Shadow Slave

Some time later, Sunny left the room, walked between the tall menhirs, and entered the sprawling garden of the Sanctuary. The cohort had intended to talk to Noctis together, but after his bombshell of a revelation, the others needed some time to digest all the new information and decided to stay behind.

'Understandable…'

In truth, Sunny wanted to be alone for a few minutes, as well. Although he felt that he had made the right decision, revealing his secrets was… an uncomfortable experience. He felt as if an invisible weight had been lifted off his shoulders, a bit, but also rattled and uneasy. He felt... naked.

Sunny could use a little solitude to gather his thoughts, too.

After the initial shock, he had gone into more detail about his capabilities, explaining how a Divine Aspect worked, and the circumstances of how he earned it. However, it was not like he knew a lot about this matter himself, so the conversation was not too long.

It had helped the others better understand his powers, as well as that of Nephis… and, most importantly, of Mordret. Now, they were as ready to face the Prince of Nothing as they could be, should a conflict with him happen. Additionally, due to everyone gaining deeper insight into Sunny's powers, their already profound synergy as a battle unit was bound to grow even more refined.

Sunny kept a few things to himself, as well. The difference was that if before there had been a strange dynamic between him and his friends, where they pretended to not know that he wasn't being entirely honest with them, and he pretended to not know that they knew… now, the existence of those white spots had been openly acknowledged by him.

Effie and Kai understood that there were things he wasn't ready to share, and why he was reluctant to do so. They seemed to respect his wishes.

All in all, it went surprisingly well.

Walking through the beautiful garden, which was illuminated by the pale light of the full moon, Sunny enjoyed the tranquil air of the Sanctuary. At some point, however, a slightly disconcerting thought entered his mind:

'I wonder… was this decision of mine influenced, to some degree, by Hope's poison? If so… what deep desire of mine had she amplified to push me toward being honest with my friends, for a change?"

Suddenly thoughtful, Sunny approached the door of the sorcerer's lair, waited patiently for the Sailor Dolls to open it, and walked inside.

'Maybe I was always…'

His eyes suddenly narrowed, and his hand shot to the side, ready to grasp the shaft of the Cruel Sight. Something was very wrong inside the dark hall… a thick, nauseating smell of blood invaded his nostrils, sending adrenalin coursing through his own. It surrounded him like a suffocating wave, as though a terrible massacre had just taken place in the immortal sorcerer's quarters.

…But Sunny did not see any corpses. The central chamber was just as he had left it the last time — empty of all furniture, with a vast circle of runes drawn on the stone floor. No, not entirely the same… the floor had cracked in several places, as though something was pushing at it from beneath, exerting devastating pressure on the ancient stones.

Noctis was still in the center of the circle. One of his sleeves was rolled up, and there was a deep cut on his left wrist, a stream of blood running down his hand and falling down like a crimson ribbon. In his other hand, he held the diamond sickle. The sorcerer was surrounded by a shallow pool of blood, however, it somehow failed to touch the hems of his garments.

few moments, noticing that the stone surface… seemed to be slowly absorbing the blood. Then,

you trying to kill

Sunny, and smiled brightly. Then, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary

Of course not! I'm too

him

least a thousand

head, scratched his cheek with a thoughtful look, and then smiled even

I'm too

on his wrist close, jumped over the pool of blood, and walked toward Sunny

be aired, I think. The garden is nice and

pool of blood. Did he imagine it… or had the stone floor of the chamber trembled slightly, just then?

the moonlit garden a lot…

to tell me? Have you and

for a moment, then

will help

Noctis grinned.

"Oh, wonderful!"

he didn't say

while, a little confused. They had already reached the white altar and sat down on a stone bench, enjoying the sight of the pristine lake, with a pale circle of the moon reflecting on its calm surface. And yet, the sorcerer seemed to lose his ability to

irritated, Sunny hesitated for a moment and then asked

Do you need me to

him with an easy

no need. Keep

Sunny's eye twitched.

keep them?! Wasn't the knives

immortal sorcerer looked at the reflection of the moon,

with them when the time comes. Things will sort themselves out, one way or

and then added,

start moving faster. The other

leaned back and looked up at