"Do you know how many moons orbit our planet?" Luanne asked, climbing a long staircase beside Theo.
"Isn't it sixteen? One for each month…" the boy replied, before processing the reason for the question.
"Sixteen is the number of moons we can see during the night. Of course, only our main moon, Alunne, can be seen across the entire world. But we can see dozens more in remote areas. In the Lawrence Duchy, for example, we can reach up to nineteen moons during the solstice."
Stretching out her hand, Luanne let her mana flow through her fingers. Creating a small curtain of energy in her palm, she shaped it into a massive globe while tiny points wandered around it.
In total, there were forty small dots traveling in a distorted ring.
"Theoretically, this is our planet. Forty moons are above us at this exact moment, traveling within an asteroid belt invisible to the naked eye, while the cosmos expands beyond our comprehension…"
Closing her fist abruptly, she crushed her own energy. It dissipated into a gray mist with violet hues, spreading through the air.
She sighed, feeling refreshed, as if the scent of mint filled her lungs.
"Our race once lived up there, in the heavens. On the moons above us. Seven thousand years ago, the scriptures say they flew on steel dragons capable of bending space and shattering the sky with their noise…"
Enchanted by her story, Theo climbed step after step toward the top, where an arched window allowed sunlight to pass through. It shone intensely, blinding him as he slowly adapted.
Like a star not so distant…
"We were capable of controlling the laws of the universe. Our kings were gods who dictated our evolution. And then…"
Luanne stopped speaking with enthusiasm, her face taken over by a depressive expression. It was as if she had stepped away from happiness to tell that story.
Because she had. She knew how it ended—and no matter how many times she told it, the ending would never change.
"What happened? Why don't we have those dragons nowadays?" Theo asked, squeezing her hand to bring her back.
Looking at the steps, she reminded him:
"Do you remember what I said? The three children of the moon are light, fate, and war. And they were the ones who changed the course… Seven thousand years ago, there was what we call Ragnarok, a war prophesied since the birth of the cosmos. The war that united all races, all inhabitants of the moons, on this planet we live on; back then, it was called Asgard."
Theo shivered completely, stunned by that statement.
The world of gods—that was how this planet was seen by the inhabitants of the moons. Today, Godheim is a concept beyond a planet. A true golden dimension that Theo never thought he would hear about so clearly, as if it were real.
Because it was.
"This world was called Asgard by the kings who could live here; any human from the moons who tried to come would be crushed by the planet's force…"
"By gravity and atmospheric difference…" Theo said, his mind burning with thoughts. "In that case, our race shouldn't exist in this world. We wouldn't be able to breathe, so we shouldn't adapt and evolve… Then how?"
"Mana," Luanne said, patting his head. "That was the reason Ragnarok ended. Back then, the gods were dictators who divided the world between kings, and everyone else was considered servants. But the inhabitants of the moons waged a war on the most distant moon, led by the Code of Knowledge…"
She imagined it, as if she had lived in that time.
"The heir of the abyss who revolutionized the moon's inhabitants and defied the systematic dictatorship of the gods…"
Sighing with a glimmer in her eyes, her enthusiasm faded again.
"It was when the moon of Muspellehim was destroyed and awakened the fury of the primordial god, king of the fire giants, Surtur. He awoke from his deep slumber with immense rage… No one could defeat him…"
"No one, except…" Theo assumed with curiosity.
"Light. The son of Alunne who represented human sanctity and heroism… the virtuous hero of salvation, Lumen."
When she said that name, she looked at her godson. The boy parted his lips, breathing deeply, his eyes shining like gold. As if he had heard that name before, though he didn't know when or where.
But on that continent, it was almost impossible not to hear about such a being.
"If we are alive today, it is because Lumen, seven thousand years ago, made a pact with Araav, fate. A deal where Lumen would give his own life to kill Surtur, and also end the War between the Moons. But…"
Theo listened carefully, because that was the answer he wanted.
The reason humans existed in that world so naturally…
"Lumen's terms were complex. He wished for humans to be able to manipulate mana and the energies of the cosmos, so the first deviants emerged. The deviants were able to adapt to this world and began the rebellion against the gods… Mana is a shield that faithfully protects us, thanks to what we call Mother Nature."
He opened his mouth to speak, dissatisfied, but was interrupted by his godmother.
"Yes, I know your question… So how can ordinary humans live here? It's simple…" she said, stopping on the staircase, preventing him from reaching the top. "Druids and the elven race settled in forests and woodlands. And thanks to their affinity with mana, the trees began to absorb it and adapt, creating a perfect cycle… In just a few millennia, our world's atmosphere was composed of mana and oxygen. Dense mana regions were formed, and thus the greatest cradle of natural mana in this world was born: the Forest of Nymphs."
The wind entered through the nearby windows, making her blonde, wavy hair flow across her face. Luanne couldn't look away, because Theo was emitting a sensation she had never felt before.
He was almost levitating, his heart filled with something unknown even to himself. Yet, it was simply his curiosity being fed grain by grain.
"Lumen is responsible for changing a world made of gods… even after his death," she said, more to herself than to anyone else.
"You feel it, don't you?"
Sitting on a step above, the Priestess of Alunne looked at the boy with absolute passion.
"You feel as if you're connected to that name: Lumen. As if it calls to you… Do you remember the face of the moon?"
"What do you mean?" he said, stepping back.
"Recall the blood moon, Theo. The one you saw once in your life…"
"But I didn't see it…"
"Yes, you did. In your memories… Search for it within your little secret."
"What…"
Hugging her own legs and lowering herself to his level, the Priestess of Alunne touched his forehead. Theo felt a small surge of energy run through his brain, falling through his body as if hanging from his nervous system.
For a moment, he felt like he was falling backward… but he was falling into the memories he suppressed the most.
"Your secret, dear…" Luanne's voice echoed across the battlefield; through blood; through pain. "I don't know who you were, but I know you witnessed the Conquest…"
Egon Kaiser IV appeared before his eyes, raising Egon's banner. A red cloth with a black eagle of six feathers on each wing waving in the wind.
"The War…"
Running across a muddy field mixed with blood and viscera that swallowed the weapons of the dead, Liam ran breathlessly toward a shadow on the far horizon.
"Hunger…"
A child with Asian features pulled at his pants, dirty with mud. It was skeletal, barely clinging to life.
"And Death."
At last, he heard the neigh of a horse in the forest. Where the blood moon shone in his eyes—and suddenly, everything went dark.
The first vision Theo had in life: a beautiful young woman, pale as the moon. With silver eyes, gazing with boundless love. She was…
"Alunne…" he murmured, awakening. "That woman… was Alunne? How? And why does she look so much like you?!"
The sudden shock caused a headache, worsening his imbalance. Soon, Theo grew irritated—above all, curious.
Standing at the final step, illuminated and bathed in sunlight, Luanne finally turned around. She looked into her godson's eyes with a genuine, protective smile.
"I was not conceived by a man and a woman—only by her. I was born from the pure and simple desire of the moon, my dear. I am Alunne's daughter; that's why I speak of her with so much love and pride."
"What nonsense, godmother. Stop with this manipulative story and—"
"But it is the truth, dear. Just as it is a fact that you, Theo, are the reincarnation of a fierce warrior."
Theo's heart was pierced; his ears burned as if he had been stripped bare.
"Huh?"
"I thought I made it clear… You feel connected to the name Lumen, don't you? That's because of my mother, Alunne, who ensured your birth."
Theo's eyes dropped along with his brows, forming a look as detestable as anger. Clenching his fists and stepping down, he was about to speak… but was stopped.
"Don't even think about it…" With eyes shining like the purest silver, Luanne's gaze reflected the eerie glow of the moon. "Now come here."
He hesitated, clearly. But his heart yielded. Burning with discomfort, he slowly climbed the steps and listened to the words of someone who truly loved him.
"I understand your confusion… But I want you to believe in me. Your mind is clouded, burning with indecision and self-doubt. But we all know you are capable of more than that. I want you to find your freedom… beyond this."
Gesturing with her eyes toward the outside, Theo followed her gaze. Then he was enchanted.
The breeze was unlike anything he had ever felt. He sensed the scent of moisture even from afar. The sea air touched his clothes and hair, while absolute silence was broken only by the rhythmic sound of waves crashing below.
Theo saw the sea.
Stretching across the horizon, as if connecting with the clouds, endless. Calm at that moment, unlike the sky, which stormed toward the northwest.
Even so, it was beautiful.
Perhaps it would have been beautiful even amidst Egon's bloody wars. Perhaps it was the detail Liam Mason needed to see in life… the detail of majestic purity that could have saved him from destruction.
"No matter who you were in your past life, dear. Forget it… Forget who you were, if you still are," Luanne said, embracing the enchanted boy from behind. "Just follow the rhythm of this tide… the rhythm of the sea. Follow your freedom and become whoever you wish… For we will be here when your mind is illuminated, my dear Lumen."
Watching the tide follow its course, Theo remained enchanted, unaware of time passing. Unaware that he was finally beginning to find himself.
Somewhere along the northern coast of Romerian, a few kilometers from the capital, Athenian.
Unlike that afternoon, the sea was violently agitated at night. Cruel and relentless in the darkness. Amid that same violence, a group of men struggled to maintain order inside a lighthouse on an island far from the continent.
Climbing the stairs and fighting against the tremors of the stormy night, one of the workers grumbled:
"I'm never taking the night shift again! This is a disaster!"
"Stop complaining… We're getting paid well! The night only lasts fifteen hours. Soon we'll be home."
"That's if we stay alive! Imagine that? A sea beast taking this lighthouse down with us…"
"Watch your mouth when you talk nonsense, you pig!" the other men shouted, irritated by the remark.
"Which direction? I can face any of them… since we're stuck in the middle of it!" he complained again.
The captain arrived at that moment, seeing his men complain endlessly. He grew irritated.
"Turn the lighthouse to the north, Pig," the captain ordered the one they called pig.
Sloppy and annoyed, he walked to the control panel and moved two levers. By moving the left one, he could direct the light up or down; the right one moved it side to side.
Sitting in the chair, tired and irritated, he muttered:
"What a shitty job…"
"But it's the job that lets your wife buy good perfumes," another man said, sitting on the control panel while mocking him.
After a sarcastic smile, they fell silent. Except for the raging sea, the crew managed to relax for a moment.
They remained like that for several minutes, each fulfilling their role.
An almost frightening silence… almost unsettling.
Then, less than two hundred meters away, amidst those destructive waves, the lighthouse illuminated something unusual. As soon as he saw it, the man sitting on the table jumped back, hitting Pig's shoulders.
"I see it! I see it! Captain!" Pig shouted, pointing through the glass toward the open sea where the light reached.
Running quickly, the captain needed no words. He leaned against the glass window and carefully observed what they were seeing.
"Where are you from, huh…" the captain murmured, trying to identify it.
It was a ship being violently battered by the waves, nearly split in half. The wood reinforced with steel plates couldn't withstand the pressure of the sea and was constantly submerged.
Yet the flag remained visible…
Hanging from the mast was a large torn red cloth with a black eagle bearing three feathers on each wing drawn at its center.