As they stood not too far from the gate leading to the Ebony Tower, Aidre glanced at Solvane.
"What are you smiling about?"
There was an uncharacteristically joyous smile on her face, and Aidre was having none of it. This woman was simply too suspicious. She had long known that Solvane and Shadow had paid a visit to her island, and she was very curious to know why.
'Of all the Chain Lords, only Noctis and I still have the knives… Is she working with Shadow to claim the rest?'
If so, then she was in danger. Right now, she was separated from the rest of them, no one would be here to protect her if something went wrong. For all she knew, Solvane was here to kill her and was holding the iron knife in her hand right now.
But still, she had said nothing.
'Whatever you're doing, I hope you succeed.'
She had wanted to free Hope for a long, long time now. Even when the demoness had been first imprisoned, she did not understand why. Even now, it all seemed so pointless. And yet in the span of only a few days, this interloper had managed to kill two of her immortal chains. From the vision Aranea had left behind, the man who had stolen Shadow's body was strangely a mere Ascended.
'How on earth did an Ascended manage any of that?'
Despite her curiosity, she already knew.
Weaver. It had to be Weaver.
To be able to kill Shadow without a knife, there could be no one else that could've done it. The other Chain Lords had to be thinking the same thing, considering Shadow walked around blatantly displaying the symbol of the vile demon.
Aidre… was not a fan of Weaver.
Of all the daemons, Weaver would've had the easiest time in freeing Hope, and yet they didn't. Any daemon could've come at any time, and yet they never did. Perhaps she was foolish to think the daemons would be like normal human siblings, but still, was it wrong to hope?
Solvane was staring into space, and had seemingly not heard her.
"Solvane."
"Hm?"
She snapped out her thoughts, turning her head.
"What are you smiling about?"
Solvane blinked, only now realising herself that she was smiling.
"Oh… nothing."
Despite her words, Solvane suddenly began walking towards her.
"Stop."
She did not listen, and essence began gathering within her body.
"I said stop."
"And why would I?"
Aidre grit her teeth.
"Are you going to kill me?"
Solvane laughed, and did not respond.
"I know you met with Shadow a while back, at the grove."
"So?"
"S-"
Before Aidre could say anything else, Solvane lunged towards her.
Their battle began.
The battle was short, and the result was clear.
Aidre didn't stand a chance.
She had tried to pull out the wooden knife to use it to her advantage, but it was knocked out of her hand quickly.
After not even a minute, their bout ended, only a small portion of dirt around them kicked up.
She was already spent after fighting that terrifying Devil earlier, and she was also outside her element. The fact Solvane was an incredibly skilled duelist did not help in the slightest.
'Oh well…'
She had lived long enough, and now it was time to die.
'I just hope… they will free her.'
The fact she would never live to see Hope free was… sad. But it wasn't the end of the world. Something like this was bound to happen someday. With such a volatile group of people, the Chain Lords couldn't hope to coexist for eternity, and one day they would turn their knives against each other.
Perhaps the Lord of Light had designed it that way, as he had never intended to imprison Hope forever.
"You asked… whether or not I'm going to kill you?"
Aidre was laying on the ground, splinters of wood and long vines surrounding, all in tatters. She still had strength left, but not enough to stop Solvane.
This was it.
"I did."
"Well, I'm not."
Aidre blinked.
"You're not?"
"No… someone else will."
'Hm?'
Did Solvane not have the knife? Did Shadow manage to steal it when they met at the Sacred Grove?
"Who?"
Solvane turned her head towards the still open gate to the Ebony Tower.
"T-"
She never finished her sentence, silently falling to the ground.
'Wha…'
Aidre stared in absolute confusion.
That confusion was obliterated a moment later, and a chill went through her body.
Standing behind where Solvane had just been standing was Shadow. This time, he wasn't wearing his mask, and the state of him was… ghastly.
A strangely small amount of blood leaked from his empty eye sockets, looking like red tears, and his torso was covered in even more blood, as if he had just cut himself open.
Aidre was distracted from his state though, because looking at Solvane…
A small wooden knife was stabbed into the back of her head where the spine met her skull.
She was dead. Shadow had killed her. In a single moment a distraction he had ended her.
'Oh…'
Turning back to Shadow, she saw a small knife in his hand that appeared to be forged from a dull strip of metal.
'So he was the one that was going to kill me.'
A chill ran down her spine.
Something… something felt wrong. What on earth was wrong with this man? He… he had gouged out his own eyes! She could barely even recognize the face of the man who had once been Shadow.
Despite the fact that what she had wished for was right in front of her, she suddenly found herself changing her mind.
If she was going to die, she wouldn't go down without a fight.
The previously tattered vines around her surged with life, surrounding her body and the world around her.
"I'll leave the choice with you."
The man tossed her the iron knife, and only a second later, he vanished, sinking into the shadows.
"...What??"
Aidre stared in confusion.
Shadow… left?
Had she misunderstood the situation? Was he actually not trying to free Hope?
Had she just been spared?
Aidre blinked rapidly, hiding the knife beneath the folds of her dress without a second thought.
'Ah… I miss the grove. Maybe I'll just go back and sleep for a while… A couple years maybe. Yeah.'
Several figures rushed out of the arch a moment later, shouts of anger and confusion assaulting her ears.
Aidre didn't think much about them, only silently staring at Solvane's corpse, the dead woman's eyes still wide open.
***
[You have slain a Transcendent Human, Solvane.]
Sunny let out an inaudible breath, watching Solvane fall to the ground.
'That's the fourth time now.'
Disappointly, he had received nothing.
He sighed.
'Solvane…'
That maniac had seriously attacked Aidre the moment she had been left alone, what was she thinking?
As she didn't have the knife, Solvane wasn't able to finish off Aidre, leaving her to wait for Sunny instead.
'Did she seriously have that much faith in me? What the hell was she thinking?'
Perhaps all the priestesses of war were simply out of their damn minds, and for that, another Chain Lord was dead.
Sunny looked at Aidre, who was looking at Solvane with an unreadable gaze.
'Now… should I?'
Despite her severely weakened state, Sunny doubted he could defeat Aidre. Even if he used Serpent, the other three had to come for him soon, he'd have to get out of here.
Yet during his escape, he had also heard traces of the two's conversation.
'She knew? That something was up with Solvane? Why didn't she say anything?'
Sunny already had a sneaking suspicion as to why. Lady Aidre… wanted to die. Perhaps not truly, but she wanted to free Hope, and if she was going to die, then so be it. She wouldn't try to kill her fellow Chain Lords, but if it were to happen, she wouldn't mind it too much. At least, that was Sunny's guess.
'Hell, she might even be a potential ally.'
Sunny sighed in his heart, his throat still itching, not completely healed yet.
He would've maybe asked Aidre to restore his eyes, but… he was out of time.
'I'll leave her this then, as a token of my sincerity.'
Sunny tossed her the iron knife that he had instinctually grabbed.
"I'll leave the choice with you."
She'd know what he meant.
And with that, he stepped through the shadows and left, having finally regained enough essence.
His escape was complete.
And speaking of escaping…
'The risk… was definitely worth it.'
He didn't know exactly how it worked, but what he had gained from his ritual at the Ebony Tower had definitely just saved his ass.
As for what he had gained, it was neither a Memory or an Echo… it was an attribute.
Attribute: [Veil].
Attribute Description: [You are hidden from the world.]
Sunny did not know exactly what it meant, but it probably had something to do with stealth. Though he could see himself perfectly fine in his own shadow sense, he suspected that someone else would have an exceedingly hard time spotting him with theirs, or something of the like anyways.
Speaking of sight though…
'My vision's still gone…'
Even through his shadows, he couldn't see anything. His sight was completely gone. His other senses remained, but without sight it was going to be a lot harder to survive.
Just now, he'd felt three Chain Lords descending into the Ebony Tower in pursuit of him, he didn't know who it was, but one of them seemed to be able to cast a light that drowned out all the surrounding shadows, leaving him nowhere to hide.
So… he simply made himself part of the environment.
With the top half of the Ebony Tower bathed in light, there was nowhere he could step to, not that he had the essence to do so. So he simply turned himself into a random vase. One that wouldn't be looked at even once. The Demon of Destiny had used the same stone in building everything within the tower, so every single thing there was a shade of black, he fit right in. Using such a simple Shell barely messed with his puny essence reserves as Serpent got to work restoring them.
He was quite terrified that Noctis or the light bearer would notice him, but his worries were unfounded as they simply walked right past him. When the light from the man he assumed was the Sun Prince hit him, his shell nearly broke apart, and the essence needed to maintain it nearly tripled, but Sunny held on. The fact that the three stopped to argue really did not help.
Only when they descended down into the third level did Sunny dismiss his Shell and scurry away. The light around him didn't seem to be a sensory ability, so he wasn't noticed, not that Sunny had any idea of that anyways.
His limp now gone, he silently ran out of the gate, making it back to the Ivory Island.
As two Chain Lords weren't accounted for, he immediately sunk into the shadows once he left the domain of light inside the tower. Seeing signs of a fight, Sunny debated whether or not he should run or not. His choice was soon made though, as he found a certain wooden knife simply lying on the ground.
Not too far away, Lady Aidre was sprawled out on the ground, with Solvane speaking to her in a gloating manner.
Sunny thought to himself:
'I should get rid of her…'
He had the knife. Solvane wasn't just a wild card, she was a latent threat. If Sunny presented her with the wooden knife, she would without a doubt challenge him to a duel to the death right on the spot, it would be better to get rid of her while she was distracted.
As the two women were talking, Sunny turned back for a moment, debating whether or not he should destroy the arch, trapping the three Chain Lords inside of the Ebony Tower with that harrowing rot.
'Can't.'
There was not enough time. Solvane would surely notice if he did something that obvious too.
There was also the fact he needed them still. For the sole purpose of breaking their chains. Losing them to that rot… it was a fate far, far worse than death. He wouldn't wish it on anyone, no matter what. Being corrupted or killed by it was probably the best case scenario.
Besides, one of them could probably just open the gate from the other side. There was no doubt that at least one of them had a method of producing divine flames.
And another thing was…
'It's on now, bastards…'
He wanted to kill them himself.
They had killed one of his precious Shadows… one that had served him loyally since its creation, and one he had invested an endless heap of resources into.
'I'll need a couple Transcendent Memories as payback.'
Sunny sunk into the shadows, appearing within the naughty shadow, still unnoticed.
And when Solvane was distracted for a single moment, Sunny ended her.
Now, he was escaping.
Having retrieved the naughty shadow, he emerged in a random alley inside the Ivory City, leaving the happy shadow inside the top floor of the Ivory Tower.
Taking off his bloodstained clothes, Sunny washed his battered body off with the refreshing spring water he had collected. As he rubbed a hand across his chest, he felt a large scar over where his heart was.
'Damn…'
He'd actually received such a grievous scar as an Ascended!
At the thought of the injury, he thought back to why the [Dark Soul] had randomly detonated.
But then when he thought of that, he remembered…
'Who… who the hell woke me up?'
He distinctly remembered something slapping his face to wake him up. Had it been Serpent?
'Couldn't have been… I dismissed it when the ritual began working.'
Had it been his own shadow helpers, manifesting themselves to wake their master in a time of great danger?
'Possible.'
Or had it been something else entirely?
'Also possible.'
Sunny looked down at his feet, a meaningless gesture, as he couldn't see anything.
"Was it one of you lot?"
Through his shadow sense, he felt his shadows all stiffen, staying uncharacteristically still.
'What… what the hell?'
His own shadows weren't answering him? Just who or what woke him up?
Sunny shook his head and sighed in frustration.
He didn't have time to dwell on it currently, as he was still being actively hunted. A loud, angry roar resounded over the entire city, courtesy of Sevras.
Noctis seemed to have lost his method of tracking him thanks to his new attribute, so he was off the hook for now, but there were still the mundane methods of tracking him. Like scent.
Looking at his bloodstained clothes on the floor, Sunny lit them on fire, summoning the Puppeteer's Shroud over his naked body instead.
Having finished cleaning himself, Sunny activated a certain memory Ki Song had gifted him, the one that masked his scent.
A second later, he was gone.
…And not long after that, a flash of light appeared, and Noctis was standing within the alley. A moment later, Semos was beside, with Sevras not far behind.
They were staring at the pile of ash on the floor.
Semos turned to Noctis.
"Anything?"
Sevras also looked at him in anticipation, only for Noctis to grit his teeth.
"We lost him."
***
"Ugh…"
Within a burrow created on the underside of the island, Sunny sat, rubbing his face.
'Hurts… goddamn hurts…'
The [Dark Soul] had failed to heal his eyes, and his adrenaline was just now wearing off. It was a terribly disorienting feeling, losing his eyes completely, but not one he couldn't cope with. He'd suffered worse injuries.
But still…
'This shit feels terrible…'
He felt like throwing up, passing out, and scratching the inside of his skull all at the same time. He had only run a short distance before deciding he'd be better off roaming in the form of a shadow. With the loss of his eyes, there was a disruption to his balance, as well as strange flashes of light appearing in his vision.
'Phantom pain.'
He wasn't exactly an expert on the topic, but Wilderness Survival had taught him plenty on how to survive while having grievous injuries. He stood a better chance than most, having his shadow sense and all his other senses, but still… It was not enjoyable.
'Lets see… What are the side effects…'
Some of the basics were of course: total blindness, while the less obvious ones were things like phantom pains, visual hallucinations, loss of depth perception… Sunny didn't really suffer from that last one, as his shadow sense still let him judge distances just fine.
'Are my other senses going to get sharper now?'
Sunny already had an incomparable sense of touch compared to regular humans, so that only left hearing and smell. Still, they probably weren't going to change noticeably anytime soon, such a process took months and months of the brain rewiring itself. Maybe even years.
For now, the biggest nuisance was the pain.
'So this is what it was like for you, Cassie…'
His situation wasn't quite as severe, but… not being able to see anything at all was scary. Really scary. It was a sense he'd had since birth, losing it so abruptly was not easy. He'd need to adapt quickly.
Luckily, Sunny was nothing if not adaptable.
He'd relied on shadow sense for years, losing his sight wasn't going to debilitate him. So for now, the fact it hurt like a bitch was the biggest problem.
'Not much I can do…'
In front of Sunny were some natural painkillers he had picked up from the Sacred Grove — little herbs he had recognized here and there. Even though he had planned on using the [Dark Soul] to heal himself, he still made sure he had a backup plan. He also had some high-quality painkillers from the waking world, but was hesitant to use them. Not only had been a massive pain to procure as highly addictive opioids, they were also very annoying to administer for him, as they came stored within mundane syringes. With the Marble Shell, he quite literally couldn't inject it without cutting himself open, and he'd had enough of cutting himself open for a day.
'Hah…'
Thinking about his day, Sunny realised something.
It had been the final month of the year in the waking world before he left, and after having spent a week getting to the Nightmare, combined with his three weeks within the Nightmare, he'd already been away for a month.
Meaning the Solstice had already passed.
He'd forgotten his birthday.
Munching on some bitter herbs while massaging the area around his eye sockets, Sunny sighed.
He had forgotten to prepare any coffee for this trip, so he'd have to forgo his tradition for today. The only drink he had besides water was the wine he had pilfered from Noctis' coffers. So today, he prepared himself a goblet of delectable wine. Raising the cup in the air, toasting to no one in particular, he smiled weakly.
"Happy birthday to me…"
He had survived another year.
***
In the waking world, Song Seishan stood before a mundane house within a relatively quiet neighbourhood. She was wearing some uncharacteristically dull clothes, having donned her civilian disguise. It was quite late in the evening, and she had come to visit Awakened Jet.
She had visited a few times now over the past month, and she knew exactly what her schedule was like. Although it was bound to be far busier currently, with the Winter Solstice having just happened over a week ago, she was sure Jet would still be home. She herself had been extremely busy for the past couple weeks, and this was her first break in days.
Although she had come with the excuse of making sure Sunny was still alive, she had actually wanted to meet Jet. Their first meeting had been subtly unfriendly, with her clearly having visited to fish for information, and with Jet clearly knowing why she was there. And yet… After her second and third visit, she'd found herself enjoying the woman's company. They were the same age, and shared a surprisingly high amount of things in common. Jet might've thought she Seishan had only come to investigate someone close to Sunny, but really? She was just trying to make a friend. As an heiress to a Great Clan, true friends were hard to come by.
'Although I am curious as to why Sunny lives with her… does he have a secret crush?'
Sunny had already made it clear they were just friends, but still… a man and a woman living together alone, both the same age, both attractive… surely it was just something waiting to happen.
She clicked her tongue at the thought.
'Still… she's a decent girl… probably.'
Jet did seem to have a couple minor incidents on her file. Stealing pens… stealing chairs… There were even rumors she had stolen an entire sleeping pod, but there was no way that was true. Jet herself had insisted that the rumor was fake, though Seishan was not interested in finding out whether or not that was true.
Knocking on the door, Seishan heard a yelp and the sound of someone falling over.
'Knowing her… she was dozing off, and the sound startled her enough to fall off the sofa.'
Jet seemed to have a nasty habit of nearly falling asleep all the time. For regular people it wasn't a problem, but for an Awakened it could prove to be fatal. Their bodies were completely defenseless while their spirits were wandering the dream realm.
With a low groan and several loud footsteps, Jet opened the door.
"Wh- oh… It's you. Hello again."
"Hello, Awakened Jet."
'Impressive. She recognized me immediately.'
Wearing some loose fitting home clothes, Jet had clearly not expected to greet any guests today. Beneath her hastily put on coat, Seishan thought she saw the hint of a tattoo.
"Uh… what brings you today, Lady Song?"
"Hm… nothing in particular, and please, call me Seishan."
"Okay Sei-"
Jet coughed awkwardly.
"Okay Seishan, do you… want to come in?"
"If you don't mind."
Jet clearly minded, but allowed her in anyways.
The state of the house was…
'Oh…'
It wasn't exactly bad, but compared to the first time she was here…
Crumbs littered the table, and there were more than a couple dishes left in the sink. It wasn't exactly the home of a slob, but still, it was clear that Sunny was the one who insisted on keeping the place clean.
Seishan laughed slightly.
"My my… leaving the house this dirty. What if Sunny saw this?"
Jet made a sound akin to a hiccup and straightened her back.
"Don't mention a word to him. Please. And besides! You know how busy I am..."
The both of them laughed as Jet moved to clean the table. After a while, the two sat together, talking about random topics that came up.
Still, Jet was clearly nervous. Who wouldn't be? Sometimes she resented her status… outside of her sisters, she didn't have anyone she considered a true friend. There was always Sunny, but he… he was someone that was hard to get along with. Not because he was an unpleasant person, but rather because he built walls around himself, refusing to let anyone near.
…Except for Jet, apparently.
'How frustrating… I must know the cause of this…'
It couldn't have just been because they had both been survivors of the outskirts, right? Jet had indeed said they met at the academy, where she had been 'borrowing' food from their cafeteria, but surely there was more to it. Someone like Sunny didn't seem like the type to do things on a whim.
'Maybe he knows something about her?'
Perhaps he did. The government seemed to know too, as details on her Aspect, and especially her Flaw, were kept under tight locks. Aside from Saint Cor himself, she doubted anyone else would be able to unseal those files.
There was Aria as well, someone she was quite fond of. Seishan didn't know the exact relationship between them, but considering Jet also seemed to be friends with her, she'd have to be decently close with Sunny.
'He… he really does surround himself with women, doesn't he?'
Was Sunny secretly a womanizer, or something of that sort?
'Huh… that would explain a lot.'
She also knew he had a cordial relationship with Sky Tide, and had been on several expeditions with her by now.
'That… that bastard?'
Was he really that sort of person? Seishan tried her hardest to imagine it.
'Nope. Can't see it.'
Perhaps it was simply a coincidence…