''Once I break my life debt, I'll find you, Nimijiki. I promise.''

Those were the last things I said to him before he...changed. Maybe it was a lie. Now, the young boy, who smiled so brightly is...merciless.

I wake up in a dungeon cell. The walls have bloodstains all over them and black chains hanging across the walls. Nimijiki sat perched on the corner of the cell, far away from me. He stands up, ''We need to find some way out of here. Oh, you're awake.'' He glanced down to me, his amber eyes glimmering in the light from the bars of the cell. In the sunlight, his face becomes clearer but beneath his eyes, I see dark lines under them.

I give him a concerned look, ''Nimijiki, did you get any sleep? You look so-''

He cut me off, ''Terrifying?''

My eyes widen, ''What? No, what I meant to say was that you look tired not terrifying. Where did you get that from?''

He sat opposite of me and let out a small sigh, ''Are you afraid of me, Dase?'' I show a shocked look. How could he think I was scared of him?

I play around with my hair, ''No, I'm not afraid of you. I'm just...I don't know.''

He turns away from me, I can sense he is not pleased, ''Fine.''

Drops of rain creasing through the crack in the wall. I still can't remember how we got here. There is a deafening silence between us and a heavy uneasiness washes over me.

''Why, Nimijiki? Why?''

He takes a deep breath and turns from me, ''I had to. You didn't give me much of a choice. You lied to me, Dase.''

I stay silent for a moment. I don't know who to blame. If Triulan were to ever set foot in this dungeon and discover me, I might not see the light of day again. Sometimes I wish, I could close my eyes right now and when I wake up, I'm just an assassin, that Nobius and Nia are not gone, that maybe this was all a dream. That Nuki never captured me and that Lisa never got stabbed by Nobius. But this is real. Everything that happened is real. I just wanted to live a normal life.

''She gave me something that you never had,'' I finally say. I removed my gaze from him. I held my hand tightly on the bars. He got up to look, his amber eyes turning dark, ''Did you ever mean it?''

''Mean what?''

Nimijiki lay himself to the wall, ''After you saved me from the doctor, you promised that you would always be my friend so I won't become alone. Do you not want to be my friend anymore?''

I let out a sigh, ''Of course, I'll stay your friend. It's just that-''

He interrupted, ''That I'm not the same person I was before?''

He knelt down beside, taking his hand in mine, ''Dase, I know I'm not the same person I was before but even if I'm not the boy you remembered, I will always help you.'' And for a long time, he smiled at me. The same bright smile he had since he was young.

''I meant it. Once, yes. But only once.'' Suddenly, there was a familiar figure looming over the cell. Nillei. She opened the cell door to let us both out.

She smiled, ''Ah, thank goodness. You're okay. We've been looking for you for so long.''

''Where are the others?'' I ask.

''I don't know. Hihida told me that you guys were down here and helped me take care of the guards.'' I bring her close and pull her into a warm embrace, ''Thanks.''

She pushes me back gently, ''Your welcome, Dase. Now, go. Hihida waiting for you.''

''Got it.'' I run through the decayed walls and bloodied bodies of the soldiers. I then overheard Nillei saying, ''You seem to be in a good mood, Nimijiki. That's quite unlikely.''

I rolls my eyes in a playful manner and I shrug off the smug smile on my lips.