Shadow Slave

Sunny remained silent for a few moments, absorbing what Noctis had told him. The Altar Island was calm and tranquil, the lake surrounding it shimmering in the darkness with the reflected moonlight. The branches of the ancient tree swayed gently above his head.

'Because she was worshipped…'

He snorted and looked away, feeling bitterly disappointed, for some reason. After a while, he said darkly:

"So, what? That is all there is? Sun God was jealous?"

The sorcerer glanced at him, lingered for a moment, and then slowly shook his head.

"No… no, he wasn't."

Noctis remained silent for a bit, then sighed.

"The gods had never shown any animosity toward daemons. In fact, their relationship was somewhat friendly. In the battles of the ancient times, they even fought side by side as allies."

He frowned.

"Neither had the gods ever cared about whom or what the mortals worshipped. Ah, there were all kinds of silly cults before! There were rulers that proclaimed themselves divine, people who built temples to beasts and spirits… some oddballs even worshipped rocks. Or the Corrupted abominations… by the Moon, can you imagine? But the gods did not mind at all."

The sorcerer glanced up at the sky, thought for a bit, and then said somberly:

"However, people had never worshipped a daemon… before Hope. The daemons, you see, are elusive and solitary creatures by nature. There is the eldest, mysterious Weaver — the Demon of Fate, who is shrouded in countless layers of lies. Then there is the youngest, Nether — the Demon of Destiny, who secluded himself in the darkness of the Underworld. There is the Demon of Oblivion, whose name is long forgotten…"

Already accustomed to wielding the emerald medallion, he reflexively let go of the beautiful stone and allowed it to hand from the chain wrapped around

also the Demon of Destiny, it seems. Wait, aren't fate and

thoughts were interrupted by the sorcerer's

every one of them. Or at least they were, until the Demon of Desire decided to

continued,

friendly to daemons and indifferent to mortals building temples to beasts, spirits, and rocks… they would not allow a daemon to be worshipped. They

sense of dread permeate his heart. Remembering one of his nightmares,

"...But why?"

at him with a bit

gods do… well, and maybe a daemon or two. I doubt that even Hope knew what she had done wrong... but maybe she does, now. In any case,

Noctis suddenly laughed.

was young, you know. But then, suddenly, each of the six cults started treating daemon worshippers as criminals, pests who were spreading a vile disease... and the concept of heresy was invented. Now, becoming a heretic means being hunted down

grew silent,

of course, but the destruction of the Kingdom of Hope was a turning point in history. With it, the Age of Heroes ended, and the current one — whatever it will be called one day — began.

whole story. Nothing made sense… the gods and the daemons had been allies once? Knowing that they would eventually clash in a devastating war, he could not

that the other daemons had not consorted with the gods,

that only made the divine punishment that the Lord of Light had brought down upon the Kingdom of Hope more inexplicable and strange. And who had they been allied together against? The creatures of the Void? What

'Damn, so many questions…'

glanced at Noctis, hesitated for a few moments,

was having none of it. He glanced at

ask me a question. That would be the second question… wait, no, the second one was whether or not Sun God was jealous! Wicked demon… you

head, looked at Sunny with reproach,

Good night. Tell your friends to