(Nephis' POV)
"Lady Nephis, the spire messenger-"
"Lady Changing Star, if I may..."
"...How are we going to divide the spoils?"
"Lady Nephis-"
A viscous ache was beating at my head, as a cacaphony of voices assaulted my ears, but I kept my expression neutral.
After our last hunt, we were suddenly attacked by a spire messenger, and if it weren't for Audun's presence, our first joint operation with the other outer settlement hunting parties could've ended in disaster.
Currently, we were in the main hall of our cohort's lodge discussing how we were going to divide up the spoils of the hunt, more specifically, the shards and materials from the spire messenger's corpse.
In most cases, we'd divide up the spoils based on contribution, but Audun had solo killed the spire messenger and relinquished any claim to its shard and memories, putting us in quite the predicament.
Normally, Audun would be seen as one of us, and no one would be able to refute our claim over the spoils, but due to his distant behavior over the last couple of weeks, he has become more akin to a freelancer in the eyes of the people, an image that he has made no effort to correct.
So, his ambiguous allegiance gave the hunters the confidence to demand a large share of the meat and materials left by the spire messenger, leaving little to none for the other inhabitants of the outer settlement and my cohort.
A sigh was building in my chest as a furrow unknowingly accented my brow.
Caster spoke up, cutting off the numerous hunters as they continued to make their demands.
"Look, we understand-"
But he was also cut off.
Though what silenced him wasn't another voice, but a sharp presence that put everyone on edge.
A faint but regal purple glow illuminated the hall as a pair of amethyst eyes bore down on the needy hunters.
Big bolded letters formed a single word in the air, sending the hunters into a frenzy.
Leave.
Under Audun's inscrutable yet impossibly heavy gaze, the hunters scurried out of the lodge, leaving just me and Caster to deal with a very pissed off looking swordsman.
A tense silence descended over the once rowdy hall.
"Uh, Sir Audun... What can we do for you...?"
Caster stepped forward with a practiced diplomatic smile, clasping his hands together like some kind of merchant.
When I said leave, I meant leave. I need to talk to Nephis about something. Alone.
The scion of the Han Li clan hesitated for a moment, but quickly evacuated after Audun shot him another glare.
I watched as Caster jostled out of the door before turning my attention back to Audun with a raised brow.
"So?"
He waited for a few moments before letting out a breath full of exasperation and shaking his head.
"I still don't understand why you keep that piece of shit around. The fucker can't even disguise his hostility."
He spat the words out like a curse.
I shrugged.
"He's helpful for now."
There was a momentary but awkward pause as he just looked at me.
"Hah~ Just what exactly are you planning?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm helping these people since no one else-"
"If you don't want to tell me, that's fine, I don't care. Just tell Sunny."
My eyes narrowed.
"What are you talking about?"
Audun gave me a heavy look.
"You're treating Sunny like some kind of tool. You don't even treat him with the same respect you give to the fucker who's trying to assassinate you. He's practically invisible at all the meetings, and he's left in the dark until you "need" him to do his "duty" as a scout."
I couldn't help but retort.
"That wasn't my intention. I-"
"Spare me the diplomatic bullshit."
Audun cut me off again.
"You're intentions don't matter; Sunny's probably alone on a rooftop or practicing swordsmanship in some quiet corner waiting for you to ask him to risk his life on another hunt."
His amethyst eyes locked onto mine.
I held his gaze for a moment before a question broke free of my lips.
"Are you mad?"
He shook his head lightly and chuckled.
"Was that not obvious? I just don't want to watch someone I consider a friend become an unwitting sacrifice for your grand ideals."
Audun let out a heavy sigh before turning around and walking out the door.
I stood in silence as I watched him leave, thoughts swirling around in my head as I came to a reluctant decision.
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(Audun's POV)
I genuinely hoped that I was able to get through to Nephis, but for right now, I had other things to worry about.
Sunny
Or, well, how he was doing right now.
I recognized the look in his eyes, that all too familiar emptiness and alienation.
He was slipping into loneliness, and Cassie and Nephis were too caught up in grand ideals, schemes, and prophecies to realize what was happening.
Or
Maybe they just didn't care.
...
Either way, I wasn't going to let one of the only people I've ever considered a friend fall into unwilling solitude, to wallow in inadequacy and fear.
After leaving our residence, I went out to search for Sunny.
He hadn't looked too great after the hunt, and I just wanted to make sure that he was ok.
Covering myself in a veil of starlight, I darted around the outer settlement unseen, jumping to the places he normally frequented.
First, I checked the roof of our lodge.
And didn't find him.
Then, I checked the edge of the stone platform.
Didn't have much luck there either.
Hastening my pace, I checked all the spots he normally practiced swordsmanship, only to find them empty.
I grew concerned.
But thankfully, after a bit, I did manage to locate Sunny.
More specifically, I found him walking towards a hut with a sleeper I was vaguely familiar with.
I dug through my Memory archive before recalling a certain gaunt-looking boy I had met on my first day in the Bright Castle.
Harper.
Harper and Sunny walked into what I assumed to be Harper's hut, and I slowly trailed behind them.
A part of me was hopeful that Sunny had made another friend.
But to offset the hope, an even greater wave of suspicion washed over me.
From what I remembered, Harper was kind of a Gunlaug meat gobbler, literally someone who preached the good gospel of the bright lord for a living.
I doubt that this Golden Serpent glazer would come to our camp with anything except dubious intentions, so there was a pretty high chance that he was a spy.
Covered in my veil of starlight, I simply listened carefully to whatever was going on inside, getting ready to interfere if anything went wrong.
"....And for what? Huh? For... for this? This wasn't supposed to happen. How did this happen?!"
Sunny's delirious voice echoed clearly.
There was a slight lull between each of his sentences, a slight dissorientation present in his tone.
It sounded like he was drunk.
"Wow, you must have fought side by side with Lady Nephis a lot! So uh... You must have seen her Aspect Ability... right?"
Harper spoke carefully, his tone hesitant yet probing.
"Yep. It can be used to heal."
My expression darkened.
Sunny was giving the creepy fucker information, though I wasn't sure if it was voluntary.
The veil of starlight covering me flickered out of existence as I approached the doorknob.
"...By the way, I always wanted to ask. Do you know how Lady Nephis received her True Name?"
Harper's voice echoed out once more, but my gait remained leisurely as I contemplated how I was going to deal with the spy and my intoxicated friend.
"Probably... the same way I did."
I heard Sunny laugh hysterically, but it sounded oddly forced.
"Oh! Of course, of course, Lord Sunless! What is your True Name then?"
The little weasel responded in what felt like a joking tone, but a heavy silence followed his question like a reaper.
Feeling the odd atmosphere, I hastened my pace a bit, my intuition panging in desperation.
I swung the door open and was greeted with a rather unexpected scene.
Sunny leaned over the table, his knuckles white as he gripped a crude iron knife.
Pure fear was woven in his actions, desperation accenting his every move.
Sunny stabbed Harper in the chest, the scarlet vitality splattering everywhere.
The crude iron knife wasn't very sharp, so the incision was anything but clean.
It made a fleshy "Shunk" as the steel pierced his skin, a small snapping sound following closely behind.
Sunny lunged, pushing the table out of the way as he pushed Harper to the ground, pressing a hand over the poor sleeper's mouth.
"Lost from Light! My true name... is.... Lost from Light..."
Sunny's voice came out in a hoarse whisper, but I heard it clearly.
I watched in stunned silence as the brutally one-sided exchange wrapped up.
Harper continued to resist weakly, but Sunny twisted the knife in his chest even harder.
The frantic fear- no, the pure terror in Sunny's eyes as he gruesomely slaughtered the spy made my heart shake.
A muffled gurggle filled the room as a rush of blood began to flow from Harper's mouth, but I wasn't focused on the sleeper slipping into death's embrace.
I looked on as Sunny began to gag violently, his stomach acid spilling onto the still-warm corpse.
Sunny whispered something before keeling over and emptying his stomach once more.
I was numb to killing.
I was indifferent to murder and genocide.
But the homicide I had just borne witness to was far more impactful than a thousand holocausts.
Because
I had watched the pitiful death of a sleeper at the hands of my friend, watched the viscerally gruesome yet unnaturally desperate actions Sunny had taken to reap his first human life.
It was a painfully awkward, painfully painful, and thanks to the Star of Memory, a painfully unforgettable scene.
Sunny remained motionless for a moment before straightening his posture, absentmindedly turning his head towards the open doorway I was standing in.
His face was smeared with blood and putrid bile, his hands stained with the blood of another for the first time, but more importantly, his eyes were disturbingly clear.
I watched as the pure clarity in his obsidian eyes clouded with realization before being tainted with fear.
In a pitiful voice that made my stomach twist, Sunny broke the deafening silence.
"It's... this isn't..."
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(A/N: I wanted to release this chapter in combination with another one, and because I was uber busy, it ended up taking like four days to write.
School is starting up next week for me, and I've been getting my sleeping schedule back in order, and thus I had to figure out a time other than 2Am to write chapters...
Good news is that I've somewhat fixed my schedule
Bad news is that I feel like I've been lobotomized.
I digress...
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and the one that I'll be posting alongside it!
Leave a comment or a review to show me some love!)