Chapter Twelve.

"I know a lot about many things, Nephis. You will have to be a little more specific."

Nephis pondered for a moment and replied:

"My current situation."

Jack nodded. Such an inquiry was precisely what he expected upon being contacted by her. It was a sensitive topic for Nephis, so he responded in a guarded fashion, slowly circumventing the main topic.

"I know you are the granddaughter of Immortal Flame, the first human to conquer the Second Nightmare and become a Master, and the daughter of Smile of Heaven and Broken Sword, the first one to conquer the Third Nightmare and become a Saint. In Sleeper's terms, you might as well be royalty."

"And I also know the Immortal Flame Clan has been on dire straits for a while now, which is one of the reasons the Great Clans have been nipping at your heels for so long now."

Jack tapped on the headboard of her bed, as if reluctant to say the last part. 

"But most notably... I think I know who among the Sleepers has been tasked with your assassination."

The phrase seemed to have ignited a fire in Changing Star's eyes, and she had a 180° change in attitude. In a fraction of a second, she had summoned Dream Blade, and with the longsword in her hands, directed a deadly side slash towards Jack's neck.

He reacted by swiftly leaning back, letting it pass harmlessly in front of him, and with a sharp movement held her sword-bearing hand in a crushing grip.

"Are you always this assertive to visitors?" Jack asked with both eyebrows arched in astonishment. His surprise wasn't simulated. Her reaction to the revelation was completely different from what he expected. Maybe some level of distrust, but not plain aggression.

"Give me a reason not to kill you." Nephis' usually tranquil face was now marred by a terrible anger. She frantically tugged at her sword hand, to no avail. It felt like it was cast in iron.

Jack sighed. "I'll give several. Firstly, you're physically unable to. Secondly, I just told you I know who your true enemy is. Thirdly... I guess I just had two. But they are both robust reasons, so I think you should reconsider."

She was not amused.

"How would you know who my assigned killer is if you weren't from the Great Clans? If a Song Clan assassin wanted to get rid of the competition and get into my good graces, all they would have to do was tell me who the assassin of Clan Valor was. Even a child could design such a plan to lull me into a false sense of security."

Jack knew something similar to this would happen eventually, but not so abruptly.

'Time to lie my ass off.'

The reincarnator rubbed his eyes with his free hand, already weary of this debacle. "I'm going to let you go. Please don't make me regret it."

He slowly opened his grip, after which Nephis retracted her hand - sword still in it, but in a non-aggressive posture.

"I began to suspect something was not quite right on my very first day in the Academy. Caster constantly interacted with other Sleepers, asking specific questions about their backgrounds and previous encounters at the Academy, as if looking for someone."

"In the subsequent days, he spent copious amounts of time with his companions at the Hall or the entrance of the Academy. A behavior that cessed as soon as you and Sunny enrolled. Obviously, one could attribute such a thing to the beginning of the training courses, which coincided with your arrival. But something still felt off."

"You may not have noticed, but Caster was constantly observing you, from the moment you walked into the Hall. So, I investigated some more. I enlisted the help of a friend with an infiltration Aspect and retrieved a cipher-coded missive from his room. The thing is… although I couldn't decipher the letter, It had a very well-known coat of arms… Once I learned Caster's clan was a subsidiary of Valor, the pieces of the puzzle clicked into place." Jack completed his line of thought. 

None of this really happened. But Jack had a stupendous advantage when lying to Nephis: She would never be able to confirm any of it with other Sleepers, in fear of alerting Caster.

Nephis silently assessed him, weighing his words. After a few moments of total stillness, she unsummoned her sword. But she still wasn't convinced.

"How could you know about the feud between the Immortal Clan and the other Great Clans? That's a tightly guarded secret." And she was right. Valor and Song would never allow even a whisper of such rumors to go unnoticed. They would quench them with an iron fist. So Jack fibbed some more.

"It is not so confidential. Although the Great Clans have tried to suppress it, there are plenty of Foruns on the HiddenWeb that discuss this exact topic in great detail, drawing together clues from many sources. In such places, your hidden feud is accepted as factual knowledge." Jack said earnestly.

'I'm just making things up as I go at this point.' Not even he could believe he took out the conspiracy theory card.

"...And what does Caster trying to kill me have to do with you?"

This question was critical. It was here he would make or break their friendship. So at this point, Jack decided to do something different. He told the truth.

He smiled and started counting on his fingers. "You are a powerful Sleeper, with an exceptional heritage - though in decline. Your knowledge of the inside workings of the Great Clans must be unparalleled among Sleepers. Although already dead, your parents helped keep the flames of humanity's hope alive. And you seem like a nice person." He shrugged while still holding out five digits. "By telling you this today, I'd hoped to help you keep your life, while also making a strong and steadfast ally. Was I wrong to do so?"

She fell into deep thought. Something in his words seemed to have struck a chord with her. In the end, she nodded.

"Okay. I'll be your ally." She replied in an oversimplistic manner, almost like a child accepting to make a new friend. "What do you propose?"

Jack felt deep relief. Her unpredictability made dialogue challenging, but at the same time rewarding. He felt as if he was trying to tame a wild tiger.

"Nothing much. A mutual assistance agreement. A compromise to help one another in perilous situations."

Nephis nodded, apparently already settled from her previous outburst.

After settling on the finer details of dealing with Caster in the coming weeks, Jack said his goodbyes and promptly left her chamber. In his departure, he was careful to remain unseen, to not spark any rumors about them being close.

From the beginning, Jack never wanted to directly associate himself with Nephis during their month in the Academy. Such a thing would put him under the wrong type of attention, with espionage becoming the least of his problems.

'Someone is protecting Nephis from behind the scenes. That is the reason she has never been murdered. No normal human can survive an assassination attempt from a Master - say nothing of a Saint. And the Great Clans have plenty of those, even disposable ones. I, on the other hand, have none of that protection. If they decide they want to get rid of a possible ally for her…'

He would be getting his first taste of [Deathless] in very little time.

So his goal was always to establish first contact and a positive relationship with Nephis and let Fate run its course bringing Changing Star and Lost from Light together at the Forgotten Shore. 

'In the original timeline, Nephis joined Sunny because of her need to protect Cassie - someone she had taken under her wing on a whim. I have no way to tell if such a thing will occur again, with me interfering heavily in Cassie's situation. So, the best option would be to create a direct link between myself and Nephis, to guarantee the formation of our party.'

From there, they could assemble their cohort, while he used his leadership position with Sunny and Cassie to slowly nudge the group's objectives.

'Although I have no control over whether I'll be taken to the Forgotten Shore on the Winter Solstice, I don't think the Spell will forfeit the opportunity to unite us four. The Spell was created by Weaver to directly oppose Fate. Anyone hated by Fate must be considered a cherished friend.' His [Fateless] attribute was as much a boon as it was a curse.

After he got to his room, Jack smiled, feeling tired, but gratified as he lay on his bed. 'Step 02: Making Friends for Dummies, completed.' Cassie would be proud of him.

From then on, Jack felt more comfortable in fully focusing on strengthening his relationship with Sunny and Cassie, and also training, both in the control of his Aspect and in more esoteric abilities.

And like that, day after day passed, slowly turning into weeks.

And before Jack even knew it, the Winter Solstice was already here.