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Chapter 688: Big Decision
Shadow Slave

No one spoke for a while, before Effie finally broke the silence:

"...I mean, it is not much of a choice, is it? Sure, going against three immortal Saints does not seem like a picnic. But we already know that they had been defeated in the end, somehow, so it is not impossible to do. And we don't even know what the alternative is. How do we ensure that Hope doesn't escape her prison? Kill Noctis? That would only delay the inevitable, since this whole damned place is already on the verge of collapse because of her influence. That Hope… she is scary…"

She hesitated for a moment, then asked with a bit of confusion:

"To be honest, I am not even sure what she is. What kind of a demon is powerful enough to drive a whole region mad? Is she Unholy?"

Sunny sighed, then massaged his temples.

"...No. If anything, she is Divine. She is also not a demon… she is a daemon. Daemons were… lesser deities, of sorts, who are said to have created themselves. They appeared out of nowhere, possessing powers that were similar to those of the gods, but different. The Spell has a weird tendency to never mention the word "daemon", though… for some reason. In any case, it seems that the gods and the daemons eventually had a big, terrible war… and Hope's imprisonment and escape were a prelude to that war, I think."

Effie listened to him without any particular expression, then said listlessly.

"Oh, well in that case... that just proves my point! Trying to keep a thing like her in chains… ah, doesn't killing three immortal Saint suddenly seem easy, in comparison?"

Kai moved slightly, and then, his hoarse voice suddenly resounded in the stone room:

"I think we are looking at it wrong. The question is not what should we do… it is what should be done, don't you think? Yes, there is no particular way in which a Nightmare has to be resolved… but that doesn't mean that some resolutions cannot be right, and some cannot be wrong. This land has been turned into hell by Hope, who is trying to escape her chains. Until she is released, that will not change."

He leaned forward, frowned, and added somberly:

"The Red Colosseum, the Ivory City… and all across the ruins of her kingdom, madness reigns, turning humans into wicked perversions of themselves. Sure, we can win by prolonging it. But should we? Would we be at peace with such a conclusion? You can call me naive, but I think that although the Spell does not dictate what the challengers do in the Nightmare, it still matters why we do it. We are still responsible for our actions, and their consequences. So, I think that we need to do what is right."

Sunny glanced at him and then asked, his voice harsh:

"Whose to say what is right? How do you know that by releasing Hope, we won't be dooming everyone living here to an instant death? A thousand years in chains… personally, I would have been a bit angry..."

Kai lingered for a moment, then shook his head.

"You are right, I might not know what is right. But I do know what is wrong. And what I saw here was deeply, deeply wrong."

Sunny stared at him for a bit, then shrugged.

"Well, it's not like I disagree. In fact, I hate this place with a passion. I don't really care if Hope simply kills everyone, either… as far as I'm concerned, the bastards deserve it."

He waited for a few moments, then turned to Cassie.

"What about you? You've been terribly quiet."

The blind young woman hesitated for a while, then spoke evenly:

"I am… willing to do whatever you decide. I'll trust your judgment, Sunny."

He frowned, studying her face with a dark expression.

"Why? You don't have an opinion?"

Cassie remained silent for a bit, then simply shook her head.

'Damnation.'

He knew, of course, why the blind girl was reluctant to speak. She must have seen something… a glimpse of the future that she did not want to share, knowing that it would affect their thinking, possibly informing the very event she wanted to happen… or wished to avoid.

Her own opinion was already compromised by that knowledge, and so, Cassie had decided to remove herself from the decision completely. It seemed as though she had grown wary of her visions, and the consequences of acting on them, after the Forgotten Shore.

'Damned oracles...'

Sunny sighed, then glanced at Effie and Kai.

"Well, then there is not much to discuss. The two of you are keen to join Noctis, and... I guess I am too. He might be a madman, but at least he is a madman we know. And, uh… I also sort of like the guy. Despite the fact that he is a dishonest, lying, conniving, crazy, dastardly cheat. No one is perfect, you know?"

Effie giggled.

"Wow, it's almost as if he's reminding me of someone. Huh, now who might that be…"

Then, she grinned at Sunny and asked:

"That's settled, then. So… should we go and deliver the good news to that dastardly cheat? You know… about how he doesn't need to kill us and put our souls into home appliances?"

She seemed like she was ready to go, but Sunny stopped her with a hesitant gesture.

This next part… he had thought about it a lot, not knowing if it was the right thing to do, or a giant mistake. He was still not sure, but had a feeling that the decision he had made in the end was a correct one.

At least it felt that way.

In any case, there was no going back...

Sunny remained silent for a bit, and then glanced at his friends with a tense expression.

"Before we do… there is something I need to tell you."

Effie and Kai stared at him with slight surprise written on their faces, while Cassie's eyebrows suddenly flew up.

She already knew what was about to happen, of course.

Kai looked at him and smiled.

"Oh? What is it?"

Sunny sighed, turned away, then faced them and shrugged.

"Ah, it's nothing too serious. Just… well… to tell you the truth…"

He gripped the emerald amulet tighter, and said:

"My Flaw is that I can't lie. I have a True Name, which I received in my First Nightmare. My Aspect is of the Divine Rank. I have three Soul Cores… uh, actually, Shadow Cores… which technically makes me a demon. Hence this ugly body. I have already unlocked my Aspect's Legacy. I inherited the lineage of one of the seven daemons. Oh, and also… how do I say this... I might be Lord Mongrel? Sorry about that one, Kai…"

Shadow Slave
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Comments 21

  1. Offline
    give me six digits
    give me six digits
    + 30 ⋅ 0 -
    Kai's brain gonna implode
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  2. Offline
    Deathseeker
    Deathseeker
    + 26 ⋅ 0 -
    My Flaw is that I can't lie. I have a True Name, which I received in my First Nightmare. My Aspect is of the Divine Rank. I have three Soul Cores… uh, actually, Shadow Cores… which technically makes me a demon. Hence this ugly body. I have already unlocked my Aspect's Legacy. I inherited the lineage of one of the seven daemons. Oh, and also… how do I say this... I might be Lord Mongrel? Sorry about that one, Kai…


    8
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  3. Offline
    0m0zenzen
    0m0zenzen
    + 26 ⋅ 0 -
    My heart bursting with joy when Sunny trusted them enough to tell his secrets huhuhuhu
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  4. Offline
    captainplanet
    captainplanet
    + 5 ⋅ 17 -
    I don't think he needed to share his aspect rank and legacy though... it honestly felt like he was bragging
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  5. Offline
    AnomanderRake
    AnomanderRake
    + 16 ⋅ 1 -
    Well.... that was ...... anti-climatic..

    Not at all as I imagined the scene would be...
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  6. Offline
    حمد
    حمد
    + 2 ⋅ 0 -
    Effie, who was already standing up to leave, froze, then slowly sat back down. Kai dropped his wooden mask to the floor and stared at him with wide eyes. Even Cassie seemed a bit stunned, despite knowing most of the things he had just said already.

    A deathly silence settle in the room, and Sunny found himself being pierced by two dumbfounded gazes.

    He scratched his neck, then coughed awkwardly and looked away.

    "Yeah… that's more or less all that I wanted to say…"

    Of course, the decision to reveal these secrets to his friends had not been an easy one. In fact, it went against everything that Sunny believed in… every instinct in his body screamed that he was making a terrible mistake.

    But instinct was not always the best advisor. Otherwise, what was the point of having intelligence and the ability to think about your decisions?

    The fact of the matter was that Sunny had already done irreparable damage to his relationships once because of his untrusting nature. Back on the Forgotten Shore, he had kept his secrets a little bit too well, failing to understand how his deceptiveness would make others perceive him.

    Sure, he had a reason to behave the way he had… and yes, he had never really lied to his allies, simply withholding or manipulating the information a little to keep himself safe.

    But the others did not know about his reasons. All they knew was that their trust was never returned fully, and that he was full of secrets, discrepancies, and insidiously subtle ways to keep those secrets to himself. Sunny had never explained himself… and in the absence of an explanation, the misunderstanding was bound to inevitably take its place, perhaps to dire results.

    Who knew… if had been more open with Nephis, she might have not considered him a liar, absorbing that false perception into her own forming self. Would things have ended differently, then?

    Regardless, currently, Sunny knew both the Aspects… and, more importantly, the Flaws of every member of the cohort. But they couldn't say the same. They revealed their weaknesses to him, but he held on to his own, failing to reciprocate this trust.

    For now, everything seemed fine… but that one-sided nature of their friendship was bound to fester in the future, and the small crack it created could grow in size, eventually destroying it.

    Plus… even Mordret knew his secrets. It would have been silly if the Prince of Nothing did, but Effie and Kai did not. Not to mention dangerous…

    So, Sunny decided to take a leap of faith and put his trust in his friends. It had been a long time coming, anyway… but, damnation!

    Why did being honest with people feel so… disgusting?

    'What a loathsome sensation… curses, I'm all itchy…'

    …After a full minute of stunned silence, Effie finally spoke, her voice sounding uncharacteristically tame:

    "Now… hold on, wait a minute…"

    She raised her small hand and showed one finger.

    "Your Flaw… we sort of already had a general idea, after spending so much time with you. It is still… wait, you can't lie at all? What?"

    Sunny shrugged.

    "I can't say a lie aloud, and I am compelled to answer any question asked of me truthfully, or at least to the best of my ability."

    He expected some sort of spicy question to follow immediately, but Effie remained silent, showing just how bewildered she was. Even her usual mischievousness disappeared. Instead, the little girl simply raised a second finger.

    "...Alright. The True Name… we sort of figured that out, too. You seemed reluctant to share it, for some reason, so Kai and I did not press."

    Sunny let out a heavy sigh, hesitated for a moment, then forced himself to speak:

    "That… has to do with an Innate Ability of my Aspect. If certain conditions are met, it can make me vulnerable to those who know my True Name. That is why I kept it a secret… and also put a lot of effort into appearing as weak and pathetic as possible, so that no one would even suspect that a weakling like me could possess a True Name."

    His face grew a bit dim.

    "Being considered a weakling is generally great, because it makes enemies underestimate you. I'm more than fine with people thinking little of me. But… uh… after I started pretending, things got out of hand really fast…"

    Effie blinked a couple of times, remained silent for a moment, and raised a third finger.

    "Well, I guess that explains a few things. Now, about Lord Mongrel — we knew, of course! I mean, it was sort of obvious…"

    At that point, both Kai and Cassie turned to her and spoke simultaneously. Kai seemed even more surprised than before:

    "What?! I didn't know!"

    ...Cassie, meanwhile, seemed a bit confused. She asked hesitantly:

    "Uh… I am sorry, but who is Lord Mongrel?"

    Effie stared at them with a funny expression.

    "What do you mean, you did not know? You were the one who helped him buy that armor!"

    Kai opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again:

    "...Wait, what armor? I helped… the stone armor from the Memory Market? That dusty, ugly thing? No, it's not the same! The material is completely different! The fit, the design… Mongrel's armor is very chic! Not at all like that cumbersome stone clunker!"

    Sunny covered his face, then said somberly:

    "The stone changes to a stonelike metal due to an enchantment… it was just broken and required an Awakened to activate the restoration process. As for the fit, you do remember that Memories adjust themselves to accommodate the owner's body, right? Hell… now that I have a tail, even it is armored when I summon the Mantle."

    The young man stared at him with a lost expression, then leaned back on his chair.

    "Oh… uh… I see, then. But, I mean... no, never mind..."

    Sunny massaged his temples.

    "I never meant for Mongrel to get famous. I just wanted to practice swordsmanship in the Dreamscape, and all good aliases were already taken. Who knew that a damned broadcaster would spread the clip of me dispatching him everywhere on the network? Oh, gods… and things only got worse after that..."

    Effie looked at him, then at her three fingers, then made a little fist.

    "But the rest… a Divine Aspect?! What?! Do those even exist?! Three soul cores?! A daemon's lineage… what even is that?! And what is next, are you going to tell us that you have a Divine Memory, or something?!"

    The little girl let out a nervous giggle and mockingly shook her head.

    Sunny stared at her for a bit, then cautiously cleared his throat.

    "Ah, well… actually… I have two…"

    Some time later, Sunny left the room, walked between the tall menhirs, and entered the sprawling garden of the Sanctuary. The cohort had intended to talk to Noctis together, but after his bombshell of a revelation, the others needed some time to digest all the new information and decided to stay behind.

    'Understandable…'

    In truth, Sunny wanted to be alone for a few minutes, as well. Although he felt that he had made the right decision, revealing his secrets was… an uncomfortable experience. He felt as if an invisible weight had been lifted off his shoulders, a bit, but also rattled and uneasy. He felt... naked.

    Sunny could use a little solitude to gather his thoughts, too.

    After the initial shock, he had gone into more detail about his capabilities, explaining how a Divine Aspect worked, and the circumstances of how he earned it. However, it was not like he knew a lot about this matter himself, so the conversation was not too long.

    It had helped the others better understand his powers, as well as that of Nephis… and, most importantly, of Mordret. Now, they were as ready to face the Prince of Nothing as they could be, should a conflict with him happen. Additionally, due to everyone gaining deeper insight into Sunny's powers, their already profound synergy as a battle unit was bound to grow even more refined.

    Sunny kept a few things to himself, as well. The difference was that if before there had been a strange dynamic between him and his friends, where they pretended to not know that he wasn't being entirely honest with them, and he pretended to not know that they knew… now, the existence of those white spots had been openly acknowledged by him.

    Effie and Kai understood that there were things he wasn't ready to share, and why he was reluctant to do so. They seemed to respect his wishes.

    All in all, it went surprisingly well.

    Walking through the beautiful garden, which was illuminated by the pale light of the full moon, Sunny enjoyed the tranquil air of the Sanctuary. At some point, however, a slightly disconcerting thought entered his mind:

    'I wonder… was this decision of mine influenced, to some degree, by Hope's poison? If so… what deep desire of mine had she amplified to push me toward being honest with my friends, for a change?"

    Suddenly thoughtful, Sunny approached the door of the sorcerer's lair, waited patiently for the Sailor Dolls to open it, and walked inside.

    'Maybe I was always…'

    His eyes suddenly narrowed, and his hand shot to the side, ready to grasp the shaft of the Cruel Sight. Something was very wrong inside the dark hall… a thick, nauseating smell of blood invaded his nostrils, sending adrenalin coursing through his own. It surrounded him like a suffocating wave, as though a terrible massacre had just taken place in the immortal sorcerer's quarters.

    …But Sunny did not see any corpses. The central chamber was just as he had left it the last time — empty of all furniture, with a vast circle of runes drawn on the stone floor. No, not entirely the same… the floor had cracked in several places, as though something was pushing at it from beneath, exerting devastating pressure on the ancient stones.

    Noctis was still in the center of the circle. One of his sleeves was rolled up, and there was a deep cut on his left wrist, a stream of blood running down his hand and falling down like a crimson ribbon. In his other hand, he held the diamond sickle. The sorcerer was surrounded by a shallow pool of blood, however, it somehow failed to touch the hems of his garments.

    Sunny stared at him for a few moments, noticing that the stone surface… seemed to be slowly absorbing the blood. Then, he gripped the emerald amulet and asked evenly:

    "...Are you trying to kill yourself?"

    Noctis slowly opened his eyes, glanced at Sunny, and smiled brightly. Then, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening, he wiped the diamond sickle, hid it in the folds of his silk garment, and stoop up:

    "What? Of course not! I'm too young to die!"

    Sunny gave him a dubious look.

    "Young? You are at least a thousand years old."

    The sorcerer tilted his head, scratched his cheek with a thoughtful look, and then smiled even brighter:

    "...What? Of course not! I'm too beautiful to die!"

    Happy with himself, Noctis somehow made the cut on his wrist close, jumped over the pool of blood, and walked toward Sunny with a relaxed expression.

    "Come… this place needs to be aired, I think. The garden is nice and chill, though."

    Sunny threw one last look at the disappearing pool of blood. Did he imagine it… or had the stone floor of the chamber trembled slightly, just then? Shaking his head, he turned away and followed Noctis outside.

    Together, they slowly headed for the Altar Island. Noctis seemed to enjoy the silence of the moonlit garden a lot… a minute or two later, though, he broke it with a carefree question:

    "So, what did you want to tell me? Have you and your friends come to a decision?"

    Sunny hesitated for a moment, then answered:

    "We did. We… will help you free Hope."

    Noctis grinned.

    "Oh, wonderful!"

    After that, he didn't say anything else.

    Sunny waited for a while, a little confused. They had already reached the white altar and sat down on a stone bench, enjoying the sight of the pristine lake, with a pale circle of the moon reflecting on its calm surface. And yet, the sorcerer seemed to lose his ability to speak.

    Slightly irritated, Sunny hesitated for a moment and then asked awkwardly:

    "...So? Do you need me to give you the knives?"

    Noctis looked at him with an easy smile and shrugged.

    "Ah, no need. Keep them."

    Sunny's eye twitched.

    "What do you mean, keep them?! Wasn't the knives what you were after?"

    The immortal sorcerer looked at the reflection of the moon, then waved a hand vaguely.

    "We can deal with them when the time comes. Things will sort themselves out, one way or another."

    He remained silent for a bit, and then added, his smile slowly disappearing:

    "Now that the One in the North is dead, things will start moving faster. The other Chain Lords are probably already in motion."

    Noctis sighed, then leaned back and looked up at the sky.

    "We won't have as much time to prepare as I would have hoped. Two months, perhaps… maybe even less. You and your friends should spend that time wisely. Once the end starts, we won't have an opportunity to relax like this until it's all over."

    Sunny grew silent, then looked at the tranquil lake. After a few moments, he said:

    "We will help you, but I have some questions."

    Amused by that statement, Noctis laughed.

    "You even have questions on a night like this? Sunless… you should learn how to enjoy yourself, from time to time. Take a moment and appreciate the world. Otherwise, what is the point in living?"

    Sunny glanced at him with a deadpan expression.

    "Do I look like someone who knows what the point of living is? Thanks for the advice, I'll take your words to heart. However, I still have questions."

    The sorcerer made a dour face and sighed.

    "...Alright. One question. I'll answer one question. So think well before asking it!"

    Sunny did not speak for a while, staring at the reflection of the moon. His face grew serious, deep shadows veiling his eyes.

    After several minutes spent in silence, he finally frowned, looked at Noctis, and said:

    "...Then tell me this one thing. Why did Sun God destroy Hope's Kingdom?"

    The immortal raised his eyebrows, then threw his head back and laughed.

    "By the Moon… of all the questions in the world, you just had to ask this one, didn't you!"

    He shook his head, and then looked away.

    "Well, a deal is a deal. I'll answer... like many others who tried to answer this question over the centuries. Some said that it was because she was a daemon, others said that it was because she was too powerful. That she had grown too prideful, or that she had grown too radiant, outshining even the Lord of Light. But they were all wrong. In truth… at least what I think is the truth… Hope wasn't punished because she was too powerful, too prideful, or too radiant."

    He remained silent for a few moments, and then sighed.

    "...It was because she was worshipped."
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  7. Offline
    Mr.BodyBag
    Mr.BodyBag
    + 19 ⋅ 0 -
    Noooo I cought up here of all places
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  8. Offline
    Ning Cheng
    Ning Cheng
    + 28 ⋅ 0 -
    Ouch... niiicceeeeee
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  9. Offline
    NotWearingThePants
    NotWearingThePants
    + 35 ⋅ 0 -
    Okay f#ck I want next chapter just to see there reaction nose
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    zanderron
    zanderron
    + 36 ⋅ 0 -
    Poor Kai, what hurts him more - a dragon or a demon as a friend?
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