Sunny disabled the [Where is my eye?] enchantment of [Weaver's Mask] yet he didn't dismiss the mask as an idea came to his head.
This was almost certainly the worst possible time this could happen as he didn't have enough essence to [Shadow Step] away.
He turned around stiffly and directed his gaze towards where the flaming string had led.
When he saw nothing out of the ordinary in the Shadow Realm his eyes began slowly creeping upwards.
In the sky he saw familiar flames blanketing a shooting star that was rapidly descending. Oddly enough, no smoke followed behind the flaring star or perhaps it was just disguised against the backdrop of the Shadow Realm.
Terrifying laughter rang out from behind the mask.
"Changing Star, huh. That's so like her. Any normal person would have summoned the [Dark Wing] to slow their descent but not that lunatic."
He began walking towards the direction his soul was located with even more reason to pick up his pace.
And yet the shooting star's descent was too fast. Before he could create much distance between them, he was forced to stop lest he became Neph's landing platform.
He could already hear the white flames crackling other than that the small meteor was eerily silent.
'She really does have the worst timing. Right as I'm about to start making actual progress she suddenly shows up.' Shaking his head he was already thinking of strategies to escape his present circumstances.
He didn't want to use this plan but Nephis forced his hand. He would have to stall for time to gather enough essence to [Shadow Step] beyond earshot distance.
Once he could create that distance, he was confident that Nephis wouldn't possibly be able to catch up to his saintly movement speed given that she was still a master. He wouldn't even have to [Shadow Step] further as his base speed would be more than enough to vastly outpace her.
With a thunderous roar the shooting star landed, sending up a veil of displaced sand and causing tremors through the ground strong enough that Sunny had to watch his footing.
He stood completely still. Wary that any movement might expose his presence to Nephis.
He needed to buy all the time that he could to regenerate enough essence for his escape.
Gradually the sand veil began to fade and he sensed her shadow. Now that he had time to look at it her shadow seemed very strange.
Despite her being only an Ascended her shadow was much deeper, darker, and colder than any shadow that belonged to a Master should be.
The familiar hatred reignited within his eyes as he realized that her shadow must be connected to him in some way. How else would she have a shadow bearing the marks of a transcendent while being a mere Ascended.
He was almost tempted to do something drastic at this harsh reminder of the Shadow Bond. The thought of bursting his own eardrums had even occurred to him as a way to counteract the bond.
Sunny banished the thought as not only because he thought it might not be entirely effective since he could read lips but also because it'd make his journey through the Shadow Realm much more perilous without the ability to hear.
Besides, he doubted Nephis would ever be able to catch him unaware so simply using a memory to isolate outside noises within a very small radius around him would be a better way to counteract the bond.
The thought of trying to restrain her had also occurred to him. Yet he had to banish that one as well as he wasn't confident that he would come out unscathed from that either. He was sure that he could restrain her given the difference in power but it'd be too costly. Even an elephant would be harmed when trying to smother a campfire. Except he'd only suffer more harm because comparing Nephis to a campfire was woefully disingenuous, she was a divine blowtorch. It would only become exponentially more dangerous considering he didn't want to harm Nephis either as much as he hated to admit it.
'Whatever an elephant is.'
Instead, he opted for a different plan. It was by no means full proof but it was the best he could think of when put on the spot.
Slowly he started to sense Nephis beginning to rouse. Even for her that crash landing must have been dangerous so it was no wonder why her healing was rather slow.
The sand veil had finally dissipated making him glad that he was wearing [Weaver's Mask] because the sight of Nephis stole his breath away. With the mask on he pretended as if there wasn't a massive blush on his face.
A problem he hadn't considered quickly made itself apparent. Other than Orphne, which he didn't count considering he viewed her as more of a motherly figure and he rarely got a good look at her because of the shadows that constantly followed her.
Sunny hadn't seen a member of the opposite sex in nearly six months and Nephis looked absolutely radiant right now.
He was suddenly grateful for the presence of [Blood Weave] as he found a new use for Weaver's lineage.
'For spell's sake this is so embarrassing. I'd imagine Weaver would be furious to know this is how I use his lineage, it's practically blasphemous.'
Even with such thoughts running through him, he still couldn't tear his gaze away from Nephis.
Her silver hair flowed to her side within the settling gust alongside her matching eyes that never seemed to lack a spark of fiery life dancing within them. She looked beautiful, radiant, divine. She was truly a sight for sore eyes as her appearance was sharply contrasted against the bleak and gloomy background of the Shadow Realm.
Nephis was wearing the [Starlight Legion Armor] which looked like it had seen better days. Its black garments were charred in some places and completely burned away in others. Making his eyes wander. Even the poor armor's metal parts looked like they had not emerged from the impact unscathed as the thinner pieces seemed to radiate heat and had a consistency that didn't look all that solid. Yet beneath all the armor Nephis seemed unharmed. Leaving one to wonder what the point of a mere awakened armor was to this particular Master.
'And I thought I ran the [Puppeteer's Shroud] into the ground. For spell's sake Neph decommission that poor armor before you lose it.'
Even after having landed like a meteor she still looked more beautiful than he had ever seen her. He had never gotten much of a chance to appreciate her looks after she ascended, having been too occupied with his own thoughts to notice much more than that she had returned.
She raised a hand and brushed a few locks of her silver hair out of her face and used the same hand to shield her eyes as she looked into the distance.
Nephis' silver eyes were ablaze with alert readiness scanning her surroundings for foes sure that her not so quiet arrival would stir up something in an unfamiliar realm.
After having checked the surrounding area, her face returned to the usual calm and composed mask that she always wore. The same one that never seemed to leave her face, which only made him want to wipe it off all the more.
Nephis had been a bit disoriented during her descent. In truth she had been sleeping when she was awoken by the sound of the winds becoming much stronger and colder while the air pressure only seemed to grow. Even the sky somehow appeared to become darker than the familiar background of the Sky Below.
The foreign surroundings brought an uncharacteristic smile to her face as she realized she must have finally reached the Shadow Realm.
The descent had been boring, maddingly so. She hadn't thought it possible for her to die or boredom, but she had certainly come close. It couldn't even compare to her time stranded in the dream realm. At least then she had always had something to do or a foe to fight.
The only thing that could entertain her were Sunny's runes. Her habit of checking them that she had developed not long after the Crimson Spire seemed to have become an addiction now. She didn't know what she would have done without them.
And what entertainment checking his runes had been. It had all come to a climax when one day she opened his runes to see that he had transcended.
Even she had to admit that Sunny transcending had thrown her for a loop. Her first thought was that Cassie must have double bluffed her and Sunny hadn't gone to the Shadow Realm like what the first lie implied but rather he had gone off to challenge a seed of nightmare.
She discounted that possibility because the emotions that Cassie had been showing while trying to fool her seemed too genuine. She didn't think the blind oracle was that great of an actor.
But then she was left with the question of how did Sunny transcend? She didn't think there would be any nightmare seeds within the Shadow Realm seeing as it had already been swallowed by the Dream Realm.
With not much else to do the shock had proven to be so great that she was still pondering these thoughts well over a week since she had gotten the news. Nodding her head in disbelief with a smile on her face. 'Really Sunny always does find a way to do the impossible. I really do have good taste in men apparently.'
Still as elated to see that not only was Sunny not surviving but thriving as well, it had reignited the competitive spirit within her.
Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that someone among her pears would surpass her, even Sunny. She had resigned herself to setting the flame of her dire ambition upon higher sights like her revenge for the Supremes or the nightmare spell.
A frown appeared upon her face after the realization that she had let herself become too focused on reaching her peak that not only had she not noticed someone else surpassing her but that someone was the one closest to her heart.
Sunny's transcendence had forced her to reevaluate herself. She had thought her second nightmare was a humbling experience, but it couldn't compare to someone younger than her, even Sunny, lapping her.
Of all the times to chance upon this burst of energy to catch up to Sunny and transcend of course it had to happen when she was falling through the void, it wasn't exactly the ideal time and place. All she could do was hone and nurture that spirit and watch as Sunny kept running ahead of her all the while she cheered him on from the sidelines waiting for when she could finally hit the ground again and chase after him.
The news left her deeply conflicted. One on hand she was proud and happy that Sunny transcended while also having the same emotions directed at herself for having chosen Sunny. On the other hand, she couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy and anger in the very depths of her heart. She was jealous that he had stepped one step further on the path of ascension before her and was angry at herself for having fallen behind.
Rather surprisingly having nothing to do other than think such thoughts and stare at Sunny's runes had proven to be exhausting. That had led her to being caught asleep when she finally reached her closest short-term goal.
Entering the Shadow Realm had proven to be a rather dangerous experience. She had been falling at terminal velocity which wasn't exactly the ideal condition for a smooth landing.
Summoning the [Dark Wing] had helped her slow her fall to some degree but the Awakened memory wasn't up to the task of dealing with pressures and velocities this high as several tears appeared in the insect like membrane before it was destroyed completely.
Even she showed a grimace after losing a memory that had accompanied her from the Forgotten Shore. 'A pity. In hindsight I should have bought a flying type memory before leaping into the Sky Below.'
Her survival instincts had led her to take the impact legs first. Although she wasn't entirely sure if her healing could counteract a destroyed heart or brain, she wasn't exactly eager to try.
Experiencing the fall of the Immortal Flame clan as well as not being able to gain any new memories in her second nightmare left her as quite a poor legacy. Buying a flying type memory had been a nice thought but the reason she hadn't at the time wasn't because it didn't occur to her but simply because she would have to sell too many of her scarce assets to afford such an expensive memory.
She made no effort to dispel such thoughts knowing the impact followed by the familiar searing pain of her cruel flaw would do so for her.
With a loud boom she landed and instantly lost both of her legs in the impact. She numbed the pain and only focused on protecting her upper body from the brunt of the damage.
Dark sand flew up everywhere creating a veil around her and assaulting her senses. The effect of several grains of sand making their way into her eyes combined with the pain of losing her legs and her flaw's effect making itself known forced tears out of her eyes as she tried to blink them away along with the sand.
Her flames already enveloped her frame and quickly cauterized her wounded lower body. It would still take a while for them to fully heal.
Everything became a blur as she rallied her will in an attempt to come back to her senses. As much as she wanted to take a breather, she couldn't allow herself that small comfort as there was no telling when the commotion of her landing would cause the natives of the Shadow Realm to come knocking.
She was laying on the ground breathless, waiting for her legs to finish regenerating. Even after enduring the impact followed by the subsequent pain, she never left a state of alertness. A problem quickly became apparent while checking her surroundings.
The Shadow Realm was entirely too dark for her Ascended senses to pierce. All she could rely on to navigate was her other senses and intuition.
Even worse, the shadows were deep, unfathomable, and ancient. With just a glance she could already tell that no ordinary light memory would be able to dispel these shadows.
Her face became expressionless once again as she realized the grim reality. In order to survive in the Shadow Realm, she would have to constantly keep a flame summoned to illuminate her surroundings at the cost of the pain of her flaw never leaving her.
Her legs had finally finished healing and with the help of her head and back she gracefully launched herself back up to her feet.
With a tired sigh she conjured a ball of fire in her left hand that reignited the pain of her flaw while also granting her some vision of her surroundings. The small fire proved to be a much more powerful source of light than its small size would lead one to believe. Dark sand kept falling around the fire passing by and turning into tiny fragments of glass while drifting away.
Her eyes filtered through the dreary terrain of the Shadow Realm before eventually settling on an area of shadows that were much darker than their compatriots.
It was only when her gaze crept upwards that she saw a nebulous figure connected to said shadows.
The figure was hazy and indistinct, but she immediately recognized the ferocious mask of the sinister daemon that made her heart begin to beat faster.
"Mongrel?"
A wide smile spread across Sunny's face underneath [Weaver's Mask].
'She fell for it, hook line and sinker.'
In truth he had been a little afraid that Nephis wouldn't recognize Mongrel. He had thought it highly likely considering he knew that she consumed much more media than one would think based on how she was a fan of Nightingale.
All was not lost if she did not recognize Mongrel, but it was definitely best if she did. That's because [Weaver's Mask] served as both the disguise and his contingency plan.
He was using both the information that Nephis knew and didn't know against her. Changing Star obviously knew his flaw considering that she had access to his runes. What she didn't know was the enchantments of [Weaver's Mask] since she wasn't able to see the more in-depth version of runes that was provided by [Blood Weave].
The plan was devious in its simplicity that made it no less effective. In the case that Nephis didn't recognize Mongrel and thought he was Sunny or someone else entirely he would be able to lie to deceive her.
He suspected that she would believe that he was some native resident of the Shadow Realm if she did not recognize Mongrel. No matter how well Nephis knew him he doubted that she would be able to see through the [Mantel of Lies] enchantment that even the gods and daemons couldn't.
In the off chance that she somehow did recognize him and asked if he was Sunny, he would simply say that he wasn't and that small statement would be inherently trusted by Nephis because she believed that under no circumstances could he lie.
As ingenious as his plan was it was still a double-edged sword. Based on the Nephis he knew he doubted that she would intentionally command him and would try to word her sentences in ways that avoided the [Shadow Bond]. Yet she would only do that for Sunny, not for Mongrel. Still, he would rather use this plan at the risk of Nephis accidentally commanding him than not disguising himself and just hoping she wouldn't order him. He wouldn't bet his life on a plan that was founded upon hope which he had long ago learned was a poison.
He had used up all the cards he had all that was left was to see if Nephis had a hand that could beat him.
He had an overwhelming advantage and the experience to realize it and use all his available cards to achieve the most desirable outcome despite his lacking physical condition.
Sunny could already feel his essence replenishing itself. It was already around the capacity that he once had as a sleeper. He would only need to stall for a bit more time before he could execute a long range [Shadow Step].
The idea of simply dissolving into the shadows now and traveling that distance without teleportation had occurred to him. Yet he had to discard the temptation as there was too great a chance that Nephis would simply say wait, upon noticing him leaving.
He thought of responding to Nephis' question but decided against it. It was rhetorical and based on the personality that he had shown as the viral Dreamscape sensation he didn't think Mongrel was the type to respond. If he did respond he risked Nephis realizing that it was all an act and he couldn't afford to have the situation spiral down that path.
So instead, he merely acknowledged her presence by returning her stare.
Nephis made her best attempt to calm her frantic heart.
She remembered the moment that Sunny witnessed her meeting Nightingale. Sunny had never let her live it down so she couldn't let him have more fuel.
Picturing Sunny beside her laughing at her reaction helped her break out of her shocked daze much faster.
Mongrel remained silent politely giving her the time she needed to come back to her senses.
And then the silence stretched on, and on.
Even for someone as socially awkward as herself the silence was beginning to become uncomfortable.
Just as she was starting to wonder when he was going to break the silence, she suddenly recalled one of his famous quotes.
'Words are worthless, silence is gold. Don't Waste my breath!'
Nephis dawned a look of enlightenment as she felt that it was completely in character for Mongrel to not strike up a conversation.
She raised a hand to stroke her hair as if conflicted.
'Then the impetus to lead the conversation is left to me.'
She nodded along. Although she didn't exactly know what to talk about, she doubted that anything Mongrel said would be fruitless. This would be her chance to witness his wisdom firsthand.
Yet this left her with another problem.
'I have no idea what to ask Mongrel. Based off questions he's answered in the past, I doubt there would be much to gain from asking him personal questions. It'd probably be best to ask him about the Shadow Realm. Could he be a native here? Is that why he said that he was never human? Whatever the case is he certainly knows more about this realm than I do so there's no harm in asking.'
She stared at him trying to understand why he was in the Shadow Realm of all places.
With every blink she had to refocus her vision lest she lose his figure which seemed to muffle all of her senses. His white hair had grown noticeably longer and remained transfixed to his back defying the wind.
She attempted to sense his presence but ended up feeling nothing. Which was odd since in her mind Mongrel had to at least be a powerful Master. One that should exude a terrifying presence.
'Why won't she stop staring at me. Say something please!'
Sunny stood stock still as he tried to mask his confusion as best as possible.
He made no attempts at breaking the silence either because it was only beneficial to him.
The silence stretched on long enough that he began to think it might be best for him to break it.
After what felt like an eternal silence, he finally let out a silent sigh of relief as he saw Nephis' lips beginning to move.
Yet strangely she didn't seem to be talking to him.
Changing Star seemed to be in her own little world mumbling to herself.
What she did not account for was that with his transcendent senses every word she said was perfectly audible to him.
The extended period of time spent alone in the void must have done more damage than Nephis was aware of since her musing seemed rather odd to Sunny.
Some brilliant highlights were as follows:
Is Mongrel a native of the Shadow Realm? It's no wonder his background seemed so mysterious?
Or:
How did Mongrel cross between the Shadow Realm and the Waking World then?
Or:
Wait, don't tell me Mongrel is dead? No! He couldn't have died. The puny Spell isn't strong enough to defeat Mongrel.
Or:
Whatever the case is I should befriend him. The saying 'Noone survives the Dream Realm alone.' Probably applies to the Shadow Realm as well. At least it's best to assume so.
Or:
Mongrel doesn't seem like the personable type. How do I go about befriending him?
Or:
All that time spent in the Sky Below isn't going to help with this. Who knows how long I was falling for. It was at least a few months as far as I could tell and it might have been as long as years. I exhausted the rations I had packed way to early in so there's no way to use that to tell.
Sunny's face started to twitch behind the mask trying his best to make sense of Nephis' insane musings.
Clearly a long time of isolation had made her used to voicing her thoughts out loud. Which wasn't all that surprising since he was the same after spending four months alone in the dark city.
Eventually when he heard the last one regarding her time spent in the Sky Below his eyebrows shot upward and pupils dilated.
Familiar words slipped out of his mouth without him realizing it.
"Are you crazy?!"
Her head snapped by to Mongrel, completely dismissing her train of thought.
Nephis' eyes widened uncontrollably as her mask of composure slipped.
'That phrase, why does it sound so familiar?'
With trembling lips her gaze tried to pierce beyond Mongrel's mask.
"S… Sunny?
For the first time she watched Mongrel falter as his nebulous figure took a step back.
Her eyes lit up with delight taking his reaction as confirmation.
And then something strange happened when Mongrel spoke for the first time since she met him.
His voice sounded sinister and eerie. She had never heard a nightmare creature speak but if one were to, she imagined it would sound similar.
Mongrel said only one word as if he deigned any more beneath him.
"No."
Nephis' eyes narrowed at that.
This time she managed to not speak her thoughts aloud.
'Was I mistaken? Sunny can't lie. Then why did Mongrel react when I said his name?'
Knowing Sunny, she began to wonder if there was some kind of trick behind this.
'Maybe it was because I only said his name in a questioning tone and didn't voice the full question, Is that how his flaw works?'
She didn't want to use his flaw against him like this, but she was left without options to engage with someone as cunning as the man she had fallen in love with.
"Are you, my Sunny?"
Behind the mask his expression turned into a snarl.
'The hell does she mean 'my Sunny'? I don't belong to anyone. Has she no tact? Didn't she know that would set me off? Is she trying to bait a reaction out of me?'
Mongrel's unusual emotionless posture cracked as he tilted his head in what Nephis thought was confusion.
"No, who is Sunny?"
His tone was steady, with not a hint of emotion inside of it.
She almost believed him considering his tone, but his posture betrayed him.
He was on guard; his entire figure was taunt and tense. It looked like he was ready to spring into action at any moment.
Just before she was able to open her mouth and get another question out, Mongrel visibly relaxed.
Maybe she was just imagining but she swore that he was wearing a relieved smile with a hint of pride behind the mask.
The sudden change in his temperament left her confused as she blinked repeatedly wondering what had changed.
When her gaze steadied, she realized his figure was already becoming indistinct.
Before she could get a word out Mongrel had already dissipated into the shadows.
Yet even after he disappeared, she couldn't find it in herself to feel disappointed. Only pure unfiltered happiness surged through Nephis.
A smile made its way onto her face refusing to go away.
Sunny might have escaped her once again, but this gave her confirmation. Even though she had never seen that aspect ability in action before she was sure based off its description that it was the [Shadow Step].
She couldn't put into words the relief she felt in that moment. The feeling was intoxicating. The months that she had spent falling through the void hadn't been peaceful despite being left alone, she had been tortured by doubt and skepticism.
While she had no regret about her decision to jump in the void in pursuit of Sunny, she did regret that she hadn't confirmed more thoroughly that she was moving in the right direction. Still, it would have been a really bitter pill to swallow if she finally reached the Shadow Realm only to realize that Sunny wasn't there. That would have been crushing.
Her smile widened as another realization donned on her.
'The second I land in the Shadow Realm I immediately met Sunny. It can only be fate. We truly are meant for each other.'
With that Nephis started moving in the direction that seemed to call to her the most, trusting that it would lead her to Sunny since it was fated.