Swoosh.
Waking at dawn, Changing Star immediately dedicated herself to her daily sword drills. Summoning her faithful, glowing, silver longsword, the [Dream Blade], she began executing a series of crisp, vertical slashes through the air.
Swoosh. Swoosh.
The sun was steadily climbing in the sky. The morning air was crisp and cool, and the abominations of the Dark City were waiting to be hunted.
After delivering a couple of hundred strikes, Nephis finally paused. Resting the tip of her longsword on the ground and leaning her forearm against the pommel to steady herself, she wiped a sheen of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and glanced around.
Neither Cassie nor Effie had emerged yet.
'Weird,' she thought. 'We usually wake up around the same time. Did I perhaps get up too early?'
Nephis pondered the possibility for a moment, expecting her companions to step out of the front door at any second. They had a lot of work to do if she intended to dethrone Gunlag, claim his seat, and take command of the Sleepers of the Forgotten Shore. That was the only way to lead them into battle at the Crimson Spire so they could finally return home.
That was the plan. However, seeing that neither of them was coming out, Nephis dismissed her Memory and went inside to wake them.
Creaaak. Clack.
Opening and closing the squeaky door behind her, Nephis stepped into the main room of Effie's hovel, which she and Cassie were currently using as their base of operations. She was just about to call out and wake them.
But before Changing Star could take another step, the door to the blind seer's bedroom opened.
"Good morning!" Cassie announced brightly, flashing a radiant smile. The girl, who had seemed perpetually depressed lately due to the unreliability of her visions, suddenly appeared to have returned to her cheerful, carefree self.
"Good... morning?" Nephis replied, tilting her head slightly as she studied her. This morning, for some inexplicable reason, her friend looked even more beautiful than usual. There was a distinct, undeniable glow about her.
A moment later, the door to Effie's room swung open as well.
"Mornin'..." the huntress groaned. Her voice was flat and heavy with sleep, and prominent, dark bags graced her hazel eyes.
Nephis turned to look at her. "Good morning," she repeated, now even more perplexed.
The two approached her. Cassie wore a beaming, serene smile, holding her hands behind her back as if openly guarding the secret of her newfound happiness. Effie, on the other hand, practically shambled forward with her arms dangling limply. As she walked, she shot a vicious, sidelong glare at the blind seer, looking at her as if she were the root cause of all her sudden misfortune.
It was as if their usual roles had completely reversed.
A minute of heavy silence followed while Nephis searched for the right words to navigate the bizarre atmosphere.
"Um... did you sleep well?"
"Mhm!" Cassie hummed, nodding twice. "Never slept better."
At her response, Changing Star literally saw a vein bulge and throb on the huntress's forehead. Effie bit her lip, looking as though she were using every ounce of her willpower to suppress whatever ailment was tormenting her. However, Nephis didn't miss the specific way she was glaring at Cassie. It wasn't exactly blame; she looked more like an old, starving wolf gazing with sheer, unadulterated envy at the younger and stronger generation.
"I'm going out," Effie declared, marching straight for the front door without uttering another word.
"Going where?" Changing Star asked, turning to watch her.
Effie paused for a fraction of a second, looking back over her shoulder, and spat with an incredibly exasperated voice: "To find myself a man, Princess. I need to blow off some steam, otherwise I'm gonna peel off my own fingernails or end up dropping dead trying to tame the beast."
With that, she stormed out.
Slam!
Nephis blinked, staring blankly at the spot where the huntress had just been standing, now more confused than ever.
"What was that supposed to mean?" she asked, turning to Cassie.
Predictably, she shrugged, completly clueless. "I have no idea."
Then, a sudden suspicion dawned on Changing Star. "And why are you so happy all of a sudden?"
Cassie quickly lowered her head to hide her blushing face. "N-nothing," she stammered hastily, before sprinting out the door right after Effie.
Slam!
Nephis was left standing alone in the entryway, staring at the wooden door as if it held the answers. She narrowed her eyes.
For some reason, Changing Star had the distinct, nagging feeling that her trusted companions were hiding something incredibly important from her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.
***
After fleeing her friend's suspicious questioning, Cassie put as much distance between herself and Effie's penthouse as possible, running like a criminal escaping a crime scene. [Quiet Dancer] floated beside her, acting as her faithful flying guardian.
Reaching what she hoped was a safe distance, the blind seer ducked around a quiet corner. Hearing no footsteps, she confirmed she was alone, leaned her back against the stone wall, and placed a hand over her heart, letting out a long-suppressed sigh like a pressure cooker releasing steam.
"Phew..." Her heart finally began to settle, her rapid breathing slowing to a steady rhythm.
"Something wrong?" a warm, calm voice murmured behind her, accompanied by a pair of arms wrapping gently around her waist. Only then did Cassie realize the "solid wall" she was leaning on was actually Sunny's chest.
Her face flushed bright crimson. Freezing for a split second, her hands instinctively grabbed his forearms. She turned her head, pouting playfully at the mischievous look she knew was on his face.
"It's all your fault," she huffed, puffing her cheeks out like a squirrel.
Sunny chuckled softly, pulling her closer into a warm embrace. "What did I do?"
"I almost died of embarrassment this morning! I don't know what got into Effie, but Neph definitely suspects something. What was I supposed to say if she caught us?"
Judging by her tone and the way she cuddled into his chest, she was clearly demanding compensation—preferably in bed.
Sunny smiled fondly, resting his chin on her shoulder. Cassie turned in his arms, wrapping her hands around him and pressing her cheek against his chest, finding her safest haven in the world.
Meanwhile, [Quiet Dancer] drifted around the corner, keeping watch while the lovers enjoyed their private moment—quite tired of playing third wheel to their intense affection.
They remained held in each other's arms for a quiet while, undisturbed by the world. As they hugged, a sudden thought crossed Sunny's mind.
'Huh... I wonder what would have happened if I had given Weaver's Lineage to Cassie and kept only Shadow's for myself? Could Cassie even claim it?'
Looking up while wrapped in her warmth, Sunny pondered the idea. In the past, Weaver's Lineage—while powerful—had derailed his progress as a true Shadow. But now that he possessed both, he finally felt like a complete, true Shadow. He had gained insights into his Shadow Dance, his shades, and shadow-crafting that he could have only dreamed of with [The Weave] alone.
Cassie, on the other hand, had always possessed a far deeper affinity for Fate than he did, especially as a Seer. Wouldn't it have been wiser to let her inherit Weaver's Lineage while he stayed purely with Shadow?
The answer, obviously, was no.
First of all, Weaver had chosen Sunny as their Epigone and no one else; any attempt to bypass that would have been crushed instantly. Secondly, Cassie was a Seer—and as her Aspect description stated, she was merely a puppet in the hands of Fate. Nothing more. Her success in destroying Fate in Timeline B had only been possible thanks to the millennia-old machinations of a Daemon. Furthermore, she lacked the foundational requirements to inherit a Lineage despite her affinity, proven by the very Rank of her Aspect: Sacred.
While Divine Aspects were tied directly to the Gods, Sacred Ranks were often linked to those who served or attempted to become vessels of divinity but fell short. In her First Nightmare, Cassie had awakened in a dark forest and survived by fleeing from apex predators.
Though her trial—like Sunny's and Nephis's—featured a Tyrant-class threat or higher, while they fought and killed theirs, Cassie had simply fled. She passed the test, but lost the chance to attain a Divine Aspect, preventing her from ever truly bonding with one of the six Gods.
Storm God.
Consequently, having already been touched by another divine path and failing to prove worthy of a Divine Rank, her body wouldn't have been able to absorb Weaver's Lineage without being utterly destroyed.
'Yep,' Sunny nodded to himself. 'Much better this way. Besides, I actually like the traits of [The Weave], especially after all the effort I put into gathering its fragments.'
"Sunny?" Cassie called out, breaking his train of thought as she looked up.
"Yeah, Cas?"
The blind seer's expression had turned surprisingly serious.
"I was thinking..." She paused, her index finger lazily tracing small circles on his chest. Her voice suddenly carried a dangerously subtle edge. "I had a wonderful night. For my first time, it was truly beautiful. But now I'm wondering... how were you so good at it?"
The quiet intensity in her voice and the firm grip she maintained on him left Sunny with very little room to escape.
From around the corner, the hilt of [Quiet Dancer] peeked out. Somehow, the flying rapier had found a small bag of popcorn to better enjoy the oncoming drama.
"Well..." Sunny rubbed the back of his neck, laughing nervously.
Cassie's pout deepened, waiting sternly for an answer.
Finally, Sunny swallowed hard and admitted, "Because... that wasn't actually my first time."
"How many?"
And so, Sunny began his long explanation.
"I see," Cassie said once he finished. Her face was unreadable and thoughtful, leaving him unsure whether she was processing heartbreak or planning his demise.
"Alright," she said finally.
"Alright what?" Sunny tilted his head, asking her to clarify. The two were now sitting atop a pile of ancient ruins.
"Alright to all of it. All of this. I'm not thrilled about sharing you with other women, but when I betrayed you... it was the most horrible mistake of my life. Not a day goes by where I don't regret it, Sunny. My visions are useless now, and I don't know if that's because of you or because I can no longer see your runes. But I never want to hurt you again, Sunny. Never again. I love you, and from now on I only want to make you happy."
Hearing her heartfelt confession, Sunny smiled—a genuine, deeply relieved smile. Seeing the lingering sadness in her unseeing eyes, he wrapped his arms tightly around her. Cassie accepted the embrace, burying herself in his warmth.
Though he couldn't see it, a soft, truly happy smile spread across her face.
"So... Aiko, the head handmaiden, this Saint... Who else is there? There will be more in the future?" the blind seer asked suddenly.
Sunny's eyes went wide. "Uh..." He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Honestly, even he didn't know the exact answer to that question.
In his arms, Cassie pouted and bared her small teeth.
"Ow! Ouch! Cassie, that hurts!"
The blind seer had just bitten down on his collarbone, leaving a clear set of tooth marks on his exposed skin.
"If I have to compete, I might as well mark my territory," Cassie replied bluntly, before pulling him back down.
The two resumed making love amid the ancient ruins, completely isolated from the world, oblivious to the passage of time.
***
'Damnation! I can practically hear her roaring from here.'
Effie marched down the main thoroughfare of the outer settlements outside the Bright Castle. Her destination was a makeshift distillery set up by some of the newer inhabitants.
Her plan was simple: find a handsome guy, get completely drunk, and tame the burning beast inside her. Not necessarily in that order.
As she walked, her sharp ears picked up something suspicious happening in a side alley.
"Hm?"
Although her survival instincts told her to mind her own business, she recognized the velvety voice pleading from the shadows and stopped, leaning in to listen.
"Please, let me go! I don't have anything on me!" pleaded the soft, refined voice of a dazzling young man.
"Bullshit! We know you guys from the Brilliant Emporium keep the good stuff hidden!"
"Yeah! Hand over all your Memories before things get real ugly for you, pretty boy."
A group of rough thugs sneered, cornering him.
'Wait a second. Isn't that—' Effie finally recognized the victim.
"You know what?" a third thug grunted. "Let's tie him up and toss him down a well in the Dark City until he surrenders everything he's got. I know just the spot."
Hearing those words, the young man turned pale, the blood draining completely from his face. "No! P-please, no!" He shook his head frantically, raising his hands in surrender.
The three thugs stepped closer, preparing to grab and bind him. But before they could take another step—
SMASH!
A devastating punch struck one of the thugs square in the jaw, sending him crashing into his accomplices and slamming all three into the stone wall.
None of them moved again.
'Damn it! I should've shouted an awesome attack move,' Effie mentally berated herself.
"Athena? Miss Effie, is that you?"
The huntress, who was still posed heroically with her fist extended, straightened up and turned toward her protégé. A broad, predatory grin spread across her face.
"Hey there, Kai! Long time no see. How've you been? Why don't we grab a drink while you tell me all about it?"
It seemed the huntress had just found her prey.
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