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!"

movie, meanwhile, continued. The three Sleepers braved the wilderness of the Forgotten Shore and eventually reached the Dark City. The brief moment of liveliness passed, and instead, Changing Star seemed to grow more rigid

of idiot directed that stupid

screen. Rain glanced at Lady Nephis curiously, wondering

apparent relationship with Sunny fit

be… that there had been an actual love triangle between

failed to glimpse anything from Changing Star's stoic

the masculine face of the actor playing Sir Caster radiated courage and passion. Holding the grief-stricken jade

life does not 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 as you live, I can

Rain shifted uncomfortably.

me, or is it

face. She looked at the projection with

projection, however,

Rain frowned.

'Huh?'

she smelled smoke. Turning around, the teenage

'That's strange...'

mouth to say something, but before she

The projector suddenly exploded.

***

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

knew what was going

empty house. 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

course… but she had worn armor for the better part of the last three years. Putting on

articles of Effie's clothing did not fit her too well.

such matters again

trying to deal with the disturbing oddity of not being in danger. Then,

for some time, then tentatively accessed