Shadow Slave

Looking at the colossus, Sunny understood why Kai had called him terrifying. Sun Prince stood at nearly ninety meters tall, towering above the island like a mountain of steel. He was cast in the shape of a noble warrior wearing light armor. The surface of the armor was polished and shone blindingly in the sun, while the rest of the giant was dull and grey.

The colossal statues of the seven heroes of the Forgotten Shore, including the walking one Sunny and the cohort had ridden once, were more than twice as tall, but it was hard not to get shocked by the sheer mass and crushing presence of the Transcendent Chain Lord… or rather, of the steel shell he was entombed within.

A sickening feeling of fear grasped Sunny's heart, which he then strangled and banished, looking at the towering Lord with a grim expression.

He had a reason to feel fear, however.

A half-forgotten image of a nightmarish scene flashed before his eyes — a fragment of a nightmare where he stood petrified on a blood-soaked battlefield, watching in horror as a giant steel sole descended from above to turn him, and his fellow soldiers, into puddles of crushed bones and bloody sludge.

And another, a memory of endless, harrowing torture that he had endured at the hands of his brother, of a human-shaped cage and a pit filled with molten metal.

And finally, the last one — the vision of a giant steel corpse swinging forlornly in torn chains, upside down, its chest shattered by some devastating strike.

…So, this was Sun Prince.

Sunny had never met him, and yet, it felt as though they were old acquaintances. For better or worse...

As the giant stared at the flying ship with a motionless face of a statue, Sunny turned to Noctis and scowled.

"...Now what?"

The sorcerer sighed, then moved one of the oars, sending the vessel into a descent. His carefree smile was starting to look a little forced.

"Now, well… we go and talk to him, I guess? Have a civilized discussion..."

Sunny turned back and looked at Sun Prince for a bit, then said somberly:

"Do you think he knows that it was you who erased his memory of hiding the Ivory Knife, causing him to experience a hundred years of torture, and then end up in this state? And that you actually stole it instead?"

Noctis suddenly choked, causing the ship to careen sideways, and hissed:

"Say it louder, will you!"

Sunny froze.

"Oh… sorry…"

The sorcerer righter the vessel, then said with outrage:

"First of all, I did not cause anything! I just granted a… a colleague's request. Back then, we did not even know that Hope was driving us all mad, so how was I supposed to know what will happen? Secondly… I did not steal the Ivory Knife… I just happened to find it where he had left it, alright? By pure coinscidence. And lastly…"

He paused, and then added in a darker tone:

"I am not sure that he really knows anything, anymore. He is still alive, somewhere inside, but I don't think he is fully… sentient. At least… at least I hope that he is not…"

The ship approached the ground in somber silence, stopping just outside the first ring of pillars, and hovered in place. Noctis lingered for a few moments, and then let go of the oars. However, he did not command the Sailor Dolls to lower the sails.

The sorcerer straightened his garments, and then inhaled deeply.

"Let's go and see what he has to say, shall we?"

Sunny glanced at his friends, then shook his head and followed Noctis. There was a high chance that they were going to witness a brawl between Saints… he was sure that everyone understood what danger they were all in.

The last time he witnessed two Saints fighting, a whole island had been destroyed and crumbled into the Sky Below. Sunny and Cassie had only survived that terrifying clash by promptly running away, and even then just barely.

What was going to happen today? And was Noctis strong enough to ward off the colossus?

Somehow, it was hard to imagine anything, let alone the flimsy sorcerer, stopping that mountain of steel. But Noctis was no fool… surely, he had a plan. His madness was of an insidious kind, after all. He would not have risked his safety, and his desire to free Hope, without having a way out.

Together, the five of them disembarked the flying ship, landed on the soil of the Iron Hand Island, and walked between the tall pillars. They approached the very center of the giant moondial and stopped there, waiting.

When they did, Sun Prince finally moved, walking toward them with a measured gait. With each of his steps, the island trembled, causing the heavenly chains to rattle, and their hearts to tremble.

Sunny was staring at the approaching colossus, feeling worse and worse about the situation. All his Shadows were yet to recover, and so, he was left with nothing but his own strength to react should something happen.

…Well, his own strength, and that of his cohort.

But what could they do against this monstrosity, even together?

Finally, the giant reached the pillars and stopped outside the outward circle, looking at them from high above. Drowned in his cold shadow, Sunny couldn't help but feel like a tiny insect.

Looking up with a grave expression, he gritted his teeth and said:

"...I feel like an ant."

Effie, who was also craning her neck to stare at the colossus, glanced at him, hesitated for a moment, and then smiled.

"You are not an ant, Sunny. You are a cockroach. Remember?"

He blinked a couple of times, then slowly grinned.

…Somehow, that made him feel better.

And then, a thundering voice suddenly resounded from all around them, making their bones rattle.

The giant… spoke.

He said:

"...NOCTIS… YOU HAVE… THE KNIVES."

The voice of Sun Prince did not sound human, but neither did it sound robotic. It was just… strange, and empty. As if it was not a person speaking, but the world itself.

A desolate world full of ruins.

Hearing it, the sorcerer grimaced, then covered his ears.

"Huh… he still remembers how to speak…"

The thundering voice of the colossus resounded once more, making them shiver:

"...SURRENDER… THE KNIVES."

Sunny turned his head slightly and glanced at Noctis, wondering what his reaction would be.

The sorcerer, meanwhile, blinked a few times… and took a big step back, distancing himself from Sunny.

Then, he raised a hand, pointed a finger at him, and said with sincere confusion:

"What are you talking about? I don't have any knives! It's this guy over here, he has them. So… if you want them, come and take them from him! Leave this poor sorcerer out of this, by the Moon…"

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