600 The Departure

Sunny was not going to do anything special on that day, more so because the whole crew was in a bit of a melancholic mood. This was all of theirs first winter solstice after escaping the Forgotten Shore, so the Fire Keepers huddled together, remembering their fallen friends and wishing the young Sleepers who were going to enter the Dream Realm come night well.

However, Effie and Kai had other plans. It seemed that Cassie had told him that this was his birthday, so the huntress cooked up something special, and the four of them had a comparatively lavish dinner on the smaller mess deck, sharing the tales of what had happened to them in the past year and laughing about this and that.

Laughter was much better than sorrow.

Especially considering that none of them knew when they would have an opportunity to laugh again.

…On the next day, the dark void around them was already hot enough to make moving on the upper deck hard. All of them dismissed most of their armor and worked the sails, their bodies glistening with sweat. Everyone worked together to keep the ship afloat and moving in the right direction, divided into two shifts.

One would control the vessel, while the other retreated inside to cool off and drink water. Luckily, with the hot air blowing from below, they didn't need all of the sails to achieve their goal, which made things easier.

It had taken Sunny almost a month to reach the divine flames before, but the flying ship made the journey faster. Using several Aspect Abilities and ingenious tools, they were also able to navigate the abyss with a sufficient level of precision, quickly reaching the Tear and continuing to descend in a wide spiral.

The memory of the golden string of fate was still burned into his mind, so, by knowing where the Twisted Rock had been located in relation to their position, Sunny was able to guide the ship toward the rift in the ocean of divine flames.

By the evening, it was already visible, looking like a tiny black hole in the incinerating tapestry of furious light.

However, the rift wasn't really that small. It just appeared so because of the distance. Sunny had almost missed it the first time, flying threw the very edge of the rift and being burned by the divine flames. This time around, they were going to keep to the very middle of it, separated from the immolating orbs of white fire by many kilometers of empty space.

Hopefully, that would be enough to keep them from dying of heat.

The sails were hoisted, and the ship continued to plummet toward the flames, supported only by the sorcerous power of the sacred tree and the ancient enchantments permeating the hull. Sunny was left alone at the helm, the rest of the crew seeking shelter in the main cargo hold, where the air was coolest.

He had summoned the Undying Chain and the Memory of Fire, augmenting the protective charm with all three of his shadows. As the flying vessel came closer and closer to the rift, the leaves of the young tree rustles above him, and ghostly runes suddenly appeared on the surface of the ancient ship.

Slowly, the heat retreated a little. Standing on the upper deck was still hard and uncomfortable, but at least tolerable — especially with the help of his charm.

Sunny carefully guided the vessel into the rift, keeping to the very center of it, as far away from the walls of divine fire as he could. It was as though he was guiding the ship through a vertical tunnel that twisted slowly, moving left and right, forward and back.

Luckily, descending didn't require a lot of skill from the helmsman. Sunny was barely acquainted with how to steer a boat, let alone a flying one the size of a frigate, so he wouldn't have been able to do much if things went wrong.

But they did not.

Some time later, the ancient vessel left the rift and submerged into the darkness once again, the skies above burning like a sea of flame. He sent the ship flying toward the island that loomed in the void, not to far away, and let out a relieved sigh.

They had made it.

***

They moored the ship to one of the horizontal stone masts protruding from the island, and disembarked. Walking across the obsidian pillar, everyone reached the solid ground and stopped, staring at the somber landscape in front of them in stunned silence.

The Ebony island was just as the last time Sunny had visited it. It was cut out of dark stone and floated in the endless emptiness, surrounded by drifting slabs of shattered obsidian. A tall and magnificent pagoda stood in its center, built of a flawlessly black, lusterless material that seemed to devour any light that touched it.

Here and there on the desolate surface of the island, remains of mysterious structures stood, long turned to ruins. Several obsidian pillars protruded horizontally from its edges, stretching into the empty void like strange wharves. The flying ship floated near one of them, fastened to it by strong chains.

Effie stared at the Ebony Tower, then turned to Sunny, her face uncharacteristically pale.

"...I can't believe you made it all the way here alone. How did you even survive?"

Sunny hesitated, then shrugged.

"Barely. And with a bit of luck."

With that, he sighed and headed toward the dark tower.

Near its doors, it was time for the four of them to say goodbye to the Fire Keepers. Cassie's cohort, and the rest, were not going to follow them into the Nightmare — some would maybe challenge their own in the future, when they felt ready, but one year was really not enough to prepare most of Awakened for this harrowing trial.

Instead, the Fire Keepers were going to remain on the obsidian Island. Some were going to establish a temporary base there, while others would guide the flying ship back to the Sanctuary of Noctis, and then return with more supplies and enough materials to continue working on the vessel itself.

In that manner, they would travel between the Sky Below and the Chained Isles, awaiting the return of the challengers for as long as needed.

The farewell was a bit emotional, at least on the part of the members of Cassie's cohort. She entrusted the command of it to Shim, the healer, and turned away, the silver half-mask obscuring her expression.

No one knew if they were going to see each other again. For the survivors of the Forgotten Shore, parting with those who they cared about was nothing new.

However, it never became easy.

Sunny opened the gates of the Ebony Tower and guided the others into its dark halls, ascending one level after another. Effie and Kai were looking around, curiosity mixing with fear on their faces. Cassie paled terribly on the second level, where the harrowing rot had once grown from the severed arm of a deity, but did not say anything.

The hall of runes affected her even worse. Kai and Effie were guided through it by Sunny, their eyes tightly shut, but the blind girl could not do the same. Her keen intuition and enhanced senses, sometimes, were akin to a curse.

However, for that very same reason, her mental resilience was also unmatched. She gritted her teeth, and persevered.

Finally, they reached the last level, and drowned the stone arch of the portal with divine flame, taking turns feeding their soul essence to the Cruel Sight. With their combined efforts, activating it did not take as long as when Sunny had tried to do it alone.

Soon, they were standing inside a graceful white gazebo, the portal disappearing behind them.

In front of them, though, was the tranquil haven of the Ivory Island.

Slates of shattered marble floated around it. There was a beautiful meadow near the gazebo, and a peaceful grove of trees, their branches rustling under the gentle wind. Some distance away, connected to the gazebo by a stone path, stood the magnificent pagoda built out of pristine white material that was neither stone nor wood. It was beautiful, graceful, and slightly surreal, as if too sublime to exist in the mortal realm.

And around it, the bones of a dead dragon lay, reflecting the radiant light of the sun.

They walked past the clear lake and through the jaws of the great beast, finally entering the solemn darkness of the ancient hall of chains.

Where Hope had once been bound.

Once inside, the four of them froze, suddenly overwhelmed by fatigue. Seven chains lay on the pristine white floor in front of them, each ending in a broken shackle. The shackles were marred and torn, their mangled surface inscribed with a myriad of runes.

A strange shimmering rose from their surface in ethereal wisps, coalescing into a chaotic, everchanging mass of pure darkness that pulsated in the very center of the great hall.

But it wasn't darkness, not really. Instead, it was a rift in the fabric of reality, one that could devour even light itself.

Hypnotized by the visage of the Seed, Sunny felt it, deep in his soul.

The magnetic, insidious call of the Nightmare.

This time, finally, he was going to answer it.

Sunny sighed, and then looked at his companions.

They had already said everything that needed to be said, discussed everything that could be discussed.

There was no reason to linger.

"...Are you ready?"

Effie, Kai, and Cassie remained silent for a while, staring at the pulsating darkness. Their faces were pale and vulnerable, devoid of the usual masks of confidence.

Finally, the blind girl whispered:

"What are we waiting for? It is… it is just the Second Nightmare."

Sunny smiled, then suddenly laughed.

"Indeed…"

With that, he gripped her shoulder for a moment, and then stepped forward, heading toward the pulsating rift in reality. With each step, the world seemed to dim a little, turning darker and darker.

Effie, Kai, and Cassie followed.

…A few moments later, they were gone.

The hall of chains was gone, too.

Sunny found himself standing alone in complete darkness, surrounded by utter nothingness.

In this nothingness, he heard the voice of the Spell:

[Awakened! Prepare for your Second Trial…]

He smiled darkly.

'Just like the First one… well, let's see where I land this time. I doubt that it can be any worse than before…'

The voice of the Spell thundered again, making him shiver.

[Five brave ones… welcome to the Nightmare!]

The darkness moved, turning into something else, something different.

…Sunny, however, was not paying attention.