Vesper's pledge hung in the crystalline air, as solid and absolute as her newfound presence. Her devotion was a stark, sharp thing—a blade honed by the agony of a lifetime spent un-becoming. To be made whole was a miracle that demanded an eternal price, and she would pay it gladly.
Liora watched the new Apostle with a wary eye. This woman hadn't been saved from a fall or given a new story. She had been… redefined. She had merged with the concept of shadow itself. Where Liora's wings were a beacon of starlight, Vesper was a walking void. A necessary tool, perhaps, but a disquieting one. Her Knight's honor recoiled from the idea of such intrinsic secrecy.
Theia, as ever, saw the grander design. Her quill moved with swift certainty. And so the triumvirate was formed. The Shield of Starlight to face the light. The Scribe of Shadow to record the truth. And the Blade of Penumbra to walk the unseen path between. The Progenitor hadn't just saved three lost souls. He had created the three pillars of his new order.
Rhys, on the other hand, was just happy he now had a Rogue for his party.
"Excellent," he said, beaming at the kneeling Vesper. "Glad to have you on the team." He turned to take his seat on his throne but stopped, noticing Vesper remained kneeling exactly where she had appeared—within his personal shadow. It was unnerving, even for him.
"You can... uh... you can stand up now. And maybe stand over there?" he suggested, pointing to a spot a respectable distance to his left. "No offense, but having someone literally appear in my shadow is a bit much, even for a dream."
Vesper rose in a single, fluid motion that was utterly devoid of sound. She glided to the designated spot and stood perfectly still, her presence so subtle she seemed to fade into the background unless you were looking directly at her. She was a living secret.
The problem, Rhys realized, was the same as before. He had a new toy, but no playground to use her in. He'd introduced a spymaster, but there were no secrets to master. Their world, this floating island paradise, was a closed system, a snow globe of perfection.
He settled into his throne, a thoughtful frown on his face. "So, Vesper. Here's the thing. I've given you dominion over secrecy, but we don't actually have any secrets here."
Liora bristled slightly at the implied imperfection. "My Lord, the Sanctum is a bastion of pure truth. There are no shadows here for deceit to hide in."
"That's exactly the problem, Liora!" Rhys exclaimed, throwing his hands up in a gesture of creative frustration. "Truth is boring! Deceit, intrigue, hidden agendas, forgotten kingdoms, ancient conspiracies... that's the good stuff! That's content!"
He was a storyteller with no story left to tell. The world he had dreamed into existence was beautiful, but it was also dramatically inert. It was time for Act Two.
"We're too isolated," he declared, his voice taking on the decisive tone of a world-builder about to start a new map. "This little starter zone is great, but we need to see what else is out there."
His three Apostles looked at each other. Beyond the Celestial Weave that protected their island was… nothing. The Erased Sky. The endless, placid blue of the void where things had ceased to be.
"My Lord," Theia said hesitantly, "forgive my ignorance. But... what is out there? What world remains beyond your creation?"
Rhys leaned forward, his eyes alight with excitement. He had no idea what was out there. That was the best part. The dream was procedurally generating this whole reality. It was time to force it to render a new zone.
"That's what we're going to find out," he said. He looked at Vesper, his gaze sharp and direct. "This will be your first mission. Your First Command."
Vesper's posture, already poised, seemed to sharpen. This was her purpose. "I will not fail you."
Rhys stood up and walked to the edge of the Sanctum's main balcony, looking out at the shimmering, protective dome he had created. Liora and Theia followed. Vesper was simply… there, having moved from her spot to his side without anyone seeing her cross the distance.
"That dome is keeping the Unraveling out," Rhys said, pointing at the energy barrier. "But it's also keeping us in. It's a wall. Vesper, I need you to find a way past that wall."
Liora looked aghast. "But Lord, to go beyond the Weave is to face The Bleed directly!"
"Not her," Rhys said with unshakeable confidence, his world-builder's logic clicking into place. "You are Star-Wrought, your essence is existence and light. The Bleed erases existence, so it's your natural enemy. Theia is an Archivist, her essence is history and truth. The Bleed erases the past, so it's her enemy, too."
He turned to Vesper, a spark of inspiration in his eye. "But you, Vesper... you are now Queen of Penumbra. Your domain isn't just shadow. It's the 'unseen', the 'in-between'. What is The Bleed? It's the space where things aren't. It's a kind of nothingness. You, more than anyone, should be able to navigate it. You don't exist in the same way they do anymore. You can walk the seams."
He was, of course, completely making this up. It was pure technobabble, dream-logic he was inventing on the spot because it sounded cool and thematically appropriate.
To his followers, however, he was revealing a profound cosmic truth about the fundamental nature of their very souls. Vesper's dark eyes widened as she grasped the terrifying, liberating truth of his words. She wasn't just hiding from the light. She could hide from non-existence itself.
"I... understand," Vesper breathed, the revelation settling into her like a perfectly fitted key in a lock.
"Good," Rhys said. "So here is the mission: I want you to step through the dome. Find what's out there. It could be more void. It could be islands of fading reality. It could be another continent. I don't know. Find something—a kingdom, a ruin, even just a sign of other people. And when you do..." he paused for dramatic effect. "...report back."
This was it. The first true quest. The inciting incident for the next arc.
Vesper knelt on one knee. There was no hesitation. There was no fear. There was only the cold, sharp beauty of her given purpose. "It shall be done."
Without another word, she rose. She walked to the very edge of the balcony, right up to the shimmering lattice of the Celestial Weave. Liora watched with bated breath, her hand on her sword. Theia held her tome, ready to record either a triumph or a tragedy.
Vesper placed a hand on the energy barrier. It hummed, repelling her solid flesh. For anyone else, it was an impassable wall.
But for her, it was a suggestion, not a law.
She closed her eyes and took a half-step forward. She didn't try to break through the barrier. She didn't try to phase through it. She stepped into the tiny, infinitesimal shadow cast by a single strand of woven starlight in the dome's lattice.
And vanished.
Pfft.
One moment, she was there. The next, she was gone. From inside the dome, Liora and Theia saw nothing. She had passed through the ultimate defense as if it were a beaded curtain.
Rhys grinned. It worked. He'd just established his Rogue's unique infiltration ability.
Outside the dome, suspended in the endless, placid blue of the Erased Sky, Vesper opened her eyes. She stood on a foothold of pure shadow that only she could perceive. The hiss of The Bleed was here, a faint whisper on the edge of hearing, but it felt… distant. It didn't affect her. The Progenitor was right. The nothingness of the void recognized her as kin.
The Argent Sanctum hung behind her, a glorious jewel of impossible reality floating in the emptiness. Before her lay an ocean of absolute, terrifying nothing. Her quest had begun. She was the first scout of a new god, stepping into the end of the world to find him a new beginning.