After having tended to the most injured members of the group, everyone began their way back to the bright castle.
No one spoke a word, and a heavy tension pressed down on everybody present. This fight showed everyone how dangerous the dark city truly was. Here, no human was supposed to survive and the dream realm liked to remind others of this simple fact.
It also made them realize that they had grown slightly complacent over the last month. Just because they were able to hunt enough to feed everyone did not mean that they were in any way on the top of the food chain.
No.
They were at the bottom of the whole thing, desperately clinging to anything that came too close to them and pulling it down.
But that was how humans always were. Every human starts at the very bottom, and only through various hardships and challenges is it that they may climb higher. For this, they needed to pull down as many other beings as needed. Be that nightmare creatures, or even other human beings.
The way to power was not just one dimensional. No. The way only depended on one thing, the conviction of each individual. Dreams and goals were obsolete if one didn't have the strength to take a hold of them.
And this… was what they all were confronted with just now. Some of them were probably not as badly hit with this truth as others, because of their experiences here, but for some, this truth was devastating.
Ray was also hit by this revelation once more, but luckily or not, it was not the first time reality came knocking on his door. And it will definitely not be the last time.
Knowing this, he was able to recover from the shock very soon. Ray glanced around to gauge the reactions of the others. What he saw was desperation, but no matter how downcast the crowd seemed, he could see something else in their eyes… hope.
All these eyes were directed at the single person who had changed the whole perspective of everyone living in the slums. 'Seems like Neph truly has become something like a savior in their eyes… now, the only question remains, will she stay a hero, or will she become the villain?'
Looking around once more, he concentrated on the few people he was closest to, Effie looked okay, as if she had accepted this truth long ago, Caster remained more or less stoic and still focused on Neph, Cass looked really downcast, and Sunny… he seemed nearly disoriented and deep in thought.
What Ray couldn't know, was that Sunny while he was truly deep in thought, it was by no means because of their fight. His mind spiraled around a conversation he had with Cass and Neph a while ago, even before they arrived at the dark city.
'Cass' prophecy… does it show the future? Our future? Then that would mean, the lone star… Neph? A woman with a bronze spear, drowning in a tide of monsters,' Sunny glanced over to where Effie was walking.
All this time he was trying to think of ways to help Neph, in fear of what Gunlaug might do to her, but the prophecy… she wouldn't be killed by him, he would die…
As for the archer also mentioned in the vision, Sunny didn't know yet. No one actually fit the description yet, sure there were archers, but no one could fly.
While thinking all this, he eventually came to the conclusion of what Neph was planning the whole time. She wanted to storm and conquer the crimson spire. But how many lives would that cost.
At this point Sunny's mind was in greater turmoil than even at the beginning. Right now, the only thing he needed was peace to think over everything.
Behind him, Cass' downcast look only deepened, as if knowing what might follow soon.
Eventually the group arrived back at the hill and on top, they were greeted by everyone else, though, the tense atmosphere spoke volumes, and they quickly understood that something must have happened.
Most going back to their respective places to rest for a moment and lay down their stuff. Neph's original home had long grown into the group's main building, with only very few actually living inside, like for example Neph, Cass and Sunny.
Therefore no one batted an eye as Sunny went inside, still with a very moody vibe around him. Even then, he quickly left again, no one knowing where.
As for Ray, he first went back to his place, before planning to return to the others.
On the way back, he was greeted by an unusual sight though, which made him stop in his steps. Looking over he could see Sunny following some gaunt young dude, Ray's flaw kicking in for a very short moment, before it stopped because of some strange resistance.
'That dude… has no future.' Ray had understood more and more about his flaw over the last months. It was weird, truly. It was random what came first, a vision of the future or a memory of the past, but it always switched, one after the other.
And this guy, the last time he met him was a memory, which meant, this time there should have been a vision, only that there was nothing…. Ray could of course be wrong about this, but as strange as his flaw was, it always followed this pattern.
Ray had to make a decision right now, he didn't know what would happen, but something would.
Standing around, he was invited for some games over at the main building, but waved his head in decline, and soon followed after Sunny.
The two were already out of his sight when he began following them, but through asking around a bit, Ray somehow managed to find them. Both sitting inside of a small and quite broken hut.
Stepping as close as possible to listen in, Ray placed his ear close to a crack, on the side away from the street, to not catch any attention from others. Inside, the duo was talking.
"…you know how Lady Nephis received her true name?" asked the other guy.
"Probably the same way I did." Ray heard Sunny answer not in his usual calculated voice.
Ray's eyes widened, already beginning to figure out why the boy had no future.
Then, after a moment of silence, the boy asked, in a slightly joking tone, "Oh! Of course, Lord Sunless! What is your Tru-"
Before the boy could finish his question, Ray activated his ability, using it to rush through the wall and grabbing the guy, immediately putting a hand above his mouth, while looking at him with murderous eyes.
This scene surprised both people present, causing Harper's eyes to widen in fear, while Sunny jumped up and looked on with apprehension, though inwardly he was breathing a sigh of relief.
"R-Ray, what are you doing here?" Sunny stammered still tipped by the alcohol he got served from Harper.
"Saving your ass from doing something very stupid and would probably regret later," Ray spoke with a confident voice, locking eyes with him.
Understanding the look in Ray's eyes, Sunny's eyes involuntarily grew wider and wider. At this moment, one of his biggest fears turned into reality. Someone knew his True Name, meaning Ray could make him his slave at any given moment.
Sunny's mind began to wander, different ideas surfacing and drowning by the second. He knew that no matter what, he had no chance to beat Ray right now. Therefore, escaping sounded like the best choice, but where to?
"Chill, I've known for a while. And just so you know, I'm the only one you could trust unconditionally with that," Ray spoke, his hand still over Harper's mouth.
The boy's face was completely devoid of any color, almost looking like a corpse. Tears began to form in the corners of his eyes, and he cursed his words, as well as the guard who told him to spy on them. Harper began questioning every decision he had ever made in his lifetime.
"Then, what are you going to do with him?"
"What else? He has to be disposed of, obviously," Ray said matter-of-factly, causing Sunny's eyes to widen once more at Ray's seemingly complete absence of any hesitation. "Oh, by the way, Caster, you can come in now, you will need to help."
A few seconds after these words were said, the handsome legacy entered the hut as well, looking at Ray with mild surprise.
Seeing him enter, Ray spoke again, "You were most likely given memories for any circumstances, right?" To answer, Caster just nodded. "Good, then get your biggest storage memory out. We have to dispose of him, as soon as possible."
"But isn't he still alive?" Caster asked, already citing more in his colder personality, which had only once surfaced before.
"That is not a problem right now. We just got to improvise for now, we can always kill him later on."