It took Sunless several hours to finish his report. By the end of it, his voice had turned hoarse.
"...is actually the same Pathfinder who the hunter from the outer settlement, Jubei, accused of using another human as monster bait. A real nasty fellow. He is an incredibly formidable fighter and is good at his job, but his personal habits… well. The man is a degenerate gambler. He spends all his shards in Aiko's gambling den, then refuses to pay and hurts anyone who dares to object."
He took a breath, then added angrily.
"Some people even say that this whole challenge happened because he wanted to hunt a powerful monster and pay off a part of his gambling debt. The bastard."
Then, Sunless thought for a while, scratched his head, and said:
"Uh… I think that covers pretty much everything. Of course, there are a lot of things I wasn't able to learn at all."
Lucien stayed silent, processing the sheer volume of information Sunless had given them. How the spell Sunless had gotten his hands on some of that information was beyond him.
"You've done a very good job, Sunny! This is amazing." Cassie said, patting Sunless.
"I have to agree," Lucien said, "You've amassed a lot of information."
He blinked and looked aside, slightly embarrassed.
"Well… of course it is. That is what my Aspect is actually for, remember? The whole monster-slaying thing is nothing but an unfortunate misuse of my talents, honestly."
'Although he's noticeably lacking any real information from the handmaidens.' Which reminded him.
"Can you tell me something?" Lucien suddenly asked.
Sunless raised an eyebrow, "What?"
"While in the castle, did you come across a handmaiden with deep blue eyes and hair? She usually keeps it tied up in a ponytail."
He frowned. Why was Lucien so interested in a handmaiden? Come to think of it, he had told them to go to them if something happened, even going so far as to vouch for them.
"No," He said and watched as Lucien slumped down in disappointment. After a moment of hesitation, he asked: "Who is she?"
Lucien sighed deeply. "That's my mother, Aletta."
Cassie leaned forward, "If I may ask, why is she a handmaiden?"
Sunless was curious, too. Why would a mother send her son to live in the outskirts while staying comfortably in the safety of the Castle? Even his own mother had personally taken care of him before her untimely death.
Lucien sighed and told them what he had told Nephis. Cassie reacted more visibly than Sunless, a deep frown marring her doll-like face.
"Is that why you want to kill Gunlaug?"
"Yes." He admitted, "I don't care much about his oppression. But, he laid his hands on my mother. So he must die."
Sunless nodded, trying to protect the family was something he could understand. His thoughts drifted towards Rain, remembering how he had decided to walk away to protect her peace. He stared at Lucien, seeing the unfortunate boy in a different light.
Maybe he wasn't as bad as he thought.
Lucien sighed and got up, "Let's go get Effie. It won't be easy to convince her, but with me here you might stand a chance."
Some time later, they were standing in front of a makeshift cabin. Unlike Lucien's house, this cabin was constructed out of mismatched stone blocks that had been scavenged from the ruins. It was reinforced with monster hides here and there and seemed to be built slightly better than the rest of the hovels in the outer settlement.
There was a large bestial skull hung above the door, its thick forehead split apart by a devastating strike of some sharp weapon.
Glancing at the skull, Nephis took a step forward and knocked on the door. However, no response followed.
Sunny sighed.
"Maybe she's not home." He desperately hoped that was the case. He was not quite ready to see the rambunctious huntress again.
Instead of answering, Nephis banged on the door with her fist. The first strike was somewhat gentle, but by the last, the bestial skull was on the verge of flying off the wall.
A sleepy and irritated voice sounded from the inside:
"I swear to gods, whoever you are, you'd better be a Nightmare Creature!"
Before she could barge out the door, Lucien yelled, "Effie, it's me! And wear a damn memory before you come out!"
Sunny didn't dare take a breath as the huntress's thundering footsteps quieted for a second before the door creaked to announce her presence.
"Why are you here at this hour?" She grumbled, and a white glow dimly leaked from the seams of her makeshift door. When she opened the door, she was clad in the same white chiton she always wore.
"Oh, it's you three." Effie glanced at Lucien. Him being with those three did not bode well for her.
Choosing to ignore that for a moment, she turned back to the others.
"So, you guys are back together, huh? Judging by how clean and shiny those two look, I'm guessing that their stay in the Castle was pleasant?"
Sunless glanced at Cassie, then said in a reserved tone:
"Not particularly. Just like you said, the ambiance there is… well… an acquired taste, I guess."
Effie grinned.
"Well said! Anyway, how can I help you?"
Nephis motioned at the door.
"Can we come inside?"
The unruly huntress glanced back, then shrugged.
"Sure. Why not?"
Inside, the cabin was small and cozy. One of its corners was occupied by a large pile of furs that served Effie as a bed.
There was also a fireplace, a table with a single wooden chair, and a pair of sturdy chests. The rest of the space was occupied by various curios that the huntress had scavenged from the ruins over the years. There was no particular logic to this opulent collection except for the fact that each object had once caught her fancy for this reason or that.
After they were all seated, Effie returned to her pile of furs, wrapped herself in one of them, and asked:
"So, what's so important that you had to come and wake me up this early in the morning?"
Nephis waited for a moment before saying:
"You haven't hunted since the day we met. Right?"
Effie yawned, then said in a languid tone:
"Nope. I'll go back into the ruins once my food runs out. Which will be in a day or two, I think."
Nephis nodded. "When you do, come with us. Be our pathfinder."
Lucien blinked, 'Well, that's rather straightforward.'
Effie stared at them, then threw her head back and laughed out loud.
"Ah, that's a good one! Do you want me to be your nanny, too?"
When her laughter died down, she shook her head and said:
"No offense, kids, but you have just arrived in the Dark City. You are as green as it gets. Some of the best hunters out here wanted me to join their parties, and I refused them all. Do you know why?"
Nephis nodded with a serious expression.
"Most hunting parties share the spoils of their hunts. Each hunter keeps a part to eat and sells the rest to the people in the slum. But because of your Flaw, you can't allow yourself to do the same. You need all the sustenance a hunt can provide. The more partners you have, the lesser your share will become, so… you hunt alone, and never sell the meat of your prey, just their hides."
Effie smiled."I see someone has been doing their homework."
Nephis tilted her head a little and, not paying any attention to the irony in those words, continued:
"We can solve that problem by…"
However, the solitary huntress interrupted her:
"Stop. Good guess, but you are wrong. That is not why I refused all those hunters."
Nephis blinked, surprised. After a long pause, she asked, a hint of confusion in her voice:
"Then… why?"
The smile disappeared from Effie's face.
"Because they are weak. Every one of them is weak. Even the most successful of them are. And do you know why?"
Something dark gleamed in her hazel eyes.
"They are weak because Gunlaug will never allow anyone strong to exist outside of his control. So… I am not going to be your pathfinder. Sorry, princess."
Nephis froze, obviously flustered by that answer. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again and awkwardly pressed her lips together.
Lucien sighed quietly. He knew why she was so unwilling to join them. He knew it all too well. He had to beg her for weeks before she let him join her on her hunts. He glanced at the three sleepers; this was their battle to fight. He was not going to interfere…yet.
In the ensuing silence, Sunless suddenly spoke, his voice calm and slightly provoking:
"He's allowing you to exist."
Effie looked at him, raised one eyebrow with a smile, and didn't say anything.
Lucien stared at Sunless, 'Does he have a death wish?'
Finally being able to compose herself, Nephis said:
"We might be new here, but we are not weak. Between the two of us, Sunny and I have already killed dozens upon dozens of Awakened creatures in the Labyrinth…"
The huntress interrupted her once again:
"Even if that's true, that was there. Out here in the Dark City, things are very different."
The two of them stared at each other, one with a relaxed smile on her lips, the other with stubborn flames burning in her eyes.
Eventually, Nephis grimaced and said:
"So, if we prove that we have strength, you'll reconsider?"
Effie chuckled.
"Damn! You say it like it's easy. You do know how many people can't even step a foot into the ruins, right? If you guys survive in this hell for a few years, maybe then we can talk again."
Nephis looked at her for a while and then smiled darkly.
"We will talk again in the evening. Then, you will change your mind."
Lucien watched them leave in silence. As the door closed behind them, Effie said.
"So, why did you come with them?"
"To convince you to join them."
Effie raised an eyebrow, "You kinda missed your chance there, Lucy."
He shrugged, "I wasn't going to help them fight this battle. No, I'm here to convince you on my behalf."
"By all means, go ahead." She grinned, accepting the challenge.
Instead of answering, Lucien stood up and sighed. "You're wrong about them being weak, you know."
"Oh? Am I?"
"I can personally vouch for Nephis. I've fought alongside her every day for the past week. She's strong, scarily so." He stared into the fire, "If we ever fight to the death, I'm not sure I'd win. She'd at least leave me with a grievous wound."
"That's high praise coming from you." Effie said, "The others?"
"That I have no idea about," He admitted, "But Sunless' aspect seems to be tailor-made for espionage. He learned more about the hosts of the bright castle in a week than we did in years."
Effie whistled, "That's one useful aspect."
"I know, right?" He smiled, "I want to join them. I believe that with them, we might actually stand a chance against the Fallen Terror."
Effie groaned, "There you go again. Why are you so hellbent on trying to conquer the citadel? You and Aletta cannot escape through there anyway. Even if we manage to defeat the Terror, you two will be stuck here. Is that really what you want?"
Lucien remained silent for a long while after that. No, he did not want to be stranded there, but he did not want Effie to spend the rest of her life there either. Neither did he want Nephis, Cassie, and even Sunless to be stuck in these shores.
But he needed a goal. He needed something to work towards; conquering the citadel was as good as any. Without it, he'd be lost. And maybe, just maybe, if the others managed to return to the waking world, they could find a way to get them out of the dream realm too.
Cassie had mentioned that Nephis was a dreamspawn, yet her real body was in the waking world. That meant leaving the dream realm was possible for him and his mother. He wanted to see the rest of the world, outside of the Forgotten Shores. He wanted to be able to create freely, not with the scraps he acquired from the Dark City. He'd heard stories about the waking world from Effie and how technologically advanced it was. He wanted to see it for himself.
Simply put, he was not content with spending his life in these godsforsaken lands. Just a Fallen Terror would not stop him. He would rip and tear his way out to the real world if that's what he needed to do.
Inside Effie's hut, basking in the heat of the fireplace, a new desire arose within Lucien. He was not going to accept his fate, doomed to wander the paths of the Dark City forever. He steadied his resolve. No matter the cost, he desired freedom…