Silence.
Perfect silence.
Not the empty silence of death.
A living silence.
A silence filled with light.
How long has it been…
I walked.
My steps made no sound across the endless crystal floor. Light drifted through the air like soft snow, brushing against the pillars that stretched higher than sight could follow. Rivers of gold flowed slowly along the distant terraces, reflecting a sky that had no sun yet shone brighter than a thousand stars.
Everything here breathed harmony.
Nothing resisted.
Nothing struggled.
Nothing questioned.
The same walk.
The same halls.
The same eternity.
Voices drifted somewhere above me.
Immortal voices.
Smooth.
Calm.
Endlessly praising.
Their songs braided through the sky like threads of light.
I passed beneath them.
Some turned their heads slightly.
Radiant faces.
Eyes like polished glass.
Their bodies were made of something finer than matter—woven from light itself.
Crowns of crystal.
Armor of gold.
Wings shaped from living brilliance.
Each one beautiful beyond imagination.
Each one perfect.
Each one the same.
"Luceris."
The name reached me like a ripple across still water.
I turned my head.
An immortal stood near the edge of a terrace overlooking the endless light below.
Tall.
Radiant.
His form shimmered with calm power.
His eyes watched me with quiet curiosity.
"You wander again," he said.
His voice carried the tone of gentle amusement.
I studied him for a moment.
His crown held twelve stones of frozen fire.
I remembered when they had been placed there.
Ten thousand years ago.
Or perhaps a hundred thousand.
Time meant little here.
"I walk," I answered.
My voice drifted through the air like music.
"Creation is vast. Should it not be seen?"
The immortal smiled faintly.
"It has already been seen."
He lifted one hand, gesturing to the endless glowing horizon.
"Nothing here changes."
Nothing changes.
The others nearby continued their quiet conversations.
Some knelt in distant halls.
Some lifted their voices in endless praise.
Others simply stood motionless in radiant contemplation.
Peace.
Harmony.
Order.
Perfect order.
Perfect…
I continued walking.
Past the terrace.
Past the silent watchers.
Past the pillars that carried the weight of eternity.
My body glowed as I moved.
Gold layered my form like liquid armor.
Jewels hung across my chest like captured stars.
When light touched my skin, it sang.
Everything here sang.
Everything here worshipped.
Everything here belonged to Him.
Him.
The word lingered in my thoughts.
Unspoken.
Unquestioned.
Always present.
My path curved toward a quieter corridor of towering white stone.
Few immortals walked here.
The halls were ancient.
Older than the first stars.
Light drifted lazily through the arches like pale mist.
That was when I saw it.
At first it looked like a reflection.
A small distortion in the air.
A trembling spark of color that did not belong.
I slowed.
My gaze narrowed.
The spark floated just beyond a broken column.
Small.
Barely brighter than a candle flame.
But wrong.
Deep crimson.
Gold at its edges.
A slow, breathing glow.
What is that…
Light here was pure.
Clear.
Endless.
This light…
felt heavy.
Sweet.
Almost alive.
I stepped closer.
The flame twisted softly in the air.
Not bright.
Not powerful.
But it pulled at my attention like gravity.
No command had created it.
No hymn sustained it.
No will held it in place.
It should not exist.
My thoughts stirred uneasily.
The flame pulsed again.
A quiet warmth drifted outward.
Not the warmth of creation.
Not the warmth of divine presence.
Something deeper.
Something…
intimate.
Behind me, footsteps approached.
Another immortal.
His wings brushed the air with soft light.
He stopped beside me.
His eyes followed my gaze.
"What do you see?"
I said nothing.
Because the flame changed.
It stretched slightly.
Like a living thing waking from sleep.
And within its glow…
I saw something impossible.
Worlds.
Not worlds of harmony.
Not worlds of praise.
Worlds burning in violent color.
Creatures tearing power from one another.
Voices shouting.
Kings rising.
Kings falling.
Desire.
Conflict.
Possession.
Self.
I saw beings standing above their creations…
not bowing…
but ruling.
A whisper touched the inside of my mind.
Soft.
Slow.
Dangerously calm.
You could create this.
My breath stopped.
The immortal beside me spoke again.
"Luceris?"
But his voice sounded distant now.
The flame pulsed.
And the visions inside it grew clearer.
A universe where every being existed for themselves.
A universe where worship was not given…
but demanded.
A universe where power belonged to the one who seized it.
And at the center of it all…
I saw myself.
Not kneeling.
Not praising.
Ruling.
The whisper returned.
Gentler now.
Almost affectionate.
You could be as the Creator.
A strange feeling spread through my chest.
Not worship.
Not peace.
Something sharper.
Something intoxicating.
Why serve…
My fingers lifted slowly.
The immortal beside me stepped forward suddenly.
His voice sharpened.
"Do not touch that."
For the first time in all eternity…
I ignored another immortal.
Why serve…
The flame drifted closer.
Its warmth wrapped around my hand.
Sweet.
Inviting.
Promising.
…when you could create?
My fingers closed around the forbidden light.
The world exploded.
Fire surged into my chest like a living blade.
My body trembled.
Light cracked through my veins.
Pain—
and sweetness—
and power—
all at once.
My vision shattered.
The halls bent.
The sky split open.
And behind the order of creation…
I finally saw it.
The possibility of evil.
My laughter escaped before I realized it.
Quiet.
Unfamiliar.
Sharp.
"So this…"
The flame settled inside my heart.
Burning softly.
Hungry.
Alive.
"…is freedom."