The elderly soldiers escorted Nephis and Sunny through Fallen Grace. Despite their age, an unyielding fire still burned within their tired eyes framed by deep wrinkles. They walked with impeccable discipline, clad in pristine white armor whose polished surface gleamed faintly beneath the dim light of the River of Time.
They left the docks without incident.
From time to time, Nephis allowed herself to observe the architecture of the place. The ship-islands were impressive as well: enormous floating structures connected together like fragments of a forgotten kingdom suspended above the endless river.
Still, something quickly caught her attention.
Everyone was old.
There were no children.
No young adults.
The only people who looked young... were Sunny and herself.
That could only mean one thing.
All of the inhabitants had been born on the banks of the great river.
Normally, people swam upstream during certain stages of their lives, then migrated again so they could age naturally, following the so-called Houses of Youth.
The fact that everyone here was elderly meant they had abandoned that cycle.
A desperate decision.
One where they preferred becoming children trapped in aged bodies rather than facing whatever horror had forced them to remain here.
Nephis silently studied the soldiers walking ahead of them.
Judging by the pressure of their souls, none seemed to surpass the Awakened rank.
That left few possibilities:
either they were very young...
or very old and lacking talent.
And then there was the final possibility.
The most dangerous one.
That Dusk, the lady of Fallen Grace... a powerful oracle... had prepared a trap for them.
Nephis narrowed her eyes slightly.
She hoped that wasn't the case.
Because fighting an oracle who already knew you were coming was never pleasant.
What if she had already prepared a plan in case they tried to escape?
Or another one for when they decided to move forward?
Worse still...
What if you discovered the trap... only to realize later that your discovery had also been foreseen in a vision?
While you believed you had avoided danger...
you had actually walked exactly where the oracle wanted you to.
Facing an enemy like that was terrifying.
Of course... Sunny always had one or two plans in case he ever needed to kill an oracle.
And that had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Cassie was one.
...Maybe it did.
So for now, the best they could do was trust the lady of Fallen Grace... while keeping their guard up.
They continued walking behind the guards, admiring the city and asking questions along the way.
Sunny, meanwhile, seemed far more interested in talking with an old man named Cronos.
Or well... technically, a teenager.
After all, he had claimed to be sixteen years old.
As they advanced farther into the city, the ship-islands began ending abruptly, as though the other halves had been torn away by time itself. Massive sections were simply gone, leaving broken edges exposed to the void.
And then they saw it.
Near the center of the settlement floated a massive island suspended above the others. Upon it stood an imposing white palace built from enormous pale columns. A gigantic spire rose from its center, stretching upward until it vanished into the vermilion sky.
Pure flames burned at its peak.
That had been the lighthouse they saw before arriving.
The palace doors slowly opened before them.
And soon after, Nephis and Sunny found themselves ascending enormous white stone stairs.
——
Sunny stared blankly into the empty room.
Only a few minutes had passed since they met the lady of Fallen Grace.
What a surprise.
And who would have expected it to be Cassie?
On top of that, they now knew that all of their friends... and even Mordret... were still alive.
That should have been comforting.
Of course, there were several small things bothering Sunny.
The first was that, for some reason, it was cold.
The second...
Mordret was still alive.
And worse yet: he was with Kai.
In the best-case scenario, Mordret would disturb Kai so much that he would start thinking Sunny himself was completely normal.
In the worst...
his best friend would cease to exist.
Sunny did not dismiss that thought.
Mordret was intelligent. He would not make himself the mortal enemy of Sunny and Nephis without reason... but Kai was far too good a vessel to ignore.
The third annoying thing...
well, it was Cassie.
The fourth was also Cassie.
It was painfully obvious she was hiding something.
The fifth...
whatever she was hiding felt completely new.
Because Sunny knew the weight of Cassie's old secrets. He had learned to recognize when she was concealing something tied to her visions.
This was different.
And the sixth...
Cassie had hugged Nephis.
But not him.
Sunny blinked slowly.
The seventh.
Wait.
Cassie what?
——
Nephis wanted to kill her best friend.
Cassie.
"There's only one room left, sorry Neph."
After saying that, the damned girl had lowered the blindfold covering her eyes and winked at her with an innocent smile, as though she were doing Nephis a favor.
Nephis had never asked for her help.
...Well.
Maybe she was exaggerating a little.
It was just...
they were no longer alone.
And after spending so many months with only Sunny, being around familiar people again made showing affection feel... embarrassing.
Everyone already knew about their relationship, yes.
But it still felt strange.
Of course, she had done far more reckless and shameless things back in the Nightmare Desert... although at the time she had genuinely believed she could die at any moment. Besides, her flaw had not helped much either.
Now she was perfectly aware of everything.
And her resolve was sharper than ever.
It also didn't help that she had seen at least four empty rooms while walking through the palace.
Nephis slowly opened the door.
The old hinges creaked softly, and the scent of aged wood filled her nose.
She tried to enter quietly.
Although, considering Sunny's Shadow Sense, trying to sneak up on him was completely pointless.
...It worked.
Because he was asleep.
Sunny rested atop a massive white bed worthy of a noble mansion. It was not overly extravagant, but clearly luxurious and comfortable. The blankets looked soft and freshly cleaned, carrying a faint floral fragrance.
And in the middle of them lay Sunny.
Sleeping.
He looked... peaceful.
His relaxed expression softened the usual coldness of his features, making him look even more absurdly handsome than usual. His black hair had grown slightly longer lately —though thankfully not enough to hide his face— and framed his pale porcelain-like skin perfectly.
And, as if that were not enough...
the armor he normally wore as a Memory was currently reconstructing itself inside his Soul Sea, so he had chosen to sleep in a simple black shirt instead.
The problem was that the fabric had ridden up slightly while he slept.
Probably because he had moved a little.
Just enough to expose part of his abdomen.
Nephis froze for several seconds.
Perhaps Cassie did not deserve to die after all.
In fact...
Cassie deserved every good thing in the world.
Perhaps even two worlds.
Nephis tilted her head slightly to admire the scene before her. For a moment, she thought it truly was unfortunate not to possess a Memory capable of capturing images.
Because this... this deserved to be preserved forever.
The sight in front of her eyes was absurdly beautiful. And adorable.
Sunny was sleeping deeply, lying on his side atop the small improvised bed. The faint light of the room brushed against his pale face and highlighted the contrast of his dark hair, messily scattered across the pillow. Even asleep, he seemed to maintain that slightly wary expression, as if he were prepared to argue with the entire world even in his dreams.
And yet...
He looked peaceful.
Far too peaceful.
Nephis felt something warm pierce through her chest.
She approached slowly. Fortunately, her old confidants — Sunny's shadows — helped her in her little skirmish as a stealthy assassin. The shadows moved around her with obvious amusement, slithering across the floor and walls like accomplices to a ridiculously innocent crime.
She took small steps, making sure to conceal her presence. She even controlled the sound of her breathing.
Even so, she almost let out a small squeak when a wooden plank creaked beneath her foot, producing a faint sound, barely more than a whisper in the silent darkness.
Happy immediately appeared, making a heart with her hands in exaggerated excitement. Gloomy, on the other hand, watched her with an unmistakably mocking expression visible on her shadowy face.
Nephis narrowed her eyes slightly, trying to preserve at least a shred of dignity in front of a group of shadows that had clearly lost all respect for her.
When she was less than a meter away from the bed, she suddenly tensed.
Sunny moved.
For an instant, her heart literally stopped. She thought he was about to wake up.
But fortunately, he only mumbled something incomprehensible and shifted into a more comfortable position, pulling the blanket closer as he let out a tired sigh.
Nephis slowly released the breath she had been holding.
Though, unfortunately, Sunny's new position partially ruined her previous view.
Well... in this world, sometimes you won and sometimes you lost.
The shadows seemed to laugh at her.
Ignoring them with all the dignity she could gather, Nephis stepped closer and looked at the small empty space left on the bed.
Of course... she was embarrassed.
What if Sunny woke up?
What if he thought she was a pervert?
Well... honestly, she already had several plans prepared for such an unfortunate situation.
Everything from repeating Cassie's exact excuses about how "there was only one bed left," to blaming absolutely everything on the poor blind oracle.
Cassie was not even there to defend herself, which made the plan even more convenient.
Luckily for her, Sunny was completely lost in a deep sleep.
Slowly, almost cautiously, Nephis lay down beside him. The mattress sank slightly beneath her weight. Then she pulled part of the blanket Sunny was using over herself, silently sharing it with him.
His warmth enveloped her immediately.
It was strange.
She had survived deadly cold, fire, monsters, and impossible nightmares... yet this, this simple warmth, felt far more dangerous.
Sunny shifted again a few seconds later.
This time, he turned his face slightly toward her, leaving them face to face.
She remained completely still.
Her gray eyes observed Sunny's peaceful face from so close that she could feel the warmth of his breathing.
And then, very slowly, Nephis leaned forward.
She gave him a small kiss on the forehead.
A soft one.
Almost shy.
Like a silent goodnight.
And, as though it had been some magical spell, the shadow seemed to relax even further in his sleep. The tension slowly left his body as his breathing became calmer and deeper.
Nephis watched him for a few more seconds.
Then she closed her eyes.
The brilliant star dimmed her radiance slightly, finally abandoning her endless vigilance.
And at last, she too surrendered to the warm embrace of rest.