Shadow Slave

"...Identify yourself." Sunny's smile froze. His body froze, too.

For a moment, he was utterly confused, doubting that he had heard Nephis correctly. But there was no doubt — her voice was very clear.

'Identify yourself? What is she doing, giving me the cold shoulder?'

He could understand if she was angry at him because of what had happened on the cold shores of Verge. Resentful, even. But still, wasn't it too childish, to pretend as if she did not know him?

Sunny tried to calm down, but at the same time, he knew that he was deceiving himself. Nephis was not the kind of person to lash out by treating him as a stranger... she just genuinely did not recognize him.

'H—how can it be?'

Well... to be fair... he was indeed covered in dust and dirt from head to bottom. It was easy to mistake him for someone else. No, was it? It might have been for someone else, but not for Nephis. She knew him far too well for that, not to mention that he was wearing a rather unique suit of armor. There was no mistaking the Onyx Mantle.

Sunny hesitated, not knowing what to say.

But he had to say something, because the pressure of the Flaw was building, forcing him to answer.

"It's me... Sunny."

His voice sounded strangely lost.

Neph's frown deepened slightly.

"Your affiliation?"

Petrified and feeling his hair stand on end, Sunny answered stiffly:

"...Evacuation Army, I guess. Army Command, special envoy."

What was going on?

What was happening?

mental collapse, desperately trying to keep the emotions from showing on his face, Nephis nodded. It seemed

then opened her mouth to say something... possibly to ask what was going on, what date it was, and what state

"Cassie!"

into the slope of the crater. Her beautiful white wings spread, and with a barely audible gasp, she pulled a massive alloy plate from under the ground. The plate itself must have weighed

the kind of strength

the side. It landed a dozen meters away from

Nephis jumped down into the ruins below.

for

the Thieving Bird

mean, to

the loathsome miscreant had taken all the countless strings of fate that bound Sunny, and

However... those shackles...

what made Sunny the person he was, and what connected him to all other living beings, as well as to the

suddenly remembered a thought that had visited him once, in

Everyone's fates were intertwined, and everyone was tied down and bound by those numerous connections, some of them fleeting, some deep and precious. Sunny, too,

rather, he

that he wished to be free

not proclaimed his desire to set himself free from

was suddenly terribly

Sunny swayed

face was as pale

what you wish

escaped from his

have known that there would be a price to pay... no, he had known. Of course, he knew.

To gain freedom.