Sunny sat in silence, the Devil's shadows spilling across the pale stone. His thoughts turned toward Veliona. She had not offered much, only fragments, but fragments were enough. Enough to sketch the outline of what had happened to her since the Nightmare began. Enough to make his skin crawl.
She had been burning from the moment she arrived.
Not metaphorically — not in some poetic sense of fury or grief — but literally burning. When she had opened her eyes, it hadn't been in the sanctuary of some isle or ruin. It had been in the hands of a cult dressed in red, her body bound and offered like kindling to the hateful scarlet sun that glared above the chains.
Sacrifice. That was what she had been chosen as.
Sunny's jaw tightened. He could almost picture it; pale skin bound in crimson cloth, strange symbols drawn across her flesh, the chanting of robed figures echoing through ancient stone. A ritual meant to feed that awful light in the sky. The scarlet sun demanded blood, and Veliona had been the offering.
But Veliona wasn't someone who simply died when told to. She had her Aspect — though even that had betrayed her here. Because without Seele to switch with, Veliona could not suppress it, could not turn it off. She was trapped in a state of constant use, shackled to her own terrible gift.
Sunny imagined what that must have meant. To be hurled into fire and to immediately make the cold, ruthless choice to kill pain itself. To sever her own nerves with a glance, discarding agony the way others discarded a cloak. Then, surrounded by the roaring blaze, to lash out against the flames — over and over again, slaughtering fire like it was flesh. Killing it faster than it could consume her.
But she had been flung into the heart of the inferno. There was no way to banish it entirely. Each second earned with death after death, until the world itself seemed nothing but burning.
Still, she endured.
Sunny could see it in his mind: Veliona falling, wrapped in embers, swatting aside each tongue of flame as if she were cutting down an endless army. Her eyes reflecting the blaze, her skin blackened, her soul caught in a cycle of killing what could not truly die.
And in that descent, she had glimpsed something.
The memory was not his, but it bled through in her words. A giant. A titan wrought of molten metal and endless fire, chained high in the firmament. From a distance, to most, it might have seemed no more than the bloody core of the sun. But Veliona had been close enough to see its form, to sense the outline of a figure bound in blazing tethers.
With all that he knew, Sunny was able to connect the dots. That giant was the Sacred human Mordret mentioned in the Sky Below… the Conqueror that Noctis warily spoke of.
A Sacred human, transformed into something vast and dreadful. A god of war and fire, perhaps, or something worse.
Sunny's hands curled into fists. Even imagining it made him feel small. He could not tell if Veliona's glimpse had been fortune or curse. To see such a being… there were things in this world not meant to be seen.
But the flames had eventually thrown her down. She had fallen, broken, into water. By chance, by sheer mockery of fate, she had landed in some abyssal pool instead of hard stone. Survival gifted to her not by design, but by cruel coincidence.
From there, she had clawed her way to Iron Hand Isle. The place where she had found March's message. A desperate scrawl etched into ruin. Just that faint trace of another still alive, still struggling.
And so she had carried herself further, step by step, until she reached the Sanctuary of Noctis. Where the Devil waited, wearing Sunny's soul like a mask.
Sunny sat with the weight of all of it pressing down on him. Veliona had endured what would have annihilated most. Pain stripped away, flames slaughtered until the air itself reeked of charred death, the vision of a chained giant burned into her memory. She had walked out of fire and ruin not because she was lucky, but because she had refused to die.
And now she was here.
Seele was not.
The two halves had been forced apart, each stumbling through this Nightmare in their own way. Veliona had survived through her ruthless will and a curse she could not shut off. Seele… he could not guess.
Sunny raised his head toward the distant sun, its bloody glow spilling across the chains. Somewhere, high above, that giant still writhed.
The Nightmare had teeth, sharper than he had realized.
***
Together, they crossed the garden of the Sanctuary and approached the beautifully engraved wooden door. A pair of Sailor Dolls were standing guard outside, their indifferent faces staring at them with hollow stillness. Noticing Sunny, one of them moved aside and knocked on the door, which then opened all by itself.
The two of them entered and froze, unsure how to react.
"What the hell…"
Noctis was levitating above the floor, his legs crossed and his eyes closed. He might have seemed like a wise sage in the middle of a deep meditation, if not for dozens of empty amphoras of wine that floated all around him. The terrifying Chain Lord, Blessed of the Moon, the Crimson Beast of Twilight… was dead drunk.
Hearing someone enter, Noctis lazily opened one eye and stared at Sunny, then at Veliona. Finally, he landed on the floor and yawned, causing all the amphoras to fall down and shatter, sending drops of wine flying everywhere and staining the luscious carpets.
"Ah, Sunless! What a nice surprise, to see you so soon. And… uh… you brought someone with you? What a hideous creature… wait, did I say that out loud? No, surely not… I am too wise and courteous to make a rude remark like that, of course… and to a lady, moreover… nice to meet you, whoever you are! Welcome… ah, to my quarters."
He gave them a radiant smile, then waved a hand, causing the whole residence to shudder and the shards of the amphoras to disappear without a trace. Then, Noctis walked over to a small table, picked up a fresh apple, and glanced at his guests with a curious expression:
"To what do you owe the honor?"
'To what do we owe… wait, wasn't it supposed to be the other way around?'
Sunny frowned, then glanced at Veliona, who stared with a curious expression on her disfigured face. Finally, he cleared his throat and turned to Noctis:
"Actually, I am here to deliver some good news. Do you remember the people I told you about? Well, this is one of them. And… yes, you did say it out loud."
The sorcerer stared at Veliona, blinked a couple of times, then took a bite out of the apple.
"Oh, so this is one of the friends that you were supposed to find after visiting an island that doesn't exist, despite not knowing how they look, where they are, and what they are called? He just happened to be here, in my Sanctuary? How… fortunate."
Sunny smiled.
"Indeed! Uh… still not my friends, but… anyways, this is Veliona! Don't let her harmless disposition fool you… she wouldn't hesitate to kill an innocent angel!"
Veliona looked at him as if he was crazy, but didn't say anything.
The sorcerer shuddered and looked right and left, then shook his head.
"Gods, Sunless… do not ever mention those creatures again, even in jest. Angels are not something to be called upon, whether by name or in passing."
Sunny blinked, glancing at Veliona.
'Did she know about that?'
Then, Noctis briefly touched the symbol of the moon on his forehead and sighed.
"...Anyway, I am glad that you have found one of your friends. Have the two of you discussed my proposal?"
Sunny hesitated for a bit, then answered somberly:
"No, we have not. We still need to find three more people who are definitely not my friends for that. However…"
He sighed, knowing that the luxury of having a choice was looking more and more distant by the day. But he needed the sorcerer's help and his knowledge to find and retrieve March from the mysterious Temple of the Chalice… in that particular matter, he was willing to compromise.
Even if he gave up the secret of the Glass Knife, he would still be in possession of both the Obsidian and Wooden ones.
Sunny crossed two of his four arms, and said:
"I am willing to share the location of the Shadow Lord's knife with you, in exchange for some assistance."
Noctis stared at him for some time, then suddenly grinned.
"Really? What assistance do you require? I am the most helpful person in the Kingdom of Hope, you know!"
Sunny pointed at Veliona.
"First, you will help treat her wounds."
That infested eye socket was not fun to look at.
"Second, you will help us rescue another person we know from the place she is being held in."
He thought for a bit, then put on a shameless grin — which distorted due to his new face.
"Oh! And also, coins. You will give me lots of Noctis coins."
The sorcerer ate his apple in silence for a bit, then laughed.
"Well… I think I can do two out of those three things, at least. No problem. So, tell me... where is your other friend being held?"
Sunny lingered for a few moment, eye twitching at the thought of March being his friend. Finally, he sighed, and said:
"Temple of the Chalice."
Noctis suddenly choked on the apple, coughed violently a few times, then grabbed a glass of wine and nervously emptied it. Then, with a flushed face, he glanced at Sunny and forced out a strange smile.
"...One. I think I can do one out of those three things, at least…"