37 Chapter XXXVII: Loss of Will

A.N: All the descriptions in this chapter are deliberate. Just thought you guys should know.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Tasteless," muttered Sunny as he took a bite of the cooked crab meat in his hand. He couldn't make it have the same taste as the ones cooked by William did.

At the mention of the name, the scene of his head popping like a rotten water melon flashed before his eyes. Suddenly, he lost his appetite. Putting the cooked meat back near the flames so as to keep it warm.

The pale youth looked at a site in their camp where a multilayered circle with various mysterious runes stood undisturbed. Next to the circle was a blot of dark dye sprayed all over he bone of the leviathan's vertebrae they used as their temporary shelter for the last two days.

He had tried studying the runes during his free time, but it was like nothing he had ever seen or studied with Teacher Julius before. It was as if it came from another world.

He snorted at that assumption. They were not in a fantasy novel, and William was not some other wordly being.

He is a human like them - or rather was.

'Damnation!' he thought in self-reproach. It was not the first time Sunny had seen someone die, nor was it going to be the last, but he couldn't get William's death scene out of his mind.

Sunny lived his whole life in the outskirts where a human life was worth less than the shoes one was wearing, yet William's death stung him far deeper than he liked to admit.

Maybe it was because he was the stongest among them. Hell, he had seen the white-haired Sleeper shrug off attacks from the Carapace Scavengers that would've shattered Sunny's bones. He could even spar evenly with the Changing Star, who was like a legacy super star.

Or maybe it was due to the other outskirts Sleeper being his mentor in the way of the sword. Sunny had to admit that William's teachings did somehow help him increase his skill in swordsmanship despite the strange method he utilized. He had become much more efficient and practical in his fighting style thanks to the repeated training and spars.

Speaking of swords, Sunny turned to look at the direction where the sounds of sword swinging could be heard along with ragged breaths. He watched as the Changing Star swung her silver sword ceaselessly while wearing her pristine-white plate armor.

That was the new status quo of the resident legacy of their small group. Whenever she was not hunting nightmare creatures or sleeping, she was swinging her sword tirelessly as trying to chase away a bad memory.

Well, that was what she was doing even before the incident happened, but now Sunny felt that there was a change in the way she moved. He couldn't describe it in words since he didn't quite understand what he himself was feeling.

She may look like she was unaffected by the whole thing, but Sunny noticed some signs in the last two days that said otherwise.

The rare smile that she had on her face when they were journeying through the coral labyrinth was nowhere to be seen, and she spoke even less than before. Moreover, Nephis had become more paranoid about their defenses and surroundings, which made the two of them in that department.

The way that pale monster killed William then took off with the body hit them with the realization that they were too lax in their defenses. It was unfortunate that they had to learn that by losing one of their own.

Sunny was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of wing flaps. Looking at the source, he saw a black crow land near the meat he had cooked and took bites out of it.

If Sunny hadn't lost his appetite a while ago, he would've chased away the damned thieving bird. Instead, the outskirts kid watched in silence as the bird ate parts of the meat ravenously. The crow was surprisingly normal-sized and entirely black in color except for the blue, glowing runes etched onto different parts of its body.

(Image)

It was the last thing that William left them before his death. From what he understood, it was essentially what the white-haired Sleeper had called a familiar, and it should be able to help Cassie see through its eyes. Although, they never could test that hypothesis.

Sunny took his eyes off the meat-stealing bird and looked towards their resident oracle.

At the other side of the campfire sat Cassie with her legs pressed against her chest while fiddling with a white bundle of threads that were painted red at one end. Except, they were not threads but rather the impromptu brush William had fashioned from his hair for the previous ritual. In the back of her left hand, a black tattoo similar to that of an elongated skull could be seen. Sometimes, if he looked at it hard enough, Sunny could swear that he would see it pulse with energy momentarily.

(Image)

Magical tattoos aside, the blond girl hadn't let that hair brush out of her hands since that day. 'Gods, she spoke even less than Nephis, and that was saying something,' thought the dark-haired boy, 'not to mention the fact that she hadn't slept a wink in the past two nights.'

Sunny would know; after all, with William gone, the night guard duty fell on his shoulders for obvious reasons.

He watched as the crow took a piece of the cooked meat and brought it to its master only to be completely ignored by the catatonic girl.

Sunny felt bad for the girl. He really did. It was really a shitty situation they were all in. He didn't think that the way she was dealing with it was healthy for her.

The blind oracle had said narry a word and continued staring off into empty space while muttering unintelligible gibberish for the last two days.

This was also the reason that they hadn't moved their camp for the last two days. Cassie was in no condition to journey through unknown territory, so the only thing they could do was bunker down until she got better. He only wished that it happened fast, for he didn't wish for whatever that monster that killed William to return for a second victim.

===============================================================

(Cassie's POV)

She kept on seeing the same scene over and over again: William's smiling face seconds before his gruesome death. It was the first thing that she ever saw after being blind for months!

His kind smile, handsome features, glossy white hair, and gentle eyes all eviscerated in but a moment.

Was she cursed? She wondered.

Why couldn't a single good thing happen to her? What sin did she commit to deserve this? What sin did William commit to deserve such gruesome death?

The worst thing about it wall was the fact that she hadn't seen it coming. Her future sight was the only thing she was good for, and yet she was blind to it all.

No. She wasn't blind.

She saw the signs clear as day in her last vision yet chose to remain blind to it. Just because she saw that she was able to finally make it to safety, she didn't stop to question where William was in the entire vision. He was missing! A simple fact that she chose to ignore due to her own happiness for being able to survive the journey through these cursed lands.

William knew! He was too smart not to know the implication of her vision. Yet, he spoke not a word about it to anyone and continued to act as he did before. Why did he do that? What did he think of her? Did he know that he was going to die on that day? Was that why he told her about his family that night? Was the ritual he did for her his final act of kindness towards her?

Questions upon questions stormed around her mind like a tornado, yet the only one who had the answers for them was gone.

They didn't even have his body to bury him!

That monster had carried off with it before any of them could do anything.

William didn't deserve such fate!

When the entire world seemed to turn its back on her. When even her family didn't have hope in her surviving. He was there to give her help, lift her spirits, and help her along the way. All the while doing it with a smile and not one complaint.

He even died giving her the thing that she desperately wanted. It was not simply the gift of sight that he had given her but rather hope.

He had given her hope in being able to survive on her own without the need to rely on someone to guide her like a child anymore. Hope that she was not a blind defenseless girl anymore. Hope that she could see the waking world again.

Hope that was severely misplaced.

She's nothing but a worthless wretch who could only survive on the corpses of those who tried to help her. She stuck to him in an effort to change her own fate. She wasn't his trusted friend! She was nothing but a wretched parasite feeding off his good will and kindness.

He gave her everything one would ever want: kindness, companionship, protection, memories, echoes.

Yet, what did she give him?

Nothing.

All that she ever amounted to was a deadweight that held him down. If she wasn't there to slow him down, maybe he would've reached safety long ago. Perhaps he would've even been alive now.

She couldn't even shed tears for him. What use were her tears going to do? She cried until she couldn't anymore after becoming blind yet she didn't gain her vision back. Her tears won't bring him back.

Nothing would.

Not anymore.

He was gone, and he took the light of her world with him.

Having her vision back was supposed to make her world brighter. Yet, it became even darker than when she was blind.

==================================================================

(Nephis's POV)

She never knew what her mother was like because she was already a hollow when she was born. She spent only a few short years with her father before he too was gone along with the majority of their clan's memories.

Then, she experienced the downfall of her clan as scavengers picked at the carcass to sate their endless greed and gluttony.

Even her nanny, who always took care of her and sang her lullabies as a child, tried to kill her after being bought off. She would've been dead that night if not for her teacher's interference.

Thus, Nephis was no stranger to loss. Rather, it was more like she grew up with it to the point that it seemed to still be with her even now.

The memory of William's headless corpse falling unceremoniously on the ground before being prompty snatched by some unknown creature flashed before her eyes, causing her to stop her rigorous training and take a moment to catch her breath.

It all happened too fast for any of them to react to it.

One moment, the white-haired Sleeper was performing what he claimed was a magical ritual to help with Cassie's flaw. Speaking of the ritual, she spared a glance at the black crow happily munching at a cooked piece of meat.

The next, his body was lying on the ground with his head missing.

The aftermath?

Well, Sunless seemed to be taking it at his own pace. Probably something to do with them coming coming the outskirts; although, she is still uncertain about the validity of that claim, especially William's.

No mere outskirts kid could stand and fight directly against hordes of nightmare creatures much stronger than them as if it was just another Tuesday. Moreover, the memories he held, the knowledge he had, and even the strange ritual he performed all spoke in opposition to his claims.

There was more than meets the eye in regards to the white-haired Sleeper. Alas, whatever secrets he had, he took them with himself when he died.

Nephis let out a prolonged sigh. She didn't know how to feel about William's death. On one hand, he could've been the most dangerous existence to her life; while on the other, he could've been the strongest ally she could have had on her side.

The memories he held and the skills he showed displayed apparent signs of professional training or wealthy sponsors. Meanwhile, his decision to help Cassie and train a stranger on how to use a sword despite there being no apparent advantage for himself didn't look like typical legacy behavior she was used to seeing.

'Fighting nightmare creatures is much easier than trying to understand other people,' she thought as she looked at her reflection on the flat side of her sword.

She was drenched in sweat, and even her bangs were sticking to her forehead thanks to it. She needed to take a bath to get off all this sweat.

Speaking of needing baths, Nephis's silver irises moves and landed on their resident oracle, who was staring in front of herself with a dead look in her eyes.

'This won't do,' she thought in dejection. Looking at Cassie reminded her of herself when they told her that her father won't be returning from his fourth nightmare.

She had spent weeks on end in a similar state of suppressed emotions due to the shock she felt at the news. If it weren't for her grandmother being there to help her let out her pain, she didn't know what would have happened to her.

Thus, after taking a deep breath, Nephis moved towards the blond Sleeper.

======================================

(Sunny POV)

Sunny noticed that Nephis had stopped her training and was just standing there, lost in thought.

Then, suddenly, she put away her sword and started moving towards Cassie.

In a move that he didn't expect from the taciturn legacy heiress, he watched her pick up the delicate blond girl over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes without a shred of resistance from the other party. Spell, even the crow, was looking at the two girls curiously.

After that, the silver-haired girl looked at him straight in the eyes, "Going to bathe. Don't look."

It sounded more like a warning than a statement, but Sunny understood the message.

"I won't. I won't," he said truthfully. After all, thanks to his flaw, he couldn't help but tell the truth.

She stared at him silently for a moment before going to the far side of the camp they designated as a temporary bathing area.

Sunny looked at his shadow in confusion at what transpired, and his shadow shrugged, equally confused.

The two girls couldn't have been away for more than ten minutes before a loud crying sound was heard coming from their direction.

Sunny was about to move to investigate the reason for the crying but was prompty stopped by Nephis saying, "Don't come!"

Thus, the pale Sleeper could do nothing but wait until the crying sounds grew fainter and fainter until he could barely hear it anymore.

Then, after a while, the two girls returned, but this time, Cassie was walking on her own.

Sunny noticed thanks to his dark vision that her eyes looked puffy and red, but her expression seemed much better than before.

Upon seeing the return of its master, the Cassie's crow familiar flew towards her and landed on her shoulder. Then, it began to rub its head against her cheek.

"Sorry for worrying you so much so soon after you were born," she said to the crow softly while gently scratching its head with her index finger.

"Caw! Caw!"

"Yes, yes, I'll make sure to make it up to you," she said to her familiar with a soft smile that still held traces of the sadness she felt inside.

"Wait! You can understand what it says?" Sunny pointed at the crow on the oracle's shoulder

"Of course I know what she says, silly. Were connected, are we not?" She replied as if the information she gave was a well-known fact before proceeding to show the tattoo on the back of her left hand.

'She!?' Sunny was even more confused than before. He turned towards Nephis in an attempt to get an explanation on what Cassie was saying but was only given a shrug in return.

"Anyways," spoke Cassie again, "I apologize for my behavior in the last two days. Nephis helped me sort out my feelings, and I feel much better than before."

"Uhhh....no. That's great.... I think?" was Sunny's uncertain reply. 'Just what did the Changing Star tell her for her to make a 180 turn so fast?'

He was brought back from the depth of his thoughts by the sound of Nephis clearing her throat.

"Tomorrow, we can continue our journey to the west."

With her part said, she proceeded to move towards the bag they stored the meat in and took out a couple to cook over the fire.

Meanwhile, Cassie sat down besides the bone fire and was having hushed conversations with her familiar.

Sunny looked at his shadow, 'This is good progress, right?'

The shadow didn't know. It was as clueless as his master.

=======================================

The next morning, the three Sleepers left their temporary camp inside the remains of the dead sea creature and continued their journey west towards the human citadel.

However, unlike the vibrant red color they were used to see in the coral labyrinth, the land they were traveling through currently could only be described with one word: dead.

It was as if something had sucked the life right out of the land. The coral walls that were previously vibrant red now stood grey and misshapen as if they were struck by some unknown disease and drained of all life.

Further along, the coral walls of the labyrinth had collapsed and turned into ashen sand that covered the entire ground, turning it into something akin to a sea of ash.

When Sunny first explored the area using his shadow during their two day rest period, the ashen wasteland looked so alien and strange to him after spending weeks seeing nothing but red coral that it made a shiver run up his spine.

Yet, despite the strangeness of the wasteland, it all paled in comparison to the discomfort Sunny felt at observing the sole landmark in sight.

Directly westwards of them in the far distance, the ground rose, forming a tall hill. The hill was the biggest he had seen in these cursed lands yet, easily capable of becoming a real island once water rose in the night. It strangely reminded Sunny of the images of barrows shown to him by teacher Julius - but on a more colossal scale.

Then, at the crest of the mountain of ash was a giant tree that rose to the skies with branches wide enough to cover the entire island in its shade. Its bark was grey in color while its leaves were sickly yellow-brown.

(Image)

Sunny felt great revulsion and discomfort when looking at it despite himself. Yet, if they wanted to reach their destination, they had to head towards that Ashen Barrow.

Nephis took the lead, while Sunny protected the rear of their group. Sandwiched between the two was Cassie, who was riding on top of her Carapace Scavenger echo while her crow perched on her shoulder.

Despite having a means of vision again, Cassie was still not used to seeing from a different point of view, so they had opted for her to remain on the scavenger echo for her safety.

The group walked through the labyrinth of dead coral carefully, having their eyes peeled for any signs of danger. They didn't want a repeat of the incident from before again - they couldn't afford it.

Sunny's shadow was working overtime to ensure that the group of Sleepers won't get ambushed further on.

Thankfully, they only came upon two solitary Carapace Scavengers throughout the whole journey that they were able to dispatch them easily thanks to their previous experiences.

Their journey was quiet and peaceful for the most part; yet, Sunny couldn't shake off the bad feeling he was having. Theoretically, only facing one or two nightmare creatures in total was supposed to make Sunny feel better, but he felt even more nervous than usual instead.

The whole situation reeked of danger. It felt strange and unnatural.

It was as if they were walking in a dead zone that even nightmare creatures didn't want to enter.

'Were they really foolish enough to venture somewhere where even the nightmare creatures didn't dare tread?' Sunny looked at Nephis's back as she marched through the ashen sand and let out a sigh.

'Apparently, they were.'

Soon enough, they reached the point where the walls of the labyrinth had crumpled into dust, leaving only a vast expanse of ashen sand between them and the great hill.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sunny asked, hoping that Nephis would change her mind. Being in the open with nothing to hide behind made him feel strangely naked.

Nephis didn't take her eyes off of the giant hill in the distance, "It's our only way west. Let's go."

Contrary to Sunny's fears, their journey through the ashen wasteland was even more peaceful than their previous one through the dead coral walls. They didn't encounter even one nightmare creature in sight.

Though, that only made Sunless and Nephis's paranoia increase even more.

Despite that, they needed to reach their destination as fast as they could as their daylight was becoming more and more scarce. If they failed to find shelter before dark, then an ambush would be the least of their worries.

With enough daylight to spare, the group had managed to reach the edges of the Ashen Barrow.

"Wait," said Sunny to his two companions, "I'll send my shadow to check for threats up there."

"Be quick. Night is approaching," noted Nephis while looking at the sky with worry.

With a mental command, Sunny's shadow glided across the grey sand and quickly reached the top of the Ashen Barrow only to find.... nothing.

Except for the gigantic, grey tree, the crest of the hill was empty.

No, not empty.

The shadow noticed the remains of what seemed to be campfire a few meters away from the tree's trunk. It looked recent, too.

'Was there someone here before us?' Sunny immediately became tense.

Noticing the change in Sunny's demeanor thanks to her familiar, Cassie asked with concern, "Sunny, what is it?"

"The top of the hill is empty except for the remains of a campfire. Looks recent."

"Check if whoever made it is near," advised Nephis in a cautious tone, "we can't afford any surprises."

"On it."

Sunny ordered his shadow to explore the full area of the hill top.

"I don't believe tha-..... Wow," Sunny's report was suddenly cut short by what his shadow saw when he looked at the tree branches of the gigantic tree.

Sitting on the lowest branch of the tree was a beautiful girl with almond skin and long brown hair that came past her shoulders. Her honey-brown eyes and full lips held a coquettish expression as she gazed down at the ground, directly at his shadow.

Sunny's shadow made an awkward wave in greeting, to which the girl replied with a delighted wave of her own.

"Why don't you come up here? The night is coming." the girl said.

Back below, Sunny severed the link with his shadow and turned to his two companions with a smile, "I found the owner of the campfire or rather she found me."

"Was she alone?" asked Nephis, her tone even.

"I guess so," answered the scout, "she said to come up quick since the night is approaching."

True to her words, the sky was beginning to darken, signifying the imminent rising tide about to engulf the land.

Both Sunny and Cassie looked towards Nephis for instructions. With William gone, it had fallen to her to become the leader of the group.

"Let's go up," she finally stated after a bit of deliberation.

Within a few minutes, they had reached the top of the hill where the girl from before was ready to greet them.

"Oh my God!" she stated upon seeing them. "I didn't think I would find other people in this region."

She tried coming towards them, but the act of Nephis bared her sword at her threateningly and put a stop to her advance.

"Not a step further," she said in a cold tone that Sunny hadn't heard in a good while, "who are you?"

The girl seemed to deadpan at Nephis before muttering something under her breath.

After a moment, she adopted a sheepish expression.

"Sorry, sorry, I was so excited about meeting other people that I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Nyx, and I was in the same group as you guys when we entered the Dream Realm during the winter solstice. So please put away that sword."

Nephis kept staring Nyx for a good while before lowering her sword but not dismissing it.

Noticing the rising tension in the air, Sunny opted to speak, "So....uh.....Nyx, was it?"

"Yes, darling?" She answered with a sweat smile that entranced him for a second before he could shake it off.

'Darling!? Why in the..... Whatever.'

After recovering from his minor shock under the confused looks of his companions, Sunny continued, "I am Sunny. The one holding the sword is Nephis, and the one on the back of the echo is Cassie. Nice to meet you."

"A pleasure to meet you too," was his mind tricking him, or was she focusing all too much on him when she replied?

Wanting to change the direction of the conversation, he asked, "Since when have you been here?"

The brunette placed her index finger on her chin in a pondering pose before replying, "I woke up a bit of a distance from here in that grey wasteland when I arrived. Then I made my way up this hill. When I found it empty, I chose to make it my temporary base. I hoped to chance upon other people who had woken up here the same as me, so I held my position here."

"How did you survive? What did you eat?" Sunny couldn't help but ask since these barren wastelands didn't look like the perfect place for a camping trip.

"Hmm? Ah, I let my baby hunt food for me," she replied as if what she said was the most natural thing in the world.

"Your....baby?" Sunny couldn't help but ask as he felt something attracting his attention to the girl's shadow. It seemed..... different?

"Let me introduce you, I'm sure you would get along swimmingly."

Just as she said that, she clapped her hand twice, and her shadow began elongating until it began vaguely resembling a shape Sunny knew all too well - they had two similarly shaped echoes to boot.

From her deformed shadow, a dark figure began to surface. Firstly came the humanoid torso with the pincer arms and then the crab-like lower region.

Soon enough, a pitch black Carapace Scavenger was standing before them.

Sunny could intrinsically feel that the creature before it was no normal nightmare creature but a rather a creature of shadows.

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" Nyx said with pride dripping from her tone.

Nephis's eyes were slightly widened in caution, and her hand tightened around the hilt of her sword.

Cassie, meanwhile, didn't show any signs of awe or surprise at Nyx's little act even though she clearly saw it via her crow familiar. Yet, she still kept a polite smile on her delicate face.

On the other hand, Sunny was a bit slackjawed at what he saw.

"H-How?"

As if anticipating that question, the dark-skinned girl immediately answered, "Oh, it's nothing amazing. My aspect allows me to use the shadow of any creature I defeat as my shadow puppet."

'Damnation! What kind of fucking bullshit is this?' Thought Sunny in outrage although he didn't show it on his face. 'I am a divine aspect holder yet I only get the ability to have my shadow move around a bit. Yet, a random girl gets a much cooler and more useful ability than me! Fate is really unfair!'

While Sunny was wallowing in his misery, the last rays of light were beginning to vanish from the skies. Then, once the night had finally fallen, as if the dams of the abyss had opened, Dark Sea began emerging from its hiding place and covering the entire lands in its domain.

The four Sleeper watched as the black waters entirely submerged the vast ash-grey wasteland along with the red coral labyrinth in the far distance leaving only a few of the tallest structures visible as small islands.

The hill they were standing on was no different, the water had rose high enough to submerge nine-tenths of the hill leaving only the top tenth of the hill prostruding from the water's surface. Still, a tenth of the giant hill still made for a sizable island able to accomodate a few dozen people. It was easily big enough to accomodate four humans.

Sunny and Cassie looked at the black waters of the Dark Sea before looking at Nephis for what to do next. With the raised tide, they needed to stay the night on the hill whether they liked their new company or not.

"Neph, we have to stay here one way or another."

Upon hearing her statement, the silver-haired Sleeper closed her eyes for a moment before conceding, "Fine, we're staying."

"That's great!" Nyx who was observing the group carefully, cried in joy. Her shadow Carapace Scavenger seemed to have returned back to where it came from. "You can't imagine how hard it is to spend several weeks in this barren place with no people to talk to."

Sunny could see that Nephis was looking at Nyx with a cold look that peppy girl seemed to ignore.

"Come on, I'll show you around," she said before beginning to pull at Sunny's hand and dragging him with her.

'Why me?' he thought in confusion as he looked behind to look at his group members. Nephis had her usual indifferent expression while Cassie was waving at him while waving at him and smiling.

===================================================================

(Cassie's POV)

She looked at Sunny being dragged by their new camp buddy Nyx and waved at them.

Once they were far enough from them, she heard Nephis clear her throat.

"Let me help you down from the echo," she said as she started moving towards the echo's side.

"Thanks, but I would like to do it by myself this time," Cassie refused politely. "I can't go on bothering you with this menial stuff after having my eyesight back."

"Ah, that's... not....a bother," the Changing Star began fumbling for words to say courtesy of her lack of social skills.

Seeing her friend's terrible facial expression, the blond girl chuckled lightly as she got off the back of the echo with the help of her familiar, "Relax, Neph. I'm just joking."

"Right. Joke," she heard her sheltered friend mutter under her breath.

Then, Cassie began moving towards the giant tree with her echo in tow to put down on the baggage it was carrying.

"Come," she said to her female friend, "if we're staying here; might as well see what is in the island, no?"

Nephis didn't reply and instead opted for silently walking next to her while staring at the giant tree that took up residence at the center of the island.

Cassie had to walk slower than normal as she was still getting used to the spacial dissonance that came with looking at the world from a different viewpoint than her's. It was a confusing process but the oracle was adamant on mastering it since if she couldn't even walk properly, how was she supposed to fight against nightmare creatures?

As the two girls reached the giant grey-trunked tree, they could see details that they were unable to notice at a distance.

For starters, the tree seemed to be, for all intents and purposes, dead - if its cold, grey trunk was anything to go by. It also explained the sickly yellow-brown color of its leaves.

Then, came the fact that Cassie could see how shrunked and frail its roots that dug into the grey-sand have become with some of the roots having clear signs of decay on it.

Suddenly, the world brightened in a flash of white light as Nephis summoned a small mass of flames next to her.

Cassie looked to the side and observed as Nephis moved closer towards the tree's trunk with the ball of fire in her hand.

'Is she-?!'

"Neph, don't do it!" she cried in alarm at what her companion was about to do but not loud enough for the other two island residents to hear. She didn't want to create senseless conflict.

Nephis turned towards the panicking girl with a confused expression, "Not do what?" She seemed genuinely not know why Cassie suddenly said that.

"Don't burn down the tree," she replied before pointing to the ball of fire in her hand, "that's what the fire for, isn't it?"

Nephis alternated looking at the tree, Cassie, and the fire in her hands for a few seconds before shaking her head, "No, it's for light."

With that said, she proceeded to go closer towards the tree.

'Light?' thought the oracle, bewildered at why her companion needed light in the first place. It was not dark enough for them not to be able to see their surroundings.

Then, when her crow's sight landed on the now illuminated tree trunk, she understood why Nephis wanted the light.

Covering the entire bark of the tree were deep grooves etched into the dead material. The grooves were too artificial looking to be natural and too uniform to be caused by a passing monster. They were like.....

"Are those-"

"Sword marks," Nephis finished for her as she examined the now identified sword markings with an unarmored hand. "It's old. At least a few months. And there's this one."

Nephis pointed to a single groove that was vastly different from the rest. Unlike the other ones that were larger and more superficial, the one she pointed at was much smaller but ran deeper into the tree. It was as if whatever made it wanted it to go as deep as possible.

'But why?' thought Cassie in puzzlement. 'Why would one want to do that?'

"CAW! CAW! CAW!"

Suddenly, her familiar began letting out frantic cried that attracted the attention of the two female Sleeper.

"Dust?" she called out the name of her familiar. "What is it girl? What did you find?"

Instead of answering, the crow, now named Dust, flew to the air and stopped at a set distance from where they were standing at near the trunk.

"Wha-....Oh," Cassie began before suddenly stopping and letting out a surprised sounds. "Those.... those are simply sword marks."

Nephis looked at the marks on the trunk and the flying crow in confusion before focusing on Cassie, "What are they then."

"Letters," was the oracle's reply.

"Letters?"

"Yes, words.... human letters."

This discovered stumped the legacy heiress. What were human words doing on the trunk of a dead tree in the middle of nowhere. "Do they say something?"

Cassie didn't reply, instead various emotions appeared on her face: confusion, realization, horror, and then confusion again.

She only came back to her senses when Nephis physically shook her out of her stupor.

"W-What?" Cassie asked, her expression lost. 

"The letters Cassie. What do they say?" reiterated Nephis, a worried look marring her features.

"Oh," was the only thing she said before falling silent again.

Nephis was about to shake her again when she finally spoke again.

"If you are reading this, then find me in the Dark City. I will be waiting. - M."

Now it was Nephis's turn to be confused.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here it is guys. The chapter you wanted. I tried my best in expressing how each of Sunny, Neph, and Cass would have reacted based on their personalities in that stage of the story.

If I'm being honest, it took two days and three different drafts to write a Nephis POV I found acceptable.

Anyways, that's it for this chapter I guess.