Settling down comfortably across from Nephis on the bone flooring, Sunny dug into the carefully prepared meal, or rather what was considered a meal here in these hellish lands. Despite the limited resources, Neph still managed to make things taste... well, not terrible. The use of the salt created here was imperative to the flavor too.
After eating in silence, Sunny let a content sigh fill the air and glanced up at Neph.
"So, we should probably confer over yesterday's events."
Nephis shot an approving glance, and nodded. Without any other words to exchange, Sunny began to explain his fight.
"The creature was called a 'Whisper of Fate' and was classed as a Fallen Devil. I received a Memory, the Last Prayer from killing it too. The two seem to be related in some regard. Aside from that, the shadow figure also shared my stature, an imitation of my Ascended abilities, as well as possessing an understanding of combat I haven't even comprehended yet."
Sunny paused and took a breath, Nephis was attentively listening while staring off into the distant horizon.
'How pretty...' He mused, indulging himself in the sight of Neph.
Sunny briefly thought back to last night, a genuine smile crept onto his face before he caught himself.
'Ah, where was I?'
"The Memory I received also broke the typical restraints of rank and class, being Transcendent. It was paired with even more ridiculous enchantments as well as a description that seemed to change my entire view on Fate. So far I'm theorizing that the Whisper of Fate has something to do with our regression of sorts, and so does the Last Prayer."
Nephis glanced over her shoulder from the horizon line, a look of curiosity taking hold of her.
"And what would that something be?"
Sunny thought for a moment before he shook his head and responded simply:
"Honestly, I'm not entirely certain yet. The thing's fighting style and posture was too alike with my own to be simple coincidence, and both Memory and creature have some relation mentioning Fate. If I had to guess, it's more so related to our past existence. Adding to that, the Whisper of Fate only targeted me and not you which further cements my theory."
For a moment, Neph did not react before she slowly nodded, as if rapidly formulating her own theories by the second.
"One last detail I noticed regarding Fate, is that the Memory description treats Fate as if it was tangible, or I guess as a persona? Not quite like Weaver, nor like any of the gods. It seemed to go against everything we already knew about Fate in the first place."
This time Nephis bore a reaction, her eyes pausing on something off into the distance while she processed Sunny's words. Then she met his gaze slowly.
"Fate as it's own separate, tangible entity?"
"That's what I'm understanding so far. Logically, there is no way to regress in the waking world. The only plausible concept that we know of being capable of something like this is the Tomb of Ariel. Yet, here we are. We are only two months in from the point we regressed to, and yet many things are different. Many things do not make sense."
Sunny hesitated for a moment, before continuing:
"While Fate is hardly something I have the complete puzzle to, the puzzle pieces in this timeline do not fit. Cassie is missing, there's an odd shadow like creature, and the Nightmare creatures are more powerful. It is too early to draw conclusions, but it is hard to.. ignore all of these changes."
Silence permeated between the two, neither daring to break their individual thought processes. Nephis furrowed her brows slightly, her eyes narrowing in concentration before she closed them entirely, letting out a long winded sigh.
"Let's keep what we know from the past and what takes place in the present in check. For now, we can work on something in the present."
She opened her eyes slowly, a faint glow emanating from them. Catching Sunny's gaze with her own, a slight grin tugged at her expression as she rose from the ancient bone floor. There was a hint of a challenge laced into her tone, one that Sunny could not turn down.
After all, who was he to refuse the one and only Changing Star in a spar?
Maybe he would learn more once again today as he did many years ago on these same Forgotten Shores.
***
The two had already been going at it for hours, the beads of sweat slithering down into Sunny's eyes bearing testament. So far, Nephis was still... well, still a monster. There was no other way to describe her really. Despite having the enhancement of Shadow Dance, as well as knowing the ins and outs of Neph's combative behavior, her sword still found its way to Sunny's neck each and every time.
But as the hours had passed, Neph was tiring, and Sunny was ramping up. Perhaps it was his frustration that he bore so deeply within himself, or perhaps genuine strategy. Either way, he had become a bit tired of losing to Changing Star.
He would make this round his best win today.
Staggering to his feet, he wiped the sweat off his face and refocused his gaze onto Nephis. In a similar fashion, she gently rubbed her face with the fabric of her body suit.
"Ready?"
Sunny paused waiting for an answer, and soon was met with one as a blur of grey struck out at him. Sidestepping the strike, Sunny swung his newfound Memory and delivered a heavy strike to what should have been Neph's exposed side. Yet his blade intertwined with another, concluding the two's debut of the dance.
Now the hard part would come.
Gritting his teeth, Sunny drew back his longsword and twirled it aiming for another strike. Rapidly responding, Nephis stepped back and postured her blade aggressively as if to stab.
Before he could finish landing the next heavy strike, Sunny deftly dropped the blade down to meet her stab, countering her.
'Damnation!'
Drops of blood hit the floor as Sunny clutched his thigh with a hand, before refocusing on the fight. While he had blocked the stab, her longsword owned up to its named and due to its size still nicked his thigh, drawing blood.
With renewed efforts, Sunny pushed her blade away from himself and stepped in to close the distance further. Catching a glimpse of Neph's expression, there was a certain look of complete control masking her composure. He needed to break that control, or their fight would end in another inevitable defeat.
Utilizing Gloomy from the side of the duel, Sunny honed his perception into the next stage of clarity. With the usage of Shadow Dance, the duo became a storm of sparks, for every strike thrown a parry was in place.
More beads of sweat continued to fly off Sunny's face, some landing onto his blade only to be quickly pulverized from the heat of the combat. With a feint of his blade, Sunny managed to elbow Neph's shoulder, before taking advantage of the now unbalanced equilibrium and planting his foot behind her leg.
With a simple swing downward unto her raised sword, Sunny broke her balance and Neph tripped down to the ground. Before she could reengage, a blade pressed gently against her sweat slick neck, Sunny's gaze bearing down the length of the blade at Nephis.
Then, he withdrew the blade and let the Memory dissipate into the air, back to his soul sea. Offering a hand, Sunny helped Nephis up and for a moment the two shared an intense gaze.
"Good fight, Lord of Shadows."
Good fight, Changing Star."
A small grin broke out on Sunny's face as the two held each other tired gaze. Ah, how Sunny loved their spars. They had never ceased to amaze him in their endless depths of calculations and lessons. Only Nephis could genuinely outclass him in sword play after all, she was an anomaly.
Breaking off their gaze, Sunny walked to the edge of the spine towards the sight of the massive tree sitting alluringly along the horizon line.
Oh how he longed to burn the tree once more.
Feeling Nephis stand beside him, the two shared a silent moment of appreciation, their breathing still uneven. Glancing over to Nephis, Sunny decided now was a better time than any.
He had considered these words internally for a very, very long time. Honestly, it began all those years ago here in the Forgotten Shore, and later Antarctica and the Tomb of Ariel. Here and now though, he could realize his feelings truly now that no illusionary barrier stood between them.
"Hey Neph?"
Nephis continued to look at the distant tree for a moment, before she too turned her face to Sunny's.
"Hey, Sunny."
"I love you, you know."
Sunny could feel his heartbeat rise, however unlike in combat he could not exert the adrenaline that raged through his heart. But saying those words felt so right, so just.
Nephis on the other hand seemingly had frozen, a small pink blush had gently set on her cheeks as she blinked.
"I love you too, Sunny."