Forgotten City,

After Sunny, but mostly Nephis's loss, in retrieving the soul shards from the army they decided to take a few days' rest. After a week they hunted, got stronger, packed up food, and got ready before venturing further west.

Today, they stood in front of the metal gate with a tiny keyhole at the center.

"Well... let's get going then?"

Sunny turned to nephis and stared at her momentarily, enjoying the view.

Nephis had grown out her hair since she didn't want to bother with doing so, or maybe it's because Sunny commented on how he liked it long. Either way, it draped down her back like a silver waterfall, pristine and elegantly tied with a leather strap. She wore her infamous [Starlight Legion] armor with a crown sitting on her head, [Dusk Shard]. Sunny himself wore his new crown and had gotten used to using it, subjugating or slowing down creatures massively before taking them out. It was working its magic great, fantastic even. He wore [Pupperteer's Shroud] in case they needed to run back since it didn't restrict movement.

They were prepared to face unimaginable horrors because of [Fated].

Sunny took a deep breath and inserted the key into the keyhole.

*click*

A click sound resonated from the keyhole before Sunny twisted it and let go of it as it started to glow. It shined dimly but powerfully as the gates suddenly parted in a quick whooshing sound, exposing them to what was beyond it.

Sunny's jaw dropped as Nephis' eyes grew wide as they stared.

In front of the group was a vibrant city and there were even people...

'People...people!'

Walking throughout the streets were humans, they seemed like citizens of the city as they wore what could be described as simply plain brown outfits.

"Nephis, tell me I'm not just seeing things."

"If you're talking about the vibrant city and people walking throughout it then you're not, I see it too."

Sunny didn't know how long it had been since they were stuck in the Dream Realm, about as long as how long they've seen another human. He wanted to go to one of them, to make sure their real but a sudden thought made him stop in his tracks.

'There are no people in the Dream Realm except for those who came from the real world. There are only monsters. Some of them can mimic human appearance, though, so be mindful of that.'

That was what Awakened Rock had told them during the ceremony. Sunny looked at Nephis again and saw she was holding her weapon tight, he could tell she also came to the same conclusion. They were all monsters mimicking humans.

There could only be two reasons why a huge number of people would be in one place. There was a gateway nearby, which humans would naturally conquer and live near. The other reason would be the exact situation with the Dark City, with all the people living here being unable to conquer the citadel nearby. He immediately discarded the first theory as if there was a citadel here, Nephis would know about it because of her knowledge of the dream realm. The second one though could be plausible...

'If we have to do the whole Dark City campaign again I'm applying for Dream Realm citizenship.'

"Let's move in," Nephis said as she started walking forward, with Sunny following closely behind her.

As they walked closer some of the citizens saw them and smiled, though Sunny felt his heart ache, not in a good way, when he saw them smile. He also felt her tense slightly from her back as they got closer. The feeling disappeared almost as soon as it came and they dismissed it as being paranoid. Eventually, they were in front of the city gates, with Sunny and Nephis outside of it, and the townspeople crowding the front entrance of the gates. After a few murmurs a young, blond-headed man walked up to the dreamers.

"Hello and welcome to the Forgotten City. My name is Esteban and I'm sure you have many questions and we'll be happy to answer them."

Sunny was reminded of Caster from looking at Esteban, but he couldn't feel a threatening gaze from him, unlike Caster. Nephis walked up to him and they shook hands, although his hands were covered by a glove.

"Esteban, yes we have questions but did you just say Forgotten City?"

"Ah yes, yes I did, that is because before we moved here we were inhabitants of the Esteral City, or referred to by some as the Dark City for having created the sun cruelly."

"I understand...do you mind if me and my fri- my partner come inside the city?"

Sunny's eyes widened as he frantically turned to Nephis who was still talking to the man as he activated the ring.

'You want to go INSIDE! We don't even know if they're real or just monsters!'

After a moment he got a response that made him regret being rational.

'We would be able to learn more if we're inside, and we can leave as soon as we find the exit.'

'Fine, but I don't trust them.'

'...neither do it.'

"We would be happy to accommodate you, we have room for everyone to be welcomed." He then turned around and started walking away, signaling for them to follow.

They complied and followed the blond man behind as citizens dispersed and went back to doing their tasks.

"Before I lead you both to where you will be staying."

Esteban started,

"I'd like to show you a tour around the place. See the sights and show you what this place has to offer."

"We would be happy to," Sunny said begrudgingly as Nephis looked at him with a stare saying 'be nice, I know you want to kill him.'

She knew about how Sunny had killed Harper, luckily not because of Cassie but by his own will of telling her. Sunny was glad Cassie kept most of her visions to herself since it sometimes violated his privacy and secrets. So she also knew about his small hatred for receptionists. Sunny was able to keep it down— so far— because the man in front of them had not shown them a hint of vile intent, but they still had their guards up. The possibility of the citizens being trapped in the dream realm looked more and more like a possibility as they walked through shops and kids running around.

Eventually, they stood in front of a stand that sold a variety of food similar to what they, or at least he, had in the castle.

"Help yourself to some food, on the house for you two." the man behind the counter said.

"No thanks," Sunny and Nephis said at the same time.

Sunny could swear he saw a confused face before returning to a polite face from Esteban.

"Not a problem, I suppose, let's go somewhere else then."

They were then led through the streets. The streets seemed like the exact opposite of the Dark Castle with there being no holes in the ground or trash, in fact, it even shone somehow in the dim lighting. There were lanterns hung on poles that emitted a calming, yellow light that seemed dimmed. The streets were made of a similar material of concrete but infused with some properties similar to wood as it seemed less hard than normal concrete. The houses near them were made of gray bricks and wood, like small gray houses with a tint of brown.

They were leveled with the streets although some stood higher than others and some were wider than others too. The smallest was 1.5x the height of Sunny's height, and with the largest being about five Sunny's tall— or four Neph's—. Sunny felt a bit calm when looking around the scenery, it had been a long time since Sunny had seen something that wasn't in ruins like the outskirts or the Dark City. Nephis seemed to enjoy the scenery as well as she stared for a moment too long wherever she looked. Sunny loved seeing her content, even if they might be walking into a trap.

"Here we are," Esteban spoke up as they stood in front of an especially large wooden-concrete building.

"This is your new home for both of you."

Sunny blinked,

"Can you repeat that?"

"Yeah, this is your new home for both of you."

"...just like that? No paperwork or money needed?"

"Yep just like that since housing isn't a problem here."

"Huh, you don't say," Sunny was suddenly a little annoyed.

'Just like that huh, what the hell since when were people giving out free housing? I lived under a damn wooden plank with pieces of concrete as walls and I'm getting a great house just like that.'

Pushing his annoyance aside at being previously homeless, Sunny took a good look at the house in front of the trio.

The house seemed average among the other houses, with nothing out of the ordinary aside from being on the small end.

"Well thank you for the tour and we'll be taking our leave now."

As Sunny snapped out of his thoughts a hand held him tightly around his wrist as he was pulled inside.

Unknown to both of them Esteban took off his glove and gently touched Neph's shoulder as they entered their home without her noticing. He pulled back after a moment as smoke appeared near his hand, and taking a look it seemed to be burned badly. From what seemed like everywhere a low grumble echoed.

"It would seem that this will be harder than I thought, especially with that damn harrowing Nephilim." Esteban put his hand in his glove before turning away.

***

Sunny was pulled inside as the door behind him slammed shut. Sunny quickly adjusted to the low lighting in the room before a lamp was lit and revealing her face. Sunny took a good look around to try and notice something unusual or anything that might be booby trapped to no avail. Everything in the house was simple and modest with a couch, a dinner table, two chairs, a door leading somewhere, and all of it was made of wood.

"So I'm sure you've noticed that this place seems strange?"

"Yeah, but more like too plain than anything."

"I don't trust this place one bit, but we don't have a choice but to stay to find the exit."

"Can't we, I don't know, camp outside the town?"

"We could try but I don't want to risk provoking and enraging the citizens if something is up with them."

"Do you... do you think their sleepers, or monsters disguised as humans?"

"I-I don't know I mean I have a strange sense from them but other than that...they just seem like a strange bunch. Either way, we shouldn't let our guard down and either should you for a moment. We should also stick together at all times, just in case so if something happens we'll face it together."

Sunny grinned before smirking.

"I didn't take you as both romantic as you are protective Neph, it's a nice change."

Nephis looked at him before offering her a genuine small smile that would make the Gods fight to see it.

"I just don't like people touching what's mine, after all our fates are intertwined, I'm sure of it."

Sunny sighed as he went to sit in a wooden chair as Nephis followed and took the other.

"So what's the plan now?"

"Well, our main objective is to find the exit, preferably without asking them."

"Because we don't trust them yet?"

"Yes and because they might mislead us or try and kill us."

"Okay then, what else?"

Nephis tapped her index finger on the table, a habit she picked up while planning with him or thinking.

"Remember that large house we saw with guards guarding it at the center of the town?"

"Of course I do, that house gave me the creeps when I passed it."

"Well I want to sneak in there once we find the exit, so in case we're caught, we know where to escape from. Plus, I think they're hiding something in there that we might need to know."

"I regretfully agree with sneaking in although it would most likely get us killed or kicked. You know I'm a very curious guy right Neph?"

"That I do know."

Sunny yawned as he eyed the door, before grabbing Nephis' hands and leading them inside the room. In it was a bed, a lamp, and a window next to the bed that gave light from the street lamps.

"I think we should get some shut-eye, I'll take first watch and I'll wake you up later."

Nephis sat on her bed and lay with her back on the bed, eyeing him like a predator finding prey.

"Aren't your Shadows capable of alerting us if something comes up?"

"Yes, what are you implying though?"

"I say we should sleep together then, no need to take shifts."

Sunny wanted to reject but Nephis's reasoning was solid.

"Sure then, scoot over," Sunny said as he mentally told his Shadows to be on lookout.

Nephis moved to the side as Sunny got in and pulled the blanket over them from his chest that he had summoned previously to give only nephis a blanket. Suddenly he felt something hot pressing on his chest, and as he looked down he saw nephis silver eyes staring back.

"You just wanted to-"

But before Sunny could finish Neph put a finger on his lips as she then kissed him. They kissed for what seemed like eternity before pulling apart, both of them were breathing heavy as they got down to business.

So what if they perhaps broke the bed?