Shadow Slave | School Days

Unspoken tension bubbled between the two women as Nephis glare steadily increased in intensity. Despite being a woman of few words, Nephis continued to find it increasingly hard not to level curses at the woman before her, who continued to stare at her with an amused expression, as though she was no threat.

Suddenly, Eubin burst into light laughter once more as she had been doing since her first encounter with Nephis. "How'd you like my acting? It was quite hard pretending I didn't know who you are." Eubin stated lightly, standing up before moving out of Nephis sight, and returning with a folder.

"You know who I am? How?" Nephis eyebrow was raised with suspicion, although she had made it obvious, she didn't trust Eubin, such levels of caution were regular for all people who had lived in the underworld long enough so her finding anything unusual about it would be incredulous.

"Of course I know you! Nephis of the immortal flame? Your family used to be famous in the underworld!" The way Eubin dropped bombshells on Nephis so casually continued to stupefy Nephis as she struggled to maintain composure. Hearing her family had been associated with the criminal underworld of the world, the one which she planned to tear from its roots, was appalling to say the least.

Before Eubin could comment on her shocked expression, Nephis decided to guide the conversation in her own direction. "How do you know of the immortal flame family? What business have they had with the underworld?" Waving her hand, Eubin smiled sweetly before sliding the folder over to Nephis.

"Everything you need to know is in there. Now, I'm going to say this not as a favour to you, but one to your parents… if Sunny finds out about this, he will kill you." Nephis eyes narrowed further, rage bubbling in her soul as her lips curled into an ugly grimace. "Stop acting like you know him." She hissed, venom tracing her lips.

Eubin shrugged, watching as Nephis tentatively opened the folder and began scanning through it's extracts before sighing. "While it is true I don't know Sunny, you and I both know how petty and hellbent on revenge he can be whenever he feels wronged. And if you can read, you'll be able to see that he has more reason to kill you than any other!"

Nephis didn't respond to Eubin, pulling out the first piece of paper in the folder as she shifted it aside and saw a small cartridge. Before she knew what to do with it, Eubin threw her a small camera which had a slot to fit in the cartridge, clearly indicating she was to watch it.

Scrolling through the camera was… disturbing to say the least. Nephis found many pictures of mundane animals, but slowly the images turned darker as videos of intruders after being torn to pieces by an invisible wire surfaced. But even deeper within the camera, were shirtless pictures of a figure who seemed so familiar.

Sunny.

It took everything in Nephis not to immediately lash out and attempt to kill Eubin upon seeing direct evidence of her exploiting Sunny, letting out a sigh, she tentatively slid the cartridge into the side of the camera allowing a small file to appear in its corner. "The first success." Nephis stated as she breathlessly read out the name.

Tapping it, she was greeted by the sight of a man and a woman in a room, overseeing multiple doctors as a small child was strapped to a hospital bed, writhing and attempting to escape as tears streaked from his eyes. Short black hair and a clearly malnourished frame already told her who it was.

Bile rose in her throat as her eyes shifted to the two figures, standing with white hair in the corner with a small smirk on their face. "Mom… dad..." Nephis breathed, panic building in her expression as the video began to reveal its insidious contents.

The voice of her father rang out through the video as he stood in the corner with a microphone raised to his lips. His voice was chillingly calm, almost as though he was talking about the mundane despite the insidious nature of his current actions.

"This marks experiment 264 of the super soldier project. Our goal is to load all the combat experience of every warrior who has ever lived into a single mind, a child has been picked from the outskirts for this purpose. Name, irrelevant. We shall begin the experiment now."

A machine was lowered onto Sunny's head as he screamed in agony, small incisions being made onto his arms to give him motive not to resist yet he fought viciously like a caged animal. "Why are you doing this to me!? Let me go! I want to see my sister!" Sunny wailed, yet he received no response.

Before Nephis knew it, the video had cut to Sunny laying in the bed unconscious, surrounded by a pool of his own blood as he stared blankly up at the ceiling. Suddenly, the voice of her father rang out once more, appearing almost elated at the sight of Sunny.

"Experiment is a success! Patient has survived the information transfer with negligible damages, although they will be unable to remember this, we shall pick up this child once he is needed. Preparations to drop him back at the outskirts shall commence shortly!"

And just like that, the video ended. Nephis lip trembled as she threw the camera at the wall, only for it to be caught in the air by an invisible force, two strings coiled around it from areas Nephis couldn't be bothered to see as they slowly were manipulated to return the device back to its owner.

Eubin sighed tiredly, studying Nephis reaction as she watched the young woman release breathes of panic as her world collapsed around her. "The immortal flame clan has done excellent contributions to the underworld, being our number one source of not only manpower but also weapons. And so, even though the other two great families won't repay their debts, the Song domain will."

Pausing for a moment, Eubin watched as Nephis tentatively picked up the piece of paper. It was a handwritten note from her father, blotches in the paper indicated that he had cried onto the paper as he wrote. Nephis almost didn't want to read it, to deny that her family would ever be related to these types of activities. Yet the video remained irrefutable.

'They were supposed to be abroad; they were supposed to be working for a pharmaceutical company! Does that mean all the money I've used to provide for Sunny, was from…' Nephis didn't finish her sentence, pressing her hand against her mouth to retrain the bile as she tentatively swallowed once more.

If Sunny saw her in such a dishevelled state, he was certainly kill Eubin before giving her the chance to elaborate. Which raised a question on what he would do to her. "Why… why would they do something so… despicable… vile! To children!" Nephis roared.

Eubin cocked her head to the side before praising herself internally for having soundproof walls. If she hadn't, she was quite sure she'd be a bloody pulp on the floor before she even had the opportunity to use any of her traps in the first place.

Gathering herself, Nephis used every ounce of courage she could muster as she read an extract from what appeared to be her father's diary. Unbeknownst to her, the corners of the paper were laced with dried blood. But who the blood came from she did not know.

To myself, or whatever unfortunate soul may read this.

I have finally succeeded in my attempts to make a perfect super soldier, there have been no more successes before or after sadly but only one is enough. I know the underworld is not something one may easily escape from, but maybe with a loyal dog of that calibre I may have a deterrent. I'll groom him properly, train him to only protect the immortal flame. Call it slavery but morality is a concept for the weak and pathetic who have never known desperation! Nobody can judge me; they don't have the right! After all, this is all for the sake of my daughter. I'm sure she'll grow up beautifully, and with this slave at her side she'll never know danger.

From a pathetic father who lacked the strength to protect what he held dear.

To say Nephis was shaking was an understatement, her body curled in on itself as she shakily dropped the paper, almost ripping it under her foot if not for Eubin's fast actions as she pulled it away from her. Nephis sat on the couch with an empty expression on her face, shock only making way for the brutal realisation that her parents were monsters incarnate.

And even worse, they had done it for her sake. The entire reason they had gone to such lengths, even torturing and likely killing multiple children was for her sake. If she had never been born, if she had died in the womb Sunny would have never needed to endure such torture. Ultimately, it settled in within Nephis mind that she was the cause of all of it.

Yet what could she do? If she committed suicide then Sunny would quickly follow suit, she was trapped to life and unable to atone for her sins through death. Ultimately, her mind conjured up the only option possible as she stared at her hands shakily.

She was going to kill them… she was going to kill her parents. This was her revenge; this was her atonement. Nobody could take it from her, nobody! Not even Sunny.

Her lips shifted slightly, yet no sound came out. Eubin's smile returned with full force as she stared at Nephis with an amused expression. "Say Nephis of the immortal flame, what's on your mind? Are you planning on leaving the underworld? I can help you with that you know, you can run from here, run as far away from Sunny as possible."

With a wink, she finished her comment under her breathe yet Nephis heard it loud and clear. "I'll take care of Sunny in your absence." Not knowing what controlled her, Nephis blitzed toward Eubin, her fist cocked backward before the woman shot to her feet raising a hand in front of Nephis face to calm her assault.

In the brief moment of calm she received, she noticed iron strings loosely dangling over her shoulders, neck and torso as Eubin smiled at her. "The house always wins. You'd need to be as strong as your boyfriend there for you to try such a thing." Instead of replying to her taunt, Nephis simply repeated what she had said before.

"Where are my parents, let me know and do it now!" Eubin merely shrugged in reply, spinning on her heel and flopping onto her couch with a wide smile on her face. "I don't know, I swear to my mother. Immortal flame and everything that has to do with them disappeared off the earth, yet you still receive money monthly. Isn't that curious?"

Nephis was not in the right mind to contemplate the implications of her statement as she slid out of the wires tentatively, careful not to allow any of them to cut her skin. As she sat down on her end of the cough, she noticed the folder had mysteriously disappeared.

Wiping her face to clear her lingering tears, Nephis blinked forcefully before looking herself over. "Does it look like I've cried?" Eubin merely shook her head before the door flung open, Sunny stood at its entrance for mere moments before appearing at Nephis side, scanning her form attentively.

"Sunny, I'm fine. She couldn't kill me if she tried." Nephis half joked, to be frank, she wasn't quite sure how that fight would play out. Sunny's hardened expression remained as he turned around to face Eubin, who was idly playing with the hair of the tiger who had been silently an audience to the entire conversation.

"Yes, Lost from—Sunny, I'll join you. When do we leave?" Sunny smiled slightly at her compliance, causing a furious blush to fight its way onto Eubin's face as Sunny turned around, his eyes totally focused on Nephis. "We'll leave in two days; you don't mind if we sleep here, right?"

 A teasing smile fought its way onto Eubin's features as she stared at Sunny with a wide smile. "Just make sure you don't go too wild on her, girls from the surface are weak-hipped." Sunny didn't grace her comment with a reply, while Nephis buried her face into her palms, embarrassment taking her mind of the guilt.

In just two days, two lives would be changed unalterably.