School Days | A Shadow Slave Fanfic

Nephis stared at Revel with an unreadable gaze as she concluded her story. Her cheek became slightly wetter as a tear began to slide down her face with a slow yet deliberate pace. Raising a hand to her face, Nephis wiped it off gently before staring at Revel with a solemn smile.

"He doesn't want me to become like her." She whispered, her eyes wavering as tears continued to build up in her eyes, only being restrained by her resolve. Revel nodded solemnly before making her way toward Nephis, enveloping her in a hug as Nephis broke down into tears.

Listening to what Sunny had gone through was gut-wrenching, yet knowing that he had been betrayed, nearly robbed of his freedom by someone who he was beginning to trust, yet he still had the heart in him to allow Nephis into his close circle.

Light tore through the dimmed expanse of Revel's tent as Sunny pushed the blinds apart. Noiselessly, he jumped over the counter before taking a seat in the corner of the room, ignoring Revel and Nephis hugging entirely as he sat down with a pointed look in his eyes.

Nephis moved to ask him what had happened, only to be restrained by Revel as she whispered into her ear. "That's how he looks when he wants to kill someone, really badly." Nephis body froze as she studied Sunny's expression, he continued to stare distantly into one of the walls of her tent before a small smile arrived on his face.

"Who cares, I'm stronger than him anyway." Sunny scoffed to himself before allowing his attention to focus on Revel and Nephis, who were both hugging each other while staring at him with anticipation riddled in their faces. Although, there was a melancholy feeling that Sunny didn't quite understand.

"What's wrong, do you not like Neph mom?" Revel shook her head intensely as her grip tightened on Nephis. "She's perfect, sublime. You should never let go of women like her." Nephis face turned into an all-encompassing blush as she placed her hands over her face to hide it.

After a few moments of teasing, the mood quickly grew serious as Nephis and Revel listened to Sunny begin explaining what he had learnt. "There's going to be a ball hosted by Valor, with the three monarchs there. I—we're going to sneak in, and..." Turning his head to Nephis, Sunny cocked his head to the side before offering her a slight smile.

"You're going to kidnap Morgan." Nephis eyes widened at the statement, as she raised an eyebrow inquisitively, hoping to learn more about the woman. "Kidnap Morgan? That shouldn't be extremely hard right? She isn't even combat trained from the sound of it."

Sunny shook his head firmly as a slight frown arrived on his face, thoughts of his interactions with Morgan flashing through his mind as an ugly grimace made its way onto his expression with full force. "She's strong, ridiculously strong, stronger than Seishan. She might even be stronger than mom!"

Nephis turned to Revel with a confused expression before her eyes widened. "You can fight?" Revel nodded proudly before ruffling Sunny's hair, eliciting a grumble from him as she smiled at Nephis. "His grappling techniques, who do you think taught him them? Although he's better than me now, it's only natural for a mother to take second place to her son!"

A question lingered in Nephis mind, trying to escape her lips yet her awkward nature refusing to let it free. Instead, Sunny's calm voice pierced through the silence as he smiled at Nephis. "You want Mom to train you, right? I'm sure she'd be happy to."

Revel offered her another smile before jamming a thumb in her chest lightly before puffing her chest out with pride. "Don't worry, in just a month I can whip you into the greatest female grappler alive!" Sunny slightly frowned upon hearing the timeframe as he let loose a sigh.

Tapping his head lightly, Revel shook her head with mock disappointment. "Don't go sighing because people don't learn as quickly as you. Not everyone can train relentlessly and then master it in a week!" In response, Sunny only pouted as Nephis sighed at their engagement.

'They really do remind me of a mother and son.' Thoughts about family made her wistful, Nephis knew extraordinarily little about them, only that they had ventured abroad for a business trip then cut off all contact. Yet despite that, her bank account continued to increase daily.

If that wasn't proof they were alive, what was?"

Revel and Sunny's small talk slowly came to a stop as Sunny continued to question her on if any of the other merchants had been bothering her, yet despite this, Sunny was certain his mother would be ok. Standing up slowly, Revel checked a small watch that was on her wrist before offering a sly smile to Sunny and Nephis.

"I'm going to bed, it's late so I'll leave you two to it. But be safe and try not to give me any grandkids before I hit forty Sunny!" A blush arrived on Sunny's face as Revel spun on her heel and disappeared into the darkness, noticing that his mother had left, Nephis turned to Sunny and pulled him close.

"Oh? You're planning to give your mom grandkids? But we've only just started dating Sunny, how bold!" Her breathe tickled his ears as Sunny squirmed weakly under her grip before relaxing. Sunny took her hand in his and guided her toward their bedroom, which was surprisingly a gigantic structure made entirely out of wood and pillows with structural integrity that rivalled most buildings.

"I'll never understand how this works, why must they make it soundproof?" Sunny muttered under his breathe as he pulled open the door, seeing candles dimly flickering through the shadows as he slowly rested himself onto the bed. Following suit, Nephis laid beside him as she guided Sunny's head to her stomach, running her hands through his hair with a small smile.

"I know I promised not to kill, but I... might be forced to in future. And it's my fault, it's because I'm too weak to beat some of them while keeping them alive." Nephis continued to run her hand through Sunny's head as a small smile arrived on her face.

"If they're trying to take your life, defend it in the best way you can. I'm not saying don't kill for their sake, far from it. I'm just worried you might lose yourself in an endless sea of blood. But I know you won't."

Sunny rolled across her stomach, Nephis could no longer feel his slender neck as her hands fell across his cheeks, slowly running her fingers across his face as Sunny raised an invisible eyebrow. "How do you know I won't lose myself? I've done it so many times before, I can't even control myself when I fall unconscious!"

Nephis squeezed his face gently in her palms before smiling at him, despite the darkness, her smile remained radiant and visible to Sunny's well-adjusted eyes as she kissed him on the forehead. "Because you're Sunny and you're amazing."

An emotion squeezed at Sunny's heart that he could not yet identify, he hadn't felt this way whenever people said his name, he didn't even feel this way when Revel did, only feeling something similar yet so drastically different. Furrowing his brow, he grasped Nephis hand gently before sliding it under his shirt, placing it on his chest as he stared at her.

"My heart, its racing, yet I didn't do any physical activity. It always happens when I'm speaking to you, but I don't know what caused it." Nephis studied Sunny with an amused expression, tilting her head slightly at his innocence before running her hand across his chest.

"Do you want the feeling to stop?" She asked, Sunny shook his head firmly as Nephis shifted his face extremely close to her own. "Sunny, that's called love." Before she could elaborate further, Sunny pressed his lips against her own gently as she returned the gesture, gently pulling apart after a few moments as Sunny wore a pleasant smile on his face.

"I... love you Neph." Sunny said slowly as he placed his head on Nephis stomach again. 'He's so cute, he's so, so, so, so, so cute! I just want to—No Nephis! Restraint!' Staring down at Sunny, she smiled gently at him before whispering her reply. "I love you too Sunny."

The two sat in silence for a while, enjoying each others company immensely as Sunny became Nephis honorary teddy bear for the duration of their stay. Sunny smiled at her as he returned her hug, holding onto her as though she would disappear should he let go.

Nephis slow, gentle voice pulled him from his thoughts as she pulled him back gently, pressing her head against his as she always had. "I heard that... it's hard for you to disobey Morgan." Sunny nodded; shame written across his face as Nephis ran a hand through his hair.

"Are you sure you don't want to find a way to... not hear her commands?" Sunny shook his head firmly, his voice escaping his lips in a slightly panicked whisper. "It's not her voice, it's her will. I—I don't know. I just recognise what she wants me to do, and I do it... like a dog." He spat out the last word with venom as Nephis pulled him into her warm embrace once more.

"Aren't you scared I might take your vengeance from you?" She asked tentatively, Sunny's expression turned increasingly grim as he stared at her solemnly. A pained sigh escaped his lips as he smiled awkwardly at Nephis.

"If you kill her, you'll die... he'll kill you." Nephis raised an eyebrow, curious who could kill her with as much ease as Sunny made it sound. "Who's going to kill me? Is there someone I should know about before we infiltrate the ball?"

"He'll be there, the prince of nothing. Mordret."