"No one…" Kai muttered, frowning at the ground below. Four days of searching, and still not a trace of a Sleeper.
Asher leaned back mid-flight, his tone flat. "Hey, Kai… don't you think you're trying too hard?"
Kai let out a breath, then bloomed a bright smile. "Haha… am I?" He sighed, then smiled faintly. "Maybe it just means I wanted to see you sing more than I thought."
Asher grimaced. "Trust me, man, I'd sound like a dying horse. You wouldn't enjoy it."
Kai chuckled, turning around. "All The more reason I want to hear it! Making fun of each other is part of friendship too, isn't it?"
Asher fell quiet. The words dug at something he didn't quite know how to answer. Friendship, in his old life, had been a word without meaning—people were either family, rivals, or opportunists looking to leech off his work. Then again... maybe, if he hadn't kept everyone at arm's length, he'd have known what it actually felt like...
He shrugged at last. "I guess."
Kai tilted his head back with a smile. "Well, it's Lady Nephis' loss. I say we head back."
"Finally," Asher groaned. "This expedition was pointless anyway."
In all honesty, he thought that he might actually find someone who reincarnated into the world just like him, but surprisingly, the world seemingly couldn't pull another estranged soul into the realm it appears.
By nightfall, the two of them were gliding side by side, the quiet wind rushing past. Kai glanced around, searching for familiar cues in the dark, but Asher patted his back. "Relax. Just follow me."
Kai tilted his head. "By all rights, Asher, we should wait until morning to get our bearings. At least then we'd know east from west. Or we could—"
"I know where the Bright Castle is," Asher interrupted. His eyes narrowed. "More precisely, I can sense where the Crimson Spire is."
It didn't take too long for Kai to figure it out, "You can… feel distortions in space-time because of your connection to gravity!"
Asher nodded. "Though my range with citadel gates seems… unnatural."
Kai nodded slowly, his face open and thoughtful. He didn't press further. For a while, they just flew in silence—until Asher finally spoke again, his tone quieter.
"…Hey, Kai?"
Kai smiled. "Mm?"
"Have you ever hated someone… so much you wanted to kill them?"
Kai didn't even hesitate. He shook his head firmly. "No. I've never hated anyone."
Asher slowed, the wind thinning enough that he could hear his own breath. "…How?"
Kai chuckled softly, scratching the back of his head. "…I don't fully understand it myself." His voice grew gentler. "But… once you understand what drives someone, it's hard to hate them. No matter how cruel they are."
He looked at the night sky above, slowly gliding beside Asher, "Instead of seeing evil, I see damage. Rather than the cruelty, I see the wounds that never healed. Lies bring out fear, and they crack facades. My flaw makes that really easy to see."
He looked down at the dark sea with slightly narrowed eyes. "When you start to see people that way… you stop hating. You just seemingly understand."
Then he turned back to Asher, smiling with that disarming warmth that seemed to radiate from him. "…So that's why. I just can't bring myself to hate anyone."
Asher stared at him in silence, the salty wind brushing past. For once, he didn't have a sarcastic remark. His chest tightened faintly, though he didn't quite know why.
"…I see," was all he managed. His gaze turned away, slipping back into thought as the waves whispered below.
***
Beads of sweat slid down Sunny's temple. He was close… so close to grasping the first step of Shadow Dance. His torso twisted, the Midnight Shard weaving through the air in an elegant arc—
Then his expression darkened. With a sigh, he dismissed the blade and sank into a chair. A moment later, the window shutters burst open.
Asher shot inside like a comet, barely controlling his momentum. He crashed into the far wall with a resounding thud, leaving his red face stamped against it. Kai, by contrast, landed with the grace of a leaf drifting to the ground.
"Asher," Sunny muttered, unimpressed.
The boy peeled himself off the wall and staggered forward, thrusting out a hand. Sunny grimaced but summoned the Endless Spring, tossing it to him. Asher gulped the water greedily, then tossed it to Kai, who drank in turn.
Sunny studied the two. Both were relatively unscathed. A little dirty, but that did little to take out the charm the two exuded.
He turned to Asher. Asher's appearance slowly seemed to revert back to normal. Now he only had strips of black at the end of his long white hair. His eyes returned to the true blue that they were.
"Welcome back," Sunny said at last, before glancing at Kai. "Well?"
Asher cut in, grinning ear to ear. "Nephis lost."
Sunny's lips pressed inward, a tremor of suppressed laughter shaking his shoulders. "This will be… entertaining."
"I should save my smiles," Asher muttered, tugging his cheeks down theatrically.
When they reached the council chamber, everyone was already waiting. Nephis stood at the head, her gaze sweeping the room before landing on Kai—deliberately skipping over Asher. After a pause, she asked, voice steady but low:
"How many?"
Kai's expression grew grave. He shook his head. "Asher was right."
Asher's smirk widened. "You know what that means, don't you, Nephis?"
With a sigh, Nephis slowly nodded and stared at the fire burning in the hearth for a bit.
Finally, she said without looking at him:
"...Tell everyone to gather in the throne room. I will speak to them."
Without wasting any time, Caster bowed slightly and left the room. Everyone looked at Nephis, who stood silently watch the hearth. Despite the seriousness of what to come, they couldn't help but look forward to it. After all... What would follow...
"Pfft—" Effie couldn't hold her laugh, the silence in the room breaking.
Kai exhaled softly, pity in his gaze. "Good luck, Lady Nephis."
Nephis' face was deadpan, her silence amplifying Effie's crack.