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…"

medallion, he reflexively let go of the beautiful stone and

of the Underworld was actually called Nether? I wonder which came first, the name of the title… and he was also the Demon of Destiny, it seems. Wait, aren't fate and destiny the same thing? I guess they're

were interrupted by

disaster. Mysterious, distant, and terrifying, each and every one of them. Or at least they were, until the Demon of Desire decided to come and live among us mortals, becoming known as Hope. She built her kingdom here, and soon, people learned to love her. And

paused and then continued, his

to daemons and indifferent to mortals building temples to beasts, spirits, and rocks… they would not allow a daemon to be worshipped. They were so unwilling, in fact, that the Lord of Light brought down his flames

dread permeate his heart.

"...But why?"

at him with a bit of surprise

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

Noctis suddenly laughed.

when I 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

silent, and

of Heroes ended, and the current one — whatever it will be called one day — began. Ah, what a dreadful era! Nothing has gone right

and the daemons had been allies once? Knowing that they would eventually clash in a devastating war, he could not quite believe it… however, on second thought, the Prince of the

say that the other daemons had not

they been allied together against? The creatures of the Void? What was the

'Damn, so many questions…'

Noctis, hesitated for a few moments, and then grasped the

the sorcerer was having none of it. He glanced at Sunny and said with

feel like you are about to ask me a question. That would be the second question… wait, no,

his head, looked at Sunny with reproach, and stood

night. Tell your friends to prepare well in the time