Kai was silent as they entered the looming cathedral; everyone else was as well. Nephis walked at the head of the group, her strides quick and decisive. After her came Seishan, then Sunny and after him Kai, Cassie and Effie. After the cohort were Gemma and Teshai who were carrying unconscious Gunlaug between them, as well as several members of the Host and Seishan's handmaidens.
The general feeling among the people matched well with the gloomy atmosphere inside the church. The massive stone pillars and beams cast long shadows despite the candles and torches that humans had brought in — it was as if the spirit of the late devil still watched over the the hall.
Kai found himself strangely drained of emotion. He mostly felt tired, the last few minutes having taken a huge toll on his mind. He had not been as surprised about the catastrophe that had struck the Bright Castle as some of the others, but still he felt the weight of hundreds of lives lost keenly. He had also feared for his life when trying to defend Cassie, but that was something he didn't regret in the slightest.
He also felt fear when witnessing how easily Nephis had struck Gunlaug down, almost like the transcendent echo hadn't posed any resistance to her. That was abnormal. That shouldn't have been possible.
So when all he felt was some kind of negative emotion, he did his best to lock all emotions away. That was something he had learnt during his years as a performer, mostly during those times he had been heavily criticized or his talent had been doubted publicly. As a result, he didn't really concentrate on what Nephis was saying — it all seemed to be somewhere far away like a bad dream. He glanced at Cassie, who was of course listening attentively. She really was far more resilient than him!
Nephis seemed to have calmed down a little. Of course, that didn't really help her enemies feel any more secure — it was clear that she was in no mood for compromises.
"My cohort will settle in here", Nephis proclaimed. "When the time is right, we will complete our plan and storm the Crimson Spire and anyone who wants can join us. Until that time, no one tries to harm any of the cohort members or sabotage our mission. Am I understood?"
There was a tentative wave of nods, last ones coming from very frightened Gemma and Teshai.
"I will not seek revenge against Gunlaug or anyone else here for the crimes they have committed before or the ones they have made against us. That being said, I claim the highest authority over the dreamers of Forgotten Shore. Right now, I will establish my base again at upper quarters of the cathedral."
"That might be difficult", Seishan intercepted. "I have taken residence there alongside my people."
Nephis frowned. "Is there anywhere else we could go, then?"
"Outside of the cathedral may be some empty buildings. As I said, we've lost a lot of people lately."
Nephis nodded. "That's good enough."
Finally, Kai thought. Let me just rest for a while…
*******
Kai's wish was granted after some more deliberations and he got to take his stuff to one of the empty houses near the edge of the plaza. The sleepers of the castle had unanimously agreed to give the most unprotected huts to the cohort, those nearest to the grand barricade, but Kai still felt safer than he had for over three months. Finally he was surrounded by people again — lots of people, that's to say. Even though he was not that popular anymore… it seemed that his escapade with Changing Star and her friends had not brought him any fans here.
Still, it could be much worse, Kai thought. I mean, at least I am alive. And I have true friends… that's more important than having thousands of fans.
And speaking of friends…
Just as Kai was about to finally lay down on his bedroll inside the hut, he heard as series of soft footsteps approaching the door. In the next second the door was opened a bit, letting the last remnants of daylight into the room. Of course, Kai's attention was mostly drawn to the person standing in the doorway.
"Hi", Cassie said. "May I come in?"
"Of course."
Cassie swiftly used his voice to estimate Kai's location and walked towards him, letting the door close with a thud.
"Did you wash already?" Kai asked. "Please sit down."
He tapped at the edge of the bedroll and guided Cassie to the ground where she elegantly sat, legs crossed.
Really, there was no need for Kai to ask if Cassie had washed. What he actually needed to ask was where on the Spell had Cassie found shampoo — she smelled amazing — and whether or not she was willing to let him borrow it. But he thought the question would probably sound silly.
"Was there something — ?"
"I'm sorry."
Cassie's words stopped the question in his mouth. Surprised, Kai looked at her.
"What?"
"I shouldn't have gotten you involved in that whole letter-thing. I don't even know why I wrote it — in hindsight it seems like such a stupid idea. I fear I have made people dislike you — and I know how important it is to you that people like you… And how important it is to you to be honest as well."
Cassie looked really uncomfortable, or at least that was what Kai thought based on the little he could see in the dimness of the small room. He slowly shook his head.
"There's no need to apologize. It's true, I dislike secrets, but I can see why this one had to be kept… and how could I not help you with the letter, seeing how… "
"How what?
"How terrible your handwriting is… "
Kai chose to be honest and immediately regretted it. His face contorted in agony.
To say such things to a blind person… how was he that stupid? He could only look at his hands and wait for the inevitable verbal punishment he was about to get.
But instead, Cassie just giggled.
"Oh, it probably is! Just so you know, I had really beautiful handwriting before my First Nightmare… "
"And to be honest, I think it's not so important to me that people like me anymore — or rather, I'd much rather people like me for the right reasons", Kai hurried, relieved. "If I do something good and people don't like it, that's their problem."
"That's a relief."
"Besides — you know my Flaw. I know there's more to that letter than you have said. Could you please tell me what it really is? As your partner-in-crime?" Kai suddenly became more serious. Cassie looked up at him in surprise.
"Oh. Well, if you really want to know… I knew that we wouldn't be well liked when we came back… so I wanted to take most of the blame for myself. To be honest, I was really scared about what Neph might do if things got out of hand."
"And not without a reason! Maybe I shouldn't be saying this, but she really was just like Gunlaug earlier. Taking the throne for herself by brute force, not by people's volition. It makes me think many things over", Kai said.
"Still, it doesn't change much, does it?" Cassie said. "We're stuck with Nephis till the bitter end, because she is the only one with the strength to make it back home. Well, it's not like it's easy for her either. From what I've gleaned things went much smoother last time."
"That's true. Can you imagine what she must be feeling right now?" Kai pondered.
Cassie sighed. "I don't actually think she feels that much anymore. That's the problem."
How did the mood get so dark all of the sudden? Kai lampooned.
He'd much rather joke with Cassie or just generally talk about something light. They had many interests in common in the real world, and talking about those made Kai feel just that little bit closer to being home. And he really liked it when Cassie smiled or laughed. Most of the times she was so reserved…
Oh no, Kai realized. It's… it's becoming serious…
But actually, was that even a problem? They might die at any moment nowadays and if that happened, he really didn't want to have wasted too much time beforehand.
As if on cue, Cassie suddenly spoke again, making Kai frown.
Ah. She has that freakish intuition of hers…
"Do you want to know something?" she asked.
"What is it?"
"You know how Nephis is sometimes really awkward? Well, before we came into this city, she said something about rest of our cohort members… or more specifically, she said I would really like you."
Cassie laughed lightly like she was embarrassed. Kai did not really know whether to be discouraged by such an attitude, but he could not help but wonder as to why Cassie had brought the issue up in the conversation. She continued:
"Of course Neph meant that you were — you know — Night, but at the time I believed she meant that we were dating last time… What an absurd idea… "
Now Kai was really confused, but decided to take the bait nonetheless. Cassie could not talk about such things and expect that he would just remain silent, could she?
"Would it be?" he asked.
The feeling he had just now was like the one he had experienced when flying for the first time with his Aspect — to have his feet off the ground with nothing to support him.
"What?"
"All this time… " Kai tried to find the words that could convey what he had in mind — "all this time we have tried to follow the footsteps of that… another timeline… as closely as possible, and look at where it has brought us! Everything is much worse than it was back then, or at least it seems that way to me. But why should we do everything exactly the same as we did before? This is not our second time here, this is our first. Couldn't some things be… better than they were?"
Kai cursed the fact that she could not see Cassie properly, but he could still hear a rapid intake of breath, like a surprise.
"Oh… You mean — "
"Cassie", Kai interrupted. "Would you give me a chance?"
There was a moment of silence in which he swore he could hear his heart thumping loudly and that Cassie could probably hear it as well — and then Cassie suddenly laughed. It was a bright and hopeful sound; Kai could appreaciate beautiful things like it even in a situation like this.
"Would I give you a chance?" Cassie asked. "You would be giving me a chance! Of course I will!" Her voice suddenly became serious. "And not because you are a famous singer or anything like that! It's because I know you!"
Kai could only smile; his Flaw was silent. The smile was so wide it was probably unnerving, but thankfully there was no one hear who could see it! He was surprised and elated at the same time, but perhaps most of all, incredibly thankful.
Being sent to Forgotten Shore was worth it, if only for this moment… he thought.
What happened next was even more surprising; he could feel Cassie shifting beside him and in the next moment, when she had determined his location accurately, she embraced him tightly. Dumbfounded, Kai could only embrace her back — Cassie was soft and warm and her hair was soft as silk.
Kai felt that he hadn't done much of anything to deserve this, but he could not help himself — all his worries seemed to fade away as his focus was concentrated only on this present moment.Tentatively he let his hand rest on Cassie's cheek and then, lightly, tapped the corner of her mouth with his finger.
"Um… Cassie… may I…?"
Cassie tilted her head upwards and Kai could feel corners of her mouth forming a little smile.
"You may."
*******
AN: Short and sweet, as all things should be... This was originally intended to be the first part of the next chapter but it grew kinda long so I decided to post it now. Merry Christmas!