"I'm sorry."
Those were the last words Sunny spoke to the three soldiers who had followed him in his foolish, suicidal attempt to kill the Winter Beast.
An overwhelming wave of anxiety and sorrow gripped his soul.
He watched as, one by one, they fell onto the soft, frozen snow. Their bodies, frozen to the core, lay motionless, as if carved from ice. He stayed with them, standing in the biting cold, until the last of them succumbed.
Their lifeless forms rested with serene expressions—some even smiling faintly, as though they had accepted their fate long ago.
But Sunny couldn't.
Those tranquil expressions should have offered him some solace, some reassurance that they didn't blame him for what had happened. That they had faced their end with peace.
Instead, it tore him apart.
Because it meant they had resigned themselves to their deaths. That they, magnificent warriors and loyal comrades, were gone forever.
And now, Sunny was alone. Again.
When the last flicker of life disappeared from their eyes, when the silence became deafening, he allowed the shadows to envelop him. The oppressive, bone-chilling cold of the Winter Beast made retreating into the dark refuge of the Shadow Realm his only option.
But even there, he trembled.
Despite being bolstered by his four shadows, despite the supposed safety of the ethereal plane, he felt the creeping chill. It gnawed at him, not just physically but emotionally. That bone-deep cold was a testament to the sheer power of the Winter Beast—a monster whose mere presence was deadly.
It didn't need to lift a claw or roar to destroy everything in its path.
That was exactly what it did.
It descended upon them, and within moments, everyone was dead.
Everyone but him.
As always.
Sunny remained hidden in the shadows for days, his mind assaulted by a relentless storm of thoughts. Regret, guilt, and a futile search for answers consumed him. He replayed every decision he had made as their captain, every possible scenario where he could have done something differently to save them.
It was useless.
There was no way to avoid the massacre.
The Winter Beast came, and it killed them all.
All except him.
Always him.
He was the sole survivor once again, abandoned in a cruelly familiar isolation.
This wasn't just another painful loss. This was something deeper, a soul-shattering reminder that no matter how hard he fought, the world would always find a way to take everything from him.
And then, something strange happened.
Even in his shadow form, where physical sensations and emotions were muted, Sunny cried.
Not quiet tears, not silent grief.
He sobbed like never before in his life.
The shadows around him seemed to pulse with his anguish, mirroring the silent scream of his soul. This wasn't just sadness. It was desperation, guilt, and an overwhelming hatred for a world that refused to give him even the smallest reprieve.
When the tears finally stopped, all that remained was a hollow determination.
He wouldn't leave them behind.
Even if it meant exhausting the last of his essence, even if the icy death outside the shadows claimed him next, Sunny would ensure his comrades received the honor they deserved.
A grave.
At the very least, he could give them that.
Though the shadows faltered, though the snow bit at his skin like a cruel predator, Sunny worked tirelessly. His hands, numb and shaking, etched their names into the frozen earth.
They deserved to be remembered.
And as he finished the final grave marker, his voice, quiet but resolute, broke the silence.
"I won't forget you."
He meant every word.
—
Nephis collapsed.
The massive ship moved slowly toward Antarctica, breaking the frozen silence of the ocean with its steady engine hum. In a small room, the entire cohort had gathered. It was a simple space, with metallic walls and cold fluorescent lights, but none of that mattered now.
The news had arrived.
A brief, devastating message had been transmitted through their communicators. The words seemed to echo in every corner of the world, impossible to ignore.
The fall of Falcon Scott.
The impact was immediate, like a blow straight to the chest.
In that moment, it wasn't just Nephis who crumbled—the entire cohort fell apart.
They were in private, far from the eyes of the rest of the evacuation team, but even the isolation couldn't soften the weight of the news.
And the reason for their collapse was simple: Sunny had been in Falcon Scott.
The air in the room grew heavy, thick with an unbearable anxiety. Silence filled the space, so oppressive it seemed to seep into every corner of the small chamber. There were no words, only an agonizing void that no one knew how to fill.
Nephis, driven by desperation, checked Sunny's runes as quickly as her trembling fingers would allow. The spell would alert her if he was dead, wouldn't it? That was the logic. But how reliable was it, really?
Opening the runes, the familiar glow of his name brought her a fragile, fleeting moment of relief.
Name: Sunless
True Name: Lost from Light
Aspect: Divine
Everything seemed normal. There were no imperfections, no changes. But that apparent calmness didn't guarantee anything.
Sunny might have escaped, yes, but he could also be bleeding out in some remote corner of Antarctica. Or worse, he could have entered a nightmare gate and become trapped in the Dreamscape, which would mean certain death.
Her hands clenched tightly around the communicator. Her mind fought to stay composed, but the pain in her chest burned like a searing blade.
The others weren't faring any better.
Kai, who always maintained his composure, had a faraway look in his eyes, lost in a place no one could reach. His usually serene face now bore a shadow of uncertainty.
Effie, known for her constant teasing and sharp wit, was uncharacteristically silent. Her somber expression made her almost unrecognizable.
And then there was Cassie.
was even more distant than usual. There was something unsettling in her gaze. It wasn't just sadness—it was something deeper, more haunting. She seemed to be seeing something that no one else could, something that was tearing her apart inside.
Each member of the cohort was grappling with their own internal hell.
And so the days passed.
Anguish clung to Nephis like an unbearable weight, growing heavier with every hour that went by. When she was with her cohort, she managed to maintain her usual mask of serenity, but when she was alone, everything changed.
In those moments, her breathing grew uneven, ragged, as if something invisible was squeezing her chest. Her thoughts spiraled into a storm of sadness, fear, and an anguish that seemed endless.
Sunny's runes, her only anchor in this sea of uncertainty, had become an obsession. She checked them more and more each day, searching desperately for any change, any sign that confirmed he was still alive.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks into a month.
And then, everything changed.
Nephis was in the Ivory Tower, a place she had started to consider her refuge amidst the chaos. In addition to training endlessly to distract herself from her dark thoughts, she had taken up cooking in her spare time. She couldn't train all day; even she needed a break.
It was in that moment, in the middle of a mundane task, that she saw him.
Sunny.
She didn't know exactly when he had arrived, but there he was, standing in one of the rooms. His figure was outlined against the window, staring at the sky with an expression she hadn't seen before.
His tunic and armor were new, pristine, but his presence emanated something that didn't quite fit: a tangible coldness, as if the very essence of Antarctica had followed him here.
And then, he turned his head to look at her.
His distant gaze immediately shifted, replaced by a warm smile. His onyx eyes, always deep and enigmatic, tried to tell her that everything was fine.
Anyone else might have believed him. That smile was convincing, perfectly crafted to calm anyone who worried about him.
But not her.
Nephis knew better.
Sunny could fool strangers, allies, even the members of his cohort. But not her.
She was the only one who could see through those calculated smiles, just as he was the only one who could decipher the small cracks in her own mask: the subtle moments when her shoulders tensed or her fingers trembled almost imperceptibly.
Today was one of those days.
She saw past the smile. She saw the weight behind his eyes, the shadow clinging to his soul. And she knew he was far from okay.
Without saying a word, Nephis walked toward him.
She wrapped her arms around him in a warm, comforting embrace, holding him with a gentleness that spoke louder than words ever could.
At first, Sunny didn't react. His body remained rigid, motionless, as if he didn't know what to do.
And then, slowly, his hands rested on Nephis's shoulders.
She felt his breathing grow unsteady, felt his forehead press against her shoulder.
And then, she felt it.
The warm, wet sensation of tears soaking into her clothing.
Sunny was crying.
For a moment, time seemed to stand still.
In the cold, distant night, Sunny broke.
All the weight, the guilt, the pain he had been carrying spilled out all at once. Silent, unstoppable tears fell as he remained there, clinging to Nephis's embrace like it was the only thing holding him together.
He no longer cared about the shame, or the fear of someone seeing him like this.
In Nephis's warm embrace, he felt something he hadn't felt in weeks: relief.
A fragile, flickering spark of comfort amidst the torment.
She said nothing. She didn't need to. Her arms spoke for her, and for the first time in weeks, Sunny stopped fighting against the crushing weight of his own sadness.