Sky looked at the leader or rather Esther who had slipped in the room while he was in the middle of evaluation of Gill.
"Oh, right, could you take out the shard of the white stone first?" She asked.
"Sure" Sky replied as he took the shard from his void and put it on the table.
The shard of the White Stone lay between them — pale, small, pulsing faintly like a tired heartbeat.
Esther folded her hands.
"If the shard is reunited with the main body," she said, "the Stone should stabilize. Once that happens, the creature will be drawn away from it. Eventually."
Sky, sitting opposite her, nodded along despite the fog in his mind. He hadn't slept properly in a long while.
Tervain leaned forward, chin on his hands. "And… how exactly do we put it back?"
"Proximity," Esther replied. "The Afterglow within the fragments is still linked. Bring them close enough, and the shard will return on its own. Like a memory snapping back into place."
Esther tapped the shard lightly. The glow rippled.
"So we just… bring it to the main piece?" Rose asked.
"Yes," Esther confirmed. "But the main body will probably take a while to fully connect, I'll take Merick with us to see if he can speed up the process."
"M-m-me!?" Merick said as he was trembling.
Esther smiled softly. "Yep."
She stood, her expression shifting to firm command.
"For now, rest. The two of you look like you crawled through the earth itself." She said, looking at Verrith and Sky, "We'll plan the details tomorrow."
Sky didn't argue. He couldn't. His eyelids were collapsing like rusted doors.
Soon enough Skelra came into the room and seeing Esther's expression,
immediately grabbed Tervain and Verrith and dragged them off because Verrith had a full report to give and Tervain didn't look tired so it was time to interrogate him.
Sky was led upstairs to a small room—bare walls, a single bed, a tiny cracked window barely letting light in. He lay down, exhaled, and closed his eyes.
Sleep did not come.
Again.
— ✦ —
Tervain ,Verrith Rose, Merick, Luminar, Gill, and Skelra entered one of the side rooms.
Gill sat quietly in a corner — eyes lowered, posture small,
Skelra leaned forward on the table, staring sharply at Verrith.
Luminar approached with gentle hands clasped. "Verrith… before we hear your report… What happened to the others? There were twelve with you originally, weren't there?"
Sky — if he had been here — would've frozen.
Because Verrith had told him there were only four assigned to retrieve the shard.
Verrith inhaled slowly.
"Originally, yes," he said. "Twelve of us went on a long-range scouting mission before we ever learned about the shard."
Rose tilted her head, red hair falling like blood down her shoulder. "Then why… did Esther tell us that she sent all 12 members to go retrieve the shard?"
Skelra frowned. "And why did she only mention you returning? What about the others?"
Verrith shrugged weakly.
"She didn't tell me either. She met my group on our return trip. Only four of us were left by then. She… sent us out immediately after that."
Soon enough Esther came into the room holding a glass of water.
Everyone stared at her and before anyone could question her she replied, "before you judge me, let me just say that I had forgotten to tell you so that's my bad, there's no other reason."
Merick rubbed his dark-circled eyes. "You didn't tell the rest of us because… you forgot?"
Everyone exchanged a look.
Esther didn't forget things.
Gill spoke softly. "She was probably busy handling the rogue sightings near the southern wall. She had a lot on her plate, maybe that caused her to be a bit stressed and forget some things, it happens to the best of us."
His tone was sympathetic. His eyes stayed down — humble, harmless.
"I guess you could say that," Esther replied.
But something didn't add up.
But Verrith didn't question Esther. He just continued the report — everything that had happened, The encounter with Sky, the dark forest, the fight with the knight, and their way back.
It took over an hour and he was allowed to go and Tervain's interrogation would soon begin, but the interrogation intrigued Verrith enough for him to just stay just a bit longer.
— ✦ —
Sky lay on one of the beds near the wall, hood still over his head, eyes open in the dim light. The ceiling stared back.
His breath didn't slow.
'Perfect. Another sleepless night.'
A voice — soft, familiar, unwelcome — whispered from the corner of his vision, [You're trying too hard.]
Sky didn't even turn, "Oh great. You're here."
The shadow — a second silhouette lying next to him on the stone floor — exhaled as if it were an old man, [We've been over this. You don't sleep by forcing it.]
"You don't sleep because you're not real."
[I'm real enough to watch and judge you.]
Sky covered his face with his arm, "Shut up."
[You know, if you breathe slower—]
"I am breathing slower."
[Not mentally.]
Sky groaned.
The shadow continued anyway, [Try relaxing your shoulders.]
He relaxed his shoulders.
[Try not thinking.]
"That's the worst advice you give."
[It works for normal people. You aren't normal, but still.]
Sky exhaled harshly, "Fine. Fine. How about imagining waves?"
[Waves won't work.]
"…Forest wind?"
[Almost all your forest-related memories involve monsters.]
Sky stiffened, "Fine. Clouds?"
[Better. Clouds are safe.]
He closed his eyes, trying to imagine the spirit-whale gliding across the sky.
The Cool wind. The Warm sunlight. The Quietness.
It lasted three seconds.
[You're thinking about falling off.]
Sky opened his eyes again, "You're the reason I can't sleep."
[No. You're the reason I exist.]
Sky didn't respond. He hated when the shadow said things like that.
[You're doing that thing again.]
"…What thing?"
[Trying to sleep by force, which I have advised many times, is not the proper way to sleep. Like you think if you suffocate yourself long enough, you'll pass out] A pause. [Not how bodies work.]
Silence.
He adjusts the blanket.
[You're thinking again.] The shadow spoke, its tone more serious and its silhouette now on the ground next to Sky taking the shape of an average man with a medium build.
"Of course I'm thinking." Sky replied, annoyed at the shadow's rambling.
[About what?]
"A lot." Sky replied instantly.
[That's the problem.]
Sky turns to his side Turing the opposite direction of where the shadow was.
[Let me guess… You're replaying today.]
"…Maybe."
[The gate. The people are staring. Skelra's tone.Verrith talking for too long. Tervain nearly exploded from excitement. Are all thing you are giving too much thought about even though you should sleep.]
Sky paused for a second before replying, "You're annoying."
[I'm observant. Like you. Except I admit it.]
Sky groans.
[…You noticed that girl with the burns didn't blink normally, didn't you?]
Sky stays quiet.
[You caught it in less than a second. And the odd one — Gill — the odd delay before he smiled.] The shadow continued.
"…Yes." Sky replied in a flat voice.
[And you then judge them by these things you've seen at random and they soon choose to pretend to be ignorant and try to not let it get to you, blocking your own observation.]
"I'm aware of my unjust judgement of people and my weird change in thought but I just thought… I'm just trying to fit in."
[Since when do you care about that?]
"…Since the kingdom Me and my allies built from the beginning collapsed."
[…]
Sky flips to his back again, staring at the ceiling.
[Hey….You also heard Verrith talking, didn't you?]
"…Yeah." Sky replied to the shadow.
[So why didn't you go help?]
"He seemed… emotional. I didn't want to interrupt."
[You're also emotional. You just hide it better.]
Sky doesn't answer.
[…You know you didn't eat enough today.]
"Not hungry."
[That's not what hunger means.]
Sky slides a hand over his face, exhausted, "Why can't I sleep?"
[Because your brain won't shut up.]
"Then make it."
[I can't. You feed me too much.]
Sky frowns,"Feed you?"
[Yes, you fed me with your suspicion, the details you observed and considered. The guilt you saw in the people you were around and the tingly guilty feeling you feel since you are scared that you can't talk with your allies who you said goodbye to, wondering if that goodbye 25 years ago was really the last. Every thought you don't say out loud, I Hear it, I remember it.]
Sky swallows hard.
[You dissect people into simplified terms and when it's your turn, you look away.]
'Shut up' Sky thought as he requested the shadow to stay quiet.
[No.] The shadow replied coldly.
"I said shut up."
[Then stop thinking.]
"I can't."
[That's exactly the problem.]
— ✦ —
Two hours later, footsteps approached.
Verrith entered quietly, removing his cloak. "Tervain is still talking. Loudly. Very loudly."
Sky didn't open his eyes. "Sounds like him."
Verrith held up the small bottle Skelra had handed earlier, "I'm trusting that man more than I should. But at this point, I'd drink poison if it made me sleep."
Sky mumbled, "Don't say that, Also I can confirm that the small bottle you are holding is one of the only consistent good ways of getting some proper sleep."
Verrith opened the bottle, sniffed it once, exhaled sharply…and drank.
He blinked twice, swayed slightly — and then collapsed onto his bedroll like a felled tree.
"Lucky bastard," Sky muttered.
[Envious?] the Shadow teased.
'Shut up'
Sky continued trying.
An hour passed.
Two hours.
Three.
His thoughts spun, slowed, spun again. His body screamed for rest, but something inside refused to let him fall.
At some point, exhaustion overpowered his body. He drifted off, but only for a short, fragile sleep — no more than an hour and a half.
— ✦ —
Light crept into the hall.
Verrith rose at dawn, stretching.
Sky's eyes opened, stinging.
He felt like a corpse, and he soon sat up, even though his skull felt stuffed with wet sand.
"You didn't sleep," Verrith observed.
"Nah, I did manage a bit."
"I see." Verrith said, a bit concerned at Sky's situation.
Soon Tervain walked over, smiling under his helmet. "You look awful."
"Thanks," Sky muttered.
Soon they moved and they gathered at one of the tables where simple food was served — boiled vegetables, a bit of dried meat, and stale bread.
Rose was already there, sitting unnervingly still, hammer leaning against her seat. She stirred her food as if it were a ritual.
Tervain waved. "Morning, Rose!"
She blinked slowly. "Morning. The food is bland. But survivable."
Merick sat beside her, nervously adjusting his robe sleeves. "I tried to improve the seasoning… sorry."
"It's fine," Sky said. "It's actually better than the food I used to eat during the old kingdom."
Merick perked up a little. "Really?"
"Yeah. Mine tasted like regret and dirt."
Rose snorted softly — the closest thing she had to laughter.
Luminar arrived next, placing the bowls of soup gently. "Eat plenty. You in particular… I mean Sky, you look half-dead."
"I guess I do feel like that," Sky replied.
Luminar looked a bit worried at Sky's attitude but soon enough a figure loomed over Sky, it was Skelra.
He didn't sit.
"Sky."
Sky looked up.
"The leader is calling you."
Sky sighed, stood, stretched his sore neck, and glanced at Tervain and Verrith, "Wish me luck."
"Don't die," Verrith said with bread in his mouth.
"I won't," Sky muttered, following Skelra toward Esther's office.
His shadow whispered as he walked, [Try to stay awake. It'll be bad if you do it in front of her.]
'Shut up before I sleep out of spite.' He thought replying to the shadow with a frown on his face