1553-1554 eng

1553 Shadow and Seer

After asking the question, Sunny sat down on a bench across from Cassie.

There they were, alone in a boat, just the two of them... or rather, the four of them.

The Sin of Solace landed on the bench next to Sunny, a sinister smile twisting his lips. His face was hateful, just like always... of course, it was also the exact same face as Sunny's.

Cassie was sitting on the helman's bench a few meters away from them, holding the steering oar. The Echo of the dead sybil was there, too, side by side with her. Since both were wearing flowing garments of vibrant red fabric, traditional for the priestesses of Fallen Grace, they looked quite similar too. The most visible difference between them was that Cassie's exquisite face was bare, while the monstrous Echo was wearing a veil.

Cassie's beautiful blue eyes were full of life, as well, even though she was blind. The sybils's eyes, though, were eerily empty and devoid of life. Her hollow stare made shivers run down Sunny's spine — he felt that way every time he saw an Echo of a human. Granted, this one was made in the image of a human who had succumbed to the Defilement.

The four of them sat opposite each other, surrounded by invisible tension.

Despite Sunny's sudden appearance, though, Cassie remained calm. She deactivated the enchantment of her wooden staff and lowered it, then said in an even voice:

"I thought you were asleep."

A faint smile appeared on Sunny's lips.

"Did you?"

He had been reasonably sure that his small act had fooled the blind seer, but now that he saw her lack of reaction, a worm of doubt entered his mind. Had she known he was pretending all along?

The Sin of Solace chuckled, staring at Cassie with hate and disdain in his gaze.

"It seems that you've been played like a fiddle, pitiful worm. Even after all my warnings... gods, how frustrating! You should have struck this traitor down long ago. Just look at her... she must despise you just as much as I do!"

The corner of Sunny's mouth twitched, but he suppressed the desire to rebuke the sword wraith. That, however, only gave the apparition the opportunity to press his mocking tirade:

"You truly are a revolting creature, are you not? A lowly, despicable slave... and look, here is the woman who made you into a slave. She betrayed you once, and yet, you allowed the snake to warm her way back into your good graces. You have forgotten her sins, and as gratitude, the blind traitor is about to stab you in the back once again!"

At that point, Cassie took a deep breath.

...Then, she turned her head slightly, facing the Sin of Solace, and spoke, her voice trembling with long-suppressed anger:

"Can you shut your foul mouth, wretch? Who asked you to talk? Be quiet for once!"

Sunny was taken a little aback by that show of emotions.

The Sin of Solace stared at her vindictively, but did fall silent. A satisfied smile appeared on his face.

Sunny smiled, too.

"So... you can perceive him, after all."

Cassie's mask of composure had finally cracked, revealing an ocean of emotion raging below. However, she regained that composure in a moment and scoffed, throwing a contemptuous glance at the sword wraith.

"So what if I can?"

Sunny shrugged.

"You lied to me, though, on Aletheia's Island. When you said that you couldn't."

Cassie met his gaze without flinching. Her voice was even:

"...So what if I lied? Yes, I can perceive that insufferable wraith through you. I can also perceive your shadows, and what they see. What about it?"

He sighed. 'Damnation.'

So, he was wrong all along. Sunny had assumed that Cassie's Ascended Ability did not affect his shadows, since they were separate beings from him, and she did not have shadow sense. She had also never shown or acted upon the ability to mark his shadows.

So, Sunny had been fooled.

Played like a fool even.

He was still smiling, but that smile did not reach his eyes.

"So you were aware that I had been watching you for the past few months."

She shrugged.

"Sure."

If Cassie was aware that Sunny was suspicious of her... then the situation was completely different from how he imagined it to be. Not only would she have been able to hide her secrets from him, but even the things she had shown him had been shown of purpose.

Like the chamber with the well and the countless journals stored in a runic chest.

Knowing that his shadows were watching her, Cassie would only be able to act freely if she was outside the range of Shadow Control. That was why she wanted to stay behind while Sunny joined the scouting teams...

His pupils widened slightly.

'No...'

If Cassie had known that he was suspicious of her... she would have known that he would refuse to leave her alone on the Chain Breaker, as well. They were too familiar with each other for her to fail predicting that action of his.

Which meant that the blind seer's true purpose was not to remain alone on the flying ship...

Instead, it was for the two of them to remain there together, away from the other members of the cohort.

And he had done exactly what she wanted him to do.

Suddenly, a hint of a strange and cold emotion settled in Sunny's heart. Was it... fear?

Yes, it was. It was the fear of fighting a battle of schemes against a powerful oracle. Cassie might not have been the strongest of them in a direct confrontation, but being caught in a net of schemes and manipulation that someone who could see the future had created...

Was, honestly, nothing short of terrifying.

Sunny deemed himself a master of deceit and manipulation. There was only one person he had met who could truly be considered a fearsome adversary in that field — Mordret.

But now, he was quickly reconsidering that statement. Actually, there was another contender among them.

And that newcomer was perhaps the most fearsome of the three.

Looking at the blind, who remained calm and composed, Sunny leaned back and asked, his tone relaxed:

"So, why did you want to see me alone, Cassie?"

He lingered for a moment and then added, his voice remaining even:

"...Or should I call you Torment?"

1554 Familiar Face

The words had been said, echoing in the beautiful darkness of the glowing night. Devoid of the wind, the sails of the ketch fell down. The boat slowly came to a stop, drifting in the current.

Cassie remained silent for a few moments, as motionless as the Echo of the Defiled sybil sitting by her side. Then, she asked, her voice tinged with a hint of amusement:

"Should I call you the Mad Prince, then?"

As Sunny's expression changed, she chuckled lightly.

"Gods... come now. I know that you only asked that question to probe me for a reaction, but how does it make sense? I'm not Torment."

Sunny frowned, disappointed at the fact that he had not been able to get more out of Cassie. He was considering his next question silently when she turned to face her Echo and said, throwing his thoughts into disarray:

"She is."

He froze, stunned by those words.

Then, Sunny slowly moved his gaze to the silent Echo.

The red garment, the empty gaze, the veil hiding her face...

'How?'

Back when they met in Fallen Grace, Cassie said that she come to possess this Echo after slaying the sybil who had succumbed to the Defilement on the day of her entering the Nightmare. The two looked alike, true... but both Sunny and Nephis simply assumed that it was because both the slain woman and Dusk had been sybils ruling the same city.

The Echo was too eerie and revolting, making Sunny unwilling to learn what was hiding behind the red veil. Therefore, he had never tried to look at the creature's face.

The most he had done was glance at its weave, but even then, most of his attention had been focused on the artificial Echo created by the enchanters of Clan Valor — the long destroyed blade mannequin.

Now, however...

Cassie raised her hand and pulled on the Echo's veil, removing it.

Underneath it, an exquisitely beautiful face was revealed... one identical to her own, but devoid of life. The Echo of the sybil... of Torment... was hollow and expressionless, like all Echoes were.

There was a subtle expression on Cassie's face, though. A strange mix of revulsion, sorrow, and even a hint of tenderness.

It was not every day that one chanced to look upon a soulless copy of their own dead self, after all.

Gears were spinning in Sunny's head at impossible speed, trying to digest the stunning revelation of the eerie Echo's true nature.

'Torment... is dead.'

She had been dead all along.

Of course, he had suspected that something like that was the case.

That suspicion was a recent one, and had only entered his mind after they landed near Verge. Sunny could not accept that the fearsome oracle of the Defilement was not aware of their approach. It would have been fine if it was just Mordret and him, wearing Weaver's Mask — both of them could hide themselves from divination.

But the other members of the cohort had no defense against those who were attuned to fate, which made any attempts at hiding useless.

Nevertheless, the Chain Breaker had not been ambushed as it left the black void. The forces of the Defilement had not descended upon them once they reached the vast island of ice, either.

It was as though Torment had somehow been prevented them from acting against them... or was not in Verge at all. Which was strange, considering that she had successfully gotten rid of the Dread Lord and was supposed to be the new tyrant of Defiled City.

He contemplated the thought that the Mad Prince had schemed against the Last Plague, as well.

But the truth was much more stunning.

Cassie had never received an Echo for slaying the Defiled sybil. There was no Echo of a sybil...

Instead, she had received this Echo for slaying Torment herself. Cassie had killed her Defiled copy long before Sunny and Nephis even arrived at Fallen Grace.

He shivered.

Why keep it a secret, then?

Cassie studied the Echo's face for a while, then sighed and turned away. After a short pause, she said in a slightly stifled tone:

"I... suggest you don't look her in the eyes for too long. It's rather unpleasant."

The Sin of Solace hurriedly looked away.

Sunny slowly gathered his thoughts, still reeling from the shock. He was struggling to grasp the new information... it was too staggering, changing everything he had known about the Nightmare.

Eventually, he asked, his voice even:

"...When?"

Cassie shrugged.

"It was... about six months after I became Dusk, I think? Of course, that was not the first time we met, just the last."

Sunny remembered the chamber hidden under the Temple of Dusk, with a breach in its floor leading to the depths of the Great River. Was that how Torment had entered Fallen Grace and come into contact with Cassie? Was that where they had fought, and where the Defiled oracle died?

But how could it be possible? How could Cassie have defeated a harrowing Plague alone, despite all the time Torment should have had to accumulate power and information to prepare for their eventual clash?

Staring at two identical, beautiful faces — one familiar and full of life, the other alien and empty — he suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

"Can you... put that veil back on?"

He hated human Echoes, and he hated to see the Echo of one of his closest friends even more. Looking at the soulless copy of Torment was like looking at Cassie's corpse, which made him feel disgusted.

The blind girl hesitated for a moment, then put the veil back on, hiding the Echo's face behind it. Torment's empty eyes, however, remained visible, staring at Sunny without any emotion.

Cassie sighed.

"At least... she is at peace now. That is a mercy."

Sunny shifted his gaze, studied her for a few moments, and then asked his next question:

"How?"

The blind girl smiled.

"How else? Of course, it was arranged by the Mad Prince."

She fell silent for a second, and then added, her voice wistful:

"...By the Mad Prince and Torment herself, to be precise. The two of them, you see, were behind all of this together."