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.

ask

getting a negative

are you burdening

Star’s mouth

“Why? Wouldn’t you?”

gritted his teeth, feeling the Flaw pushing the truthful

“No.”

honest, he wanted to believe to the last moment that the answer would be “yes”. But one of the things

not that Sunny did not pity the blind girl or didn’t want to help her. It’s just that he knew with certainty that it was simply not something he could do. He was barely able to save himself, let alone carry a helpless person across the Dream Realm. If he tried, they would just

couldn’t help but be a

seem to judge him. She showed no reaction at all. After a few moments, she simply

“Because I want to.”

‘Because… she wants to?’

would either lecture him about virtue

danger, to the point of sacrificing an awakened armor-type Memory, because that was something she simply wanted to

‘Ridiculous!’

he dismissed her response as a non-answer. But the more he thought about it, the more disturbed he

maybe, it was actually

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”…

Nephis had certain advantages in her upbringing, but they weren’t as ample as he had

something as frivolous as desire, and

blind girl simply because that was what Nephis wanted

that mentality was the greatest advantage of

real barrier that separated Legacies from the rest of

lot to think about. However, before Sunny could gather his thoughts, Nephis suddenly

“My turn.”

she mean it’s her turn to ask

once again turned to

you know the legend

of a weird question

remembering that

“No.”

and turned away. A few

body, Diomedes that was so ferocious even the God

at

did this come from? Why is she suddenly

Meanwhile, Nephis continued:

to sail home. However, the gods cursed him to endlessly wander the seas, never to return. Over the years, he survived one horror after another and lost all of his companions. Then, shipwrecked, he found himself on an

darkness, creating an enthralling atmosphere.

many years, they lived together in harmony. The island was like a paradise, filled with all kinds of wonders, delicacies and delights. As long as loving Calypso was by his side, Odysseus was even immortal. But… the longer he

Nephis smiled.

end, Odysseus built a makeshift boat and abandoned the island, leaving all its delights, the beautiful fairy, and even his immortality

Sunny blinked.

‘What?’

mocking him, but

‘Weirdo!’

bit, and then said

it was because he was

smile appeared on Nephis’s

away… from home. Hm.