Shadow Slave

After battling the harrowing Corrupted Titan for three long months, Saint Tyris of the White Feather clan had finally been defeated. Even though she had miraculously managed to survive, with Sky Tide incapacitated, there was no one left to stop the Winter Beast from advancing on the city.

The titan was already moving closer to the largest — and only — siege capital left standing in the region. The temperature was falling, and the winds were picking up, heralding the descent of a terrible blizzard.

Inevitably, a series of disastrous events was bound to happen.

The first of these events, and the catalyst that sparked the chain reaction… was the withdrawal of the White Feather clan from the Antarctic Center. They had been sent here to support the First Evacuation Army on behalf of the great clan Valor, but were not part of it. Naturally, their first priority was to preserve their Saint's life.

Even if the Awakened of White Feather had decided to stay, for whatever reason, Army Command would have insisted that they retreat in haste. The life of an allied Transcendent was too precious of a resource for the government, too.

…As the clan's compound turned into a hub of frenetic activity, with everyone hastily preparing for departure, Sunny and Jet were left to their own devices. After their conversation with Roan ended, they found themselves all but ignored by the hurrying members of the clan — no one even remembered to shoo the two Ascended away.

They were not in a hurry to leave, either, mostly because neither of them really knew what to do. The situation had changed too fast, and too dreadfully… Sunny felt lost and resigned, and although Jet was trying to hide it, he could see that she was shaken, as well.

The two of them found a place out of the way and just stood there for a while, silent.

Eventually, Sunny said:

"...Roan is wrong. It's not all over. Even without Tyris, we still have a Transcendent. You, me, Bloodwave… we should be able to give the Winter Beast a fight. We already killed one titan, so why can't we kill another?"

Jet somberly shook her head.

"There's an abyssal gap between a Fallen Titan and a Corrupted one, in terms of power. Tyris was not able to fight the Winter Beast because she was a Transcendent — she was able to fight it because she was a Transcendent whose Aspect countered the creature's powers, and an astonishingly steadfast one, at that. Even then… you don't really understand it, do you?"

Sunny frowned.

"I guess not. What is it exactly that I don't understand?"

Soul Reaper let out a grave sigh.

"Sunny… there's currently around thirty million people left in Falcon Scott, as well as twenty thousand soldiers. There are also a thousand or so Awakened veterans. However, all of them combined wouldn't be able to do anything against a Corrupted Titan. Even if there were ten times more, the result would be the same. Yet, Tyris alone held the creature back for three months. What does that mean?"

.

He stared at her silently for a while, then turned away with a dark expression on his face.

"...It means that one Saint is worth more than thirty million people, twenty thousand soldiers, and one thousand Awakened."

A corner of Jet's mouth twisted slightly.

"Smart."

Sunny shook his head:

"What are you getting at, though?"

The hint of a smile disappeared from Soul Reaper's face. She lingered for a few moments, then said:

"I am trying to tell you that there are no you, me, and Bloodwave. Bloodwave is going to leave with the White Feather clan… do you think they are going to let Tyris travel across the strait unprotected? She is unconscious and vulnerable. What happens if something attacks the ship? Neither Army Command nor Valor would allow that to happen. So, the House of Night will do their best to protect the most valuable asset… which means that Bloodwave won't be here when the Winter Beast arrives."

Sunny gritted his teeth, trying to suppress the blinding fury that threatened to consume his mind.

"...This is such crap!"

Jet's face twitched, but she calmly shook her head.

"No. It's simply resource management."

Sunny stared at her with bewilderment for a few moments, then suddenly laughed.

"So, what? This is it? It really is all over? What about the rest of the poor fools who are still stuck in this city?!"

Soul Reaper remained silent for a while. Then, she said evenly:

"Well, there are thirty million people left here. With the current speed of evacuation… If the Winter Beast comes tomorrow, twenty million will die. If it comes the day after tomorrow, ten million will die. Theoretically. Of course, in reality, things are not going to go that smoothly."

Sunny gave her a dark look.

"...How so?"

Jet sighed.

"Something like that… it won't remain a secret for long. As soon as the rumors spread, this whole city will go crazy. Evacuation queue? Forget about it. People will be storming the port and jumping off the cliffs. It's going to be pandemonium."

Sunny opened his mouth, startled by her callousness. However, it only lasted a moment. He was just as jaded, after all… if he had used his brain for a moment instead of allowing himself to be rattled, he would have come to the same conclusions.

He cursed.

"So what are we supposed to do? The two of us, I mean. I… I refuse to believe that there's no way to slow down the Winter Beast. Come on! We just need to hold it off for a couple of days."

Soul Reaper gave him a long look.

After a while, she said:

"Sunny… you might survive the descent of the Winter Beast. Maybe — maybe — I can survive it, too. My cohort is gone, though, while yours is not. And your soldiers… they will definitely die. Ascended like us have no business facing a Corrupted Titan, as for Awakened? They don't stand a chance. So, if I were you, I would make sure that they get on a ship as fast as possible. Everything else comes later."

He smiled bitterly.

"That's it? You're a damn colonel. Can't you do something?"

Jet simply shook her head.

"Once the news breaks, my rank won't have any meaning anymore. Who cares about hierarchy in the face of annihilation? Sunny… this is going to be an every man for himself situation very soon. We… we are all going to have to make some choices. The best we can do is make sure that we don't regret them later. So… keep that in mind, and do your best. That's all the advice I can give."

She sighed, then briefly glanced at the star insignia on her shoulder and walked away.

Before she left, however, Sunny shouted:

"Oh, yeah?! So are you going to get on a ship yourself?!"

Soul Reaper paused. She remained silent for a few moments, then said without turning back:

"...I sort of hate ships, to be honest. It is really a pity."

And then, she left.

Sunny found himself alone, staring at the empty space where Master Jet had been a few seconds ago. Shaking his head, he scoffed and turned away.

'What a coincidence. I sort of hate ships, too.'