Shadow Slave

Sunny remained on the porch for a while longer, thinking about nothing in particular.

He wondered about the future, and about the past.

What had happened to the real Noctis? What had happened to the real Hope? What had really happened to her cursed kingdom?

He had seen the corpses and Sevras and Sun Prince in the Dream Realm. However, Solvane had still been alive. The Obsidian and the Ivory knives had never been used, hinting that the real events of the liberation of Hope had been both similar and vastly different from how they had transpired in the Nightmare.

Had Noctis succeeded in his ambition to make a deal with Weaver? Had the Demon of Fate helped him find a way to break the eternal shackles of Hope without using the knives?

If so… had the sorcerer, perhaps, survived his mad rebellion?

What price had he paid?

Of course, Sunny knew that there were no answers to his questions. He was never going to learn the truth. The events he had lived through in the Nightmare were too distant, and shrouded in too much mystery for him to discover it.

...As he thought about all these things, a familiar figure suddenly appeared on the crosswalk.

A teenage girl with pale skin and black hair was walking back from school, a somber expression on her face.

Noticing Sunny, she froze for a second, and then suddenly sprinted over.

Halfway to the porch, Rain remember herself and slowed down, awkwardly trying to hide her excitement.

She stopped near Sunny, hesitated for a moment, and then hit him on the shoulder with her little fist.

"Where… where the hell have you been? Are you back? You were gone for so long!"

Sunny leaned back and grinned.

"Hey, Rain. Of course, I am back. Can't you see? As for where I was... I just visited a temple. Then, I went on a little cruise. Then, I visited a couple of towers, spent some time in a theater, befriended a horse, lived in another temple for a while. Finally, I visited a very pretty city and got to know its rulers. Why? Did you miss me?"

Rain stared at him for a few moments, then scoffed.

"Me? Ha! Why would I miss you, of all people?!"

She grew silent, looked down, and then added shyly:

"Well… maybe I did miss you… a tiny bit. My new tutor is a very respectable Awakened, but he is not at all as fun as you."

Sunny looked at her for a few moments, and then smiled:

Awakened, huh? What a pity. I am a

a shocked glance

As

smile slowly grew

am. Do you know what

She hesitated.

"What?"

said in a friendly

that my lessons will be much more expensive, of

grew silent, and added after a

have missed you a

***

of black stone. Fog nestled on the water, stifling its quiet murmurs and veiling everything in white. A lone source of light was traveling through the

hanging on its bow. A pristine white flame burned within the lantern, straining against

a ball, sleeping on the bottom of the onyx boat. In the stark light of the lantern,

gondola stood a skeleton dressed in rags. He was working the oar, staring into the fog or at the young woman. Despite the fact that the skeleton had no lungs, no

the

And reveal their lie

one who sleeps will

To devour his children

Oh, and us all

That which was forgotten

Will be remembered

And consume the world

all of us

The nightmare

Of the Forgotten God…"

stirred, and then slowly opened

How have

answer, staring at the

boatman waited for a

speaking much these past few weeks, creature. Has your mind

silent, making the skeleton uncomfortable.

you feels different today. Your shadow…

There was no answer.

receded, revealing a black shore. The skeleton changed the course of the boat and let

go of

it, creature. That is as far as I