SS AU - Chapter 2 - The Cohort Reunited

*Third POV

Two weeks after the Winter Solstice, over a hundred Sleepers, some of whom had been asleep for years and were thought to be Lost, woke up and threw the world into chaos. It was a good and welcomed chaos, but still chaos. Kai had floated out of his sleeping pod. Cassie had woken up screaming. Effie had broken her pod trying to get out of it. But Nephis. Nephis had nearly set the Academy on fire when her Aspect Ability had ignited. The emergency sprinklers had activated and were able to contain the fire, and emergency personnel had responded quickly, much to the confusion of the poor Sleeper.

She spun in place trying to find the small, raven-haired boy. The last she had seen him had been as she was travelling through the Gateway. Upon seeing that she was in her room in the Academy, she let out a strangled sob and slumped to her knees wrapping her arms around herself. The nurse attending her, not understanding the cause of her distress, tried comforting the young woman and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. Nephis quickly reoriented herself and flinched out of the nurse's arms. She wiped her eyes and stood up, a fire igniting in her eyes.

Nephis spent the next few days holed up in her room in the Academy. However, when she heard about the memorial that the Academy was holding for those lost on the Forgotten Shore she made her way out of her room to attend. The meeting hall was crowded, and a sudden silence rolled through the room as though they were looking for someone. A shout of "Changing Star" rang through the room. Everyone pushed and gathered around their legendary Hero. And through it all Nephis stood tall and calm despite the turmoil raging in her heart. She had taken to almost obsessively checking the runes to make sure that Sunny was still alive although she hadn't told anyone, not even Effie, Kai, or Cassie of the Shadow Bond. Nephis suspected that the Shadow Bond had been created when she had said Sunny's True Name, but she wouldn't know for sure until she could ask the missing Sleeper.

Awakened Rock stepped in, and the hall quietened back down. The memorial was short as those listed were given their due. There were two names on the screen had those that had gathered in tears. One was Han Li Caster, and the other was, surprisingly, Sunny. Awakened Rock informed the rest of the newly Awakened that Caster had tragically died. There was a round of cries at this. But Sunny was listed as alive, but still in the Dream Realm, neither Lost nor Hollow. The four members of Nephis's cohort had a look of grim determination on their faces. The other survivors of Forgotten Shore looked a little forlorn when Awakened Rock talked about their lost Scout.

Effie rolled up to Nephis in her wheelchair. "Caster didn't really go up to the top of the Spire to help you, did he?" the huntress said lowly making sure that no one could hear her.

"He was there to kill me. Sunny came across him first," the silver-haired girl replied. Effie nodded. Nephis looked up and saw both Kai and Cassie looking at her with confused looks on their faces. "We have much to discuss. But not here."

"Here's my contact info. We can meet at my place," the charming archer said as he fished out his communicator and then plugged in his info into each of the other's so that they all could see his address. Nephis nodded, and they set a date for their meeting.

A few days later, Nephis and Cassie had pulled up to a high-end apartment complex. They paid the PTV driver and watched as he drove off. Effie's PTV pulled right behind them. Nephis moved behind Effie's wheelchair and began pushing the huntress through the front door. There, a security officer rang up to Kai's apartment for confirmation that he was waiting for the ladies. The officer escorted the ladies to the elevator once he received the confirmation once the singer turned archer was indeed waiting for them.

Kai offered them tea and coffee and had made sure to order plenty of food for the four of them, especially with Effie's Flaw. Once the four of them were comfortably settled, their conversation turned to the last moments in the Spire.

"So what exactly happened? You said that Caster was sent there to kill you?" Kai asked quizzically.

"Yes. At first, I thought it might have been Sunny. But it was Caster," Nephis responded after a sip of tea. "You have to understand. There have always been assassins. This is nothing new. I thought it was Sunny because of how strong he was getting when we travelled together in the labyrinth. Everything about him was a contradiction. Until we actually reached the Dark City, and I found out that Caster was there."

Effie nodded. She might have been known for her shows of brute strength, but she was cunning and clever. She hadn't survived the horrors of Forgotten Shore for as long as she had on her strength alone. Kai and Cassie sat in silence. All four of them were lost in thought for a few minutes.

"What about our resident shadow? What happened to him?" the charming archer asked hesitantly.

"He's alive," Nephis said tersely.

"That doesn't answer the question Princess," Effie accused. Silent tears began falling from Cassie's eyes. She had a vague sense of what had happened, and it was all her fault. Those damned visions.

"We…We…Due to the nature of the Spire, we had acquired an Attribute called [Soul Conduit]. The Spire was a machine, and the Gateway functioned as part of that machine. It required a human to serve as the conduit to funnel souls from the labyrinth into the Spire." Cassie gasped, and Kai paled. Effie remained silent, but Nephis nodded at her. "When Sunny killed Caster, the Spire still needed a Vessel to function. Sunny and I were the last two humans in the Spire so it chose us. The Spire wouldn't let us both leave. One of us would have to stay behind. We fought. I had intended to for him to leave me there. He…he bested me. Then, I woke up here."

Cassie blinked in surprise. That…that wasn't how her vision went. In her vision, it showed a dying angel being consumed by hungry shadows. So, what had changed? Cassie couldn't figure it out. She knew that shadow meant Sunny and the angel was Nephis. But Nephis wasn't consumed. The future had changed. She turned her blind eyes towards Nephis, seeking the other's. "Did what I tell you be of use to you then?" she asked in a small voice.

Nephis almost glared at the blind girl, but then took a breath to calm herself. "In a way."

"What does that mean?" Effie asked, blinking between the oracle and the leader of their cohort.

"Sunny has a True Name. I won't say it here. But it created a sort of a bond between us. It allows me to see his runes. I can see his Attributes, his Memories, everything."

"How is that possible?" Kai all but squeaked out in disbelief.

"I do not know. I believe it has something to do with Sunny's True Name. When I said it out loud."

"How did you even find out his True Name to begin with? I mean he always went to such great lengths to portray himself as nothing more than a scout, a weak one at that, with some sword skills." Effie asked, addressing the elephant in the room.

"I…I saw him tell Gunlaug's spy in…in a vision," Cassie replied brokenly. "So, I told Neph…be…because of an…anoth…another vision…I…I…thou…thought it might be useful to her."

The four young adults sat in quiet thought. Kai and Effie were in shock. Nephis kept her thoughts to herself. That had been a lot to process. They now had an absolute way to track Sunny's health, but that didn't help their dark thoughts. The silence settled over the room like a thick fog that none of them wished to dispel.

"The first thing we need to do is to get him out of the Academy," Kai said suddenly.

"Why would we do that?" Effie replied throwing the archer a complicated look. "The Academy is one of the most secure facilities in the world. Why would we move him from there?"

"Yes, it's secure, but the rooms are also monitored. We won't be able to speak freely or come and go. If he stays there, we will be monitored. But if we can find a way to move him…" Kai trailed off. Nephis could see the logic in what he was saying.

Nephis looked inwards at Sunny's runes. It seemed he was doing something crazy/stupid again. She sighed. That caught the others' attention.

"There is merit to what Kai is saying," Neph said quietly.

"We'll need resources. Which we all have, with that SSA tag we gained. Give me a few days to see what I can come up with. Any loopholes or laws that we can use to our advantage. I'll let you know." The three women left Kai's apartment with plans to figure out a way to "liberate" Sunny's sleeping body from the Academy. They had all agreed to meet back at Kai's apartment in 3 days.

"Neph…" Cassie turned her head in the direction of the older girl once they were seated in the PTV headed back towards the Academy. Cassie had chosen to remain at the Academy to be closer to both Nephis and Sunny, rather than go back to her family, and Nephis had nowhere else to go.

"You should not have told me, Cassie. It was not your secret to tell," Nephis replied quietly. Cassie wilted under the perceived stare from her friend. Nephis reached out her hand to hold Cassie's. "But I am glad you did. Seeing his vitals on the sleeping pod are one thing. But being able to see his runes and see his achievements and knowing that he's truly alive and hasn't gone Lost or Hollow, that brings me comfort." Cassie gave her friend's hand a small squeeze.

The four of them were sitting in Kai's apartment once again. Kai apparently had found some good news on being able to move their lost shadow somewhere a little more convenient.

"So here's what I've found. It's a little-known loophole. It will require you, Lady Nephis, to reclaim your Clan, openly." Nephis made a rude sound in the back of her throat. "Let me explain. There are about fifty or so of the survivors from Forgotten Shore that are willing to pledge absolute loyalty to you. That's our base for your new Clan. From there, we can reopen your manor and use that as our base of operations. We'll have to come up with a new name, but that can wait. Once we've established the Clan's base of operations, you, as the head of the Clan, will adopt Sunny."

"What?!?!" Nephis spluttered, losing her composure momentarily.

"Not like a brother or anything too close. Like a second or third cousin. Or we could even have one of the other survivors claim him. As long as someone from within the Clan claims kinship. That's the important part. Once he's claimed as "family", we can have him moved to the same facility where I was being kept. That way, we can make sure that he's never alone, either from someone from the Clan or a caregiver."

"Wow, Kai, sounds like you really came through for us," Effie said around a mouthful of food. Nephis nodded slowly. Although she had a lot of bad memories associated with her family manor, she had to admit that Kai was right, and in theory, it sounded like a good plan. With over fifty Awakened with the SSA tag, they would have access to resources that she alone wouldn't have access to. This would also allow them the freedom to avoid the Greater Clans like Song and Valor, at least for the time being.

"I have no objections," the silver-haired girl said. Effie whooped and Cassie agreed. They had a plan. It would take some time to put it in motion but having a plan but better than drifting hopelessly.

It took the four of them working together the better part of three weeks to coordinate everything and get the Immortal Flame Manor renovated and back up to code. The group had decided to call themselves the Fire Keepers. They had banded together to protect their shadow. They all knew that without him, they wouldn't have made it to the top of the Spire safely. So, now they were going to protect him. Damnit.

Everything was ready. They carefully opened up the sleeping pod and transferred Sunny's still sleeping body to his new pod that had a three-hour battery life. He had a full escort of powerful Awakened as he was being transferred to the VIP care facility. Tears were shed by the newly formed Fire Keepers clan as they watched the pod being installed. A roster was assigned so that someone would be by his side at all times, and still give the Awakened time in the Dream Realm. Nephis watched somberly as the lights on the pod lit up as it was being plugged into the wall so that it wasn't being run by the battery. Cassie, Kai, and Effie were behind her. Sunny might have been a prickly shadow, but he was their shadow. Nephis checked his runes again. He had grown from when she had last checked them.

'He will come back. He has to,' she thought before turning and walking out of the room. The rest of her cohort followed silently behind her.