A Sunless Dream

Nephis sat quietly in the guest room as she listened attentively to the soft downpour of water that was coming from the room adjacent to her. She still had quite a bit before her break ended, and she had chosen this was the best use of her time.

Tapping her fingers across her thighs, her patience grew thin as she waited for Sunny to exit the shower. He had promised her to go somewhere interesting and she wasn't going to settle for any less.

Soon enough, Sunny walked into the room with a towel wrapped around his waist. His body glistened with lingering water as he shook his head slightly to remove the remaining droplets that threatened to fall into his eyes.

In a matter of moments, Nephis found herself unable to take her eyes off the man before her. There were no thoughts running through her head as she sat facing him with a pleased smile on her face, ever growing as Sunny's blush grew bigger.

"I'll be done in a second, so be ready to leave. If you don't have spare clothes you can come in my room and use mine." With that, Sunny briskly walked out the room before she could notice his face had gone completely red and shut the door behind him.

Through the days Nephis had lived with him, she had learnt Sunny was a very particular man who did not like when things were done in an order differently from how he had decided. Continuous nagging remarks reminding her where to place the ingredients after use and how he liked his plates dried only made her fascination in him grow.

They had cooked for each other on a multitude of occasions, however Nephis found herself consistently outclassed and longing for the man to return to the kitchen as soon as possible. In fact, she wouldn't be against him quitting combat forever so long as he continued a culinary career.

Staring outside the window, only now did the realisation hit Nephis that she had been in Sunny's soul sea for extended periods of time. Such a fact didn't catch her by surprise at all compared to the sheer amount of creatures in Sunny's soul sea. He had explained to her that they represented each creature he had killed, but such an idea failed to register in her head completely.

'There's about a billion nightmare creatures in here, and hundreds of humans. How many people has he cut down?' it was no wonder that he occasionally had thoughts of mass destruction. One could only wonder how your mind remained intact over that many gruelling battles.

"Stella! We should be there now, come downstairs!" Sunny's voice echoed throughout the house as Nephis rushed into his room, grabbing the first pair of clothes she could see before throwing them on and rushing downstairs.

For someone who had been waiting so long, she hadn't prepared much herself.

After following Sunny out the house, she found herself on an island in the sky. Unlike the chained isles, these islands were vast and brimming with nightmare creatures however they lacked any physical foundation holding them together.

'Nobody's ever explored here before' she thought. Sunny quickly turned his direction to the biggest Island present. The reigning resident of the Island was a four headed behemoth which appeared to be of cursed rank. "It's only a cursed devil, we should be safe from this distance" as he spoke, he wrapped Nephis around in all six of his shadows.

Overwhelming strength she had never once felt before brimmed through her muscles as she opened and closed her hands slowly. She was more than triple her former strength, and such a number would only increase with testing.

Winds blew past Sunny's head causing his hair to be carried into the air, some of it even falling into his eyes at his own chagrin. Pulling out a small rope, Sunny tied his hair up exposing Serpent's tattoo which was barely cloaked by the mantle he was wearing.

Raising an eyebrow at the curious sight, Nephis chose not to speak as she watched Sunny's movements with unparalleled focus. Sunny took a few steps to the left before summoning a blade of shadows. He continued to stare down the four headed behemoth with an indifferent expression as he gripped his blade with both arms.

His movements flowed like water, in one fluid motion, Sunny brought his blade down in a wide arc. The movements were less fast than beautiful, one deliberate controlled movement intending to take the life of your foe in one swing.

'He's, amazing' Nephis praised. She watched the air shift and bend as the force of the blade barrelled over to the island, it cut apart any stray nightmare creatures who got in its way before colliding with the island. The force of the impact sent shockwaves that pushed Nephis back, however Sunny was quickly by her side with his hand on her waist.

Letting out a startled yelp, Nephis looked up at Sunny with a slightly irritated expression "Could you move your hand higher?" it was less a question than a command, however the phrasing allowed for shadow bond to stay dormant as Sunny quickly shifted his hand upwards with a slight blush.

"Come on, cut through the bastard" his voice had a hint of desperation as well as excitement as he watched the creature writhe in pain, failing in its attempts at repelling the blade that came to reap its life. After less than ten seconds, the island had been cleaved in two as well as the cursed devil who boarded it.

Sunny stared at the scene with a satisfied smile before roaring in victory. Nephis was startled for a split second but smiled approvingly as Sunny let go of her and fell on his back "No essence used too, that bastard will lose his mind when he hears this!" a low giggle escaped Nephis lips as she laid down beside him.

"You clearly have no interest in fighting, why pursue strength of such levels?" Sunny placed a hand on his chin in contemplation. It appeared he hadn't thought that far yet either. A few moments after, Sunny rolled to his side to face her "My strength will act as a deterrent. If I'm strong enough people will leave me alone, look at Orion! He's having the time of his life right now!"

Nephis could tell that Sunny felt jealous of the freedom his clone had, however extended encounters with the man only served to make Nephis more repulsed than she already was. How Sunny could manage interactions with Effie's killer was beyond her.

As if hearing the mention of his name, a whirlwind of shadows appeared a few feet away from Sunny and Orion stepped out of it. This time, Orion was holding a woman by the waist. She was wearing an all-black dress with velvet lipstick and stood slightly above Orion's head as they shared a light laugh before he turned his attention to Sunny.

"Revel, this is Sunless. You said you wanted to meet him so I'll leave you two to talk, I want to get to know my students girlfriend" before Sunny could even begin to retort. Orion was next to Nephis and took her with him into the shadows.

Sunny shot to his feet; an expression of anger plastered all over his face as he stared down the woman before him. Despite the jovial smile plastered across her lips, he could tell she was a saint, a strong one at that. He even doubted she would lose out to someone like Morgan.

Not that any of that mattered to him.

"You look just like him, but how is he taller than you?" Sunny almost slapped himself in the face upon hearing Revel's question. Quite frankly, he didn't know what brought about Orion's growth spurt however all he knew was that he was closer to six foot than Sunny was.

Such a fact didn't sit well with him.

"I don't know, the more important question is how is that bastard so comfortable with leaving you here with me?" although Sunny didn't have any intentions to harm her, it was still a possibility. The fact Orion left them alone together means he had considered that option unfavourable for Sunny to pursue, but the rationale left him in the dark.

"Well, he's strong. I have complete faith that I don't even need to fight you should you attack me; one mention of his name and he'll be here in moments." Sunny shook his head at her comment. The complete faith she had in him was something he had only seen Nephis command in people, yet it wasn't out of duty.

Sighing to himself, Sunny conjured a chair out of shadows for them to sit on as he leaned forward. "So, what's he like when he isn't fighting?" his tone was laced with unbridled curiosity that Revel couldn't help but laugh at his question.

"He's cute, honest, wise and an unnaturally good cook. He's all I could ever ask for" Sunny nodded his head as a slight giggle escaped his lips. Orion being cute? The Gods may revive themselves once more before he witnessed such an event.

Orion had taken Nephis to where Sunny's shadow sense ended, however his could still reach. Shoving her backwards, Orion roughly grabbed her by the shirt before looking her in the eyes. For the first time since she had met him, a look of genuine rage flashed through his eyes.

"You stupid wench, do you think I don't recognise you, Changing Star?"