Nephis sighed softly and turned her gaze away from Sunny.
For a few monts, only the distant crashing of waves filled the silence between them. Then, in a quiet voice, she finally spoke.
"Icarus was a mortal youth trapped inside a grand prison."
Her tone was calm and steady, yet there was sothing strangely distant hidden beneath it.
"In those ancient legends, so humans possessed genius comparable to the Awakened. Daedalus, Icarus's father, was one of them. He was a master craftsman whose Aspect allowed him to create impossible things."
Nephis paused briefly before continuing.
"He built the Labyrinth, a maze so complex that even monstrous abominations could never escape once trapped within it. The king who ruled that land feared Daedalus's knowledge and skill, so he imprisoned both father and son inside a towering prison so their secrets would never leave."
Sunny listened quietly.
The darkness around them sohow made the story feel heavier.
More real.
"Icarus himself was not a genius," Nephis continued softly. "He was not a builder, nor a scholar. But he possessed sothing else."
For the first ti since beginning the story, a faint emotion flickered across her face.
"A fierce desire to be free."
The waves continued crashing below the cliff.
The cold sea wind blew through the ruined shelter.
And Nephis's voice quietly carried through the darkness.
"In the end, Daedalus used his craft to create two pairs of wings made from bird feathers and candle wax. Through his Aspect and ingenuity, the wings possessed powers similar to flight-type Aspects."
Sunny could almost picture it in his mind.
A prison tower.
A desperate father.
A young man staring toward the open sky.
"Before they escaped," Nephis said, "Daedalus warned his son carefully. He told him not to fly too low, or the ocean mist would dampen the feathers and drag him into the sea."
Her gray eyes reflected the distant darkness.
"He also warned him not to fly too high, or the heat of the sun would lt the wax holding the wings together."
Then she quietly added:
'Stay between both extres. Walk the middle path.'"
For so reason, those words lingered heavily in Sunny's mind.
"With those warnings," Nephis continued, "they escaped their prison and soared across the vast sea beneath the open sky."
Her voice gradually softened further.
At so point, it almost sounded as though she was no longer telling a story to Sunny…
But speaking to herself.
"At first, Icarus obeyed his father. He remained cautious and followed the safe path."
A strange intensity slowly entered her voice.
"But then… he felt the wind rushing past him."
The distant waves echoed endlessly below.
"He looked down and saw the world shrinking beneath his feet. The prison that had chained him his entire life disappeared behind him."
For the briefest mont, Sunny thought Nephis sounded almost envious.
"He felt freedom for the very first ti."
Silence.
Then—
"He felt like a god."
The words lingered quietly in the darkness.
"In the end, Icarus abandoned caution. He broke away from his father and flew higher and higher, chasing the blazing sun itself."
Nephis slowly closed her eyes.
"The heat lted the wax. The feathers scattered into the wind."
Her voice beca almost a whisper.
"And he fell into the dark sea below."
Silence returned once more.
Then Nephis finally asked:
"So tell , Sunny… if he already knew the rules, why did he continue flying upward?"
Sunny stayed quiet for a while.
The story strangely resonated with him.
Not completely.
But enough.
"Because he wanted to taste freedom," he answered quietly.
To him, freedom was the greatest thing a person could possess.
Freedom to live.
Freedom to choose.
Freedom to walk wherever he wished without chains dragging him down.
Whether that freedom was given by others or stolen through struggle didn't matter.
As long as he possessed it, Sunny wanted to keep living on his own terms.
After all…
That had been the final promise he made to his mother before she died.
To live freely.
To help others find solace if he could.
And to never allow himself to beco chained again.
Still…
Unlike Icarus, Sunny would never throw away his life purely for freedom.
If the cost of freedom beca his own death…
Then perhaps surrendering to chains would be better.
A faint smile appeared on Nephis's face.
"Freedom…"
She lowered her eyes slightly.
"Hm. Alright."
Then she turned away again and beca silent, motionless like a statue carved from pale marble.
It seed the conversation had ended.
Sunny grumbled internally before lying down against the cold stone floor and attempting to sleep.
But no matter how hard he tried, the image of Icarus continued appearing in his mind.
A young man flying toward the sun with reckless abandon.
A fool.
A drear.
Soone willing to die just to touch the sky.
Eventually, Sunny quietly whispered into the darkness:
"Well… did he manage to touch freedom?"
For a while, Nephis remained silent.
Then she answered softly:
"Yes."
Her calm voice drifted through the darkness like the sea breeze itself.
"According to the legends… Icarus managed to touch freedom."
Satisfied, Sunny smiled faintly before turning onto his side.
Slowly, exhaustion pulled him toward sleep.
Just as his consciousness began fading away, he heard Nephis speak once more.
This ti, her voice was so quiet it almost sounded like a dream.
"Icarus was the first human to fly…"
A long pause followed.
"…and the first to truly feel freedom."
"I would at least try," Sunny had said earlier. "But with her condition… I'd probably leave her behind eventually."
Rembering those words, Senrix quietly smiled in the darkness.
Sunny had changed.
Not completely.
But enough.
The original Sunny would have answered "no" without hesitation.
Cold.
Practical.
Selfish.
But now…
He said he would try.
And sotis, even the smallest change could beco the beginning of sothing greater.
A tiny spark could still beco a blazing fla.
Waiting until Sunny's breathing finally steadied into sleep, Senrix slowly stood up and walked toward Nephis.
"Well," he said quietly, "what do you think of him, dear sister?"
Nephis remained silent for a few monts while gazing toward the dark horizon beyond the ruined shelter.
Then, unexpectedly, she smiled faintly.
"He's not the assassin."
Her voice carried quiet certainty.
"And… he's different."
Senrix raised an eyebrow.
"Different how?"
Nephis lowered her gaze slightly.
"When he's nearby… I feel like I could open my heart to him."
Her expression beca distant.
"As though I could tell him every burden and every secret I carry."
Senrix stared at her for a mont before quietly sitting where Sunny had been earlier.
The sea breeze gently moved his dark hair.
"Why Icarus?" he suddenly asked. "Wouldn't Odysseus or maybe Protheus fit his situation better?"
As he spoke, he glanced toward his sister.
Nephis still stared toward the endless horizon with a strangely nostalgic expression in her gray eyes.
"Because," she answered softly, "I felt that he always desired freedom."
She paused briefly.
"I don't know why… but that's what I felt."
Senrix smiled faintly.
'You're very sly, Weaver, I'll give you that.'
Quietly, he turned toward Nephis again.
"Go sleep," he said in a gentler tone. "I'll wake everyone up tomorrow morning."
Nephis looked at him helplessly.
Still, she stood up obediently and gave a small wave before walking toward the others.
She understood very well how much Senrix cared for her.
Ever since their father disappeared, Senrix had carried the burden of supporting the remnants of the Immortal Fla clan alongside Saint Sumr Knight.
And unlike Sumr Knight, who constantly remained away defending humanity's strongholds…
Senrix had always stayed by her side.
A few minutes later, after Nephis quietly settled down beside Cassie and fell asleep, another figure slowly rose from the darkness.
Pink hair shimred faintly beneath the pale moonlight.
Elysia stretched lazily before walking toward Senrix with a quiet smile.
She spoke softly enough not to wake the others.
"Do you want to hear the legends of the Fla-Chasers?"
______________________________________________
A/N: I will probably do a big tiskip on chapter 29 or 30, depending on my mood, towards the ashen area, and btw on Sunny's case on being changed, it's up to you to imagine how and why, just rember this.
Auro of the nine survived and managed to climbed up the black mountains alongside sunny in his first nightmare, that's the biggest change I could give.
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