No Return (Shadow Slave Fan-Fic)

In the ensuing silence, the smile slowly disappeared from Cassie's face, replaced by confusion. Feeling the sudden tension, she asked:

"Uh ... what's wrong?"

Sunny sighed.

"No, nothing is wrong. It's just that that direction is the one we wanted to avoid."

After some thought, he added:

"That's where I came from yesterday. There's a lot of scavengers down there."

The blind girl's face fell.

"Oh."

Nephis, who was quietly listening to them, gave him an indecipherable look and finally spoke:

"Tell us more about the castle."

A shadow of the previous excitement returned to Cassie's eyes. With a serious nod, she began describing her vision.

"I dreamt of a vast, ruined city built of weathered stone. It was surrounded by tall, impregnable walls. Various monsters were wandering its narrow streets. In the center of the city, the was a hill, and on that hill stood a magnificent castle."

Levi was listening in the conversation.. He was down in the dumps yes.. but he didn't want to affect the groups mood either. 

She smiled.

"But there were no monsters in the castle! Instead, it was full of people. I think ... no, I'm sure that they were Awakened. Some were guarding the walls, some were going about their lives without a care in the world. There was food, safety, and laughter!"

If this castle really existed, then all of their problems would be solved. Sunny cleared his throat.

"Did you see anything else?"

Cassie frowned, trying to remember. Then, her face cleared.

"Yes! I saw Sunny leading me through the gates of the castle! That means we will make it!"

The way she smiled reminded him of his late younger sister. His sister... was 15 when she had been taken in by the Nightmare spell , and a few months after that he himself was struck by the spell. The loss of his sister had hit him hard... so when he saw that smile his even widened a bit..

Clearing his head from those not-so-distant memories.. he continued listening in the conversation with a calm expression on his face. He had also noticed Cassie said only Sunny and her entered the castle.. but what about Nephis and him?

He turned his head to see Nephis's reaction , and he saw that she was already looking at him.. 

After an awkward staring.. which felt like a contest of who could look away first.. Unfortunately Levi lost.. not because he was uncomfortable.. but because he chose to.

Changing Star, was as enigmatic as ever. Without showing much emotion, she thought for a while, and then slowly nodded.

"Okay. Then we will go west."

***

While the sea was still retreating, they had their breakfast and then spent some time planning for the journey and preparing to abandon the temporary camp. In the process, Sunny and Levi had a chance to get to know the girls a little better.

Levi had caught up to one fact about Nephis.. she was not the person he had assumed her to be..

Nephis seemed to exist a bit apart from the world. She was mysterious, aloof and rather cool. Her taciturn character and strange speech patterns made people interacting with her feel unnerved and rattled, often revealing more than they had been planning to. The less she talked, the more she seemed to know. That silent, indifferent confidence was arresting, and sometimes even oppressive.

However, that impression turned out to be completely wrong!

The actual truth behind the matter had nothing to do with being cool and aloof. After talking to her a bit more and observing their interactions with Cassie - Nephis was simply an incredibly, ridiculously ... painfully awkward person.

It was as though she had no idea how to talk to people. Every time she tried to convey something, she would either use the wrong words or stumble in the middle of the sentence and fall silent. Her tone never matched what she was trying to say. Often, she would forget to put correct intonations in her speech, making questions sound like statements or vice versa.

Added to that was the fact that, like many introverted people, Nephis was not in a habit of openly showing her emotions. It's not that she didn't have feelings: it's just that she was really bad at emoting them! As a result, her face always looked cold and neutral.

That's why, most of the time, she simply chose to talk as little as possible or not to talk at all.

All of that added up together, then multiplied by her general weirdness, was ultimately responsible for creating the false image of a mysterious, unapproachable ice princess.

When in fact, she was completely inept in communicating with people!

Levi also noticed that Sunless was staring at Nephis with wide eyes..

'What's that weirdo doing..'

At that moment, Nephis finally noticed that Sunny was staring at her. She looked at him and, after a long pause, asked in an emotionless tone:

"...What?"

"Uh, nothing. I was just going to ask when are we setting off."

Nephis appeared to be thinking. After a while, she turned away and said:

"Soon."

"Ah. Alright then."

***

In the grey light of morning, they abandoned the tall hill and ventured west, retracing their steps from yesterday. Knowing the path, the small party made quick progress.

Nephis was walking in front, her sword arm ready to strike at any moment. Sunless was walking next to her. And Levi was walking behind them closely while carrying Cassie on his back. 

He still hadn't gotten over that painfully familiar smile. This group.. was interesting... Master Jet had said no one could survive in the Dream Realm alone.. would these people be his partners for life..?

Levi's mind was not in a very good state after yesterday's restless night.. He was slowly losing his humanity.. and he was desperately trying to cling onto it.. and this resulted in him seeking human connection..

He looked forward.. Sunless and Nephis.. they kind of looked like light and darkness.. his mind finally drifted from those depressive thoughts..

'What a peculiar pair..'

A smirk appeared in his lips.. 

The person ... creature ?.. leading them was his shadow. It scouted ahead, carefully observing the labyrinth for signs of danger.

The labyrinth was just as it was before, confusing and seemingly endless. Crimson blades of "coral" protruded from the black mud, creating a vast, tangled forest. However, today something about it felt different.