They saw the dark city, the sunlight blooming over them. Nephis didn't wait as she instantly grabbed the two and shot off with her flames, propelling them toward the city. She was burning through her essence faster than ever; it only took them around four minutes to reach it.
As soon as they landed, Sunny shushed them before signaling with his hand that they should look around. Of course, Cassie didn't see, so he just had to whisper it in her ear.
They seemed to be in some sort of ruins. The dark castle was in view from where they were, though all they had to do was go north. He wondered what legacy clan this citadel belonged to.
And then the sound of munching came. Sunny stopped the two of them, shrinking down in on himself, making his already short stature shorter. He peeked through gaps that the ruin left and found where the munching sounds came from.
Nightmare creatures were scattered around—their legs and a multitude of other pieces ripped off. Roasting those very pieces over a fire was a tall and muscular orange-haired woman. Her green eyes radiated as the flames bounced off of them. She rapidly ate the meat before throwing the bone away and repeating the process.
The thing is… the three of them hadn't eaten in a week, and hunger drives people to do crazy things. Which is why Sunny was already in front of the orange-haired woman.
---
"Well, hello there?"
"Food."
They must have been staring at each other for minutes on end, not saying a word. Eventually, she raised the meat she was cooking up toward her mouth, only for the rabid black-haired boy to lunge and bite into it—all while it was still in her hand.
"Hey! Let go! Let go!"
Waving the stick of meat around, his teeth sunk deep into it, making him be swung around like a rag doll while his teeth were still biting into it.
"Fine! Fine! You can have some, just let go! That doesn't mean eat it! What are you, a rabid dog? Stop that—don't eat the bone!"
She herself stopped trying to get him off of it and instead bit into the opposite side of the meat. Both of them were in a race to decide who would truly claim the food.
Meanwhile, Nephis was watching, burying her face in her hands while Cassie covered her ears and tried to pretend nothing was happening.
Nephis peeked between her fingers only to be met with a sight that made her heart drop even more. Eventually, both sides of the meat were eaten by the other, leaving only the bone. But for such a big slab of meat, that bone was surprisingly thin—so once the meat was gone, instead of their lips meeting bone, they met each other's.
---
Nephis rushed toward Sunny and pulled him away as he was still chewing meat. Neither of them seemed bothered in the slightest; instead, they were glaring at each other. The spear that she didn't notice was laying at the tall woman's side was picked up, heavy breaths escaping her lips.
"Days and nights I hunted that creature… I've heard tales of how someone got a taste of its ear and cried out in joy… and yet you… you… YO—!"
"You got any more?"
A spear rushed past Sunny, narrowly missing his head and only taking off some strands of hair. The life in his eyes was back after he had a meal.
Nephis had prepared many things when she saw the orange-haired woman—a fight, a partnership, a small favor—but now, everything was out the window.
"Hey! Not only do you take my first kiss, but that was attempted murder, you know! But since I'm so kind, I'll let you take a bite out of me since I'm sure you already know how good I taste!"
The woman's face darkened, her fists clenched as she started trembling. Nephis summoned the dream blade, but before anything happened, a noise rang out.
"Pfft… BAHAHAHA!"
She strolled up to Sunny before yanking her arm around him, laughing some more.
"Finally! Someone in this goddamn city with some humor!"
Nephis wondered if that was truly humorous, because knowing Sunny, he was dead serious.
"Fine… just this time, I'll cut you some slack!"
Sunny craned his neck up from her grip before a small innocent smile tugged on his lips.
"Does that mean we can eat more?"
That marked the day they met Effie.