Shadow Slave | School Days

Name 3 fights you want to see in future that do not involve Sunny.

--

Warm air enveloped Nephis' body as she stared blankly into the clear blue skies. There wasn't a single thought running through her mind, the conversation she had with Sunny had quite literally stopped her mind in place. It was a disgusting situation, realising that the person who you boldly declared to never leave their side almost admitted they would break their promise.

Why she was unable to respond to his question, she didn't know. It was an odd thing; she would like to admit that she could stay at his side no matter the adversity, but it seemed that the basic fact of the matter was Sunny cared far more for her and the rest of people in his life than they did for him.

Such a discrepancy in value had fooled him into thinking that he himself to all those around him in value, placing himself in harms way and providing continuous excuses on why they couldn't involve themselves instead of simply admitting that he didn't think they deserved the suffering he was inflicting onto himself.

Nephis' Her feet placed themselves in front of each other slowly and methodically without much thought behind them, her mind was so blank she didn't even notice the tears that streamed down her face in single orderly lines as her eyes struggled to focus on a particular object.

Eubin's furious face came into view, standing right in front of the pale haired young woman with a hideous grimace marring her alluring features as she slapped Nephis straight across the face. The sound was so resounding that every one of the Song sisters turned their head at it, focusing on the altercation that was about to occur with interest.

In the same moment, Cassie was next to Eubin, her rapier aimed directly for her neck as she narrowed her eyes behind her blindfold. "I'd advise you don't do that again." She hissed; her malice barely restrained as Eubin's face quickly shifted from a grimace to a malicious grin.

Without even moving, she looked down at Cassie before raising an eyebrow, almost surprised at her arrival.

"For someone so aggressive, you'd do well to remember what beast you bare your fangs towards."

Cassie immediately felt the ramifications for her aggression as strings which she initially had not noticed coiled around her body with monumental strength. A single movement out of turn would cause them to bite into her body, drawing blood in every possible nonlethal area.

'I should have sensed those coming... unless she was moving to fast that I didn't notice. No, that isn't it either. They're too thin for me to register them mentally.' Cassie thought cautiously, backing away from Eubin with a still visible grimace as she sheathed her rapier. She had almost gotten herself into something dangerous.

Without needing to look backward, she could see that the rest of the Song sisters had already drawn their weapons, preparing to end her life if the need be. Frankly, this wasn't a fight she could win. She was no monster. And so, she waited for the altercation to occur with bated breathes.

Upon noticing Cassie relent, Eubin's fury arrived in full force once more, staring at Nephis' blank face for a moment as bloodlust began to ooze from every orifice of her body. In fact, it was taking every ounce of her self control to not hit the woman again, so instead she started speaking.

"So, what do you want to start off with? You telling him to value himself more, then when he asks you the question, he's been dying to hear an honest answer to you can't even say yes!? How shallow are you!? No, don't even answer that question, because I have the picture painted in my head already."

Hearing this, Nephis was broken from her stupor as she wiped her tears, listening intently to what Eubin was about to tell her as her eyes narrowed. Whatever it was wasn't going to be pleasant to listen to and she was quite sure of it.

"You saw a vulnerable boy, you didn't really care much for him outside your own amusement. Then, you saw that he was slightly troubled and decided that it would fit your sick fucking fantasies to shower your pity onto him instead of treating him like a person. After coddling him and trying to make him reliant on you, then you realise that there's more to him than meets the eye."

Pausing, she watched as Nephis grit her teeth in anger, her hands balled into fists as she prepared herself to lash out at Eubin violently, yet her words were hitting home in ways she didn't think they were, and it was unsettling. Eubin seemed to notice such a fact too and continued to force the issue.

"You realised that he was deeply traumatised, afraid of women to an unhealthy degree, so you decided that since you lust after him so intensely you would manipulate him into giving himself to you. And then, once everything is said and done and he becomes too big of a problem for your own personal desires you forget about him. Upon seeing him get tortured, and I know damn well you did, you were disgusted, not only in yourself for not helping but you were disgusted of him! You saw him as less of a human for enduring!"

"Don't make assumptions and things you know nothing about! Neph was training almost every day, trying her hardest, she even started killing just for the sake of becoming strong enough to protect the people she cared for you meddling scum!"

Surprising everyone, it was Cassie who was responsible for the outburst. A vein bulged on her head; her hands red from pressure as she balled them into such tight fists one would be surprised, they didn't pop. And surprising everyone further, not only did Eubin not respond, she outright ignored Cassie's outburst entirely.

"If it is how your blond slave says it is, I want to hear it from you directly. Yes or no, would you have abandoned Sunny with Morgan if you were stuck there with him?"

The question hung in the air like an invisible anvil, weighing over Nephis' head with such monumental pressure that she felt like a victim towards Sunny's defect herself. A vile, self centred, odious, cruel answer bubbled at the back of her throat, threatening to release itself at any moment, and then it did.

"Yes! Ok! Fuck, yes, I would have! I'm not an unfeeling fucking machine who can endure anything, you piece of shit! You would have done the exact same thing too; you would have left him too! You wouldn't have done any better in my situation you fucking hypocrite so why are you sitting here judging me!"

Moving silently was an art, one that many people spent their entire life trying to master. Each surface upon colliding with your body had the potential to make even the slightest noise, which, if you were an assassin or even worse a member of the underworld, could spell your doom in mere moments.

But there was a single individual, one of one. Who had been able to kill his presence entirely without even intending it. How he had come to develop such an ability was absurd. And yet, it was exactly because of this well-known ability that not a single soul was shocked when Sunny's monotone voice rang out through the clearing, holding firewood in his hands.

Gently placing them on the floor, he cocked his head to the side, perfectly masking his emotional anguish with an act that he had perfected over years. "Ah, I see. An unfeeling machine, that's how you see me. At least I finally got to hear what you see within those eyes of yours." He commented, his voice silencing all rage that Eubin possessed as Nephis turned her head slowly towards him.

But Sunny was already walking away, he had dropped the lighter next to the firewood and arranged the logs in a way where each person could sit easily before waving behind his back. "I'm going to take a bath in the lake over there," he commented, pointing west. "Don't worry about me, even if I get strangled to death I won't feel it."

"Sunny, you know that's not what I mean-" before she could finish her sentence, Sunny had already disappeared. Leaving Nephis shellshocked and unable to react to the punch that flew directly at her face from Eubin. It was filled with not only fury, but unaltered hatred.

"To answer your question, yes, I would have. Not even because I like Sunny, not even because I think he's interesting. But when you see someone else suffer in that manner, someone who's saved your life for fucks sake, it's your duty to endure! No matter how hard it is! I know your issue; it's a simple one. You lack fucking resolve."

As she finished her sentence, Jessica walked up to Nephis, visibly restraining herself from slapping Nephis as she turned west. "I'm going to look for Sunny, even though none of us have known him for half the time you have, we still consider him family. Hell, we like him more than we like each other!"

Eventually, the group of women slowly dissipated, leaving Nephis and Cassie alone in the clearing as Nephis dropped to her knees. Not only had she said something vile, but Sunny had been directly there to hear it. The sinking feeling of wanting to die and reset time ate away at her mind, and even then, she felt it wouldn't save her from the issue.

"Neph, why did you say that? You know what Sunny has sacrificed for us better than anyone else, what could have made you say something so cruel? As your friend, I have to say, bitch move."

"I don't know... I just feel inadequate. It's like I can't understand him at all, fuck, I don't even understand myself! I would have abandoned him; there's no way around it. I feel so... so fucking useless! If I can't even be there for anyone emotionally, what am I good for? Ruining lives by being alive!?"

Staring at Nephis with a torn expression, Cassie had no words to offer comfort. Frankly, it was because she understood exactly what Nephis meant. They weren't born here; they weren't indoctrinated into such a society at a young age. This wasn't normal to them, watching people die wasn't normal and neither was killing.

But ultimately, they were in too deep. And such atrocities would need to become normal for them to survive.