They had cleared the storm. They escaped.
"We... we did it."
His whisper was hoarse and quiet.
For a moment, his heart was drowned by a wave of joy and exhilaration.
"We did it!"
...But then, a nameless emotion enveloped him in a cold embrace.
Sunny shivered.
'What... why...'
"Nephis? Ananke?"
He rose to his knees and looked around, searching for their familiar figures.
Neph was there, sitting tiredly with her back against the side of the ketch. But...
A dull, tearing pain suddenly pierced his heart.
'No...'
Sunny's shoulders fell.
'No...'
Ananke... was nowhere to be seen.
The child priestess had disappeared, leaving behind no trace.
All that remained was an empty black mantle that lay on the deck, orphaned and forlorn.
Crawling a step forward, Sunny clutched the mantle and raised it, staring at the dark fabric with hollow eyes.
He remained kneeling for a few moments, unable to move... or think... or feel.
Sunny's soul felt cold, cold... colder even than he had felt in the snowy field outside Falcon Scott.
As he looked at the black mantle, frozen, two hands wrapped themselves around his shoulders, and Nephis hugged him from behind.
"She's gone."
The warmth of her body and the softness of her voice... were like execution's axe.
Sunny trembled.
Neph held him tighter, as if unwilling to let go.
"The storm must have carried us too deep into the past, far beyond where she was born. And so... she's gone. I'm sorry, Sunny."
The black mantle slipped from his fingers.
Looking down, Sunny gasped for breath.
'But we survived... we survived the storm! Why...'
His vision blurred.
After a while, consumed by pain, he whispered:
"...I am sorry, too."