Sunny had a lot to do before sunset.
The parts of the plan were spinning around in his head, making it hurt. He had to stay focused at all times, testing his willpower to the limit, just to avoid forgetting everything. When that wasn't enough, he had to use the pain to increase his concentration.
His hands and arms were covered in gruesome bite marks. Without the Blood Weave, Sunny would have already passed out from blood loss. Even so, with his pale face turning even whiter from exhaustion and the feverish light burning in his eyes, he must have looked like a zombie.
Fortunately, Cassie couldn't see any of that.
It didn't take much to convince her to join his strange effort. The blind girl's condition was much worse than his or Neph's. She seemed to be barely holding on, her thoughts slow and weak. Sunny's heart filled with concern.
Seeing her in such a pitiful state ignited a burning rage inside him. He felt like that damn tree was stealing something precious and irreplaceable from him. He clenched his fists, rage coursing through his veins. Who did that damn tree think it was?
He held on to his anger, but turned his thoughts back to what he had been thinking before, about Cassie.
"Why is she as affected as we are? Is it because we have True Names, but she doesn't?"
After all, names were anchors of one's sense of self. Could it be that True Names served a similar role, only in matters related to the Spell?
He didn't know.
Looking like a walking corpse, Sunny slowly approached the demon's corpse, which was now open and dismembered. It was as if a mad vivisectionist had visited the island to perform an autopsy on the giant and had forgotten to sew up the poor beast.
In the days after realizing the nature of the cursed tree that was manipulating his mind, he had worked tirelessly to formulate a plan to get out of this place as soon as possible, and now he was seeing the results of his efforts.
It wasn't... what he had imagined.
He had expected to see a makeshift raft, but what he found was a real boat. Yes, it looked crude... but also strong, disturbingly sinister, and strangely impressive.
Frowning, he raised his hand and bit his mangled palm, feeling the drops of blood flow into his mouth.
But even that pain didn't help him destroy the barrier.
Sunny smiled grimly and knelt down, placing his hand on the ground. He summoned the Midnight Fragment, raised his other hand, and brought the hilt of the sword down without hesitation.
When the fragile bones of his ring finger shattered from the powerful blow, a wave of agony flooded his mind, destroying the barrier.
"Now let's get out of here!"
XXX
A while later, he returned to where he had left Cassie. The blind girl was still there, sitting some distance away from the shell demon's corpse, staring at the ground and doing nothing.
He hadn't paid much attention to her these past few days, and because of that, he noticed that her mood had taken a turn for the worse. Only when he spoke to her did she regain her emotion.
It was hard, but he was forced to ignore her. He saw how he hurt her feelings when he ordered her to stay away or to stay in a fixed place far away. It was difficult to handle; he felt that it hurt him too to treat her that way.
Hearing the sound of his footsteps, she smiled, very happy.
"Sunny?"
He approached her, exhausted, and tried hard to speak to her patiently and with his usual casual manner:
"Yes, it's me."
Cassie was distracted for a moment and then asked:
"Do you have any fruit? I'm hungry."
He shuddered and then shook his head.
"No. Listen, we have to..."
"I'm hungry. Do you have any fruit?"
Sunny stopped and looked at the blind girl with a desolate expression. She sounded like a broken doll, repeating the same phrase over and over again. She was not in good shape.
Her lip trembled. She resisted the urge to hug the girl and cling to her in the hope that, magically, this would fix her mind.
She moistened her lips.
"Come with me and your hunger will disappear."
It was the best distraction she could come up with within the limits of her Defect. However, this time it did not have the desired effect.
Cassie smiled and said,
"Really? Will you take me to get some fruit?"
Due to exhaustion and the debilitating effect of the spell, Sunny was distracted for a moment and couldn't control the Flaw. Without realizing it, he opened his mouth and said,
"No."
Cassie pouted and lowered her head:
"That's not right, Sunny. Why did you lie to me?"
Still dazed by his mistake, Sunny missed the moment and made things even worse, turning a small oversight into a real problem:
"... Because I want to get you off this cursed island and... protect you."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Sunny froze and clenched his teeth. Depending on how she reacted, things could get even more complicated. In fact, he was sure he had screwed up.
Cassie turned to him with a lost look on her face.
"Take me... away and protect me?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"Somewhere that isn't here."
Cassie didn't answer, closing her lips. Sunny thought she had gone back to where the conversation had started.
"Will we be together in that place?"
"Yes, I'll be right by your side!"
When the round of questions began, the world seemed to disappear, leaving just the two of them, recognizing the importance of the intimacy of their conversation.
"And will we be happy together?"
Sunny looked at her quietly for a moment, clearing his mind. Right now he knew his mind was almost fragmented, but that also meant that everything he wanted to say came straight from her. He might or might not remember those questions later, but he felt a responsibility to answer honestly. Of course, his Flaw would force him to do so anyway, but if his Flaw didn't exist, he would be answering honestly right now.
He took her hand and began to speak:
"I... I'm not sure about that. I don't know what kind of surprises await us from here on out, but I want to try."
"I'd like to try to make you happy."
He felt tense, but not embarrassed when he said this. Maybe a little embarrassed, but only a little. Still, he hoped she wouldn't remember this.
Despite her pitiful state, the girl smiled again, seeming to glow.
She raised her arms as if expecting a hug.
"Okay, take me."
Sunny let out a sigh of relief; he thought it would be harder to convince her.
He picked the girl up and carried her away. She was very happy, hanging around his neck.
Soon he carried her to the boat. She sat down and ordered him not to move. The most important part was ready.
Sunny turned and looked at Nephis with a tired look.
"Nephis, let's get out of here. Quickly."
She looked at him confused, with that characteristic expressionless face.
"Why, where?"
"We're going anywhere else, because that damn tree is dangerous."
Nephis looked at him seriously and said:
"Have you gone crazy?"
Without the energy to try to convince her with the patience he had used with Cassie, Sunny recited calmly:
"Aster, Song, Vale."
Nephis trembled. Her eyes widened, filled with surprise and shock. Then a dark expression appeared on her face and she shot him a fiery glance. When she spoke, her voice trembled with suppressed emotions:
"How... how do you know those names? Who are you?"
Sunny blinked, equally surprised by his reaction. He had thought those strange words were just part of some code to awaken his memory. But apparently, that wasn't the case...
"I didn't even know they were names. It's just what you told me to say in case you forgot what to do. You said if I told you, you would listen to me."
Looking at Sunny with a strange expression, she said:
"I really told you those words?"
He simply nodded.
Nephis lowered her gaze and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, they were filled with determination.
"What do I have to do?"
XXX
In absolute darkness, a small boat glided over the choppy surface of a black sea. Its mast, made from the spine of a demon, strained under the force of the winds. In the eerie silence of that vast, lightless void, the swift boat cut through the waves like a sword.
Sunny sat at the helm, steering the shell-shaped boat westward.
A few hours after setting out, Sunny felt the constant pressure on his mind begin to ease. His thoughts gradually cleared, and the fog of forgetfulness lifted with each passing minute. Soon, a ghostly sound, like breaking glass, echoed in his head. Instantly, the last remnants of the fog clouding his consciousness disappeared.
He had broken free from the Soul Eater's spell.
Relieved, Sunny couldn't help but smile. However, his smile was weak and hesitant.
A few minutes later, Cassie suddenly moved, causing the boat to rock gently. She handed the magic staff to Nephis and cautiously approached Sunny, feeling her way in the darkness with her hands.
Before Sunny could guess what she wanted from him, he found himself enveloped in a strong embrace. The blind girl hid her face in his chest as hot tears streamed down her face.
Sunny stood frozen, stunned and not knowing what to do. He could feel Cassie's body pressed against him and shaking from crying, her hands tightly wrapped around his neck. As he tried to understand the situation, she whispered softly,
"Thank you... thank you... you're always the one who saves me."
He held her from behind, returning her embrace. It didn't seem like it would last long; the girl needed to let it all out.
They both tried to keep their voices as low as possible, afraid of attracting something from the black depths.
Cassie cried silently for several minutes, until she finally let go of him. Wiping her face, she stepped away. She grabbed his cheeks with her hands and looked at him with an expression full of anguish, whispering:
"Please don't leave me... you have to come back to me."
Sunny didn't understand what she meant, but it didn't matter; the girl was probably still too distraught.
But he didn't expect what was coming next.
Her lips pressed tightly together.
Sunny's eyes widened, but he didn't react.
Nephis watched the interaction between the two silently from behind, but when she saw Cassie's action, she too could only react in surprise.
No one saw it, but Nephis's mouth was half open and her eyes were wide as saucers.
When Cassie pulled her lips away from him, Sunny was like a statue, frozen without moving a single muscle.
She smiled and, wiping the last tear from her face, leaned back against his neck, straddling his lap.
Nothing went through Sunny's mind for long minutes, or was it hours? At that point, he was stunned, staring at a single point on the horizon. Cassie, somehow, fell asleep on top of him.
The boat flew over the dark waters, getting closer and closer to the western horizon.
Recovering from the shock, he noticed that his heart was beating a mile a minute. His face was completely red.
The tree was no longer disturbing his mind, so the feeling that had been suppressed countless times during his stay finally blossomed.
He was sweating and his stomach was itching.
"This is unsustainable."
He made a decision: when all this was over and they were safe... he would talk to her. He had things to say to her.
He sighed and tried to calm down. He looked back at the horizon and realized that the night was already breathing its last breaths.
A light of hope lit up in Sunny's heart.
However, that was when his luck finally ran out.
Disaster struck unexpectedly, plunging them violently into a void of confusion. This time, Sunny hadn't felt anything approaching the boat. The danger appeared out of nowhere, giving him no time to react.
Sunny tried to stand up, but at that moment, the entire boat shook violently to one side. Cassie fell off his side and he fell too. As he fell, he heard the groans of metal bending and breaking. Then, salt water filled his mouth.
In a second, the black waters were calm and clear. The next, it was boiling with movement, with grotesque tentacles rising and twisting around the hull of the boat.
Sunny opened his eyes in disbelief.
"No, no, no... this can't be happening..."
The hull of the shell ship was then crushed and shattered, throwing him into the cold, black water.
For a moment, Sunny was stunned by the cold. Then, wrapping the shadow around his body, he swam upward, trying to reach the surface. Soon he made it and turned, trying to see something... anything... that would give him hope.
But there was nothing around him, only rolling waves and twisting tentacles.
Except...
In the distance, Sunny saw a blurry shape rising above the water. He squinted, trying to make out its nature. Then his heart skipped a beat.
A few hundred yards away, a giant stone hand rose above the surface of the sea.
But none of that mattered at that moment. All that mattered was that he had a chance to survive.
But a thought pierced his head with terror.
"Where's Cassie? Where is she?"
Dread filled him. He turned his head in all directions, searching for the blonde girl who just moments ago had been sleeping on him and drooling on his neck, because that was what she did when she slept.
She had always been there for him, and he for her.
When he felt he couldn't go on, she was always his driving force to recover. She also set limits for him, more than once forcing him to rest during his shifts. Her closeness became indispensable to him, even if he didn't admit it. From the day they met until today, they had spent more time sleeping together than apart.
All these moments and memories flashed through Sunny's mind, feeding the horror and anxiety with every second that his eyes couldn't find the girl.
"Please don't leave me... you have to come back to me," rang in his head like a hammer.
"If she's not in sight, she must be underwater." Instantly, he considered.
He couldn't see anything in the black water, but his sense of shadow was still somewhat effective. He had the chance to feel Cassie's presence.
Sunny's fear soon dissipated and a deep indignation and determination grew in his heart. He was tired of bowing to the pressure of the world, clinging furtively to the slightest glimmers of hope, always afraid, always willing to do anything, to give up anything, just to survive another day. It wasn't enough anymore.
He wanted the world to bow to his wishes.
He wanted to live like a human being instead of an animal.
In recent months, Sunny had changed without realizing it. Somehow, he had become dissatisfied with his previous way of life, in which his sole goal of surviving at all costs overshadowed everything else. Living or dying had always been the only thing that mattered. But now, how he lived mattered more.
And also... with whom he did it. One of the reasons he changed was Cassie. Without realizing it, he became a little kinder. He wanted her company. He was no longer just dissatisfied with how he lived; now he also wanted her. At that moment, he recognized it.
"I... I'm in love with Cassie." He hadn't been before at the academy, or maybe he had?
That was irrelevant now, but ever since they arrived at this place, he had been. He had denied it until now, but not anymore.
The decision he had made earlier only grew stronger: he would talk to her and tell her how he felt.
Gritting his teeth, Sunny dove into the dark abyss.