Shadow Slave

Sunny did not know how many revolutions it had taken him to become aware of the loop. However, he knew that around two months had passed since he did - that was how much longer it had taken for Cassie to join him in knowing the truth.

Standing on the deck of the Chain Breaker, Sunny stared at the blind girl intensely. He was feeling a strange mix of emotions... relief and gratitude, to start with. He was incredibly elated at the thought of sharing the burden of escaping Wind Flower with someone, especially someone as resourceful and steady as Cassie.

But at the same time, there was a note of unease in his heart.

How exactly had she come to know about the loop? And why?

For him... it was because of the Sin of Solace.

Sunny remained silent for a few moments, then suddenly took a step forward and asked, his voice grim:

”You see him too, don’t you? Admit it. I know you do.”

The blind girl tilted her head a little, an expression of confusion appearing on her face.

”See... who? I don’t understand.”

Sunny hesitated for a moment.

Was she telling the truth? Or was she only pretending to be oblivious to the Sin of Solace?

If it was the latter... he had to give Cassie and her acting skills credit. She would be a much better liar than he had ever suspected her to be, if that was the truth.

But why would she hide it? To spare them both the embarrassment, perhaps... gods knew, Sunny would not want anyone to hear the things his inner demon whispered into his ears every day.

If so, it would make sense how Cassie had learned about the loop, and why it had taken her longer to become aware of it. She could only perceive the Sin of Solace by using her Ascended Ability on Sunny, after all, and would thus be far less susceptible to the wraith’s influence.

However, it was not necessarily the case that she could see and hear the hateful apparition. In fact, it was far more likely that Cassie was telling the truth - the Sin of Solace only existed in Sunny’s mind, and was therefore unlikely to be seen by her while sharing his senses.

She could have simply become aware of the loop because of her unrivaled affinity to fate and revelations. The blind girl had always been able to feel and perceive things that none of them could... it was not outside the realm of possibility that she would slowly learn to sense the twisted nature of time on Wind Flower by herself.

Cassie could have been sincerely confused by his question. Sunny simply did not know.

He frowned a little.

”The Sin of Solace... the sword wraith that follows me around. You can’t see him?”

Cassie looked at him silently for a few moments, then smiled faintly.

”How can I see him? I’m blind.”

She pointed to her beautiful blue eyes, making Sunny cough in embarrassment.

”No, that’s not what I meant... what I meant was... ah, forget it!”

Did it really matter if Cassie could perceive the Sin of Solace or not? Sunny would prefer it if she couldn’t, but if she could and was willing to pretend otherwise... that was fine, as well.

It was not like Cassie had not been pretending to not know various things ever since becoming an Awakened. Her Aspect and Abilities not only allowed her to learn secrets, but also gave her no choice but to learn them. To spare herself and the people to whom those secrets belonged a lot of embarrassment, she probably kept quiet about such things.

At least that was what Sunny thought.

He grimaced, remained silent for a while, and then smiled tentatively.

”Well... anyway. You really remember? That is great news!”

Indeed, it was. At first, Sunny had only considered his mental state, and how sharing the burden with another person would alleviate his fatigue and loneliness.

But really, the benefit was so much greater than that.

With two members of the cohort being able to carry the knowledge of the previous revolutions into the future ones, the range of things they could achieve would double. Everything that Sunny had been doing alone would be done faster, and solutions he had not dared to try would not be nearly as daunting anymore.

More than that, Sunny and Cassie did not need to pursue all these goals together. They could split up and tackle different tasks simultaneously, thus accelerating the entire escape to a great degree.

Of course, he needed to consider his plans carefully. There were things that Cassie could potentially achieve on her own, and things that she would never be able to do without his help. He would have to teach her everything he had come to know, as well... even though the blind girl had become aware of the loop, the current revolution was only her second one.

Sunny, however, had been accumulating knowledge of Wind Flower over more than sixty revolutions. She had to benefit from the groundwork he had laid before becoming a true ally to him in this timeless hell.

’Yes... I’ll have to teach her about the island and the abominations populating it first.’

Cassie, meanwhile, turned to face the mist. The soft lines of her delicate face twisted slightly, expressing her doubts and anxiety.

”Yes... I do remember. But it seems so odd. Like a strange dream.”

She lowered her head.

”That Hollow Butterfly... the caverns... the dark forest. And Effie! I can’t believe that Effie is...”

It was at that moment that both Cassie and Sunny were suddenly interrupted.

Looking at them in utter confusion, Nephis raised an eyebrow.

”What... are you two talking about?”

She frowned.

”What does Cassie remember, and why is remembering something so important? Caverns, forests, and butterflies? What does it mean? And what is it about Effie?”

The two of them turned to her, surprised. Sunny was suddenly very guilty about forgetting Neph in all the commotion.

’So... I’ll have to explain everything again, I guess...’

But then, he suddenly had a thought. The questions were addressed at both of them... so, his Flaw was not compelling him to answer.

Looking down, Sunny patted Cassie on the shoulder and smiled.

”You take this one, Cas. I’ll go rescue Jet.”

Before the blind girl could even answer, he already mounted Nightmare and disappeared into the mist.

’Ha!’

It was good to have an assistant.