Cassie was mopping through deals and sponsorships for the Immortal Flame clan. The future, the terrible future that would've been inevitable, was now gone. No longer did she have to worry for her friends or family; the question was, just who caused it? No one else knew, except for Cassie, of course.
It was Eva, the very same person who had startled her the first time they met for the first time in the Labyrinth; her divination was completely nullified, it was like trying to narrow a gap that was infinite in size.
The one thing, though, is how she broke fate with only a single move? Caster was going to die, he had died, and yet by some miracle, he lived. At the very least, he was dead in soul now; he had become a hollow.
It brought quite the shock to the world, especially after Nephis had confidently stated that he had what it takes to live in the Dream Realm. She was even seen slightly tearing up, covering her mouth, her shoulder shaking with such intense emotion.
That led to some script changes in the final version of A Song of Light and Darkness. A small memorial was also added in for Han Li Caster at the end, which once again invoked intense emotion from Nephis in her private viewing booth at the premiere. The only people around to see it were Cassie, Effie, and Kai. Of course, this intense emotion was laughter.
Regardless of that, Eva was now a person of interest to Cassie. Along with her partner, neither of them existed in the now-discarded future, which led to the question of what caused them to show up.
Unfortunately, Cassie could not find her answer. She sighed and lay her lazy head down on the desk in front of her. A knock on the door made her scramble to her feet.
The Firekeeper entered after hearing Cassie say, "Come in". However, he couldn't help but notice the overly composed posture she was sporting. Before he could bring it up, the seer asked
"What brings you here?"
"Ah, I just wanted to let you know Nephis is improving. She seems rather infatuated with that Mongrel figure."
Cassie gave a soft smile. "Thank you for letting me know."
The Firekeeper exited the room, and Cassie once again collapsed on her desk. Those two… so absolutely blind to each other.
'Might even be more blind than me.'
Cassie knew she had to do something. She had to! Getting up from her desk, she pulled out her communicator and spoke into it
"Call Eva"
The communicator buzzed for a few moments, then a voice spoke
"What's up, Cassie?"
"Hey Eva… say, you and Milo are dating, right?"
"Sure are"
"Can you give me a couple of good locations for a date? I need help setting up for something."
***
Cassie was unsuccessful in her attempts to receive outside support. As it turns out, Milo and Eva were
'Insane! Both of them are absolutely insane!'
Eva had said that the two constantly worked together; their dates consisted of seeing who could finish their side of the work first. Whether it was escort work, fending off a nightmare gate, or something as simple as mundane paperwork.
"That's what the government will do to you, I guess."
Cassie didn't mind; she could do this alone. It might be difficult, but she would accomplish it if was the last thing the seer did.
***
Sunny sat down at a table in a cafe. Effie had asked to meet up with him, when he asked why, all she had responded with was
"You'll see."
Sunny could practically see the mischievous grin on her face when she said it, but he hadn't met up with the boisterous hunter in a while. What was the harm in getting caught up in one of her meager schemes?
His fighting as Mongrel had nearly drained him entirely of soul essence; his reserves weren't so empty as to be crippling, but Milo had really dealt him trouble, and Morgan had finished the job. That damn nebulous mask had resulted in Sunny reaching the second step of Shadow Dance, and gaining another drop of ichor.
A bell rang as the door of the cafe swung open. Effie was in her wheelchair, dressed up in sweatpants, and the person pushing her wheelchair made Sunny want to run away as fast as possible
'Cassie!'
Sunny barely managed to suppress a deadly glare, his forced smile unsteady.
"Hello, Cassia. Hey Effie." Sunny addressed Cassie with the subtlety of a brick. If Effie took notice, she didn't seem to show it
Cassie seemed happy. How dare she be happy? After all she had taken from him? Why was he the only one suffering?
"Hey there, Sunny... do you have a moment?"
Sunny gritted his teeth, tried to make an excuse, anything. But he couldn't; that accursed flaw of his forced him to answer with a croaky
"No"
Cassie smiled, and then someone entered. She was beautiful, with ivory skin and black hair that reached her shoulders. Her eyes were white with sparks, with emotion...
'I don't know this girl.'
This was not the Nephis Sunny had come to know. She was changed, lively, human.
"Sunny, do you mind if we talk?"
Sunny did mind a great deal, but he also minded more if he couldn't give this impostor a piece of his mind.
"No... let's talk, but not here."
Cassie smiled, and so did Effie. Sunny had forced his voice to come off as pleasant as it could, which also made it as low as a murmur.
***
The ride to the Immortal Flame estate was a quiet one, and Sunny found himself alone with Cassie and Nephis. Apparently, Effie had gone off to "go eat some snacks."
"So, what is this all about? Finally mustered up the courage to apologize for enslaving me? I doubt it." His words caught Cassie off guard, and even Nephis seemed a little surprised.
"Wha-" Sunny cut off Cassie before she could finish her words.
"Or are you here to make me yours? Are you going to command me to not move an inch from this spot? To stay here, help you rebuild your clan? If you didn't call me out to apologize, then what are you here for?!"
Sunny could feel it crashing down; what felt like a lifetime of resentment and pain came crashing down all at once. Tears began to well in his eyes as a result of anger and hurt...
So much hurt.
"You know, when I originally met up with you guys in that labyrinth. I was positive we would use each other until we eventually got home. That's how my life in the outskirts was... You used people, and they used you. The trick was to use the other person before they could use you. But then, we grew closer and closer. I found myself enjoying small talk. I liked the stories you told Nephis."
Sunny paused, catching his breath
"I found myself... loving you two, I loved you like a sister, Cassie. You were the little sister I never got to care for, never could teach, never to hold her hand patiently as we traveled through dangerous allies and narrow pathways. Nephis... I loved you, helplessly, I didn't realize at the time, but I really did."
"Then, we got to the Dark City... and you cast me aside, in the shadows. What could've I have expected? Then you pulled me back in, promising that you trusted me. I foolishly believed you"
"It was convenient, wasn't it? To make me a slave? I'm the perfect slave after all. A honed blade, trained by you, taught by you, I trusted you! What the hell did I get in return?! Chains?! You took my choice away from me! My freedom! Yet here you were smiling and being happy! Do you not have any guilt? Of course, you don't, because it was all a lie! A ruse to get good old Sunny to trust you so you can clip a collar and leash around me at the perfect moment!"
Sunny began to silently cry
"I thought.... I thought for once that I had discovered something... something to value, something to live for. I gave you my everything, my will, my trust, my love! And you still haven't APOLOGIZED! I haven't heard an I'm sorry, not once. Why don't you realize what you've taken from me? You can try and justify yourself anyway you want... but I won't buy into your lies, not again, never again"
Only then did Sunny realize the horrificly sad expression on Cassie's face.
'Good! Suffer! Realize what you've done to someone who loved you like a sister, who protected you with their life.'
Nephis had retreated into her mask of indifference like it was nothing. Because it was nothing
'I knew it! It was all a ruse!'
Sunny hadn't wasted his time; his essence had recovered enough. He disappeared into the shadows, stepping away from the manor, and he continued to step away until he fully depleted his essence reserves.
Panting, he sat in a crude alley, in the outskirts. It was cold, harsh, and unbelievably dirty. It was home, his righteous spot, alone.
Rain began to fall, pelting the ground with the tears of the heavens themselves. The rain fell onto his face, concealing the tears that fell from his face.
'Never again...' Cassie's contorted expression and Nephis's demeanor flashed into his mind...
The alley's shadows grew deeper and darker. Slightly sliding away from the wrath of one of their own kind. Sunny looked around, but no one was here.
'Good'
Countless shadows moved and danced around Sunny, forming an invisible whirlpool. Their movements were strange and erratic, fraught with anticipation, excitement, and longing.
Slowly, golden sparks of light appeared in the air in front of him and then shot toward a single point in space, coalescing into a small radiant dot. However, the Memory did not appear yet.
Instead, more and more sparks flew into it, thousands upon thousands of them, until, at last, it seemed as though wide streams of brilliant golden light were constantly flowing into the slowly growing sphere of radiance.
This continued for almost an entire minute, and when the sparks finally disappeared, a brilliant drop of golden liquid was floating in the air in front of Sunny.
[You have acquired a drop of ichor. Do you wish to consume it?]
'Yes'
[...So be it.]