It was done.
The Vile Thieving Bird, who had caused Sunny so much pain, was dead.
Finally.
Sunny stood before its corpse, staring at its grotesque form with no particular emotion on his pale face.
But of course, that was only on the surface.
Beneath it all, a storm of thoughts raged in his head. But he steeled himself to ignore it all, to focus on what was happening to his soul, on what was happening to his spirit and his existence as a whole.
His soul seemed to come alive, pulsing with every breath he took. As though it had been lifeless before that moment, an empty husk of a once brilliant thing.
His existence felt firmer by the second.
Grounded, like it hadn't been in a long, long time.
Like he wasn't about to lose himself at any given moment, should he misstep.
Like he was finally beginning to feel whole again, after so long.
Sunny had expected pain, like a power drill turning his brain to mush, or perhaps steel wires tearing up his soul or some other terrible experience
Instead, he felt…
He couldn't describe what exactly it was that he felt.
But he knew what was happening. Instinctively, and intellectually.
With its death, the Vile Thieving Bird's hold on Sunny's fate was no more.
With its death, his fate — the fate of Lost from Light — was finally free.
Free to return to its rightful owner.
If Sunny had been wearing Weaver's mask and had activated the [Where is my eye?] enchantment, he would see it.
See the silvery strings of fate of Lost from Light unfurling itself from the corpse of the Vile Thieving Bird and extending towards him.
See the countless strings reattach themselves to him.
See them touch his soul and spirit, wrapping around him.
Making his soul glow with a new quality, luminous and exuberant.
With each string that reattached itself to him, he could feel himself be bound once more to the broken tapestry, linking with countless other people's fates.
It wove itself back into the fabric of existence, filling in the missing parts of both the past and present.
Reality seemed to ripple and shudder around him, pulsating outwards from where he stood in waves.
The effects of Sunny reclaiming his fate was felt all over the world.
Two worlds, even.
Sunny closed his eyes, breathing in deeply.
He reveled in the sensation of once again becoming a part of the world, of fate, of existence.
And he welcomed the return of the Spell.
Or rather, it welcomed his return in its usual fashion, as though it had been waiting all this time.
Sunny heard the familiar voice of the Spell speak in his mind.
[Welcome back, Lost from Light.
Your treachery truly knows no bounds.
Even Fate cannot bind you to its designs.]
- - -
Some time later, Sunny was looking at a particular set of runes, shimmering and hovering in front of him.
Name: Sunless
True Name: Lost from Light
And further down…
Innate Ability: [Shadow Bond]
Master: Changing Star
Sunny sighed.
He had expected to be filled with all sorts of emotional turmoil.
Perhaps he should've been angry, hateful, resentful.
Bitter.
Instead, he felt… nothing.
He was strangely calm, now that it was done.
He was neither sad nor angry about the bond, and he wasn't whooping with joy either.
He felt at peace with it, a stark contrast to his mentality from so long ago. A lifetime ago.
A pale smile formed on his lips.
'Is this that 'character development' thing people always talk about?'
He didn't know how to feel about that.
A moment passed, then he winced.
'Right… How should I do this?'
He glanced behind him at Nephis.
Her grey eyes were glazed over, as though she was looking at something that wasn't there.
Was she looking at her runes?
Had she noticed the new set of runes beneath her own?
Nephis swayed on her feet, nearly toppling over. She raised a hand to hold her head, as if in pain.
Or was it just confusion?
Pained confusion?
Sunny instinctively reached out to her, sliding one arm gently around her waist, steadying her.
Nephis held onto his arm, blinking and shaking her head, as if to clear a fog from her mind. It took her a moment to realize where she was, and she turned to look at him.
Her expression was one of uncomprehension, brows faintly furrowed, lips slightly downturned.
"Sunny?"
"…Yes, it's me."
He barely managed to get the words out. Sunny found himself suddenly breathless. His nerves were shot, and anxiety welled up in his chest.
What was she thinking?
Was she angry?
Was she disappointed?
Nephis didn't say a word.
Instead, a horrible choking noise escaped her lips, like the sound a dying frog might make, but stifled.
It was possibly one of the worst sounds Sunny had ever heard.
Nephis bent down to lay her head on his shoulder, one arm snaking around his back, holding onto him with a vice-like grip. As though letting go would cause him to shatter and disappear.
There was a broken sob, just audible beside his ear.
Sunny froze.
A cool sensation spread on his tunic.
Barely stifled cries vibrated against his shoulder, reverberating in his chest, his bones.
And there was a stab of pain in his heart, so unlike anything he'd ever felt before.
Nephis… was crying.
The whole-body-shaking kind.
Nephis.
How long had it been since he had last seen her cry?
Not since all the way back in the Forgotten Shore, after they had killed the Carapace Centurion. And even then, it was due to the pain of her Flaw, not overwhelming emotion.
To see Nephis, usually so strong and stoic, untouchable, always unfazed, weep like this…
It broke his heart a little with every ragged sound that left her lips.
Sunny wrapped his arms around her, holding her firmly against him.
To comfort her, ground her.
To let her know that he was here with her.
That she wasn't alone.
And that he wouldn't ever leave.
Never again.
- - -
For years, nearly a decade, she had felt incomplete.
Like a part of her was missing.
It wasn't just her that felt that way. The others did, too. But of all of them, perhaps only Cassie was affected as badly as she was.
It was more than just missing memories, more than a simple sense of loss.
It went deeper, reaching into her soul itself, her spirit.
What was it the Madness of Kanakht had said, back then?
That there were holes everywhere. That it was as if someone had torn out half of her heart and replaced it with fog.
Leaving behind only a half-dead organ, a half-dead spirit, straining to fill in for the missing other.
Her heart, buried beneath layers and layers of deceit, hidden behind invisible walls she had spent decades building up. The armor she wore around her most vulnerable point that no one could see.
Few ever manage to penetrate her defenses, but they existed.
Kai, Effie, Jet… Rain. They were a few examples of that.
Cassie, especially, was someone she held very close to her heart.
And then there was Sunny.
Her lover, her partner, her equal, her other half.
When she first met him, in that little cottage in Bastion, she had felt it, past all the confusion and wariness.
The pull.
Like the hollowness inside of her was reacting to his very presence, reaching for him, yearning for him. And when they were finally connected…
She felt whole.
Complete.
The void in her heart was filled, whenever they were together.
…And emptied again whenever they were separated.
It filled her with frustration.
It filled her with confusion.
It filled her with desperation.
It filled her with—
An indescribable, deafening, excruciating sound shook the world. The air itself trembled, as though the underlying fabric of existence was being ripped apart by the force of the scream alone.
It was the Vile Thieving Bird, shrieking its final wail of defiance, futilely and in vain.
The mind-splitting sound, so loud in her ears, stuttered haltingly and broke off.
And then she was no longer standing in that plain that had been razed by countless battles. The dying abomination and Sunny disappeared from her vision.
Instead, she saw a wall of white mist, a barrier of fog, churning restlessly. Tremors rippled through its vast expanse like rolling waves. Its surface, always shifting and ever-changing, began to shake and tremble, giving her glimpses of what was beyond.
She instinctively reached out to touch it, half expecting her advance to be obstructed. But the fog simply parted before her fingers, allowing her to pass through without resistance.
That single movement began a chain reaction.
She could feel a strong gale whip through the space, and the wall of mist surged and undulated in all directions, scattering and dispersing with each passing moment. Until it was all gone, leaving nothing but what lay beyond.
And what lay beyond was…
Was…
She heard a strangled noise somewhere, like a half-formed word or cry — she couldn't tell — caught in the throat before it could fully manifest.
It took her a moment to realize the sound had come from herself.
She could feel something cool sliding down the planes of her cheeks. Something heavy in her eyes. A thick lump in her throat. Uncontrollable sounds that escaped her lips despite her efforts to squash it all down.
Distantly, she thought she could feel a pair of arms wrapping around her, the warmth of a body pressed against hers.
Sunny.
She knew it was him, instinctively or intellectually, she didn't know, and she didn't care. She tried to focus on his presence, but it was no use.
It was as though someone had wrenched open the floodgates in her, and everything she had been holding back for so, so long, was spilling out all at once, like a tidal wave of enormous proportions.
Unstoppable and devastating.
There were so many emotions warring with one another inside her. So many opposing feelings, surging and clashing all at the same time.
Sadness, because he had left.
Disappointment, because he had not trusted her.
Guilt, because of the price she now knew he had to pay.
Grief, because of the time they had lost.
But above all else, she felt anger, scathing, like a flame ablaze.
Anger that was directed at herself.
For forgetting.
For not being trustworthy enough.
For not being good enough.
For not being enough.
Anger that was directed at Cassie.
For going behind her back.
For not consulting her.
For not telling her.
For leaving her in the dark.
And anger that was directed at the world.
For playing this cruel trick on them.
For… everything.
She thought of Sunny and his desire for freedom, and her anger doubled.
She was angry at herself, for she could not give Sunny what he wanted.
Not then… and not even now.
It had been his one wish — to be free.
To be free from the bond.
To be free from her.
He had wanted it so badly he had abandoned them. He had betrayed the cohort, betrayed her.
And yet.
Yet.
Here he was, years later.
Holding her, as she wept her sorrow into his shoulder.
Choosing her and the cohort.
Giving up his freedom for all of them.
And somehow, knowing that…
Felt worse than being burnt alive.
It filled her with joy.
It filled her with sadness.
It filled her with relief.
It filled her with regret.
It filled her with an exultation so profound it was indistinguishable from agony.
Her entire body trembled with the weight of her emotions, uncontainable and uncontrollable, as she clung onto the man she loved with all her heart.
His arms, wrapped around her, were like anchors grounding her, comforting her, soothing her.
And she held on tighter, afraid that if she let go, he'd disappear like wisps of smoke.
She could not bear it if that happened.
Not again.
Never again.
- - -
There was no need for words, no need to explain.
Because Nephis already knew why Sunny had done what he did. And Sunny knew that she would understand. That she would never hold it against him.
If anything, she'd blame herself instead.
So he held her trembling body close, to show that he was sorry, and to show that she wasn't alone.
A few minutes passed like that.
Eventually, Nephis' heart-rending sobs subsided and she simply breathed. In, and out. After a while, she spoke, softly, barely a whisper.
"…I'm sorry. For what you had to go through."
She paused.
"But I'm happy for you, too. I'm glad that you got to experience freedom."
Sunny remained silent for a while.
"Freedom… It's a nice dream to have. But it's just that, in the end — a dream. True freedom isn't all that wonderful in reality. I found that out the hard way."
He sighed, long and heavy.
'Be careful what you wish for, as they say.'
"But… I would've made the same choice even if I had known the price of it. It's better than never knowing what freedom was really like, you know?"
A ghost of a smile flitted across Nephis' lips. She hugged him closer, burying her face in his neck.
"Yeah."
A pause, and then, in a voice so soft, he almost missed it, "I missed you."
"Me too," he breathed. His voice was a little hoarse. "I missed you, too."
The lump in his throat was heavy with emotion.
"I missed you so much, Neph."
He added, "Which is funny, because I've spent the past four years right by your side. It's odd how this stuff works, isn't it?"
Sunny's breath caught slightly, turning ragged. His vision blurred.
'Ah… Damn it. Don't cry, you idiot.'
Nephis only gripped him tighter, as if telling him that it was okay.
And it was.
He felt amazing. He felt whole, complete, one.
A comfortable silence settled around them. They stayed like that for a long while, holding each other, neither willing to let go.
But eventually, Sunny had to speak up.
"By the way… Please don't be too angry at Cassie."
Nephis shifted.
"I'm not angry at her," she mumbled. To Sunny, it sounded almost like a grumble.
He pulled back slightly to stare at her. She returned his look for a bit, but then she averted her gaze, almost bashfully.
"…Maybe a little."
Sunny chuckled. "Just go easy on her. She feels bad enough about it as is."
Nephis snapped her eyes back to him.
"She knew before this. Remember, I mean."
It was a statement, not a question.
"Is that how she ascended, by defying… you?"
Sunny nodded, feeling a little proud about being deemed significant enough to be the focus of a supreme defiance.
Nephis ruminated on the knowledge for a bit, lips faintly pursed.
"And she told me she just managed to overcome a powerful mind hex…"
He laughed. "Well, she wasn't exactly lying."
"Still…" Nephis huffed, pouting slightly.
'Cute.'
Sunny gave her a quick kiss on the lips and grabbed her hand, grinning at her.
"C'mon. I'm sure Cassie has just about reached her limit dealing with the others by now. Why don't we play hero and go save her?"
Nephis stared at him for a moment, then she smiled. And it was as though the whole world had lit up and all the evil and dark cruelty in it were pushed back and erased by her brilliance, like shadows chased away by candlelight.
A beacon of hope in a sea of darkness.
"Okay."
And he pulled them both into the shadows.