Eventually, Cassie led them upstairs to show her room.
It was… warm. Lived-in in a way that was almost startling after the sterile halls of the Academy. The shelves by the wall were lined with books, some stacked haphazardly, others neatly placed in rows. Sunny's eyes lingered on the spines — a surprising number of romance volumes tucked between history and poetry, their pastel covers standing out.
A stand in the corner held her old fencing gear. The metal gleamed faintly, well-cared for despite clearly not being used in some time. There was a quiet pride in the way it was displayed, like she couldn't bring herself to put away that part of her past.
The bedspread was soft blue, faint floral patterns stitched carefully into it by hand. It looked… comforting. Like home.
Cassie stood near the doorway, her hand brushing the edge of the desk. "This is where I grew up," she said simply, her voice softer than usual. "Feels strange, showing it to others."
Sunny could see it in the small tilt of her lips — this place was hers, in a way nothing in the Academy could ever be.
Before anyone could answer, Avi let out a squeal and threw herself onto the bed. She immediately began rolling around, tangling herself in pillows and blankets until she was half-buried. "It's so soft! Why don't we just sleep here instead of the guest rooms?!"
"Because there are six of us," Nephis replied flatly, standing near the shelves with her hands folded behind her back.
"Who cares?," Avi said, her voice muffled by fabric. "I can make space if I try really hard."
Juliet chuckled, leaning casually against the wall. "Careful, short stuff. You'll crease her sheets before she even gets a chance to sleep in them again."
Cassie shook her head, smiling faintly. "It's fine."
The laughter that followed was quieter than before, soft and fleeting. The kind that filled the space but didn't erase the weight that lingered beneath it.
Sunny leaned against the doorframe, his arms loosely crossed. For a moment, he let himself just… take it in. The sight of Avi rolling around like a child. Nephis watching quietly, though not coldly. Juliet smirking with that usual mix of mischief and warmth. Cassie, standing in her own room for the first time in weeks, looking almost… lighter.
And for a moment, it felt like something close to normal.
But the thought wouldn't leave him.
Tomorrow — or the day after — they'd be walking into the Dream Realm.
This room, this warmth, these smiles… all of it could vanish.
Would Cassie still get to come back to this room again? Would any of them?
Sunny tried to push it away, but the thought dug its claws deeper. He imagined her parents waiting here, not knowing if she'd return. He imagined the look on Elena's face if Cassie didn't.
And the worst part — he wasn't sure if he'd be able to stop that from happening.
He swallowed, trying to mask the heaviness pressing against his ribs.
Because right now, watching them all laugh and breathe in this fragile peace, he couldn't shake the fear that he was already failing them.
That maybe, no matter how hard he fought, he wouldn't be able to bring them all back.
Especially Cassie.
Sunny tightened his arms against his chest, forcing his gaze down. He didn't want to ruin this moment for them. Not here, not now.
So he stayed quiet.
Let them laugh. Let them enjoy this.
Because deep down, he knew — these might be the last calm hours they ever shared like this.
.
.
.
At one point, Nephis found Juliet alone in the hallway, leaning against the railing with a cup of tea. The silence stretched between them until Nephis spoke, her voice low.
"Miss Juliet?"
Juliet turned her head slightly, brows raised. "Hmm?"
"…I should apologize." Nephis's voice was steady, but there was tension in her hands, curled faintly at her sides. "Today, you had to fight — maybe even get hurt — because of me. Because I wasn't strong enough, you were forced to deal with my problem. I… I am sorry."
The words were stiff, awkward. But the sincerity behind them was sharp and clear, like steel unpolished but true.
Juliet blinked once, then sighed softly. Setting her cup on the railing, she stepped forward and pulled the taller girl into a sudden embrace.
Nephis stiffened instantly, back going rigid, as though her body didn't know how to process the warmth. But Juliet didn't let go.
"It's fine," she murmured against her shoulder. "That's what I'm here for. For you. For all of us. Who are you going to lean on if not me?"
Her hand moved slowly up and down Nephis's back, steady, grounding.
"You don't need to carry everything alone. Not anymore. You've got Sunny, Cassie, Avi… me. We're here."
Nephis hesitated. Her arms hovered awkwardly in the air, like she was holding a weapon she didn't know how to use. But then — slowly, hesitantly — she lowered them, wrapping Juliet in a tentative embrace. It was clumsy, restrained… and yet, for once, it was real.
Her unreadable mask cracked, just a fraction.
Juliet smiled faintly, not pushing, not teasing, just holding her. "So lean on me, alright? I don't break easy."
Nephis's throat worked silently. She gave no words, only the faintest nod — and a tiny shudder as her eyes stung. It wasn't weakness, not exactly. Just a reminder that for once, she didn't have to be steel all the time.
Later still, Elena found Sunny and Nephis lingering near the sitting room. Cassie had gone upstairs with Avi to fetch something, Juliet was helping Ivan clear away the tea set, and suddenly it was only the three of them.
Elena's gaze fixed firmly on them both. Not cold, not commanding, but steady — sharp with concern that had softened into something heavier.
"You two," she said quietly, folding her arms. Her voice carried warmth, but beneath it, a deep current of worry. "Cassie doesn't say it, but she worries. Always. I can hear it in her voice when she talks about you — about all of you."
Nephis's posture tightened instinctively, shoulders square as though facing a superior officer. Sunny, though… he froze. His chest constricted at the weight in her words.
Elena stepped closer, her tone deepening. "Promise me. Promise me you'll watch over her in the Dream Realm. That you'll bring her back safe. She's my only child."
The words hit like a hammer. They weren't just polite requests, or casual parental concern. They were the plea of a mother whose daughter was about to walk into a place where no parent could follow.
Nephis's answer came instantly, sharp and unyielding: "I promise." Her voice was steel, as if saying it could carve it into truth.
Sunny's heart twisted. He met Elena's gaze, and in her eyes, he saw Cassie's — the same unwavering trust, the same light of expectation that she would be safe, because he was there.
And it tore at him.
Because promises in the Dream Realm were dangerous things. He knew better than anyone how fragile they were — how little it took for a vow to become ashes in your throat.
He wanted to say he couldn't promise. That it was impossible. That sometimes, even your best wasn't enough.
But Elena's voice softened then, her hands clasping together almost like a prayer.
"I know," she whispered. "I know I may be asking too much. But if you are able… please, protect her. Please bring her back."
The careful phrasing slipped into him like a key turning in a lock. If you are able.
[Fated]
His Flaw stopped squeezing.
Sunny swallowed hard, his throat dry. And yet, when he opened his mouth, the words slipped out in a whisper that still shook with weight.
"…If I am able… then I promise."
Elena's lips trembled faintly before she smiled — not her cheerful, laughing smile from earlier, but something smaller. Quieter. She stepped forward and suddenly wrapped both of them in her arms.
Nephis froze at the unexpected warmth, eyes wide. Sunny flailed, caught between embarrassment and the ache in his chest.
"Thank you," Elena whispered, her voice thick. "That's all a mother can ask."
The night carried on, though the mood had shifted. They gathered for a lighthearted movie Elena insisted they watch together. The plot was silly, the humor dated, but laughter bubbled anyway. Avi fell asleep halfway through, curled up on Cassie's lap, Nephis's arm serving as her pillow. Juliet smirked through most of it, making quiet quips, while Ivan sat stone-faced but still somehow present.
When it ended, Elena clapped her hands lightly. "Bedtime! Guest rooms are ready. No arguments. You're staying."
There were a few groans and protests, but none of them truly resisted. One by one, the girls claimed their spaces — Avi loudly declaring she'd stay with Cassie, Nephis quietly slipping into another room, Juliet tossing her jacket carelessly across the bed opposite Sunny's.
And then the hallway grew quiet.
Sunny stood there for a long moment, watching the doors close, the laughter fade into soft murmurs, and then into silence. The house was foreign. The walls didn't belong to him. But the warmth inside them…
It was the kind of warmth he hadn't realized he missed.
And that was what unsettled him most of all.
When he finally slipped into his own guest room and lay down, he stared at the ceiling far longer than he meant to. His promise to Elena rang in his mind like a chain. Heavy. Binding.
What if I can't keep it?
He turned onto his side, shutting his eyes, as if the dark would silence the thought.
But even as sleep began to pull at him, the weight of it remained — the quiet, gnawing fear that no matter how hard he tried, the Dream Realm would demand more than he could give.
And yet…
He'd promised.
Troublesome, so many promises, and he is just an outskirts rat.
Might have been easier if he was some pompous prince of some great clan.
Having a castle, workers and power, not to mention food, truly a great life as a legacy.
Then again, he shuddered, who knows what they have to go through, for all he knows, clans might just keep their own heirs locked up in cells for months or years, if they try to go against them too much.
No King wants too powerful a son, especially if his own offspring might have the potential too become more powerful then him.
Which Sunny definitely might have been, had he been some legacy prince.
Well, best too forget about it, it's not like he is meeting any such person in his life.
So in the quiet of that unfamiliar room, with the faint murmur of the house settling around him, Sunny let his eyes close at last.
Tomorrow would come. And when it did, he would face it.
Because now, he had no choice.