In the midst of the deep darkness of the Forgotten Coast, a boy lay on a sandy mound, breathing heavily.
Sunny was absurdly tired; he had been fleeing the scavengers for hours.
The wind struck his frail body, cooling his tired muscles and filling his nose with the smell of salt.
He had a sinister smile on his face—after all, his plan had worked, and now he could see his reward.
Shadow Fragments: [189/1000]
He had killed half a dozen awakened beasts, gained a couple of new memories and recovered his first echo.
He tried to move, but his body complained, sending a stab of pain through him; he had overexerted himself too much, although he was already used to it.
'It's more bearable than the pain of the soul…'
He had been through so many hard and painful situations that he would even say he was having a good time on his visit to the realm of dreams.
There were many good things: monsters to kill, a big pool, and a huge titan visiting him every night—what more could he want?
He stayed a while lying on the rock, resting his weak body, then he got up, he got up with some effort and looked around; he spotted a rise of coral on the other side of the mound where he was.
Nephis was looking in his direction with a frown; she was sitting on the coral, one arm resting on the crimson formation and the other on her waist, accentuating her lovely curves. The wind hit her silver hair, tossing it through the air; her alabaster-white skin went very well with her expressionless gray eyes.
'A moonlight wouldn't hurt…'
Unfortunately for him, she wore leather armor with metal plates; he momentarily regretted having created the memory market.
He walked slowly toward the other side of the mound; in one corner there was a girl, curled up, holding her legs while trembling, her pale hair falling around like a waterfall of gold.
Sunny made his steps sound a little louder on purpose to announce his arrival.
The seer shuddered and lifted her head toward the noise; her face betrayed terror and anguish—she tried to run but tripped on the coral.
"Nephis!?"
Tears began to form in her narrowed eyes, her lips trembled as her hands groped the ground desperately.
Sunny felt strange; seeing an old friend in that state was almost repulsive to him, especially Cassie—he had considered her one of the strongest and smartest people he had ever known, so seeing her reduced to this made him uncomfortable.
He sighed and approached her gently.
"Hey Cass, calm down, it's me, Sunny."
She froze again, then the tears burst from her eyes and began to pour; she lunged forward, falling to the ground harshly.
She crawled across the ground toward Sunny, feeling the floor with her hands.
"Sunny? What are you doing here…?"
Sunny knelt in front of her and took her by the shoulders, looked at her directly and waited for her to calm down before saying anything.
But instead of calming down, she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him; she buried her face in his chest as she sobbed.
He tightened his hug around her and patted her back to soothe her; he could feel the girl's heart slowly slowing down and returning to a calm, normal beat.
She released her embrace and pulled away from Sunny; her face was visibly flushed, embarrassed for having acted on impulse.
Sunny smiled and spoke in a soft tone.
"It's okay, Cass."
Nephis came over to them, calmed Cassie and then hugged Sunny, who smiled and returned the hug gently.
The three of them sat around the extinguished campfire; the two girls looked at Sunny expectantly—they wanted to know how he had gotten to them, especially Cassie.
Sunny was still unsure how to treat Cassie in this life; at the academy he had treated her as a friend, yes, but their conversations hadn't gone beyond their day, some common topics and internet stuff.
Sunny looked at Nephis, searching for an answer; she simply returned his gaze but said nothing, shrugged and turned her sight back to the blind girl.
He looked at the campfire for a moment, pondering what to do—after all, he didn't want to ruin his relationship with Cass, who was one of his best friends; he lifted his head and saw the milky eyes of the girl.
He let out a sigh and spoke, determined to trust her.
"Well… it's kind of like this: I was teleported in the middle of the ocean into total darkness; somehow I managed to guide myself to a statue, just in time before being devoured by a nightmare creature like a shark. Then I saw giant tentacles rise from the water and take the creature away with them."
Nephis sketched a small smile, like saying, 'Really?' while Cassie visibly paled and went completely still.
"At dawn I went out to hunt the maze; I ran into several groups of scavengers, but they weren't much trouble. From them I got a memory—it's a blue sword. I went back to the statue and made food; at midnight I saw a light shining in the distance, I had to cross the maze from above because I was being chased, but I still got here without much problem… that's more or less a summary."
He gave a crooked smile waiting for a response; after a few seconds of silence, it was Nephis who decided to speak.
"I think it's better if we go to sleep for today."
Sunny said nothing and simply complied.
The three lay down together, with him in the middle; Nephis was practically lying on top of him—though it was uncomfortable, he said nothing; he had no reason to. Meanwhile, Cassie was at his side, hugging his thin arm.
Though it felt strange to be between two women, he didn't say anything—not because he didn't want to, but because Nephis had sent him a killer look when he tried.
The three sleepers fell asleep peacefully; the company made them forget their situation for a while and allowed them to rest properly.
Sunny woke up to the smell of roasted meat; he rose gently, trying not to wake Cassie, who still lay beside him, then he saw Nephis cooking—her face, for some reason he didn't understand, looked very determined and focused, like when she faced nightmare creatures.
Sunny didn't interrupt her; he watched her from afar with a smile—he enjoyed seeing Nephis; knowing she didn't suffer was his greatest happiness in both worlds.
A few seconds later Nephis handed him a plate of meat and sauce; he brought his face close to the plate and breathed deeply; it smelled like steak with butter and thyme.
Cassie opened her eyes slightly and was met with a plate in front of her face.
"Eat."
At first she was confused, but after smelling it she forgot everything and began to eat delicately.
Nephis sat between the two, and without making noise moved a little closer to Sunny.
The meal lasted a few more minutes, with a comfortable silence, at least for him and Nephis.
When they finished, Sunny seated the girls in a circle and began to speak.
"Okay, since we're going to travel together I think we should share our abilities."
There were no complaints.
"I'll start: my attributes give me affinity with divinity and shadows. I'm also prone to going through strange situations, and I'm stronger than a sleeper should be."
Nephis said nothing and Cassie just nodded.
"My Aspect lets me move my shadow, see and feel through it, and if I wrap it around me I get a boost; it also gives me an increase when I fight or when I'm surrounded by shadows."
Cassie's eyes opened wide; according to Sunny's attributes he was already very strong, but on top of that he got an increase—his Aspect had to be transcendent, at least; she was about to say something but was interrupted by Sunny.
"Oh, yeah, I have four memories: a bell that produces a sound that travels a long distance, an amulet that can give different effects according to my will, an awakened armor and a sword I got from the scavengers. I have two echoes: an awakened serpent and a shelled scavenger."
The blind girl froze, her mouth hanging open; she looked at the boy, or at least in the direction his voice came from, thinking: 'Why would someone so incredible come to me?'
The two girls' life stories hadn't changed much from their previous lives, which was a bit disappointing to Sunny—he had hoped they'd be much stronger; he needed them to be stronger.
Although he could feel Nephis hiding something from him, he didn't know exactly what it was, but he sensed it.
'Better wait for her to tell me herself.'
When the two girls finished, Sunny spoke again.
"Alright, now let's decide our next destination. I say we go back to the statue where I was before."
Neph looked at him impassively and Cass looked a bit worried but didn't say anything.
'They could offer more options…'
"Well then, get ready—we'll leave quickly."
Later, with the sun at its zenith, a trio of sleepers moved through the tangled crimson hell; the ancient and future goddess of humanity led, while Sunny covered the rear as his shadow scouted, and Cassie rode Sunny's echo with instability.
So far they hadn't encountered any nightmare creatures, which was a bit strange—the previous day had been turbulent, to say the least.
'Most likely they died from the impact of the dark sea and were devoured by the creatures of the depths.'
Although that made things easier for them, it was really boring, at least for him.
Cassie seemed almost paranoid, turning her head at every sound; she constantly clung tightly to the echo's ropes, and Nephis… well, she didn't seem to care in the slightest, which was normal.
It wasn't until they approached the shark's carcass that Sunny finally detected several enemies; there were still many crabs despite the day-before massacre.
Sunny ordered the echo to slow down; Neph noticed and did the same.
Although Sunny and Nephis could have massacred all the crabs if they wanted, they preferred to wait and put Cass in a safe place first—which, for some reason, left him with an uncomfortable feeling.
They circled without much difficulty toward the statue; when they arrived in front of it, Nephis climbed first, then she helped Cassie up and Sunny followed behind. The climb took an hour, mostly because of Cassie, although they really didn't mind.
When they reached the top, the sun was already setting and the first waves of darkness lashed the maze.
The group was much quieter than in their past life; if Nephis used to speak only when necessary, now she said nothing—both of them understood each other to such an extent that words were unnecessary most of the time.
And as for him, it wasn't that he didn't want to talk to his old friend Cassie—it was that he really didn't know how; his social skills were so deteriorated that it was probably better to try to start a conversation with a scavenger.
As for the seer, she remained most of the time frightened and defensive, so she didn't even notice the silence.
'This is depressing.'
He rose from the cold rock and walked toward Cassie; she turned toward him quickly, scared, but calmed down fast.
"I'll make the food."
She nodded with a smile and then looked for Nephis; after hearing the girl feeling the ground, Neph moved where she was and sat beside her.
"Hi, Neph."
The silver-haired girl nodded and stayed still for several seconds; it wasn't until she remembered that that pale-haired girl was blind.
"Hi, Cass."
Nephis didn't show her embarrassment—though if she had, Cassie probably wouldn't have noticed.
Cassie smiled for some inexplicable reason and then looked at the horizon, or where she believed the horizon to be.
"You know, Sunny and you are very strange. I don't mean your personalities or anything… when I'm near you, I feel weird. I'd never had this feeling before. If I had to explain it… it feels like coming home."
Sunny, who was a few meters away preparing dinner, froze. There was no reason for Cassie to remember them, and maybe she didn't, but still a sharp pain arose in his chest, one he remembered very well, though weaker.
In the time when Sunny was forgotten—when everyone forgot him—he spent much time resigned, distant from his former companions and excluded from the world itself. But that day when Cassie entered the shining emporium and looked at Sunny and he believed he was remembered, it was something he nearly forgot, and this moment felt familiar for some reason.
A knot formed in his stomach remembering that moment; he continued walking as if nothing had happened.
Meanwhile, Nephis was a bit impressed by Cassie's words, but had to admit she was right—they were anything but normal. One had been a goddess for a whole species, being, along with the nightmare spell, the only two gods for a time, until Sunny could recover his true name.
The other couldn't even be called human; he'd been a shadow for a long time, gone through things nobody ever went through, very painful things that changed him; despite that he prevailed, endured hell again and again, became a God and lost almost everything, yet he doubled down on his role as God and toyed with one of the world's pillars: time.
Both were many things—except normal.
Cassie spoke again with a bright smile.
"But it's okay—you two are my friends, and that's all I need to know. I just wanted you to know."
The sun finished falling on the horizon; the catastrophic black sea grew again and swallowed all the land in this world.
There, atop a headless statue, that girl who had once been a God let a tear fall, which slid down her expressionless face; the drop reached her chin and then dripped, that tear fell onto the stone.
Then more followed, while the face of that little less-than-human girl contorted in sadness; a sob sounded through the tumultuous night of the Forgotten Coast.