"Have you found anything?"
A man in ivory armour stood in the doorway of a small room, bowing his head.
"Yes, Lord Sevras."
Sevras turned away from the view of the city, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"What? What have you found?"
"He has taken the bait, my lord, just like Lord Noctis said."
"His shadow? You found it?"
The man wearing ivory armour nodded.
"One of our priests seems to have two shadows, and we suspect that is him, my lord."
"Two shadows… you have done well. Make sure the priests do not do anything to alert the shadow. Have you found any others, or just that one?"
"Only one for now, my lord."
Sevras nodded.
"Inform Semos, but do not speak of this to Aidre or Noctis, am I understood?"
The man bowed and left.
Turning back to the open terrace, Sevras took a deep breath.
'There is only one way this ends, Impostor…'
***
Sitting within a ring of moonlight, Noctis breathed deeply.
'Nothing.'
He could no longer trace the mark he had tricked the Pretender into putting onto himself.
'Where are you, little rat? Come face me!'
The symbol of the moon on his forehead glowed with the hunt, a red hue shining within.
Despite his surge of anger, Noctis' meditation was not disrupted, floating mid air in the center of a large room, streams of silver light draped over him, and a single drop of blood floating before him.
'But this…'
He had finally made a small breakthrough.
'Traces of… Storm God's blessing?'
The resistance he felt from his mark felt familiar, like that of buzzing lightning and cold mist. Today was the night of the crescent moon, and his power had grown substantially.
'If it's the Night, then…'
A malicious grin found its way onto his face.
'You won't be able to hide, little rat.'
***
Aidre sat still, watching Noctis' ritual with a vacant look. Despite her pointed gaze, her mind was elsewhere, the feeling of the iron knife pressed against her breast ever present. It had been a week since the death of Solvane, and she had received no news on the whereabouts of Shadow.
'Why give me this? I don't understand…'
Sending a bit of essence through the roots connected to her feet, mystical stalks twisted around Noctis' ritual circle, assisting its potency.
Shadow had said he would leave the choice with her, but he had not been very specific. By now, she suspected it was only something he had done in the heat of the moment, not thinking too much about it.
'A fool like that seeks to release Hope…'
She smiled slightly at the thought.
'A fool he may be, but nobody has ever gotten this far…'
She could remember the last person who had come here with that goal, a Scion of War. He had been a glory-seeking imbecile, hoping to become a Supreme by slaying a divine being locked in chains. His plan was to gather all the knives and then… she didn't really know, honestly. His plan was quite flawed, and he hadn't managed to defeat even a single Chain Lord.
'Just what was that idiot thinking? Attacking Shadow first…'
Perhaps due to his hatred of Shadows, or because he wanted the glass knife to kill Sevras, the man had made his way to Shadows Keep.
…That was the last time anyone ever saw him.
Thinking Shadow was an easy target, he had attacked him inside his Domain. No one had seen the fight, but about a century ago, Aranea had told her she had seen a vision of Shadow tossing a corpse into the sky below. An inglorious end for an inglorious fool.
'But what now?'
Shadow was currently hidden, and three of Hope's Shackles were broken. She had no clue what that maniac's next step would be. For all she knew, she or the other Chain Lords could die at any moment to a surprise attack. Or they could all be left alone, as Shadow had given up.
'I still don't know if he really is here to release Hope…'
He could've been here to collect some Transcendent souls for some nefarious purposes, Shadows were known to do things like that.
'Could he be a Divine Shadow?'
Aidre blinked.
'For an Ascended to slay this many Transcendents, he can't be a normal Shadow…'
The more she thought about, the more it made sense. From the vision they had received from Aranea, the rest of them agreed that the interloper hadn't exactly possessed Shadow, but rather he had killed him and stolen his appearance instead. Their personalities did seem a bit similar, but their Aspects couldn't be more different. Shadow did not have a spatial movement ability like he did, and any attempts to take advantage of Shadow's Flaw did not work either. There were other, smaller things too, like how the man seemed to be able to wrap pure shadow around himself to make himself stronger, which was something Shadow hadn't been able to do.
And so, they had come to a consensus. Using some strange method, a Shadow, or a wielder of a Shadow Aspect, had killed Shadow and stolen his appearance, and now intended to kill the rest of the Chain Lords.
His motives were currently unclear, but most of them agreed that he wanted to free, or perhaps kill Hope.
'But if he's a Divine Shadow… perhaps Shadow God sent him? That would explain how he killed Shadow without a knife. The only thing that can defy a Divine Miracle would be a god, right? So then Shadow God sent him here to release Hope?'
She sighed.
'That's certainly true, but then… why that mask?'
There was certainly a connection to Shadow God present within him, but then where did the connection to Weaver come in? Why would a Divine Shadow walk around wearing the symbol of Weaver like that?
'Could they be working together?'
The daemons and gods had worked together long before she had been born. Even if little was known about Weaver, surely they would've fought alongside the gods just the same. It wouldn't be that strange for them to work together now.
'But… why? Why this?'
Sun God had been the one to imprison Hope, so why would Shadow and Weaver try to release her? Did something change? The gods had been distant ever since the imprisonment of Hope, so she couldn't hope to get an answer, even from the god that blessed her.
'Does it have something to do with the reason Hope was imprisoned?'
Aidre fell deep into thought, her head hanging low.
'Shadow… whoever you are. I hope you know what you are doing. If you mess this up… We'll have to live with the consequences for a long, long time.'
***
Sunny shifted slightly, having woken up.
'Ugh…'
Looking around, he only saw darkness.
'...Right.'
There was no point in trying to see without any eyes.
'I don't wanna get up…'
He was so comfortable… Sunny did not want to move at all.
And so, he went back to sleep.
"..."
Hope glanced at him for a moment, but said nothing.
The three shadows watching them looked away in embarrassment, and the shadow sitting in the shade of a tree just outside the Ivory City inaudibly sighed, sinking further into the darkness.
***
Sunny slowly awoke, the memories of the dreams he had just had fading.
'Ugh…'
Yawning, Sunny tried to stretch, only for his strangely heavy blanket to not budge at all.
'Huh?'
A second later, the blanket moved, freeing him.
'Ah! There we go…'
Taking a deep breath, he stood up and stretched.
Through his shadow sense, he felt his covering their faces, shoulders slumped.
"What's with you lo-"
Then, the haze over his mind faded, his body having fully woken up.
"Oh."
Sunny slowly turned.
"Oh…"
Backing away slowly, Sunny raised his hands.
"S-So sorry, Lady Hope. How long did I sleep?"
A gaze pierced him as he felt Hope raise her head.
"You are from the future?"
"...What?"
Pulling himself together, Sunny took a deep breath and nodded.
"Haven't I told you already? This Nightmare is a rec-"
"Not that."
"..."
Sunny sighed, lowering his hands and turning away.
"...So you are talking about the river."
"Yes. How did that happen?"
He shrugged.
"I don't know. What did you see?"
"Many things. A tomb, a river, a bird."
Sunny nodded.
"Then you probably know just as much as me. Maybe even more, actually. The last thing I remember was the bird, and then I was in the past."
Hope seemed to lower her head in thought.
"You survived an encounter with that ugly bird as an Ascended… impressive."
'Ugly..?'
That was the first time Sunny had heard Hope show distaste for any kind of being. Even against the god that had imprisoned her for a thousand years, Hope had shown no ill will towards them.
"It was entirely luck, but yeah."
"And it removed your fate… how is this possible?"
Hope murmured some words that Sunny couldn't make out.
"A Divine Shadow with no fate… I did not think you could get any stranger, Sunless."
"...Thanks, I think."
Hope's wings rustled slightly, her head raising.
"This must be Weaver's arrangement."
Sunny's gaze darkened, and he nodded.
"I think so too."
He was not an idiot. Something this unlikely could not have happened by coincidence. Too many impossible things had happened to him for it simply be a result of his [Fated] attribute. The fact he had Weaver's forbidden lineage, Weaver's Mask… he'd be a fool not to see it.
"Do you know why Weaver would plan for such a thing, Lady Hope? I… happen to be quite involved with them, in a way."
"No. No one knows what Weaver does. No one knows where they are. No one knows what they look like, even the gods. But, I do have a guess as to why Weaver has done such a thing."
Sunny leaned forward curiously.
"Why?"
"On the day we came into being… Nether told us all something. That the world was destined to be ruined."
Clenching his fist, Sunny looked away.
"Seems he was right."
"Indeed."
"My assumption is that Weaver also knew the world fated to move toward ruin, so they left something behind before they died."
Sunny turned back.
"The Nightmare Spell."
"Correct. From your dreams, I presume you do not know how this… Doom War ended?"
'...Just how much did she see?'
"I don't."
"That is fine. I suspect Weaver was the one that ended it, and in doing so, was able to make the Nightmare Spell all powerful. Using this, they left things in place to one day create a weapon against fate, to create an unwritten future."
Sunny held his breath without even realising it.
"So then… because I'm Fated, Weaver made me their heir?"
Sunny sighed.
"Damnation…"
He had always suspected such a thing, but it was never nice to hear about it. He didn't want to think about it at all.
"Weaver's heir? What do you mean?"
"That… you don't know? I bear Weaver's forbidden lineage."
The hall immediately went silent, and Sunny could feel sweat forming on his back.
"Lineage..?"
Sunny suspected that if Hope was holding something, she would've dropped it just now.
"Y-Yes, a lineage. Sorry, I thought you knew."
"You are Weaver's child?"
The hall once more went silent, only interrupted by an awkward cough courtesy of Sunny.
"No… No, of course not. I received it from a Memory. From the Spell."
"I see. I was not able to glean that from your dreams. That, and I was not able to see your true appearance."
Sunny's head tilted.
"Why not?"
"The things that can be seen in dreams differ from person to person. You do not think of yourself very often it seems, Sunless."
Sunny frowned.
"What?"
'Is she implying that I'm… not self-centered? Is she insane?'
"No matter. Do you know how Weaver's lineage came into being?"
He shook his head.
"No… I know a few things, but not the whole story."
"Mmm."
Hope fell into thought for a short moment.
"Nether once told me that us daemons were destined to be lonely. Many of us did not believe it. I created my kingdom, Mirage created her own imagined world, Nether had that… thing with Storm God, but… I think he was right. No matter what we do, nothing changes. There are not many of us, and we are forbidden from being loved, worshipped, revered… in the end, we only had each other, but even that did not amount to much."
"..."
Sunny remained silent, feeling a pang of sadness in his heart.
'Isn't such a life unfair? They never even knew what they were, but were sentenced to a life of loneliness? The least the gods could've done was tell them why.'
He did not think his opinion of the gods could get any lower, but he was wrong.
"We were forbidden from creating offspring, the very capability of it seared away from our bodies. From the very start of our lives, we were made to be solitary. Even now, when I understand the reason such a thing was done to us, I question the fairness of it all."
"I-I'm sorry, Lady Hope."
Hope looked at him, and Sunny could've sworn he felt the shape of her shadow's face change.
"What are you sorry for, Sunless? This is no fault of yours. I see now why the gods had to die, why the daemons had to die. It is a great shame that you must now live with the consequences."
Sunny looked away.
"I do not blame you, Lady Hope."
A melodic laugh echoed across the hall, causing his heart to skip a beat.
"Then there is nothing to worry about. I have a request for you, Sunless."
Turning his head back, Sunny asked suspiciously:
"A request?"
A request from a daemon… the thought of it was quite scary.
"Will you accompany me until this Nightmare ends? I think I have been quite lonely for a long, long time now."
Sunny looked at her as if she was mad.
"Oh, that's all? Of course I can do that!"
Then, he paused.
"Wait, do you me-"
"Yes. Seeing your dreams of the future… I understand now that you were right. If I were to stubbornly cling to life now, it would not amount to much, or as you said — it would go to waste. So, once you break my remaining Shackles, I will allow you to take my life."
Sunny's eyes widened.
"R-Really? Thank… thank you."
Strangely, he couldn't feel happy about it anymore.
"You do not want to anymore?"
"No no, I will! It's just that… Now that I've heard your story, I… I just, I'd rather not kill you."
Hope tilted her head.
"I do not understand."
Sunny scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"I… I'm not a fan of killing people I'm fond of."
"You are fond of me?"
Lowering his head slightly, Sunny continued.
"I just… your life could not have been more different than mine, but it is the same in one aspect, in that most of it has been spent on my own."
Hope looked at him, but Sunny could not tell what emotion her gaze held just through feeling alone.
'Damn this lack of sight…'
"Your youth, what was it like? I did not see much of it in your dreams."
Sunny smiled softly.
"My youth? Ah… it was quite terrible. Once my mother died, it was just me and my sister, but after a while, it was just me…"
"A sister? I did not see that either…"
Nodding he sighed.
"Yeah. She… she was such a sweet girl, but… after my, y'know… I haven't reconnected with her. With the path I'm walking, I'll only bring danger to her. She doesn't need me now. Perhaps she never did."
The shadows around him deepened slightly at his words.
"I see. Then, what was your life like after that?"
"Mostly just doing my best to survive. Doing odd jobs, stealing, just all sorts of distasteful things, really. I lived in the worst part of a city that would've been better off if I just died. I… I spent years. Looking for my sister. And that didn't go well either. Once that failed, I was infected by the Nightmare Spell, becoming an Awakened."
Hope nodded.
"And then you met… Nephis?"
"...Yeah."
Chains rattled slightly, and Sunny felt his shoulders shake.
"Did you like her?"
"...Yeah. She's gone now, though, so it doesn't matter anymore. I'd rather not talk about this, Lady Hope."
Hope's head lowered slightly, going silent.
"Actually, may I ask where you learned that tune you hummed the other day? It was… beautiful."
Hope's head remained lowered, sinking slightly further.
"I do not remember."
Sunny froze.
"Oh… sorry."
He had understood the message. It was most likely that Hope was talking about the Demon of Oblivion, whose name was long lost.
"Do you… mind if I ask? What she was like? Oblivion?"
Hope's head raised slightly, looking at him.
"Who?"
"...Oh."
Sunny didn't push any further.
'Awkward…'
Hope's wings shifted, and Sunny felt her clear gaze on him.
He lowered his head.
'Did the daemons not know Oblivion died? Or did they somehow forget? Strange…'
Sunny decided not to pursue the topic any further, seeing as it was likely something she wouldn't want to talk about.
"Actually, do you mind telling me more about the other daemons? Knowledge of those kinds of beings is… well, there isn't much of it in the future. Besi- oh, wait! Can you help me translate this, actually?"
Hope perked up at his words, clearly interested. Sunny reached into the Covetous Coffer, grabbing the paper he had scribbled the runes of the Ebony Tower onto.
"I got this from Nether's Tower. You know, the one connected to this one? I was going to translate it myself later, but seeing as I'm not currently busy, I… wait, I'm-"
Sunny groaned, nearly slapping himself on the face.
"...It seems I have forgotten the fact that I am blind, Lady Hope. I'll… have to trouble you to read it for me? Please?"
Hope wordlessly took the synthetic papers from his hand, holding it up to his face.
"It is no problem. Nether was always the type to write down his thoughts instead of speaking them aloud. Reading about his musings should be interesting."
Reading the runes on the first paper he had given her, she turned to him.
"What is this?"
Sunny tilted his head.
"What do you mean?"
"It is the middle of a poem. Where is the first part?"
Sunny froze.
'No…'
Had he forgotten to organize them?! Turning to the Covetous Coffer, he frantically looked through the papers he had, only to see…
'Gah!'
Nothing, as he was blind. He kept forgetting the fact, considering that he could still navigate the world just fine with his shadow sense. Still, despite its uses, his senses weren't fine enough to detect the tiny indentations of ink atop the papers.
'No, no… I definitely remember organizing them. Some of them must've been displaced when I grabbed something earlier.'
"It seems some of the sheets have been displaced. I must trouble you again, Lady Hope…"
Sunny handed her the rest of the papers, which was quite a large stack. He had prepared even more papers, having anticipated needing more for the amount of runes he'd needed to copy down, but it seemed that his handwriting had improved over the years, so his writing took up much less space than before.
Taking the sheets, Hope sorted through them for a couple seconds.
"Ah, here it is."
Holding up several papers together, she said:
"Why does the flame wane?"
***
"Has the shadow made any sort of move yet?"
"No, my lord. It has laid dormant within Priest Makor's shadow this entire time."
Sevras nodded.
"That is fine. Continue to keep track of it."
The man in ivory armour nodded before turning to leave.
Seeing the door shut, Sevras sighed.
"What do you think, brother?"
Semos stood by his side, his head down in thought.
"It may be a ruse. That man has proven quite tricky to deal with so far. We need to continue observing him for now. Perhaps he will just leave peacefully after some time."
Both of them were silent for a moment.
"Was that a joke, Semos?"
"..."
The sound of the breeze outside could be heard, the leaves of a nearby tree rustling.
"...It may have been."
"Don't ever make one again."
Semos snickered.
"Oh but of course, Lord Sevras."
Sevras clicked his tongue, turning away.
"So? Be serious, what should we do?"
Semos' smile vanished, a serious look on his face the next moment.
"I say we make a fake situation and trick him into coming out."
Sevras' eyebrow raised.
"A fake situation… do you think he'd fall for that?"
"I don't know, but it's either that or we sit and wait for him to make a move."
Sevras lowered his head in thought.
Shadow had not done anything for nearly two weeks now, and they were starting to get anxious. Even the shadow he had left with the priest had done absolutely nothing. What could he possibly have been waiting for?
"Perhaps it's time to tell Noctis, brother."
Sevras gritted his teeth, looking over at Semos.
"You…"
Semos raised his hands, backing up slightly.
"It's clear we will make no progress sitting around like this, Sevras. Don't you think it's worth the risk?"
The sheer thought of even speaking with Noctis sent intense anger throughout his entire body, threatening to burst outwards like flames.
'Relax. This could very well be what he was waiting for.'
Semos had brought up the fact that Shadow's impostor could very well be waiting for them to start fighting each other. So they made the best decision they could for now — to split into pairs. One pair stayed on the upper floors, and one in the underground floors, that way they were close enough to defend each other if a fight began, but they weren't close enough to get on each other's nerves. Truthfully, Sevras had been quite surprised Semos had been the one to suggest such a thing, as Lady Aidre was usually the mediator between the lot of them.
Sighing, Sevras nodded.
"Fine. Let us tell the fool."
…Below the twins, within the underground floors, a small but solemn smile crept its way onto Aidre's face.