“I see.” Corrosion hissed as Peter concluded a vision.

The young man held an arrowhead between his fingers as glowing eyes dimmed, surprised that he could look back even without a soul. Fiona smiled as if she asked him to make dinner, knowing he'd always do it better than her. The memory was of the one named King fighting against Brigid's aid, Julius. He didn't understand why the retelling was necessary, but Corrosion heard what it needed to hear. It slunk away after that, scurrying down the building they perched upon to punch through the glass. Fiona nodded as if the job was done, but Peter looked at the arrowhead, unsure what to do next. Rashawn looked at it too, but Peter could see curiosity in his eyes; a question was on the tip of his tongue. Looking back at Fiona, he all but asked it himself, and she nodded as she heard it loud and clear.

“I already told you two about Refraction but let me blow away some of the fog on it. I want you to think of your…”

“Luminance.” Rashawn offered.

“Yeah, Luminance. Think of it as a ball of light, and Refraction as a hexagram. At each point you get one of the forms, Forging, Bending, Guiding, etc. Favoring is when that ball of light grows out to one point or another. As you grow older your Luminance grows bigger, but getting it to touch all points is extremely difficult. Even with Azure Coast training, I only favor four of them. Two tends to be the standard for everyone else.”

“Guiding and Bestowing.” Rashawn raised his hand.

“Guiding and Bending.” Peter raised his.

“There are ways to simulate the other points too. Rashawn, you for example are very good at using your Guiding to draw on illuminating and Bestowing for Forging. That might be the power of the Painted dog, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re close to favoring four yourself. Everyone else isn’t so lucky. They have to depend on Prayers to use other forms, basically asking a God to move their Luminance for them. At some point that’ll change how much you favor, but that takes a long time.”

“I don’t really get what this has to do with the vision.” Peter replied. “Thanks for the lesson though.”

“You’re welcome. The reason I bring it up is that those things Corrosion has breaks the rules. That thing in its chest connects directly to its Luminance, and the band on its arm grants control. It can favor whatever Refraction point it wants, and based on what it is, its Luminance was already malleable.”

“But it doesn’t know anything about that band, right? From what Peter saw though, King does. And Corrosion is going to learn from him.”

“Yeah. It told me it gave a halo to him to see how he’d unlock its potential. King picked up the bands fast too. Corrosion feels like it got the last piece of a puzzle now, and when it’s done eating, we’re heading to the Spear of Hell to put the puzzle together.”

“Why does it need to eat?” Peter asked. “You said both of us eat light, but this is the fourth time it stopped.”

“On top of that, what is Corrosion?”

“It doesn’t need to eat. It just has this hunger. It has a strong sense for where demons are and it hunts them down. As for what it is…” Fiona crossed her arms. “With our lights, we are human. Without them, we turn into gray husks, like the Baleful and the Vengeful. Corrosion has both, but uses someone else’s body. I guess you could call it a Ghost.”

A horrified cry echoed out from the building. Corrosion's hunger was likely sated again.

“What does Corrosion want at the Spear of Hell?” Peter asked.

“To fulfill the Crimson Forecast.”

Corrosion’s light stretched out of the hole, foretelling its approach. It was time to continue forward…

⁘⁛⁘

The Numbers reached their destination early in the morning of the next day. For everyone outside of New York, the sun would peek over the horizon in a few hours, but inside there was only the darkness and the otherworldly spear stretching into the sky. Up close they could see the wear and tear of its perpetual use. It wasn't entirely solid, looking more like thickly woven glass layered sheet after sheet. Large pieces were missing from its body, but their wreckage did not lay within the dark pool around it. There was no door, but a loud feeling told them they couldn't climb it from the outside. Micaela and Khalaf made no sign of hearing it themselves, but the Numbers looked at the obelisk as if it stretched to other planets. They looked at each other, and then at the researcher determined to follow them inside. With a nod, Fang took the lead, wading through the darkness as they followed to the spear’s base. No door awaited, but as they grew closer and closer the glass threads pulled apart, opening a portal into the abyss.

“Can I just say that the Spear of Hell sounds like something we shouldn’t be messing with?” Micaela asked, more than a little terrified when her flashlight touched the darkness and gave nothing back.

“It doesn’t matter.” King said. “This was the next step for the Dark Disciples in New Dawn’s plan.”

“Fair, but are we sure New Dawn aren’t villains too?” The Numbers looked at her. “It’s a fair question. My home turned out to be ruled by bad guys, I’m wary now.”

Fang looked down for a moment but shook her head as she leveled her sight anew.

“I don’t think they are.” She looked to the obelisk. “They don’t even know what we’re supposed to do here, and if it’s some part of a malicious plan, I don’t think they would have hidden it. Our options are to either step inside or go back with the little we have.”

“Which is a lot!” Micaela smiled. “But maybe not enough? I don’t know, that God Eternal thing sounds bad, and we didn’t really win in the Castle, did we?” She shook her head. “All right it’s whatever, I’m on the team. If we’re following the leader then lead away.” She nodded, and Fang stepped inside.

She disappeared for the others, the inside feeling like she stepped out of the city. The ceiling vanished into the darkness above her head, where small balls of white fire twinkled like stars. Their light only touched the ground, the rest of it erased by the shadows around them. She stepped further into the shallow spotlight, realizing that her breathing changed as she exhaled. The air didn't leave her lungs, making them contract instead as if it was a reflex. Holding her breath had no effect either. Breathing was unnecessary in here. It seemed that life was free. She turned around to share this with the others and her eyes went wide. Everyone was sinking, descending into the floor as if it was a viscous liquid. She summoned Lounger, whipping tendrils out. They passed through flesh and bone, and King and Ace shook their heads.

“Go on!” Ace called. “Maybe this is supposed to happen.” His descent reached his chest, but there was nothing painful about it.

“If you can still walk in this place and we’re going down, you should see what happens when you head up.” King was about the same, more curious than remotely afraid. Khalaf had dived back inside his body, but there was a thread of symbols tying him and Micaela together. She wasn’t as happy about this situation, but she kept her lips pressed, clearly biting back a scream.

Fang could only watch as they disappeared. The floor was solid for her, and neither tapping nor stomping made a difference. She turned her attention to the walls instead, reaching out as she moved to the nearest one. It was cold to the touch and electric, stinging her hand with a buzzing request. The wall was waiting, like her shadows before, listening for a command she didn't know to give. Her first thought was to make it return the others, but she considered what King said, looking back to the white fire constellation. She made a platform beneath her feet, and by her will, it rose like an elevator. It stopped as she pulled her hand away, closing her eyes. Something about this feeling made her listen for the question, and as it once again played its meaningless sounds, she shook her head. This was the limit of what she could do. The elevator would rise, but she had to accept that it would be slow.

King resigned himself to the fall. This feeling was familiar though, taking him back to leaving Gupta's domain. He wondered if this process was somehow the same, and wondered how long it'd go on until his feet touched a floor. Micaela dropped from the ceiling behind him, and Khalaf rose from his body with a whistle as he looked around. King followed his eyes. They were in a corridor. Hands stuck out from the walls, holding white fire like torches, leading down to another closed wall at the end. King touched the wall at his back and watched it ripple. He plunged his head inside but found more darkness waiting. Follow the torches then? He supposed that was the best choice. The corridor wasn’t long; the wall opened as they grew closer. Piercing the darkness dropped them into a room, where a chair hovered over a table rising from the floor. He headed for it as Micaela looked around and Khalaf floated over.

“I don’t keep change on me, so I can’t give you a penny for your thoughts.”

“Good, because I would have to return it. I don’t know what’s going through my mind.” She looked at the wall behind her, and the hands lighting this room. “I’m not certain, but are those souls?” She looked at the torches. Khalaf floated up and nodded.

“They most certainly are, but all of them are lacking a certain touch.”

“Their Luminance, right?”

“Bingo!” Khalaf pinched his chin. “I wonder why that is.”

“Well, didn’t New Dawn draw Luminance out of souls who didn’t hear the obelisk’s call? Maybe this room is how you became a Refracted Harbinger.”

“A good theory, but its unfortunately wrong. That process required a bit of math on New Dawn’s part, and it happened at their lab.”

“Then where did the Luminance go?”

Structures suddenly rose upon the table, building a mock version of New York City. Micaela looked at it, reminded immediately of the way Castle Cerulean broke it into sections. By her memory, they were in S-17. On the "map," rivers of light flowed between the streets, separating pieces with no regard to symmetry. In the floating chair, King looked down. A hexagon of translucent glass swirled together before him, and he pressed down as if pressing a button. Lights flicked to life around the city, their different colors almost changing the room's glow. They varied in size and shades, dotting it all over, filling Micaela's head with ideas that left her shocked by King's blank face.

“This doesn’t surprise you at all?”

“I feel like I’ve been here before.”

“Well, that shocks me and creeps me out.”

“But I find it fascinating.” Khalaf floated over. “Micaela, could I borrow a penny?”

“I haven’t really thought about what the Overcast was. I know that the spear pulled apart the God Eternal, and there are shining hearts all over the place...” He typed something upon the pane and parts of the city rose above the others. “But I’m starting to think the Overcast isn’t just the border of the Twilight Grove.” He typed again and the map returned to normal.

“I can’t even wrap my head around this.” Micaela frowned. What was the Twilight Grove again? The home of the Second Society? Then what did that make the border? What did it mean that King was in a place like this before?

“Khalaf,” King called. He typed and two blue buildings rose above the city. “Can you connect those two?”

The man shrugged and obliged, dipping his finger into one light as if it was ink. He made a line between it and the other, reeling back as they crashed together. Both he and Micaela raised an eyebrow to King, who typed away, bringing the shining wreckage to his eyes. A smile crept across his face in the blue glow. The two looked at each other, and Khalaf's confusion alarmed the woman the most.

King pondered what he had just seen. This wasn't just a black glass depiction of New York. It wasn’t just a clever means by which to monitor the city. This was New York—every street and corner shrunk down into something he could move with his bare hands. This was complete control of a city so large he couldn’t even imagine all its corners. His seat was a seat of power, and whoever sat on it before had so much at their disposal. He typed until he was sure he found Castle Cerulean and stared at it with godlike scrutiny. Could he still their light away from here? Could he have Khalaf connect it to another place and swipe their joy right before their eyes? He typed a bit more but stopped short of lifting it above the city. This seat did have power, but hesitation took root as he wondered why it sat empty. Between the Royal family and New Dawn itself, there should have been haste to have someone here themselves. His eyes turned back to the glowing wreckage, and his fingers dragged across his console. An enlarged version of the light lit the screen. One part of it was ocean and the other was sky, both in constant turmoil in a battle of supremacy. He tapped the light and clenched his seat as a force pulled at his body. His breath was heavy as he pulled his fingers away. Below, Micaela and Khalaf gaped at the sight.

“What just happened, King?" The researcher asked.

King let contemplation hold him before he spoke. “The book of New Dawn described the Luster as the Undead Memory of the First Society. When I heard Gupta say that, I didn’t understand what he meant. He talked about how the Luster was tended to by a Pantheon too, and considering it was something the First left behind, I didn’t see the need.”

“Right. Okay. I was also confused about that but I was going to pretend like I wasn’t until someone brought it up.”

“Well… I think I get it now.” King looked at the walls—at the obelisk. He thought he knew what this place was too. “Khalaf, how would you define undead?”

Khalaf dropped to the floor and held his hands out. He put on a show, shambling back and forth with a leg dragging behind himself as he groaned and swiped at the air. He took a bow when he stopped, but got no standing ovation.

“No clue what zombies are?” He raised an eyebrow at them. “I mean, I guess with the Grays running around, zombies are a bit out of fashion. All right then, with undeads I think of reanimated corpses. Things that are supposed to be dead but are given new life.”

“The Luster is the undead memory of the first society, tended to by a Pantheon of the First.” King repeated. “I think that Luster in its default state is equivocal to what would happen if the three of us tried to make a Luminance. Completely divorced from either of our lives, it’d be nothing but a dead light.”

“But the First Society had the ability to reanimate it!” Micaela exclaimed.

“And if we work off what we saw in Cerulean with the way they were building the Arbiter, ‘tended to by a Pantheon of the First.’ would mean that the First Society cultivated Luster before letting it be. Can you imagine how powerful just one of them is? No wonder more than one God can be born from Luster.”

“Right, but what does this all mean? What just happened to you?”

“Can an undead thing be killed?" King looked at Khalaf. He mocked shooting himself in the head but shrugged.

“The movies would say it just takes a bullet to the head, but that’s zombies. Who’s to say that Luster can be killed the same way?”

King nodded. “I think I know what the obelisk is. Or maybe it’s better to say I know what a Spear of Hell is.”

“A Spear of Hell? As in there are more of them?” Micaela frowned. King nodded.

“Micaela, the book of New Dawn says this. Luster becomes malignant when humanity starts sacrificing people to God. They poison the light, and demons are born from it, born of humanities hatred of itself. They wipe their worshipers out…”

“But if even one of them survives, that demon will always have someone to worship them. Most people in Cerulean won’t believe that the Arbiter is using them to grow stronger. If it became a demon, they’d think it was something evil trying to overthrow God.” She held her head. “And the Klein family has been around forever, but the Arbiter hasn’t!”

“How do you kill a memory that always lives in people’s minds?”

“How can you? How can you kill a memory if you can’t kill everyone who believes in it!”

Khalaf threw his head back with laughter. “Oh, that’s terrifying! In all the religions in the world there are nameless demons opposing to the Gods. Demons are immortal!”

“I think the Second Society realized that no matter how many times they kill a malignant God, it will always find a place somewhere else as a demon, and that’s what the Spear of Hell is for. The spear of hell that pulled apart the God Eternal, diffusing it into separate gods.”

“The Spear of Hell…” Khalaf grinned. “Raised in opposition to God, wielded by those who stand against him…”

“And when the spear was summoned, New York City was cast into the border of the Twilight Grove…" Micaela wasn't grinning; her illuminating mind taking her to where King now sat. "The Overcast is hell…”

“And the Spear wounds gods, keeping them too weak to return.”

“Except, the castle showed us that that won’t last for long. Especially if someone has a plan for them.”

“And my experience shows us that Cerulean isn’t the only place with deals and plans for gods.” Khalaf was absolutely giddy.

“What happened when you touched that pane?” Micaela shot a look at King.

“I think I only pulled away because I’m a Dark Disciple, but I was caught in the gravity of two demons at war. The Spear of Hell is breaking, that's why there was no one in this room." But there used to be. That's why it was so familiar. King couldn't remember a face, but a shadow body stood in his memory. If he was a disciple, that meant he had a Master. He looked at New York and the band on his arm. It wasn't a coincidence that the Luminance band was black. Did New Dawn know they were making something they could use as a key?

He leaped down from the chair, startling the woman.

“Are...we done here?" The terror was still in her voice, but she was doing her best to hide it.

“We’re done in this room, but there are others like it. For humanity to stand a chance when this place falls, we have to complete the Luminance Hacker.”

“We? I mean, I’m not backing down now, but I seem more involved than before.”

King nodded. “I’ll need Khalaf’s help and yours. He can’t become one again, and I never could, so Micaela, we’re going to make you into a Refracted Harbinger…”