The ground was a desolate expanse of debris and charred ruins. The stench of ash clung to the broken asphalt of the NQSC, choking the air with a bitter, burnt acridity.
From the sky descended a radiant spirit woven entirely of blinding, white flames. A creature as magnificent as it was terrifying, made entirely of pure light and sheer fire. The pristine purity of its angelic form was a profound, absolute lie.
"Where is he?"
Changing Star spoke, her voice deadpan and flat. It wasn't a question; it was a demand.
"Mhmhmh."
A soft, brief laugh answered her, filled with madness, hummed through closed lips. The voice was light and melodious, like the chiming of a silver bell, yet as treacherous and cruel as fate itself.
"It is too late, Neph. He is gone."
The one speaking sat slumped on the ground among the rubble, her back resting against a crumbled wall. She looked like a broken porcelain doll. A young woman of once ethereal beauty, with long golden hair soft as silk and eyes of pristine sapphire blue.
However, the young woman was far from whole.
The entire right half of her body was gone, charred away by the flames, emitting the sickly sweet stench of burnt flesh. Her right eye was missing, along with half of her golden locks and the entirety of her right side. The pain must have been excruciating, biting and relentless, yet the blind girl felt she deserved nothing better than this miserable, pitiful end.
"Why?"
Nephis's voice cracked suddenly with raw grief. She descended from her Transcendent form, turning human and kneeling before the companion she herself had reduced to this pitiful state, frantically trying to heal her with the very flames that had ruined her.
"Why, Cassie?! WHY?!" she repeated, demanding an answer.
White and silver flames enveloped the blind seer, searing her wounds closed in a brutal attempt to heal her. Though the fire could never restore her missing eye.
Cassie didn't answer immediately. For a moment, she simply stared toward an imaginary horizon of the Forgotten Shore she could no longer see. Then, she turned her still-mangled face toward Nephis, a melancholic, heart-wrenching smile gracing her lips.
"You are asking me why, Neph? Because I love him."
That was her only answer, delivered just as the white flames finished sealing the wounds on her face, partially restoring her soft, delicate splendor.
Nephis stared at her, kneeling in the ruins, weighing that answer for a long moment. Her hands reached out, gently cradling Cassie's clean cheeks.
"Then why didn't you tell me? We could have shared him. You are like a sister to me, Cas, and I love you. If it's for you, I could even—"
"Share? Mhmhmh!" Her words were abruptly cut off by another closed-mouth laugh. Cassie rejected the notion as if she had just heard a sick, twisted joke.
"Neph—" the blind seer spoke again, her voice breaking as hot tears streamed down her pale face. "We betrayed him. I betrayed him by giving you his True Name, and you by using it against him. We broke him. We no longer deserve his affection."
Her words were not a condemnation. They were simply a statement of fact.
It was the final stroke of a pen bringing an end to a terrible romantic tragedy, where the plot left nothing but a bitter, hollow taste in the reader's mouth.
But Changing Star was not moved to pity. Instead, a sudden, warm smile returned to her lips.
"Well, in that case, I just need to tell him to be happy again. To love us more than he hates us. As long as I find him and order him to do so, he will be. It doesn't have to end like this, Cas.
After all, if this is my will... who dares to stop me?"
Though her voice was perfectly calm, a chilling undercurrent of madness echoed within it. A madness as dark and foul as her true nature.
Hearing this, Cassie returned the smile, looking at her with deep, tragic affection.
But she did not share her delusion.
"That is the difference between you and me, Neph. When you truly love someone, you must know when it is time to let them go..."
Her voice shattered, the solitary tears on her cheeks giving way to a sudden, unstoppable flood. A searing pain, steeped in guilt, gripped her already broken heart—like it hadn't done in a very long time.
"Especially when the cause of all his suffering... is you. Us."
Those were her final words.
Nephis stood up. She straightened her back, closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply.
When she opened them again, she looked down at her friend with dead, hollow eyes.
"Goodbye, Cassie," Changing Star said.
Then, silver flames flared around her, shining with a blinding, pristine light.
Cassie was utterly consumed by the fire. She gently closed her eyes as she burned, joining the ashes on the broken asphalt.
'How I wish...' she thought in that fleeting, final moment. A tear that soothed her sheer, unadulterated pain a little. 'That he could have held me... just one last time.'
And the silent echo of her final word, as everything faded into agonizing, absolute dark, followed her shadow into the realm of Death.
'Sunny.'
The memory of that warmth fading away along with her.
***
"Kyah!"
The night was a stifling, hollow quiet, delicate as a nightingale's whisper. In a secluded room enveloped by the gentle embrace of shadows, Cassie snapped awake, her chest heaving.
'W-what was that dream? Another vision?' she wondered, the harrowing images already beginning to dissolve from her mind like smoke the moment she opened her eyes.
Cassie was currently sitting on her makeshift bed inside Effie's ramshackle hut—assembled from scrap and ruined debris at the edge of the outer settlements near the Dark City in the Forgotten Shore. The single window of the room faced directly toward where he was.
The draft filtering through the cracks in the walls caressed her face, making her realize she was drenched in a cold, feverish sweat. Bringing a trembling hand to her chest, Cassie clutched her dress over her racing heart, the thin fabric damp against her skin.
It hurt.
Cassie hated being awake. When her mind was clear and conscious, it refused to let her forget. She couldn't forget—that was her curse, after all. The sin she had committed in full awareness.
And a real sin... cannot be erased. No matter what you do.
'Sunny.'
His name flashed through her mind's eye like an open flame, burning her from within.
Her slender fingers reached out, searching for the hilt of her trusted [Quiet Dancer]—the flying rapier that helped her navigate and orient herself despite her blindness. Feeling the comforting grip of her Echo, Cassie threw back the thin covers with the other hand and slowly stepped onto the cold floor.
Tap. Tap.
Her steps were small, cautious, searching for the nearby chair.
Sitting down, Cassie faced the window pane, guided by the breeze, staring into the void with her sightless eyes. How many sleepless nights had she spent waiting for him in silence, desperately praying he would return?
Cassie missed Sunny. She missed him so desperately it felt like a physical ache carving through her ribcage. But with every passing day, the crushing weight of her sin threatened to consume her alive.
"Lost from Light. Neph, his True Name is Lost from Light. If anything happens, use it!"
Cassie felt her heart squeeze in renewed, suffocating agony.
'Why did I do it?' That was the question that haunted her every waking hour.
And the memory of his voice echoed in her mind, a merciless ghost:
"Why are you burdening yourself with her?"
"Why? Wouldn't you?"
"No."
No.
The realization bit into her like broken glass. It hurt. It hurt so terribly. The cruel cycle repeated itself endlessly in her mind, eroding her soul until there was nothing left.
It was true that back then, she had given away his secret only to protect Neph, because they didn't truly know each other. But thinking about it now—had she ever actually tried to know him for real? What did Cassie truly know about Sunny? Or Nephis?
Yet, despite all, Sunny had saved her life time and time again. He had yanked her from the enthralling of the Soul-Devouring Tree. He had even thrown himself into the dark, churning sea to drag her back to the surface barely two months ago.
The memory of his warm chest as he held her tightly in his arms had been her only comfort in the dark.
And yet... she had betrayed him anyway. For that, there were no excuses.
No absolution.
'Another night. Another night without him,' she thought, her flying rapier floating vertically beside her like a silent guardian. 'I wonder if he's alright out there, all alone.'
Would things have been different if she had stopped him before leaving a month ago? Or even earlier, if she had found the courage to speak to him back at the academy?
Cassie didn't know. Perhaps she never would.
But the cold reality remained: she had betrayed him.
Her mind was a relentless courtroom, forcing her to relive her sin until eternity. Her heart throbbed with a dull, sickening pain, her eyes burning and swollen—yet no tears fell.
Because Cassie had none left.
"Ahem! Ahem!"
A forced, sudden cough broke the silence, making her startle violently.
Cassie spun toward the sound, her breath catching as she realized someone had slipped into her room completely undetected. [Quiet Dancer] snapped horizontal in an instant, its thin blade gleaming as it pointed toward the intruder, ready to defend its mistress.
"Am I interrupting something?"
Cassie's heart leaped straight into her throat. Her eyes widened. She knew that voice.
"Sunny!"
She uttered aloud his name, abandoning all caution. She scrambled out of her chair and ran blindly toward him, nearly tripping over her own feet in the middle of her desperate haste.
Cassie collided with him, burying her face into his chest and wrapping her arms firmly around his torso. Her eyes saw only darkness, but the solid, unmistakable warmth of his arms wrapping around her was true.
"Is it really you, Sunny? Have you... have you really come back?" she asked, pressing her cheek against his shoulder, clinging to him as if waking from a nightmare into a fragile, beautiful dream.
Cassie wanted to weep. She wanted to throw herself at his mercy, to scream her confession, to bleed her guilt out right then and there. But she was selfish—hopelessly, treacherously selfish.
Wrapped in the comforting warmth of his embrace, breathing in his familiar scent, a soft, fragile smile broke across her small lips. The raging storm in her heart quieted, if only for a fleeting moment, washing away the horrors of her visions.
"No, Cas... I'm sorry," Sunny whispered softly, resting his head against her left shoulder, his cheek brushing warmly against hers. "I only stopped by to say goodbye."
Cassie's fingers tightened against the fabric of his clothes, trembling.
"I... I see," she managed to squeeze out, her voice barely a whisper.
Only time truly knows how many unspoken words silence conceals.
Then he added softly, "Actually, I came because I need to ask you for a favor. Would you be willing to help me?"
Cassie blinked, caught completely off guard by his sudden request. She raised her face toward where she sensed his eyes to be, feeling him tilt his head down to meet her gaze, his arms still holding her close.
"Sure," she nodded, completely clueless. "Anything. What is it?"
And the words that slipped from Sunny's lips next cut deeper through her than any blade ever could.
"Cassie, please, speak these words for me: Lost from Light."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~