Walking through a kingdom of coral on the back of a tall white-haired girl was a black-haired boy. He was only covered by a cloak; other than that, his body was bare. It's been two days since they began walking, and Sunny hadn't woken up once—not even a stir. He was still alive, but it seemed as if he was in a temporary coma.
"I see nothing."
"Me neither."
Tossing a glance at Cassie, who had a small smile on her face from what she just said, a sense of curiosity came upon her.
"You seem to be taking this quite well, perhaps even better than me."
The blonde-haired girl "looked" at Nephis before reaching out her hand to check if Sunny was still on her back.
"If I was the one on your back, he would have done the same... I know for sure I'm in a much worse condition than you are, but what would he think of that?"
Turning her head back forward, she spoke once more in a tone Nephis couldn't quite put her finger on. It wasn't one of admiration, but something similar indeed.
"He probably would have just told me that he was just pretending to be asleep—that way, he could get carried by Lady Changing Star herself!"
Nephis turned her head back a little to stare at the expressionless boy on her back, a rare smile coming on her face. For some reason, she wouldn't mind those words in this moment.
---
Eventually, they did find the end of the kingdom of coral. A field of grass met them at the edge, and surprisingly, that whole time no nightmare creatures had attacked them. Perhaps it was due to the fear the armored abomination had left in this area, causing it to be a death zone of sorts for nightmare creatures. That wasn't necessarily a good thing, though—due to this, they hadn't been able to scavenge for food.
"Do you need me to carry him? You haven't had many breaks; I can take over for a bit."
Cassie turned around, displaying her back to her. It would be nice to have a break, but for some reason, she was reluctant to let go. Still, Cassie had offered kindly, and it would be rude to let that go to waste. Begrudgingly placing him on her back, they began to walk once more.
Soon enough, though, the green grass they were in started changing, turning into a red of sorts. The stench of blood once again met their nostrils. Back in the coral reefs, they had gotten used to the smell, but now that their noses hadn't had exposure, the smell hit them once more.
Nephis grabbed Cassie's shoulder, stopping her from walking as the sounds of clicking came from somewhere. Peering over to the other side of the field, she saw a mantis-like creature picking a fruit from a blood-red tree, its body made of shell.
"What is it? What do you see?"
Nephis released Cassie, summoning her dream blade.
"Food. I see food."
---
Nephis wasted no time. Already upon the beast, she swung at its thin legs. Lifting its leg up, a kick flew at her blade, intertwining it with its leg. Using one of its sickle-like arms, a slash came her way—all the while, her sword was caught. Luckily, she didn't need to use her flames as an obsidian dagger arrived in front of the sickle, flinging it back.
This moment of time allowed for flames to burst out of the dream blade, causing the creature to jump back—a shriek coming from its insect-like mouth.
And then a sort of rumbling overtook the area. Cassie slid close to Nephis as the creature backed away. Coming out of nowhere, around two dozen of these mantis-like creatures came.
"I've been meaning to vent some frustration... come at me, all of you... I won't even—"
Before she could finish her sentence, all of the mantis-like creatures, including the one she was fighting with, had fallen—their heads cut off almost unnaturally evenly. Then they saw the culprit: thin strings made of shadow.
Taking a hurried glance at her back, she saw black pupils, but they had something special about them. They could be compared to the darkest pits of the ocean.
Then a voice rang out in the vicinity.
"You guys really are helpless without me. Don't worry, the hero is here to save the princesses..."
Sunny had awoken.