Hope

Sunny stood motionless for a while, feeling the ground move beneath him. Now that all seven of the chains were broken and the Ivory Tower became completely untethered from the rest of the Kingdom of Hope, it started to ascend. Slowly at first, and then faster and faster, the island it stood upon soared into the sky, leaving the shattered land behind.

And as it did, Sunny felt the Nightmare coming to the end.

Slowly, he walked to the edge and looked down, at the burning city below.

The beautiful buildings of white stone were melting. The aerial bridges and elegant aqueducts were collapsing, unable to withstand the terrible heat. The streams of clear water were turning into scalding steam. All around, he could see nothing but an ocean of flame.

The wind brought with it the distant sound of human cries, smoke, and the smell of burning flesh.

Thousands of people — those who still lived — were drowning in the fiery ocean, turning into piles of blackened bones and ash.