Shadow Slave
chapter-711-30041322

Hearing Mordret's pleasant voice reminded Sunny of the time they had shared in the Sky Below, and the closeness that had existed between them back then. A long time ago, he had considered the mysterious prince if not a friend, then at least an ally. He had been fond of the owner of the disembodied voice enough to worry when it disappeared.

Of course, all of that had been a lie. A masterfully crafted net of deception that Mordret had created to lure Sunny into bringing the mirror shard into the Night Temple, and setting him free.

The memory of the dark conclusion of that story — the fear, the pain, the shame of having been led astray and betrayed... the slaughter — gripped his hearts with icy claws. Sunny glared at the reflection of the young man for a few moments, then gritted his teeth.

He hated to admit it, but there was no escaping the fact that he feared Mordret. Sunny had met many powerful men and even more terrifying abominations, but the Prince of Nothing was perhaps the only one whom he was truly scared of. Not because of the Divine Aspect or the lineage of War, but precisely because of how insidiously cunning and inexplicable the Prince of Nothing was.

It was like what Teacher Julius had said… what humans feared the most was the unknown. And no matter how many times Sunny tried, he simply could not understand how Mordret thought, what his motives were, and what was he scheming behind that friendly smile. Because of the eerie wrongness hiding in the depths of his eyes, the Prince of Nothing was impossible to predict.

Hell, he was even impossible to kill. The whole of the great clan Valor had tried, and failed.

…Grasping the Extraordinary Rock, Sunny made sure that there was no one really standing behind him, and addressed the reflection in a gruff voice:

"...Oh. It's you. What are doing inside the lake? Don't be a stranger, Mordret… come, enter my Soul Sea, and let's talk face to face."

The reflection of the young man lingered, its smile turning a little forced. Then, it spoke again:

"How strange… I can hear you speak, but I don't see your lips moving. Have you been learning new tricks, Sunless? Ah, good for you. I've been doing some of that myself…"

Sunny scowled, shadows veiling his eyes.

"I have… I've heard. A whole region of the kingdom, Mordret? Really? I thought you did not enjoy killing innocent people. Or did you tell yourself that it was alright because they were not real?"

Mordret tilted his head a little. Then, he said with the same pleasant smile:

"What would have been the point of killing them if they were not real?"

Hearing that, Sunny shivered.

The reflection, meanwhile, shook its head.

"They were real enough to serve a purpose... don't get me wrong, however. I would not have done the same in the waking world. Those I killed were all already dead, Sunless. All of them were doomed, and uselessly so. I simply gave their deaths a different meaning."

Mordret did not seem pleased with himself, but neither did he seem remorseful about slaughtering thousands of people. Just… uncaring.

Which was much more unnerving.

The Prince of Nothing looked at Sunny and chuckled:

"So, that little oracle of yours told you all about my adventures, then? Well, wonderful. I will not have to describe them myself. Time is of the essence, after all… sending a reflection across such a distance is not easy, even for me."

Sunny lingered for a few moments, then sighed and crossed his four arms.

"She did, even if I would not have used the word adventures to describe it. What do you want, Mordret?"

The reflection remained silent for a bit, then smiled.

"Why, what else? To conquer the Nightmare, of course. Don't you?"

A low growl escaped from Sunny's mouth.

"I do. Stop playing games and just tell me what it is that you want from me."

Mordret sighed.

"Well, if you insist. What I want is rather simple… which is not to say easy. I want you to keep Noctis alive, at all costs."

Sunny blinked.

'What is he trying to make me do… does he really want me to protect Noctis, or is he hoping that I will do the opposite of what he wants and kill Noctis instead? Why would he want Noctis dead before the war even started? No, wait… maybe he really does want Noctis to live… argh! Damned Mordret… I hate that lying bastard!"

He stared at the reflection with a dark expression, and then said evenly:

"Is that all?"

The Prince of Nothing smiled:

"Yes, that is all. If you can accomplish this simple task, I can guarantee that we will conquer the Nightmare and escape it alive."

Sunny snorted.

"You can guarantee it, can you? How? What are you planning? What about Hope, will you try to free her, or have you found a way to restore her prison to its original state?"

A gust of wind suddenly disturbed the surface of the lake, and the reflection of the banished prince became distorted, swaying with the water.

He spoke again, his voice sounding a little distant.

"Ah, how inconvenient. It seems that I have run out of essence… until we meet again, Sunless..."

Sunny clenched his fists.

"This again? Disappearing just when you have to answer a question… bastard, you do understand that we are on the same side right now? We can kill each other after we Ascend… but first, we need to survive the Nightmare!"

Mordret laughed, his voice growing ethereal and almost inaudible.

"...not… a bastard. Ah, I wish I was…"

With that, he was gone. The reflection disappeared from the surface of the lake, and Sunny was left alone once more.

He glared at the clear water for some time, then grimaced.

"A simple task… as if anyone can keep up with that lunatic, let alone keep him alive…"

With that, he gritted his teeth and rose to his feet.

It was time to continue his training. Time was short...