Round two.
It sounded like something a hero from a webtoon would say, but Sunny was far from hero material.
'Heroes? Heroes got themselves killed.'
He shook his head, a forced grin tugging at his lips, as he circulated what little essence remained in his body, bracing himself for whatever was coming.
Something big was coming—and he didn't want to find out what.
He summoned Saint as she stepped out of his Shadow. He sent a mental command for her to pick up the Shadow Wraith's corpse as he turned to Nephis with a panicked expression.
"Neph, run!"
Without waiting for a reply, he bolted. Gloomy and Shadow rushed into his body, augmenting him.
Nephis and Saint followed. Such erratic, directionless movement was bound to attract more Shadow Wraiths and whatever Shadow abominations hid here.
But Sunny had a plan.
The ordinary rock, buried in the sand, erupted with a string of incoherent curses—"Bastards" and "Fools" roared in Sunny's own voice. It sent trembling ripples through the sand, a deliberate distraction.
The ripples multiplied, swarming and multiplying, drawing even more smaller ripples toward it.
The very sight of it was eerie—luckily for Sunny, he wasn't looking.
Nephis and Sunny ran with ragged breaths, graceless and desperate. They were at their limits, and they'd had enough.
Their speed left much to be desired, but it was enough.
The torturous air and gravity had been the source of all their agony, the main lethal danger they faced—but now, those same factors were their salvation.
With how demanding it was to move under these conditions, Sunny and Nephis hadn't ventured far from the cave where they'd taken shelter earlier.
After what felt like an eternity of dragging their feet—more than an hour of running—they finally made it back to the cave.
Sunny had dismissed the ordinary rock halfway here. Sunny and Nephis crumpled to the rocky floor at the entrance, breathing heavily, unmoving.
For a moment, there was nothing but the sound of their labored breathing.
Sunny tilted his head to glance at Nephis, who lay beside him, staring up at the cave ceiling, equally exhausted.
The conditions were painful, brutal—but strangely peaceful. Just right.
He looked up at the ceiling, shaking his head with a slight smile. He'd been spending too much time with Nephis.
There was nothing "right" about their current situation.
With a long, heavy, reluctant sigh, Sunny finally got up.
Saint stood nearby, her gaze indifferent, holding the wraith's lifeless body in her hand.
Summoning the endless spring, Sunny greedily drank. The cool water soothed his body, washing away the pain the torturous air had caused.
For a moment, it felt absolutely euphoric. Even if just for that brief relief, he was grateful.
He set the bottle down near Nephis before approaching the wraith's corpse. His gaze hardened as he studied the creature that had nearly killed Nephis.
With a smirk of satisfaction, he kicked its limp body.
He glanced at its head; its eyes were hollow, nothing there. It had obsidian skin, and its teeth protruded from its mouth grotesquely.
The Moonlight Shard was still lodged in its abdomen. Sunny hesitated before gripping the hilt and pulling it free.
The blade was coated in a steaming black liquid, which dripped down to the floor, eating through the obsidian rocks below.
He hurriedly dismissed the blade and stepped away from the wraith, careful not to let any of the liquid touch him.
As he stood over the corpse, the weight of their reality began to sink in.
They had risked everything to escape the forgotten shore, only to end up in this horrifying place.
The oppressive gravity, the torturous air, the invisible wraiths—they had persevered, they had fought, they had won.
They had put their lives on the line, struggling just to find something to eat.
And yet, consuming this creature—this very thing they had fought so hard for—was lethal.
The nightmare spell had stripped away their humanity, forcing them into the brutal, unforgiving reality of the Dream Realm and its nightmare creatures.
They had to hunt like barbarians to survive, but now even that was being denied. He clenched his teeth in frustration, his body trembling slightly.
Sunny broke.
He threw his head back and laughed bitterly, his eyes empty, hollow.
What had he been thinking? What had he expected?
Hope was poison.
He glanced at Nephis, who was watching him with a questioning look.
"Seems like we're going on a diet, Neph," he muttered.
He glanced back at the Shadow Wraith's corpse, its dark form lifeless and still. His voice softened as he spoke again.
"Get some sleep. I'll take the first watch."
Nephis, too drained to argue, simply nodded and sank to the ground.
Sunny turned away from her, summoning his runes to confirm a suspicion he had been harboring.
Before he could inspect them, the sound of shuffling behind him caught his attention. He turned, startled, to find Nephis standing unnervingly close. His eyes widened, and a faint flush crept over his face.
"W-What are you doing?" he stammered.
Nephis didn't answer. Ignoring his reaction, she reached out, her cool, soft hand pressing against the bare skin exposed where the Puppeteer's Shroud had been breached by the abomination.
Sunny's heart raced.
In that instant, he knew. The injury he had received from the Wraith hadn't bled thanks to the tenacious Blood Weave, but it lingered. He had grown accustomed to walking off grave injuries because of the weave's resilience.
He tried to pull away, to spare Nephis from the burden of her flaw, but she didn't relent. Her expression tightened as a radiant white glow emanated from her hand, seeping into him. The pain and fatigue that had plagued him washed away in a wave of purifying flames.
They stood frozen, the air between them heavy and silent.
Eventually, Nephis withdrew, her shoulders sagging with exhaustion. A faint trace of amusement flickered across her face as she stepped back.
Sunny blinked, disoriented. That's so not fair, he thought bitterly.
And yet, in that single moment, the despair and bitterness that had clung to him only minutes ago seemed to fade, replaced by a strange warmth.
'Maybe… this situation isn't so bad after all.'
He watched as Nephis returned to her spot and sat down, leaning against the cold, jagged wall of the cave.
She closed her eyes, surrendering to the exhaustion that claimed her almost instantly.
As she drifted off, Nephis dreamed—for the first time in the dream realm.
***
It was a dream.
Flashes of memories rushed past her—some familiar, some from her past, and others she hadn't experienced yet. It was incoherent, a jumbled blur she couldn't make sense of.
Her eyes darted around, searching desperately for something—anything—that made sense.
That's when she saw it: a silhouette, a figure in the distance.
Her eyes narrowed as she tried to focus, straining to make out the shape. Slowly, the silhouette became clearer, sharper.
And finally, the entire world came to a standstill.
Nephis was standing on a fresh patch of grass. Looking around hurriedly, she noticed a majestic ivory tower rising to her right, gleaming under an unfamiliar sun.
She was on an island. A floating island to be exact.
And then, she saw her.
A woman stood just a few meters away, her presence both unsettling and entrancing.
The woman had pale blonde hair, big, blue eyes, and an exquisite face. She looked like a porcelain doll brought to life.
Nephis's breath caught in her throat. She knew this woman all too well.
The woman's lips curved into a bright smile as she spoke two simple words:
"Hey, Neph."
Nephis froze, her heart skipping a beat at the sound of the familiar voice. For a moment, she was rooted in place, unsure if this was real.
But then, slowly, a faint smile spread across her face.
"...Hey, Cas."
***
ahh man sometimes i impress myself lol.
with this my birthday promise should be done. from the next chap & on ill be expanding on plot and lore. doing that while trying to maintain consistency with the canon is very hard. id like to reach the 15-20 chap mark and to reach there with a good quality itll take a lotta edits. yeah a week or two homies if i get to my goal faster or if the chaps seem really good i might release faster