A lonely Shadow

Nephis eyes flared with fury as she glanced down at Sunny's seated form. She had been suspicious as to why Rain's visits had abruptly slowed, however, she had never gotten the chance to ask her specifically why. After all, with Sunny back, he would handle everything.

Rain's close relation to Sunny is what made it even more surprising when, upon seeing the person who threatened his sister, Sunny didn't immediately leap to his feet. In fact, all he did was let out a dissatisfied yawn before meeting Nephis eyes.

"I know who did it already, Rain is being watched by Saint as we speak so all is well."

Sunny continued to stare at Nephis expectantly, his eyes conveying the silent message that he'd like that she returned to her cooking. And so, she did exactly that, however, her cooking wasn't going to distract her from asking Sunny questions about who exactly the culprit was.

"I assume you're going to catch whoever did this, and soon." Nephis commented, her eyes never leaving the counter as she gracefully glided from one end of the kitchen to another. Sunny grunted in reply, before laying on his side, allowing his body to be completely pressed against the cold floor with a satisfied smile.

"I will, you'll come with me when I confront them too. Try not to speak to them, just make sure I don't kill them is all I ask." Nephis nodded in reply as Sunny went back to scrolling through his communicator. A slight smile appeared on his face as he saw exactly what he had been planning come to fruition.

He'd mention it to Nephis, however not now. Currently, Sunny was too tired to be effective in combat, much less take part in any advanced thinking. That's why he needed Mordret as an ally, someone who could think exactly like he did while also having the motivation and abilities needed to not fear death.

A satisfied smile appeared on his face as he saw Nephis slowing in her movements, the aroma that collided with his senses made his eyes gloss over in pleasure as he wiped his mouth to stop him from drooling. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the cloaked figure dart past Nephis window once more.

Granted, the figure was far outside the range of his vision, however, wherever they went a shadow was casted. All that was left to do was to make sure that who he was watching, wasn't also watching him in turn. His mental game with the unseen stalker was forcefully halted as Nephis tapped him on the forehead, drawing his attention to the kitchen table.

In mere moments she had already arranged everything perfectly, the two plates were seated directly next to one another so their personal space could be as reduced as possible. Sunny didn't particularly mind, in fact, her close contact helped jog his mind even, so he'd never complain.

Groggily making his way towards his plate, Sunny sat down and placed a hand on the table to prevent himself from falling asleep once more. His fatigue was far higher than he had expected, every movement felt like he was wading through mud which wasn't a very comforting feeling.

Warmth suddenly enveloped his right side as Nephis slid a hand around his. Turning his head slowly, he saw himself through the reflection of Nephis mirror like eyes. His stress lines had gone straight from his eyes down to the corners of his lips and his eyebags were extremely visible especially when placed on his pale features.

Noticing he was too tired to eat, Nephis extended a hand to his spoon before taking in a moderate amount of food before placing a hand on his chin, turning his head towards her even more. "Don't even think about complaining, you're too tired to take care of yourself." She scolded as Sunny opened his mouth to receive the food.

His eyes widened; a vast variety of tastes exploded into his mouth all at once which sent a jolt of energy coursing through his body. However, his fatigue simply wasn't something that could be cured by divine food, although he wished it could be. "Sorry I can't appreciate your food as much as I should. I'm really tired."

Nephis could only nod sympathetically as she continued to go through the motions of feeding Sunny. Internally, she was elated by his show of vulnerability. It had been the first time she'd seen Sunny completely relax around her, even though it might be unwillingly.

Despite everything, Sunny had still been pushing himself to extreme extents for her own sake, someone who had once betrayed him. Sunny's mind was constantly weaving machinations to her benefit, it was surprising really. For someone who claimed to be so selfish he really did do a lot for others.

Her internal praise for Sunny was cut off as his head weakly collided with her shoulder. Sunny had once again fallen into unconsciousness, lifting him up, Nephis placed the two of them on her couch as his head rested against her shoulder. Despite his unconscious state, the feeling of his warm breathe passing by her neck never failed to send shivers down her spine.

To make matters worse, he was shirtless too. The man never seemed to be wearing a shirt unless he was directly going out to fight someone or outside of a building. Within it, one way or another Sunny found an excuse to remove the article of clothing from his body. For all she knew, it had been a habit he developed in the dream realm to mitigate the heat.

Seeing as she had nothing to do, Nephis began scrolling through her communicator. Hopefully, there would be something interesting to see. Dream realm fights never entertained her, it was like watching two babies with knifes attempt to harm one another, however another video caught her attention with unparalleled accuracy.

It was an onyx figure, Nephis couldn't make out it's form, or gender completely nor even notice any physical features barring it's colour. Armed with a broadsword, it silently cut down tens of thousands of nightmare creatures entirely on its own. It's skill was impeccable, years of experience was honed into each and every calculated movement that Nephis found herself entranced.

How could such a figure go unnoticed the entire time in which they've existed? Were they a recently rising figure? What type of person were they? All these questions flew through her mind as she greedily tried to absorb information from the comments left under the video. Some called the figure a demon, others called the figure a rebellious nightmare creatures. However, they had all unanimously decided on a name for the figure.

Mongrel.

Nephis shuddered with excitement as she continued to watch the figure mow through armies of nightmare creatures. She wanted to fight alongside them, maybe even test her own skills against such a battle master. Her sudden movements caused Sunny to stir lightly as he shifted his posture to lay his head on her laps, burying his face into her stomach.

Placing a hand on Sunny's head to resist, she was only met with the calmed breathing which indicated he had now fallen asleep once more. 'At least now I get to play with his hair uninhibited' Nephis thought to herself, her eyes were flashing with passion as she continued to stare down at Sunny's sleeping form.

She wanted to kiss him, all of him. But doing so would stir the man from the sleep he so dearly needed that she wouldn't dare. A sigh escaped her lips as she turned to her window to admire the horizon, however the figure she saw blur past it elicited a look of shock from her.

The stalker was making their move.