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I'm not destined for romance, she always told herself. And he clearly likes Neph, anyways.
Yet he never escaped her mind.
Her visions didn't help either—most featured him in one way or another. Almost as if he was the main character of a story.
Most would think Nephis to fit that role—he was just a tertiary member of Changing Star's cohort, after all—but no, Cassie knew better.
Sunny was something else entirely.
She had noticed him first, before anyone else.
Her affinity to fate played a huge part—but she liked to tell herself that it was instinct too. A natural attraction, perhaps.
If she could see, she would call it love at first sight.
Fate bent—no, it revolved around him. It was as though he was the center of the world. Not to mention he was marked by divinity—whatever that meant.
How could she not be intrigued?
He was strange apart from his attributes too. There were a lot of rumors going around. That he was a pervert, that he spoke nothing but lies, and that he was a beggar for attention.
She knew none of those were true. The Sunny from her visions was nothing like that.
She saw a boy inscribing the names of his dead parents on a tree.
She saw a boy celebrating his birthday alone.
She saw a boy, desperately climbing a freezing mountain, clinging to life even when he had nothing to live for.
What a boy he was.
Yet she never spoke to him.
Not once in the month they shared the same table.
What would she even say?
What did a blind girl destined to die have to say anyways?
So she just watched.
Oh the irony.
Winter Solstice came.
The day of reckoning.
The day she had been dreading.
There was one thing to look forward to, though. She heard him approach the table. Their table.
She could recognise his footsteps anywhere.
And then for the first time ever, mustering up her strength, she spoke.
"Happy Birthday."
It was perhaps also the last time she would speak to him.
She wasn't sure, surprisingly. Fate had been eerily quiet about the horrors she would face in the Dream Realm.
All she knew, was that there would be darkness.
It scared her.
She had wept that day. Let the tears fall after months of holding them in.
She had broken down as she climbed into the pod meant to whisk her away to her death.
In the end, she was just a weak, blind girl.
Nephis had saved her life.
She would have been dead on the very first day—hungry and naked. But the silver-haired girl had saved her.
Truth be told, Cassie had envied her.
Oh, she had envied her so much.
Legacy of the Immortal Flame Clan, with the True Name, Changing Star, Nephis was everything she had dreamed of being. Powerful, capable, popular.
But Fate had its ways. And Cassie was none of those.
Even so, her gratitude for Nephis far surpassed any other emotion she felt.
She dared to hope again.
He was here.
Of course, he was here.
Fate had decreed it so. Brought them together again.
A very different side of him was on display, now that they were in the Dream Realm. A side she had previously only witnessed in her visions.
He was strong, and he was funny.
He was also ruthless.
She remembered it so vividly. They'd thought her to be asleep. And she was... but she always learnt more when asleep than when awake, anyways—courtesy of her prophetic dreams.
Sunny had asked Neph.
"Why are you burdening yourself with her?"
"Why? Wouldn't you?"
"No."
It had stung. It had hurt more than she wanted to admit.
But she understood. Of course, he wouldn't.
Why would he?
He'd proven himself wrong within just two months.
Those two months were some of the best in her life.
Despite the horrors of the Dream Realm, despite the torturous terrain and terrifying creatures... she had been with two people she'd come to love deeply. She had treasured that time.
Because she knew it was bound to end.
Her visions were not kind. They spoke of a dark future. A future where no matter what, she would lose what was dear to her.
So she tried to enjoy the time they had.
They had grown closer. A lot closer.
The kind of intimacy that is only formed through shared suffering. That only made it all the more painful when she recognised what her place in their dynamic was.
She was the burden.
She was the third-wheel.
She had come to accept that, and yet, she couldn't help be a little greedy.
She would sit just a little closer to him than necessary, touch him just a bit longer than required, and speak just a little sweeter than a friend would.
It made her heart ache.
Those were her two best friends, and she loved them both.
But she loved one of them more.
The three of them reached the Dark City, full of joy, only to get their hopes brutally crushed.
She should have seen it coming. The Dream Realm was unforgiving, after all.
Her visions had started making sense.
The Bright Castle and its Lord. The huntress and the archer. The seven heads sealing the darkness.
The angel and the shadow.
The knowledge was a burden, and it was hers to bear, alone. No matter how much despair it caused her.
Because she was going to have to betray one of them. The angel or the shadow.
Neph, the one who had saved her, given her hope, had been by her side when no one else was.
Or Sunny, who took care of her, who talked to her late into the night when her nightmares wouldn't let her sleep, who told her jokes when she was sad, who gave her silly gifts made from whatever he found in that hellish landscape.
Who had saved her.
From that abominable tree, from that leviathan in the depths, and from her own mind.
Cassie loved Neph, yes, but she was in love with Sunny.
Lost From Light.
That was his name, his True Name.
Of course, he had a True Name. It was Sunny, it made sense.
Then, she realised what it entailed.
His name held power. Not to him, but to anyone who knew it.
It was a sickening realisation. One that filled her with innumerable emotions.
She was a weak, blind girl, yes, but now she held so much power.
Power she didn't know what to do with.
The three of them were drifting apart. For different reasons and in different ways.
Neph had grown absorbed in her goal, with a single-minded and nearly destructive focus.
Sunny was behind her, as always, in the shadow of the radiant star he couldn't understand.
And Cassie... there was an impenetrable wall separating her from them. A wall of made of the knowledge only she possessed.
She forced herself to rationalize. Her feelings weren't important.
I'm not destined for romance. And Sunny clearly likes Neph, anyways.
She had resolved herself.
Fate was making her choose.
And so she would.
She would choose Neph.
Because she saved me first.
Because she was my first friend.
Because Sunny will leave us... leave me.
Because he doesn't love me back.
But when he entered the room and called out her name, her resolve faded.
She heard his footsteps, his breathing, as he approached her, and her steadfastness simply crumbled.
"Oh, hey Cas, Do you want something?"
She almost broke down right then and there.
Whatever walls she had built, whatever reasons she had used to justify her decision, whatever lies she had told herself—they all bled out of her.
"N-no, nothing in particular," she replied, her voice wavering.
Liar.
He was silent, waiting for her to continue.
She couldn't do this anymore. She couldn't lie. Not to him.
"Actually, Sunny, I... I need to tell you something."
She heard his breath catch.
Was she really doing this?
"Could you close the door?"
She heard him walk and the door shut close. She gestured for him to come closer.
He obliged.
This was it.
She was about to make a decision that would change everything. In ways she didn't know.
For once, she felt truly blind.
She spoke:
"Sunny... I... I know your True Name."
She felt his fingers wrap around her neck as he slammed her against the wall.
She bit her lip, making no sound despite the pain.
"What did you say?!"
His voice was dark, and filled with venom.
"What did you just say, Cass?!"
She felt his grip around her neck tighten.
Small tears pricked at the corner of her eyes as she choked, "I... I saw a vision... Harper and you... and your True Name…"
She had done it.
Despite his hand around her neck, holding her in a deathly grip, she felt free. As though a burden was lifted off her shoulders.
She heard him summon a Memory in his other hand.
If she died now, it would be knowing she didn't betray her love.
She would die blind, but not weak, for she had possessed power in her last moments.
But she didn't die.
Sunny raised his sword, and thrust it forward.
…into the wall beside her head.
"Goddammit, Cass…"
His voice was small.
Her heart was torn between sorrow and elation. Because he hadn't killed her.
That had to mean something. That she meant something to him. It awakened something within her.
"Why… why did you have to see that? I just want to be fucking free, is that too much to ask?!" He said, his voice broken, hoarse and filled with anger.
It hurt to see him like this, knowing that she had caused it. Even if it was better than the alternative.
"I… I'm sorry, Sunny," she said, tears now flowing freely out of her empty eyes.
She felt both his hands grab her collar, his sword disappearing, as he leaned closer.
"What should I do now, Cass? Tell me! You see everything—know everything, don't you? So tell me, what am I supposed to fucking do?!"
She could feel his breath on her face.
He was so close.
She raised her hands to grab his face gently.
He was so warm.
She leaned forward and kissed him.
She pulled back after a few seconds, the taste of his lips lingering on hers.
He was silent—too stunned to react.
Why did I do that?
Because she wanted to.
She didn't want to be a slave to her destiny anymore.
She would make her own path. She was done letting her visions—letting Fate—control her.
So, she mustered up her strength, and spoke:
"I love you, Sunny."
Her hands slid down from his face to rest on his chest. She took a deep breath.
"You need to leave, Sunny. You will, today, I've seen it. When you understand what Neph is doing, who she is, you will leave," she told him. "Fate forced me to choose between you two. I chose you."
She could feel his heart beat faster, his breath rapid and ragged.
"W-what are you talking about, Cass?" he asked shakily, eyes filled with pain, frustration and a hundred other emotions.
She transferred the Endless Spring Memory over to him, and steeled her heart.
"You'll understand… you'll understand by tonight. And you'll be gone by tomorrow. So this is farewell for now," she said, her voice quivering slightly. "Just… just know that I chose you… and trust me. Please. I'll—I'll make sure everything works out."
With that, her heart heavy and face covered in tears, she opened the door and walked out of the room, leaving Sunny wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
He left that same night. Just like she knew he would.
The next few months were torturous. Neph was relentless in her mission. Cassie worked alongside her, day in and day out.
And at night, she dreamt of him—Sunny. It only strengthened her resolve.
She would make sure they lived, that they escaped the Dream Realm—without Sunny losing his freedom, and without the deaths of neither him nor Neph.
So she planned.
She shared her plans with him when they met again.
It was awkward—he had no idea how to behave around her after what happened last time.
She found it cute.
Neph had brought him in for the journey to the Hollow Mountains. It would take months—meaning months where she could be with Sunny again. She didn't waste even a second.
At first, it was just two friends reconnecting after months of no contact—what it seemed like to others, that is. When no one was looking, she would tell him of her visions. Of Neph's plans. Of the truth about Caster.
She would also tell him of her childhood, of her home, and of her hopes and dreams. Soon, he begun doing the same.
Over time, it grew into more. She had planned for it, after all.
They sat closer each day.
They fought side by side every hour.
He washed the blood and grime from her hair, and she wiped his armor and face clean after every battle.
He picked bits of food off her lips when she asked, her giggles making her true intentions obvious.
She offered her lap when he wanted to rest—and suddenly he began wanting to rest far more often.
She enjoyed those moments to the fullest. Because once again, she knew it wouldn't last.
For she had one plan she hadn't even told Sunny about.
The siege was brutal. Sleepers dying everywhere—comrades she had lived and laughed with—slaughtered by hordes of nightmare creatures.
She did what she could, her Echoes working under her will to help wherever possible. But what lay ahead was even worse.
Sunny had entered the Spire to seal the Dark Sea, and Neph had gone to fight the Crimson Terror.
The Siege soon came to an end, Effie and Kai rallying the survivors. Caster was nowhere to be seen.
Sunny led them to the Gateway, his Shadow Sense finding a path through the collapsing ruins. One by one, the Sleepers escaped, until it was only her remaining, Sunny by her side.
"I have to go and deal with them," he said, his voice low.
Caster and Nephis.
"I know—"
He captured her lips in a kiss.
Warmth pooled in her stomach.
He broke away, both of them breathless, and then said, "I'll see you soon, Cass."
I know.
She returned to the waking world, her core Awakened, with a new Aspect Ability and a True Name.
Song of the Fallen.
But it wasn't for long.
Soon after waking up, without even getting out of her pod, she summoned a Memory.
It was a simple charm, with only one enchantment.
It could put its target to sleep.
Cassie used it on herself.
She returned to the Dream Realm—to the hell she had fought so hard to escape—because there was something left to do.
She appeared at the Gateway, inside the crumbling Spire, and saw the scene before her with her Awakened Ability.
Neph sat on the ground, bloodied and bruised.
Sunny stood in front of her, his face contorted with a multitude of emotions.
Both froze when she appeared.
They turned to her with wide eyes.
She smiled, and summoned her Echoes.
The two grasped what she was doing—but their protests were useless—they were tired and weakened, while she was Awakened.
Her Echoes lifted them and carried them to the Gateway. She had to be fast, since the Gateway wouldn't last.
Nephis went first, her face filled with anguish and screams of protest tearing from her throat.
Then…
Sunny didn't scream.
He was silent, his eyes filled with pain. He knew her—he knew she had made up her mind.
"Please… Cass…" His voice was weak.
"Shh… It's okay, I told you I'll make sure everything works out," she said with a sad smile.
"I love you, Cass. Please… I love you, don't do this…"
Her heart ached.
Her Echo placed him onto the Gateway.
"I love you too, Sunny, and that's why I have to do this."
His eyes grew desperate as his body started fading.
"Promise me, you'll return! Promise me, Cassie—you have to come back!"
Her throat tightened.
"I… I promise you, Sunny. I promise I will return to you, so wait for me."
He disappeared from the Dream Realm, the gateway shattering immediately after, leaving her alone in the falling spire.
She smiled. She meant to keep that promise. No matter what.
She would return to him—to the boy she loved.
THE END.