Soon, the four of them were gathered in Sunny's room. There was plenty of food on the table, and a kettle of fragrant tea. They had a peaceful meal, avoiding discussing anything important… but soon, it was time to have a serious discussion.
The general information had already been explained to Dan Heng, so all they had to do now was decide on a plan of action.
March looked at her empty plate for a few moments, and then sighed.
"Can't we just have a few days off before getting to work? The world won't collapse if we take a small vacation… uh, I think…"
Sunny glanced at the three Awakened — the bruised girl, the cripple with a disfigured face, and a beautiful young woman who had golden horns protruding from her skull — and slowly shook his head.
"If we do, Noctis might grow… impatient. I promised to give him an answer after I find my friends. He has already been gracious enough to abstain from killing me, putting my soul into a doll... or a mop... and ordering it to give him the knives. So, we better not linger."
Dan Heng turned her head slightly and asked, her deep, pleasant voice still sounding strange and unfamiliar:
"An answer? To what question?"
Sunny grimaced, then looked away.
"...Right. All of you must have already understood what the conflict of this Nightmare is. Hope, the Daemon of Desire… Noctis is preparing to rebel against the will of the gods, kill the other immortals, and break her chains. And we have to either help him achieve his goal, or somehow prevent Hope from escaping. The former seems insane, but the latter… the latter seems impossible, considering that she is already able to influence the world from inside her prison."
He shivered, grew silent for a few moments, and then added:
"Each of the immortals represents — or rather, embodies — one of Hope's eternal shackles. They can only be destroyed by one of the Sun God's knives. I am in possession of three of the remaining four knives, and Noctis knows where the fourth is being kept. So… while his plan means going to war against three ancient Saints, it is not entirely crazy. Just… pretty crazy."
Sunny sighed, poured himself some tea, and concluded:
"So, we need to decide whether we want to help him in this craziness, or not. There's… not much point in waiting for Sparkle or Seele. The first would have showed up already if she wanted to, and the second is either dead or fighting for her life. If Seele's still alive, it would be best to end the Nightmare as soon as possible."
Dan Heng nodded, stayed silent for a few moments, before dropping a massive bomb:
"…I met the seventh participant."
Immediately, three pairs of eyes turned towards her.
Since the very beginning, Sunny had been questioning the existence of a seventh challenger. However, he simply had no clues. Hearing that Dan Heng had encountered them, he was naturally interested.
Dan Heng coughed as she showed her hand. A moment later, she manifested… a worm?
The worm seemed to be composed of a twelve-knot pattern, and was separated into eight rings. On a closer glance, there were many three-dimensional patterns swirling around within. The worm crawled around in Dan Heng's palm, but never crossed the edge.
Sunny blinked.
"…The seventh person… is a worm?"
'…That's actually pretty cool.'
Dan Heng shook her head. A moment later, the worm returned the same way it came, fading away as notes of light returned to her skin.
"The worm was the only reason I survived against the seventh. It's quite the long story…"