Shadow Slave

Sleep was avoiding Sunny. For a while, he sat silently in the darkness, listening to the calming rumbling of the waves. In this rare moment of respite, memories of the past few days came flooding into his mind. However, he was too tired to seriously think about anything. He was warm, full, and relatively safe. For now, that was more than enough.

Soon, the rhythm of Cassia’s breathing changed, indicating that she fell asleep. Nephis was guarding the camp, motionless and, as always, a bit distant. With her silver hair and fair skin, she looked like an alabaster statue.

Sunny sighed. He struggled for a bit, and then said quietly:

“Hey. Can I ask you a question?”

Nephis glanced at him and shrugged. The lack of an audible response clearly indicated that she remembered about his ability to see in the dark.

“Sure.”

‘Would it be too personal?’

Sunny hesitated.

“I thought you Legacies come into the Spell with a whole inherited arsenal of Memories. I mean, that’s supposed to be your main advantage. How come you only had three?”

Nephis was silent for a few moments.

“Actually, I only had two. The rope came from Cassie.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh. I see.”

Realizing that her answer wasn’t really an answer, Nephis thought for a while and added:

“We lost most of our Memories when my father passed away. The ones that remained were sold one by one over the years, to keep the family afloat. This sword and armor came from my First Nightmare.”

So that’s how it was. Sunny realized that the fall of the Immortal Flame clan might have been more thorough than he had thought. Still, something about it didn’t make sense.

“Surely, with your clan’s reputation and standing, there were other ways to make money.”

Without any strong reaction, Nephis simply said:

“There were other reasons.”

Then, she unexpectedly turned her head in his direction.

“Can I ask you a question in return?”

Sunny swallowed.

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Nephis tilted her head.

“How did you know that I’m a Legacy?”

‘What? That’s it?’

“Simple. I heard Caster mention it. He was scolding other Sleepers to make them treat you with respect.”

She gave him a nod and turned away. What thoughts were hidden behind her calm grey eyes, Sunny did not know.

Some time had passed before he gathered enough courage to ask the question that he really wanted to ask. Before doing it, though, he made sure that Cassie was sound asleep and lowered his voice.

I ask

a negative

burdening yourself

Star’s mouth curled up

“Why? Wouldn’t you?”

teeth, feeling the Flaw pushing the truthful

“No.”

to the last moment that the answer would be “yes”. But one of the things he had lost after the Nightmare was the ability to lie to himself. Truth

something

be a

not seem to judge him. She showed no

“Because I want to.”

‘Because… she wants to?’

she would either lecture him about virtue and compassion or disclose

in danger, to the point of sacrificing an awakened armor-type Memory,

‘Ridiculous!’

as a non-answer. But the more he

maybe, it was actually the

life, Sunny had never really done things because he wanted to. Most of the time, he was doing them because he needed to. It was never a question of “want”… it was always a question of “must”. For him, this

a matter of perspective? Nephis had certain advantages in her upbringing, but they weren’t as ample as he had imagined. She had no wealth and no arsenal of relics to empower her. However, she did have a mentality

of something as frivolous as desire, and do things that a normal person like

girl simply because that was what

mentality was the greatest

the real barrier that separated Legacies from the rest of

a lot to think about. However, before

“My turn.”

does she mean it’s her turn to ask

that was what she meant. Changing Star once again turned

you know the legend of

who? What sort of

head. Then, remembering that

“No.”

and turned away. A few moments

the legends, some humans back then had powers akin to the Awakened. Achilles with an Aspect of indestructible body, Diomedes that was so ferocious even the God of War was wary of him, Ajax who was as strong as a giant. Odysseus was not the

at

come from? Why is she suddenly

Meanwhile, Nephis continued:

seas, never to return. Over the years, he survived one horror after another and lost all of his companions.

resounded in the darkness, creating an enthralling atmosphere. Sunny couldn’t help but

they lived together in harmony. The island was like a paradise, filled with all kinds of wonders, delicacies and delights.

Nephis smiled.

the island, leaving all its delights, the beautiful fairy, and even his

Sunny blinked.

‘What?’

considered that Nephis was mocking him, but it didn’t

‘Weirdo!’

for a bit, and then said without too much

was because he was far away

appeared on

away… from