Seele did not respond immediately, and the faint annoyance that flickered across her expression was subtle but unmistakable. Her lips pressed together for a brief moment, as though she had expected him to linger on the previous topic rather than abandon it so abruptly. Still, she did not call him out on it, which in itself said enough about how much she had changed. Instead, she exhaled softly and leaned back slightly, her gaze drifting toward the dim horizon of the Underworld as she spoke.
"Well, if you must know, I was put in the body of one of the last soldiers in Vera's crumbling army. Since Veliona and I were put into different bodies, I couldn't use my Dormant Ability. My squad got killed by a Corrupted Nightmare Creature, and I ran away. I met up with Sparkle in the Ivory City, and the two of us kind of just hung around until you guys attacked with that Noctis guy. Wasn't a bad experience, all things considered."
Sunny blinked once, then twice, his expression flattening into something that bordered on disbelief as he turned to stare at her. The words registered clearly, but their meaning refused to settle in a way that felt acceptable. There was a disconnect between what she described and what he understood a Nightmare to be, and that disconnect grated against him more than any outright contradiction.
Was she… serious?
His mind instinctively compared her account to his own experience, and the disparity was so extreme that it felt almost insulting. He had been thrown into a coliseum, forced to claw his way through enemies for the sake of survival, only to be hunted relentlessly afterward by a Corrupted abomination, something that could have erased him without effort. The escalation had not stopped there, layering conflict upon conflict until even breathing felt like a temporary privilege rather than a given.
And she had… wandered around a city.
Sunny's eyes narrowed slightly, not in suspicion exactly, but in quiet rejection of what he had just heard. The Nightmare Spell did not grant Ascension lightly, and it certainly did not hand it out for casual participation. There were rules, even if they were not clearly defined, and suffering had always seemed to be one of them.
"There's no way that's all! You're telling me you just… ran away, found someone, and waited it out?"
Seele glanced at him from the corner of her eye, her expression unreadable for a moment before she shrugged.
"I told you what happened. Whether you believe it or not isn't really my problem."
Sunny studied her in silence, his gaze searching for inconsistencies that he could latch onto, something that would justify his doubt. There were pieces missing, that much he was certain of. Seele was not the type to abandon others so easily, even if they were strangers, and the idea that she had simply dissociated them as part of an illusion felt… incomplete.
Then again, Nightmares were illusions.
At least, they were supposed to be.
His thoughts drifted briefly to Noctis, to the unsettling awareness the man had displayed regarding his own existence. That alone was enough to dismantle the assumption that these constructs were harmless or detached from reality. If something within a Nightmare could recognize itself as false, then the boundary between illusion and truth was far thinner than it should have been.
Sunny exhaled quietly, letting the thought fade before it could take root. There was no benefit in chasing contradictions he could not resolve.
Instead, he shifted the conversation.
"So, Sparkle. What's her deal?"
Seele tilted her head slightly, considering the question.
"She was a wandering magician. Also a fortune teller. She never told me what she was actually looking for, though. Which is weird to be doing in the first place, considering how many Nightmare Creatures were around."
Sunny nodded slowly, unsurprised by the description. It aligned with what he already knew, or at least what little he was willing to admit he knew. Sparkle had always been… difficult to pin down, existing in a space where intention and deception blurred together seamlessly.
That, more than anything else, made her useful.
"You have her number, right? Give it to me."
Seele's gaze lingered on him for a moment longer than necessary, her expression shifting into something faintly amused as she tilted her head.
"Nah."
Sunny blinked.
"Nah?"
She shrugged, entirely unbothered by his reaction.
"Don't feel like it. Besides, aren't you two friends who go way back? How come you don't have her number?"
Sunny averted his gaze, irritation flickering faintly beneath the surface.
"Something like that. And I just never felt the need to — actually, are you in any position to say no? You're my slave."
Seele's eyes narrowed slightly, though the reaction lacked any real heat.
"That doesn't apply. First of all, I am at most a subordinate. Second, this definitely infringes on my rights."
Sunny scoffed, folding his arms.
"I took away your right to have rights. You're essentially my property."
She rolled her eyes, the motion exaggerated enough to make her opinion clear.
"Tell you what. Do me a favor, and I'll give it to you."
Sunny stared at her for a moment, his expression deadpan.
"It's just a phone number... I'm listening."
There was a certain familiarity to the exchange, a quiet understanding rooted in shared experience. Both of them had grown up in environments where nothing came freely, where every interaction carried an underlying sense of transaction. It was not surprising that they defaulted to it even now.
Seele seemed to consider her request carefully, her gaze drifting for a moment as though weighing her options before she spoke again.
"There's a festival coming up. I don't really care about it, but I'll go if you come with."
Sunny's lips pressed together slightly as he studied her, suspicion flickering faintly in his gaze.
"Uh-huh. And why me? Can't you get Bronya or something?"
Seele stared at him for a few seconds, her expression shifting into something that was equal parts disbelief and mild irritation.
"Think about it. Maybe you'll figure something out, you idiot."
Sunny felt his composure falter for a fraction of a second as the implication settled in, his thoughts stalling in a way that he did not appreciate. The realization was immediate, unwelcome, and impossible to ignore.
This was a date.
The word itself carried a weight he had no intention of engaging with, and his mind instinctively rejected the idea before it could fully form. Romance was not something he could afford, not when he understood the consequences of attachment better than most.
Still, the situation was not entirely without benefit.
He wanted Sparkle's number, and there was no real loss in agreeing to something that could easily be reframed as a casual outing. The distinction mattered, even if it only existed in his own mind.
"When is it?"
"In a week."
Sunny considered it briefly, then nodded.
"Fine."
Seele did not react in any noticeable way. Instead, she simply stood, her movements smooth and unhurried as she turned away from him. For a brief moment, she remained where she was, as though considering something unspoken, before her form blurred.
A flurry of fractured light followed, her figure dissolving into distorted afterimages that resembled butterflies with torn, flickering wings. Then she was gone, leaving only the quiet hum of the Underworld in her absence.
Sunny sighed softly, his gaze lingering on the space she had occupied before he stepped backward into the shadows.
The world shifted.
***
Seele reappeared on an empty street, the transition leaving behind faint echoes of light that dissipated almost immediately. For a moment, she stood still, her expression carefully neutral as she scanned her surroundings.
Then, once she was certain she was alone, her composure shattered.
A wide grin spread across her face, and she pumped her fist into the air, a quiet, triumphant sound escaping her before she could stop it.
"Yes!"
Her voice was low, almost breathless, as though she were afraid of being overheard despite the emptiness around her.
Within the depths of her Soul Sea, another presence stirred.
[...Seele, you weakling.]
Veliona's voice carried its usual sharpness, though there was something beneath it this time, something more measured than outright mockery.
[How would you go about cutting open an impenetrable spiked wall?]
Seele blinked, the question catching her off guard as she tilted her head slightly.
"What kind of question is that? What is there to think about? You just cut it."
There was a brief pause.
Veliona asked, her tone quieter than usual.
[You wouldn't go around it?]
Seele frowned, confusion flickering across her features.
"You asked how to cut it, not how to get past it!"
This time, there was no immediate response.
The silence that followed felt… different.
***
Within her Soul Sea, a vast expanse of flowers stretched endlessly in every direction, their petals shifting gently beneath an unseen breeze. Above, twin moons hung suspended in the sky, one glowing a soft, tranquil blue while the other burned with a deeper, more ominous red.
Veliona stood alone beneath their light.
She was identical to Seele in every visible way, save for the subtle differences that marked her existence. Her eyes carried a crimson hue, her hair threaded with the same color, and her presence felt sharper, more defined in a way that bordered on unnatural.
Slowly, she lowered her gaze.
Her body was covered in lines.
Hundreds of them, perhaps thousands, thin red marks that traced across her skin in intricate patterns that resembled fractures more than wounds. They did not bleed, nor did they appear fresh, but their presence was undeniable.
Veliona studied them in silence, her expression unreadable as she traced one of the lines with her fingers.
Then, quietly, she spoke.
"You'll go around it, Seele."
Her voice was soft, almost gentle, though the words carried a weight that lingered in the air.
"I'll be the one to cut it…"
She paused, her gaze lifting slightly as the red moon above seemed to pulse faintly.
"…or be pierced trying."