Sun had passed the middle of the grey sky when Nephis and Cassie finally climbed the knight statue. Cassie held on to Nephis, who carefully looked for hand- and footholds as she climbed. Her mind was clear and focused, for any error would mean plummeting down tens of meters. If that happened, even Soul Flame would not save her. Luckily the surface of the statue was carved by weather and water and had plenty of good holds to pick.
On the top of the statue was a lonely figure sitting and watching over the landscape. Sunny had his leather armour on. He watched intently as Nephis and Cassie made their way over the edge. And... his gaze lingered touch too long on Nephis.
You were always the same, weren't you? Nephis thought, amused. She would have been embarrassed — and maybe she was, a little bit — but in her future it had become commonplace for Sunny and Nephis to see each other without much clothes on. It felt almost familiar. If only Sunny was as he was as a supreme... Right now he still looked like a street rat.
Of course Nephis herself had lost much her previous beauty as well, but it didn't make as big a difference for her as it did for Sunny.
"Hey Sunny", Nephis said. "You're here too."
Sunny nodded. "The Spell sent me in the middle of the ocean and I managed to swim to this statue. I assume that you did the same or emerged on some other high point?"
"We were together on an island on that direction", Nephis pointed. "In the morning we decided to explore the surroundings and determine if there was any other landmarks that would be above the water at night." She frowned. "You were on the wilderness survival course. Do you by chance recognize this place?"
Sunny shook his head. "It's most likely an unconquered region." He grimaced. "I shouldn't be surprised, really."
Cassie had been listening to their conversation silently. Her expression was nervous, but at the same time she seemed happy to have Sunny with them.
"Do you want water? I have a Memory that never runs dry."
Cassie summoned Endless Spring and Sunny took it. "Thanks. That's a very useful Memory."
Cassie just smiled.
Nephis looked around. I should probably get formalities out of the way.
"I suppose you have realized how this place works", she said to Sunny, who was still drinking greedily. He lowered the bottle after some time and nodded hesitantly.
"You mean that the sea goes away at day and returns at night?"
"Yes. Which means that we can only travel by daylight. When the night comes, we must retreat to the nearest high point." She pretended to study the western horizon. "Has your shadow seen any other places like this nearby?"
Sunny shook his head. "No. We probably have to just travel to a random direction and hope for the best. I propose that we spend rest of the day here. It's too late to go exploring."
"That's a good idea. I will cook something."
Under Sunny's perplexed eyes Nephis opened a bag she had fashioned from the seaweed along with her clothes. It was relatively small, so there was not much meat inside. It was still enough for the three of them.
Silence enveloped the trio. Nephis lit a fire, and soon a delicious smell permeated the air. Cassie sniffed the air and laughed, her voice like a crystal bell.
"It smells amazing!"
They ate as the sun crawled slowly towards the western horizon. Nephis thought about how she would persuade others to journey west in case Cassie didn't have her prophetic vision this time. She was pretty certain that she would, though.
This time, it was Sunny who broke the silence.
"As we will be depending on each other in the coming weeks, we should probably share our abilities and Memories that we have on our disposal. I will start."
Sunny went on to explain his general abilities: shadow control and the way he could use his shadow to augment himself. Before Cassie could say anything, Sunny raised his hands in the air, resigned. "And no, I'm not a pervert. I have never used my abilities to do anything improper."
Cassie just giggled. "I'm sure."
Sunny sighed and Nephis decided to speak. "It's my turn. My Attributes give me high affinity to fire and divinity. My ability is called Soul Flame... I can use it to augment myself, giving me attacking power, or to heal others. I have two memories: golden rope — " she summoned and unsummoned it — "and... " She frowned. "This sword... "
Blessing had assumed a form of a silver bracelet, but now it flowed into it's usual shape. A silver long sword, piercing like ice and shining light a ray of sunlight. Nephis was still enchanted by the way it looked. It was like Plato's ideal sword, one with no imperfections or weaknesses.
"Where did you get that?" Sunny asked, stunned. "And what rank is it?"
"It's just a Dormant Memory of First Tier", Nephis said. "But it's... special. A dear friend gave it to me."
Sunny averted her gaze. "Well... it sure looks imposing. As expected from a Legacy like you."
"Funnily enough, the friend I was talking about was never part of any Legacy Clan. Or... no, that's not actually correct. He did start one of his own."
Sunny's face flashed with peculiar expression and Cassie looked at Nephis with bewilderment. Nephis just smiled faintly. She was starting to understand why Sunny liked speaking with Kai so much.
Actually... when I meet Kai, he's in for a surprise.
Nephis was never a humorous person, but maybe she could try some new things now and then? These days she passed for a normal introverted person — whose to say that she couldn't be a comedian some day?
Nephis shivered. I will probably become Sovereign again before that happens.
She had to concentrate on important things anyways.
As the night fell over the blood red maze and waters rose, they tried to make themselves comfortable. Sunny wanted to be first watch and Nephis complied. Sunny saw perfectly in the dark, so he was indeed best of them when it came to guarding the camp. Nephis lied down near Cassie, her small hand in hers.
Nephis wasn't going to sleep just yet, however. She was too preoccupied with her thoughts. She listened as Cassie's breath became slover and fell to a steady rhythm. Then she opened her mouth and —
Plip.
Oh no.
Soon it was raining. Water was cool, but thankfully not ice-cold like it was in some other parts of the Dream Realm. It still made them seek warmth, and soon the trio was huddled together in the middle if the platform. Their clothes were wet and, in the case of Nephis, did little to defend them against the merciless flood. Truth be told, she would have felt more comfortable naked, but Sunny would probably have passed out if she decided to act on that instinct.
Rainfall ended shortly before dawn, and the artificial sun of Forgotten Shore met three ragged, tired and wet figures camping on top of the Knight. No one was in the mood to speak, and Sunny averted Nephis's gaze. Cassie shivered from cold while Nephis dryed herself with her Aspect. She went on to make a campfire, first drying the remaining seaweed and then litting them on fire. She wasn't concerned about not having enough seaweed — there was plenty of it in the labyrinth and it even grew on the walls of the enormous statue. Though perhaps she should have repaired her clothing first. They didn't have enough meat anyways.
Nephis decided to change that.
"You're going down?"
Sunny's expression was bewildered, and Cassie was not much better. Nephis just shrugged.
"We need food, do we not? Eventually we have to start moving in some direction, but we should maybe rest this day as we didn't get any sleep last night."
"But — " Sunny started, but Cassie was faster.
"Don't go, Nephis! I know you managed to beat some of those crab monsters, but they are still Awakened Beasts. If you risk too much... "
Nephis felt bad to make them worry, but she felt a need to do something. There was long and perilous road ahead of them, one neither of her companions knew anything of. Last time her strength had not been enough for them all to escape, but that meant that she just had to push harder. Right now she had every advantage she could think of when it came to gaining strength — she might as well use them. She could not remain idle. How many more sleepers she could save this time? If she didn't do her all, she would never know, and she would never forgive herself.
Nephis sighed. "I know it's dangerous, but I'm not going in blind. I have studied these beasts. They are fast and strong, but still just that — beasts. As long as it is two or three, I can take them." Then an idea came to her. "And besides, I do not have to go alone. You should be able to accompany me with your shadow, right?" she looked Sunny.
Sunny looked her with wide eyes. Maybe he was debating if he should instead offer to go with her. Nephis could not allow that — in the case something did happen, she needed Sunny to at least take care of Cassie. Finally Sunny shook his head slowly.
"Yes, I can send my shadow and it can go ahead of you and warn you of danger. We should probably make some sort of sign language as Gloomy is not very talkative." Nephis nodded with a little smile.
Gloomy?
That's cute.
*******
Sunny sat beside Cassie and crossed his legs like he was about to meditate. In reality he was gliding to the depths of the red labyrinth with his shadow. Narrow passages nearby were dangerous as numerous crab-like nightmare creatures were besieging the Corrupted shark nearby. Sunny tried to locate lonely ones or those that seemed weaker than rest. First one he found by accident — the creature, noticing oddly behaving shadow, burst up from the sand and took him by surprise. When Sunny regained his composure he noticed that this particular crab was badly injured and pointed Nephis to the right direction. Changing Star made quick work of the beast with her flaming sword, and Sunny was impressed. Nephis paused for a moment like she was inspecting her runes — then she nodded. Sunny frowned. Had Nephis gained a new Memory?
After that they worked silently and diligently, slaying total of ten nightmare creatures. One time Nephis had to face two of them at the same time, but she didn't seem bothered. In fact, this was the only time Sunny saw Changing Star display any emotion besides indifference. When he saw it, he had to blink twice... because the heiress of the Immortal Flame was smiling.
How did that make any sense? Any other sleeper would have been annihilated on the spot, and Nephis treated the situation like a bloody training session. Sunny had known that Nephis was strong, but now he was legitimately scared. Nephis could probably take down Auro from his first Nightmare, and Auro had been singled out by the Spell itself.
But even though Sunny was astonished, he managed to regain his composure and started to pay attention to how Nephis was fighting. Sunny noticed quickly that the monsters had three somewhat weak spots, and that Nephis's strategy revolved around targeting them. He then concentrated on how Nephis moved — how she positioned herself, how she deflected strikes aimed at her and — most importantly — how she read the creatures facing her. It was almost like Nephis could see the future, always anticipating the next move of her opponents. Sunny could only hope to reach that level of mastery some day.
When Nephis finally climbed back to the stone platform, not a scratch on her pristine white skin, she made a fire and they ate in comfortable silence. Sunny watched the sky above turning to black as Nephis extinguished the fire. He looked at her as she gazed into the distance, like she could somehow see what lay behind the horizon. Her silver hair fluttered in the wind. It was like a painting.
Suddenly, Nephis turned and looked at him.
"I got something." She extended her hand like an invitation, and Sunny took it hesitantly. It was more pleasant a sensation than he wanted to admit. Sudden warmth traveled from Changing Star's soul to his own and he summoned the runes.
He had indeed received a new memory. Azure Blade.