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

of idiot directed that

bearing appeared on the screen. Rain glanced at Lady Nephis

apparent relationship

had been

from Changing Star's

Holding the grief-stricken jade beauty by the

Flame must never be extinguished! As long as it burns, humanity still has hope! The Dreamers of the Dark

Rain shifted uncomfortably.

me, or is it getting hot in

on Changing Star's face. She

however, suddenly

Rain frowned.

'Huh?'

smoke. Turning around, the teenage girl noticed a thin stream of it rising

'That's strange...'

say something, but

The projector suddenly exploded.

***

movie was suddenly and violently interrupted, Rain only stayed for long enough to help Changing Star clean up the debris of the malfunctioned projector. Then, she found an excuse, grabbed her

knew what was going

left alone in the 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 the

for the better part of the last three years. Putting on something mundane was

found a pair of gym shorts to match it. Sadly, other articles of Effie's clothing did not fit her

again felt

to deal with the

some