Shadow Slave

Thinking that it was unwise to refuse the immortal sorcerer, Sunny rose from the bed and hesitated for a moment, noticing that he was completely naked. Numerous wounds that he had received in the Red Colosseum and later, in the battle with the black steed, had turned his grey skin into a map of scars, with lean muscles rolling under it like mountain chains.

Noctis gave him a funny look, then cleared his throat and pointed to a chair that had a black kimono hanging on its backrest. The garment was made out of silk, intricately stitched, and fit his towering figure perfectly. It even had four sleeves instead of two, revealing that someone must have sewn the thing specifically for him.

Feeling the cool caress of the soft fabric on his rough skin, Sunny covered his nakedness, fastened the belt around his waist, and then put on a pair of leather sandals.

Feeling somewhat like a proper human again… or rather, a proper demon… he then tied his wild black hair with a black ribbon and followed Noctis out of the room.

As they walked to the upper deck, the sorcerer couldn't help but throw glances at him, mumbling some nonsense in a barely audible voice:

"...wonderful… marvelous! My complexion is, without a doubt, the fairest there is in the Kingdom of Hope, but alas, black doesn't suit me at all. I won't be caught dead wearing black. Or alive, really. But this is just perfect! Finally, someone to do justice to this Night Silk I bought! It must be fate, indeed, no doubt about it…"

Sunny stared at the immortal Transcendent with a concerned scowl on his face.

The man was clearly a raving lunatic. Another one…

'Why the hell is everyone in this damned Nightmare insane?'

They walked onto the upper deck of the flying ship, where Sunny saw a somewhat familiar picture. There was a beautiful tree growing around the main mast, with the middle of the vessel drowning in the cool shade of its wide branches. The bark of the tree was ivory white, and its leaves were vibrant emerald in color.

The difference with how the flying ship had been in the future was that the original tree he was staring at right now was much taller, stronger, more robust… ancient.

he had witnessed the consecrated grove of Heart God,

nightmare in which he was reborn as an old man. That one… that one was perhaps the

the sullen demon and

yes. She's a real beauty! This noble ship is the last of her kind. An original! All those flying buckets the rest

patted the bark of the sacred tree in passing and continued forward,

are probably too young to remember, Sunless, but a long time ago, the Sky Below was full of divine flame. Back then, there were fearless daredevils who dove down into the ocean of immolating fire to harvest some of it. This is the

The sorcerer smiled.

Even the memory of them is long gone. Shame… those guys were really something, the Fire Hunters. A fun crowd. Not very bright, though, which was how I got my hands on this beauty. Won her in a game of cards, and

He laughed.

in the North. Oh, you should have seen her face when she had to give me

blinked and stared at

He won one of the seven knives playing

glanced at him and

same expression you do right now. They were very angry with us two. It was a giant mess. Uh… I sort of lost that knife later

silent for a bit, and then added,

for long, you know. It's really, really

Disturbed, Sunny turned away

from the deserted island where the battle between Sunny and the black stallion had ended. It was

from the soil where the drops of the lonesome

'A giant mess…'