"No. Listen, we need to…"
"...I'm hungry. Do you have a fruit?"
Sunny stopped, looking at the blind girl with a forlorn expression. She sounded like a broken doll, repeating the same phrase over and over. Her condition wasn't good.
He licked his lips.
"Come with me, and your hunger will disappear."
This was the best misdirection he could come up with within the confines of his Flaw. However, this time, he failed to achieve the desired effect.
Cassie smiled and said:
"Really? You'll take me to the fruits?"
Due to his exhaustion and the debilitating effect of the enthrallment, Sunny got distracted for a moment and failed to control the Flaw. Without realizing it, he opened his mouth and said:
"No."
Cassie pouted and lowered her head:
"That's not nice, Sunny. Why did you lie to me?"
Still reeling from his mistake, Sunny missed the moment and made things even worse, turning a small oversight into a real problem:
"...Because I want to take you away from this cursed island."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Sunny froze and opened his eyes wide, refusing to believe that he had just messed up that bad.
However, the damage was already done.
Cassie turned to him with a deep scowl.
"Take me… away? But I don't want to leave. Why would I leave the Soul Tree?"
Sunny silently cursed and shouted, abandoning any attempt to control himself:
"Because that thing is evil! It's pure goddamn nightmare! Come on, let's go…"
Grabbing her hand, he tried to pull the delicate girl away, but she resisted with surprising strength.
"Let go of me, you jerk!"
Cassie managed to rip her hand away from his grip and flinched back, looking at Sunny with anger.
"I said I don't want to go! You're acting strange, Sunny! Stop, please!"
Sunny froze, not knowing what to do.
"I just…"
"This island is our home! It's so nice here, with the three of us together! Why do you want to leave?!"
He lingered, struggling to do what he knew had to be done. Finally, Sunny gritted his teeth and said:
"Because it's five! Remember?!"
'I'm sorry, Cassie…'
Then, he lunged forward and violently grabbed the blind girl, easily suppressing her resistance.
"What are you doing?! Stop! Help! Help! Neph!"
Throwing her over his shoulder, Sunny turned around and ran toward the edge of the island. Cassie resisted desperately, using her small fists to pummel his back with a rain of punches.
Despite the fact that she had never taken part in battles against the Nightmare Creatures of the Forgotten Shore, she still was considerably stronger than a normal person. All those soul shards Changing Star had shared with her gave Cassie enough strength to make Sunny feel every strike.
It wasn't enough to seriously injure him, but more than enough to hurt like hell.
'I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, Cassie...'
Deeply disturbed, Sunny tried to block out Cassie's desperate screams and rushed to the boat. His forehead was covered in cold sweat.
As the last glimmers of light were disappearing from the sky, he finally returned to the edge of the island. The ghastly boat was silently standing on the sand, just a few meters away from the restless black water. Changing Star was resting just in front of it, raising her head to look at the source of the commotion.
"Neph! Help! Sunny had gone crazy!"
Nephis slowly rose to her feet, her indifferent expression radiating coldness. She slightly outstretched one hand.
'Crap.'
"Wait! It's not…"
Before he could finish the sentence, the silver sword appeared out of thin air, aimed at the ground… for now.
"Explain yourself."
Changin Star's voice was even and calm, but Sunny could feel the hidden threat in it. Suddenly, he saw her in a new light… or, rather, in an old one.
As a potential enemy.
The idea of facing off against Nephis sent chills running down his spine. He had almost forgotten the feeling he got back in the Academy, watching her wipe the floor with most of the Sleepers in their batch.
He had forgotten that she, too, was a monster.