Shadow Slave

“…and then Belle, that bastard, looks me right in the eye and says — you look like someone who will die first, let’s be friends. Can you believe him?!”

The sounds of laughter filled the private booth as Luster waved his empty glass in the air.

“Because having me around meant that he would not be the first, you see! What kind of messed-up logic is that?!”

He put his glass down and huffed a few times.

Luster was pretty fired up, but his excitement slowly drained away. He stared at the table for a short while, and then said in a much more withdrawn tone:

“Hell. Now I feel kind of guilty for not staying with him until the end. Maybe if I did, he would have really stayed alive.”

Sunny, Jet, Kim, Luster, and Quentin — they were all that remained of the First Irregular Company. The seven cohorts of elite soldiers were reduced to only five people, and since today was Remembrance Day, these people had decided to gather and remember their fallen comrades fondly.

…Or angrily, in Luster’s case.

Kim pushed him lightly.

“No one could have survived that. Only the Captain.”

Jet, who was leaning back in her chair, smiled lazily.

“Hey, I was there as well.”

She shook her head.

“But you’re right. No one could have survived the Winter Beast.”

Jet leaned forward, intending to pour herself another glass. Before she could, however, Quentin hurriedly grabbed the bottle with both hands and did it for her. She gave him a pleasant smile, then raised the glass and gulped the fiery liquid down.

“Aaahh.”

Jet winced.

“I went back to Antarctica after becoming a Saint, you know? I wanted to hunt that cursed thing down. But… no luck. The Winter Beast was nowhere to be found — someone had already killed it.”

She glanced at Sunny and smiled.

“I couldn’t figure out who it was for the longest time, until my memories of this guy were restored.”

A corner of Sunny’s mouth lifted briefly.

He glanced away.

“Indeed. That was the first thing I did — sail across the ocean and hunt down the Winter Beast.”

Luster stared at him with wide eyes.

“But how did you kill that thing, Captain?”

Sunny gave him a deadpan look and shrugged.

“I bit it to death.”

There were a few seconds of silence, and then Luster let out an emotional sigh.

“Ah, it’s so good to have you back, Captain! I mean… boss. I mean, Captain Boss! Boss Captain?”

Sunny gave him a dubious glance and turned to Kim.

“I think he’s had enough.”

Luster shook his head.

“No, you don’t understand — I was like a lost chick without you, Captain! Even if I couldn’t remember, I still felt it. The absence. And then some shady bastard came along and offered me to work for him… oh, but he could never! Ever! Replace the Captain… that insane bastard…”

Kim cleared her throat.

“Yes. I think that he’s had enough.”

She remained silent for a few seconds, and then added:

“But he is right. It is good to have you back, Captain.”

Quentin smiled.

“I’ll drink to that.”

Jet pushed her glass in his direction silently.

“Indeed. You probably don’t know, but I knew him the longest. In fact, I was the government Awakened assigned to monitor him during the First Nightmare. And do you guys want to know what was the first thing he said after coming to his senses?”

Sunny shifted on his chair.

“That, uh… I don’t think they need to hear that particular story…”

Kim raised an eyebrow.

“Why? What did you say, Captain?”

Jet laughed.

“…Your breasts. Those were his first words.”

Kim’s eyes widened.

At the same time, her hand rose to prevent Luster’s head from turning in Jet’s direction.

Not paying it any attention, Luster cried:

“That’s my Captain! I knew we were kindred spirits!”

Sunny sighed and covered his face with a palm.

Jet, meanwhile, grinned.

“And guess what he said next?”

Sunny let out a groan.

‘I think this was a bad idea…’

Sadly, their time together came to an end soon. All of them were incredibly busy — especially on a day like today, when the Shadow Clan was on the move in the shadows of humanity to make sure that the celebration did not end in disaster. Quentin left first, and Kim and Luster soon followed. The latter was a bit drunk, but his Awakened physique was already sobering him up — in an hour or two, he would be back to his usual self.

Only Sunny and Jet were left in the booth, sitting across from each other at the table. Jet stretched and let out a satisfied sigh.

“This was nice. Honestly, I don’t think I had sat down once in the past year — there was simply too much to do. So, this get together was my first break since the Dreamspawn.”

Sunny nodded with a dim expression.

“Yeah. I have seven bodies, and even I feel a bit spent.”

Jet studied him for a short while, a relaxed smile playing on the lips, and then asked:

“How much longer can you stay?”

She knew that remaining in the waking world was not easy for Sunny, so the question had more than one meaning.

He shrugged.

“A while longer. Why?”

Jet considered something for a bit, then emptied her glass and stood up.

“Come with me, then. I have a small surprise for you.”

Sunny raised an eyebrow, but followed her without asking any questions.

They settled the bill, exited the restaurant, and walked toward Jet’s PTV. Soon enough, the PTV was gliding along the streets of NQSC, traveling from one district to another.

Soon enough, the surroundings began to look familiar to Sunny.

“Wait. Isn’t this the way…”

Jet took a turn, passed the tram tracks, and entered a secluded residential district — one where green lawns seemed to cascade down a series of terraces.

It was the terrace district where Sunny had lived once, next to Rain and her adoptive family.

A minute later, the PTV stopped in front of a familiar house. Jet climbed outside, and Sunny followed.

“Jet? What are we doing here?”

He studied the house for a while, then turned to him and smiled.

“Here.”

Jet reached into the pocket of her uniform jacket and produced a set of keys. They glistened in the sunlight and then landed in Sunny’s hand, who stared at them in confusion.

She let out a satisfied sigh.

“You are officially dead, so you can’t really own a domicile. But it wasn’t too difficult to pull some strings, assign you a fake identity, and register the house as yours.”

Jet smiled.

“Happy Remembrance Day, I guess. This is your house once again, Sunny.”

He gripped the keys in his hand.