Chapter 38

Emptiness, a boundless pool of emptiness. That was all Nephis could see in the lightless depths of Sunny's eyes as he stared at her blankly, his lip trembling slightly as his body forced him to provide an answer.

Slamming his fist into the wall, Sunny left a small crater as the wall shook, anger visible in his expression as he levelled a glare at Nephis that she had never seen him use on her before. "She's... a woman from my past. How do you know that name?"

Before Nephis had the opportunity to ask him another question, Sunny slowly got off the bed and rose to his feet, glaring down at her with increased vigour as he roared. "How do you know that name!" Nephis lip trembled, she knew Sunny wouldn't let his question go unanswered, so for the first time since she met Sunny, she did something new.

She lied to him.

"I heard someone mention the name in passing once when Revel took me out to do some training. Mentioning the name made her react a little so I wanted to get some information about her."

Sunny's gaze softened, his expression slowly shifting from anger to sadness as he let out a long sigh and fell on the bed next to Nephis. If she were lying, Sunny couldn't tell. Or rather, he didn't want to check. His trust in her was so supreme that the idea of her lying to him was entirely foreign, almost contradictory to her nature.

"Sorry for shouting at you. Mentioning her name just gives me... bad memories. Please just don't bring her up till we get there, making her an ally is already hard enough." Nephis stared at him apologetically before running her hand over his face, taking in his warmth with a small smile settled on her face.

'He's so cute even when he's angry.' She mused, Sunny didn't respond to her touch as he stared up at the ceiling with a contemplative expression. "Hey Neph, do you have any dreams? Like what you want to be in the future." Sunny asked, his eyes fixed to the ceiling as he continued his staring contest with the cement above.

Dreams weren't something Nephis thought about often because she already had a firm goal in mind. In fact, coming to know of the existence of the underworld only served to further reinforce her goals. Previously, she thought money and influence would be able to solve her problems. But now, her perspective shifted.

"I've always wanted to save people, save people everywhere. Not because of any grand reason like 'people's lives matter' or 'there's good in everyone. Seeing people get hurt unjustly is unsightly, so I want to put a stop to it."

Upon hearing Nephis declaration, Sunny rolled over and stared at her, his expression blank before shifting into a small smile. "How... like you." Sunny mumbled, continuing to stare at her as her blush grew furiously. "Like me? I don't make my goals obvious thank you very much!" she huffed.

Cocking his head to the side, Sunny placed a hand on his chin as a teasing smirk arrived on his face. "When I asked you why you helped me all that time ago, you didn't give me a reason aside from the fact you wanted to. That seems pretty heroine like to me."

Upon remembering her words, Nephis buried her face into her palms, cringing at the memory before a contemplative expression arrived on her face. "Speaking of which, why did you let Caster beat you up? You could have killed him, and everyone in the school without anyone noticing pretty much, or at least you could have defended yourself. So why?"

A smile arrived on Sunny's face as he idly swung his legs as he thought of a reply. Although the thought of getting beaten up was sad, Sunny found his reasoning so pathetic that he couldn't help but be brought to laughter. A low laugh escaped his lips, eliciting a confused expression from Nephis as he spoke.

"Sorry, it's just funny. I was letting him beat me up as a form of 'atonement' for killing so many people. It's hilarious really, because I'm quite sure I'm going to end up killing even more people again. So, was my suffering for nothing? Do you know how hard it is to soften your muscles just so the rich kid can beat you up?"

Although Sunny was laughing, Nephis didn't find any humour in it. In fact, it was quite sad to see that Sunny was actively hurting himself, albeit indirectly throughout the time they had spent together. Soon enough, his laughter subsided, allowing silence to settle between the two once more.

"You know, lately, just like it was before I've become afraid of falling asleep." Sunny's comment came out calm and indifferent as Nephis expression quickly took on the expression of worry and panic, not sleeping would do horrifying things to his already fractured mental state.

"Sunny, you have to. Even if it scares you, you need to sleep." All she received in response was a small smile as Sunny closed his eyes. Memories of his time with Seishan flooded into his mind as his eyes flung open once more, letting out a sigh, Sunny's smile grew slightly.

Yet it wasn't a real one.

"It's partly your fault too, not that I blame you for it or anything. In fact, I'm grateful. Whenever I sleep, the fear of it all being a dream, all the experiences I've had with you, all the suffering I've gone through being merely a dream floods into my mind. It makes me sick just imagining it."

Sunny's tone remained wistful as Nephis shifted her hand, grasping his in her own as she squeezed it softly for assurance. "I can see it so vividly; I close my eyes for a single moment, and I end back where I started. Back in Morgan's cage, ready for her to brand me, defile me, abuse me all over again."

Suddenly, Sunny sat up, shifting towards Nephis seated form as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a deep hug as she returned the gesture tenfold. Her slender arms wrapping around his head and running through his hair, taking in every calm breathe he released onto her neck.

"But you see, I think, if I knew that I'd meet you again. I'd do it again. I'd walk back into Morgan's cage with my head held high because I know I'd meet someone like you again." Pulling back, Nephis saw faint trails of tears falling from Sunny's eyes as she wiped them from his face gently.

"Sunny, you don't know how much it means to me to hear you say that. But please, don't endure something like that again, ever, for anyone's sake. You've earned the right to be selfish." Upon hearing this, Sunny shook his head firmly as he grasped her shoulders more tightly than he did before, as if she would escape into thin air if he let her go.

"I'd endure it tenfold; I'd let myself be beaten twice as hard, for twice as long just so I can see you again. That's my selfishness." Seeing the look in his eyes that left no room for argument, Nephis merely smiled as she furiously pressed her lips against his, pushing him to the wall before she knew what had happened.

Separating for a mere moment, Sunny gasped for breathe as he stared at her with a dazed expression, a stupid grin clouding his eyes as he held onto her waist for dear life. "Neph, can you promise you won't leave me, no matter what?"

Resuming the kiss, the two found themselves sprawled across the bed as Nephis lay above Sunny, looking down at him with a clouded expression settled across her face too as she smiled at him. "I'll never leave you, no matter what happens."

Tomorrow, they had to see Eubin, the beast master. Yet today, the two could not care less, delving into their deepest desires as their minds remained focused on the one person that enveloped their entire world.

Each other.