Sunny had finished his food. The rest of the team had finished theirs, too. The sun had already set, and the world around them was covered in pure, pitch-black water. It was almost as if they were drifting in the void. Sunny shuddered at the thought. He did not really know much about the void. Actually, the only thing he knew was that it existed, but he felt it was not a safe topic.
Even his parents, who were among the first saints and the strongest champions of humanity, had only one thing to say about it… be wary. According to them, he was not safe knowing more than even its name.
Nephis and Sunny sat close together; Cassie was already deep asleep. The black stone was not very comfortable, but there was nothing they could do about it. Strangely, the blind girl had adapted quickly, not having any problems with falling asleep.
"You should go to sleep." Nephis said.
Sunny peered through the thick darkness, looking straight at her. With his shadow sight, Nephis looked grayed and dulled, but to him, she looked just as striking. "Why are you feeling bad because you slept all night yesterday, while I stayed up?" he asked.
Nephis shook her head, knowing Sunny could still see her in this darkness. "No… Yes, Sunny, you need sleep as well."
"So… you want to be the one who stays up all night?" Sunny chuckled. "If we alternate like this, we will both be tired."
Nephis understood and nodded. "So what should we do?"
He glanced at the dark sea. "I would like to say I will stay awake all night again, but we both know that's not sustainable. You can not see through the darkness like me, so you might as well go to sleep." Then he pointed at the boundless darkness. "We don't know what lies in the dark sea, but if the first monster I met here is any example, it's not something we can fight…" he stopped for a moment before speaking again. "I thought about it for a while. Even if I stay up and notice something rising from there, most likely, it would be much stronger than us. Something we would not be able to handle."
Nephis sighed. "So we both rest and hope for the best?"
He shook his head. "Yes… Well no. If something really does rise from the sea, my shadow will tell me. If it's something we can handle, there should be enough time for me to wake myself and you up… and if it's something we can't handle, we can't really escape now, can we?"
"Great. So we just pray for good luck." Nephis said in an annoyed tone.
Sunny chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood. "Hey. You know about my attributes. If there is someone who can have really good luck, it's me. I have really bad luck as well, but that's beyond the point."
Nephis scoffed, something she rarely did, laying her back on the stone. "Just go to sleep then if that's what you want."
Sunny did not respond. Rather, he listened to her and went to sleep. Or he tried to at least. As soon as he put his back on the stiff stone, a sudden shriek tore through the air, followed by sobbing.
Sunny's eyes widened as he darted across the statue's neck, moving towards Cassie.
"I got her!" he said in a voice that was loud enough for Nephis to hear, but not loud enough to alert anything in the dreadful dark sea.
Nephis, upon hearing his words, dropped her shoulders and relaxed, or at least she tried to. No one could really relax in this hell.
Sunny looked at Cassie, who was trembling in his hands. They were at the edge of the headless statue. If he had waited even a second more… he feared what might have happened.
Nephis had approached the pair, a worried expression clearly written on her face. Clearly, for Sunny, that is. For anyone else, it would be hard to read Changing Star's gaze. Then, both of them said in unison, in their version of a comforting voice.
"Cassie… what's wrong?"
The blind girl was trembling all over. Her expression was one of immense sorrow, pain, and rage. Looking at the stunning face wet with Cassie's tears brought a fraction of that sorrow to Sunny's heart.
Cassie, upon hearing her friend's concerned voice, calmed down a little bit. She was still trembling and crying, though, even if a little less. Nephis glanced at Sunny for a second.
"Maybe… we should leave her to be, right now?"
Sunny nodded and brought Cassie to a relatively safer place, far from the edges where the boundless darkness lay. Nephis took her off his hands and said.
"You look tired. I'll look after her. Go rest." Sunny indeed looked tired, but he was more concerned about Cassie. He pointed at her and said in a concerned voice.
"Bu-"
"Go rest." Nephis cut him off, her tone more commanding this time. Sunny nodded. He knew Nephis. She was not going to change her mind. Convincing her was a fool's errand. He had moved back towards his resting place and put his back against the rigid stone, getting into a sleeping position.
Resting right after seeing Cassie's panicked state proved to be difficult, but what was Sunny other than adaptable? Many things, actually, but that was beside the point. Eventually, after a while, no doubt, he managed to slip into the sweet oblivion of sleep.
***
Sunny opened his eyes to the rushing sound of water. Light of the sun had pierced through the starless sky and forced the dark sea to retreat back into whatever hell it came from. Nephis and Cassie were already awake. Nephis seemed a little bit tired, not as much as he was yesterday, but still tired, and Cassie… she was still trembling, occasional tremors running through her body.
Sunny stood up, approaching the pair.
"Cassie… is everything okay? Did you see a vision?" He asked in a concerned tone.
Cassie cast her gaze, or lack thereof, on Sunny slowly. "A vision? Y- yeah, a vision… I saw a vision." She said in a tone that was trembling as much as she herself was.
"Can you tell us about it?" Sunny asked. Cassie shook her head.
"I don't know… It's all in fragments."
The blind girl was still shaken from whatever revelation she had received yesterday. Whatever it was, he could see it was not pleasant. Sunny did not even know if he wanted to know the contents of Cassie's latest vision. Her previous one was simple, with it showing her the human castle and its location… but he felt this one was different.
'Oracles and their damned visions! They always have to make everything so complicated.' Sunny cursed in his head. On one hand, he had to know the vision to use it to their advantage, and on the other hand… knowledge could be a burden, he knew that. How could he not know? After all, was knowledge not a part of his and his clan's downfall?
Before he could decide, though, Nephis asked Cassie directly. "Maybe if you tell us… We'll be able to piece it together." The blind girl nodded, seemingly agreeing with her friend.
"Right. At first, I saw an endless darkness locked behind seven seals. I felt that if I looked at it directly, I would lose my mind. Then, as I watched, the seals started breaking after each other, until only one remained, then that one broke too."
The horror shining darkly under Cassie's eyes had not disappeared. Rather, it only got darker and more harrowing.
"Then I don't know. My mind was in shambles. It was almost as if it were shattered into countless shards. Each reflecting their own image. Most of them were dreadful and scary. Some I can not even remember. And the others…"
"I saw the castle again, but this time at night. There was a lone star blinking in the dark sky. Then the star burst out with radiance, and under its light, the castle was consumed by fire with rivers of blood flowing down its dark halls. Gazing into the flames, I felt as if they had a desire… a desire of their own, a desire to burn and consume. Then I saw a corpse in shining golden armor sitting on a throne. A woman with a bronze spear is drowning in a tide of monsters. An archer trying to pierce the falling sky with his arrows."
"At the end, I saw the colossal crimson spire, on its base seven severed heads guarding seven locks. And at the top, the flames of desire and hungry shadows were raging… consuming everything. Then the spire cracked and was buried under countless sparks. In the end, only rubble remained. When I saw the radiant sparks dissipate, it felt as though something so precious that it could not be described with words was taken from me."
"Then I felt so much sorrow, pain, and rage that what remained of my sanity disappeared. I- that was when I woke up, I think."