What do you think Luster's plans for Sunny are.
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Cold, dark, onyx eyes narrowed themselves upon noticing Jet's scythed form. As he asked his question, it didn't even take moments for tensions to rise, each of the Song sisters now surrounding the woman in a wide half circle as Sunny gripped his knife dangerously.
Raising her hands, Jet took a slight step backward, her eyes wavering with a degree of fear as she stared at the young man in front of her. "Listen, I'm not your enemy. I don't intend to do you harm, and even if I did, you'd just kill me!" She exclaimed, waving her hands placatingly as Sunny's eyes narrowed.
"How did you get here? You were a prisoner for Valor...unless you were working with them the entire time." Upon finishing his sentence, his eyes narrowed further. Mentally, he was trying his hardest not to form a connection between Jet and Valor. She had helped him, albeit slightly but she wasn't someone he wanted to kill.
Despite his appearance not portraying it, he was hoping, praying that she wouldn't give him a reason to kill her. The look in her eyes dimmed slightly, almost resigning to her fate upon noticing the suspicious glare before her. And yet, she spoke anyway.
"I got kidnapped from my house for knowing you! And then, after my nice time spent as a prisoner, some tall, muscular, attractive, strong..." Sunny raised a hand, an annoyed expression arriving on his face. "We get it! Now keep going." He barked, exasperation fighting his way onto his tone as she continued.
"But some guy who called himself Noctis said he was going to take us to Orion. Then, a masked kid, quite short, even shorter than you I'd say, arrived. He said he needed me to set the stage for him and he was willing to fight Noctis for me."
Upon hearing this, Sunny's eyebrow raised in contemplation as Eubin mirrored his expression. 'Shorter than me? So, they must be young. But then they're strong enough to be confident in facing off with Noctis? The only one who could do that at such a young age is...me? But it wasn't.' He mused, confusion fighting its way onto his mind.
Jet however, continued unperturbed upon noticing Sunny deep in thought. "He and Noctis fought it out, they were at a stalemate. The guy mentioned something about Noctis not being able to use big moves because of us blah blah you get it. But eventually he kidnapped me and ran off. Then, I wake up and I'm here! He hands me a scythe, shows me how to use it and tells me to survive or he'll torture me."
As she finished her tale, Sunny stared at her, suspicion lingering in his eyes as he scanned her form for signs of deceit. She didn't seem to be hiding anything, in fact, she seemed more annoyed about the whole situation rather than deceitful. Eventually, he gave up on analysing her and turned around.
"Clara, can you watch her, we'll have her stay with us for dinner since I assume she cut that damned horse's head off. Then, she can go on her way wherever she wants." Clara stared at Jet for a moment, analysing her figure with barely concealed arrogance before turning around.
Soon, the crowd quickly dispersed, leaving Sunny to pick up the heavy pieces of horse meat off the floor and begin cooking it. Nephis watched with barely concealed curiosity as to how he was going to cook it, but Sunny didn't pay her any attention as he began cutting it into small pieces.
"Sunny, do you want to talk?" Nephis asked, her eyes focused on his crouched form as he refused to meet her eyes. "No, I don't. I'd rather prefer to cook, I know it's surprising when people who don't feel emotions like me supposedly like something so human." He replied, annoyance tinging on his tone as he gathered firewood.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for saying something so hurtful, I know you won't believe me, I know you have every reason not to associate with me anymore but please Sunny. I'd do anything, I just want you to be happy, and I want to be part of that happiness."
Gone was her calm, confident voice that she continuously wore, instead it was replaced by desperate, quiet pleads. The Song sisters stared at the scene in interest, curious as to how the interaction would go. Meanwhile, Jet and Cassie remained in the corner, half paying attention as they caught up on lost time.
"Did you know that your parents did more experiments on me, to make me want to kill people, to make me aggressive. Because as your mother said, 'I'm no longer a person so I don't deserve a name.' And now, I realise that you take after your parents more than I thought."
Sunny's voice was a low pained whisper, malice seeping into his tone as he finished his statement. But Nephis was nothing if not resilient and determined. She wouldn't let him push her away like he had done so many times in the past, whether she deserved it or not.
"Look, I understand that what I said was wrong. And I don't blame you if you don't believe me, you don't have a reason to. I'll admit it, there was a time where I forgot about you while you were in there and just saying that makes me disgusted in myself. But I want to change, I want to be a person who can stand at your side and anyone else's when the time comes. So please just let me. Let me earn your forgiveness."
As she spoke, she noticed Sunny's form becoming increasingly enraged as he stared at the ever-darkening sky. Despite his rage, he refused to yell at her, he didn't even exude his typical bloodlust as he heard her speak. Simply letting her finish her desperate plea without resistance.
Finally, he stared at her, his gaze was empty and emotionless, it was like he was staring past her, staring through her like she was air. No longer did he have the glimmer in his eyes he always possessed as she teased him, hugged him, consoled him when he was hurt. Now she was dirt, or even worse.
"Do you know what I want in life?" He asked, his voice low as he stared at the dry firewood, preparing himself to set it aflame as he awaited Nephis' answer. "To be free?" She responded, her tone tentative and uncertain as his gaze slid upward to land on her form.
"Yes, obviously. But what do you think that means? My entire life, everything I've felt, the rage, the hatred all of it has been influenced in some way by the people I hate the most in this world. Then, I ran into the person who was the cause of all the manipulation and suffering, and I fell in love with her."
He paused, gathering himself. Nephis felt her heart leap at his declaration, she knew those emotions may have faded but she was certain they weren't dead. She just needed something, anything possible to mend the bridge she had burned.
"And I can't help but wonder to myself, was me being in love with you something I chose, or something your parents influenced? Would I still love you if you weren't the sole daughter of the immortal flame? It doesn't look like I have agency, like I am able to do what I want when I want to because ultimately, I never know."
Sunny's gaze hardened, he knew he wasn't going to like the next words that came out of his mouth and yet he said them anyway.
"Our relationship was transactional, at least that's how I feel now. I'd be your knight in shining armour, saving you whenever you needed it. And you'd help me with my trauma, you'd let me pour my heart out to you because I believed you saw me as Sunny, not Lost from Light. But I was wrong, no?"
Stretching slightly, he watched Nephis' face fade into horror as he continued. "I should have realised it at the ball, immediately you realised I did something you wouldn't expect your little pity stress ball to do, immediately it clashed with your interests, you tore down everything you built. You called me a murderer, broken, etc. And I didn't kill you for one reason, because you were right."
"I am a murderer, a killer, I am broken, that's just who I am, or who I was I should say. But you knew that, you tried to convince me that I wasn't who I was back then because it made you feel good, telling me not to kill and the like because ultimately you didn't recognise the gravity of the situation you were in. You lied to me because it was convenient, because I was convenient. And when I wasn't you could be honest with me."
Finally, Nephis reached the limit on her silence, throwing her arm outward in rage as her eyes focused on Sunny, burning with malice as her other hand balled into a tight fist. "Is that how little you thought of me!? Of course, I knew you had problems, I knew you weren't confident, I knew you hated yourself! But it didn't matter because I didn't! I loved you for who you were even if you had nothing to offer me! Even if you were the weakest man on this fucking planet, I wouldn't give a shit because I don't fucking care! How hard is it to see that you can be loved without your strength!"
Her shout was heard all across the field, causing Cassie and Jet's heads to snap in their direction as the Song sisters continued to stare at the scene, their gazes impassive yet anyone who knew them well enough could tell that they were extremely annoyed at Nephis.
Sunny's voice was calm, he sat down calmly on the grass and gazed up at her with the same empty eyes he always did as he stared at the meat indifferently before pulling out seasoning and beginning to season the food without paying her any mind. Finally, after a moment of silence, he spoke.
"Your words to Eubin, and your words to me back then are different from your words now. The fact of the matter is, if you want me to look at you even similarly to how I did before you'd need to give me a reason to trust you through actions. You're a liar, you've lied to me too many times for me to even care anymore. I have nothing to say to you."
As he finished his sentence, his shoulders began to shake slightly, he raised a hand to his face, wiping off tears as he sighed to himself, a wide smile coming across his face as he stared at her, tears cascading from his eyes.
"And yet, even when you do things that would make me kill you tenfold. I don't...I can't bring myself to hate you, I can't bring myself to not care about you."
Rising to his feet, Sunny wiped his face off as Nephis reached out to him. "Sunny, I'll prove it to you. I'm so sorry for everything, there aren't words I can use to portray it, but please, just let me hold you once." Before Sunny could respond, Hel surprisingly blurred in between the two of them as she glared at Nephis.
"My food's getting cold, hands off the chef, you're distracting him." She barked, her voice dripping with venom as Nephis turned around slowly. The message was clear 'Give Sunny space.' And she was going to do exactly that, wanting him to do anything for her was selfish.
Even despite the distance they put between them, slowly, a burnt bridge was being rebuilt.