"As for the fairy tale... now that we established that the doll wouldn't have died from hanging, I must admit - I wouldn't mind smashing that annoying cricket with a hammer and watching it die."
The apparition mockingly raised an eyebrow. Neph, meanwhile, frowned slightly and asked:
"Why do you keep looking to the side when talking about that enchantment?"
Sunny froze.
"Well... that... at first, there was only a voice. But now there's an illusory figure following me, too. In fact, it looks exactly like me, and uses my own voice to berate me. It's fine, though. Just... annoying."
Nephis remained silent before asking in an even tone:
"So... there are two Sunnys here right now?"
Sunny grimaced, then nodded with a bit of reluctance.
"In a sense. One is just a foul-mouthed hallucination, though."
Neph stared at him for a while with a funny expression.
Then, she tilted her head slightly...
And stared at him some more.
Sunny suddenly felt a bit weird under that gaze.
"...What? Why are you looking at me like that? I'm not crazy!"
No... what was it hidden in the depths of her calm grey eyes? Was it... amusement?!
Nephis suddenly took a deep breath, and then shook her head.
"I know that you are not crazy. That Memory should be the Sin of Solace, right? It is tied to Ariel - and, therefore, to the Tomb of Ariel. Even though the pyramid doesn't seem to exist in this Nightmare, it might come in handy."
Sunny slowly exhaled.
"Right."
Nephis had access to the list of his Memories, so she would know about the Sin of Solace.
But that reminded him...
Growing serious, Sunny said in a somber tone:
"Speaking of which... I think we should try to figure out where we are. And, more importantly, why we are here. I think that if we pull all the information we have together, we might be able to find out a few things."
She nodded.
"Okay. I was thinking the same thing. There have to be hints in the descriptions of some of the Memories we received during the Chain of Nightmares. I can tell you which ones of mine seem important."
Sunny too thought that this was the best course of action, at least for now - the azure serpent didn't seem to have plans of climbing onto the carcass of the black turtle, and the current was pulling it downstream. Even if they tried to fly away, their speed wouldn't be much greater than that of the dark island.
So, they might as well try to better understand the situation first.
However...
He gathered his willpower, hesitated for a few moments, and forced out an indifferent smile:
"Uh... before that... I think you should summon a new armor Memory. So, you know... this one could restore itself."
Nephis frowned, then looked down at herself.
The black garments she wore were singed and torn, revealing more than a fair bit of her smooth alabaster skin. She remained motionless for a bit, then shifted slightly.
"Turn ar... can you turn around?"
She phrased it as a question instead of a request, but Sunny nevertheless obediently faced the wall of the fissure.
"I can."
After a moment of awkward silence, another question followed:
"...Can you also make your shadow turn around?"
He forced the gloomy shadow to face the black rock, too.
"No problem."
The Sin of Solace rolled his eyes, then shook his head and followed their example.
"You are a pitiful man, Sunny. You know that? Ah, don't bother responding... gods, I wish you did squish me with a hammer. Then, I wouldn't have to endure your..."
Sunny ignored him.
Soon, the dark fissure became a little brighter - Neph's clothes turned into a swarm of white sparks.
Then, the fissure was illuminated again as she summoned another armor.
Sunny let out a shaky breath.
'What is this sense of déj? vu...'
"Are you done?"
She answered after a short pause:
"Yeah."
He smiled.
"Alright. Let's do some research, then!"