"Changing Star has went on a grand mission! She has left me in charge until she comes back from her absence!"
Cheers roared through the small crowd as Sunny stepped off the makeshift podium. Walking away from the crowd, Cassie joined him.
"There's still no traces of where she could have gone?"
Sunny pinched his nose before letting out a sigh. Making sure nobody was around, he finally spoke.
"No clue, not a clue in the world... with her gone I'm sure Gunlaug will make his move also."
Sunny was trembling while talking before walking over to one of the walls nearby and slamming his fist into it.
"Damnation!"
Why was she so difficult? Instead of leaving, they should have figured out a solution together! He has no clue where she is—for all he knows, she could be de—
A hand grasped Sunny's shoulder, causing him to stop in his thoughts. Cassie spoke, her voice gentle like a parent comforting a child.
"Thinking about what if's will do us no good. In the end, what matters at this moment is surviving."
Most of the time, Sunny would have calmed down by those words, but this wasn't one of those moments.
"I don't care about surviving! I want Nephis here now! I don't care about this kingdom or its people! If I had to choose, I'd choose—!"
Oh.
So that's how it was.
Sunny had forgotten his true nature.
Wearing the mask of a hero while being a hypocrite.
---
It was like a pot of boiling water with a lid on it. You couldn't tell it was boiling underneath the lid from a distance—only if you were close enough to either see the steam or lift the lid up yourself. There was another method to tell if the water inside was boiling, though. If you were to touch it while not knowing, then you'd get burnt.
That pot was, of course, Cassie, and inside she was obviously boiling. Watching Sunny come to the realization that he was being hypocritical just turned the heat of the stove up. She wondered what Nephis's eyes looked like when she left, but she had an idea they would have looked like the eyes he had right now.
If this kept going on, Sunny would end up leaving, and once more—just like when they first arrived in the Dream Realm—she was going to be alone.
Nephis was ambitious but loyal to a point where her dream would be paved in blood to take two others with her.
Sunny was a hypocrite whose greed knew no bounds and wanted everything he wanted to be.
But Cassie wasn't free from her own set of flaws.
Cassie was undoubtedly the most selfish out of all of them.
She knew this because she never told Sunny she was boiling in that moment.
She knew this because she had him burn himself to take the lid off.
She knew this because after he was burnt, she would be the one to heal his wounds.
She knew this because she would be the only one selfish enough to hurt another in order for them to stay.
---
Sunny planted his hands on the table. Recently, he had someone go into the castle and spread a message around to those who seemed to distrust Gunlaug. That message was the fact they could escape this dark city and Gunlaug refused to escape it.
"A lot of you have left the castle and gathered here. For that, I thank you... putting yourself at risk cannot be an easy task. As you know, Changing Star has went on a brave quest and will return on a later date."
Looking at his side and assuring that Cassie was next to him, he spoke once more.
"But until then... we have to hold down this fort. We have to assure everyone survives. We must be brave in her absence and fight back against this tyrant."
A woman raised her hand, her sultry voice coming out—and this was only amplified by her revealing clothing. It was obvious what she was in the castle, and it was proof of how twisted these lands were.
"And how can we trust you? I'm sure Changing Star may have a chance, but a limp-dick frail boy like you, whose appearance is equivalent to a common miscreant, doesn't seem very trustworthy?"
Sunny smiled, brushing off the insults before directing his eye contact with her.
"I know you can't trust me, and I can't trust you either. I'm sure a bunch of you in this group are spies. With that said... you shouldn't trust in me, trust in my strength."
Walking to the group, he summoned the blade memory he had even in the first nightmare.
"So I'll take on every last one of you, and I won't even use my aspect."
The woman licked her lips, curiosity finding its way into her eyes.
"Fine then, let's do that."
Giving a man a small shove out of the crowd, causing his hood to fall off, the unknown young man stood up straight like an arrow—his red hair and handsome face being uncommon in this city.
"Well, I suppose I'll be your first opponent... I would ask you to go easy on me, but I don't think it would matter, haha..."
The handsome yet nervous young man let out a laugh before speaking once more.
"I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Kai."