Shadow Slave

As Sunny and Kai moved toward the wreck of the ancient ship, the heavenly chains suddenly rattled deafeningly, and the whole island quaked once more as it shifted higher. Turning back, they saw that the steel colossus was gone from the edge. Effie was nowhere in sight, as well.

Sunny stared at the empty space where the giant had been kneeling not too long ago, then gritted his teeth and looked away.

Effie knew what she was doing… no one was more motivated to survive the Nightmare and return to the waking world alive. Not even Sunny. She would not have done anything that would leave her no chance to escape.

In any case, every one of them was in terrible danger. If Solvane managed to defeat Noctis, she would be coming for them next. And Cassie could have been dying or dead already, somewhere in the wreckage.

There was no time to waste on unnecessary thoughts.

Sunny dragged Kai forward, lamenting the fact that the archer was coming back to his senses so slowly. His incredible sight would have been very useful right about now…

His four shadows flew toward the wreck, gliding between the debris in search of the young woman. However, it was hard to make out anything in the chaotic mess of splintered wood, upturned soil, and shredded sails.

And then, finally, he thought that he noticed weak movement under a pile of debris.

With his two hearts beating wildly, Sunny rushed forward, then threw a piece of the ship's hull aside and bent down, digging through the soil. Soon, he saw a piece of black fabric, and then removed some more dirt to reveal Cassie's pale face.

She struggled to sit, and then coughed violently.

The blind young woman seemed to be… fine. The piece of cloth covering her eyes had slid down, revealing two empty eye sockets, and her dress was soaked with blood from the arrow wound on her shoulder, but other than that, there were only mild scratches and lacerations on her body.

Miraculously, Cassie was alive.

Sunny stared at her with wide eyes, a sense of profound relief slowly spreading through his chest. The young woman coughed some more, wiped the dirt off her face, then turned her head slightly with an uncertain and vulnerable expression.

"Who... who is there? Sunny?"

He helped Kai sit down, then said:

"Yes, it's me. But can't your Ability tell?"

Cassie grimaced.

"I've run out of soul essence. Damnation…"

A stifled laugh escaped from his mouth.

"That's what you are concerned with? You damned fool… what the hell was that stunt?! How did you even survive the crash?!"

Cassie turned to him with a confused expression on her beautiful face.

"How did I… what? I jumped off the ship a few moments before it hit the Prince, of course. Dancer carried me down… I am not crazy…"

He stared at her for a moment, then covered his face with a hand and let out a long, relieved sigh.

"You've been spending too much time with me… only a madman would call ramming a flying ship into an immortal steel giant at full speed not crazy!"

Now that he knew that the blind girl was alive, though, he could finally think about everything else. As cold shivers run down his spine, Sunny turned and stared at the dark gaping hole in the hull of the crashed ship where Noctis and Solvane had disappeared.

The wreckage was still trembling and groaning, proving that the two Transcendents were still fighting inside.

Cassie tried to stand up, fell back, then remained motionless for a few moments.

"What is happening?"

Sunny grimaced.

"Effie is dealing with what is left of Sun Prince. Kai is here, but he had the wind knocked out of him. Noctis… is also on the island. He seems to be losing to Solvane terribly."

His shadows returned, wrapping themselves around his body and bringing with them vast and fearsome strength.

Sunny lingered for a moment, and then stood up.

"You stay here with Kai and rest for a bit. I… I'll be back shortly."

The blind young woman frowned, then hurriedly fumbled for her blindfold and pulled it up, covering the empty darkness of her missing eyes.

"W—where are you going?"

He looked at the wreckage for a few moments, and then smiled darkly.

"Ah… I am just going to return a debt."

He owed Solvane quite a lot, after all.

Months of agony and desperation, the life of a dear friend… and even a heart.

When would he get a chance to repay her hospitality again?

Leaving Cassie and Kai behind, Sunny gathered his courage, and dashed toward the wreck.

***

Jumping through the breach in the hull, he landed on the skewed floor of one of the compartments at the stern of the ship and froze for a moment, hit by a strong sense of deja vu.

All of this… did it not feel very familiar?

Was it not the same compartment he had entered the wreck through all that time ago, in the distant future, while hunting for miraculous coins?

Of course, back then, the ancient ship had looked vastly different, at least on the inside. It had been infested by a sprawling mass of brown vines and moss, the murky air full of poison they secreted.

Back then, Sunny had not known who Noctis was, and how his ship had ended up broken and abandoned on a desolate island near the rift.

Well… now everything fell in its place.

This island was going to become the Shipwreck Island. The wound in the chest of the giant steel corpse, the terrible damage done to the bow of the crashed vessel, it all made sense now… except for one thing.

How would Solvane end up trapped for thousands of years in the cargo hold, so that Sunny could kill her in the future?

Sunny did not consider his chances in a battle against the living embodiment of War to be very high, but the mere fact of knowing the future told him that it was not impossible to defeat her.

At least that was what he wanted to believe, sneaking through the broken ship as he came closer and closer to the sounds of the furious battle.

If he was wrong, however…

The possibility of Sunny himself becoming the host of a monstrous Corrupted parasite was not out of the question.