Nephis woke up in the police station as she had expected. She then was escorted to the academy via PTV. She had her headphones on as she listened no Nightingale — for old time's (future time's?) sake — when another black PTV curved in front of the Academy.
Nephis was deep in thought. She still hadn't come to terms with this... second chance she'd been given. That was not surprising - she had already suffered enough for two lifetimes, and now she was back to square one. It was already difficult enough to keep up her normal composed appearance, but what came next was even more shocking.
From the PTV came a young boy with black hair and pale face, his black eyes scanning the environment nervously. His body was frail and he was short and he wore the same kind of tracksuit that Nephis herself had on.
When the boy glanced at Nephis, she was suddenly engulfed by terror.
She already kind of knew that her mysterious partner had a shared history with her and her cohort. None of them could remember him, and thinking about these matters was difficult... but she knew for a fact that Sunny had been in Tomb of Ariel with them. He also seemed to know everything about her and her friends despite seemingly never interacting with them before appearing in Godgrave. It was all too suspicious.
But this... this was too much.
Not only had they been in the Tomb together or in Antarctica together — they had appearently met for the first time in their very first day in the Awakened Academy. Which meant that they had also been together in the Forgotten Shore, right? And... and...
Nephis turned her head abruptly, her eyes glistening. Her hands — her hands trembled.
She didn't remember last time something like this had happened to her. She was Changing Star after all, heiress of the Immortal Flame clan. She kept her emotions in check...
But how could she now? When she understood the depth of her loss for the first time, and what it all had meant for Sunny. It explained the depth of his longing for her, as well as many other strange things. She could not imagine how painful it had been for him, to be forgotten by her closest companions after all they had - presumably - been through together.
Except that in a cruel turn of events, she could imagine it. Because if she was correct in her assumptions, she was now in the same spot as him. Nobody in the two worlds knew her, or atleast, this her. Nobody could ever hope to relate to the events she had went through or understand the losses she had endured. She had become cut out from the rest of humanity by the time itself. She almost wanted to laugh, but managed to somehow keep herself together as Academy gates began to open.
Breathing deeply she walked across the bridge. Sunny was trailing not far behind. He wore neutral expression, but Nephis could somehow tell that he was in fact alert. Suspicious.
She could not bring herself to talk to him right now. Eventually, she would have to, but for now it was enough to just go according to natural course of events. At least with headphones on she wouldn't have to talk to anyone. She wasn't sure she could right now.
Sleepers filled the large room with chatter and laughter. Nephis stood alone like in the past. She managed to locate Cassie who was also alone, sitting in the corner, and Caster, who had been sent to kill her. And amongst the people there was a lonely shadow that she followed with her eyes. Sunny seemed to be talking to people. Nephis did not hear what was being said, but the expressions of Sunny's victims were interesting.
What is that madman doing now?
Nephis was somewhat traumatized by the recent revelations, but she was also curious. She had hoped to remember everything about his connection with Sunny now that she was here — after all she could finally think freely and speculate about him without the usual forgetfulness that came with such thoughts. However, the blind spot in her mind that was Sunny remained for now, and it presented an interesting challenge. She had to be a kind of detective now and try to piece together what had happened in their past life.
Nephis made her way towards the legacy group. People didn't try to approach her, and that was more than fine. All Nephis wanted was to catch a rare glimpse of a Sunny's early steps as an Awakened. What had he been like? What had people thought of him? Surely he must have been regarded highly among his peers.
She remembered vividly master Sunless's fake duel with Tristan of Aegis Rose clan. If her sixth sense was correct, she was now about to witness something at least as exciting. Because Sunny was trailing straight towards Caster.
Nephis stood slightly right to the group, just close enough to hear what they were saying. Other legacies were currently marveling over Caster's "excellent" first Nightmare when mocking voice cut the air.
"Ascended, excellent? That's it? What's the big deal?"
Everyone turned their heads and found a sorry-looking young man with a grin on his pale face. Sunny met their gazes as loud silence stretched between them. After a pause, one of Caster's companions blinked and said:
"Uh... friend, you must not know a lot about the Spell. Caster's results are truly remarkable. He is a Legacy, after all."
Sunny frowned like he was trying to comprehend what the other young man was saying.
"Are you trying to pull a prank on me? You call this remarkable?!"
Other Sleepers were starting to look at Sunny with open hostility before one of them opened their mouth to speak.
"Listen, friend. If you don't think that an Ascended Aspect is remarkable, then please share with us your own amazing results! What, pray tell, was your appraisal?"
Nephis blinked. She obiously knew the answer to that question. She also knew that Sunny was now forced to answer truthfully. But why would he just give it away like that? He must still have been learning to control his Flaw...
But... when Nephis thought about it, maybe Sunny's Flaw was precisely the reason he was doing what he was doing. By sharing the information in this context he was actually making sure that no one would think anything of him. Quite the contrary, after this everyone would regard him as an absolute moron. If someone asked him about his Nightmare or Aspect in the future, he would be able to tell the truth while everyone would think that he was just joking.
It was still a strange decision, but at least it made some kind of sense. Sunny had always liked to be underestimated - to live in shadows, so to speak. It was interesting to see that such pattern of behaviour was present all the way at the start of his journey.
Meanwhile, Sunny grinned like a madman, unaware that someone in the crowd had seen through his performance.
"I would let you know... my Appraisal was, uh, it was "glorious"! Yes, glorious. And the Aspect I acquired was of the Divine rank."
The crowd became increasingly hostile as Sunny continued telling his ridiculous stories. Nephis was a bit worried. It was kind of like what she had felt when she was told of master Sunless's duel with Tristan. She was also conflicted in other ways.
It was so strange seeing Sunny like this. Nephis didn't expect him to be the eye candy he would grow on to become. But she still hadn't expected him to be this fragile. He looked so young and weak, like he wasn't seventeen years old but thirteen or fourteen. He wore indifferent expression, and sometimes his face was lit up by a maniacal grin.
You have so much ahead of you. And so much pain and sorrow... Nephis wanted to hug him, comfort him. To protect him.
And that's what I will do. Whatever happened in the past, I will fix it. I will not let him suffer alone.
Nephis knew she would have to be smart about it. She couldn't just outright tell him that she was from the future — at least not yet. That meant that she would have to keep some distance and not act too much out of character. If she was correct, they would both end up on Forgotten Shore this Solstice. There she could really begin her work.
Still, it would be nice to find some way to interact with Sunny, maybe give him couple of pointers before they would emerge in the Dream Realm. Nephis didn't know how skillful Sunny was at this time, but considering he was from the Outskirts, he couldn't be too prolific with weapons.
When instructor Rock came into the hall and started his speech, Nephis had ventured into a relatively empty section of the room. She was considering what she would have to do in order for her and Sunny to grow stronger. She knew about Sunny's Aspect Legacy, Shadow Dance. They would have to find a way to unlock it as soon as possible. As for her own Aspect Legacy... last time she had unlocked it in the city of Twilight when she had annihilated whole city with her flames. This time she probably wouldn't have to retort to such dramatics. Her Aspect Legacy was all about knowledge, after all. She would try to obtain it... but could she use magic of Names as a sleeper when she didn't have essence?
As Nephis was thinking she decided to finally check her runes. She had been too distracted with everything else that she had failed to do so earlier.
*******
Name: Nephis
True Name: Changing Star
Rank: Dreamer
Soul Core: Dormant
Memories: [Shroud of Arachne]
Echoes: -
Attributes: [Dreamspawn], [Nephilim], [Flame of Divinity], [Fire], [Blessing], [Error of Time]
*******
When Nephis saw that Dream Blade was missing she frowned. When she read her attributes, though...
There was two new attributes. First one confirmed something she already knew:
[Error of time] Attribute Description: "Corrupted space-time saw you to go through the gates of time, into the distant past. You couldn't be corrupted, so you were sent to the point of time where the corruption could take root in your soul. Luckily, you passed the First Nighmare and broke the First Seal, emerging unscathed."
So that's why I went into my First Nighmare, Nephis thought. And that's why Sunny couldn't follow me — he didn't have my [Longing]-ability.
Then she looked at the second attribute, and something broke inside her.
[Blessing]: Attribute Description: "Ascending the path, Changing Star said thus to the treacherous Lost from light: 'You have to light yourself on fire to reap the blessings of fire. That was what my grandmother used to say, so that was what I did. I doused myself in oil, and set myself aflame. And I burned.'
Lost from light listened."
So the present that Sunny had made her was carried with her through the time. Nephis looked at the runes, dumbfounded.
So Sunny had a True Name? He had probably received it from his First Nighmare like Nephis did. But in the past... future... the Spell had not spelled his True Name out, instead addressing him as an -unknown-. Was it because he had lost his True Name along with everything else? It seemed plausible.
"Thank you... " Nephis whispered. Blessing was now akin to the original Dream Blade, a dormant memory of first tier, and she couldn't utilize all of its abilities. But out of all weapons she could think of, it was the one she would have picked to follow her along her journey.
I will never need a new sword, she thought, almost smiling. Future Sunny may have vanished with everything else, but he was still helping her from beyond the time itself.
Also, it was nice to know his True Name, even if it made her a little sad. True Names were closely tied to ones destiny, and Sunny was not an exception. He had always preferred to hide in the shadows, shrouded in mystery and deception — and it had become a necessity after the revelation Anvil gave him at the end of the Realm War. Sunny's heroics often went unnoticed and unappreciated. More than that, he was eventually forgotten by everything and everyone in the world, truly becoming lost. Had that always been his fate? If so, Nephis was about to change that.
She felt determination growing in her heart as she headed to the girls' dormitory.
She was about to change everything.