Shadow Slave

Sunny studied the obsidian knife for a while, and concluded that he had no idea what this thing was supposed to be capable of. It wasn’t a Memory, and it didn’t have a weave, so neither the Spell nor his own ability to perceive and somewhat understand such things could help him.

The only thing Sunny knew for certain was that someone had plucked a string from the tapestry of Fate and placed it inside the knife, making a circle out of it… for some mysterious purpose.

Everything else was going to have to wait until the next time he heard from Mordret. The lost prince was bound to know more about the obsidian knife, since he seemed to know a lot about the Chained Isles and their past in general.

Now, however, Sunny had to deal with another problem…

He had to explain the disappearance of the knife to the White Feather clan, somehow.

Come morning — or at any moment, really, if someone decided to leave the Dream Realm or entered it in the middle of the night — people would become aware that the knife that no one had been able to lift or move was now gone.

Sunny had no doubt that it was not going to take a long time for them to figure out that it was him who had taken it.

And after that…

‘What to do, what to do…’

In the end, he came up with a really crazy idea. Something that he would have never even considered, in normal circumstances. Something that went against his very nature.

…He went and told Master Roan the truth.

Well, the part that had to do with the miraculous coins, to be precise.

Visiting the White Feather compound in the middle of the night was a bit strange, but luckily for him, the older man turned out to be up. He was preparing to leave on a patrol, and so rose early to make the necessary preparations.

After Sunny was done talking, the mighty griffin rider stared at him for a while with a perplexed expression. Then, he asked to take a look at the knife.

Sunny reluctantly handed the obsidian blade over and watched nervously as Master Roan inspected it. He was really hoping that the White Feather clan would not decide to keep it… there were very few things Sunny could do if they did.

Finally, the strapping Master returned the obsidian knife to him and asked curiously:

“So you managed to lift it by using Noctis coins on the altar?”

Sunny nodded.

“Yeah… wait, you know about the coins?”

Master Roan nodded.

“A few have been found here and there on the Isles over the years. It seems that this was the preferred currency people who lived here thousands of years ago used. No one had ever discovered a literal treasure trove of them, though, as you did.”

He thought for a bit, and then smiled.

“Actually, I think I have one stashed somewhere. Wait here for a bit, alright?”

With that, Roan disappeared into the stone chateau, and then returned ten or so minutes later, holding a familiar golden coin in his hand.

“Found it! I used to carry it with me a lot before, as a lucky charm. Let’s go.”

Together, they returned to the altar island.

The first thing Master Roan did was glance at the moon, and then place the coin on the altar. Once again, it gleamed and disappeared, leaving a bewildered expression on the handsome man’s face.

“I’ll be damned! I just received a bit of soul essence. You were right!”

He shook his head in astonishment.

“To think that these coins had such a use all this time, and no one was the wiser. Good job, Sunless!”

Then, Master Roan hesitated for a few moments, and asked:

“Can you place the knife back on the altar?”

Sunny did as he was asked, and then watched as the mighty griffin rider used all of his formidable power in a vain attempt to lift the obsidian blade off the white surface. When he was done with that futile attempt and stepped back to catch his breath, Sunny simply took hold of the handle and retrieved the knife without any problem.

“Interesting!”

Then came the moment of truth. Sunny tensed as he waited for the older man’s decision.

After thinking about it for a while, Master Roan said:

“Well… I don’t know if you know this, Sunless, but there is a sacred rule among us Awakened in the Dream Realm. The sanctity of this rule is unassailable and beyond reproach. And that rule is… finders, keepers.”

Sunny blinked.

‘What?’

The strapping Master grinned:

“So you don’t have to worry about either me or Tyris taking that knife from you…”

Then, however, his smile dimmed.

“…Other people, though, might not be as reasonable. Even if no one knows what power this thing has, or if there even is anything special about it, someone might get too excited and act in a regrettable manner. So I’d advise you to put the knife back on the altar, until the time you feel like using it.”

Sunny considered his words and had to admit that this, indeed, would be the best decision for now. Master Roan helped him confirm that no one else would be able to take the knife, and carrying it around before venturing into the Nightmare had no benefit.

Summoning the memory of how exactly the obsidian blade had been placed on the altar, he put it in its previous spot and took a step back.

Master Roan nodded.

“Good choice. Please, do tell us if you find out anything about its purpose… at least if it has anything to do with the well-being of the Sanctuary. If need be, we’ll compensate you fairly to either take the knife off your hands or lend it for a bit, if that’s what you prefer.”

Sunny agreed to this condition, since it sounded reasonable.

With that out of the way, the strapping griffin rider looked at him with sparks dancing in his eyes.

“So, uh… what are you going to do now?”

Sunny frowned.

‘What a weird question…’

“Go home, take a shower, deal with some real-world business. Why? What are you going to do?”

Master Roan laughed:

“What do you mean, what I am going to do? I am going to go on my patrol, and then I’ll go… coin hunting, of course. I suspect that everyone in the Sanctuary is going to be searching for Noctis coins like madmen for quite some time after that discovery of yours. People are going to get really busy…”

Sunny remained silent for a bit, and then said in a very serious tone:

“Good luck, then. Oh, and one thing… if you find a big chest full of them, make your griffin stomp on it a few times before coming closer. Better yet, do that to every chest you encounter in the future. Never trust a chest not to eat you, is what I am trying to say… I sure won’t!”

With that, he said goodbye to the handsome Master, placed his hand on the altar, and returned to the real world.

There was a lot he had to do there…