Was holding the key to your comrade's freedom a sin?
But she couldn't think much about that, as their journey south had to continue. Posing as the vanguard, Nephis and Caster followed behind the huntress, Memories summoned in case of any emergency situations.
Sunny stood beside her, his shadow detached from his body — gone spying on a certain servant of Gunlaug.
Harrus had followed behind them, evading the Fallen abominations which lived in the city— an ever lurking threat.
After much thought, they decided on another way out. This... they didn't know anything about Harus, which made him dangerous. And... Nephis wasn't just about to sacrifice their strength before the real stretch of their journey began.
Soon, they stumbled upon an ancient lighthouse — proud, magnificent, familiar.
She frowned— a lighthouse was something she never wanted to enter. Ever again. Perhaps it might had been a symbol of the defiant will of the people from the ancient city, burning as a shining beacon in the eternal darkness of the cursed night... but to her, it wasn't worth anything.
In fact... it was her own ghoul, an enemy to this day she still struggled to face. A shadow that haunts her still, she supposes. It brings along some... unnecessary memories.
"Keep to the fire, my daughter."
She remembers, the echoes of her nightmare digging into her mind. Focus, Nephis, focus. Don't... don't think about things that no longer mattered—
Yet perhaps its effects were greater than she ever imagined; for once the seeds of remembrance bloomed, it was hard to ignore the results.
...Wasn't it yesterday that she was still stuck there? Her father's smile hanging on his lips, those careless words tumbling off his mouth.
"Daughter, look— Look at the blaze, the spark which guides ships home. It's our duty."
The flames of the lighthouse glowed dimly under the cover of light, and a rough hand caressed her shoulders.
"Don't you hear it's pulse? It's every breath? We must keep it burning, keep it aflame, keep it etern—"
"—Where to now?"
A voice cut through her thoughts, sending her back to reality.
Sunny.
Her scout. Her protege.
His onyx eyes pierced through the cohort, a question and more hidden within its detphs.
Thank you, Nephis thought, sending an appreciatuve glance to him.
That's right, the lighthouse was all in the past now, what they had to do now was move forward.
The only question was where. Where to now. What does the futute hold.
"Inside," Effie said, gesturing to the massive building before them. "Call your shadow back, and keep it close. When we enter the lighthouse, we will have to act quickly."
Sunny nodded, and a second later, his shadow returned— stuck to his body like it had never even left.
Exchanging glances with Effie, she crouched, waiting as the huntress guided them through the maze; They stayed low to the ground, the six of them dashing from their hiding sport to the broken lighthouse. Without wasting any time, they found a breach in its wall and climbed inside.
Effie summoned her radiant Memory, bathing the interior of the ruined tower in light.
"Listen to me very carefully and do as I say. Once we're inside, don't separate from the group. Stay together and keep weapons at hand. The place we're going to is full of Nightmare Creatures. They're not strong, but they're... special."
She bit her lips, "Don't even try to kill them. Just defend yourself and keep moving. If you stop, you'll most probably die. Same thing if you slow down and get yourself surrounded. But if we can preserve our formation... we might survive. I hope."
They will, definitely. She'll make sure of that.
With a nod, Nephis raised her sword, following cautiously behind the huntress, as she guided them forward with hushed steps, through the rocky terrains of the lighthouse. Soon, she came to a stop.
Right before them laid the broken floor, a narrow crevice formed from, the lighthouse... to something deeper. It was filled with darkness, leading to the ground... and then deeper still. Despite the light from Effie's Memory, the bottom was still covered with darkness.
Raising a finger to her lips, Effie turned to them.
"We're here," She whispered, "Be careful, everyone."
Nephis narrowed her eyes, it was indeed deep, seemingly bottomless, but... it was enough for a jump.
Without wasting any time, Nephis leapt into the crevice, letting gravity do its work. Falling onto hard stone, the impact sent a painful tremor through her bones— nothing she haven't felt before.
The tunnel lay before her, narrow and tight— not wide enough to manoeuvre her longsword. Well, there were other ways to hold it. Summoning her sword, she gripped it with both hands— one on the hilt, and the other on the blade itself, halfway to the tip.
Soon afterwards, the cohort landed one after another, each of them holding their own weapons— Caster held a jade jian, which emanated a ghostly green light; Effie, her large round shield; Kai had unsummoned his bow, instead opting for an elegant falcatta; while Cassie removed the Quiet Dancer from its sheath, the echo floating in warning around her; while Sunny... he was currently held to gunpoint by Cassie's rapier.
"Uh... what?"
"Ah, please forgive Quiet Dancer. She is quite shy around strangers."
Sunny scratched his head, confusion pulsing from his eyes— a strange sight if she didn't know any better.
"Dancer is an Echo and a partner of mine. We work well together."
"Huh.. alright."
"Hey Sunny," Effie interrupted, a bashful smile on her face, "Now would be the perfect time to invite your girlfriend to join us."
Girlfriend. Girlfriend.
Nephis froze, her eyes widening as she looked between them.
Girlfriend?
Sunny had a girlfriend?
Since when?
Why didn't he tell her?
And— where was this woman of his hiding that she couldn't even see? Couldn't even detect her?
Effie's words echoed through her head. Girlfriend.... Girlfriend.... It shouldn't affect her, really, but... she glared at Sunny.
Traitor.
How had he known a girl without her even knowing?
How could he... abandon them? Brush them off? For someone else?
But she couldn't judge him like that, could she? Nephis... wasn't exactly truthful with her shadow, wasn't all that different from him. She forged forward despite his disapproval of her plans, she knew his secret, his name; and Changing Star knew herself, understood the ugliest aspects of her mind and she knew wasn't exactly opposed to using it if it would guarantee the best of the situation since—
Their lives depended all on her—Cassie's life, Sunny's smile, the cohort returning and her goal.
But, despite all that, despite this illusion of truthfulness that she was witholding—
How could he? How could he know someone else, be with them so dearly that... Why did he replace them, with another? Weren't the cohort enough?
...The huntress must be joking right? Effie's known for teasing; princess, she calls her, even when Nephis feels anything but that.
"—How many times do I have to tell you, she's not my girlfriend!" Sunny shouted besides them, huffing, "Effie! Tell them!"
Not his girlfriend? She thought, But... still, how could he be closer with someone that she didn't even know?!
Effie sighed, raising her hands, and she better stop withholding crucial information because of mere jokes.
"Sunny also has an Echo, and a powerful one at that. Go on, summon her."
With a wave of his hand, his echo appeared from the depths of his shadow, and she... was magnificent. A knight of stone clad with an iron sword to her wrist, her ruby eyes burning with crimson flames behind the visor of her helmet. Graceful, unrelenting. Bowing her head to Sunny, she stood still— too still.
But Nephis knew better. That was the posture of someone experienced, of someone ready for danger that may appear at any moment.
A true knight; a respectful one at that.
His echo was reliable, she knew that, but... what did he find in her that he would choose it over them?
Yet it wasn't his fault was it? They—
Bang!
At the distance, a noise rang out, and she freezed, eyes darting for the enemy—
This isn't the time to relax or ponder upon the mysteries of her shadow; they were still on the Forgotten Shore, and no matter what illusion of safety the Bright Castle had given them... they were simply pawns in a greater war, and this was but a fight for their survival.
Raising her silver longsword, Nephis stepped forward, silver flames igniting in the detphs of her eyes.