The sound of Nephis's jaws clicking faintly echoed throughout the room as she held Cassie with a trembling arm. It was a question Nephis, too, had asked herself since Cassie made the decision; however, she had refrained from asking out of respect for Cassie.
Now she was going to get her answer.
"You saved me for being myself. I didn't need to do anything for you to value me, and so you didn't need to do anything for me to choose you."
Cassie's voice came out low and resolute. Sunny's response to her rationale echoed throughout her mind as she viciously strangled all thoughts of weakness from her mind. Nephis gripped Cassie's shoulder tightly as tears cascaded from her eyes. Pulling Nephis toward her, Cassie ran her hand through Nephis's hair as they both silently cried together.
They both knew the bond, once broken, couldn't be repaired.
Meanwhile, Sunny was in high spirits, comparatively. He had managed to sell his services to the government for money, which landed him a job working directly next to Jet. With time, he could afford enough to buy a house or maybe even create a cohort of his own.
"That wouldn't work. I'd need to trust the bastards." Sunny's internal critique rang unheard through his head as Jet's figure came into view. Her eyes were dark blue, a stunning shade that wasn't found naturally. Despite her beautiful eyes, her face appeared tired as she continued to look Sunny in the eyes, almost analyzing him.
Before she could speak, Sunny ran up to her and enveloped her in a hug. Despite their height difference, Sunny still managed to overwhelm her, almost picking her off her feet. Jet weakly tried to shrug him off as she responded to his greeting with a warm smile.
"You survived, Sunny. I'm proud of you."
Sunny slowly detached himself from her as he responded with a smile of his own. It wasn't the wicked smile he gave to Nephis, nor was it the practiced fake smiles he gave to civilians as he walked past them on a daily basis.
To him, Jet was the closest thing he had to an older sister. She was the first one to believe he could survive despite his rough upbringing, and their ascension from the outskirts only made him feel an even stronger sense of kinship toward the blue-haired beauty who stood before him.
"What? You thought the dream realm could even hope to kill me!?" Sunny puffed up his chest with mock bravado as he poked a finger at it lightly. "I'll tell you that I'm one of the hardest people to kill in the world—two worlds, even!"
Jet simply smiled in response, handing him his government-issued uniform before making her way into the heavily armored building.
As she walked, Jet missed the slight mumble that Sunny uttered under his breath as his expression deflated upon leaving her line of sight. "I survived, but something inside me died there."
The building was pure white. The luminescence of the white light shining above them reminded Sunny of a person he'd like to shove to the back of his memory as he shifted his attention downward.
Within the room, the shadows were thicker and darker than usual. Sunny was still getting used to his newfound ability to manipulate the shadows, and this playground gave him all the tools he needed to get some training in. Expending some essence, Sunny managed to shape a rogue shadow into the form of a person before attaching it to himself. It gave him the appearance of having five cores rather than four, although he was at the cusp of gaining a new one.
"Listen up, Sunny. The mission is simple. We're needed to take care of a rogue Awakened who has gone off the deep end out of fear from the dream realm. His name should be of interest to you—it's Shadow Blade Kurt."
Sunny raised an eyebrow at the mention of shadows. The connection he had to the man had to lead somewhere if they were both kin, in a warped and twisted sense.
But Sunny was the prince of shadows; anyone who disagreed would be forced to obey.
Soon enough, he was handed new pairs of clothing: military-grade bodysuits that suited his body perfectly, as well as a black hoodie that perfectly complemented Sunny's straight and narrow sense of fashion. Stretching out his arms, he found it quite comfortable, and its ability to be made baggier only served as a plus.
A slap on the shoulder quickly tore him from his childlike obsession with his newfound clothing as he looked over his shoulder and noticed Jet. Upon gleaming at her soul, he noticed that it was broken and much larger than the average master's was supposed to be. Yet, strangely, it was getting smaller as she stood there. Shaking his head to dispel any stray thoughts, Sunny focused his mind on Jet's words.
"Do you know the reason why I picked you to work with me?"
Honestly, Sunny wanted to offer a joking reply to the question; however, his flaw would never allow him to avoid such a straightforward question. "No, I don't," he replied.
Jet smiled at him, her eyes focused on his for an unnatural length of time before she continued.
"See, before, you merely had the eyes of a killer. But now? Your eyes seem more like a nightmare creature's than a mere killer's. You're perfect for this!"
Jet gave him a bright smile and a thumbs-up despite the harrowing implications of the words she had just said. Sunny looked down at his hands, opening and closing them slightly. He didn't think he resembled a nightmare creature.
Maybe his time spent with them had influenced his behavior much more than he thought. When in Rome, one must behave like the Romans.
"Wherever the hell Rome is," Sunny thought to himself before following Jet out the door.
"Just follow my lead. When you smell blood, you'll just know it's him. I'd ask you to refrain from killing, but it looks like you're itching to, so I'll let you have him."
Sunny's face remained puzzled upon hearing her words. He wasn't quite sure what she meant. Yes, he planned to kill two people, but his wrath wasn't something so all-encompassing that he had wider goals of massacring the innocent.
"I'll just wait and see."
Soon enough, Jet and Sunny found themselves in the far corners of the NQSC. The place appeared like it had once been a casino, where the prizes were patches that extended your stay in the real world as an Awakened. However, the stench of blood wafting into Sunny's nostrils clearly told him that a peaceful trade had not occurred within this residence.
The smell of human blood was repulsive to many; however, Sunny found himself quite enjoying it. Nightmare creatures typically emitted a variety of scents and smells when they died. Their blood typically flowed as a semi-solid mucus that dripped from their vital organs. However, human blood was much purer. The shade of red seemed almost alluring as Sunny gazed in mild awe at the man standing in the middle of a pile of bodies.
Sunny didn't even give himself time to analyze the man's appearance before he was already upon him. The man had attempted to escape into the shadows; however, Saint quickly followed him into the shadowy dimension and made him regret his decision. Once he materialized again, Sunny blitzed toward him and ran the Midnight Shard through his chest.
Pulling the sword out of his stomach roughly, Sunny wrenched the blade into the mouth of Shadow Blade Kurt before dragging it across his face. He watched with eerie fascination as blood soaked his hands and blade.
After a while, Sunny broke himself from his trance and turned to look at Jet, who was slowly clapping for his easy mission.
"It's time for your payment."