BELOW THE FIRST LIGHT
Sun decided to learn more about the world he had failed to see.
He searched through his parents' meager belongings and the abandoned homes of the neighbors, moving through the ruins of his life without much care. He found nothing of use—nothing that answered the questions that actually mattered. Eventually, he turned his attention toward the one place he loathed to enter: Kael's laboratory.
The air inside still carried the faint, metallic tang of what had occurred there. Traces of the "merging" lingered like a foul scent. On a central table, Sun found a notebook. It was stained with dried blood and left out in the open, as if it had never been meant to be hidden.
He opened it.
(#1) *A new environment. It has… surprisingly loving people. It is a shame this world rejects love.*
(#2) *I have searched for a place to conduct my research. The lower floors are ideal; the oversight is thin.*
(#3) *The only problem is how to blend in while I complete the work.*
...
(#10) *The Order has contacted me. They want me to speed up the research. If only they understood how difficult it is to obtain the specific catalysts they ask for.*
(#13) *I have become a teacher, wearing the guise of a retired climber. I have found a way to acquire materials for the experiment here.*
Sun's eyes paused at that line. His expression tightened. *Materials.* People reduced to components in a cold, alchemical process.
(#20) *I have reached a stage where I can say with confidence: there are undeniable similarities between humans and Nullspawn. Why? Though it is not my goal to confirm the 'Origin,' I find the data impossible to ignore.*
(#21) *I found a smart boy named Sun. He is very intelligent, though he asks strange questions and speaks like an ancient being.*
(#23) *Sun has been following me. I would have thought it normal if not for my Authority. I can sense the light of every living thing, yet I barely felt him. He moves with terrifying precision… how can a four-year-old do that?*
(#26) *Sun is certainly interesting. He knows most of what I teach before I say it. He behaves like an adult trapped in a child's body.*
(#28) *Sun asked about the God of Doubt. This, coupled with the fact that he neutralized the thugs I sent to test him… it is impossible. He is not a child. What kind of being is he? I must speed up the research and kill him before he becomes a danger to the Order.*
Sun's gaze lingered on that final line. *Kill him.* It wasn't written out of hatred. It was written out of fear.
"So that's what I looked like to you," Sun murmured. A predator being watched by an even older predator.
(#31) *I have almost completed the work. The materials here are… effective. The similarities between humans and Nullspawn are too much. It is as if they were once human and then became something else… but it is better not to dwell on such terrifying thoughts.*
(#34) *I have completed my research. Decades of work have finally come to fruition. I have also devised a plan to eliminate Sun. I have observed him long enough to know his blind spot: he thinks he is the only one watching.*
(#40) *Today is the day.*
Sun closed the notebook slowly. No anger came. No satisfaction followed. Only a quiet, heavy understanding. Nothing in the notes truly surprised him; it merely confirmed the shape of the trap he had walked into.
His eyes shifted across the room and stopped at a thick book resting on a shelf. Its cover bore the same symbol carved into Kael's arm: a crown of thorns. But instead of blood, the thorns dripped water.
He reached for it. It was a scripture of the Order. He opened it to a marked page and read:
*And in the twilight of visions, I beheld a creature, terrible and solemn in its form. It had seven heads, and it was bound by seven bonds—neither of iron nor of cord, but of a burden unseen.*
*And each head did bear a countenance of affliction:*
*The first burned with anger,*
*The second was heavy with sorrow,*
*The third festered in bitterness,*
*The fourth writhed in pain,*
*The fifth trembled with anguish,*
*The sixth bowed in self-loathing,*
*And the seventh sank into despair.*
*Yet their faces were without eye, without nose, without mouth; and still, they cried aloud, and their lamentation filled the void like a broken trumpet.*
*Upon the heads was set a crown, and from the crown there flowed blood unceasing, descending from the heights of its being unto the soles of its feet. Its legs were as the legs of an eagle, swift yet unmoving, and its arms were as the arms of a man, outstretched as though in plea or judgment.*
*And the seven heads wept together as one, and their voices were as many waters, yet as a single whisper, saying:*
*"Thou art the light, yet thou canst not behold thine own reflection."*
*Then spake another head, and its voice was lower than the grave:*
*"For the mirror hath fled from thee, and truth standeth afar off; and thou walkest in brightness, yet knowest not thyself."*
Sun's hand tightened on the page before he snapped the book shut.
Things related to gods were never simple. He knew better than to stare too long into something that might stare back—even as a former god. Especially as one. Connections did not need permission to form; they only needed attention.
He placed the scripture back on the shelf. For now, this was enough. He knew the name of the enemy, and he knew they were obsessed with a "Seven-Headed" burden.
Sun walked out of the laboratory and back into the dim light of the First Floor. He looked up at the ceiling, toward the distant Second Floor and the ninety-eight that lay beyond.
He had spent enough time in the basement. It was time to climb.