Shadow Slave

Soon, Sunny was walking on the last chain he had to traverse as he approached the Sanctuary of Noctis.

By then, it was already night. Up above, the pale disk of the crescent moon shone softly, its light reflecting off the white walls of the Ivory Tower. Countless stars shimmered on the dark velvet tapestry of the night sky. Without the light pollution that the giant city where Sunny had grown up produced, they were beautiful and bright.

There had not been any stars on the Forgotten Shore, as well, so this sight was still new and breathtaking to him.

Now that it was night, the border between the Sky Above and the Sky Below was almost invisible. The empty void beneath the Isles had stars of its own, so it seemed like the reflection of the real sky during these hours. The only difference between them was that it lacked both the moon and the ethereal silhouette of a graceful white tower floating through the clouds.

The chain swayed lightly as Sunny walked. He felt reluctant to use Shadow Step this close to the Sanctuary and enjoyed the sight of the night sky, the smell of clean air, and the cool embrace of the wind. So he tended to complete this last part of the return journey on foot.

…Even hell could be beautiful, sometimes.

A few minutes later, Sunny heard the murmur of flowing water and knew that the Sanctuary was already close.

The Citadel that served most Awakened of the Chained Isles as the home was situated on a tiny island of its own. That island, however, was rather anomalous: unlike all others, it never rose and never fell, always remaining at a stable height, away from the torturous pressure of the Crushing.

There was a grass field, and in its center, massive menhirs stood in a perfect circle, which encompassed another, smaller one. This larger circle formed the outer wall of the Citadel, while the smaller one formed the inner.

of stones led to a small island at the center of the pool, where,

altar had three special

seem very special, with the exception of the fact that no one — not even Saints — was able to lift it even by a centimeter from the altar's

it appeared to be, itself, the Gateway. One simply had to touch it to be transported back to the real world. Once anchored to it, the Awakened would appear

was that a seemingly endless stream of water flowed from the altar, feeding the pool that surrounded it. No one knew where the water came

the small island, turning into water dust in the wind.

that Sunny had heard as

the island, he walked over to a stone post that stood nearby and rang the bronze bell that hung on it. This was to let the watchmen know that he was a human and not a Nightmare Creature that needed to

a whistle came out of the darkness, and Sunny walked forward on a path that led to

few minutes later, he had walked between two

that name even belonged to a living creature. It was

of menhirs had been made into a place for the Awakened to rest and recuperate between their ventures into the wild expanse of the Chained Isles. The White Feather clan had built walls to close the spaces between the standing stones, and recruited several people with useful utility Aspects to make living conditions better for those who chose to come here or were sent to

about two hundred Awakened populating the Sanctuary, which was enough to keep it

people were either sleeping, resting, or had already returned to the real world, so Sunny did not meet

Sanctuary. It was situated near one of two entrances, so he didn't have to walk for

a few weird-looking fruits, and the golden coin — into a chest standing near the