Shadow Slave

Noctis sighed, then placed his empty cup on the table and stood up. He straightened the folds of his silk garment, then shook his head with a slight smile and headed across the stone plain of the menhirs.

Sunny scrambled to catch up to him, full of apprehension. The first thing he said to the sorcerer, however, had nothing to do with the messenger of the Chain Lords.

"A metaphor is a figure of speech… uh... sort of like an analogy?"

Noctis glanced at him with surprise.

"I must say, your composure is commendable, Sunless. However… do you really think that this is very important right now? Come now, we need to meet our visitor before he reaches the Sanctuary."

The sorcerer gestured at the silhouette of the flying ship that hovered some distance away, almost at the same height as them. Sunny summoned the Dark Wing, and then said:

"Uh... no. I don't. Why can't we meet the herald here, though? No, wait… if he did not even reach the Sanctuary yet, why is the island shaking?"

Noctis shrugged and gracefully rose into the air, flying toward the ship. What means he was using to do so, Sunny did not know. All he could do was jump as high as he could, and then glide forward.

The sorcerer glanced at him, and then said somberly:

"If we were to meet the herald here, my beautiful sanctuary might… well... get damaged. That would not do. As to why the island is shaking, I guess we'll see…"

Soon, they landed on the deck. The Sailor Dolls had already raised the sails and were hurrying around, preparing the ship for departure. Cassie, Kai, and Effie were also there, although they seemed to have arrived only moments before Sunny and Noctis.

question, Effie simply nodded toward Cassie. The mystery of their

the stern of the flying ship without wasting any time, and took his position as the kybernetes — the guide who steered the ship as it flew through the air. The ancient vessel had no steering wheel, of course, and instead relied on two steering oars, which were situated at

oars. Noctis stepped inside, turned, leaned comfortably on the bending inner surface of the tall aplustre, and placed his hands on the oars with a relaxed expression on his

and with soul essence. There were invisible energy pathways spanning the whole length of it, all leading to the roots of the beautiful

the kybernetes. Otherwise, Cassie would have never been able

…Or a Transcendent.

the ancient vessel slowly started to move, gaining speed as the wind filled

your chance to see a master at work! Truly, there is no helmsman more skilled and distinguished than me in the whole of

suddenly grew silent, glanced at the blind girl with a guilty expression on his face, and then awkwardly

was the wrong word to use…

remained silent for a

am used to it. Do not

the flying ship and its mysteries, Sunny left the two of them alone and

had failed to explain why the approach of the herald caused the Sanctuary to tremble, but Sunny had an idea. The islands were all connected to each other by the heavenly chains, and so, any strong tremor was bound to spread outward like a wave. The question was… what could have caused a quake strong enough for them to feel from several

a giant

He gritted his teeth.

Noctis conveniently failed to mention that this herald was going to

sorcerer meant, saying that they had to meet the herald elsewhere, to avoid damaging the Sanctuary? Weren't they simply going to speak? That was what messengers were for,

islands flowed past beneath the speeding ship, he suddenly caught sight of an especially

was still rather large and covered by soft grass, but the ancient stone columns that had been broken in the future still stood tall, forming

laying in the center of the island, to