Shadow Slave

On a beautiful island of ancient trees and emerald grass, a lone figure suddenly appeared out of thin air. It was a young man with alabaster skin, wearing a simple tunic of fine black silk. He remained motionless for a few moments, then walked to the edge of the island and froze there, looking down. If not for the wind playing with the young man's black hair, he would have looked like an exquisite statue.

The Ivory Island had changed a bit in the past few months. The great pagoda itself was the same, of course, but the comely wooden buildings created by the Fire Keepers now resembled a small, peaceful village that blended harmoniously into the landscape. The ancient trees of the grove now had fruit hanging from their branches, each looking ripe and delicious.

The white bones of the ancient dragon were still bathed in sunlight, and a graceful ship was still swaying on the placid surface of the clear lake.

There was one big change that startled Sunny a lot, though, pulling him out of his reverie. 'What the hell...'

Looking down, he did not see the familiar abyssal darkness of the Sky Below. Instead, he saw a mosaic of flying islands, all connected by colossal chains, slowly floating by.

The Ivory Island was moving.

Although the movement was very slow, it had already left the empty expanse of the Tear behind, and was now drifting through the clouds toward the southern border of the Chained Isles.

Sunny blinked a couple of times. 'Since when can this thing move?'

He lingered for a while, studying the landscape below, then walked along the edge of the Ivory Island.

It seemed that many things had changed while he was in Antarctica.

Soon, Sunny reached the waters of the clear lake, which glinted and shone with the reflected sunlight. There was a stone bench near the shore, and a familiar figure sitting on it with a fishing rod in her hand.

Tall, attractive, brimming with vitality... Effie was relaxing in the sun and watching the lake.

Sunny walked closer and remained silent for a while. Eventually, he said: "There's actually fish in that lake?"

Effie shrugged lazily. "Who knows? That's what I'm trying to find out. Hopefully! I developed a taste for fish... and sea monsters... after being stuck on a ship for an entire month."

Then, she suddenly froze, and slowly turned around.

Effie's hazel eyes shone with glee. "Sunny?! It's you?!"

He smirked. "Who else would it... argh! Gods! Put me down, you savage idiot!"

The huntress had instantly swept him into a crushing hug, and considering their difference in height, Sunny felt his feet leaving the ground. His voice was full of righteous indignation: "I said... gods, don't you have any modesty?! Let go of me!"

Effie exploded with laughter and put him down... and it was a good thing, too. Sunny was this close to using the [Feather of Truth] to turn himself as heavy as a huge chunk of marble. He only hesitated because that might have had no effect on her.

"When did you arrive?! No, wait... where the hell are you?! Neph told us that you are alive, but the news from the Antarctic Center... doofus, are you really alright? What happened?"

Sunny gave her a resigned look, then shook his head.

"Just now. East Antarctica. I guess. As for what happened..."

He sighed. "Let me think for a moment. I went through six thousand kilometers of abomination-infested mountains, received a couple of medals, traversed an endless tunnel full of elemental darkness, got killed by a titan, killed that titan back, led a convoy of tens of thousands of refugees to safety, rode a Saint into the depths of the ocean to fight a Corrupted Terror, killed that Terror, got blown up, then killed some more Nightmare Creatures, then lost to a different Titan, crossed the strait on a raft, rode a horse all the way to the nearest siege capital... that pretty much covers it, I guess. Oh, I also learned how to play the flute. A little."

Sunny paused, then looked at Effie nonchalantly: "And what's new with you?"

She stared at him for a moment, then grinned, wrapped her arm around his shoulder, and pulled him toward the tower.

"I see! So, the usual. Don't think that you're getting out of really telling us what happened, though... we've been worried sick, you know! Kai almost had a heart attack right before we disembarked in East Antarctica, when the news of what happened in Falcon Scott reached us! Even Princess seemed a bit shaken... I swear to the dead gods, I almost saw her having a facial expression. Come, let's find the rest of the guys..."

Sunny estimated his chances of struggling free of Effie's hold as moderate, but then just relaxed and allowed himself to be led toward the Ivory Tower. That was why he had come here, after all, to speak with the other members of the cohort. He needed to share a lot of practical knowledge with Kai and Effie, as well as speak with Nephis and Cassie about the great clans...

But more than that, he simply wanted to see them. There was a lot of darkness and confusion in his heart, but his friends... his cohort... despite all the complicated matters between them, they were like a small island of stability in the chaotic, unpredictable, deadly world they were all living in.

He had missed them all.

Even though, perhaps, he shouldn't have.

The four months Sunny had spent in Antarctica changed a lot of things, making some seem unimportant, and some more significant than they used to be.

He shook his head. "Fine, fine... I'm coming. Can you let me go now?"

Sunny sighed. 'At least she did not joke about the Graceless Dusk...'

At that moment, Effie gave him a mischievous look.

"Doofus, I couldn't help but notice... what a nice dress you have..."

He gritted his teeth. "Tunic. It's a tunic. A Transcendent armor-type Memory which is not a dress, but a tunic. Are you blind or what?!"