Shadow Slave

1540: Clouded Judgment.

The feeling of restlessness Sunny had felt after leaving Twilight returned. Something strange was going on with Cassie... had been going on for a long time, maybe. He was almost sure of it.

But it was the «almost» of it all that made the situation so difficult. He did not know what to do... confront her? Share his concern with others?

What would he say?

That Cassie should not have survived Twilight? None of them should have survived there, really. That she kept journals? There was nothing wrong with that, and claiming otherwise would only make him seem strange. That she was too quiet and unassuming, which made him feel as if she was hiding something vital from them? That sounded like paranoia talking.

In fact, it was — it was the Sin of Solace whispering into his ear. The Sin of Solace, whose only purpose was to drive him mad. Was he a fool to listen to these whispers?

Sunny was not even sure himself what he was suspecting Cassie of, just that he did not feel comfortable with her secrets. But…

Was it really because there was something off about the blind girl, or was it simply because he had never trusted her? Was he still secretly holding on to the grudge after what she had done on the Forgotten Shore, which painted his perception of her?

Sunny would be lying if he said that he had let go of that grudge completely.

None of the others seemed to suspect Cassie of anything, so why was he the only one looking for faults in her actions?

«Ah, damnation.»

he

even need to

had a pile of old journals? So what if she kept secrets? Was he the right person

herself. In fact, Sunny was the reason why she had closed herself off, to begin with — he was the one who had told her how destructive of a poison her visions

to change after that bitter conversation they had in the medical complex of the

She had told him so herself,

Sunny

so close

ruin their chances

and so, she was as frightening as their imaginations could make

a substitute

there was really something ominous going on with the blind

planning to

of Solace smiled, looking at him with

sword wraith. The

The hateful wraith laughed.

simply incapable of learning, are you? Even after what she did to you, what she took from you, you are still willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. ?ìg??օ????????~?օ?. No wonder you ended up being made a slave by her... ah,

then took a deep breath. He slowly calmed

even make any sense. At least try to be convincing when you are spouting nonsense,

but that was beside the point. Humans were complicated and contradictory creatures, indeed... just like Nephis had said, they

with Cassie. But if he flipped his perception and looked at the situation from a different angle, trying to find the opposite, any suspicion that the blind girl could have been doing something to harm the cohort would crumble.