Shadow Slave

The Red Colosseum was in ruins. Its ancient walls had collapsed, and were now overgrown with verdant vines. The people who had once crowded the tribunes were all long dead. And yet... even the passage of countless years failed to wash away the stain of blood from the surface of the stone that had once been pristine white.

Sunny knew from Cassie that the Colosseum was in a sorry state. He also knew that the island had been infested by all kinds of Nightmare Creatures - probably the remains of Solvane's menagerie of monsters - before the Fire Keepers wiped them out.

The Fire Keepers had also cleared the floor of the arena in order to reveal the buried runes, and now, Cassie was slowly walking along the grooves, tracing their shapes with her steps.

Sunny himself was in a bleak mood. He studied the ruins, remembering the countless bloody battles that had been fought here. This was where he had killed the stone gargoyles... this was where he had killed the emerald skeleton... and this was where he had almost lost his life to the blade of one of the red zealots.

It had been thousands of years since his escape from the Colosseum... no, not quite. In truth, he had never been here at all. The bloody arena he knew was just a mirage conjured up by the Spell, while this... this was the real thing.

It didn't change its vile nature, though.

"Glory..."

Nephis turned at the sound of his whisper. Her striking grey eyes were somber.

"Is this the arena where you were imprisoned?"

Sunny nodded.

"Yes... the cage they kept me in was right there, below that pile of rubble. Back then, I barely knew how to move the body that the Spell had given me. My, oh my. Coming to my senses inside that thing was quite a shock."

He looked at her, wondering what body Neph had received in her own Nightmare. She must have been startled to find herself thrust into a non-human vessel, too. After all, there had been no Divine Aspect users before them.

And Divine Aspects, for all their benefits, did not come with an instruction manual.

Changing Star nodded slowly.

"I can imagine."

She didn't say anything else, still keeping the details of her Nightmare to herself.

Sunny sighed.

"Well, anyway. The first few days were rough... and every day that followed was rough, too. I had to fight my way to the center of the arena and face the zealots of the Red Sect there each time. And all the while, crowds of people were cheering me on from the stands... creepy bastards. They were equally happy to see us slaves kill, or see us die. All for the glory of War God."

Kai, who was nearby, nodded.

"I faced those zealots too, on the battlefield. Everyone in the Kingdom of Hope was mad, by that point, but the Warmongers were especially wicked. And they were indeed just as Sunny described them, equally happy to kill as they were to die. Their faith had been perverted beyond belief."

He glanced at the blood-stained stones and added after a short pause:

"Now that I think about it... maybe it is not a coincidence that the followers of War God were that way. War God is also the deity of humanity, after all."

Sunny chuckled.

"Yeah... well, anyway. I got better as time went on, enough to survive until the moment I could escape. And I did."

Nephis looked around silently.

"It must have been hard. To survive alone."

He shrugged.

"It would have been. But I wasn't alone. There was this guy with me, a local Awakened. A healer. Without him, I would not have lasted nearly as long as I did."

He studied the ruins for a few moments, then gestured in a certain direction.

"That was where Solvane killed him, in the end. At the edge of the island. The fool decided to find courage in the worst moment possible."

Sunny remained silent for a while, then sighed.

"Still... I guess it's better to die with courage than to die without it. Not that I would know."

He looked at Nephis and smiled.

"I must have slaughtered a thousand enemies in this arena, both abominations and humans. But, knowing you, I bet even more died by your sword in the Nightmare."

She glanced north, in the direction of the Hollow Mountains, and shook her head.

"No... actually, I did not kill that many."

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

"Wait... what, really? With your personality?"

Nephis smiled.

"I was only Dormant, in my Nightmare. I was the weakest creature there, by far. Solving problems with a sword is... is a privilege for the strong."

He looked at her with a strange expression.

"Well. You must have learned a lot, then. Weakness is a great teacher."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Sunny regretted saying them. Nephis had always been a symbol of strength, in his mind. A domineering presence that swept away all obstacles to achieve her goals... but in truth, she had spent most of her life as prey being pursued by terrifying predators. Sunny still remembered the dream he had visited, a fragment of a memory she had about one of the attempts on her life.

She knew about weakness just as much as he did.

Neph's smile slowly faded away.

She remained silent for a while, and then nodded.

"Yes. I did learn a lot."

'Great. Maybe think twice before opening your mouth the next time, fool.'

Sunny hesitated, thinking what to say.

The solemn atmosphere was destroyed a moment later, though, by a loud crinkling noise. Sunny, Nephis, and Kai turned around and looked at Effie, who was completely focused on opening a packet of chips.

The bright colors of the modern packaging looked extremely out of place in the ancient ruin.

Feeling their attention, the huntress looked up, lowered her sunglasses to the tip of her nose, and raised her eyebrows.

"...What?"

Then, she sent a mouthful of synth chips into her mouth and looked around, chewing. After a while, she said:

"I must admit, though. I'm a little upset. That wench Solvane was from the same sect as me, right? How come the temple I ended up in was not nearly as grand and majestic? I mean... do you know how small and damp my room was?"

She shook her head with a sour face.

"What's even the point of being in a sect of war zealots if you don't have an awesome arena like this?"