Nephis didn't like Cassie's prophecy.
On the other hand it was good that they now had a legitimate reason to take the western course and she didn't have to persuade them. But that was where the good things ended. She didn't worry much about rivers of blood and fire consuming the Bright Castle — in the past she had done what had to be done, though she hoped to avoid many unnecessary deaths this time. But what really gave her the pause was the very end.
Angel consumed by shadows.
Knowing what she did, there was only one way to interpret that part. It seemed that Sunny was indeed involved when she was left behind in the Dream Realm.
They had fought.
And he had come out victorious.
"Are you absolutely sure you didn't see anything else?" Nephis asked Cassie (for a third time). She didn't like pressuring the blind girl, but she hoped desperately for more answers. Why and how had she and Sunny fought? It didn't make any sense. Sunny had been in love with her in the past timeline, and Nephis had been in love with him, too, even if she was slow to accept it. Surely a confrontation like that would have broken any bond the two of them could have ever had. Yet it didn't.
"I don't remember!" Cassie said. "I saw plenty, that I know, but it's all in fragments. I can't seem to recall any of it and if I did, it wouldn't make much sense." She was clearly distressed. Nephis sighed.
"I don't mean to cause you distress. I merely want to make sure we have every bit of information we can."
"But we do have the most important part", Sunny said. "We know where to find people."
"I guess we do."
Nephis looked west. No matter what she was thinking or feeling, their next steps were clear. She still wanted to protect Sunny and Cassie and make them stronger, even with the new information. She felt a stab of pain in her chest. Whatever Sunny had done... this Sunny had not yet done. She couldn't condemn him because of the sins of his past counterpart, much less because of mere speculation.
I must remember it first. Prophecies can be misleading... I sure hope this is. The alternative was too painful.
She straightened her back. "We should go, then."
Cassie nodded and Sunny stood up. Nephis didn't want to waste time so she motioned them to come with her to the edge. There they could see the usual coral forest awaiting hundreds of feet below them.
The trio descended the statue with Cassie strapped to Nephis's back despite her embarrasment — it was simply the optimal way. Then they started their journey through the red maze. Nephis pointed Sunny in a right general direction and his shadow took care of scouting. They moved in thick silence. Something about the labyrinth made them all wary, even Nephis who had faced its horrors before. There was general uneasiness with not being able to see where the danger lurked, and that combined with the oppressive, high walls and trees of coral around them demanded upmost caution. Not a word was spoken except when Sunny gave them directions. He informed them of the carapace scavengers on the road and they managed to avoid larger groups. However, Nephis soon realized that they couldn't play hide and seek with these monsters forever — it would simply take too much time.
"If there is three or less, we should fight", Nephis whispered. "It serves as a good foundation for your further instruction."
Sunny scowled at her, but didn't object. Nephis was surprised. Maybe she had managed to make fighting the beasts look too easy.
"Fine. But it will be your fault if we die."
And soon enough their first test came. There was just two scavengers blocking their path. Nephis was unfazed but for Sunny, sight of the two awakened beasts must have been frightening. Even she couldn't treat the fight lightly. Nephis had seen many awakened die because of simple carelessness and wasn't about to become the next one.
"You can take the one on the left when I have distracted them", Nephis whispered. "You should ambush it from behind and find the weak spot that I told you about. Then we will kill the second together."
Sunny simply nodded. He looked grim and determined. Nephis suddenly realized that this was one of the first times he was facing death eye to eye, apart from his First Nightmare. And she realized something else, too.
She couldn't lose him. It was important for him to face danger, that she knew, but at the same time Nephis felt like she should disregard that notion. No matter that this Sunny didn't know her, no matter that he was just a street rat turned sleeper, no matter that he had probably been the cause for her miserable year in Dream Realm alone — she felt protective of him. Was this how mothers felt?
Damnation, Nephis thought. I am not his mother, I am his girlfriend... She shook her head. Sunny needed experience and that was that. He should probably be ready by now. Cassie was some distance behind them, hiding behind a strange protrusion of red coral. It was time to strike.
As soon as the thought came, Blessing was already in her hand. The sword gave her a familiar feeling, its weight and length perfect for her. She stood up and stepped direcly to the path of the scavengers. Before they could react, she sprung forward and attacked the one on the left, trying to create an opening for Sunny. She had to be cautious, though. The second scavenger wouldn't just sit by and watch the duel. And before long, she had to concentrate almost entirely on evading the oncoming attacks and blocking and deflecting those she could not dodge.
In all honesty, she could have taken both beasts down singlehandedly had she been more aggressive - probably even without using her Aspect. But she had to think about Sunny. He had to participate in the battle to grow. Not to mention that he couldn't absorb soul shards as all other awakened did. Nephis intended to give the last hit to him whenever it would be possible.
Soon Sunny entered the fray. He moved like a shadow, gliding behind the first scavenger and waiting for an opportunity to arise. When it did — when scavengers focus was entirely on Nephis — Sunny burst from his hiding spot without hesitation. He jumped on the scavengers back and plunged the Azure Blade deep into the creature's skull. The scavenger convulsed and crashed down, sending Sunny flying. When he managed to get upright, second beast was already upon him. Sunny dodged to the ground as monster's pincer cut the air, rolling and coming back up only to block the second strike, half-swording. He slid some meters back, nearly stumbling down on a rocky surface.
Nephis watched her student with pride but decided that she had had enough. She couldn't put Sunny in too much risk yet, and they couldn't take much time either. Midday was already over and they still had some distance to cover.
She attacked remaining scavenger from the side, this time activating her Aspect. White hot pain shot through her like an electric bolt, trying to bring her down, but she resisted, moving instead with perfect precision. In the last second she focused all of her Soul Flame into Blessing, making it twice as strong as it would have been normally. The sword pierced carapace like a solid fire and cut through the flesh before meating something hard. Monster blood sprayed from the wound but Nephis hardly minded.
[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Carapace Scavenger.]
[... you have received an Echo.]
*******
Everything became much easier.
With the carapace scavenger as an Echo they could move quicker and fight against bigger hordes of monsters. Cassie, who was usually riding on the back of the the giant echo, would make her way down when danger approached and wait as Nephis, Sunny and the echo dispatched everything that came their way. At the end the day, when they had scaled the cliffside of another coral island, they were exhausted but also content. Daylight was dimming and it was only a matter of minutes when the Dark Sea would rise once again.
Nephis was quick to make a campfire. She then proceeded to prepare their meal for a day. She thought it strange that they could only eat twice a day and only meat yet be perfectly healthy and even grow stronger everyday. Perhaps it was because of the special qualities of monster meat, perhaps because of their enhanced awakened bodies. After all, saints or even masters didn't need nearly as much sleep, food or water as average person did. It was logical that same applied, though not as dramatically, even to sleepers.
Sunny and Cassie sat down around the fire as delicious aroma started to permeate the air. Nephis felt good, watching the meat change its colour and hearing the flames crackle. As the years went by she had come to treasure small moments of humanity like these. They made her feel grounded, like she belonged in the company of others. If only there was not a dark prophecy looming over them or evil sun watching them from above. But then again, danger and struggle were life too. Divine flame needed fuel to burn and that fuel was pain, at least when it came to her. And probably to Sunny, too. They accumulated scars like other people grew hair.
"It's ready."
She gave Cassie and Sunny both a portion of the meat and grabbed something for herself as well. The flesh was good and juicy and it replenished the energy that she had lost during the travel. When eating was done Nephis opened her bag for a second time. This time she had her hands full of Soul Shards when she took them out of the bag. She made three similar sized piles of glimmering crystals after remembering that she wasn't supposed to know too much about Sunny's Aspect. As expected, Sunny declined the shards.
"Why?" Nephis asked — it would have been strange not to.
Sunny thought for a while.
"I think it is evident that you are the best fighter out of the three of us. It is beneficial for you to grow stronger. Cassie as well, she has been a great asset as you said, and we've been here only couple of days. Besides, this is not a charity. It's a trade."
"Of what?"
"I would like to have that echo as an exchange for giving you the shards", Sunny said.
Nephis shrugged. Sunny could keep his secrets if he so wished... even if this particular attempt wasn't at all convincing.
"Give me your hand, then." Nephis transferred the echo to Sunny and started crushing soul shards in her hands. When she was in the middle of the procedure, she heard the familiar noise of the Dark Sea as it rose over the coral trees and -pillars. Nephis extinguished the fire with Endless Spring, which she had borrowed from Cassie. At the same time she heard a sharp gasp.
"Sunny?"
Sunny's face was blank and Nephis could tell he was seeing through his shadow. He seemed paler than usual. When he finally found Nephis's eyes, he looked nervous.
"We are in in big trouble."
"What is it?"
But as the words left her mouth, she already realized what she had missed.
Idiot. Well, they were a day early, but the creatures would then have been making their way to the Knight statue... Nephis calculated distance in her mind and sighed.
"Please don't say that we have an awakened monster to fight."
Sunny's words were suddenly stuck to his throat and he coughed violently. When he looked up, his eyes were large like owl's.
"No. We have two... and I think the other one just heard me."