A Sunless Dream | Shadow Slave Fic

Nephis had lived through countless harsh realities, countless deaths of her allies that she had knowingly guided them towards for the sake of reaching her dream. However, the mindset of a warrior was not one she constantly intended to be in, sometimes a peaceful escape allowed her to retain her humanity in a world that wanted to take it from her.

And due to this, Orion's words slammed into her with much heavier weight than she had expected. Nephis reeled backwards upon hearing his accusation, thinking of a way to deny it however Orion pressed on further, closing the distance between them once more.

"I can see your soul, maybe Sunless can't because of the pathetic excuse for a memory you have on, but you aren't fooling me!" Orion continued to pace towards her as she took steps backwards to create distance between the two.

"I have no clue what you're talking about!" Nephis replied, if what he said was true, she knew that her time with Sunny had most likely come to an end however she wasn't going to let it go that easily. Orion paused in his steps looking downwards, a dark expression shrouded his face as shadows gathered from multiple directions to form into an onyx sword.

"If you say you aren't Changing Star, then you won't be able to block this" in the next moment, Orion closed the distance between the two and swung with murderous intent. Nephis summoned her blade and deflected the blow, batting his sword upwards as a grin appeared on his face.

"Now that we've established you're Changing Star, let's have a little discussion you and I." Orion's calm voice only served to elicit her anger as Nephis stared at him with murder on her mind. Hatred killed every rational thought that ran through her body as she burst towards him at full speed.

In a moment, Nephis was in front of him swinging her sword in an upwards arc as Orion leaned backwards slightly to avoid the blow. With the grin still plastered on his face he swept her legs and grabbed her by the neck, slamming her into the ground causing a spiderweb of cracks through it.

Before she could recover, black flames surged from Orion's body onto her own. Wincing in anticipation Nephis slightly gasped as the warm feeling of flames spread onto her body, healing her bruises.

"I've decided that Sunless is tolerable to be around, some may even describe us as 'friends' so tell me Changing Star, why are you so determined to rob him of his happiness?" releasing his hold from her neck, Orion stepped back slightly allowing her to recover her breathe.

The flames of hatred in her eyes quickly simmered down as she heard the question. A sombre expression settled on her face as she balled her hands into fists "He's breaking, he needs someone to give him support and show him love. I know how much I've hurt him in the past, so this is my way of repaying my debts."

Her voice quickly tuned into a venomous hiss as she narrowed her eyes at him "Everything was going so well, until you arrived to destroy everything I've tried to build!" Orion laughed off her aggression as he manifested a chair of shadows before taking a seat.

Unlike his usual behaviour, he did not offer Nephis a seat herself instead letting her stand. "You know I hate you right?" his voice came as though he was simply reporting the weather, the causal tone he used even caused Nephis eyes to widen slightly as Orion leaned backwards in his chair before continuing.

"You always have this self-righteous attitude, trying your hardest to do good things not because you actually want to like you always claim but because you don't want to be like the people you intend to kill" with a sigh, he looked at the sky for a moment before offering Nephis a seat. Nephis glared at it with disgust and remained standing though.

"And to make matters worse, you are exactly like the sovereigns! I don't know what your business with Ki Song is but if you touch her, I'll kill you." A flash of monumental killing intent overwhelmed the field and disappeared as quickly as it came as he continued.

"You saw a man, who had obviously been struggling and let your practical addiction to being in control overwhelm you and hurt him. And then, you took advantage of the fact that you're his master and made him forget!" Orion laughed till drops of tears began forming on his eyes as he continued to watch Nephis almost burst in anger.

"So, after time passes you see a mentally wounded man who you injured, and you attempt to pick up the pieces. You and I both know Sunless is going to find out eventually, and then what? You've shown him what love feels like for a few moments before pulling away again, assuming you survive what happens when he finds out he'll never trust anyone again!"

Nephis had finally had enough of listening to Orion as her voice rang through the field, drops of blood poured from her hands as she nearly shouted "I'm doing the best I can! You keep placing these unrealistic expectations on me, expecting me to always be perfect, never make mistakes and never hurt anyone, I'm human too! I bleed just like you bleed, I make mistakes just like anyone does!"

Pausing, Nephis voice trembled as bubbles of sadness began erupting from her soul "I know what we have can't last, I regret every day when I can't just be honest with him. But if this is what it takes to keep him happy for even a little bit, then so be it."

Orion stared at her in silence for a few moments, before nodding slightly "And pray tell, why would you not let him find love in someone else who isn't you? What gives you the right to force yourself into his life constantly, knowing you can and will hurt him just because you want to show him a little love?"

Gritting her teeth, Nephis broke eye contact with Orion as light tears poured from her eyes. Taking in a deep breathe, she stared at Orion with resolve that shocked him slightly. Of all the things he had expected her to show in this situation, those eyes weren't one of them.

"Because I love him. I know it's selfish and I know I have no right, but I can't help what I feel. We've shared so many memories that have been broken and forgotten because of what I did to him, but even if my mind doesn't remember them my heart does. I feel like I've known him more than enough to provide care any stupid wench who attempts to take his heart cannot provide."

Nephis statement caused Orion to burst into full blown laughter, it came low at first but quickly grew louder as he almost fell off his seat. His resemblance to Sunny gravely irritated her as the joyful expression on his face continued to remind her of the man she loved.

"You, you're a special one. Fine, if this is your resolve so be it! You have three weeks, once that time is up, you'll tell him who you really are. No sooner, no later. Let's see if that love you two share really holds up."

Before Nephis knew what had happened, she was overwhelmed with warm black flames as the injuries she had caused herself quickly disappeared. With that, Orion tore a piece of cloth from his pocket and grabbed her hands, wiping off the dried blood.

Before she knew it, she was back with Sunny who was currently looking over Revel's shoulder at her communicator. She was showing him pictures of Orion as he slept as well as Orion's favourite animal, the sight of Orion as he slept caused Sunny to fall on his back in laughter.

Upon sensing Orion's presence, a look of fear overwhelmed Sunny's features as he turned his head to Orion slowly. "If you don't kill me, I'll show you more giraffe pictures" as he spoke, the look of fear was replaced by laughter as he ran away from Orion's half-hearted attempts on his life.

Nephis turned to Revel, she was looking with an amused expression on her face as Orion lazily swung his sword at Sunny, a blush barely being restrained by all his might. "You really love him, that's nice to see" Nephis muttered quietly, Revel turned back to her and flashed her a smile.

"What can I say, he makes it easy for me to love him" with that, she turned back to silently gaze at the two's antics. Nephis stared at the scene in slight confusion, from the way they behaved one couldn't tell that Orion had killed one of his close friends.

If he still considered them friends that is.

After thirty minutes of trying and failing to grant Sunny death, Orion gave up and made his way towards Revel. "We'll be leaving now, it's nice to see that you cut a continent, even faster than I had expected. Keep up the good work." With that, Orion disappeared into the shadows with Revel, who waved at Sunny before disappearing,

Sunny faced Nephis and quickly looked her over, pacing around her to check if she was harmed in any way. Finding no signs of harm, he let out a sigh as he wiped sweat off his brow. "He didn't threaten at all did he? That bastard isn't very nice to people."

Nephis shook her head with a light laugh, hoping desperately Sunny wouldn't realise how forced it was.