CHAPTER 1:THE BOOK OF LOST ORIGINS
Candles bled wax along obsidian walls.
The air was thick with incense and sorrow. Worshippers swayed, lost in chant. Some sobbed. Some trembled. All were drowning in faith.
The Prophet Bara of the Icosi Pantheon stood robed in ash and crimson. Eyes closed. Voice rising.
"From the first stillness, LUCA breathed…"
Siah slouched on the cold pew. Arms crossed. Mind drifting.
His mother knelt beside him, lips pressed tight. She clutched the Book of Origins like it might fly away.
Siah muttered under his breath.
"Bogus propaganda…"
Sally elbowed him—sharp and fast.
"Don't mock the Gods," she hissed.
With a grunt. He looked away.
Prophet Bara's voice deepened.
"Jealous was VIRA, First of Envy.
He bore no breath. He bore no child.
But he bore ambition."
The congregation leaned in.
"He came to Archaea, son of LUCA. He whispered:
'Consume Teria, the daughter of LUCA—
surpass your father.'"
Gasps filled the cathedral. Eyes widened.
A woman fainted, caught by the robes of another.
"Archaea did not resist. Hungry for power, he devoured Teria,And from the wound of that sin… was born EUKA—He who transcends."
A cry broke the silence. Low. Wild.
Something clawing its way out of a soul.
Then chanting. Conviction wrapped the air like a noose.
Siah sighed. Leaned back. Sally turned sharply. Eyes hard. Silent.
He shrugged. Looked away.
Prophet Bara raised his arms.
"Newborn of terror and awe,Euka tested his might. He struck down his father Archaea,
Erased his flame from the stars!"
The room trembled. Men screamed.
Some dropped to their knees. Others chanted the name LUCA until it tore their throats.
"But that was not enough," Prophet Bara howled.
"Vira whispered again. 'Strike the Source itself—end LUCA—and existence is yours!'"
The crowd stirred.
Hands rose.Some trembled. Others spoke in tongues. Eyes rolled back. A few dropped, overcome. Then chaos.People fell to their knees, twitching. Convulsing. Shaking.
The crowd roared. One woman fainted.
A man slammed his forehead into the floor. Again. Again.
Siah winced. "They're all mad."
The Prophet thundered on.
"Thus began the battle that outlasted time.
Shattering stars. Bent skies. And for a heartbeat, even death forgot itself."
Silence fell like a veil.
Then Bara's voice dropped, dark and trembling.
"In the end, Luca was wounded.
Mortally. He fled—with Teria, his daughter—to the edge of all that is. Euka, enraged, forged legions. Crittens now scour the cosmos."
Bara's voice rose again.
"But from the womb of Teria,In the dust of exile and silence—A spark was kindled.
A single hope."
He turned his arms outward. Toward the congregation.
"GOD of the Icosi Pantheon, Guardian of the Grelon Empire our Lord Santis Grelon. First of the Acmes. Forged—Crowned in flesh, The singularity of Eidolon, and the shepherd of freedom."
Sally's face was wet now. Her hand lifted,reaching toward the pulpit.
Prophet Bara's words rang out like a bell at world's end.
"He comes to reclaim the breath that was stolen. To break the chains of man. To bring breath to the breathless!"
A roar from the crowd.
Sally's back straight like a drawn blade.
Her fingers clutched the leather-bound book, knuckles white.
"He shall guide mankind into the age of Ascension!"
The church erupted. Tongues. Tremors.
Sally dropped to her knees. Face against the stone.She whispered, "Our time will come… it will come…"
Siah didn't move.
He looked at the ceiling. At the golden mural.
A small frown pulled at his lips.