Darkness.
Then—pain. Sound.
It wasn't sharp. Not yet. It pulsed, muffled and heavy, like pressure at the bottom of a deep ocean. Every part of him felt distant, wrapped in cotton and blood. His mind floated somewhere above the wreckage of his body.
"...think he's coming to."
Another voice. Closer. "Get over here! His eyes are open!"
The world tilted.
Sunny blinked.
Once. Twice. On the third, the shadows cleared.
Above him, a familiar, unfairly handsome face swam into focus. Upside down, at first. Then tilted sideways. Kai leaned over him, bow strapped to his back, and arms waving. His face was pale, jaw tight, but his grin was real.
"Hey, corpse-boy. You alive?"
Sunny blinked again. His throat worked before any words came out. He sputtered once, and coughed up blood, but finally squeezed out a response.
"Gods, I hope not. I feel like shit."
Kai snorted and shifted to the side. "He's back," he called over his shoulder. "Somewhat."
Footsteps approached. Sunny felt cold stone beneath him. He was lying on his back, somewhere near the rear of the chamber. The faint sound of dripping water echoed in the distance. The scent of blood and sweat filled the air, turning it sour and rancid.
His head lolled slightly to the side.
The Cursed Herald was dead.
The monster's twisted, skeletal form was sprawled across the broken stone near the foot of the Stranger's statue. Its body had been cracked open, a gaping hole burned through its core, and a hollow indent removed. The edges of the wound still oozed a disgusting black liquid.
Cassie's handiwork. He remembered that, just barely—the Midnight Shard, piercing it through as the world slipped away.
He coughed again, and pain bloomed in his ribs.
Someone knelt beside him. Aiko, from the weight of the footfalls. She pressed two fingers to his neck, checking his pulse.
"He's alive," she confirmed, voice flat. "Again. I don't know why I bothered checking."
Her hand moved to press a cool cloth against his forehead. It smelled faintly of mint and metal.
"Don't sit up yet," she added. "You're still shaking."
He didn't listen. Or maybe he did, but only partway. He groaned and rolled onto one side, pushing himself upright on his arms.
A shadow moved into view beside him.
Effie crouched, her face half-covered in drying blood. She eyed him with something between irritation and relief.
"How the fuck are you the injured one between us all?" she muttered. "Jackass! Where did you even go?"
Sunny groaned, attempting to stand, but failing. "Lover's quarrel, Effie." He gave her a crooked smile. "Had to beat her until she stopped accurately describing my fear of abandonment. Very physically demanding as you can tell."
She snorted. "Right. Because nothing says emotional growth like smacking your feelings in the face."
Sunny blinked, serious as ever. "Oh believe me, I know a thing or two about domestic violence done right. Did I tell you, I once got into a custody dispute with a Cursed Terror, so it reached inside me to pull out our egg? Funny that sex-ed never told me guys could have those too."
There was a thud.
Kai, pale as parchment, had collapsed backwards like a felled tree. He lay sprawled, one hand clutching his chest like Sunny's words had physically attacked him.
"Did he just say egg?" Aiko whispered, already halfway to him.
Effie turned to Sunny slowly, like he'd sprouted horns. "You had what with a Cursed Terror?"
But Sunny had already started scanning the room, squinting at the walls like nothing at all had happened.
Caster stood at the far end of the chamber, just past the archway, guarding the tunnel.
Saint stood nearby, motionless as always. Her shield was deformed, but otherwise she was fine.
Cassie sat near the broken base of the statue. The Dawn Shard still rested on her brow, dimmed now, but not inert. She was watching him. Not urgently. Just waiting.
She didn't move yet.
Didn't call out.
Just met his gaze, and nodded once.
Sunny looked away.
He didn't want to see her like that. Not after...
Not after what he'd just seen.
The mimic. The duel. The voice.
The crown. The mist.
But still, he did. And when he saw her, it didn't hurt. Not as much as it had before. Barely at all, even.
He noticed his hand had been strained, as if gripping the air. Wrapped around a blade that wasn't there.
Serpent was gone.
No—wait. He looked down. His trusty Shadow coiled around his body as a tattoo, circulating essence through his wounds.
He hadn't remembered ordering it to do that.
The ground around him was clean.
So were his wounds, largely, given that Blood Weave had deemed bleeding too pedestrian.
His armor though, was shredded. His body felt about in the same shape, and he was exhausted.
Aiko leaned back and pressed the Endless Spring into his hand. "Drink. You've lost a lot of water."
He drank. Slowly. Then greedily.
Every swallow was another anchor. Proof that he was still tethered to the world.
A soft weight settled beside him. A warmth against his arm.
Cassie.
She didn't say anything. She didn't ask. She just sat beside him, her hand brushing lightly against his.
Present.
He let her fingers wrap around his.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
And that silence wasn't oppressive.
It wasn't waiting to be broken.
It simply... was.
Aiko shifted, rising to her feet. "I'm going to check on my Echo," she murmured. "Don't die while I'm not looking, otherwise I'll have to kill you again."
Kai chuckled, then winced and clutched his ribs. "At this point, I am pretty sure our fearless leader is immune to death. He would probably say its beneath him."
Effie rolled her eyes and walked off toward one of the fallen walls, muttering something indecipherable.
Saint moved without a word, following Caster's gaze into the tunnel beyond.
But Cassie stayed, hand wrapped around his.
Sunny looked down at their joined hands.
For the first time since Bitter Chorus, he didn't feel distant.
Didn't feel like a leader.
Just... human.
He lowered his head.
The ache behind his eyes was almost unbearable. The wound on his shoulder throbbed. His soul felt raw. Flayed.
He hadn't told them what happened. Hadn't said a word.
But they didn't ask.
They didn't press.
They just stayed near. Gave him water. Kept watch. Shared their warmth.
And in the hush that followed the storm, Sunny realized something strange.
They had fought without him. And they had won.
Not barely. Not by accident. With coordination. With courage. With strength they had earned — not from him, but with his guidance.
What he had given them... had taken root. And now it bore fruit.
He had always seen himself as separate.
But that distance hadn't protected anything. It had only isolated him.
They didn't see a commander now. They saw a comrade.
And maybe—just maybe—that was what he'd been needing all along.
And for now, that was enough.
What came later, could wait.
Today had been a long day.