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.

the gods

for a few

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 was changed to a happier

suddenly chuckled. His eye glinted in the

thought that the gods were hypocrites, huh? I see now... turns out, your disdain for

corner of her mouth

"...I guess it does."

killing the Sovereigns and destroying the Spell... this hopeless lunatic was like

hesitated for a while,

authority yourself now, after all. Lady Changing Star of the Immortal Flame, the torchbearer of

The sparks of

name of pacifist religions, tell truths to

away, she shrugged and

It was only after I learned that

at her silently. After

let me tell you... I was

at him

"Seriously?"

He nodded energetically.

a bit dumb. Trying to understand things through reason? Couldn't be me... I just learned

a moment, and then added

"Well... mostly error..."

a little,

you as a child.

his head

kind. To a fault, even. Do you know how kids would sometimes pull the wings off annoying

slowly

mostly a weird and wicked child, I guess. Still, it was better than being soft

looked at Nephis in

looking at me

a couple of