Shadow Slave | School Days

Orion's piercing gaze scanned across the room as it settled on Nephis, who was currently seated next to Sunny's sleeping form as he paced towards her with a glare riddled in his eyes as he focused on her expression. Nephis met his gaze with equal vigour as the two engaged in a silent staring contest before Orion eventually clicked his tongue and stepped back.

"I've figured it out, you're immortal flames daughter." Immediately, Nephis tensed as Orion let out a loud laugh, placing a hand on his stomach as he keeled over. "Hold on, are you dating Sunless out of pity?" Before Nephis could utter a response, Orion pressed his hand against her mouth, pressing the other one against his lips as he smiled at her sweetly.

"The weak don't get the right to speak." Taking a large step backward, Orion wiped his hand against a cloth as he took another bite of the last remnants of cake, offering Effie a light glare as she was the main culprit of it's disappearance. "Since it's Sunless's birthday today, I'm going to let you all be. Except you Cassie. But tomorrow, I will break you all and punish you for the crime of being weak."

Turning to Cassie, Orion didn't even wait for her to speak as he lifted her off her feet. Suddenly, Kai's gun was aimed directly at his head as he shot him a glare "Where are you taking her?" Instead of replying, Orion grabbed Kai's pistol by the barrel before placing it against his forehead.

"Pull the trigger and you'll never have to find out." A crippling silence settled itself over the two of them as Orion noticed Kai flinch, pulling his head backward, Orion turned around before waving behind his back, Cassie's arms wrapped around his neck firmly to avoid falling.

"Only those who are ready to die should attempt to kill, and only those who possess strength can look me in the eye. You are neither ready to die nor in possession of strength, I will punish you for lacking both."

Pushing open the door, Orion disappeared from the apartment, leaving the rest of them with looks of abject horror on their faces as he disappeared. Landing atop a building, he placed Cassie on the floor next to him gently as he took in the rushing winds and snow that laced his senses. "It looks amazing from up here; unfortunate you can't see it as you are."

Cassie turned her head towards him with a look of confusion riddled across her face as she walked towards him with a look of anticipation. "What do you mean 'as I am' will I be able to gain my vision back? Is that possible?" She gripped onto Orion's shirt as tears flowed from her eyes, Orion smiled slightly at her, wiping her tears from her face as he patted her on the head.

"No, you'll never be able to regain your vision. But if you do as I say you may gain something that makes those who can only see look at you with envy. One should never wish to gain something they cannot have."

A look of confusion only settled itself across Cassie's face as she wiped her tears, she felt the wind rushing past her, lifting her hair into the air as Orion lifted her off her feet once more. Surprisingly, his grip was extremely gentle yet supremely stable, he leapt from building to building with blinding speed without offering her the slightest amount of discomfort.

"Did you know that bats can mimic human vision through echolocation. You see, typically people are unable to hear in nearly as much detail as bats are able to because we aren't designed to be that way. But who cares about design? Why can't we design our own future?"

Orion's voice remained audible over the rushing winds as Cassie felt the two slam down into the ground in an unknown area. Suddenly, the sound of flipping between sheets of paper could be heard as she turned her head toward him. "What are you reading?" Orion moved to wave her off, realising she wouldn't see the gesture sighed and decided to speak instead.

"It's a book that a... friend made on how to fight while blind. She was exactly like you were, yet she was the strongest person I knew." Finally, a satisfied sigh escaped his lips as he landed on the page he was looking for. "This room is sound proofed, and I'm going to play a noise every five minutes. Tell me if you hear it."

Cassie heard a light click as the door was shut behind her as she remained standing in the room for a few moments, the silence was deafening. Her heartbeat became supremely audible as every noise became as loud as a gunshot. Soon enough, she vaguely heard something.

"Sunless has some cute friends, not changing star or that gigantic brute, the blonde one is far more to my liking." A large blush fought its way onto Cassie's face as she closed her eyes once more, despite it being a fruitless effort since she couldn't see, it helped her focus in on the finer details as the same sentence was repeated in quick succession.

Suddenly, the door swung open as Orion paced towards her. Each step seemed infinitely louder than it once had, Cassie was able to even tell the distinction in shoe type between Orion and her as she felt herself swaying backwards. Orion grabbed her by the waist before she could fall before guiding her to the floor.

"If you improve your hearing too quickly in such short time, you'll receive too much information, and it'll make you pass out. But, seeing as you almost passed out, I assume you heard what I said." Cassie could only offer a shaking smile as she gently punched him on the stomach.

"Are you flirting with me?" Shrugging, Orion tapped her gently on the forehead, guiding her to her feet until she was stable enough to stand on her own before smiling. "So what if I am?" Clearing his throat before she could offer a reply, Orion shifted something into the room, it was unmoving yet it's presence undoubtable.

"Firstly, we're going to need you to get used to loud noises. Then, we're going to rebuild you from scratch. Do you know why I'm the most interested in you compared to anyone else in your group?" Cassie raised an eyebrow, poking a finger where he stood before smiling.

"You find me attractive, and you want to go out with me." Orion nodded, knowing she wouldn't see it before smiling. Before he could continue his statement, Cassie cut him off. "I can hear you nodding now." Letting out a mock gasp, Orion laughed before continuing.

"It's because people's souls shine the brightest when they have everything taken away from them. You've suffered a lack of sight, so your growth when you find a better replacement will be explosive."

Now, a curious expression settled itself upon Cassie's face as Orion prepared her for her next round of training. Yet she refused to ask the question partly out of fear and nervousness. 'Why did he sound so sad when he said that?'

--

Soon enough, a day had passed. Cassie's improvements in terms of her echolocation had increased extremely so much so she was now able to walk without aid nor help, the newfound freedom was liberating, a wide smile placed across her face as she got up from bed.

Walking downstairs, she sensed Sunny's light breathing seated on the chair as Nephis's breathing also accompanied it. Nephis currently was running her hand through his hair, her other hand placed directly on his heart as she studied his heartbeat.

From the smell of shampoo and soap, it was clear she had also taken on the duty of bathing Sunny as he slept. Despite appearances, Sunny's body remained extremely active despite his mind being utterly asleep. Nephis had given up on trying to restrain him at night as he sleep fought in his sleep for three hours before returning soundly to bed.

It was quite odd, yet nothing had ever been normal with Sunny and so she didn't quite note it. Meanwhile, Effie was constantly on her phone ever since Mordret had made his appearance, constantly taking photos of herself inconspicuously as a wide smile arrived on her face whenever she saw a notification.

After Orion's arrival the day prior, Kai had thrown himself into training, shooting everything that moved and trying his hardest to improve his physical capabilities. But there was only so much one could do in the span of a day. As all of them united downstairs, their expressions tensed as a knock came from the door.

Sitting Sunny upright, Nephis made her way towards the door only for a wide frown to arrive on her face. Samara was at the door with a gun in her right hand, yet oddly enough it didn't have any bullets. Pushing some hair out of the way of her face she stared at Nephis with a smile too sweet to be honest as she looked past her to see Sunny's sleeping form.

"So that's what lost from light looks like when he's asleep. How cute." Nephis moved forward, her eye twitching as she reached forward to grab Samara by the shoulder only for the cold steel of a pistols barrel to place itself against her shoulder gently. "Don't talk about my boyfriend." Nephis growled, utterly undeterred by the gun placed on her shoulder.

Samara laughed at Nephis's anger before pointing her gun at the floor and pulling the trigger. In a moment, a large hole arrived in the ground where Nephis had once stood as Samara smiled sweetly at her. "You should be careful where you put your hands, you might get hurt city girl."

Turning around, Samara offered a small bow to Nephis as she called in a sing song voice.

"Be there in the colosseum in thirty minutes, boss said it's time for your first nightmare."