"What odd weather…"
Rain could feel a storm coming, like a prickle at the back of her neck. But when she looked, the skies were clear. No angry clouds on the horizon, just wind. Strong, unforgiving gales.
"Is it? It seems normal to me." Tamar commented from beside her, looking up at the sky herself.
Perhaps it was simply a remnant of some bad dream — did she mention she was a Master now? — like a leftover bad feeling that curled somewhere deep inside her long after she had woken.
She scoffed.
"Is the Dream Realm ever normal?"
Tamar chuckled in response.
"Fair enough."
They were currently in an archery range set up near the outer reaches of Bastion, in the sea of ash where forts had been raised to defend against Nightmare Creatures that wandered too close.
Fleur had just finished her round, and now it was Rain's turn to take the stage.
She summoned her custom bow, fashioned out of the dark wood of some cursed forest her brother had gone to war with some time ago. Rain aligned herself perpendicular to the target, set some hundred meters in the distance, nocked an arrow, pulled back on the bowstring…
And let it fly.
The arrow whistled, nearly silent, as it cut through the air in a perfect arc. It struck the target in the neck, taking its entire head off its torso.
Her second arrow lodged itself in its left breast, right where the heart would be.
There was silence. Then, applause rose from where her friends watched.
"The amazing Rani has graced us with her impeccable skills yet again," announced Fleur in an uncharacteristically dramatic fashion.
Ray sighed wistfully, looking at the brutalized form of the target, arrows sticking out of it like a hedgehog that had lost most of its spikes.
The lobbed-off head of the target now lay by the stone walls of the castle, an arrow sticking out of it.
"I wish I could be taught by an expert such as Nightingale too…"
He glanced at Rain, an idea lighting up his eyes.
"Couldn't you ask your brother to pull some strings and help us get a free lesson from him?"
Rain laughed and waved a hand in dismissal.
"I'm sure Saint Kai has better things to do than entertain a colleague's little sister and her friends. Besides, I didn't get lessons from him back then because of my brother, I just happened to know a guy who was acquainted with him…"
She trailed off, mind wandering to the past, thinking about the man who used to live a few houses down the street from her old home in NQSC.
Rain had not been very close with the man, but he had taught her how to fight for a time. It was only thanks to him that she got to meet the members of Lady Nephis' cohort even though she was just an average nobody.
She hadn't seen him in a long, long time, though, and she couldn't even remember his face and voice.
That was true, and it had always been the case before.
Yet as she recalled the old memories, nearly buried by time and all the chaos in the past few years, a face came unbidden to her mind.
Unbidden and unexpected.
The image of a young man surfaced in her mind. He had smooth pale skin, with a head of raven black hair and a pair of dark eyes that seemed to swirl with slight mischief and humor.
It was the face of… her brother.
'Oh, it was… Wait a minute… Huh…?'
A frown marred her face and her brows furrowed.
Her friends noticed the change in her expression, but she was oblivious to their looks of confusion.
She was even more confused than they were. Her mind was a mess.
Rain knew for a fact she had first met her brother about seven years ago. She remembered being shocked beyond belief when he first revealed himself and offered her an alternative to awakening, one that didn't require going into the First Nightmare. She had been wary and distrustful of him, though she had accepted his offer so her parents wouldn't have to worry.
Yet, her memory also told of a time when she knew him even before that, back when she still lived in NQSC.
Before, even, the Nightmare Gate that had opened near her school.
'What's wrong with me? How is this even… Just what…'
Rain held her head with her free hand. She felt like she was going to get a massive headache.
"Rain, are you okay?"
Tamar laid a hand on her shoulder, pulling her out of her thoughts. There was concern written plainly on her face.
Rain blinked.
"Uh…" She shook her head, chasing away the troubling thoughts, clearing her mind. "I was just reminiscing about my old home… and recalled just how unpleasant my first teacher was. That guy would disappear for months without notice and sign up for a war on a whim!"
Fleur, Ray, and Tamar stared at her.
"Do you guys hear this? She of all people is saying that…" Tamar mumbled to herself, palming her face in exasperation.
Fleur and Ray chuckled.
"I guess we know who she picked up all those traits from now!"
Rain watched them, a wry smile making its way on to her face.
'It's way worse than that. Apparently, it's in my blood…'
She felt as though her world had been upended.
She felt despair.
Because how could it be that she was just like her brother!?
He was the last person she wanted to be like…
'Damnation…'
- - -
When dusk came, the group of friends dispersed. Ray and Fleur returned to the Forgotten Shore while Tamar and Rain made their way towards the Ivory Tower.
Tamar used her dormant ability, which had improved after she became a Master, to bring them both to the floating island. Normally, it would have been impossible for her to go that high even with four jumps, but Rain had assigned the "Light as a feather" Epithet to both of them, allowing the Legacy girl to travel a farther distance with each leap.
Though, it was taking quite a bit of essence to maintain her ability… Was it just her imagination or was most of the strain coming from the epithet she put on herself?
She dismissed the thought the moment it formed.
'No way. I'm not that heavy.'
As they landed on the soft emerald grass of the floating island Citadel, she dismissed the "Light as a feather" Epithet. After that, Tamar left to go mingle with the Fire Keepers and Rain went to see if Sunny had returned from his trip yet.
She had questions for him and could barely wait to get the answers to them.
As she wandered the upper levels of the Ivory Tower, she noticed that there were a lot of Saints present. Namely, the Saints closest to Lady Nephis and her brother: Lady Cassia, Saint Effie, Saint Kai, and Saint Jet. Even Lady Morgan was there, sitting beside Nightingale.
The vermillion-eyed Saint raised a brow at her as Rain approached the group, prompting Saint Kai to explain, "That's Sunny's little sister. Her name is…"
Noticing her presence, Saint Jet smiled.
"Good to see you, Rain."
Rain was quite familiar with the icy-blue eyed Saint. Her father was a senior government agent involved with various administrative and logistics work, so she had had many opportunities to meet exalted figures like Saint Jet. She liked the cool Saint a lot, truth be told.
"It's nice to see you, too. Is my brother back yet?"
"Yes, he just came back today."
Emerging from the kitchen, Saint Effie huffed as she settled on a couch.
"I hope Princess pesters him for at least a whole month. Serves him right!"
"He'd probably enjoy that, actually."
Saint Kai tilted his head in contemplation.
"Will he? I think he'll be upset if Nephis doesn't allow him to take care of her."
Rain looked at them with slight confusion.
They seemed to be making casual gossip, but they also looked a little… out of sorts, if you would. They didn't seem angry or anything, but the mood felt overall sour. And it all seemed to be pointed at her brother… as well as Lady Cassia, it seemed. The blind beauty was seated in a corner by her lonesome, looking chastised and sulking and every bit the pitiful creature who had been done an injustice.
Just looking at her made Rain feel sorry.
'…Why does she look like she's in timeout?'
Just what happened here?
Lady Morgan sighed. "This is all so weird, seeing my dear little sister act like that."
Saint Effie raised a brow at her. "Wow, that's rich coming from you."
Saint Kai coughed, face flushing with embarrassment. Lady Morgan shifted, glancing away.
'Huh, cute… Wait, no! I'm getting sidetracked.'
She would've loved nothing more than to stay and watch the two Saints squirm under the teasing gaze of the nefarious Saint Effie, but she had more important business here today.
"So uh, where is Sunny?"
Saint Kai immediately took the chance to shift the focus of the room. "He's upstairs with Nephis."
"I must warn you, though, you might find it difficult to separate the two of them for the foreseeable future," Saint Jet remarked with a wry smile.
Rain raised a brow but didn't question it. She quickly excused herself.
She found the couple on the top level of the Ivory Tower, stuck to each other like glue, as if neither of them could bring themselves to separate.
Her brother turned to look back at her. He looked like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
"Hey there, Rain."
Lady Nephis looked up and smiled slightly at her.
But neither of them made a move, preferring to remain in each others' arms.
…Actually, it looked like Lady Nephis was the one clinging onto her brother while Sunny simply sat there with a peaceful expression on his pale face.
'Okay… something definitely happened.'
Rain shifted awkwardly, unsure how to broach the subject.
What was she even supposed to say?
She cleared her throat and said the first thing that came to mind:
"Did you put a mind hex on me or something?"
Silence.
She blinked. 'Wait, no!'
Lady Nephis seemed to choke on air while Sunny stared at her with an uncomprehending expression.
Rain internally winced. "I mean… uh…"
'Damn it, you idiot!'
Thankfully, Sunny quickly recovered his composure and gave her an assuring smile.
"No, I didn't put a mind hex on you —"
"Oh, okay, good —"
"Technically, the world itself did."
"I… What?"
"I said, it would be more apt to say the world, or reality itself, had cast a mind hex on you. In fact, everyone but me was under its spell. In a way, I guess. It wasn't really a mind hex, but it affected the mind, so… yeah."
Rain stared at her brother.
Of course he'd go and say something crazy like that as if it was a totally normal thing.
She groaned.
"Ugh! Just explain to me what happened. Why are my memories all weird? How is it that I never met you before Ravenheart and yet I did? What kind of crazy thing did you do this time? Ah, I must be going mad…"
To her surprise, what answered her was laughter, like a sweet, melodious bell.
She looked for the source of it and found that it was her teacher, the silver-haired Lady Nephis, lips stretched into a wide smile and eyes sparkling with joy and amusement. Her face seemed to glow in the dimness of dusk.
That was perhaps the first time Rain had ever seen the stoic lady be so expressive.
Her brother also looked stunned. He was staring at her laughing figure with wide eyes. Eyes that seemed to swirl with a multitude of surging emotions.
Rain looked up at the ceiling sullenly. "Just what is going on…"
Lady Nephis composed herself and turned to her. "It's because Sunny and Cassie managed to do something no one else has ever done. They defied fate."
Rain blinked, and nodded slowly.
Right, defied fate… No but just what was this insanity coming out of her teacher's mouth!? How was that even possible? And how could her brother and Lady Cassia be capable of something like that? It made no sense!
"Well, we only played a small role in it, in truth. Most of it was arranged by a harrowing Demon and a certain bird carried out the decisive act itself… but who's going to argue the facts with me?" Her brother shrugged. "Exactly, no one. The only beings who can are dead and no longer capable of correcting me. Besides, I'm not lying, just omitting a few details…"
'Those are very important details!'
She grimaced.
"And… when did that happen?"
Sunny shrugged again.
"End of the Third Nightmare, so a few months before you moved to Ravenheart."
Rain was silent for a long time.
Then, she asked, "So… what does it mean if we remember you again?"
Her brother gave her an odd look. "Well, what else could it mean? It means I'm back, of course."
"No, no. I mean… If defying fate caused everyone to forget you, does it mean you, uh, failed ultimately, since we remember you again?"
"Huh? No, that's not how it works. Fate is already broken — the future, at least, and it likely won't repair itself anytime soon, or if it does, it'll be vastly different from what it was before. We would still have changed fate either way, and that's what it means to defy it."
Sunny smiled brightly.
"Isn't it wonderful? Humanity now has a chance to make a difference, and by our own choice, unlike before, where everything was already set in stone. I, for one, think it is amazing."
Rain studied her brother closely.
The way his eyes seemed to light up with pure and genuine mirth, without the shadow that she so often saw in them in the past seven years.
The way his demeanor seemed lighter and more relaxed, no longer looking like a weight was pressing down on him.
And she saw the effect it had on Lady Nephis… no, Nephis.
It was as though something had been unlocked inside of her and she was finally able to let go and open up fully. Like there wasn't a thin, invisible wall barricading herself off from the rest of the world.
Seeing her brother and Nephis so happy like this made Rain smile, too. Her heart swelled with emotion, and she subconsciously took a step forward. A second step. Another…
And then she was embracing them in a big hug, burying her face between them.
Sunny and Nephis froze for a moment, but then they seemed to melt into it, returning the gesture.
"I'm proud of you, Big Brother."
She mumbled quietly, but he heard it all the same.
"Thank you, Rain."