Through The Maze

Sunny froze, finally understanding the implication of his words, but still couldn't grasp why Nephis was so mad. 

'She was the one walking around naked up until a half hour ago…'

Before Nephis could start her chastising, Sunny hurriedly raised his hands and tried to explain.

"But I have never used it to do anything improper. The only times I used it in the academy were for training and gathering information."

Fortunately, it was the honest truth. However, Nephis still watched him with visible doubt as she scrutinized his posture prompting Sunny to let out a resigned sigh.

"Just think about it, don't you think you, who was stalking me for the entire duration of our time in the academy, would have noticed that I didn't have a shadow?"

Nephis nodded, then shook her head.

"You could have done it at night."

Sunny shook his head.

"The boy and girls dorms are separated from each other by almost the entire complex, the girls dorms were outside of the range of my shadow."

Finally having been cornered, Nephis just glared at him with subtle suspicion but didn't seem to be planning on pressing the matter further. 

At that point, Cassie, who noticed the tense atmosphere, turned to Nephis and asked.

"Um… Neph, what exactly are your abilities… Ah! I mean other than your sword skills."

***

The next morning Cassie awoke with a start, surprising her companions who were participating in a relaxed spar.

Halting her sword, Nephis turned towards the blind girl with a small frown, taking note of her nervous but excited expression.

"Cassie? What's the matter?"

The blind girl turned to them and smiled, her face a little pale.

"A… a vision! I had a vision!"

'Like… a prophetic dream?' Sunny thought, noting down yet another branch of her abilities all the while keeping a passive expression on his face.

Meanwhile, Changing Star stretched her hand, as though prepared to summon her sword.

"Are we in danger?"

Cassie energetically shook her head.

"No, it's not that! People… I saw a castle full of people!"

She smiled and pointed with her finger.

"I don't know how far it is, but I'm sure that it's in that direction!"

Nephis's face flinched and grimaced, while Sunny's turned thoughtful.

Not getting a response from either of her companions, Cassie's excited expression faltered and with a hint of nervousness she asked;

"Is there something wrong?"

Nephis remained silent, not knowing how to tell her friend, and Sunny sighed as he felt the headache of his flaw;

"Not particularly, it's just that's the direction of the corrupted devil's corpse, where most of the Scavengers are gathered."

He paused for a second as he weighed their options before continuing;

"If we want to try to reach that place we'll have to leave soon, otherwise those beasts might finish eating that corpse and begin to roam the labyrinth again."

"Oh…"

Cassie's face fell.

Nephis, who was quietly listening to them, gave him an indecipherable look and finally spoke:

"Tell us more about the castle."

A shadow of the previous excitement returned to Cassie's eyes. With a serious nod, she began describing her vision.

"I dreamt of a vast, ruined city built of weathered stone. It was surrounded by tall, impregnable walls. Various monsters were wandering its narrow streets. In the center of the city, the was a hill, and on that hill stood a magnificent castle."

She smiled.

"But there were no monsters in the castle! Instead, it was full of people. I think… no, I'm sure that they were Awakened. Some were guarding the walls, some were going about their lives without a care in the world. There was food, safety, and laughter!"

'Well, that sounds great.'

If this castle really existed, then all of their problems would be solved. Sunny cleared his throat.

"Did you see anything else?"

Cassie frowned, trying to remember. Then, her face cleared.

"Yes! I saw Sunny leading me through the gates of the castle! That means we will make it!"

A brilliant smile appeared on her doll-like face, beaming with so much joy that Sunny couldn't help but curl his lips.

Inwardly, however, he was stuck on a certain detail of Cassie's vision. It was that, when talking about reaching the castle, the blind girl only mentioned the two of them. Was there some meaning behind it?

Sunny turned his head a little and secretly glanced at Nephis, trying to discern if she had picked up on that little discrepancy, too.

Changing Star, however, was as enigmatic as ever. Without showing much emotion, she thought for a while, and then slowly nodded.

"Okay. Then we will go west."

***

After making their decision, they only took one day to prepare and left at the dawn of the next day.

They moved quickly, moving easily through the labyrinth without sustaining any injuries other than some minor scratches. But to Sunny, this was to be expected.

Sunny alone was already enough to fight a half dozen Carapace Scavengers, but when paired with Nephis who was far more knowledgeable when it came to the dream realm, he believed that nothing below an awakened demon would be able to give them any major trouble.

This belief, which Nephis thought stemmed from his overconfidence, was proven to be correct just a few days later when they encountered another storm and were forced into close proximity to an awakened monster.

The fight wasn't easy, of course, but they had managed to kill it with the only major injury being an inch-deep gash in Sunny's shoulder. Which Nephis then healed immediately despite Sunny's protests.

Along with their progress towards the castle, they also made progress in strength. Both Cassie and Nephis had absorbed over thirty soul shards along the trip, and now Sunny was only four shadow fragments away from filling his core. 

But now, they had reached the edge of the crimson labyrinth, and without any hesitation, they moved forward.

As soon as they left the familiar confines of the labyrinth and stepped into the vast expanse of the ashen wasteland, Sunny felt strangely uncomfortable. It was as though he had unknowingly turned slightly agoraphobic while traveling through the complicated madness of the crimson maze.

He had grown accustomed to being surrounded by tall walls of coral, with endless tangled paths stretching in all directions for as far as he could see. Despite the fact that the labyrinth was hiding numerous dangers, it also offered a strange sort of safety.

At least in the case of Sunny, who had the advantage of being able to see beyond its twists and turns thanks to his stealthy Shadow Scout.

Shrugging off his discomfort, Sunny glanced beside him at Nephis, wondering if she would have any reaction to the change in environment.

But instead of the expected discomfort. He met with her piercing grey eyes as she watched him with an unreadable expression.

Sunny trembled.

'This again?'

He felt as if Nephis's eyes were burning holes in him, and the frequency at which it occurred started to frighten him.

Nephis, noticing his shift in demeanor, gave a small but dazzling smile before shifting her gaze to the land of ash-grey sand that stretched into the horizon. And after a moment of hesitation, she spoke;

"Alright, let's go."

And so they walked.

Until finally, they reach the only high point in sight…

The Ashen Borrow.

— — — — — — —

End of Chapter.

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