Breathe in.
Draw.
Hold.
Aim.
Breathe out and release.
Target.
Breathe in.
Draw.
Hold.
Aim.
Breathe out and release.
Target.
The archery was methodical like that.
It was predictable.
It was relaxing.
And it was also very, very honest — dependent only on one’s skill and state of mind.
Kai liked archery.
Loved it, he could admit.
It helped him ease his mind and enter a state of deep concentration: when the world moved slowly and in sync with him; when he was a part of it — a small but important detail of one giant interconnected mechanism.
It felt liberating and simple.
And thus very honest in its simplicity.
And honesty was one thing he respected the most.
Whether it was in people, the world or even himself.
Kai despised liars.
He was surrounded by them his whole life.
It was an achievement on his part that he hadn’t turned into one himself — into those preying, disgusting creatures that whispered sweet words into your ears just to take advantage of you later.
So he could admit that his little ‘vacation’ on the Forgotten Shore was very refreshing in a sense.
Yes, life was dangerous here — on a scale where you weren’t sure if you’d see another day.
But it was much simpler and thus much more honest.
Oh, there were a lot of deceptive things and people around him even now, but overall, compared to the life he led before?
It was a breath of fresh air.
Who could have thought that in this forsaken hell, surrounded by madness, death, decadence and hopelessness, he would find a respite?
Wasn’t that funny?
It probably was.
It was even funnier that here he found himself surrounded by people with whom he’d like to spend the rest of his life.
They were… a colorful bunch to say the least.
Some were awkward; some perverted; others lost; and even one crazy, but ridiculously honest guy, found his way into his heart.
It was really heartwarming that this gloomy place would give him truly reliable and good people to watch his back and in turn for him to take care of theirs too.
And maybe… maybe even something more.
And thus Kai couldn’t stop; couldn’t let himself rest, while everyone was pushing so hard; couldn’t allow himself to be left behind.
And so he pushed.
Essence flowed through his body as he knocked three arrows and took aim.
The process wasn’t perfect, slow — definitely slower than Nephis’s and incomparably so to Sunny’s — and not nearly as powerful as it should be.
However, it was still like day and night compared to what he could manage before.
And also now that Sunny made him a new, beautiful and powerful bow — with a slightly corny but very poetic description — that difference was even more pronounced.
Kai let out a steady breath and released his hold on the bowstring as his arrows ignited suddenly and shot forward towards the crowd of monsters pushing his friends from behind, leaving blazing traces in the darkness of the night.
Three simultaneous explosions quaked the earth and threw a weave through the air, either blowing Nightmare Creatures apart or wounding them enough to become easy targets for his comrades.
He could feel his essence running dry quickly and exhaustion clouding his mind, yet he didn’t stop and was already drawing his bow again.
Suddenly, an explosion of light and a blazing fury of Nephis’s fire signaled that the fight entered its final stage.
Effie roared as she pushed the monsters apart with her shield like an armored train either finishing most with chaotic swings and thrusts of her spear or leaving some behind for Cassie and other Sleepers to take care of that she knew were following in her wake.
Kai’s gaze stayed a bit too long on the blind girl’s figure, corners of his lips tugging slightly.
She was so admirable.
Losing her sight in this cruel world was akin to a death sentence.
And yet, despite being broken, scared and initially diffident, she managed to pull herself together.
And now she was becoming a force to be reckoned with, outshining even those who could actually see.
Something tingled in his soul every time he looked at her…
Kai smiled but shook his head anyways — it was neither the time nor the place for stupid thoughts.
He shot into the air, dodging a flying scythe that would have split him in two if he had hesitated even for a moment.
As he flew, he quickly — despite how hard it actually was — knocked another [Blood Arrow] and released it, sending it directly to the eye socket of the Fallen Devil they were fighting.
The arrow found its mark the moment after.
The monster roared and Kai could feel blood in his veins being restored as the abomination thrashed around.
It was a very disgusting-looking monster that reminded him of a lizard in its shape.
The creature had six limbs — four used for crawling and another two scythe-like to attack; its body very gruesome and half-rotten and currently it was covering space around itself with a poisonous, colorless and completely odorless gas — something they figured out thanks to Cassie’s ability.
And it also prevented them from coming too close to it.
The monster, on the other hand, had no such problem, as it could use its sharp limbs to throw them like boomerangs and also possessed an ability to summon them back at any moment, making the battle harder and messier.
They had already lost five people in that fight — inspired by their series of successful sorties these past few days, the inexperienced fools grew arrogant, and now what was left of their bodies was thrown around all over the crossroad they were fighting on.
However, despite the fact that it was intelligent and powerful, it was up against the craziest and most powerful group of Sleepers this world had ever seen; it had just lost its only remaining eye, and also…
No poison could stop Changing Star when she saw her goal.
Nephis shot forward leaving a comet-tail-like trace behind — supporting her True Name’s claim — diving under the monster’s slash and, in a long move, beautiful in its continuous execution, severed one of its scythes.
The creature had no time to react as at the very same time its second limb was disconnected from its body by Kai’s elemental shot.
Lightning exploded, scorching the right side of its body and stunning the Devil for a short moment.
A loud battle cry rang through the streets as Effie jumped into the air and threw her spear with all of her might, nailing the monster to the ground and not giving it a moment of respite.
And finally the Changing Star — like a radiant dancer in this lightless night — whirled around its other thrashing limbs, climbed on top of the creature with one effortless leap and with a single powerful swing of her sword, finished it off, almost completely severing the head from its torso.
The sequence of events happened so fast and coordinated that it left everyone present — other than the cohorts’ leaders themselves — speechless.
Even monsters stopped their assault, turning their mad gazes towards the dead disfigured body of the Devil.
Kai didn’t give them any moment of rest or an opportunity to run as he was already firing arrow after arrow at their heads; Effie was screaming for the newbies ‘to wake up’, already resummoning her spear; Nephis was giving away commands with her steady and calm voice; Cassie was staying silent the whole time, quietly moving around the abominations — accompanied by her faithful Echo — and dissecting them methodically and mercilessly.
It was needless to mention that the subsequent battle with the leftovers of the dead Devil’s pack was short, bloody and completely one-sided.
What followed it, however, was a long and gross process of butchering monsters’ carcasses — the least favorite part of their hunts for him, though obviously less dangerous too.
Not that he cared much about danger these days anyway.
Especially, considering what he had in mind right now.
It took a bit less than two hours for them to finish all of their preparations and reach the Castle.
They had to be very precise and quick on their feet as no one was crazy enough to be under the Sun’s direct view for too long, either because of its slow soul-crushing effect or because of irrational fear of somehow being remembered by the Crimson Terror, now that the truth of its powers was more widely known.
Was it truly irrational though?
Kai shook his head as he threw a short look towards the horizon, hidden by the massive city walls, as he stopped in front of the Castle’s gates.
It was still dark, but you could already tell that dawn was just minutes away from breaking the night’s rule over the world.
Nephis was unusually among the first to go, a little bit of agitation slipping into her posture.
Effie gave her a smirk, following Changing Star’s departing figure with her gaze.
It was no secret in their cohort what her plans for the morning were.
If everything went according to plan, the next time they met, she would already be an Awakened.
Well, she could be not the only one…
He clenched his jaw momentarily, and slightly bit his lip involuntarily from the inside, his heart beating a little too fast as he threw a look towards the blind girl.
He was hesitating.
Even after days of preparations, convincing and encouraging himself, he was still afraid.
Still unsure.
Kai was still a coward.
He gritted his teeth harder momentarily and then breathed out slowly.
It wasn’t bad being a coward, as Sunny used to say.
Fear would keep you alive, bravery, on the other hand, would kill you.
He could agree with that statement, somewhat, though right now his fear was more of a nuisance than a help.
He shook his head slowly, steeling his resolve.
There was no point in hesitating.
Everything was decided already.
Cassie, feeling his gaze, turned around and inclined her head in a silent question.
His breath got caught in his throat, heart stopping its chase for a moment.
A gentle smile touched his face involuntarily.
Effie was giving him a strange look, with that infuriating smile plastered on her face.
But thankfully she decided not to push and so he ignored her too.
After throwing them one last glance, she gave her farewell and rushed back to the Castle, probably to eat and drink enough for a small army and then nap happily in some corner.
After a few more seconds of staring at each other in an awkward silence — well, more like him staring and Cassie pretending that she did — Kai finally found it in himself to proceed, nodding silently to himself and opening his mouth hesitantly.
“Hey, Cassie.” He swallowed a heavy lump, his breathing shaky.
“Can I ask you for a favor?”
* * *
“You’re actually insane!” she yelled at him, pacing from side to side inside his room.
“It’s definitely because of alcohol — I had read somewhere that it tends to destroy your brain cells. Look where it got you,” she shouted once again as she pointed her finger at him.
He winced as he quietly took a step back, turning his head to the side.
Suddenly she stopped, her face twisting with an apparent horror, hands shaking slightly.
“Or worse — Sunny had infected you with his madness,” she muttered quietly as she shifted her unseeing eyes toward his face, her lips quivering.
“Say, Kai,” she mumbled, her expression unreadable.
“Are those rumors true? That you and Sunny actually are–”
Horror struck him as he almost jumped, taking a step forward and waving his hands around.
“No-no-no! Are you out of your mind? Sunny is my best friend and— Why does everybody even assume so? It’s so stupid. Besides, I actually like girls!”
Her shoulders relaxed a little after those words as she let out a short sigh, visibly relieved.
Why did everyone tend to have a stupid belief that every male idol was gay?
Besides, she should know better. Get faster updates on g.com.
Not only was she a seer, but she was also the one to tell them that the crazy guy actually had a girlfriend in the Waking World and was thus celibate.
Poor Effie almost burst into tears right then.
‘How can she even say that, anyway?’ he grumbled inwardly.
‘And women like to say that guys are actually dense ones…’
He shook his head.
“Why are you even asking me?” she continued after shaking her head, her cheeks puffing cutely, and pointed her finger at her chest.
“I am a seer — with a broken ability at that — and not an expert in Natural Awakening. Spell, I can’t even push the essence out of my own Core! You should be asking Sunny, or Neph at the very least.”
Kai shook his head at that.
“You know exactly how busy Sunny is and Lady Nephis was not of much help, as she herself was struggling to push for the last step. And Effie is, well… Effie. She’ll most likely go and snitch to Sunny,” he chuckled as if his phrase explained everything.
Cassie, however, didn’t look amused, as she crossed her arms and was seemingly ready to argue.
“Besides,” Kai continued, feeling her doubt slowly strengthening.
“Sunny will not agree to that. He’d rather push himself to the grave, than risk our lives, even if he wouldn’t admit that. You know that, Cas. We need more Awakened in our ranks. Nephis and Sunny won’t be enough for what awaits at the Spire.”
Now she actually looked hesitant for a second, before furrowing her brows.
“But you’re still not ready, Kai. You had only recently learned how to control your essence. And you had been pushing yourself like crazy too,” he frowned a bit and opened his mouth, but was interrupted before he even managed to utter a single word.
“I know that you’re worried. All of us are. But please… wait just a little bit more? You’ll be able to do it the normal way very soon, I’m sure. Don’t… Just don’t.”
He looked at her silently for a while, his prior hesitation resurfacing once again.
She was right in a sense.
If he continued to progress with his current pace, it wouldn’t be long until he’d be at Nephis’s level and ready to smoothly turn his Core into an Awakened one.
However…
“Do we even have that time?” he whispered, bowing his head with a sigh.
“What if something goes wrong? What if we have to push to the Spire sooner? What if the Terror comes for us herself? If any of that happens then we all are as good as dead. Are you aware that Sunny wasn’t resting at all these past two weeks?” she winced at that and looked away.
“And if our main fighter — the one on whom the main part of the plan depends — isn’t in fighting condition? What would happen then? If I were to Awaken, not only would it boost our strength significantly, but it would also give us more opportunity to rest and prepare better.”
Besides, he needed that strength now too.
To protect those little pieces of happiness, tranquility and honesty he acquired in this dark, dying world.
She closed her eyes, not moving an inch, expression unreadable.
The only sign of her inner turmoil was her tightly clenched fists.
Other than that, she looked almost serene.
Suddenly she opened her mouth, hesitating for a moment before speaking.
“I still think that you’re out of your mind. But,” she licked her lips, before shifting her unseeing gaze straight at his face.
“Okay, I’ll help you. Jeez… Only because it’s you.” He actually chuckled at that as he let out a sigh, he didn’t know he was holding.
“So,” she started, but then paused for a moment.
“What do I need to do?”
* * *
Cassie screamed, thrashing in Sunny’s arms, as Nephis was trying to wrap her hands around the blind girl to either calm her down, heal her wound, or probably both with little to no success.
“Kai– Kai is dying, please. Please go. Quickly, please!”
Sunny’s heart clenched, his face turning even paler than it already was.
For a moment he couldn’t even breathe.
He clenched his jaw, trying to control himself, all signs of fatigue leaving him as boiling rage replaced it instantly.
He was going to tear apart any bastard that dared!
A hoarse, sharp voice escaped his throat, almost scaring even himself.
“Where? Where is he, Cas? What son of a b–”
“His room! Please go, Sunny. Go!” she yelled pleadingly, her unseeing eyes looking at him with such raw emotion that it actually cut through his heart.
He threw one short look at Nephis, exchanging short nods, as he dove into shadows the next moment, already summoning [Forgotten Repentance] in his hand.
He reappeared inside Kai’s room, already in a stance, spreading his senses all over the place and even beyond it, searching for possible attackers.
Whoever they were, they would be paying for it.
However — as he threw a quick look around, read every shadow inside the room, pushed his supernatural intuition to its limits and felt every slight movement of the air around him — he couldn’t find anyone other than a convulsing figure of Kai lying on the floor.
Sunny’s heart clenched painfully at the sight.
His friend was not in the best state to say the least, and was experiencing absolute agony from the looks of it.
Yet, he didn’t allow himself to relax.
The fact that he couldn’t feel the enemy didn’t mean that there was none — he had learned that lesson the hard way.
Serpent disconnected from his body, turning into the shape of the Forsaken Knight, and Saint followed, standing protectively behind his back.
He threw one last look behind him, giving short mental commands to his Shadow, and only then did he leap towards the wounded figure of his friend and took a closer look at him.
What he saw, however, made him more enraged, exasperated and relieved at the same time, as dots connected in his brain instantly.
Sunny ground his teeth and then roared, his voice ripping.
“You absolute fool! Why did you do that?!”
The reason for his outrage was quite simple — Kai’s Soul Core was broken into multiple pieces that the beautiful archer was trying and failing to glue back together.
The conclusion to why he was in that state was simple and ridiculous — the idiot had tried to Awaken and as he was neither proficient enough in controlling his essence nor had he started modifying Core’s structure, the idol in question had decided to go at it Sunny’s way.
“Argh! Sorry… but I’m… a bit preoccupied, ha-rgh… Dammit, aaaah!”
Sunny didn’t know whether to laugh or despair at the sight in front of him.
Why would anyone in their right mind try to Awaken by breaking their Core?
Especially when there wasn’t a pack of Fallen abominations trying to tear you apart and you could try doing it the normal way just in a few weeks?!
Did people start to assume that being crazy is actually a good character trait after spending some time with him?!
‘It’s not, you morons!’
He let out a shaky breath, as he dismissed his sword and helped Kai straighten up, back into the sitting position.
A position that he couldn’t maintain for long, as he fell back onto the floor screaming.
Sunny cursed.
Loudly.
He wasn’t actually sure what to do in this situation.
He couldn’t create a new Core for Kai, nor could he wait for Nephis to arrive and heal him — her Aspect would be of not much help here too.
‘Why did this moron?..’, he stopped his thought abruptly.
There was no time to waste on stupid things right now.
He took a deep breath in and then exhaled slowly as he carefully watched the shifting pieces of the broken Core inside his friend’s chest and took in the details of his appearance.
To be fair, he looked almost no different than usual: still otherworldly handsome; covered in blood and dirt from the recent fight; with skin a bit paler than usual; and eyes looking slightly bloodshot around the corners whenever he found enough strength to open them.
Even in his dire state, Kai wasn’t losing face, it seemed, no matter how ridiculous it sounded.
Sunny thought for a second and then unclenched his jaw.
There was really only one way for him to help: carefully guide him, support him and hope for the best.
Sunny hesitantly opened his mouth as he lifted Kai’s head from behind slowly.
“Kai, look at me. Yes, carefully,” he said slowly, meeting his friend’s half-opened dazed gaze.
“You split your Core into too-large pieces; you cannot rebuild it that way.”
Well, it was not exactly correct overall, but in Kai’s particular case it was.
Not only did he not yet manage to completely ‘tame’ the Core created by the Spell, but his essence circulation technique was still subpar and not nearly on the level to manage that.
And he also wasn’t Sunny — a person who was Supreme before and who possessed countless complex essence circulation techniques and a nascent will too.
Kai would have to rebuild it from scratch.
There was no other way to go about it.
There was another problem too: the fool had also decided that it was actually not such a bad idea to try to awaken with almost empty reserves of essence.
He had not nearly enough of it to succeed.
‘Damn.
Damn.
Damn!
What to d–’ he stopped his thought process suddenly as an idea hit him.
‘That– that could actually work.’
Black smoke was materializing in his waiting palm the very next second, as he stared at it for a moment, before carefully passing it forward.
“Kai, look at me. Do you see this black shape-shifting thing?” Sunny asked, his heart almost breaking through his ribcage.
Kai gritted his teeth painfully as he threw him a short look and nodded curtly.
“Good. Will it to turn into a weapon: sword, dagger, arrow, anything you can think of.”
Sunny wasn’t sure if his friend registered everything he said at first, however, after a second, the smoke wobbled and started to reshape itself.
A short moment after, a familiar falcata fell into Kai’s palm, almost missing it, to his astonished — despite the state he was in — gaze.
Sunny didn’t hesitate for even a second after that.
He gripped the foolish idol’s arm and, with a few quick motions, made several cuts on himself.
Kai’s eyes grew wide, as he stared at him horrified.
“What are y– Huh?”
Sunny caught himself, before falling, as a weave of dizziness washed over him, his strength, essence and life itself being sucked away from him.
And as he was just a mere Awakened, it wouldn’t take that long for a Sacred Rank enchantment — [Pilfered Vitality] that is — to turn him into a particularly ugly mummy.
There was, however, a reason for that, of course — now that his strength, vitality and much more potent essence were being transferred to Kai, they had a chance — albeit a small one — to succeed.
“Now listen to me carefully and do exactly as I say. Understand?” After receiving another short nod, he continued immediately.
“Good. Now crush all of the fragments of your Core, as fast as possible, several times if needed, until there is nothing but sand left. Okay?”
Kai stared at him for a moment, before moaning something and getting to work.
As the archer was methodically breaking crystalline shards, through the pain understood by only those fools who had their Cores destroyed, Sunny felt two figures approaching and, just a dozen seconds later, Cassie and Nephis entered the room with worried expressions on their faces.
Seeing that Changing Star was unarmed, he immediately concluded that Cassie must have informed her about their current circumstances, while she was being healed.
He looked at her with a blank face, mentally wanting to lash both morons’ asses with Jet’s whip.
The blind girl immediately winced, and turned her head to the side with a slight blush of shame on her face, as if reading his thoughts.
She muttered quietly, shifting her gaze back at Kai.
“You foolish, stupid… I told you, you idiot!” Her eyes watered as she muttered under her breath.
Well, now she looked like an abandoned kitten.
He guessed he shouldn’t whip her — what soulless bastard would whip a kitten?!
He didn’t know how they looked, but he was sure they were cute.
Sunny exhaled slowly, as he shook his head and turned his gaze towards the Immortal Flame’s princess, the room spinning slowly in his vision.
“Neph, a little help here, please?” he mumbled a little slurred.
Nephis leapt immediately towards them and dropped to her knees, taking Kai’s hand into her palms, and directed her healing flames at him.
Her beautiful face twisting in agony, as the archer’s body relaxed a bit.
How could that be even remotely fair to have such a terrible Flaw?
She gave him a strange look, registering a few cuts on his body that weren’t there just a few minutes ago.
“I can’t see your fragments anymore, so I’ll presume that they’re small enough.”
Sunny started slowly as he attracted everyone’s attention back to him.
Kai looked noticeably better than when he had just arrived, but still in a pretty terrible shape soul-wise.
He continued, after licking his lips nervously.
“Now you have to form your Core from scratch. You already know how it looks, how it feels and how essence moves through it, so all you have to do is compress your essence back into crystals and slowly merge them into the image of the Core you had. The good thing is that if you succeed, it would definitely become an Awakened one, and if you don’t– Well…” he muttered and winced as he received a heated glare from Cassie.
“Anyways, you better hurry up, pal, before my own weapon cooks me,” he mumbled and, to confirm his words, a thin stream of blood escaped his nostril.
He wiped it wearily and cursed.
“Damnation…”
Time stretched slowly after that for all of them.
Sunny was fighting the ever-growing fatigue coming from both his sleep-deprived state and [Shapeless Thief] stealing his vitality; Nephis was grinding her teeth fighting an unbearable pain of her Flaw; Cassie was quietly pacing around, biting her nails and listening attentively to every shift of the air; and Kai was… failing terribly at forming his Core.
Every attempt to unite tiny crystalline droplets of essence together into bigger ones was met with resistance and immediate repulsion, making the whole effort meaningless.
And not only could they not help him any more than they were doing right now, but they were also running out of time — it won’t take long for Kai’s soul to finally collapse and even less for the greedy weapon to suck Sunny completely dry.
A quiet mutter full of hate and venom reached his ears, as he stilled, gritting his teeth.
‘Damnation, I must be completely insane, if I want to proceed with that…’ he thought with a long sigh as he looked to the side shortly and then shook his head, getting his mind out of the gutter.
“Kai, tell me what are you tr-trying to do?” he stuttered, as the room took an unexpectedly fast spin.
The archer staggered for a moment, not opening his eyes, somewhat used to the terrible pain he was experiencing.
“I– I move essence in a wide circle and try to collide particles with each other. B-but they just bounce away. I- I…” Kai sat with his mouth opening and closing.
Sunny could even hear his friend’s heartbeat slowing down suddenly.
He swallowed a heavy lump and then continued quietly.
“I don’t think I can do it. I’m so sorry. I overestimated myself. Got arrogant. Thought that I might be different, but I’m still the same weak cow–”
Before Sunny could react to his friend’s self-deprecating tirade, a blonde blur shot by their side, bringing a small gust of wind with her.
Cassie fell to her knees and wrapped the foolish idol in a tight embrace, whimpering into his ear.
“Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare say that about yourself– Don’t you dare give up!” Streams of tears were slowly rolling down her cheeks.
He and Nephis exchanged a short silent look.
” You’re brave, strong, hardworking and so very kind.
One of the kindest people I ever met,” she whispered into his ear, as she tightened her embrace.
“So don’t you dare say that about yourself. Please… please don’t — don’t give up, Kai. Fight. Fight with everything you have. If not for yourself,” she whispered as she relaxed her arms a bit and moved back, meeting his slightly opened eyes with her unseeing gaze, Kai’s cheeks reddening slightly.
“Then do it for me. How would I live with myself knowing that I was there with you? That I could have stopped you?”
Well, that phrase was actually ironic, wasn’t it?
“And you… you…”
Suddenly Sunny’s voice rang from behind her steadily.
“You are a dragon, Kai.”
Everyone’s breaths got caught in their throats.
A moment of complete silence followed.
Cassie and Neph’s heads slowly turned towards him, incredulous expressions on their faces.
“Sunny…” Nephis let out a long tired sigh, as she facepalmed with her free hand — her disappointment seemingly outweighing the pain of her Flaw.
Kai’s shocked voice sounded quietly, despite how agitated he suddenly looked.
“The hell, do you mean I’m a dragon?! If anyone is a dragon, it’s y– Oh…”
He stopped in his speech, his expression frozen, as if realization hit him.
And then it finally happened — like a dam finally breaking.
The tiny particles of essence he was circulating until now, suddenly as if magnetized to each other — instead of being repelled until now — started to form small droplets of essence, soft, almost liquid-like.
Then those droplets merged into bigger ones.
And so the process continued.
Sunny’s ridiculous words were almost like a catalyst starting a chain reaction.
After some time, the droplets started to harden, uniting into three small luminescent spheres and then — with one final push — they collided with each other.
Kai let out an undignified sound as he fell onto his back, rolling his eyes from the pleasure of Awakening contrasting heavily with an anguish he was experiencing moments before.
His body started to change slowly, becoming stronger, healthier, negating most of the after-effects from his idiotic action and even more beautiful.
‘What did the fool even mean I’m the dragon here?’ he thought with irritation, allowing himself a moment of rest, changing Thief back into its smoke form — he would need it in a moment.
‘Well, now that I think about it, don’t I have a lot of draconic traits?
I like gold, money, luxurious items; have a bad temper; hate authority; have a tendency to break into castles; and also sed– I mean kidnap, yeah, kidnap princesses.’
He chuckled.
That was a funny thought, indeed.
Slowly he turned his gaze back to his foolish friend, who was now in a sitting position looking himself over.
Sunny raised an eyebrow at him silently.
Kai gulped.
“Hey,” the even-more-handsome archer started nervously as he looked away.
“I’m an Awakened now. As… you can see?” he stuttered slightly, as Sunny’s expression didn’t change even a bit.
“Oh, my Aspect have also evolved to an Ascended… I guess?”
Suddenly, the smoke that was previously shifting in Sunny’s palm turned into a wide leather belt — he decided that an Ascended whip would be overkill in this case — and, with one quick and strong motion, he swung it downwards, hitting the outer side of Kai’s thigh.
“Ouch,” he yelped, as he threw his hands in the air, his expression turning fearful.
“Sunny!” Cassie shouted from his side.
“He just came back from the dea– Ouch!” she yelped too, as he slapped the back of her head.
She was about to shoot him a look of betrayal; however, she felt the movement in the air, confirmed by the Quiet Dancer on her hip, signaling that he silently passed the belt to Nephis.
Kai yelped once again and then one more slap landed on the back of the blind girl’s head.
Both of them bowed their gazes to the ground in shame.
Sunny tsk-ed and muttered half-exasperated and half-bitter.
“So that’s how it feels to raise children…”
Nephis threw him one short look, a corner of her lip lifting silently, sparks of mirth dancing behind her eyes even in her slightly burned-out state.
“You two are both fools, I hope you know that?” he asked rhetorically with a huff.
“You,” he pointed at Kai.
“For trying such a stupid and ridiculously dangerous thing unprepared and obviously not ready with your supervision being one blind girl with a Dormant Core.” Kai opened his mouth to retort, but was met with Sunny’s glare, and his desire to argue died immediately, and he nodded.
“And you.” His finger shifted to the face of the blind girl, as she blinked owlishly.
“For not contacting me immediately, damn it!” he hissed and then took a step back massaging his temples.
“Betrayal runs very deep, it seems…” he muttered before shaking his head.
He stood there looking staring them down, feeling dizzy, tired and low on essence.
His fight dying within him, as he exhaled wearily.
“You know what? I don’t even want to hear your excuses right now — I’m too damn tired for this shit,” he said, his voice drawling heavily.
“Congratulations on your Awakening.” A sarcastic tone and a devilish smile on his face made the two — Kai, especially — shiver.
“Now you’re going to take all of my meetings for today and tomorrow too. I expect detailed reports the day after tomorrow. Aiko will help you… probably.” Sunny nodded to himself curtly and was about to leave, before stopping suddenly and throwing the dejected pair one last look and receiving a small weary smile from Nephis.
“Oh and yes — anyone who’ll try to wake me up will get a [Heaven’s Promise] dropped on their head. I’m out.”
And then he faded into shadows like he wasn’t even there, making Kai and Cassie finally let out a shaky breath.
What a strict father he was…
He reappeared momentarily in his room, already summoning [Bottomless Desire] behind himself and taking one last deep breath.
He exhaled softly, closing his eyes and letting gravity do its thing as he fell to the bed.
His exhausted and tortured body and mind were completely in sync and the moment his back hit the bed, he was already falling into the embrace of long-awaited dreamless sleep, ready to meet his most horrifying nightmares once again.
* * *
The next month passed very quickly after that.
Even though now they had literally three times more Awakened — which didn’t really reflect the difference, considering that they had only one before — and the amount of workload weighing him down lessened significantly, it was still hard and exhausting.
And yet, thanks to everybody’s hard work — even Aiko’s — they managed to finish preparations ahead of schedule by more than a week.
Will that help them, though?
It was yet to be seen.
And now carefully sliding over the surface in his shadow form, Sunny was moving ahead of the large group of people slowly making their way towards their destination: either to their freedom, or… towards their deaths.
The plan was finalized before, and everyone knew their roles perfectly well.
Sunny’s role, however, was the most important one, as usual.
He stepped from shadows on the small hill, from which the view of the Spire’s island opened in all of its glory, and just one step before the Soul-Crushing Domain’s main reach.
He shifted his gaze to the top of the grandiose, terrifying construction and felt a headache, instantly wincing.
It seemed that the host was ready to meet the guests too.
A small black lantern found its way onto his palm.
He stared at it for a second, before waving his hand a few times in front of it and then making a pushing motion into it.
The shadows trembled around him and his pulse quickened.
He was probably making a mistake — one that he would have to pay dearly for in the future.
He hoped with all of his being that it wouldn’t come for him to use it.
However…
He narrowed his eyes for a moment, as he threw one more look at the spire.
He knew.
All of them knew.
Today was going to be hell.
And only one of three of them would survive to tell the tale about it.
Hello-hello there!
Good to see you all safe and sound.
And here I am with a new chapter.
So, admit it, which of you expected Kai to Awaken right after Neph, eh?
And with that we’re finally moving to the final confrontation of the of arc, with a few surprises there too, be prepared.
Next chap should be out by Sunday, will do my best to write two, however, I wouldn’t hope for too much, as the next few chaps are planned to be long, and thus would take more time to write, obviously.
Would like to hear your thoughts as usual – your comments are the greatest motivator for me to write more and better.
Hope my writing improved for the past month, btw.
Anyways, thank you all for reading and see you soon.
Bye!
UPDATE: Got my ring-finger crushed a bit with a hammer, so probably won’t make it till Sunday 🙁
[FATED] is hunting me down or something?
xD First got my back cooked and now possible broke a finger in week’s timespan.