The whisper of Sunless broke the silence, heavy with tension:
"Stop!"
As soon as he spoke, Nephis summoned her sword, her fingers quick and precise. Cassia, in turn, froze. Her hesitation was clear, yet she still raised her staff, as if the gesture alone might grant her some sense of safety.
Sunless's cautious stance reflected the gravity of the situation. Guided by his senses, I felt his growing nervousness as the group of scavengers moved under the gaze of his shadow.
I didn't need to count the monsters—Sunless already had. Even so, it wasn't hard to picture them: six creatures, massive and menacing.
His dry and direct report confirmed what I already suspected:
"There are scavengers on the path ahead—six of them. They're moving slowly in our direction."
Nephis's gaze shifted, still steady and unreadable. After swiftly assessing the surroundings, she asked calmly:
"Did they finish with the carcass?"
Sunless hesitated before answering:
"No... I don't think so. Maybe there wasn't enough meat for all of them. Some probably left with empty bellies."
Nephis nodded, her gray eyes shining with the usual resolve.
"We'll go around them."
Without hesitation, we took the nearest path, keeping a wide margin between us and the group of monsters. The atmosphere around us felt dense, suffocating.
The coral labyrinth challenged us with each step, and every turn seemed to bring us closer to another inevitable encounter with the scavengers.
We spent the next hour dodging and changing direction repeatedly. Our progress toward the statue was nearly nonexistent, and with each lost step, frustration mounted.
It wasn't just time that was slipping away, but also the sun, slowly sinking into the horizon—a reminder that night would bring the sea upon us—the manifestation of a great titan.
When we finally stopped to catch our breath, the silence was broken by a nervous murmur from Cassia:
"Maybe... maybe we should go back?"
It was a reasonable suggestion, but it wouldn't solve our problem. I was a little firm when I replied:
"It'll only get harder tomorrow."
The scavengers would be even more numerous as time passed.
Sunless seemed restless, and Nephis tilted her head slightly—a characteristic gesture of hers when weighing an important decision. After a few moments, her gray eyes turned to me, searching for something.
Maybe it was approval, maybe it was something else.
But then she spoke:
"Fight."
The word dropped on us like a stone, heavy and inescapable.
"Fight? Against dozens of them? Are you insane?" Sunless asked, incredulous.
I almost smiled, despite the tension. Amused by the catchphrase that would soon become iconic.
I knew he was about to list all the reasons against the idea, but keeping my focus on what we were up against, I spoke first:
"We'll avoid the large groups. We'll only take down the small ones."
Nephis added with her unshakable calm:
"If there's just one or two, we'll have a chance."
It was logical. And Sunless knew it, even if he didn't want to admit it. Eventually, he nodded, though reluctantly.
Then, Nephis turned her attention directly to him:
"Did you study the corpse of the scavenger you killed?"
The question caught him off guard. After a moment of confusion, Sunless replied:
"No."
I could see understanding dawn on his face as Nephis explained the creatures's weak points: the eyes, the joints, the connection between the shell and the torso, and finally, the spot on their back—the most lethal, but also the hardest to reach.
Her eyes passed over us as she concluded:
"If we find only one, I'll be the bait, Ariandel will support with his bow, and Sunny, you'll finish it."
I saw Sunless swallow hard before asking the obvious question:
"And if there are two?"
Nephis took a moment—long enough for me to predict her response. It came dry and direct:
"Don't die."
Classic her.
***
It didn't take long before they had no choice but to try fighting a scavenger.
Behind us stretched a long corridor of the labyrinth without suitable branches to continue. Ahead, a small clearing opened, with only one other passage leading from it.
When the Star of Change decided they would fight in the clearing, I recognized the logic behind the decision, though the weight of responsibility made the moment more tense. The path was too narrow for an efficient retreat, and the monster was boxing us in.
I helped Cassia settle beside the wall of the labyrinth. She was pale, her resolve weakening before the enemy she couldn't help us face.
When I turned after comforting her, she stopped me, grasping my wrist. I felt the tension in her fingers.
"Aria, you... be careful, okay?"
Her voice was fragile—a reflection of genuine concern.
For a moment, I let my gaze rest on her. I saw beyond the fear, recognizing the trust she placed in me.
A smile rose to my lips and echoed in my voice:
"Out of all of us, Cassia, I'm in the least danger. So, don't worry too much."
As I walked away, her words still resonated in my heart.
I summoned my Memory—a simple yet elegant longbow—watching as fine, colored threads wove and shimmered to form it. Then, I vanished from perception, moving in silence.
We reached the clearing quickly.
Nephis positioned herself with calculated confidence, becoming a deliberate target. Sunless, already hidden, was a lurking shadow, waiting for the right moment to strike.
When the scavenger appeared, its fury was palpable. Its movements were fast and precise, yet predictable. As soon as Nephis dodged the first lunge and simultaneously sliced through the joint of one of its front legs, I fired.
My arrow struck the monster's left eye, tearing a roar of pain from it and partially blinding it. That gave the princess the opening she needed to attack the joint of another leg, further limiting its mobility.
The scavenger counterattacked fiercely, but the Star of Change was already in motion, leading it where we wanted. She created an opening, exposing a gap in the creature's defense, and my second arrow flew, forcing it to turn its back to Sunless.
This was it. The moment we'd planned.
Sunless leapt from his shadow with startling resolve, using the opportunity we created. He climbed the scavenger's shell, ignoring the imminent danger, and drove his blade into the creature's weak spot with deadly precision.
The monster's final roar echoed before its body collapsed, heavy and still.
And... something stirred in my soul.
My invisibility had completely faded after the second shot, but the battle was already over.
"That... was easy?" Sunless doubted, not even out of breath.
For our specific group? Well... yes.
There was a whisper from the Spell.
I checked on Cassia with my Mental Sense. She was still safe, resting against the wall.
We were all unscathed after the first fight, and relieved, I allowed myself a breath before walking over to her.
***
Soon, Ariandel approached the place where the angelic young woman waited patiently for their return.
Upon hearing the deliberate sound of his footsteps, she flinched slightly and raised her head, as if the weight of his presence was a comforting reminder.
"A—Ariandel?" she asked, her voice hesitating a little.
Before answering, a curious thought crossed his mind:
'What would it be like to live without sight, with all the other senses heightened? She must be able to perceive details about people and the world around her that no one even imagines revealing... I wonder: how does she see me, amid all this?'
Returning to the moment, Ariandel smiled gently, trying to convey a bit of his calm.
"Hey Cas. It's me. Everything went well. Let's go."
With a light motion, she used her wooden staff to stand up, still a bit unsteady, and turned toward his voice.
"How did it go exactly… did anyone get hurt?"
"No. We took down the scavenger with relative ease. Not a single scratch on us."
"I see… That's good. Thank you," Cassia murmured, smiling, the relief visible on her face.
Ariandel, with careful gestures, took her small hand, guiding her gently with a steady touch. As they walked side by side, he couldn't help but feel a bit strange.
With no memories of this new life beyond vague sensations, all that remained were hazy fragments of who he had once been in another incarnation... in order to understand who "Ariandel" was—to define the shape of his soul.
That day he Awakened, he held onto a thread of hope, imagining there might be some trace of his past in the Government's records, or that someone, perhaps, would come searching for him... but nothing came.
Not a single clue about him, no one to care about his existence. Or his lack thereof...
To face his situation, Ariandel tried his best to let himself be distracted by the magic of his powers—by the fantasy of living in another world that shouldn't even exist, or perhaps should exist, but without him...
Even so, in some moments, this sense of loss hurt Ariandel. As the familiar, inevitable pain spread through his chest, he inhaled and exhaled, trying to endure the emotion.
In the end, he thought, all this would become nothing more than a distant story... someday.