Shadow Slave

Hearing Sunny call Mordret the victim, Effie let out a short laugh. Then, her expression grew serious.

“That sounds like a bit of divine justice... quite amusing really to imagine, really. But we both know that the gods are dead, and there is no justice in the world unless we dispense it ourselves. In any case, this is not particularly good news for us, is it?”

She shook her head.

“We seem to have discovered an important piece of the puzzle... but really, we know even less now than we did this morning. We at least had a suspect before — but if Mordret is not the Nihilist and is instead being hunted by the Nihilist, then we don’t even have a suspect. We have nothing at all.” She sighed and rubbed her face tiredly. “Listen... what was our plan again? Get to Mordret, get control of the Component back from him, find what you are looking for, and return to Bastion. We’ve met Mordret and gained nothing. Now with this new revelation, it does not even seem like he is the one who stole my administrator rights. So what do we do? How are we getting back to the real world, Sunny?”

He remained silent for a few moments, then shrugged.

“Nothing changed. We’ve met Mordret, but we did not really get to him, did we? Now that we know that his life is in danger, we can apply pressure and get closer. Plus, there is also Saint and Morgan — we have not even reached them yet, so it is too early to draw conclusions. We are supposed to play the roles of detectives, so think like a detective, Effie. We will be patient, slowly build the case, and solve the mystery. That is how we are going to get back.”

Sunny studied her expression, then raised an eyebrow. “But why are you hesitating all of a sudden? I know you well enough to know that you would not have been shaken by something as trivial as a temporary lack of progress. Serial killers, corrupt authorities, unseen dangers... none of that sounds like something that would rattle you. So what is going on?”

Effie met his gaze silently, then grimaced and looked away.

”Every evening, I have to go home to an unfamiliar husband and take care of unfamiliar kids. That is what is going on.” Sunny raised his eyebrows.

”That... that’s it? You are scared of the creepy Other who plays the role of your husband?”

She shook her head slowly.

”No. It’s the children.”

Effie looked Sunny in the eye.

“I’m afraid... that I will grow to love them. If we spend too much time here, I will...”

She smiled slightly and shook her head again. “You probably won’t understand, but that frightens me far more than serial killers and unseen dangers ever could. We can leave, but what will happen to them when we leave? It is foolish, I know. They aren’t even real children. But the longer we stay here, the harder it is to make that distinction.” Sunny stared at Effie, surprised.

She was right, he did not understand... but he did as well, in a way.

Sunny could not really comprehend why she would be so vulnerable to her counterpart’s children, in particular, but he knew how impossible it was not to treat phantoms as real people.

Every time Sunny entered a Nightmare, he reminded himself that the people populating them were not real. And every time, he failed to treat them as anything but.

Auro of the Nine, Elyas, Solvane, Noctis, Ananke, Wind Flower, even that brat Chronos... they took more space in his heart than most actual people did, even if he knew that they had been conjured by the Spell. Sunny sighed.

“I understand. But...”

Before he could finish, though, his communicator exploded with an angry ringing. He frowned, then retrieved it from his pocket and looked at the screen. “Damn it.”

Accepting the call, Sunny brought the communicator to his ear... then winced and moved it a few centimeters away when a familiar voice thundered out of the speaker. “Where the hell are you, bastard?!”

Sunny closed his eyes in exasperation.

”I was going over some materials of the Nihilist case with Detective Athena at a secondary location, Captain... sir.”

The Captain’s voice sounded almost apoplectic.

“The Nihilist case?! What Nihilist case, you imbecile?! Does that damn Nihilist matter now, damn it?!”

Sunny exhaled slowly. “With all due respect, sir, it matters just as much as it mattered before some conglomerate heir took a dive from a bridge...”

The torrent of expletives that poured out of the communicator made him wince again. After about a minute, the Captain’s ire finally exhausted itself. He breathed heavily into his communicator, then said hoarsely: “Listen here, you foul gremlin... get your ass to the headquarters immediately. Put on a siren and run every damn red light on your way here if you need to. And take Athena with you!” РἈƝȎᛒЁ§

The man paused for a moment, then added in an angry voice:

“And don’t you dare corrupt her with your vile influence, you hear me?! Unlike you, deadbeat, she’s a promising young detective!”

Sunny’s eyes widened in outrage.

”W—what did he say? Me? Corrupt her? That obscene heap of delinquency?! Who will corrupt whom?!”

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, then said evenly:

“I hear you loud and clear, Captain. But, sir... why do you even need us to come? I’d think that you would want to keep me as far away from that Valor guy’s case as possible.”

His supposed boss remained silent for a while, then cursed quietly.

“You’d be goddamn right! If it were up to me, your pale mug would have gotten nowhere near this case. But... it’s not up to me. Congratulations, I guess!”

Sunny and Effie looked at each other. “What do you mean, sir?”

The Captain let out a frustrated sigh.

“Mr. Mordret personally requested you... he asked for you by name. So, here we are!”

He paused, and then added tiredly:

“This investigation... has been assigned exclusively to you two. So move your asses!” Sunny looked at Effie with wide eyes.

She seemed quite surprised, too.

It seemed like they were going to see Mordret again much sooner than they had anticipated.