"People! I found people!" he exclaimed excitedly.
His heart leapt. If Nephis was there, then the orange light from before most likely had something to do with her. Which meant they knew how to get to the high hill.
Which meant Sunny didn't have to die crushed by the high tide!
Cassie turned around, her face clearly showing her excitement and relief. "Really?"
"Yes! It's Nephis, the **Changing Star**."
He... now what do I do?
"Is something wrong?" asked Cassie, noticing his inaction.
"I... I don't know what to do," he said hesitantly.
"I mean, interacting with others has never been my strong suit, and everyone at the academy hates me, so... I don't know how to introduce myself without ruining everything," he clarified, embarrassment evident in his voice.
But immediately, Cassie jumped in.
"I'll do it for you! No problem. When I was in school, I was popular, you know?" She puffed out her chest as if trying to show off something important.
"I figured," his flaw replied.
There it was, he could use Cassie as his trump card in this situation. She could complement his social shortcomings, like a normal person.
The plan would be to get Nephis's attention with his shadow, then introduce Cassie as a mediator and form a team.
What could go wrong?
A lot, actually...
XXX
Sunny ordered his shadow to move forward and stand where Nephis could see it clearly. He could feel the shadow roll its eyes as it obeyed the command.
As soon as the shadow began to move, Nephis jerked her hand to the side. Immediately, a long sword appeared in her hand, cutting through the air as she took up a defensive stance. Before the shadow could take two steps out of its hiding place, it had already been pierced by the gray eyes of the **Changing Star**.
The shadow froze. It looked a little scared.
Nephis remained on guard, watching the shadow that appeared.
She became even more tense and alert when the shadow began to wave.
He had to act now, before this got worse.
"Okay, it's your time," he said to Cassie.
He grabbed her by the shoulders, guiding her steps and slowly coming into view of Nephis.
Immediately, Nephis turned her head, locating the exact spot where Sunny and Cassie were hiding. Her sword moved slightly, pointing at the new threat.
Cassie played with her hands, looking down, took a breath, and raised her head.
"H-hi, we're Cass—I mean, I'm..." she began nervously, stuttering like a mess.
He froze; nervousness began to rise.
Damn it! Didn't she say she was popular? What kind of introduction was that? Even he could do a better introduction...
Sunny swallowed and clenched his jaw.
She was nervous; you could tell by how tense she was.
Letting go of her shoulder, he moved his hand toward her back to stroke it and try to calm her down.
"W-we'd like to form a te- Ugh!" He touched her gently, and she arched her back, opening her eyes, taking a small jump, and letting out a small but audible sound.
"What happened?" Suddenly, Cassie stopped talking abruptly and trembled for a second.
Nephis frowned and narrowed her eyes. "Come closer, now," she said in an authoritative tone, looking at Cassie.
The dazed girl nodded and approached, and after a few steps, he followed her.
Nephis grabbed Cassie and pulled her behind him, raised his sword at Sunny, and said with a hint of anger in his neutral voice.
"Back. I saw what you did to her. Identify yourself." His voice contained a deadly threat that froze Sunny for a moment.
"Huh?" said Sunny.
"Uh?" said Cassie.
Nephis turned to look at Cassie and said, "You're safe." His tone of voice was completely different from the one he used against him; it was soft, as if he had just saved her.
His gaze returned to him and he repeated in a tone that betrayed his annoyance, "Who are you? Identify yourself."
He replied simply, watching what he said: "My name is Sunless and I..."
Nephis's eyes widened slightly, but then narrowed even more.
He tried to introduce himself and explain the situation, but was interrupted.
"Have you looked at or done anything inappropriate with this girl?" she said with clear annoyance.
"Only when she's asleep," his flaw replied.
He understood the situation too late. Apparently, she thought he had been doing... inappropriate things to Cassie.
Sunny went over it in his mind: he had appeared out of nowhere with the girl holding her by the shoulders while she was naked, his nervous behavior and difficulty speaking, and, to top it all off, his last gesture of caressing her back, causing her to let out a moan. From her perspective, it must have looked like he...
Looking at the silver-haired girl to respond and explain the situation, he realized she was about to lunge at him.
He braced himself to bolt and run as fast as his body would allow.
She noticed his reaction and instantly pushed her legs against the floor to explode forward.
But she was stopped.
Cassie grabbed her at the last second and raised her voice:
"Wait!" she shouted desperately. She too understood what was happening.
XXX
The coral mound was much larger than the circular stone platform on the giant knight's neck. In fact, it was almost like a small island. At the highest point of the island, hidden behind some coral leaves, the girls had set up a small camp. There were piles of seaweed to sleep on, strips of scavenger meat drying in the sun, and a fire pit.
When Cassie stopped her, she told her that this wasn't what it looked like, giving him a chance to explain the situation. He desperately explained what had happened and how he wasn't doing anything strange to the girl. Nephis was skeptical of his explanation, and it took a while to convince her that nothing was going on, but they finally managed to do so. They agreed, at least, to follow her back to her camp, and here they were.
Sunny pointed to the makeshift fire pit.
"Was that you two nights ago? I saw an orange light in the distance."
Nephis nodded.
"Yes, but I turned it off quickly."
Sunny raised an eyebrow, surprised.
"Why?"
"At night, any light attracts monsters. First we were attacked by scavengers. And then... then..."
She paled and didn't finish the sentence. But she didn't need to: Sunny still had a vivid memory of the colossal tentacle, and a sharp pain shot through his leg as he remembered it.
He seemed lucky to have found her at that moment. Otherwise, he would undoubtedly have lit a fire that night to roast carrion meat.
"Ah, I see."
Nephis looked up at the sky and cleared his throat.
"It should be fine now. There's still time before sunset."
Then he set about preparing the fire. Cassie sat down next to him, and when he looked at her, he realized once again that she was naked. He would have changed the memory to cover her up immediately once they were out of imminent danger, but now they had a third pair of eyes watching them.
Fortunately, Nephis had a large enough supply of seaweed to make some basic garments to protect their privacy, but it would take some time to make.
One of them had to be naked. He decided that covering her would be the priority.
If other sleepers saw him naked, he wouldn't have to worry so much; after all, he wasn't the most attractive, he would just be an unlucky bastard, as he had always been. On the other hand, imagining that situation with Cassie deeply outraged him.
He discarded the puppeteer's shroud, which disappeared in a shower of sparks, placed his hand on Cassie's shoulder without saying a word, and transferred the memory to her.
Upon receiving it, she turned to look at him.
"Are you sure?" she said with concern.
At that moment, Nephis had finished building the fire and saw the exchange with a raised eyebrow; suddenly, they were both naked. Immediately, she just watched attentively as he cooked the meat she had gotten and set aside.
"Yes, I'll make some clothes later, don't worry about me."
Sitting down, he covered his crotch with his arms and let out a sigh. When he turned his head to look at the fire, he found Nephis staring at him.
Her eyes were fixed on him; they made eye contact, and yet she didn't back down.
He swallowed hard, feeling very uncomfortable. Did she think he was a pervert again? What if she attacked him again?
Fearfully, Sunny exclaimed:
"Is something wrong?"
She didn't look away. He regretted giving the memory to his blind friend; now he was very nervous about the pressure she was exerting with her **Changing Star** eyes.
"Give her back the memory," Nephis said calmly.
"I'll give you a memory to cover for you."
He and Cassie were surprised by the sudden proposal.
She ended up accepting, returned his armor, and summoned it; the soft silk covered his skin once again.
Relieved to maintain his privacy, he turned around, blessed with an unparalleled view.
He found Nephis naked a few steps away; she had discarded her memory as well. In the next second, Cassie was covered by the blue robe that Nephis had worn earlier.
The **Changing Star** became just another element of the background, and he focused his gaze on how his companion looked. He could describe her with many words, but what came out of his mouth was:
"Sublime," he said softly.
In his eyes, all her clothes suited her well; she always managed to look stunning.
Anyone who thought otherwise had better be prepared for confrontation.
"It feels comfortable, as if it were made for me."
"That's how memories work, silly," he said mockingly.
She was annoyed by that comment and wanted to respond, but another conversation began.
"Excuse me, but... why are you still naked?" Sunny said, avoiding looking directly at her.
"I don't have another armor memory." She turned away, covering her blushing face shyly.
He felt his chest pounding, felt sweat begin to form on his forehead from nervousness. For the second time that day, he felt a tingling in his gut, he felt something being born.
But just as that something was about to blossom, Cassie interrupted him, grabbing him.
"Turn around!" she said urgently and annoyedly.
"Stay there and don't you dare turn around, do you hear me?"
"Y-yes..." his voice came out defeated.
He obeyed and turned away from the dazzling figure, his back to her.
He heard Cassie and Nephis talking, but he didn't pay any attention to them.
He focused on the strange feeling he had had. For some reason, he felt relieved that whatever it was hadn't finished forming; it felt dangerous. If he concentrated, it was still there, but it was fading quickly.
Soon, the rich smell of roasting meat filled the air. At the same time, the sun began to approach the horizon; a loud rumble came from somewhere below, and the first traces of black water began to appear between the crimson walls of the labyrinth.
Sunny looked east, where the sky was already darkening.