Wren was floating in nothingness, he didn't possess a material body rather existed in a white ethereal form. But he was not the only one there, about a thousand meters down was a person walking in the nothingness.
'This place... it is The Void.'
Wren while glided down towards the person to inspect them closely, the person walking in front of him, was absurd. He couldn't define there physical characteristics clearly, all he can see was mask and six arms hidden in their back while being shrouded by a dark mantle. This person was walking injured and traces of golden blood was visible on the mantle, however the divine golden blood disappeared like it didn't exist.
Wren didn't understand who this unknown person was and how did they entered The Void. What he only understood was that they were strong, very strong to a point he believed they were a deity. What disturbed Wren was the mask they were wearing, it was disturbing their physical features or that's what Wren had thought, however Wren find that mask....
'Cool.'
The mask was made up of black lacquered wood with vicious fangs and twisting horns. Its features were simultaneously fearsome and somber, bestial and regal, as though existing at the border of all things. Most of all, the striking mask radiated a sense of mystery. Wren was fascinated by the mask but all of this was pale in comparison when Wren saw a huge palace made up of pristine black stone, the palace itself, was emitting a presence of power.
'This is... the Abyssal Palace.'
The person he was following, stopped and stared at the palace for a second and then started to move towards it's entrance once again. Wren had many question about this person, as he didn't understand how had they entered The Void and what was their purpose in the Abyssal Palace, all he could do was follow this cool mysterious person.
'I didn't imagine that this palace looked like this, considering Astaroth was considering that hell hole the Abyssal Palace. Or maybe it was a part of this place?'
As soon as they stood in front of the gate of the eerie yet beautiful palace, they opened up but what inside of the palace was darkness but there was something else too that had presence, a bone chilling presence, it was suffocating, what Wren felt there wasn't just fear, it was true dread.
'I think this dream should end here, right now.'
***
Sunny who was succumbed to the tree's illusion now, was climbing it at a high pace to find ripen fruits for Nephis and Cassie. Though he had climbed the tree for that purpose, something sparked in his soul to climb it further. Only to reach a hidden nest of a Nightmare Creature.
The nest was spherical in shape, with a round hole at the center of it. Usually, such a nest would be made out of grass and twigs, but this one was constructed from the branches of the great tree, each at least as thick as a man's arm. These branches were twisted and interwoven together in a chaotic pattern, creating gapless, onyx-black walls.
Sunny had never seen anything like it. Birds were a rare sight in the real world, let alone giant ones. The size of the entrance into the nest was large enough for a small truck to pass through. The nest itself was several times bigger.
'Wow.'
For a second, he felt a sense of fear, afraid that the giant bird was somewhere near. But then his fears disappeared.
The nest looked... abandoned. It was ancient and empty, some of its parts already on the verge of collapse. It was as though thousands of years had passed since anyone had been in this hidden, secretive place. The air was filled with the feeling of Lonesomeness and desolation.
'Makes sense. If I barely managed to pass through the leaves, how would a giant monster do it without leaving a giant hole in the barrier?'
Sunny hesitated, caution and curiosity wrestling against each other inside his heart. On one hand, exploring ancient nests was not the best of ideas anywhere, let alone inside the Dream Realm. It posed great risks.
On the other hand, it also could lead to a great reward. Plus... wasn't it just too damn interesting?
These was his thoughts before he had killed a Great Devil, inherited a forbidden lineage of Weaver who was related to the -unknown- and remembered what he had forgotten. Sunny was bewildered, as the effects of the tree worn off by little, to keep himself lucid he bit his own hand, only for them to be healed quickly, very quickly due to his new attribute [Blood Weave] and the blessing.
'We need to leave this place, as quickly we can. Wren... I hope you have enough sleep.'
Descending from the tree, Sunny approached Cassie in the early morning. However, he didn't brought any fruits with him.
Walking over to sleeping Cassie, he took her by the shoulders and gently shook her awake. The irony of how this situation mirrored the one where Cassie had told Sunny to remember the number five was not lost on him.
The blind girl slowly came to her senses and turned to face him with a sleepy, confused expression.
"Sunny? Why are you up so early?"
He hesitated, then said with a friendly smile, trying very hard to act as though everything was alright.
"Actually, I didn't sleep at all this night."
Cassie frowned. Luckily, she could not see the sorry state he was in, nor his face contorted in agony from the mental strain.
"Really? Why?"
He shrugged.
"I decided to climb the Soul Tree and search for some fruits. But that's not very important. Hey... your Aspect Ability allows you to see other people's Attributes, right?"
She nodded, still confused.
"Yes. You know this. Why?"
Sunny lingered, then said in a carefree tone:
"Can you take a look at mine?"
***
'You've been mesmerized by the ancient fiend, Soul Devouring Tree, and are being turned into its thrall. Once the process is complete, there will be no escape.'
Cassie's words echoed in Sunny's mind again and again.
'You've been mesmerized by the ancient fiend, Soul Devouring Tree, and are being turned- What was it again?'
Sunny then once bit his hand again, this time harder to a point the flesh of his skin was torn and was hanging, which Sunny just tore off. The blood was streaming from his hand with traces of gold but it didn't matter to Sunny as his wound was healing at a quick rate but the pain still lingered.
'I need Nephis to build a boat, Wren still requires more time for rest.'
Nephis was still at the western edge of the island, gazing over the receding black waters. It seems as though she barely moved since the last time Sunny saw her.
Looking at her with clear eyes, free from the most debilitating effects of being Enthralled, he was able to notice things that he had not noticed before.
Neph's hair was indeed longer. Back at the Academy, it was short and usually parted to the side. Now silver strands were already long enough to cover her ears, hanging messily without their usual luster.
Changing Star's face seemed much thinner, with dark circles under her eyes and a bleak, dull expression. Her usual confidence and energy were gone, replaced by exhausted stillness.
She looked as though some unknown illness was consuming her from inside, slowly turning the once radiant girl into a pale shadow of her former self.
Sunny suspected that he knew what that illness was.
He had known for a long time that Nephis had a mysterious goal, and that her determination to achieve that goal was nothing short of frightening. That burning desire of hers, it seemed, was strong enough to resist even the enthrallment of the Soul Devourer.
However, while the feelings remained, the actual memories were gone. Thus, Nephis had been left longing desperately for something that she did not know, with no way to understand the nature of her emotions or satiate them. This inner conflict was the reason for her terrible state.
Coming closer, Sunny sat down and looked at Neph, wishing to see her striking grey eyes shine once again with unbreakable resolve.
"Hey, Neph."
She turned her head to him, not saying anything. Sunny gritted his teeth, feeling dark anger blossoming in his heart.
'That loathsome tree!'
"I need your help."
Sunny was calm, and started to tell her everything from the start when Wren had told him about to the Soul Devouring Tree. His trip to upper parts of the tree, the giant nest he had discovered, the Vile Thieving Bird's Spawn and how he had killed it, the strange Memory with no rank and type, the new Attribute he had received the hidden one he had discovered.
Finally, Sunny told her about the nature of the Attribute, the true nature of the Soul Devourer, how long they had been on the island, and what they had forgotten.
When he finished, Changing Star's expression didn't change one bit. Looking away, she simply said:
"I see."
Sunny wasn't fazed by Nephis's bland answer.
"There is something I need your help to escape this place."
Nephis stared at him for few moments, then white sparks ignited in her eyes. She had activated her Aspect Ability and was using the pain to stay lucid as long as possible.
"I need to build a boat, right?"
Sunny smirked, but the doubt of them surviving the Dark Sea was making Sunny worry.
"Yes, but is this the only method?"
Changing Star sighed.
"We've been here, on this island, for many weeks. Our minds are slowly being erased by the Soul Tree, turning us into its slaves. Forever. However, the process is not complete."
He nodded, listening.
"What thoughts did the Soul Tree put in our heads? That it is benevolent and great. That its fruits are desirable. And that we shouldn't leave the island, staying as close to it as possible. The first two commands make perfect sense. The third, however, is not so simple."
Nephis gestured at the vast expanse of black water.
"From that third command, we can deduce that the effect of the Soul Tree's enthrallment weakens with range. And that if we put enough distance between ourselves and the tree, it will be broken."
Sunny's face brightened when he understood Neph's logic. So there was a way! They just had to leave the Ashen Barrow and flee, not looking back until the Soul Devourer's brand was gone from their souls. However...
"But why a boat? Why not just run away on foot?"
Changing Star lowered her head and said quietly:
"We'll never make it to the castle on foot. We'll just die. I was too arrogant before to think... well, it doesn't matter now. It will take many months to go around the crater through the labyrinth, especially now that we don't have the Echo. And every day we spend there is another day we risk encountering something that will kill us without even breaking a sweat."
She sighed.
"We were already lucky to survive for as long as we did. But in the end, no matter how much we fought and persevered, we still encountered the Soul Tree. This should have been our end. Do you know how improbable it is that we even got a chance to have this conversation?"
Sunny hesitantly shook his head.
"First, we had to have an oracle in our group to see the future. Then, Cassie had to formulate and execute an ingenious plan in the short amount of time her memory remained intact. That plan was based on the fact that there was someone with an awakened armor of fifth tier in our group, one enchanted with the extremely rare mind protection trait, no less...
Awakened with the revelation affinity were few and far between. Sleepers with a Memory equal to the Puppeteer's Shroud were even rarer.
"...That person then had to find and kill a Great Devil. More incredibly, he had to receive an actual Lineage Memory from it. Do I need to explain how implausible this combination of events is?"
Sunny slowly shook his head.
Nephis closed her eyes.
"My point is... If we go into the labyrinth, we will inevitably meet the next Soul Tree, and even if we miraculously manage to survive that encounter, there will be the next, and then the next. Sooner or later, we will die."
She looked west, where the last remnants of the dark sea were disappearing beyond the horizon.
"But if we build a boat and use Cassie's staff to fill the sail with wind... maybe we'll be eaten by the dwellers of the depths, or maybe they won't pay us any attention at all. It's a gamble either way. Either we die, which is the same as returning to the labyrinth, or not. If we survive, we'll be able to travel a hundred, maybe even two hundred kilometers in one night. More distance than we had covered so far."
Sunny froze, stunned by the number. However, Nephis broke the ice and said:
"But this was the case if only it was you, me and Cassie however that is not, because we have Wren. Although it doesn't completely ensures our survival, Wren has huge affinity to darkness which will play huge factor in our safety during sailing across this sea made up of darkness."
'So this is why he sounded so confident.'
Had it been the previous case, sailing the Dark Sea made Sunny feel cold and small. Perhaps Wren was the sole reason, he still wanted to continue the journey.
"I understand what you mean, but what about those creatures dwelling in there?"
Changing Star was silent for a few seconds, then sighed.
"We are damned either way, Sunny. What do we have to lose?"
She fell silent for a moment and grimaced, pale flames dancing in her eyes. Then, in a quiet voice, she added:
"We will not light any fires, relying on your eyes to guide us west. We will hope that Cassie's armor will protect us. Maybe it will be enough."
Sunny glanced at Neph and asked:
"What's so special about Cassie's armor?"
She hesitated for a moment, then answered without looking at him:
"It's a tier six awakened Memory. One of its traits is to make the wearer less likely to draw the enemy's attention."
While Sunny was digesting this information, Nephis suddenly trembled. Closing her eyes, she said through gritted teeth:
"I am at my limit. My mind is... fading. If you have any questions left... better... ask them fast."
He blinked, startled.
Then, knowing that there was not much time left, Sunny asked the first thing that came to his mind:
"Do you even know how to build a boat?"
Changing Star simply nodded, letting him know that she did. Her expression was slowly turning lost and dull again.
Racing against time, Sunny frantically thought of another question.
"How do I convince you to leave the island once your memory is gone?"
Nephis looked at him, struggling to hold onto the last shreds of lucidity. For a moment, her eyes became clear again. White flames ignited in their depths, illuminating her pale, beautiful face.
"Aster... Song... Vale. Say those words to me, and I will listen."
Starting to lose the grip on her thoughts, she turned away and added after a short pause, her voice steady and even:
"If anything happens, take Cassie and flee. Don't... don't..."
Then, the light in her eyes slowly dimmed, and soon, Changing Star was staring west once again, all memory of their conversation gone from her mind.
Sunny sat by her side for some time, waiting. After a while, he shifted a little and said:
"Hey, Neph."
She turned to him, her face bleak and full of confusion.
"Sunny? Oh... when did you get here?"
"A while ago."
'I will save you and Cassie, I promise.'
Sunny felt disturbed, he didn't understood how a paranoid and untrusty brat like him turn soft, to the point he is sacrificing himself bit by bit to create a chance for survival... for everyone. He sighed and asked:
"Nephis, do you know how to build a boat?"
***
Sunny unexpectedly learnt a new thing, to his astonishment, anything even steel can float. You just have to make sure that you're displacing more water than the weight of the floating object. That's how boats work.
Sunny would liked to learn more about this new concept but currently this wasn't the thing, he needed to focus on. Cassie was protesting against Sunny, her demand was simple or rather it appear to be simple, what she asked for was the cursed fruit.
"Take me... away? But I don't want to leave. Why would I leave the Soul Tree?"
Sunny silently cursed and shouted, abandoning any attempt to control himself:
"Because that thing is evil! It's pure goddamn nightmare! Come on, let's go..."
Grabbing her hand, he tried to pull the delicate girl away, but she resisted with surprising strength.
"Let go of me, you jerk!"
Cassie managed to rip her hand away from his grip and flinched back, looking at Sunny with anger.
"I said I don't want to go! You're acting strange, Sunny! Stop, please!"
Sunny froze, not knowing what to do.
"I just..."
"This island is our home! It's so nice here, with the three of us together! Why do you want to leave?!"
He lingered, struggling to do what he knew had to be done. Finally, Sunny gritted his teeth and said:
"Because it's five! Remember?!"
'I'm sorry, Cassie...'
Then, he lunged forward and violently grabbed the blind girl, easily suppressing her resistance.
"What are you doing?! Stop! Help! Help! Neph!"
Throwing her over his shoulder, Sunny turned around and ran toward the edge of the island. Cassie resisted desperately, using her small fists to pummel his back with a rain of punches.
Despite the fact that she had never taken part in battles against the Nightmare Creatures of the Forgotten Shore, she still was considerably stronger than a normal person. All those soul shards Changing Star had shared with her gave Cassie enough strength to make Sunny feel every strike.
It wasn't enough to seriously injure him, but more than enough to hurt like hell.
'I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, Cassie...'
Deeply disturbed, Sunny tried to block out Cassie's desperate screams and rushed to the boat. His forehead was covered in cold sweat.
As the last glimmers of light were disappearing from the sky, he finally returned to the edge of the island. The ghastly boat was silently standing on the sand, just a few meters away from the restless black water. Changing Star was resting just in front of it, raising her head to look at the source of the commotion.
"Neph! Help! Sunny had gone crazy!"
Nephis slowly rose to her feet, her indifferent expression radiating coldness. She slightly outstretched one hand.
'Crap.'
"Wait! It's not..."
Before he could finish the sentence, the silver sword appeared out of thin air, aimed at the ground... for now.
"Explain yourself."
Changing Star's voice was even and calm, but Sunny could feel the hidden threat in it. Suddenly, he saw her in a new light... or, rather, in an old one.
As a potential enemy.
The idea of facing off against Nephis sent chills running down his spine. He had almost forgotten the feeling he got back in the Academy, watching her wipe the floor with most of the Sleepers in their batch.
He had forgotten that she, too, was a monster.
***
Licking his lips, Sunny cautiously said:
"It's not... not as you think, Neph. We've been caught in a trap by the Soul Tree. It's not benevolent... it's not protecting us. In fact, it's doing the opposite. If we don't leave this island, we'll become its slaves, forever. Or until it finds someone stronger and devours us!"
She tilted her head and looked at him with an unreadable expression.
"Come on, Nephis! Remember! We've talked about this already! This whole thing was your idea to begin with!"
For a moment, he thought that his words had awoken the stolen memories in her mind. But her response shattered those hopes into pieces.
"Leave... the great tree? You have really lost your mind."
'Curses!'
Changing Star raised her sword and said in a tone that made Sunny tremble.
"Let Cassie go. Now."
He hesitated, thinking about the best course of action. Then, he carefully placed the blind girl on the ground.
"Alright. I did. See? Now, listen to me. I have something very important to tell you..."
Before he was done speaking, Nephis disappeared from his view. Realizing that he was about to be attacked, Sunny prepared to defend himself...
However, a moment later, he was already lying on the ground, the tip of the silver sword pressed against his throat. Changing Star was standing above him, pale lights burning in her eyes.
'Well that was... embarrassing.'
All his training, all the experience he had won in countless bloody battles, all the power he had gained... Sunny had really thought that he stood a decent chance of standing his ground in a fight against Nephis, maybe even reaching a tie. But in the end, he had only lasted a second.
One would be templted to call this shameful display a premature capitulation.
'Nice one, idiot! Now stop fooling around and focus!'
Feeling the cold steel touching his skin, Sunny tried to move as little as possible. He was pretty sure that Changing Star wouldn't just kill him in cold blood, but it was still better to not give her any reasons to do something drastic.
After all, Neph's mind was not all there.
Looking up at her cold, indifferent face, Sunny strained his vocal cords and shouted in exasperation:
"Aster, Song, Vale!"
Nephis's hand trembled, making a drop of blood roll down his neck. Her eyes opened wide, full of surprise and shock. Then, a dark expression appeared on her face.
Pressing slightly on the sword, she took a step forward and pierced him with a burning gaze.
When she spoke, her voice was trembling with suppressed emotions:
"How... how do you know these names? Who are you?"
Sunny blinked, equally as surprised by her reaction. He had thought that these weird words were just a part of some code to jog her memory awake. But, as it turned out, they were not...
'Aster, Song, Vale... what the hell does it mean? What can make Nephis lose her cool? It has to be something important...'
Trying to stay as still as possible, he cautiously glanced at the blade of the sword and honestly answered:
"I didn't even know that these were names. It's just what you told me to tell you in case you forget what had to be done. You said if I tell you this, you'll listen to me."
Nephis stared at him, a shadow of doubt appearing on her face for a split second. It was gone almost instantly, replaced by grim determination. Gritting her teeth, she snarled:
"Which Domain do you belong to?!"
Sunny had no clue what she wanted him to say. So, he just asked:
"What's a domain?"
She grinned, a maniacal glimmer appearing in her eyes. This was very unlike calm, composed Nephis. If Sunny didn't know better, he would think that a completely different person was standing in front of him.
A person that was much more unpredictable and dangerous. But before Nephis could say anything a hand appeared on her shoulder. When Sunny looked up, he felt something was wrong.
'Is he... angry?'
The young boy standing behind Nephis was Wren, his once lively grey eyes were now dull and resided in them was fury.
"Move."
And Nephis did, Wren stared at her and said:
"I hope you have realized whatever Sunny is saying..." He stopped for a moment and then continued as both of his eyes turn pitch black:
"But if not... I will make you realize it in a painful way."
Sunny felt something was wrong, very wrong. He would have considered that Wren had woken up on his own, but listening to his cold blooded words and feeling the change in his presence. He realized that in front of him was Wren but at the same time it wasn't.
'What the hell is happening here?'