[15]A Day Of Rest

Sunny already knew that the awakened monsters had arrived long before Nephis had seen them, but Sunny still feigned surprise. Nephis was not going to realize the full extent of his perception unless he revealed it. Sunny had inherited the lineage of Shadow God properly. Something told him that the importance of this was a terrifying thing. 

Taking in the sight of the monsters that were crashing their way into the horde of scavengers, Sunny decided to start counting the live carapace monsters as best he could. In the meantime, Nephis was glued to the carapace centurions with her eyes.

Sunny spoke up.

"I guess those are monster class?"

Nephis glanced at him. She did a double take. The second time, she turned to stare directly at his chest.

"Uh, Sunless? Where did you get that tattoo?"

Sunny looked down. An intricate image of a black serpent coiled around his arms and his torso, its tail resting just above his right hand, its head just above his left. The serpent almost seemed to move under his skin, two curved fangs threatening to break its surface. It was striking, beautiful, and disturbing. It was the Shadow God's mark.

Right, he had summoned his Shadow, Soul Serpent.

"Didn't you read my runes? This is something I got from my Aspect legacy."

"So you are from a legacy clan, Sunless? I've never heard of you."

"No, there was literally a battle sytle hidden in how my shadow moves. I tried to incorporate the formless adaptability of it into my movements, and realized that the core of said hidden style was to imitate others and use their strengths to enhance my own."

Speaking of Soul Serpent, its runes now read:

[Soul Serpent]

[Rank: Awakened.]

[Class: Beast]

[Soul Guide, Soul Beast]

[Shadow Abilities: Soul Reaver]

Cassie blinked.

"Huh? What? What? Sunny, you unlocked your Aspect Legacy as soon as you became a Sleeper?!?"

Sunny tilted his head, confused. Soon, a dim light ignited in his lusterless eyes.

"Yeah, you can ask Nephis. More importantly, those bigger carapace monsters are leaving."

Nephis blinked, and turned back to face the monsters. She realized that she had gotten distracted. Sunny could've sworn her cheeks were slightly pink, too. By the time Nephis was giving the carapace centurions proper attention, they were already retreating back into the labyrinth, transcendant soul shards in their strange scythe claws.

"Do you want to move today, Nephis?"

Nephis looked at the direction the monsters had gone, and turned to him. She then turned to look at Cassie, who was oblivously drinking water.

"No. We should prepare for the day. Ge- . . . Can you please get your shadow to follow those things into the labyrinth?"

Sunny nodded. He was happy that Nephis hadn't abused her control, but he didn't show that.

"Don't worry, it already is."

***

Sunny had revealed that his shadow could reach the next high point on its own, so Sunny spent the day explaining what the path there was going to be like to Nephis and Cassie.

They were already shocked enough that his shadow could travel that far ahead, but it was nothing compared to the expressions on Cassie's face when Sunny began updating them about the whereabouts of the largest groups of scavengers and which ones that they seemed likely to have to fight. 

Sunny hadn't crossed groups of two or higher yet, but he planned an almost direct route to the high point for tomorrow, and left several groups of two for the explorers to face on the way. The way Nephis looked at him grew increasingly approving. Cassie stared at Sunny with a complicated expression at first, but she quickly grew increasingly happy and hopeful as he spoke. 

The labyrinth was not unknown as long as they had Sunny. The labyrinth was not as dangerous as long as they had Sunny. Cassie had thought that Sunny would betray them at first, but Sunny had willingly given his slave bond to Nephis.

It was a huge and horrible risk to take. Neither of the girls had any doubts, for some reason, that this boy was their greatest ally and best hope for the future. 

When evening came, Nephis was meditating on the other end of the statue's neck. After a while of being quiet, Cassie decided to speak to Sunny.

"Sunny?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we'll be able to return home?"

Sunny scowled, before turning to look west.

"Of course. All three of us."

Cassie smiled.

"Really? Why?"

Sunny's expression was dark.

"Because I'll rip through whatever the Spell stands in my way, and I'll drag you and the lighthouse along with me."

Cassie's expression turned serious. 

"Really? You're sure you'll include us on your way back to the waking world?"

Sunny didn't turn to look at her. He thought about it for a bit. He didn't know if he even wanted to, really. Cassie had already betrayed him once, but this was a new timeline. A new Cassie. A new Nephis. A new chance to change everything. Sunny decided on his answer. The pain was already blinding by this point anyway.

"I'll have you know that I pick my friends and my allies very carefully. I don't know if you two will be included among them, but as long as you don't give me a reason not trust you, I will put your life and the life of Nephis over my own. There is nothing in two worlds that I hate more than seeing innocent people die when they could have been saved."

All of the hundreds of people who died on the Forgotten Shore will stay forgotten no longer. Each and every innocent soul he could. He would save them. Every bastard that deserved to die. He would be their executioner.

Sunny did not notice the strange stares that Nephis and Cassie were giving him. Nephis saw a wicked, menacing grimace shown on his face. Sunny looked terrifying, and simultaneously awe inspiring to her. In the darkening sky of the Forgotten shore, she almost forgot to breathe, as she stared at the short young man's figure, as if his nearly bare body was the most striking thing she had ever seen.

***

When morning finally came and the dark sea retreated, Sunny and the two girls prepared to scale down the cliff face. Nephis turned to Sunny.

"If anything happens to me, you should take care of Cassie."

Sunny froze. He gave her a menacing glare and summoned his memory, Azure Blade.

"Take back your order, damn it. This feeling is disgusting and I was planning on saving her if something dire happened anyway."

Nephis tensed, and she silently sized up her chances against the shorter boy. She figured she could win, especially with her hold over him. Instead of escalating the situation, she quickly said that he was to ignore that last order, and politely asked him if he could please prioritize taking Cassie with him over trying to save her.

To her surprise, he instantly lost all tension and dismissed his weapon. He nodded his head and said that he could do that. Nephis was stumped for a moment, realizing that he really was just defensive about her accidentally ordering him.

That's how the three of them began descending into the labyrinth of coral again.