Cassie slowly continued to stroke Sunny's hair. Each time she got closer and touched the edge of his mask, she raised her hand and brought it back to his nape, repeating the same process over and over again.
"Sunny," she whispered his name, moving her head down slightly as she nudged his head with her cheek to see if he was asleep.
"...what?"
His muffled and cute voice responded to her call.
"My shoulder's numb."
She felt his body flinch at her statement, her hand pushed down by his head as she let it fall to her side.
She heard a final sniff from him, and she smiled.
"Are you feeling better?"
"Why would you care?"
"Are you playing hard to get?"
"Shut it—"
Cassie chuckled a bit at his high-pitched voice, which was trying to sound cold.
'Today, I saw one of Sunny's embarrassing sides,' she thought with a smile, as she slowly took away the other hand that had been hugging his waist in that awkward way.
"Did you know your smile is irritating?" Sunny asked, raising her eyebrows.
'Smile? Was I smiling?...'
She froze for a moment, blinking a few times.
"Weirdo."
Cassie let out a small chuckle at Sunny's harsh word and replied, "Oh? A crying baby is calling me a weirdo? How cute."
"Oi—"
Cassie laughed even more. It had been a long time since she had a good laugh like this. She remembered, for a moment, the times under the Devouring Soul Tree. Even though they were drugged back then, they had a happy time they wished would never end. Of course, that was partly because of the tree's drugged fruits.
She fidgeted a bit with the glass in her hand, swirling the cocktail around and around.
"So... why are you here?"
Sunny's words brought her back to reality as her soft smile slowly disappeared.
"I have my reasons."
Tsk
Cassie heard Sunny click his tongue. "Figures... like always, you probably saw a vision, and this place is connected to it somehow."
Cassie didn't respond to his comment, continuing to swirl her drink, thinking carefully about what to say.
"Maybe... who knows?"
For now, she decided to play it safe.
Sunny sighed. She heard his footsteps move further away and stop.
"I'm guessing you already know this man is doing illegal transactions—crystal shards and humans."
"It's not a surprise," Cassie replied. Her tone didn't reveal any hint of shock or emotion.
"Then... is it about the Chain Islands?"
Cassie's swirling action over the glass stopped, and Sunny took notice.
"A few days ago, some rich guy from District 5 sold a Nightmare Terror crystal to the old man," Sunny continued.
Cassie stayed silent, so he kept talking.
"The crystal came from a Saint named Comac, who has control over the northern Chain Islands. The crystal was retrieved from the northern mountains of the Chain Islands."
Cassie turned her head toward Sunny's voice, swirling her drink one last time before taking a sip.
"Where are you going with this? It sounds like you're worried about me," she teased as she lowered the drink and froze, her eyes narrowing at the glass.
Meanwhile, Sunny gave a startling answer. "We went to those mountains during the journey to retrieve the Midnight Shard, so I assume you're trying to connect to the gate of the Chain Islands... by using that man. You're probably planning to make a deal with Saint Comac to access the gate and search for Neph in the mountains."
After a brief pause, Sunny muttered, "And I'm not worried about you or anything like that."
Sunny's theory, along with his whispered words, brought a small smile to Cassie's face. She took another sip from her drink, but Sunny froze, frowning as if he was about to say something. Before he could, Cassie cut him off.
"You're half-right," she admitted. "I do want to go to the Chain Islands, reach the gate, and search for Nephis in the mountains. There's a small chance she's there, even though it's slim."
Cassie sighed as she took a step forward, her gaze focused on the endless abyss before her. Sunny watched her blind movements with a frown. She took another step, and then another. Her free hand reached out, as if trying to grab something. Sunny glanced at the railing he was leaning on, noticing that her hand was too far from it.
On instinct, Sunny grabbed her wrist, making her yelp slightly as he guided her hand to the railing.
"That's suicide," Sunny scolded, glaring at her hand before letting it go.
"They were just two steps. The worst that could happen was falling to the ground," Cassie replied with a small frown at his comment.
Her response made Sunny's face redden, with what seemed like anger—or was it something else?
"I meant the deep mountain trip! That's a suicide mission!"
Cassie looked away, letting out an 'oh' sound.
"Well... that's where the second part of the plan comes in."
"And I'm guessing that part involves a vision?"
"Yes."
"And you're not planning to tell me?"
"Not yet."
Cassie raised the hand holding the glass over the railing and dropped it.
Crash
The sound of shattering glass echoed beneath them.
Sunny didn't flinch at her action. In fact, he looked at the glass and threw his own over his shoulder as well.
Crash
Another shattering sound echoed farther away.
"That guy... was he sent by the Count?" Sunny asked, looking at her.
Cassie shook her head. "No. He sounded too innocent and nervous when he was checking me out."
Sunny frowned. 'So you knew how he was looking at you.'
"I'm guessing it was the Count's doing... which means my plan failed."
Cassie clenched the railing, her expression darkening. Sunny observed her for a moment before smirking.
"Not like you could do everything," he taunted.
Cassie glared in the direction of Sunny's voice, then raised her hand and pinched his waist. Unfortunately for her, Sunny felt nothing, so he spoke in an arrogant tone, similar to the Count's. But unlike the Count, his attitude didn't disgust her.
"Weak."
Cassie clicked her tongue and sighed, shaking her head as she let go. But Sunny did otherwise—he grabbed her wrist, surprising her.
"But I still have a mission to complete, and I'm guessing you didn't come here unprepared. So tell me," Sunny's voice turned serious. "What do you know?"
Cassie felt the hand around her wrist, a weak grip she could easily escape from.
'You're not planning to hurt me,' she thought with a smile, making Sunny frown.
"The Count... he's creating life with his ability."
Sunny froze at her words, as she continued.
"He buys illegal and powerful shards and uses them as cores for his artificial creations. But I'm not sure why he's buying humans."
Sunny quickly turned his head toward the garden, a deep frown on his face.
"I think I know," he said, his voice cold and slightly worried, as he looked toward the hundreds of wooden statues of humans and nightmare creatures.