Shadow Slave: The Blessing of Fate

***

"Do you know the legend of Odysseus?"

As Sunny heard those words, he was unable to feel anything, but absolute astonishment.

'H-huh? I-is this Fate's doing?!' 

"Kind of… W-why are you asking?" He said while stuttering lightly.

Nephis looked him straight in the eyes and asked.

"Why do you think Odysseus left the island where Calypso lived?"

…

Sunny felt puzzled after hearing her question. It was the same one she asked all those years ago. What kind of answer did Nephis want from him? He never actually read about the legend. He only heard the story once from her. But there had to be something she wanted to hear from him.

He thought about the wording of his answer carefully, but he could not take too long because of the rising pressure from his Flaw. After a few moments, he finally spoke.

"Well… I'd say that it's because he longed to return to his family, right?"

Nephis only stared at him after hearing his opinion. She did not elaborate on what the point of asking such a question was and seemed to immerse herself in her thoughts. The girl then muttered something quietly under her breath. Sunny was not able to hear her at that moment.

***

It was morning. It is the morning when Cassie would have her first vision after Sunny joined them in the Labyrinth. 

Although, it was not the time for that just yet. Sunny and Nephis were the first to get up. The sun had begun rising and the cursed sea was retreating. The two made a fire and began preparing a simple breakfast consisting of the meat that Sunny brought with him.

They had to stay quiet to not wake up Cassie so they did not speak much. However, they still ended up discussing the plan for the next few days. Both of them had some ideas and their own insights.

"You mentioned that the scavengers were crowding to the west, so the next logical step would be to start moving east as soon as we can. The north and south are also acceptable, but that won't put as much space between us and the enemy."

Sunny nodded and shared some of his own thoughts.

"Indeed, but we still don't have any idea where we are located at the moment. None of the known regions to humanity fit into the characteristics of this place. We still haven't encountered a place where a Citadel or even a Gateway could be standing…" He said, his words trailing off, but he did not stop there.

"Except for the huge spire in the middle of the labyrinth."

Nephis remained unfazed. She did not know about the Forgotten Shore's true history and the nature of the abominable Crimson Spire and its guardian. The fact that the labyrinth they were currently in was actually a part of an enormous creature that was used as a giant maw for absorbing the soul essence of every creature that bled on the corals.

"In any case, unless we want to fight through countless abominations then…"

Just as he was about to finish speaking, Cassie suddenly jumped up, her eyes opened wide and her face was slightly pale. She looked excited, yet nervous.

Nephis frowned.

"Cassie? What's the matter?"

The blind oracle turned to them and a wide smile appeared on her face.

"A… a vision! I had a vision!"

'Here it comes…' Sunny thought.

Meanwhile, Nephis stretched out her hand, ready to summon her sword and head into battle.

"Is there any danger?"

Cassie shook her head vigorously.

"No, it's not that! People… I saw a castle full of people!"

The beautiful blind girl smiled and pointed towards a certain direction with her small finger.

It was west.

Nephis looked at Sunny with a dubious look; however, he simply shrugged as if he expected that kind of development.

'Of course it's the direction where hordes of abominations roam, not like it's a surprise…" He remarked inwardly.

"Ehrm, I guess it's time to fight through a bunch of monster crabs then. Whatever a crab is…" Sunny coughed awkwardly before he said that.

***

The further description of her vision had not changed except for one minor detail that Sunny caught on.

"The two of us leading her through the gates, huh?" Sunny muttered quietly to himself.

Back then, the vision only showed himself leading Cassie through the castle gates. It was because Nephis decided to stay in the settlement instead of entering the Bright Castle. He was slightly nervous about how the future prophecies might change.

If they do…

***

The group decided to head west. After finishing their scrumptious breakfasts, they abandoned the coral island and began to make their way across the Labyrinth. They met a lot of Carapace Scavengers throughout their journey. Thanks to Sunny's and Nephis' perfect teamwork and extremely impressive skills, they were able to kill about twelve of them in just the span of ten minutes. The two decided to not evade the hordes this time. Thanks to Sunny's abilities, they were able to stay relatively hidden until it was time to strike.

The prey became the hunters.Or perhaps, because it was Nephis and Sunny, it was always like that. But who knows?

[Your shadows grow stronger.]

Sunny sighed as he pulled out his dashing blade, which was forged from azure steel, from the carcass of the deceased Carapace Scavenger laying before him and checked his Shadow Fragment count.

[Shadow Fragments: 80/1000]

He was satisfied with the increase, although he was also a bit confused. Normally, if he had this amount of Shadow Fragments with his previous Aspect, he would have been somewhat stronger. Sunny was not entirely certain why that was happening but he had a theory.

'Is it because the shadows inside the Shadow Gate grow stronger with my fragments, too?' He thought.

Sunny decided that he'll test that theory out in the near future. He could never be certain if his stored shadows would not prove useful before reaching a safe spot for the three Sleepers to rest on.

As the group slowly approached the headless statue of the knight, Sunny and Nephis took turns pulling the rope every twenty meters or so, slowly but surely reaching the top of the colossal stone construct.

After they reached the peak, the three rested their superhuman bodies at last. Because of the resurfacing sea they were unable to light a fire and have a proper meal. Though, it did not matter because of their impressive supply of dried meat.

While they were chewing on their meat strips, Nephis was staring at Sunny with curiosity practically oozing out of her slender body. He figured that it would not hurt to ask her what she was so eager about, so he went ahead.

"Something the matter, Neph?"

Her eyes slightly widened, but her face swiftly changed into her usual blank one. She cleared her throat and threw a question at the pale young man.

"The way you navigate this place, it's like you already know every path that lies ahead. How much did you scout beforehand? We were able to make incredible progress in just one day, all thanks to you."

Sunny froze solid at her words, he quickly became nervous. It seemed like he was being too careless. He could not let them find out about his past, no matter what. But what was he supposed to do? It was not like he wanted to stay on the Forgotten Shore for longer than necessary. He did not wish to deceive his friends; however, there was not much of a choice either way.

"I did scout the majority of the parts that I was able to reach with my shadow. However, this statue also serves as an excellent watchtower, you know? Well, I guess it's not that great for you, but due to one of my attributes I can see perfectly in the dark. That kinda helps, doesn't it?"

Once he finished voicing his excuse, Sunny dove right back into gobbling up the dried strip of meat, which was sticking out of his wan hand. Realizing that he most likely did not wish to elaborate more on the subject, Nephis simply nodded and went on to mind her own food.

***

The next morning, Sunny and Nephis were woken up by a piercing scream. Immediately grasping the situation, Sunny shot out towards Cassie to save her from falling over the edge of the platform. The girl was completely lost in space, reaching with her hands all around her to attempt touching anything that could help her navigate herself. He soon reached the blind oracle that was trembling awfully. Sunny pulled her into a hug, signaled to Nephis that she was fine and proceeded to quiet her down.

"You're okay, Cass. I got you, everything is fine. Calm down…" He whispered into her ear as he was gently patting her back.

The girl calmed down a tiny bit, but she was still extremely scared. He helped her walk back to the base of the camp and stayed with her until she was ready to talk. Sunny also told Nephis to sit by to reassure her, the more the merrier.

After an hour or so, Cassie was finally ready to share what she saw.