A gentle breeze passed through the Awakened Academy of NQSC, the sky was clear and the air was nice...well, as nice as it could be in the metropolis anyway.
It was shaping to be just another normal day for awakened Rock.
Until it wasn't.
"Sir this is massive!" His assistant spoke excitedly next to him, as they sprinted through the hallways of the academy.
"This might be the biggest number of sleepers awakening in one day recorded, we have so far recorded 50 awakening." his assistant said before pausing and pulling his communicator, seemingly receiving a message.
From the way his assistant's eyes gleamed, Rock had a feeling that today was going to be a very very long day.
"Sir! We have received the final count, there are almost a hundred new awakened, the oldest of them had spent close to a decade in the dream realm!" His assistant was basically jumping from excitement at this moment.
Rock's eyes widened, he almost stumbled and fell.
It was incredibly joyous news, humanity had just gained a hundred new awakened fighters. And they all seemed to be the very experienced ones.
Yet, the only thing Rock could think about at this moment, was the mountains of paperwork that would await him.
'I should have taken this day off' Rock lamented.
It was indeed going to be a very long day.
*****
The academy was buzzing with activity, doctors, nurses and workers rushing through the corridors trying to check on the freshly awakened sleepers. And in some out of control cases, forcibly controlling them.
Families poured in, emotional reunions could be seen everywhere, the sounds of laughter and sobbing filled the academy.
It was pure chaos.
And amidst the chaos a blind girl with blonde hair and eyes as blue and deep as the ocean moved without stumbling into any of the moving crowd with an agility not even mundane humans could match.
She only stopped for a few seconds, and sometimes swayed, clearly dizzy.
It was as if she was cured from her blindness and was adjusting to her new reality.
Of course, that wasn't the truth.
Occasionally she would stop a worker or a nurse and ask them for directions towards a certain sleeping pod.
It was a funny and weird scene, the blonde girl would stop one of the nurses and ask for directions. But before the nurse could answer, the young woman would bolt towards the right direction, leaving a bewildered nurse behind.
Finally, the young woman -Cassie- arrived in front of the door of Nephis' room underground.
Normally she wouldn't be able to enter Nephis' room simply like that. But the Academy was in chaos right now and the staff was stretched thin.
She took a deep breath and walked forward.
If everything worked as she hoped, Changing Star should be awake behind this door.
If not, then....
She shook her head and extended her hand towards the door's handle.
And froze.
She hasn't turned off her awakened ability yet -her ability allowed her to know what happens a few seconds into the future- so she already knew what was waiting for her behind the door.
The room was completely silent, except for the beeping sound of monitors and the very quiet sound of someone's breathing.
The breathing of a sleeping figure.
Her hands trembled, the handle of the door was being bent by her awakened strength.
Quiet Dancer started manifesting towards her right. She grasped the hilt of the rapier tightly before it could even fully appear and wrenched the door open, hoping against all odds that her ability was malfunctioning, she hoped to hear Nephis' voice.
But all she was met with was the same silence her ability showed.
Strength left Cassie's leg and she would have collapsed, if she hadn't leant on Nephis' pod.
She walked slowly forward with the help of Dancer, who was vibrating in worry, until she came face to face with Nephis' sleeping figure. the only thing separating them was the glass lid of the pod.
She stared at where she believed Nephis' face was for a long time, until she couldn't hold it back anymore.
'I am sorry.. I am so sorry...' Cassie wept silently, tears landed on the glass lid and slid off.
She had failed to save the person who had rescued her when she was a pathetic and blind girl, lost in a death zone with no chance of surviving.
She was a burden that no other sleeper would have shackled themselves with.
But still Nephis took her in, gave her an awakened armour to cover herself with while she only wore clothes made of seaweed to protect her modesty.
Nephis knew, and even Cassie knew, that taking care of a blind girl in what seemed to be a death zone was only going to be a huge burden, it might even get her killed.
But she did anyway without asking questions.
Why?
Cassie always wondered, 'why did she decide to save me?'
But she never asked, afraid that the moment she asked, the legacy girl would realize the mistake she was making. And leave her.
So, she kept quiet.
Until she got her answer one day.
It was Sunny who had asked the dreaded question, and Cassie could have never expected the answer.
"Because I want to" she said like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Cassie had to bite her lip to stop herself from making any noise.
'Because she wants to...' Cassie echoed in her mind, Nephis never expected anything in return from her.
But at that moment, she decided. She would do anything in her power to repay the favor, she owes her life to her after all.
She listened to her calm breathing sound, her breathing was so quiet, so peaceful, you would never think she was trapped in a land of darkness alone, with no trace of Human Civilization anywhere near.
She allowed herself to cry for a few minutes before straightening.
She stood next to Nephis' pod and waited, her hand clutching Quiet Dancer even more tightly now.
'If Nephis didn't make it... then Sunny must have.'
She stood there silently for a while.
'I wonder if Nephis used his true name' the thought flashed through her mind.
She frowned, suddenly very worried. 'How do I explain it to him?'
She wanted to plan on something to say, she wanted to tell him how hard it was to make choice, either to do something with her knowledge from the vision or let things play out, she wanted to tell him why she chose Nephis over him, even if he too saved her multiple times. Something, anything to justify her betrayal.
But deep down, she knew she could never justify what she did. She had made a decision knowing its catastrophic consequences and she was going to face them now.
She wondered what does his true name do.
She wondered if he would try to kill her like he killed Harper.
She thought that maybe... maybe she deserved it.
And so she waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Thirty minutes have passed but Sunny didn't arrive.
She was seriously growing anxious now.
'Where is he? Did something else happen in the spire?' Her hands were sweating, the room suddenly felt hotter and narrower.
It didn't help that her mind was feeding her anxiety.
'Did Nephis uses his true name? Was its effect more dangerous than she thought?'
She dreaded the answer to the next question.
'Did it kill him?'
She couldn't stay put anymore. She had to know, so she went looking for his room.
'Why do even care? Weren't ready to sacrifice him, to kill him?' her mind betrayed her.
Cassie could tell herself that this was necessary, she could trick herself by saying it was the only choice she had. But deep down, she was being torn apart by her guilt and shame.
She shook her head and squashed that thought. Now wasn't the time for this... not yet at least. She looked around, there was nobody around her, she was alone in this part of the academy. Suddenly she had a premonition.
Cassie turned towards a certain door on the right, if her senses were right then this was his room.
She took a deep and shaky breath before steeling herself. She extended her hand towards the handle of the door.
Her body trembled violently.
She immediately disabled her awakened ability, but it was too late.
She heard with the same silence, the same sound of the monitors and the same slow breathing sound.
She backed away slowly, as if the door in front of her was a nightmare creature ready to tear her apart. Quiet Dancer freed itself from her iron grip and started nudging her to snap her out of her stupor.
The flying rapier's attempts failed. Because Cassie was too shaken by what was happening...by what she might have caused.
"At least...A-at least both of them are still alive." she whispered trying to reassure herself, her body still shaking violently.
She wondered to herself what they were doing now?
Were they moving together trying to find a new gate?
Were they buried under the rubble of the spire, slowly dying without any help in sight?
Were they...were they still fighting, still trying to kill each other?
Cassie didn't know, she always hated her knowledge of the future. But now? she wished desperately to know.
"This wasn't supposed to happen..." she muttered to herself in denial. One of them at least should have came back while the other stayed in the dream realm.
That was the horrible truth she came to learn on the Forgotten Shore.
Nephis was supposed to be here, trying to comfort her despite her awkwardness. Or Sunny should have been here, screaming at her for her betrayal.
But now she was alone, while her two best friends were stranded alone in the darkness of the Forgotten shore.
"It's my fault." she said very quietly. Maybe if she hadn't tried to change fate, maybe if she hadn't given Nephis Sunny's true name, they might be here.
"Is this my punishment?" She asked. But nobody was there to answer her.
Before she could drown herself more in guilt, a voice came from behind, echoing through the corridor.
"Young lady! What are you doing here?"
The voice belonged to an elderly lady, probably a nurse, and with the nurse Cassie sensed through a special connection Quiet Dancer flying from the same direction.
The Dancer must have went to get another human to help once it realized its efforts were ineffective.
As the sound of footsteps got closer, the nurse must have noticed something because her tone was suddenly shifted to concern.
"Are you okay?" Cassie felt a gentle touch land on her shoulder and turn her around.
The elderly nurse was silent for a second before speaking.
"Let's get you out of here." She said and carefully guided her away from the door of Sunny's room.
Cassie didn't resist at all.
*****
After few minutes of walking, she was guided into a room.
The elderly nurse explained that she was in the Academy hospital, definitely noticing the girl blindness, and soon nurses and doctors will come to examine her.
She was alone in the room currently, lying on the bed. Her unfocused blue eyes gazing at the ceiling.
She stared for a long time, before wiping tears out of her eyes.
To distract herself, she decided to examine her runes.
She had received a new attribute and a true name.
Cassie examined her runes and found her new attribute.
[Marionette]
Cassie frowned, she hadn't really paid her new attribute any attention during her awakening. She only remembered the spell saying she received a new attribute. But she was very worried about Nephis' well-being to bother at that moment.
She focused on the attribute and soon its description appeared.
[Marionette] attribute description: "fate has been denied its designed path. But the strings of fate will still try to pull everything back to its designed place.
You have been chosen to be fate's puppet, the herald of its message and the hands that will weave fate's designed conclusion.
You are more prone to see unreached possibilities."
No matter how much Cassie read it, it still felt ominous. She slumped into the hospital bed, too exhausted mentally to feel worried right now.
Idly, she wondered if her new attribute was related to her true name. She glanced at the beginning of runes.
It read:
Name: Cassia.
True name: Witness of Unwalked walked Path.
****
Far away in the dream realm, in a sunless land ruled by shadows, a nephilim and a divine shadow walked through the lifeless land.
It seems like the soul attack from the fallen terror has really wiped all living forms in the area. It was weirdly peaceful.
Sunny theorized that the only living being in the forgotten shore now were: him and Nephis, awakened creatures that were sheltered from the soul attack and finally fallen creatures with sufficient distance from fallen terror. Because no matter how ridiculously strong the terror seemed to be, it was still in the end of the fallen rank, with enough distance a fallen beast can endure the soul attack and survive.
The higher the rank and class, the stronger the soul is after all.
Speaking about classes...
Sunny still couldn't believe it, he was actually a monster! In his soul sea there were two cores! Not just one, but two!
Sunny first noticed when he extended his senses towards gloomy, it was something as instinctive as breathing for him now. But when he did, double the senses he was used to assaulted his mind.
He stopped dead in his tracks, dizzy and confused. He could feel Nephis' questioning gaze directed at him. However, he ignored it, and instead focused on his shadow, or as it seemed his shadows.
Down there, connected to his feet was another shadow beside gloomy, he and Gloomy examined their new companion. It looked exactly like gloomy but also very different, the new shadow seemed more cheerful and friendly.
'Happy...' Sunny decided to call his new shadow happy. Usually he would be proud of his genius name-giving skills. However he was not in the mood.
He decided to open his runes and see what changes gave him a new shadow.
Name: Sunless.
True Name: Lost from Light.
Rank: Dreamer.
Class: Monster.
Shadow cores:[2/7]
Shadow Fragments: [0/2000].
'Monster?!.. wait no way, right?' Sunny dove into his soul sea. And sure enough he was met with two soul cores in his dark soul. Sunny stood there for a while his minds refusing to register the new information.
'2/7... I can get five more cores ... I could become a Titan...this is simply just too overpowered!' Before Sunny could lose himself in this sudden but pleasant surprise, he became very aware of someone's gaze.
Sunny didn't turn his head. However he used his newly acquired shadow to look at Nephis. To everyone else it seemed like she was just standing idly behind him. But to Sunny he could see the tension in her muscles and how she was ready to jump into action immediately.
Sunny didn't say anything, he just simply resumed walking, he could think about the implications of having multiple cores later, he also didn't forget about his aspect legacy. He was going to check on it later too.
They had to get to the dark city first.
Like he originally intended, he sent his two shadow to scan for any hidden dangers, the year and few months he spent in the dream realm taught him to never let his guard down.
Saint was still recovering in his soul core, it would take her a long time before she can get back in action.
It took the army of dreamers a week to get here from the dark city, now that Sunny and Nephis were alone with almost all the threats eliminated, it would take them at most few days.
They continued walking in absolute silence.
Suddenly aware of how dry his throat was, Sunny summoned the Endless Spring and greedily drank from it. As the cold and delicious water flowed in his mouth, he considered, for what might be the fifth time in one hour, if he should just simply run away.
The forgotten shore has became a land of shadows, his own domain. If Sunny wished he could simply disappear and Nephis wouldn't be able to find him, even an awakened like Hero wasn't able to sense him when he was right next to him, so what could Nephis do?
He would be very far away from her, and she won't be able to command him.
Sunny lowered the Endless Spring and seriously considered this plan for few minutes, before reluctantly abandoning it.
It was for 3 reasons:
Firstly, Sunny was now trapped in a death zone, even if most of the threats were eliminated by the false sun, some nightmare creatures must have survived. And they were the strongest, smartest or at the very least the luckiest ones.
So having Nephis —a strong fighter, an invaluable healer and even possibly a divine aspect holder— by his side would boost his chances of survival through the roof, and Sunny very much wanted to survive.
This was the rational part of his reasoning.
But Sunny wasn't exactly a rational person.
Secondly, Sunny was...well very conflicted and shaken.
He always valued his freedom deeply, it was the only thing he truly owned in the outskirts.
That's why he never thought he would once hesitate in getting his freedom back.
Yet, he did.
Sunny couldn't run from it, he simply could not bring himself to harm Nephis... not anymore.
Maybe if she ordered him to stay behind and sacrifice himself for her own life, he would find it in his heart to truly try to end her life.
But she didn't, instead she told him that abandoning him here was vile and wrong, she used the bond to send him home, to achieve his goals. Even at the cost of effectively trapping herself in this lightless land for gods know how long.
Of course, he was very conflicted.
The very foundation of his existence he recognized was shaken. Sunny even entertained the idea that Nephis has already used the bond when he was unconscious to change the way he thinks. But he would be deceiving himself if he actually believed it.
Sunny wanted answers, from Nephis and more importantly from himself.
Running won't give him answers, the question would only fester in his mind. Slowly eating him from the inside out.
lastly and maybe most importantly, Sunny was confident in himself, he didn't feel helpless against the bond anymore.
His innate ability that once weighted him down like a mountain and terrified him, it no longer scared him as much anymore.
He was confident in himself, if worse came to worst, he would be at the very least be able to escape.
Sunny sighed in exhaustion, all he wanted right now was just to find his comfortable bed in the cathedral and sleep for days.
'Soon... very soon.' he tried to motivate himself.
He glanced at the Endless Spring in his hand and hesitated for a moment, before throwing it over his shoulder towards Nephis.
Nephis caught the beautiful bottle made of patterned blue glass in the air and glanced at him before raising it to drink.
Just as the stream of cold and refreshing water flowed into her mouth, the memory dissolved into sparks.
Nephis hand froze awkwardly mid air, she glared at the back of Sunny's head who walked like nothing happened, before lowering her hand down and walking behind him, maintaining her silence.
Sunny witnessed all of this from one of his shadows, he also saw the way she clenched her hand.
A small vindictive smile appeared on his face.