Shadow Slave

A faint smile appeared on Neph's face. She stared into the fire for a while, then leaned her back against the weathered black rock with a shrug.

"Who can tell? There are a lot of stories about the trials and tribulations he had to endure."

Bathed in the warmth of the fire and with his belly pleasantly full, Sunny felt his body and mind relax. Throwing a curious glance at her, he asked:

"What is your favorite story about that guy, then?"

Nephis remained silent for a while with a look of contemplation on her face, which was cast in shadows, with only its vague silhouette visible in the darkness... and the dancing white sparks that shone in the depths of her eyes.

Eventually, she said:

"Maybe it's not a favorite... but I often think about one of them, in particular."

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

"Which one?"

Neph sighed quietly before answering:

"Odysseus was a great hero of Hellas, but he was not the greatest one. The greatest and most powerful hero was named Heracles, who was a demigod and a slayer of monsters. Heracles possessed incredible strength and performed many incredible feats... after he died, the gods took his soul to the heavenly realm, where he became an immortal god himself."

She grew quiet for a moment.

"However, Odysseus once descended into the underworld, where he saw the shadows of the dead. Among them was the forlorn shadow of Heracles... so, when I was a child, I always wondered how Heracles could both be a god and a lost shadow in the land of the dead."

Nephis shifted slightly and moved her hand, causing the fire to suddenly burn brighter.

"I asked my grandmother, and she explained that one part of Heracles was divine, while another part of him was human. It was the divine part of Heracles that ascended to godhood, while the human part was cast down into the underworld, doomed to wander its dark halls forever."

Her voice was a little wistful.

Sunny frowned and gave her a dark look.

"That's... a little messed up."

Neph smiled.

was very unfair, for the

lingered for a few moments

really just two different versions of the myth colliding with each other. The stories of Odysseus are older, and so Heracles, despite being the greatest of heroes, had a tragic death in those ancient myths. The version of his own stories that we know are newer, and the original ending

finished talking, Sunny suddenly chuckled. His eye glinted

were hypocrites, huh? I see now... turns out, your disdain for the figures

corner of her mouth twisted

"...I guess it does."

Sovereigns and destroying the Spell... this

for a while, then

a little hypocritical too, though? You are a great figure of authority yourself now, after all. Lady Changing Star of the Immortal Flame, the torchbearer of humanity

him across the fire with a neutral expression. The sparks of

contradictory creatures. They can wage genocidal wars in the name of pacifist religions, tell truths to deceive each other. They can even love and

away, she

I often tried to understand people through reason - to no success whatsoever, of course. It was only after I learned that people are inherently unreasonable that I started to understand them a little. Oh... I

silently.

Because, let me tell you... I

looked at

"Seriously?"

He nodded energetically.

dumb. Trying to understand things through

paused for a moment,

"Well... mostly error..."

her head a

I can't really imagine you as a child. I just always imagine you as... you. What

his

gentle and kind. To a fault, even. Do you know how kids would sometimes pull the wings off annoying insects? I would

face slowly

that didn't last long, though. So I was mostly a weird and wicked child, I

at Nephis in

looking at me

a couple