Sunny was startled awake — or rather, he regained his senses after receiving the truth. Just like the previous times, the boon he received was not quite a vision, but also not quite a memory. Rather, it was as if the knowledge of what had happened was placed directly into his mind, vague and disjointed, but somehow easy to understand.
The world of Ariel's Game was the same. The Shrine towered behind him, while the lake of lava was radiating insufferable heat in front of him. The sky was obscured by smoke and ash.
However, Sunny was different from how he had been before throwing the jade figure into the lake. There was a stunned, disbelieving expression on his face, and his heart was beating wildly.
His eyes were open, but he did not seem entirely aware of his surroundings just yet, overwhelmed by what he had learned.
"No way…"
Sunny jumped to his feet.
