"A boat? What do you mean, a boat?" Sunny asked, his voice laced with confusion. He looked at Maya like she had just spoken in an entirely foreign language.
Technically, it wasn't Maya who had come up with this plan. It was originally Changing Star's idea, but there was no time to explain that to Sunny. So, she simply took credit for it.
"You know… a boat," she said, her tone both dry and sarcastic. "It's a vessel, can carry people," she made a mocking wave with her arm, as if trying to imitate a boat floating on water, "floats on water. Like this. That boat."
Sunny just stared at her, utterly dumbfounded. Apparently, he was struggling to comprehend how Maya could joke at a time like this— when his two precious friends were being devoured by an ancient fiend.
Come to think of it, Maya herself was a little surprised at her response.
It's that damn Cade… she thought, cutting a glare at her companion out of the corner of her eye. He's rubbing off on me.
However, she was pulled from her wandering thoughts by Sunny's incredulous voice.
"Are you crazy?! How can you joke about this? Of course, I know what a boat is! My question was… why a boat?"
Maya sighed, realizing she might have taken the sarcasm a little too far. She waved a dismissive hand.
"Right, my bad. Won't happen again," she said. "Anyway, you want to know why a boat, right? Tell me, Sunny… how do you feel? Compared to earlier, I mean?"
Sunny frowned, clearly thrown off by the seemingly unrelated question. But after a moment, he answered— probably because the pressure of his Flaw was pushing him to.
"Much better. I don't feel like my mind is constantly being assaulted…"
However, even as he spoke, he stood up and turned toward the Ashen Barrow. His gaze lingered on the monstrous tree in the distance, and Maya could see the gears turning in his mind.
Good. He figured it out himself. That would save them time.
He looked back at Maya and said, "The Soul Devourer's enthrallment grows weaker with distance. That's why it wanted to keep us there. Hence, the fruits, the forgetfulness, its benevolent and kind nature…"
His eyes widened slightly as if struck by a sudden epiphany. "So all we have to do is get the two of them away from that damned tree. What're you waiting for, then? Let's go get them!"
Mmm… not as smart as I thought, but still an upgrade over the dumbass I've been working with…
Maya sighed and gestured for him to sit back down. He did, though reluctantly. The impatience was clear in his expression— his frustration at being delayed when Cassie and Nephis were still in danger. Understandable. Expected, even.
"I'm afraid that's only a short-term solution," she said. "Even if you get them away right now, even if they break free of the enthrallment, there's no telling what this place holds. Trust me. Cade and I have met our fair share of horrors, and we've come to know that this place has no shortage of them."
She paused, letting her words settle. "Even if you escape the Soul Devourer, you'll surely fall prey to a much stronger abomination somewhere down the line. And Cade and I won't be able to swoop in and save you every time."
Another pause. This time, Cade picked up where she left off.
"Your best bet is to build a boat, use Cassie's staff to fill the sail with wind, and sail over the Dark Sea to the west— where the Castle is."
"So, there is a Citadel in the west? Thank the Gods!" Sunny sighed in relief.
Cade and Maya exchanged a glance. For a moment, Maya considered telling him the truth— but then Cade gave her a nearly imperceptible shake of his head. Let him find out with the rest of the cohort.
"Yeah, sure..." Cade said smoothly. "In any case, sailing over the Dark Sea is your best choice."
Sunny narrowed his eyes. "You do know what's in the Dark Sea, right?"
Cade scoffed and turned to Maya. "I don't know, Veil. Do we?"
Maya crossed her arms and smirked. "I think we know a little too well."
Sunny's gaze darted between them, suspicion sharpening his features. "Veil? Who's Veil?"
Maya casually pointed at herself. "I am. It's my True Name— Veil of Ashes."
Sunny stared at her, his mouth slightly agape, shock clear on his face. "You... you have a True Name? But you're just a Sleeper!"
Maya smirked. "So are you, bastard..."
That was enough to send him shooting to his feet. His glare shifted to Cade, betrayal written all over his face. He opened his mouth, but for a moment, nothing came out. Then, finally, his voice thundered.
"You... you told her! You son of a bitch! You said I could trust you!"
Cade held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Look, Sunny. Remember how I couldn't explain how I knew your True Name, or how I knew so many things about you. For the same inexplicable reasons, she knows too. I didn't tell her a thing. I swear. She's just like me. That's the reason I teamed up with her in the first place."
Maya stepped forward and placed a hand on Sunny's shoulder, her voice softer than usual. "I'm sorry we can't explain things properly, Sunny. But I want you to know that you can trust me too— just like you chose to trust Cade."
Sunny seemed to blush a little, but he quickly threw it off. He shrugged off Maya's hand and gritted his teeth, tension clear in his expression. Then, with a sharp exhale, he dropped back onto the ground, glaring daggers at Cade. "Damnation! And here I thought one of you was annoying. Now there are two. Great! Just great!"
Still grumbling under his breath, he shook his head vigorously, as if trying to clear it. Then, his expression turned serious again. "Alright, we'll work this out later. Let's focus on getting those two out of there first. So, I'll ask again: why a boat?"
Maya nodded, and said, "Good decision. Alright. So, a boat. With the help of a boat, you'll be able to travel much farther than you have until now. And that too in a single night."
"How much farther are we talking?" Sunny asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Well, I don't know the exact figures," Maya said, "but I can assure you that you'll reach the Castle within the night, if you manage to make a boat, and sail it across the crater."
Sunny's eyes widened visibly. "The Castle...?" he muttered. However, his mood suddenly turned grim.
He sighed and said, "That's only if we survive the journey through the Dark Sea. Judging by your tone, you two have probably survived an adventure through the Dark Sea. But we might not be so lucky."
Maya leaned forward and said in a serious tone, "I'm sorry to break it to you Sunny, but you don't really have a choice. Either you have to brave the Dark Sea, or you have to wait and die at the hands of some abomination here. But chances are, you might actually survive the Dark Sea. Staying here, on the other hand, is a death sentence."
Sunny gritted his teeth audibly, probably cursing his fate. After a moment, he spoke. "Okay. But how? I don't know how to build a boat. Do either of you?"
Cade shook his head. "No, we don't. But fortunately, someone does— Changing Star. She knows how to build a boat. You'll have to use the remains of the Carapace Demon you killed, along with her rope Memory. All that's left is convincing her to help you."
Sunny muttered something under his breath, his expression darkening. "Bastard... how do you know we killed that Demon? Just how long have you been following us?"
Maya's breath caught. How were they supposed to explain that they had been watching, helpless, as he and the others slowly succumbed to the Soul Devourer's influence— for over a month?
Before she could find an answer, Sunny spoke again, his voice sharper. "And how the hell did you two get so close to that thing without getting enthralled?"
Cade answered before Maya could. "That one's easy. Maya has an Attribute that makes her immune to all kinds of mind attacks. And this Memory—" he tapped the obsidian crown resting on his head, "— is an Awakened one of the Fifth Tier. It provides a decent amount of resistance against mind-attacks. I can also augment Memories, so it's protected me from the Soul Devourer's enthrallment."
If Sunny was surprised, he didn't show it. His gaze remained locked onto Cade as he pressed on. "And the first one? How long have you been tailing us?"
Cade hesitated, then finally admitted, "Since day one. I've been following you since the day of the winter solstice."
Sunny clenched his jaw, and looked at Cade with murder in his eyes. "So, you've been here watching? As we slowly lost our minds to that abomination for over a month?"
Cade stared at the ground, seemingly unable to meet Sunny's eye. "Yeah, pretty much..."
Sunny was visibly struggling to hold himself back. He seemed to want to kill Cade right here, on the spot. But he controlled himself, and exhaled deeply.
After a while, he glared at Cade and said, "You really are a heartless maniac, aren't you? You didn't even step up to help Cassie. I actually thought that after spending so much time with her, you really cared about her. But I guess you had me fooled. In the end, she was just that... a distraction for your days at the Academy. Of course, why did I think it'd have been any different?"
Cade gritted his teeth, the grinding audible in Maya's ears.
Sunny scoffed. "Well, I can't really blame you. I guess that heartless nature of yours is why you're still alive. And here I thought I was a coward. But even I couldn't have watched a bunch of Sleepers slowly lose their minds and die— at least that's what I think. Especially if I had the strength and resources to save them."
Cade looked up at Sunny. His eyes were like literal slivers of the void. The sight of them sent shivers down Maya's spine. She'd never seen him in this light... or rather, this darkness. He opened his mouth, and hissed, "Choose your words more carefully, Sunless. As I've told you before, that honest tongue of yours might very well be your undoing."
Sunny seemed to understand that he'd struck a nerve. But he was one stubborn bastard himself. He didn't continue to reprimand Cade, but asked, "So, why'd you do it, huh? You left us there for an entire month, but now, you're here to play the hero? Why the sudden change of heart?"
Cade's gaze turned a little less cold, though his eyes still remained a complete abyssal black. "I had my reasons. Reasons which I don't see fit to tell you."
Sunny glared at him. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Cade shrugged, and smiled a little. It wasn't the familiar smile he always carried, but it was much better than that dark look he'd given Sunny.
"Simply put, I won't tell you the reasons behind my actions," Cade said. "At least, not yet. But when I do, I can assure you that you'll understand. Right now, I can only offer you an apology. So, I'm sorry. My actions and decisions were a little misguided, yes, but I never wanted to cause the three of you any harm."
Sunny scoffed again, but his mood seemed lighten a little. "That's rich, coming from a guy who literally left us for the dead."
Sunny, then turned to Maya. His voice was edged with contempt as he spoke to her. "And you? I don't remember seeing you at the Academy. How the hell did you know you'd end up here— with your friend, no less?"
Maya scoffed, though tension coiled in her body. "Friend? Please... I didn't even know this guy existed until he attacked you, and you mentioned him during your conversation on the mound. By the way, I eavesdropped there. Sorry."
Sunny's eyes widened. "You... you were there? On the coral mound?"
"Yeah. I'd been keeping an eye on you when this idiot decided to attack," Maya said, tilting her head toward Cade. "But I had no idea who he was, so I listened in on what you all thought about him. That gave me an idea, and eventually, I revealed myself to him."
Sunny's expression darkened. "How is that even possible? He says you're just like him, but you didn't even know each other before meeting in the Dream Realm? And why the hell did you two decide to team up? You'd both been tailing us before meeting each other, but you never tried to join us. How come? But you teamed up with each other? Why?" His voice grew sharp, his frustration boiling over. "Just what the hell are you two? And what are you scheming?"
Maya grimaced slightly. This is exactly what I dreaded. Questions, questions, questions... there's no end to them. How the hell are we supposed to explain that we're from a different world? That's why we teamed up?
Before she could say anything, Cade spoke.
"Look, Sunny, I know you're curious. Suspicious, even. Anybody would be. And with how paranoid you already are, I can't blame you for asking these questions. We'll also explain ourselves in due time. But right now, we can't afford to dawdle."
His voice was firm, unwavering. "All you need to know is that Maya and I are a team, and at this moment, we're helping you escape from a harrowing Nightmare Creature. If you don't trust us, so be it; I won't try to force you. You can dig into our secrets and motives later. But right now, lives are at stake. Your friends' lives. Cassie's life. Nephis's life."
Sunny gritted his teeth and nodded. "Alright, bastard. But you'd better not try to pull something..."
He took a deep breath. "Alright. So, how do I do this? Say, I convince Neph to build a boat. But she still won't come with me. She's still under that monstrosity's influence. I could take Cassie with me by force, but Neph will kill me if I try to pull something under her nose."
Cade nodded, then glanced at Maya before saying, "I have an idea, but I don't know if it'll work."
Sunny groaned, exasperated. "Get on with it, bastard! Do you have to take a dramatic pause for everything?"
Cade looked down sheepishly, a hint of embarrassment crossing his face.
Maya shook her head. This guy...
Then, she turned to Sunny and said, "Here's what you're gonna do..."
After she finished, Sunny turned to Cade, his expression sharp. "You really got some nerve, asshole. Thinking something like that will work against the enthrallment of that monstrosity. And after what you did..."
Cade scoffed. "Well, it's the best we've got. If you've got a better idea, I'm all ears!" His voice was edged with irritation, almost defensive.
Sunny smirked. "I do, actually… and it's crazy that you two lunatics didn't think of it first."
Maya and Cade exchanged a glance before turning back to him. In perfect unison, they said, "Do tell."
Sunny turned his gaze toward the Ashen Barrow, his expression twisting into a grimace. "I'm usually not the type to handle things this way... but I just hate that thing so much."
Then, he looked back at them, a devious smile creeping onto his face.
"So, why don't we stop beating around the bush and just kill it?!"
____________________________________
Well, now that exams are over, I decided to hit the gym today. Mind you, I haven't exercised at all for like, two years straight. (No, I'm not fat. Please don't bully me) So, right now, my entire body feels like it's falling apart. I honestly didn't even the strength to update today. But I thought that yesterday's chapter was kind of a filler, so I ought to update today as well.
Anyway, hope you liked it and all the usual stuff...
Until next time! :]