After hearing Effie's explanation about the Dark City, the Bright Castle, and the reality of Gunlaug's rule, the desire that had carried the five Sleepers through countless hardships seed to dim considerably.
For months, the castle had been their destination.
Their goal.
Their proof that all the suffering had ant sothing.
Whenever the Labyrinth threatened to swallow them whole, whenever they were forced to fight monsters stronger than themselves, whenever exhaustion and despair nearly overwheld them, the image of a human settlent waiting sowhere beyond the horizon had allowed them to keep moving forward.
And now...
That image had cracked.
Not completely.
But enough.
There was still a tiny spark of hope burning stubbornly inside Sunny's chest.
Maybe Effie was wrong.
Maybe she had misunderstood sothing.
Maybe there was another way.
Maybe there was so hidden path none of them knew about.
Maybe—
His thoughts stopped.
Sunny sighed.
Deep down, he knew he was grasping at straws.
Effie seed honest.
Blunt.
A little strange.
A little crazy.
But honest.
More importantly, everything she said made sense.
And that was the worst part.
The truth usually did.
Still, unlike the five Sleepers, Effie didn't seem particularly concerned about any of it.
"There isn't enough daylight left," she said while stretching lazily. "Moving through the ruins at night is a great way to get eaten. We'll leave tomorrow."
Then, as if discussing the possibility of death was no different than discussing the weather, she casually walked toward the monster corpses.
A long knife appeared in her hand.
Monts later, another mory materialized around her body in the form of a thick leather apron.
Soon, she was happily butchering the monsters while humming a cheerful lody beneath her breath.
Sunny stared.
"...She's unbelievable."
"Agreed," Nephis said.
"She's very energetic," Cassie added softly.
Elysia giggled.
"I like her."
Sunny looked at her.
"You like everyone."
Elysia smiled brightly.
"Not true."
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
The pink-haired girl pointed at him.
"You annoyed when we first t."
Sunny looked genuinely offended.
"That's slander."
"It's true."
"Impossible."
Elysia laughed.
Even Cassie smiled.
The brief exchange eased so of the tension lingering inside the tower.
Not much.
But enough.
Soon silence settled once more.
Everyone retreated into their own thoughts.
Sunny leaned against the granite wall and closed his eyes.
He felt exhausted.
Not physically.
ntally.
Emotionally.
It felt as though soone had reached inside his chest and stolen all his motivation.
The world suddenly seed dull.
Heavy.
Pointless.
'Hope really is dangerous.'
The thought made him chuckle bitterly.
He had spent so long imagining what would happen after reaching the castle.
How everything would finally beco easier.
How all the struggles would finally pay off.
And now...
Nothing had changed.
If anything, things had beco more complicated.
He would never return ho.
Never see Master Jet again.
Never thank Teacher Julius for everything he taught him.
Never beco rich.
Never enjoy a comfortable life.
Never sit in a luxurious apartnt while ordering expensive food simply because he could.
That last one hurt surprisingly badly.
'Of course.'
Sunny rubbed his face.
Then tried to force himself to think rationally.
'At least I'm alive.'
His shadow looked at him skeptically.
Sunny ignored it.
"No, seriously."
The shadow remained unconvinced.
He sighed.
"Think about it."
He quietly glanced toward the others.
Cassie was sitting beside Elysia, listening to her endless chatter while absentmindedly brushing her fingers across the polished wood of her staff.
The blind oracle seed more relaxed than she had been in days.
Nearby, Nephis sat silently with her back against the wall.
As always.
Calm.
Composed.
Unshakable.
And then there was Senrix.
The ash-haired Sleeper sat beside Elysia while staring into the fire.
Unlike before, there was less emptiness in his crimson eyes now.
The Soul Devouring Tree was behind them.
The enthrallnt was gone.
Or mostly gone.
Still, he seed quieter than usual.
Not withdrawn.
Just thoughtful.
Every now and then, Elysia would nudge him and start another conversation.
And every single ti, he would answer.
Usually with very few words.
But he answered.
That alone was enough to make Elysia smile.
Sunny found himself smiling slightly too.
Because despite everything—
They were all still here.
Together.
The realization helped more than he expected.
Back then, before the Forgotten Shore, Sunny had never imagined himself trusting anyone.
Trusting people was stupid.
Dangerous.
Sothing that got you betrayed.
Yet now...
He found himself looking at the four people around him and feeling sothing strange.
Comfort.
Because if he fell—
Soone would help him stand again.
And if one of them fell—
The others would do the sa.
It wasn't so grand heroic oath.
It was simply reality.
They had already proven it countless tis.
Against the sea.
Against the Soul Devouring Tree.
Against the Carapace Demon.
Against everything.
Sunny slowly exhaled.
For perhaps the first ti, he realized that his greatest source of reassurance wasn't the castle.
It wasn't the possibility of escape.
It wasn't even survival itself.
It was the fact that he wasn't facing this nightmare alone.
The thought ward him unexpectedly.
His shadow noticed the smile.
Then imdiately looked away.
As though embarrassed.
Sunny rolled his eyes.
"Traitor."
The shadow pretended not to hear him.
Nearby, Elysia suddenly leaned backward.
"You know..."
Everyone looked at her.
The pink-haired girl smiled.
"We're doing surprisingly well."
Sunny stared.
"Doing well?"
"Yes."
"We are trapped in a nightmare realm."
"Correct."
"We can't go ho."
"Also correct."
"There are monsters everywhere."
"Mhm."
"We nearly got brainwashed by a giant evil tree."
"True."
Sunny pointed triumphantly.
"Exactly."
Elysia grinned.
"And we're still alive."
Silence followed.
Then Senrix nodded.
"She's right."
Sunny blinked.
Traitor.
Another traitor.
Cassie smiled faintly.
"I think she's right too."
Sunny groaned.
Three traitors.
Nephis looked at the group.
Then, surprisingly, the corner of her lips lifted slightly.
"We are alive."
Sunny stared at her.
"You too?"
The silver-haired girl calmly nodded.
"Yes."
Sunny looked toward the ceiling.
"Wonderful."
Now there were four of them.
The small conversation ended.
But strangely enough, Sunny felt a little better afterward.
Perhaps Elysia's optimism really was contagious.
Or perhaps the simple act of hearing the others talk normally made everything feel less hopeless.
Either way, the crushing weight inside his chest eased slightly.
Not completely.
Just enough.
Eventually, darkness began creeping across the horizon.
The distant sound of crashing waves echoed through the ruins.
Night had arrived.
Not feeling particularly motivated to move, Sunny sent his shadow outside instead.
Through its eyes, he watched the world transform.
The last rays of sunlight painted everything crimson.
Far away, the Dark Sea surged from the great crater once more.
Black water spread endlessly across the ruined landscape.
Sunny watched the distant statue of the beautiful faceless woman slowly disappear beneath the rising darkness.
First her feet.
Then her body.
Then everything except her outstretched hand.
Soon even that vanished.
The sight filled him with unease.
His gaze shifted lower.
The black waters pressed directly against the enormous granite wall protecting the city.
The pressure was unimaginable.
An entire ocean of darkness.
Held back by ancient stone.
For thousands of years.
The sight was both inspiring and terrifying.
For a brief mont, Sunny imagined the wall breaking.
Imagined an endless torrent of black water crashing through the city.
Imagined everyone being swallowed whole.
A shiver ran down his spine.
Quickly dismissing the thought, he called his shadow back.
Then slowly stood.
Without really thinking about it, he walked toward Nephis.
Changing Star sat alone near the wall.
Not because the others avoided her.
But because Nephis naturally created distance around herself.
Sunny sat down beside her.
This ti, there was no awkwardness.
No hesitation.
The silence between them felt familiar.
Comfortable, even.
After a while, he glanced at her.
"What do you think?"
Nephis remained silent for a long ti.
The fire crackled quietly behind them.
Nearby, Elysia's laughter echoed through the tower as she tried and failed to teach Senrix a card ga she had invented five minutes ago.
Cassie was listening attentively.
Effie was still butchering monsters while sohow singing even louder than before.
Life continued.
Finally, Nephis spoke.
White sparks flickered deep within her cold grey eyes.
"We'll find a way ho."
Her voice was quiet.
Yet absolutely certain.
"No matter what stands in our way."
Sunny stared at her.
Ordinarily, he would have dismissed those words as impossible optimism.
But now...
After everything they had survived together...
After seeing Nephis accomplish impossible things over and over again...
After seeing Cassie defy fate.
After watching Elysia refuse to let despair take root.
After watching Senrix stand back up every single ti sothing tried to break him...
For the first ti—
Sunny found himself believing her.
At least a little.
And sohow...
That tiny bit of belief was enough to keep the last ember of hope burning.
_______________________
A/N: if you think their personalities are quite different it's probably because I'm using another tab of chatgpt, the last one that I was usingreached the ssage limit of the good version so I have to change tabs.
I will probably create notes now about heir personalities so chatgpt at least gets them right.
Oh btw, xeleray before you complain, I still don't fully depend on ai, it is just hard to do sothing when the AI is trying to point towards one direction when I'm pointing at a different angle.
Anyways, the change will happen if my plan works, at least if it works
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