Shadow Slave

There was a squad of soldiers on the pier, as well, all wearing white armor tied at
the waist with red sashes. Unlike the last time Sunny had seen them, the warriors
filled their armor well, brimming with vigor and vitality.
Their captain was a tall, beautiful woman with fiery red hair. Sunny only
recognized her because of an open helmet with a scarlet plume she was holding
on the bend of her right arm... she was the captain that had escorted him and
Nephis to the temple the last time around.
She had seemed ancient then. Now, she looked not much older than they were.
Everyone here did, really, or even younger. The startling change was still making
him feel a little dizzy.
Sunny had known, of course, that killing the Defiled sybil would allow Fallen
Grace to migrate downstream and return these people their youth. Knowing and
seeing were two different things, however.
Seeing them like this was a bit... bittersweet. Sweet because it was nice to
witness his actions doing some good, bitter because it reminded him of Ananke.
As Sunny was pondering the strange reality of living on the Great River, the
soldiers created a passage through the crowd and surrounded the members of
the cohort, helping them leave the pier.
They were escorted along the familiar streets once again, moving toward the
temple of Dusk. There had been a lot of people on the pier, but there were even
more here, crowding the sidewalks and the roofs of the buildings, all staring at
the returned Outsiders with excitement and awe.
The crowd followed the small procession, constantly growing. Some people were
calling out to Cassie, some simply cheered from a distance. After the relative
tranquility of months spent at sea, Sunny was having trouble adjusting to the
boisterous atmosphere of Falling Grace.
«Lord Sunless! Lord Sunless!»
He turned his head, hearing his own name.
The voice was unfamiliar, and the face of the scrawny teenager calling out to him
was unfamiliar, too. But Sunny recognized those curious, intelligent eyes almost
immediately.
He frowned slightly, but was actually amused.
«Cronos? Is that you, brat?»
The teenager, who had been kept away by the captain of the soldiers, grinned:
«Yes! It's me. Lord Sunless, welcome back!»
Sunny smiled, then nodded at the captain, signaling that it was alright to let the
young man approach. A few moments later, Cronos joined the procession and
looked at the other members of the cohort with wide eyes.
«Lord Sunless... are these Outsiders, as well?»
Sunny nodded.
«Sure. That one, I found in a well once. That one is a freeloader who likes to
invite herself into other people's houses. That one is in the habit of giving young
men like us weighty slaps, so be on guard around her. Oh, and that one is a
monster wearing human skin... don't trust anything he says, and never look him
in the eyes. (0ghlil00iwirll~00m They are all incredible warriors, though. There is
no one more qualified to fight the Defiled here in the Tomb of Ariel, that's for
sure.»
Hearing those descriptions, the members of the cohort gave him sour looks. Effie
shook her head.
«How come Cassie's introductions are so much better?»
Cronos stared at her belly with a curious gaze. Noticing it, she grinned.
«What, do I need to give another talk... no, wait. You can be a hundred years old,
for all I know. How old are you, kid?»
The teenager chuckled awkwardly.
«Oh... I'm eighteen, my lady. Sorry, I didn't mean to stare.»
«Eighteen...»
The last time Sunny had seen Cronos, he had been seventeen. So they had not
spent that much time away — much less than he feared, at least. It had been no
more than a month of two, at most, before he remembered himself on Aletheia's
Island.
The teenager, meanwhile, blushed in embarrassment.
«It's just that my wife and I, we were thinking of going to the House of Youth
ourselves... since it was rebuilt recently... ah, but it's probably not a good idea,
still.»
Hearing that, Sunny almost stumbled.
«What... wait... since when do you have a wife?!»
Cronos laughed again.
«Right, you don't know! Well... we knew each other for a while. But since we
were both old and decrepit, there was no point in anything except for quiet
friendship between two elderly folk. Once the city migrated downstream, and we
were both suddenly young once again... well, one thing led to another...»
He scratched the back of his head bashfully.
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«Actually, there are many new
families in Fallen Grace. We all
thought for a long time dat we Would
be the [3st generation of the River
a 3

People. But, now... it's a bit strange?
People are actually looking forward
to the future.» The content is on
popsnovel.com! Read the latest
chapter there!
The captain of the soldiers, who had been listening to the conversation silently,
gave him a reproachful look.
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«You are too young to go to the
House of Youth, brat. In fact... you
should still be in the Hoyseof ¥oLitn!

Fe
Notas Aparent but as a child. Spend
a few decades growing up before
thinking about acting like an adult
and starting a family.» The content is
on popsnovel.com! Read the latest
chapter there!
She seemed to be from a generation that had experienced things properly, unlike
Cronos, who had turned into an old man before reaching adulthood, and was
only now learning how to be young.
Effie observed them with a perplexed expression, then glanced at Sunny and
winked.
«You hear that, doofus? This guy is eighteen and has already proposed to his
girlfriend. What were you doing at eighteen?»
Sunny gave her a dubious look.
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«You should remember it well, no? I
had just helped Nephis win a bloody
civil war, and thenI&d Gl the surviving
Droaindrs GF the Dark City to safety
while the sky was more or less
literally falling on our heads.» The
content is on popsnovel.com! Read
the latest chapter there!
Cronos stared at him incredulously for a moment, then suddenly asked, his voice
full of curiosity:
«How terrible! Does the sky fall often, outside?»
Effie laughed.
«More often than you would think, when this guy is around...»