded pretty much exactly the same as usual:

"Cassie? What happened?"

Magically, that did seem to calm the blind girl down a little. At least enough for her to speak in a quivering voice.

extended one hand and

head… I

frowned and

a vision?

girl was

don't know. It never

turned to Cassie, not sure what to

there was no apparent danger around, they took turns trying to calm the horrified girl down. However, after that

while, Nephis

be, for now. Maybe she needs

about to retort, but, truth be told, he didn't have any ideas either. In the

an

however, had

***

space and led Sunny to the edge of the platform. However, she made sure to always

closed, but small tremors that

Sunny's eye twitched.

okay

gave him a

"Yes."

after some thought,

"Cassie is strong."

sure how to answer. If Changing Star considered someone to be strong, then they most likely were. However, "strong" was the last word that came to his

again, there were different kinds of strength. Cassia was still alive and sane despite her debilitating Flaw. How

"If you say so."

summon the Azure Blade. After studying it for

that of the Azure Blade, with an incredibly sharp, symmetrical tip. The whole blade, as well as the simple cross-shaped guard and the pommel, seemed to be made out of silver and

the two swords side

when held in both. It is created primarily for cutting and

she gestured

It is created for both cutting and thrusting, and it

both hands, placing one near the guard and another near the pommel. Then,

pushed the sword down with the hand near the guard. "While

handle up,

generate force and perform powerful strikes. Now, your

Nephis's pose. Then, he raised it and slashed down, making sure to enhance the force of the strike with his lower

Changing Star observed him.

from your whole body. Power comes from your feet, your hips, your core, your

overall stance and movements of every part of

lot of strength in

simple downward slash a few more times. After each time, Nephis gave him pointers and corrected his mistakes. Some time later, she was finally