Nephis led the cohort to the marble arch.
The journey was relatively easy for them, although they had to keep up a brisk pace. They could not risk being late after all. But they were all athletic, even superhuman compared to mundane people, so their bottleneck was not the physicality of the march but rather the necessity of being careful. They had to scout ahead and avoid danger in the coral labyrinth and Nephis had to continually remind herself that there was indeed danger there — if not for her, then for her friends.
They did not talk much and that suited Nephis fine; better than fine, actually. She was so submerged in her thoughts that she almost stumbled a few times when a tendril of red coral on the ground catched her unaware. She also eyed Sunny too often when walking, a fact that she desperately hoped Effie didn't notice.
Last night, she had seen the siege of the Crimson Spire.
And, more importantly, its conclusion.
The timing was horrible to say the least. Not that there could have been a good time to suddenly remember fighting your closest companion to death and then enslaving him.
Her thoughts had been raddled all day and Nephis didn't like it one bit. She especially hadn't liked it when going to confront a fallen tyrant as a mere sleeper. In the battle, one scattered thought, one slip, could mean that everything was over. And she also hadn't liked her plan, which was to utilize Sunny's ability as an assassin against the said tyrant. Who was she to command him around after everything she'd done?
In that sense it was almost good that they had not had to fight the Lord of Dead. The downside, of course, was that they would have to fight whatever horror had slain the mighty tyrant. That the being in question was a creature of true darkness didn't help at all. Nephis knew precisely what it reminded her of — her second nightmare. She almost shuddered at the thought.
But there was a long way to go before they would have to take care of that problem. For now, the bigger problem was Sunny, or more precisely, her relation with Sunny. With her latest revelation her need of connecting with him — making things right — had only heightened. Only, she didn't know how to make things right. She had never been good with people.
What Nephis was good with was fighting and warfare, so for the remainder of the day she compared different strategies she could use. If she kissed Sunny, would that work? No, most probably not. And to be fair, her feelings toward this Sunny weren't entirely — or only — romantic. It was more like a deep yearning for home she never had, for companionship and connection. She wanted to be close to someone, and that someone would always be Sunny, for that she was sure.
What to do... In the past she would have asked Cassie for advice, but she was pretty certain that was not an option now.
She thought, and then she thought a little bit more. Slowly an idea began to form in her mind — a foolish idea, perhaps. An idea that she didn't like at all. Yet for precisely that reason it felt more right than any other she could have thought of. And it did fit her in some strange way. She was used to sacrificing herself after all. She often sacrificed limbs or other organs when fighting. As a sovereign she had endured excruciating pain day in and day out for the sake of her people. Of course, all these sacrifices were made in the pursuit of her selfish goal, not because of something like nobility. But wasn't the one she intended to make just now also for a selfish goal?
Nephis barely noticed when they reached the marble arch. They were just in time — the sun had begun to set, and even though it could not be seen directly through the ever-present veil of clouds, shadows all around them reacted, becoming longer and deeper. They climbed to the top of the arch quickly and Nephis took on cooking just as she had in her last life. Only when they were about to settle down for the night, when the Dark Sea began its ascent from the depths of the labyrinth, did Nephis turn to Sunny.
He was sitting near the edge of the arch, looking forlorn. Nephis sneeked up to him and tapped his shoulder lightly.
Sunny turned sharply, clearly startled.
"What now?"
Nephis paused, carefully formulating her words. "I was just going to ask you to come with me. I... have something to say."
She could see Effie's head perking up even in the dim light of the evening and cast a warning glance at her direction.
"Will you come and hear me out?"
"I guess I should", Sunny said resignedly and got up. They walked to the end of the arch that was furthest from the camp. Nephis sat down and beckoned for Sunny to do the same. To her suprise he accepted without additional comments. Nephis had found in her time as a queen that serious things were much better discussed without haste and in as tranquil of a setting as possible.
" I must say, this is a really bad time to confess..." Sunny muttered, casting a wary look her way. Nephis raised her eyebrows at him.
"And you think I'm going to confess to you?"
"... No. I don't think so."
Nephis sighed. "You are right in that. I was going to talk about... the last time. Specifically, the end of our last time in Forgotten Shore. As you know, I've been remembering things about you that were sealed away from my memory when you escaped our bond... and what I remembered last night was how and why I stayed here when everyone else escaped through the gateway."
Sunny nodded thoughtfully and Nephis felt herself relaxing. He was in a good mood at least.
"I was wondering about it when you said you had to conquer the second nightmare to get back to the waking world. It was caused by me, right?"
"Yes. The function of the gateway dictated that one living being had to stay behind to serve as the conduit of the spire, and since we were the last two humans there, we had to fight for the right to escape. I threw the fight to let you escape — "
"Excuse me? You threw it? You let me escape in your stead?" Sunny was clearly baffled by the statement.
Nephis smiled bitterly.
"Yes. I did. It seems you have not yet come to terms with it, but I have always wanted the best to you. I could not have left you behind. And that is the most bitter thing of all, isn't it? Because you would not leave me, either. You might not believe it, but we had grown close at the time. And that is why, in the end, I forced you through the gateway. It was the first time I spoke your True Name."
Nephis could hear a choking sound coming from where Sunny was. When he spoke, his voice was awfully contained.
"You used shadow bond?"
Nephis could not help but nod.
"As I said, it was the first time. First time I ever used it. As a last resource. I didn't even know what it would do, not exactly, I just knew that I had to save you. And I would do it again, to save you. I could not live with myself if you died and I knew I had not done everything I could... "
"Well, good thing you have it always on the ready now." Sunny shook his head violently. His voice shook as well, although that was almost imperceptible. Nephis found that her other senses had become much sharper in the darkness.
" What do you expect me to say? That I forgive you for your crime? For taking away my right to decide for myself? Has it ever crossed your mind that you might, in fact, not know what is best for other people?"
"Of course it has. And that is why I'm making an offer."
There, she said it. Now she only had to wait for a response.
"An offer?"
"Yes. I could say to you that I will never use the shadow bond, but we both know I can make mistakes — "
"That, we do... "
"— and I could also say that I will help in breaking this bond, if it is at all possible — but then, I think the prize for your freedom might be too tall for both you and me. So what I am giving you instead is a year."
"A year?"
Nephis thought she could hear genuine curiosity through his voice. Sunny tried to mask it, but he had to be curious. That was one of his more consistent character traits. And so, Nephis voiced the idea that had came to her earlier that day.
"I am willing to give you a year of freedom — free from me, at least. If you want, I will stay behind again, and conquer the second nightmare, again, alone. Everyone else can go to the waking world. You won't need to fear my power over you, you don't need to see my face. You can even hope that I will die in the Nightmare Desert or in the Underworld — and that is in fact a possibility." She tried to look Sunny to the eyes as straight as she could. "It's not much, but it's my offer. It's the best I can do to remedy for my sins — for all the hurt I have caused you..." Her voice trailed off at the end, wondering if she should say something else. She could feel pain blossoming somewhere inside her, she was not quite sure where, and when she looked at her fists she noticed her hands were glowing with soft light.
"You are a lunatic... " Sunny said.
"Are you taking the offer?" Nephis asked, little harsher than intended. She forced the light to subside, lest the monsters of the dark sea might be attracted to it.
"I don't know. I'll have to think. I will let you know when I have made my mind, though", Sunny said finally.
" Good. Now, I think we should go sleeping. Tomorrow, the giant will come."
*******
On the next day the seventh statue, the builder, indeed came by. It was nightfall and the Dark Sea was already rising when the stone colossus appeared on the horizon. It was completely dark when it finally came close enough for them to climb aboard. Nephis jumped over the distance whereas Kai flew both Sunny and Cassie with him, both of them hanging on one hand of the archer. Nephis didn't see the scene well, obviously, but she could imagine Sunny scowling at Kai. Effie cleared the distance with a long jump as well, clinging with all her might to the arm of the giant statue.
Last time they had first traveled to the statue near the broken bridge, where the giant steel spiders had made their nest, and boarded the builder's statue there. But this time they were early and there was no need to visit the place as Effie already had zenith shard with her. Nephis didn't know what kind of route the builder's statue usually took, but now they were undoubtedly in luck. She didn't think the statue came this close to the city often.
The night on the moving giant was not restful. It was difficult to escape the notion that anybody who slept could fall down when the statue encountered difficult terrain, and obviously the Dark Sea itself loomed below them, full of horrors who might be interested in their exotic vehicle. Nephis herself stayed up the whole night, deep in meditation. She still found it difficult to fathom how her mind could be so quiet, without the emotions of billions of people sweeping over her every minute of her waking life.
It felt barren and empty, but also peaceful and cozy.
When the dawn came they were already a long way from the city. Nephis wasn't sure but she thought they had traveled a little bit too westward. But that was to be expected — the statue had its own travel plans and didn't care where its ant-like passengers where going. Nephis had anticipated that they might take little detours before eventually finding themselves on Hollow Mountains.
In fact, it was interesting to see what lie west and south of the Dark City. That was the part of Forgotten Shore she didn't know at all, having spent much time in the eastern reaches of the region.
It took two days for them to encounter something interesting. Of course, being the Dream Realm, everything interesting was bound to be terribly dangerous.
*******
"It looks like... " Effie scratched her head. Nephis understood the huntress's puzzlement perfectly well. She, too, wasn't quite sure what she was looking at.
"It looks like a giant workshop", Kai thought aloud. "Transformed into a city. And... a lake?"
"That sounds absolutely stupid."
Sunny's contribution was met by a tired look by the archer.
"Hey! I'm just trying to make sense of this."
"I think it looks like a dungeon", Nephis said.
Indeed, there were many words that could be used to describe their next destination. But on the most fundamental level it was just a giant, circular hole in the ground, big enough to fit the whole Ivory Tower and its island inside. The walls of the pit were coreved with tunnel entrances, cracks, holes and windows as well as hovering platforms and remains of giant machines. And on the bottom of the enormous well there was glimmering lake, perfectly circular as well. It was impossible to determine the depth of the pool, but Nephis had a feeling it was enormously deep.
As they spoke, the builder's statue took a last few steps to stand on the edge of the hole. Nephis frowned. What is it going to do?
As if to answer her question, the building-like statue moved one of its legs tentatively. The cohort held their breaths as the giant lowered itself to the ground, crushing parts of the coral forest. Curiosly, the forest seemed to shy away from the pit, kind of like it did on the Ashen Barrow. That could not have been a good sign...
In the next second, the earth quaked.
The statue moved its legs, then its arms, displaying surprising mobility. Slowly and carefully it took hold of the edges of the pit and lowered itself to the hole. Far below the water rippled as the thing filled the tube with its massive body, meter after meter. In the end, over half of its torso was below the water and its head was tens of meters lower that the sides of the pit.
"What the hell? What is this, Neph?"
Sunny was looking around, clearly baffled. Unfortunately, this time Nephis was no better.
"I don't actually know. This didn't happen last time... "
"How surprising."
"You are developing a good catch phrase there, princess", Effie said innocently. Nephis took a deep breath and shook her head.
"This seems to be an important place for the statue. It almost feels like its home." She looked around. Could it be that the statue had actually been built here? She could see skeletal remains of massive cranes and other equipment here and there.
"It also feels a lot like a trap", Effie pointed out. "You probably know it already, but night is pretty close now. And with us this close to the ground... "
"It's not going to be fun", Sunny finished.