Nephis blinked, slowly opening her eyes. She didn't know exactly when she had fallen asleep, but it made sense. The previous day had been exhausting. Sailing through an endless sea suspended in time, hunted by abominations capable of devouring her in a single bite... wasn't exactly an experience she wanted to repeat.
As her vision shifted from the usual blur of waking to full awareness, she felt it.
A strange sensation ran through her body. It was similar to the fatigue that followed a day of extreme training, but two things made it deeply unsettling.
First: as an Ascended with five Soul Cores, Nephis should not have felt physical exhaustion like this. And second — far more worrying — she had no idea where she was. There was no boat. No Sunny. Maybe... was this a dream?
Around her, there was only water. A sea without end, crystal clear and perfectly still. It resembled the River of Time, but she knew, instinctively and completely, that it was different. It wasn't the sea of nightmares, nor her personal soulscape. It was something else. Something unknown.
And she felt it with every fiber of her being: she didn't belong here.
She was walking on water. Not floating. Not swimming. Walking. Without sinking. The surface was so smooth it looked like liquid glass. There were no waves. No wind. No sound — save her own breathing, which grew louder with every passing second because of the suffocating silence surrounding her.
And that calm... was not peaceful.
It was terrifying.
Nephis bit her lower lip softly, trying to focus. Something was wrong. It was as if the entire world were holding its breath.
But if this was a dream, nothing should happen... right? And if it was a nightmare... Sunny would save her.
Only, it didn't feel like either.
She began to walk, slowly and cautiously. She didn't know what this place was, but something inside her urged her forward. Ten steps in, the discomfort in her chest morphed into something heavier. Pressure. Like the kind she had felt once before — when she thought she had lost everything.
Twenty steps.
Then she heard it.
A faint sound, so subtle it could only exist in absolute silence: dripping. Drops falling. Slow, steady. Like a leak in the dead of night. Or distant rain.
Thirty steps.
The world changed.
The water, once perfectly calm, stirred. Waves rose from nowhere — massive and wild — but none touched her. They surged around her, as if trying to block her path. As if the sea itself were fighting... her. Her presence.
Three more steps.
And then she understood.
She looked behind her.
Where she had walked, the water was now red. A river of blood spread rapidly in her wake, staining the infinite sea. The waves tried to fight it, but they failed.
Within seconds, half the sea behind her was crimson.
Nephis felt her throat tighten. She raised a hand to her chest. Her heart was pounding violently, as though it were trying to escape her ribs.
And then she saw them.
In the distorted reflection of blood, faces began to appear. Not enemies. Not monsters.
People.
People who had followed her.
Not the ones she had slain in battle — these were the forgotten. The innocent. The ones she had convinced. The ones who had trusted her with blind faith.
The ones who had died for her.
The ones from the Forgotten Shore.
Those to whom she had given hope. Promised escape from a nightmare... and who died without ever seeing the light of day.
She had tricked them with beautiful words. With promises she had no right to make. She had led them forward — and led them to their deaths.
She remembered some faces. Two brown-haired girls. One who always stood guard outside her room. Another who cared for Cassie when she couldn't. Loyal. Kind. Brave.
Dead.
Nephis fell to her knees.
She felt heavy. Drowning. But the worst part wasn't the weight of blood.
It was the fear.
Because not all that blood came from the Forgotten Shore.
In the reflection, she saw war. Corpses. Men and women who had died in her name. Who had followed her for hope... and found only ruin.
Because "Changing Star" could also be read as "Star of Ruin."
And that name... suited her better.
She didn't want to take another step. She was afraid of what she would see ahead.
Because the thing she feared most...
Was seeing her friends.
What if they died for her, too?
Sunny. Cassie. Effie. Kai.
If her ambition led them to death... was it truly worth it?
The light surrounding her began to dim. Her radiance faded, as though drowning beneath the weight of her guilt.
Until she saw it.
A shadow appeared in the distance, coiling around the river of blood. At first small... then vast. Towering. It drew closer — not with malice, but with intent.
And when it reached Nephis, it did not consume her.
It embraced her.
It wrapped around her.
And in that silent gesture, the pressure on her chest eased. The weight in her mind — the one she hadn't even realized she was carrying — lifted.
The shadow didn't speak. But it didn't need to. It seemed to say one thing:
Keep going.
And so she did.
Her conviction returned. She wasn't a hero. Never would be. But her ambition... her madness... was necessary.
She walked forty more steps.
And then she saw it.
The source of the sound. A radiant figure. A woman made of light and crystal.
It was... her.
Tears fell from that woman's eyes into the sea. Clear, beautiful droplets.
But that Nephis... she was different.
She looked like a goddess from some distant tale.
And when she spoke, her voice pierced through Nephis like a blade:
—Don't let Sunny be—...
But the rest vanished.
Erased. As though someone had torn the memory from her mind before she could finish hearing it.
And then the world trembled.
Nephis collapsed to her knees again, and when she opened her eyes—
Sunny was holding her.
And for the first time since it all began, Nephis cried.
But her tears weren't weakness.
They were human.
Nephis didn't hear a single word escape Sunny's lips. She only felt his arms—strong, though trembling—wrap around her in a firm embrace. It was warm, silent... real. Her breathing, which had been uneven, frantic, overwhelmed by emotion, slowly began to steady, like a storm calming after the chaos.
A minute passed.
Though a few tears still trailed down her cheeks, Nephis had finally regained control. Her chest no longer heaved with strain. Her breath returned to normal. With a hint of self-consciousness, she turned her head away.
After all, her face had been buried in Sunny's chest.
Every now and then, his fingers gently brushed through her hair in an awkward but sincere attempt to soothe her. And... it worked. The simple, repetitive motion brought comfort. It felt human.
When she finally looked up to meet his gaze, she found Sunny staring back at her with those deep, dark eyes. There was a slight confusion in them, almost comically misplaced, like he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do next. They both sat there in silence, awkward and quiet, not knowing what to say.
Because, for all his experience surviving impossible worlds... Sunny didn't know how to comfort someone.
Especially not someone he loved.
And Nephis... she was never the type to cry.
The silence lingered—but it wasn't uncomfortable. Just... human. Inevitable.
Then Sunny lifted a hand. Carefully, he brought his fingers to her cheek and wiped away the final tear with a dry, gentle touch. He gave her a smile—one of those rare, bright smiles she hardly ever saw—and pulled her into another embrace. Then, in a voice so soft it barely carried, he whispered:
—Everything's fine. Don't worry.
⸻
Later, Nephis indulged in one of her old favorite habits—something she hadn't done in what felt like years: checking Sunny's runes.
It was always fun. The spell had a bizarre obsession with him, as if it didn't quite know how to categorize him. The [Memories] he acquired were strange, exotic, and completely unique—each one more curious than the last.
Nephis grinned as she looked over the most recent one... easily the most impressive so far, born from none other than the corpse of the great blue leviathan—the sea serpent that had ruled over the River of Time.
⸻
Memory Rank: Supreme
Memory Tier: I
Memory Type: Tool
Memory Description:
Memory Rank: Supreme.
Memory Tier: I.
Memory Type: Tool.[39]
Memory Description:[There was a king who ruled over a dying land. The king was valiant and wise. Refusing to embrace despair, he thought of an audacious plan, gathered his companions, and braved the endless desert to enter the Tomb of Ariel, where the Great River flowed endlessly from the future into the past. Thus, the valiant king became a guide who guarded his people in their nightmares.
They built a city at the edge of dawn and gathered an army to vanquish that which was defiled. However, in the end, the army was destroyed, the city was lost, and the valiant king himself succumbed to madness.
Consumed by wrath and resentment, he turned into a mindless beast and roamed the Great River for countless years. Nothing could withstand his hunger and fury... until, one day, the mad king met a treacherous shadow.
"But what do you even know?" said the shadow. "Do you think you're so special? I know fury, too. I know hunger, too. I know madness, too! Oh... and I've killed plenty of creatures more powerful than me, too. Who are you to dare stare me down, beast?"
"I am Lost from Light, who was born from the shadows. I am the rightful heir of death and the bastard son of fate. Wherever I go, ruin follows. If you had any sense, you would have run away as soon as you saw me."
And, true to his word, treacherous Lost from Light battled the mad king, eventually becoming his doom.
That was how the king who had outlived his land died
⸻
Nephis let out a small laugh as she reread the last part.
The image of Sunny delivering that over-the-top speech in the middle of battle, full of terrifying bravado, was still vivid in her mind. It had been the first time a [Memory] recorded someone's actual words and etched them into its own story... and she doubted that was a coincidence.
The spell probably felt just as embarrassed as Sunny.
Still smiling at the memory, she went to look for him aboard the ship—which continued to drift on its own, with no visible direction, gliding over the waters of time like it was following some forgotten path. They had no control. But right now, that didn't matter.
She found Sunny sitting near the bow. His black hair—now longer and slightly messy from the damp air—fell around his shoulders like a curtain of shadows. His eyes were closed, lashes long. He seemed to be asleep... but Nephis could tell. He was awake. Just too comfortable to open his eyes.
—Sunny... do you think you could help me improve my speeches?
The dark-haired boy didn't answer immediately. He blinked slowly, clearly disoriented.
—What are you tal—
He never finished the sentence.
Nephis had already begun mimicking his voice in a mock-solemn tone:
—"I'm Lost from Light, who was born from—"
Sunny froze.
His expression shifted instantly from sleepy to horrified. A pink flush spread across his ears. In a panic, he reached out and clamped his hands over her mouth before she could go on.
—No! —his eyes begged her—. Please, forget that ever happened!
Nephis chuckled silently, amused, and looked at him for a few seconds. That mixture of embarrassment and desperation was so very... him. Then, easily overpowering his grip with her superior strength, she gently pried his hands away.
—Mmm... maybe I'll forget for one day, Sunny.
And she smiled again—because for once, the nightmare felt far away. And the present... warm.