"Damnation," Sunny cursed, driving the austere tachi down into the stone with all the frustration he had left in him.
The blade sank in with a sharp, ringing note, vibrations shuddering up the hilt and into his arm. The Midnight Shard hummed faintly, as if offended by the abuse, but true to its reputation, the so-called indestructible weapon showed not even the slightest chip or crack. Sunny left it there for a moment, leaning on the hilt as he caught his breath, shoulders rising and falling.
Beside him, Nephis and Cassie had also dragged themselves ashore, collapsing onto the cold rock like survivors of a shipwreck—which, now that he thought about it, they were.
Dark seawater clung to Cassie, soaking her clothes through and plastering pale fabric to her skin. She shivered, blind eyes unfocused as always, her expression calm but tired. Nephis, on the other hand, looked almost pristine. At some point during the climb—or perhaps the moment her feet touched solid ground—silver flames had blossomed around her body. The water had vanished instantly, turning to hissing steam, and any lingering injuries had been burned away just as easily.
Unfortunately, so had the water on Cassie.
Sunny noticed it a second too late.
He jerked his gaze away immediately, heat creeping up his neck. "Tch… damn it," he muttered under his breath, fixing his attention very firmly on the horizon, the rock, the sky—anything but Cassie.
Why does Nephis' Aspect have to work like that? he complained internally. Healing is fine. Fire is fine. But burning away clothes too? That's just unnecessary.
He shifted uncomfortably and pretended to be very interested in pulling his sword back out of the stone, anything to avoid looking in Cassie's direction again. It wasn't that he wanted to—well, maybe part of him did—but the problem was that he absolutely shouldn't. This was already a bad situation. Making it worse by being a creep was not on his list of survival strategies.
Below him, his shadow stirred.
Gloomy Shadow peeled itself off the rock and looked up at him, its featureless face somehow radiating smug amusement. Then, just to make things worse, it raised one shadowy hand and formed a neat little circle with its thumb and index finger, wiggling the remaining fingers in an unmistakably vulgar gesture.
Sunny's eye twitched.
"I will stab you," he hissed quietly, glaring down at it. "I don't care that it won't hurt. I'll still do it."
The shadow only seemed more pleased, its outline rippling as if it were laughing soundlessly at his misery.
Sunny sighed, exhaustion washing over him once more. Between the sea, the climb, Nephis' flames, Cassie's condition, and his own treacherous shadow, he was rapidly running out of patience.
And this was only the beginning.
"Please tell me," Sunny began, voice heavy with grievance, "that that was the only crater we have to sail across to reach this so-called City?" His words carried every ounce of exhaustion, frustration, and disbelief he'd felt since being tossed into this hellish stretch of the Forgotten Shore.
Cassie bowed her head slightly, silent, letting his tone wash over her without comment. Nephis, however, frowned sharply, her silver flames dimly flickering around her hands as if to mirror her irritation. Sunny's momentary shame flickered in him, briefly consuming his bravado, before he pushed it away. Why should I feel ashamed, damn it! he thought, clenching his jaw. We almost drowned. Nephis almost got eaten by that sea monster. And don't even get me started on that tree… that abominable mind-bending bastard. This is survival, not guilt.
"The City is real," Nephis said firmly, her voice steady, carrying the authority of someone who had endured too much to be shaken by conjecture. She reached out, resting a hand lightly on Cassie's shoulder to ground her, a small gesture of reassurance. "I trust Cassie's visions, and there has to be a Citadel in the region. A city like Bastion makes the most sense."
Sunny let out a short, humorless laugh, flicking back his soaking black hair with one hand. "I wouldn't know," he said flippantly. "I've never been to Bastion, and I know precious little about Citadels other than the fact they're apparently our ticket home. That's all that matters, right?"
Nephis' storm-grey eyes locked on his onyx ones with unwavering intensity, piercing through his façade. "Right," she said simply. "So we need to reach it as fast as possible, so we can finally leave this place."
Sunny's lips curled into a grin, sharp and almost predatory, more teeth than warmth. "Say less, Princess," he replied, the exhaustion and exasperation in his voice giving way to resolve. "On that much, we agree."
The golden rope shimmered faintly in the darkness, coiling around Cassie's waist and wrist with an almost sentient precision. It pulsed gently, a tether of Memory and guidance that allowed the blind girl to move forward with confidence, even in the fractured and unpredictable terrain of the Dream Realm. Nephis walked just ahead, her every step measured, every glance calculated, her silver flames occasionally flickering to illuminate the path. Sunny's shadow, Gloomy, drifted silently above, scouting ahead like an extension of his own senses.
From Gloomy's perspective, the landscape shifted constantly, yet some structures stubbornly rose from the ruin below. One caught his attention immediately. "Heads up," Sunny's voice came through the mental link he shared with the shadow, careful to keep his tone casual. "I think I see another one of those Stone Statues up ahead. Looks like…a woman? Decapitated. Huh. You know, I think someone has a grudge against these things."
He didn't dwell on it, though his attention constantly flitted between the structure and the surrounding shadows. Every movement of the coral, every jagged fragment of collapsed stone was scrutinized for ambush. Even the air seemed to thrum with the potential for danger, and Sunny's shadow flitted ahead, a silent, morbid scout.
Nephis's voice cut through his thoughts. "Any roads or easy paths?"
Sunny shook his head, scanning the terrain with a practiced eye. "Nothing clear. Stray coral, broken stone fragments…no road, Cass. Looks like we're taking the rough way."
Cassie's hand, still grasping the golden rope, didn't waver. "It's fine," she said simply. "I trust you and Neph."
Sunny's lips curved into a mirthless smile, hidden from the two girls since he was facing away. Trust, he mused silently, does anyone ever really deserve it?
Before the Soul Devourer, he would have laughed at the notion. Trust was a poison disguised as a gift: a hope that lifted you only to cast you down. He didn't need trust. He didn't need friends. He only needed himself.
But the memory of survival, of battles barely won, tugged at him. If he had been alone, he never would have slain the Centurion Demon, never would have escaped the Soul Devourer, never would have crossed the Dark Sea. Whether he liked it or not, Teacher Julius and Awakened Rock had been right: no one survived the Dream Realm alone.
He glanced back over his shoulder. Nephis moved with careful precision, eyes scanning the shifting terrain, alert for the smallest irregularity. Cassie's movements were steady and deliberate, her free hand hovering slightly at her side to catch herself if she stumbled, the golden rope a lifeline around her other.
Sunny studied them silently. Did he trust them? Could he place his life in their hands? The answer, he already knew.
And with that, he turned back to face the path ahead, stepping into the chaos with the quiet certainty that they were stronger together than they ever could be alone. The golden rope stretched taut between them, a fragile yet unbreakable bond, guiding them onward.
The Dream Realm was vast. It was cruel. And it was relentless. But Sunny, Nephis, and Cassie would face it—not as three scattered souls, but as a team bound by necessity, by experience, and by the faint, flickering light of trust.
'So this is what friends are like?" he mused. 'Not unpleasant. Not at all.'