Shadow Slave

Sunny stared at the immortal sorcerer, stunned by those words. The scale and scope of the bloodshed and adversity Noctis was striving for were… were simply beyond comprehension. And yet, he had confessed this terrible desire with the same carefree, nonchalant, jovial attitude… as though he was indeed talking about brewing tea instead of waging war on four deathless Saints and their armies.

Sunny remembered the first time he saw Noctis… bloodied, crestfallen, sitting motionlessly in front of the fire with a diamond sickle laying at his feet, its blade marred with crimson.

A grim and somber thought formed in his mind all by itself:

"Insane… you are insane. All of you are…"

He flinched, then removed his trembling hand from the emerald amulet.

Noctis threw his head back and laughed, as if he heard the funniest joke in the world. The silent sailor dolls stood around him, motionless, staring into emptiness with their crudely carved eyes. The scene that was strange and fantastical a few moments ago suddenly seemed threatening and eerie.

After a while, the sorcerer grew quiet, then glanced at Sunny with a mischievous smile and asked:

"Yes, indeed. I could not have said it better myself. All of us are insane. But don't… don't you get it yet, Sunless? Don't you understand why?"

Sunny frowned, then shook his head.

'What the hell is he trying to say?'

How was he supposed to know why everyone in this damned Nightmare seemed completely mad…

And then, something moved in his mind. A seed of a thought… a nascent hint of understanding.

His pupils narrowed slightly.

after escaping the Red Colosseum and facing Solvane, that

sense. And after, when he had been thrust into

grew out of control until it turned into a destructive obsession. He

Pain, sorrow, tragedy... madness.

subsequent crushing heartbreak over the young man's death, the unquenching hatred he had felt for the black steed…

past few

'Wait… wait…'

seven immortals… a thousand years of solemn duty… the terrible torture one of the rules of

Before what?

of shocked understanding

picked up the

"Hope?"

sorcerer smiled, then nodded and looked at the vast expanse of the shattered kingdom

"...Indeed. Hope."

the smile disappearing from his face. A few moments later,

of the Chain Lords. He entrusted each of us with

dark and cold. The sorcerer remained silent for a while, and

eternity is a heavy burden, Sunless. And under its weight, unnoticed, one of us grew twisted. So, another one made a choice to uproot the corruption… that was

fists, their fingers splintering from the immense pressure. Their crude faces did not move, but Sunny could feel an almost palpable feeling

The sorcerer sighed.

her insidious influence sipped out, little by little, infecting us all… slowly devouring the whole kingdom, every

He laughed.