Shadow Slave

Projected onto the wall, a languid jade beauty with a slim waist and long eyelashes was traversing a labyrinth of crimson coral, her voluptuous figure barely covered by a flimsy seaweed attire. A teenage boy of about thirteen years of age was scurrying along as he shouted:

"...Are you crazy?!"

Sitting on the sofa near the real Changing Star, Rain felt like sinking into the earth. As the movie went by, her cheeks slowly turned bright red. The daughter of the Immortal Flame clan, on the contrary, became increasingly more deadpan and devoid of emotion. By now, her face was so still that it seemed paralyzed.

Rain awkwardly cleared her throat.

"Uh… come to think of it, the actress they chose does not look like you at all. You are much prettier!"

Nephis shifted and briefly glanced down. Then, she said evenly:

"Thank you."

After a while, she added:

"Why would they cast a child to play Sunny? What a strange decision. Only a complete fool could mistake him for a young boy."

Rain let out a nervous laugh.

"Yeah! Yeah… definitely…"

She looked away in utter embarrassment, and then forced out:

"And what is up with that stupid catchphrase? That does not sound like something Sunny would say at all!"

Changing Star moved, suddenly becoming a little more lively.

"Oh, no. That actually happened. A lot!"

passed, and instead, Changing Star seemed to grow more rigid and cold with each scene. Rain felt so

of idiot directed that

appeared on the screen. Rain glanced at Lady Nephis curiously, wondering how much of what was shown about

apparent relationship with Sunny fit into

it be… that there had been an actual love triangle

she failed to glimpse anything from Changing Star's stoic face. The movie progressed, slowly reaching its

and passion. Holding the grief-stricken jade beauty by the hand, he

Immortal Flame must never be extinguished! As long as it burns,

Rain shifted uncomfortably.

it me, or is it getting hot

Star's face. She

projection, however,

Rain frowned.

'Huh?'

thought that she smelled smoke. Turning around, the teenage girl

'That's strange...'

say

The projector suddenly exploded.

***

Changing Star clean up the debris of the malfunctioned projector. Then, she found an excuse, grabbed her backpack, and hurriedly

was going to

She lingered for a bit, then went back into the guest bedroom and rummaged through Effie's closet. She had no clothes apart from the tracksuit that the Academy had issued to her, which

for the better part of the last three years.

she found a pair of gym shorts to match it. Sadly, other articles of Effie's clothing did not fit her too well. She was going to have to do

again

a while, trying to deal with the disturbing oddity of not

at it for some time, then