Nephis held the shimmering crystals, looking at them with a heavy expression. Levi had his arms crossed under his cloak. Since there was a few people around he had decided to close his torso , usually he walked around with some of his torso out in the open.
Around them, the inhabitants of the outer settlement were hurrying to get inside their pitiful hovels before the coming of night. The sun was already hidden behind the cyclopean silhouette of the Crimson Spire, drowning the world in its eerie shadow. The air was full of fear and worry.
Anyways.. that was not his biggest worry currently. For entry they asked for one soul shard per one person. And.. they were five people.
Finally.. Sunny spoke up.
"What are you thinking about?"
Changing Star sighed and looked up. Her ivory face was harsh and thoughtful. She remained silent for a while, and then said in her usual calm tone:
"We need to split up."
Sunny couldn't help but laugh.
"You do know what usually happens when people split up in these kinds of situations, right?"
She stared at him with no humor in her cold, grey eyes.
"This is not a drama, Sunny. We have the means to provide two of us with food and shelter for a week. There's no reason to pass on this opportunity."
Cassie turned to her, a confused expression on her face.
"But ... but what about the other three?"
An uncomfortable silence hung between them, broken only by the whistling wind. Levi around them with his expressionless gaze. Three of them was going to remain hungry in the bitter cold while the other two would be eating their fill in the comfortable safety of the castle.
It was less than ten minutes since they reached the human civilization - well, whatever passed for one in this loathsome purgatory - and the tentative connection that had been established between them in the crucible of the Labyrinth was already coming apart at the seams.
'Typical mortals.. wait.. what..?'
Was he starting to act like an edgy immortal now..? He was both amused and disappointed.
Back to the topic.. Levi looked at the group. In his life Levi had never managed to stay very constant in groups. And he did not know if this one would be different anymore.
Meanwhile Nephis sighed and handed Sunny the soul shards.
"Here. Take Cassie inside."
Sunny stared at her hand, then looked up sharply.
'Interesting..'
"Why me?"
Changing Star simply raised an eyebrow. Shaking his head, Sunny offered her a crooked smile and added:
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not refusing. I'm just curious why are you so kind all of a sudden. Is it out of some misguided sense of nobility?"
Nephis looked at him for a while, and then said with indifference:
"I have never been noble. I have never been kind."
Levi suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at her words.
Meanwhile, Changing Star shrugged and looked away.
"It is simply the best choice. Right now, we need information the most. With the help of the shadow, you will be able to learn much more about what is going on in the castle than we ever would. While you are gathering information inside, we will do the same here. We will meet in a week, share our findings, and decide what to do next."
'Ah..'
It seems , their group was going to hold on a bit more. They were still going to work together.
Then Nephis looked at Shashi and Levi.
"Do you guys have any objections?"
Levi shook his head , as long as Sunny and Cassie were safe he was going to be fine with the deal.
"No objections." Shashi said nonchalantly.
Nephis looked at Sunny and added:
"Besides, the terms of our trade have come to an end. Your promise was to give up on your share of spoils on the way to the castle. Well, here we are. That stone creature was your kill, so these shards are yours by right."
'Ouch.'
Sunny had made a deal with Neph in the beginning of their journey. She was going to teach him swordsmanship and he was going to give her his spoils. It seemed like Sunny had forgotten about it.
However Changing Star did not.
Levi could see the regret his friend felt at that moment. However he hid it well. It was normal to feel like that , after all It was as though one of the few strings that connected them together had been suddenly severed.
With a sigh, he took the soul shards from her hand and gripped them tightly.
"Alright. Then ... I'll meet you in a week, I guess."
Sunny opened his mouth, wishing to say something else, but then just turned away. Stepping aside, he gave the girls some privacy to say their goodbyes.
Levi walked to Sunny to leave the girls. He looked at Sunny with a reassuring smile. He did not know what to say at that moment , it felt awkward.
"Take care of yourself , and Cassie." He said as he put a hand on his shoulder , squeezing it gently.
"Yeah.. you too. Try not to die."
As they stood in awkward silence , it was interrupted when Cassie finally made her way to Sunny. She looked... or turned her head in Levi's direction and smiled.
"See you , Levi. Take care of the girls."
"I will." He smiled back , wishing she could see it.
Soon they left , and now.. the three of them were left behind.
***
SHASHI
Shashi looked around as they walked through the slums. She did not like the atmosphere here. It smelled of desperation and dread. It seemed most of the people had lost their will and desire to go back home.
The thought of becoming one of these empty eyed people crossed her mind , however she immediately discarded it. She would survive and get out of here , alone or with her cohort.
As for her cohort.. currently they were divided. Cassie and Sunless had went into the castle to gather information , of course she did not think that Cassie would be able to gather intel , Changing Star most likely sent her with Sunless so she would be safe. She did not doubt Sunless's competence , Levi seemed to put a lot of trust into that boy.
Her eyes flickered to the white haired duo. They.. somehow looked like sibling , both having white hair and all. However they were most likely not , because from what she knew Levi had grown in the outskirts while Nephis was from the Immortal Flame clan.
Despite having the opposite lifestyles , both exuded the same aura to her. Both of them were very strong and dependable people.
From what she had observed , Nephis's aspect was very powerful. She could heal with those white flames of hers. And the healing quality was better than hers since she did not have to pay any price to heal. Shashi herself had to give the person her blood to heal them , which was not very convenient. Her skills with the sword were very enchanting , it looked almost flawless
Other than that , it seemed like she could envelope those flames around herself or her sword which had a destructive quality.
However she paid a vey big price for using her aspect. She always seemed to be in pain whenever she used her flames , it almost felt like she was burning alive.
'What a terrible flaw. I feel sorry for you princess.'
Her eyes flickered to Levi. She was intrigued by him to say the least. The man was literally throwing hands with nightmare creatures. Who in the right mind would do that? And he killed them with such a vicious smile on his face , as if he enjoyed ripping those beasts apart with his fists.
His aspect seemed to be a purely offensive one , from what she observed whatever he touched decayed in an instant. Additionally that form.. when his veins took black colors and pulsed repulsively , it was an eerie sight. In their last fight against the awakened demon , his form had seemed to evolve and spread to his face.
She wondered if they had divine aspects just like she did.. after all they were extremely strong.
She also found his blood to be very tasty. She licked her lips unconsciously.
However there was one problem about him , no matter how much blood she drank or how much blood he lost.. he did not look fazed by them. She did not know what to make of it , his aspect did not seem to have any regenerative abilities since his wounds did not heal by themselves and usually she tended them.
Was he simply that resilient? Or was there something else at play here? She did not know..
She gazed at the trio once again.. She may not know much about them.. however she knew one thing...
***
LEVI
As the darkness was setting , they finally reached some lodge. The women had insisted that they should find a lodge in the outer settlements near the entrance of the dark city since it would be quiet there.
The lodge seemed decent enough from the outside.. Levi entered first to check if there was any killing intent that emanated from the house , however he found none. He gestured for the two women to follow after him.
The interior was spartan and austere, with pieces of broken furniture lying here and there and cold winds sweeping freely through the spacious hall of the first floor.
The house was empty , no one wanted to live this close to both the edge of the platform at the threshold of the road, where the risk of being attacked by Nightmare Creatures was the highest. But the trio did not mind.
Shashi placed her lantern memory onto the table.
"This place needs some work.." Shashi muttered under her breath as she looked around.
"I suppose we should clean around before going to sleep." Levi replied calmly.
All of them got to work around the lodge. Levi decided to gather the broken furniture outside the house while the girls did something else. He gathered them outside of the doorway , maybe they will need some wooden one day.
Soon , they were finished around the house. They decided to set the makeshift around in the living room in case something happened. They sat around the lantern in a circle , Shashi was talking to Nephis about swordsmanship and other kinds of martial arts.
Levi thought about Sunny and Cassie , it was kind of getting clear those two were the ones who were holding the groups atmosphere light. Levi had thought they had established some kind of trust amongst each other , but it seems that was only limited to battles.
These three did not trust each other at all personally.