The statement startled Nephis. She had long noticed that Sunny was hiding something from her, but she did not think anything of it. She trusted him enough to know he would not harm her. If he were keeping something from her, he had a good reason.
But now, after their battle of life and death, he wanted to tell her.
Sunny heaved a nervous sigh, trying to string the words together.
"It's about my innate ability. It's not like Halfbreed, it does not give me any obvious benefits… actually, it brings more harm than good. But I guess since it is an innate ability, the spell thinks it comes with a boon, maybe as powerful as yours. However, I'm not ready to find out what that boon is… not now, maybe never." He stopped, letting the meaning of this world settle in her mind.
"W-What it does is… it makes me a slave of whoever says my true name… Whatever they say, I won't be able to refuse, no matter what."
Her eyes widened. She had not been this shocked in a long time. Nephis knew how important free will was to Sunny. He wanted to dictate his own life and make his own choices, no matter how much harm would come to him. Perhaps he hated their current situation because everything was out of their grasp. What would his choice be worth against three supremes?
Maybe it was the reason he wanted to get stronger than well. To earn back control of his life. To not be weak enough to bend to the world's whims, but impose his own on it instead.
She could imagine just how much of a cruel joke the spell had played on him. It was like taking the only part of control he had over the world, control over himself. She wondered, would he even be able to think on his own, or would his master dictate his thoughts?
Nephis was right. Sunny had a good reason to keep it from her. She did not doubt the fact that he still trusted her. His actions showed that. But he had the right to keep this secret to himself, especially with his flaw.
However, he decided to tell her. His deepest secret. His weakness. She knew it now… and all it would take to enslave him would be a couple of words. If she asked him what his true name was, he would not be able to keep it from her.
The weight of this secret was crushing.
It had her rethinking everything. Could Sunny actually trust her with this? What if she had a moment of weakness and enslaved Sunny? She did not know when, but Sunny had become an integral part of her life. She cared about him… more than she trusted herself.
"S-Sunny, this…" For the first time in a while, her voice broke.
"I can trust you with this. Right?" Sunny cut him off.
How could she answer that? Nephis did not even know if she could trust that part of herself that would do anything to achieve her goals… so how could Sunny trust her this much? But, she wanted to think she could be trusted.
She did not know if she could.
But she wanted to think that.
Nephis nodded her head. "Yes…" She said in a hesitant voice, almost as if she was reassuring herself, and not Sunny.
"I won't tell you my true name… I want that to remain with me only. Please… don't ask about it."
Nephis could only answer with a nod. In her mind, she had made a promise to herself, something she would never break. To never betray Sunny's trust, no matter what.
***
The rest of the days blurred together, like a smear on a painting, indistinguishable from each other. She did not know which day it was, or how long it had passed. All she knew was that she needed to go west. However, she did not know why.
It seemingly all started when Cassie declined to eat the meat of the Carapace Demon. She said it was weird to eat a creature just as intelligent as they were. Nephis agreed with her. Despite everything, all of her values, she could not help but compromise.
It was unusual for her. However, she did not pay any attention to it. Almost as if she had never noticed it.
That is why they had not eaten the demon's meat, but they still needed to eat. So Nephis had climbed the magnificent tree to get the fruits for everyone. There was nothing wrong with that; of course, the tree was caring and kind, but it was also fragile, needing their protection. However, Nephis could not help but feel a sense of strangeness.
And because of that feeling, she sat at the edge of the barrow, looking east. She remembered to go east. But why? She did not know.
She would just sit and look, occasionally standing up to get fruits for everyone. Biting into the succulent flesh of the fruit made her happy, but also brought a strange feeling of wrongness. Almost unnoticeable, but real.
However, the fruit was their only source of food. The tree would always be here, and they had no reason to leave the island.
It was the same thing every day. Nothing much had changed. Everything was fine as always. They were in protection of the noble tree, and they were protecting it as well. The flow of time did not seem to matter.
Until one day, Sunny walked up to him, asking him a question.
"Hey Neph!"
Nephis looked at Sunny. He looked pained and mangled. She could see bite marks on his palms, with crimson red blood flowing from them. However, she did not care. How could the magnificent tree not protect Sunny from harm?
"What is it?" She asked.
"Nothing much… say, want to build a boat?" Sunny said, trying to put as much excitement into his voice as he could. However, Nephis could not understand why he wanted to build a boat. He would not use it. Unless he wanted to get away from the tree, but why would he want to do that?
"Why?"
Sunny shrugged. "Just a passion."
Nephis could not find any problem with his reasoning. Sunny was not a person to gain a new passion out of the blue without reason. But she could not think properly. Her mind was half asleep.
She could build a boat, though. It was something she had learned while training, and Sunny knew how to make one as well. It did not take long to use the Demon's metallic armor to build a proper vessel—one that could sail the dark sea—no doubt.
It even had a sail.
Sunny looked at him for a moment with a grimaced expression. His arm was much more damaged and mangled than before.
"It looks great… let me get Cassie so she can see it."
Nephis nodded. Their creation was too good not to show someone else… but there was something wrong with his statement. Cassie, she… she was blind. So how could she see the vessel? Just what was wrong with Sunny?