Shadow Slave

When Sunny heard what Nephis had to say, he almost stepped on her foot. His rhythm was broken, making it difficult to remain in the flow of the dance. He narrowly avoided stumbling, regained his composure, and threw a burning gaze at her.

"What?"

Her expression did not change.

"You heard me."

Sunny opened his mouth, lingered for a moment, then simply turned around and pulled her by the hand. Despite the fact that many people stared at this sudden turn of events, he cut through the dancing guests, forcing Neph to follow. They left the middle of the great hall, then disappeared from the central chamber entirely.

Finding himself in a corridor that ran along the length of the dancing hall, Sunny walked swiftly, searching for an empty room. Eventually, he had to settle for a kitchen of sorts. Several chefs and their assistants were busy preparing more refreshments for the guests of the ball… or rather, they had been.

Even before Sunny entered the room, the shadows inside suddenly moved and grew darker, startling the kitchen staff. Throwing a heavy glance at them, he said in an even voice:

"Leave."

The chefs stared at the two Masters in confusion for a couple of moments, then silently backed away and left through a different door, their faces pale.

Sunny and Nephis were left alone.

He waited for a bit, then let go of her hand and outstretched his own. A strange flute carved of emerald bone appeared in it from a swirl of sparks. Sunny brought it to his lips and blew into the hole.

Surprisingly, no sound came out of the flute. Instead, it seemed to have absorbed all sounds, enveloping them in a cone of silence. Now, no one would have been able to listen in on their conversations.

Sunny's shadows also kept watch outside the kitchen, just to make sure.

Finally, he turned to Nephis and snarled:

Valor? What… what

then took a step back and leaned on the wall. Then, she spoke in her usual calm,

you

in stunned silence. Then,

your great goals? After all the crazy stunts you pulled, after all that talk about wishing to bring the three ghouls to their knees and destroy them… you are just

Neph's eyes grew somber.

plans did not change,

He frowned.

are going to destroy Valor, but you are also going to become one of their own. Don't you

him intensely, then said with

On the contrary, this is

step forward and

fearsome. And I am truly too weak to contend with them… for now. However, they will fall by my hand, in the end. Did you hope that two years of being

shook his head with a dark

Changing Star smiled.

my own strength is not enough, I have to borrow it from someone else. Whose strength should I borrow, then? Ah, but that is so obvious. If the Sovereigns are so powerful, why would I not

Sunny blinked slowly.

This is

Nephis shrugged.

the way. Although the conflict between Valor and Song had been brewing for a long time, the sudden appearance of the Dreamer Army made it worse. But most of all, the death of Saint Cormac and the return of the banished Prince of War was what finally made it intolerable for

He scowled.

have to do with

Changing Star smiled darkly.

means that he will do the same thing as me. He would have sought out a way to

Sunny's eyes widened.

his two fathers… both the one who had spawned him