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!"

brief moment of liveliness passed, and instead, Changing Star seemed to grow more

kind of idiot directed that

shoulders and a noble bearing appeared on the screen. Rain glanced at Lady Nephis

her apparent relationship with

it be… that there had been an actual love triangle between

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

Sir Caster radiated courage and passion. Holding the grief-stricken jade beauty by the hand, he looked

matter… but yours does! Immortal Flame must never be extinguished! As long as it burns, humanity still has hope! The Dreamers of the Dark City have hope! As long

Rain shifted uncomfortably.

it me, or is it getting hot

Changing Star's face. She looked at the projection with a

however, suddenly

Rain frowned.

'Huh?'

around, the teenage girl noticed a thin stream

'That's strange...'

opened her mouth to say something,

The projector suddenly exploded.

***

only stayed for long enough to help Changing Star clean up the debris of the malfunctioned projector.

was going

house. She lingered for a bit, then went back into the guest bedroom and rummaged through Effie's closet. She had no

better

Sunny's shirt on, she found a pair of gym shorts to match it. Sadly, other articles of Effie's clothing

again

She simply sat in silence for a while, trying to deal with the disturbing oddity of not being in danger.

stared at it for some