Nephis/History

When Nephis was three, Broken Sword achieved the rank of Saint. He devoted all his time and effort to becoming stronger and preparing to face more powerful Nightmares. As a result, he left his daughter in the care of Immortal Flame's widow. Additionally, because he spent so much time trapped in the Nightmare, he was unable to be present in Nephis' life.^[1]

After Nephis killed the Crimson Terror, the Spire became unstable. The Gateway collapsed, and the tower itself soon followed. The artificial sun of the Forgotten Shore was extinguished submerging it into absolute darkness. The labyrinth itself perished, too, the crimson coral turning grey and slowly crumbling to dust. With no sea, no sun, and most Nightmare Creatures eradicated by the culling, it became a lightless and desolate place.^[4]

She traveled back to the Dark City and spent some time hunting down the remaining abominations and preparing for a long journey. With the help of the Dawn Shard and the Nameless Sun, many powerful Nightmare Creatures fell to her blade. For a while, she entertained the idea of trying to cross the Hollow Mountains but eventually had to abandon it.^[4]

She knew that the deadly mountain chain stretched further than Ravenheart in the west. There was no passage there and going north meant moving further away from human Citadels. So, it only left east. There was a chance that the Hollow Mountains were not as tall and unassailable there, or even that there was an end to them somewhere in those unexplored regions. She left the Dark City and retraced the steps of the journey that she, Cassie, and Sunny had made before avoiding the Ashen Barrow.^[4]

She eventually reached the edges of the Forgotten Shore and crossed into a vast and terrible desert. The desert had once been the site of a great battle or maybe that land had been turned into a lifeless desert by the battle instead. Following along the Hollow Mountains, she ventured into the desert and made her way further east. The white desert is impossible to cross. She barely survived on the periphery of the ancient battlefield. The deeper she went, the more terrifying it became. The inner reaches of that region, where the true clashes had happened, had to be a Death Zone of its own.^[4]

She grew desperate enough to finally venture into the Hollow Mountains. However, she had no hope of traversing them and reaching the human territories on the other side. She also failed to find any sign of a Gateway. So, she did the only thing she could think of, to find a Seed of Nightmare. Eventually and with some help, she encountered one near the boundary of the dark realm that hides within the mountains and challenged it.^[4]

Nephis agreed to therapy due to her fear of losing her humanity and her tendency to become cold and emotionless when overusing her Aspect, which had been particularly severe after the Second Nightmare.^[5]

Nephis was initially assigned a psychological counselor after her Second Nightmare. The therapist was making detailed reports about her, which initially went to the government. After joining Clan Valor, the initial counselor was unavailable, and the new one was making detailed reports to the Great Clan elders. Nephis continued to visit the therapist, pretended not to know, and continued to visit the therapist to nurture the feeling of false control Clan Valor.^[5]

Nephis listened to her counselor well, recognizing the importance of small acts of human behavior and participating in mundane activities. These acts though tedious were beneficial for her soul and connected her to humanity. Also, experiencing a wide range of human hopes and aspirations helped her understand her Aspect Legacy better.^[5]

At the start of the Nightmare, Nephis found herself on the surface of the dark island with no one else in sight. She was actually on the shell of a Black Turtle the whole time. On her second day, a sea serpent suddenly attacked waking the turtle and initiating a battle. During that battle, she was in one of the fissures to hold on. Eventually the turtle was killed by the serpent, burrowing into its flesh.^[6][7]

At some point, she recovered to dove into the water to carve out some meat from the turtle. Her flame is the reason Sunny was able to notice her on the dark island.^[8][7] They both spent a month on the island together with the serpent who did not gave up to follow Sunny. On the Island, they researched what the nightmare is about via their memories related to Tomb of Ariel, training, resting, eating and hiding from abominations. It was mostly peaceful until the shell started to break.^[9]

With no choice, they were forced to face the Azure Serpent.^[10] Nephis help Sunny kill the Great Beast and she healed Sunny to his peak condition.^[11] Nephis and Sunny in his onyx form travelled the Great River until they found a ketch and on it they met Ananke.^[12][13] Ananke introduced herself as the priestess of the Nightmare Spell.^[14] They learned many things from her about the Great River, Riverborn, Defiled, Doom War, Gods and Daemons, the Nightmare Spell, Paths of Ascension and even teaching Nephis Sorcery of Names.^{[15][16][17][18][19][20]}

They reached Weave to experience the civilization of River People and of the Followers of Weaver and to gather supplies for the journey to Fallen Grace.^[21][22] Eventually the left Weave and along the way, they encountered a Time Storm which took them far into the past which was far beyond Ananke was born.^[23][24]

Sunny and Nephis continued their journey until they encountered a copy of Chain Breaker inside the Tomb of Ariel.^[25] They used the Chain Breaker to reach Fallen Grace and there they found Cassie.^[26][27][28] Sunny, Nephis and Cassie restored the Chain Breaker and embark on the journey to save Effie and Jet who were trapped in the Wind Flower.^[29][30][31]

In the battle inside Twilight, Nephis was like an undying, insatiable monster of flame that had taken the form of a slender young woman. The true horror of her Aspect was finally unleashed as she discarded her doubt and fear.^[32]

She made a breakthrough and conceived a new way of using her Aspect. She destroyed one of her soul cores to unleash a conflagration of soul flame. She also unlocked her Aspect Legacy in the process which gave her knowledge, instead of Relics.^[33] With no vessels nearby, Soul Stealer was vanquished in the depths of here radiant soul sea.^[34]

Considering the death toll of exploding her core, Nephis received a fair number of Memories, there is at least one or two for each of the cohort members.^[35]

On the way to Verge, she and Cassie had helped Effie during her labor.^[36][37]

Somewhere near Verge, she went on a scouting mission with Mordret.^[38]

After years of trying to resist Sovereigns, she realized that the only way to defeat them was to attain Supremacy herself. Years ago, she returned to the waking world after being lost in the Dream Realm, defeated, and broken. She joined the Great Clan Valor to study the enemy from within. She had also aspirations to earn the trust of the King of Swords and place herself in a position where striking him down would be tenable.^[39]

However, her desire to vanquish the Sovereigns became more hopeless as she learned more about the enemy. Despite her knowledge of Valor and her power as a Transcendent Titan, Nephis was not confident in her ability to defeat the King of Swords. Therefore, she decided to become a Supreme Titan to defeat the Sovereigns.^[39]

The problem is she was not allowed to do so even when the times changed and there was an increased number of Awakened, Masters, and Saints in the world. The Sovereigns had somewhat loosened their iron hold on acquiring more power but still demanded fealty from Transcendent and would not allow someone to rise to Supremacy. Anvil and Ki Song could not even tolerate each other's existence.^[39]

Nephis was forbidden to challenge the Fourth Nightmare. Even if she found a suitable Seed, entered it without permission, and survived, she would be killed upon returning to reality. The might of a Supreme lay in their Domain, and a newly crowned Supreme was only inconsequently more powerful than a Transcendent compared to the perilous threat of the older Domains. So, Nephis had to attain Supremacy in secret, following the footsteps of the Awakened from ancient times, which she learned from Ananke.^[39]

She believed that to become Supreme, she had to realize a Domain first. The Nightmare Spell allowed humans to challenge the Fourth Nightmare, attain Supremacy, and manifest a Domain.^[39]

The waking world was dying, but the Dream Realm was a death trap. Safety was an illusion.^[40]

The Sovereigns must be eliminated, not because they killed Nephis' father, sent assassins, or destroyed the Immortal Flame clan. Not even because of the countless lives that were lost to their schemes in Antarctica. The reason was that the Sovereigns were not up to the task. They were incompetent and strangling humanity's power for misguided reasons. Ki Song, Anvil, and Asterion were not wise, determined, or desperate enough to defeat the Nightmare Spell, despite their great achievements.^[40]

Tensions peaked when Nephis defied Anvil's orders, triggering a catastrophic battle that revealed the true power of Nephis and Sunny but ultimately led to the collapse of Song's offensive.^[41] Nephis was redirected to move the Tower of Hope for a final battle, while chaos erupted in cities like NQSC. As the Citadels fell and the Queen's domain diminished, Nephis appeared on the battlefield demanding peace—but truly sought vengeance.^[42]

Anvil made a devastating move, severing the sky and sending the Ivory Island crashing down.^[43] As all-out war ignited, Sunny confronted Anvil, clashing in a brutal duel of shadows and blades, while Nephis faced a monstrous Queen of Flesh in her radiant form. Though both were overpowered, they pushed through unimaginable pain. Nephis invoked multiple True Names in a final, searing explosion, cleansing the battlefield in flame.^[44][45]

Despite their efforts, both were losing—Nephis to the Queen's new colossal form, Sunny to Anvil's crushing Will. As Sunny neared death, he realized the path to Supremacy was self-determined death, not murder. Rejecting Anvil's kill, he stabbed himself in the heart, embracing death as defiance. At the same time, Nephis, burnt to a flickering spirit in the radiant void, refused to fade. Her will alone kept her together until she also achieved Supremacy, igniting her Domain of radiant flames.^[46]

Sunny resurrected, not through healing but sheer force of Will, returning as a Supreme with a vast Domain of shadows he had unconsciously built. Nephis, now truly Supreme, healed and empowered thousands, reversing the battle's momentum. The final clash resumed with Sunny overpowering Anvil using his new Domain, commanding shadows like an army. Despite the onslaught, Anvil remained calm, hinting his "masterpiece" was complete just as Nephis soared to face the Queen's new towering vessel. Together, the two Supremes turned the tide of the war, lighting a path through despair with vengeance and flame.^[47]

Sunny and Nephis defeat the Sovereigns and end a long war^[48][49], but the victory comes with emotional weight and uncertainty. To secure Nephis' rule and remove himself from the spotlight, Sunny fakes a dramatic betrayal and death.^[50] With Nephis leading humanity and Sunny retreating to the Forgotten Shore, their fight is far from over as a collapsing world awaits their next move.^[51]

Following the conflict, the Immortal Flame clan was restored, and Nephis was declared the ruler of a new unified territory called the Human Domain. Her ascent to power was solidified by her victory in the war and her status as the only known Supreme, which left little room for opposition. She had already secured the loyalty of the Saints, ensuring a smooth transition of power.^[52]

After Nephis rose to power, she compelled most Saints and countless others to swear fealty, but resistance remained. Loyalists who refused to accept her and sought to avenge the fallen Sovereigns were quietly purged—few were killed, but many were exiled. These exiles were relocated to a settlement in Europe and a Citadel in Godgrave, now led by Old Jest. Among them was Gilead, who also chose exile. Nephis' rule brought drastic changes, starting with a powerful speech revealing that the waking world was being consumed by the Dream Realm, which triggered widespread chaos.^[53]

To address this existential threat, the great exodus of humanity into the Dream Realm had to be accelerated. Nephis took charge of unifying efforts across both worlds to make the transition possible. However, serious problems emerged, such as the infection of the entire Western Quadrant by the Skinwalker, which led to the loss of several cities and added the difficulty for both Nephis and Sunny to remain in the waking world for long due to being Supremes. A full-scale war against the Skinwalker was underway in Australia, tying down many of their best Saints.^[53]

Meanwhile, the number of Nightmare Gates continued to rise, forcing them to abandon the global resettlement plan. The new focus became relocating the Eastern Quadrant first, followed by the Western, and eventually the Northern Quadrant—a process expected to take decades. Preparing the Dream Realm to support the incoming population remained a monumental task, as most of it was still overrun with abominations. Though the Chain of Nightmares had begun to change that, progress was too slow.^[53]

To hasten this transformation, a massive subjugation crusade was launched. Awakened forces were actively purging Nightmare Creatures to reclaim land. Morale among them was surprisingly high, partly because warfare had fundamentally changed. With Nephis—now seen as a demigoddess—able to respond to prayers and bless her followers from afar, humanity's combat effectiveness had increased dramatically. Her divine influence granted healing and power, creating near-immortal armies.^[53]

Despite these advances, Nephis' power had limits. Many still died, and progress, though fast, was not fast enough. While Nephis led the exodus and the struggle against the encroaching Dream Realm, Sunny focused on preparing for what comes after—the terrifying unknown that awaits once the Dream Realm swallows the waking world and shifts. In the midst of it all, he also found himself unexpectedly leading a Legacy Clan of his own.^[53]

The Legacy Clans, once symbols of elite power, had lost their prestige due to the surge of new Awakened after the Chain of Nightmares. The Great Clans were now eclipsed by the Immortal Flame clan, which stood alone in its supremacy. Nephis, the sole heir of the Immortal Flame bloodline, commanded the Fire Keepers, an elite military force formed by original members of the Dreamer Army and reinforced through a grand tournament that saw only 4,000 chosen from hundreds of thousands of applicants. This tournament was a global spectacle, offering both distraction and hope to the masses.^[54]