The recount of the Number's time in Castle Cerulean started with Fang. She told the mobile lab about her encounter with Valerie, and how the flow of light through her soul gave her strange new powers. Even outside the castle, she could summon her shadows, and to her curiosity about the power, Khalaf gave her an answer.

“I’ve been saying to these two that it’s all about math, but I guess you could say math is just how I see it.”

"I see math too!" Micaela said from the driver's seat.

“Before there’s math, there’s just light. And even though it’s not the same, you might be able to look at it like solar power.”

“Using the sun to power things?” King asked. He had read some papers about it at the Enclave, but it was a distant dream this deep in the Overcast. With all that he had learned about searing balls of light, he could only think of Luster when he imagined something above. Perhaps that was to Khalaf’s point, however.

“Yes, precisely that. Though what separates solar power and this practice is that Luster grows.” Khalaf drew a symbol. “As a brief lesson for you two, Luster is not stagnant like Luminance is. It grows bigger and eventually breaks apart, creating pantheons, so on, so forth. You two should really avoid missing class.” Khalaf looked at Fang and Ace as he drew more symbols around it. “There’s a whole thing about feeding these unborn gods back to the Arbiter in Castle Cerulean, but for Fang here I think it’s a little different.”

“I think I understand.” King said. Khalaf tapped his temple as the Number went on, “By blocking the light, Fang captures it. It’s like, what if we could get all the solar power we want by getting one minute of sun light? The sun is inside Fang and her shadows now.”

The woman nodded. “Maybe that explains my ability to control them, or the difference between my shadows and Assassin’s. Maybe something like, a difference in alignment?”

“Or maybe something like Refraction.” Micaela called back.

“I think Micaela’s on the right track.” Khalaf smiled. “From what you said, your shadows need the light of a Lightbearer to work. That makes sense, if you’re blocking light that means you’re interrupting it, and Lightbearers fight with a constant connection to their god. Refraction is key to reaching that point, and also key to the difference in their abilities. So what if your Umbra works the same way?”

Fang pondered, and King took that moment as his cue.

“I want to share my findings on Lightbearers.” He started. “Before, I mentioned that New Dawn wanted to turn Harbinger’s into Lightbearers by reviving their Luminance. On our way to the castle though, I started wondering. What does an actual Lightbearer use? Is it their own Luminance strengthened by a god, or the Luster of the god itself? What I discovered was a sustained connection. The Luminance and Luster essentially become one.”

Khalaf nodded. “Inside Cerulean it’s an easier process, but the reason there are so few Lightbearers is because you’re not officially capable of it until you can sustain it inside and out. God is omnipresent, you just have to reach out to him. The royal children were a special breed, and Celine’s attendants are the exact type of people you expect her to hand pick.”

“Hence the halos. Castle Cerulean stole them because they give people an automatic link. If they perfected them, they could have an army of Lightbearers.”

“Was there anything you could do to stop them?” Fang asked.

King shook his head. “Unfortunately not. I think I would have needed access to Francis Beaufort. I’m confident he’s a former member of New Dawn, someone responsible for the Advent Ascension.”

“One of the people responsible!” Khalaf corrected.

"What about the plan for the Refraction Armor, has it moved forward?" Fang noted that but stayed focused.

“Yes, I think so.” King showed her the band—the halos fitted into it at ten and two. “The Halos draw in the light and the Luminance Band lets me manipulate it. I needed Khalaf to cover a few other things though. I needed a lot of light for it to work and I pretty much eroded it all. This Halo…” He held up the one Micaela brought back, marked with one of Khalaf’s symbols. “...should help. It’s as close to perfected as we’re going to get for a while. I can’t move it forward, but I’m hopeful Micaela can.”

“And I’ll do my best. Especially if it means I finally get to take a look at that book King’s been hogging.”

“Yeah, you’ll have to see it. New Dawn had an idea for a system Luminance Hackers could use in the future. They couldn’t make it because their knowledge was still limited. I can’t because I’m a Dark Disciple. With you and Khalaf, though, I don’t see what will stop us from moving forward.”

“It’s true! Micaela is the best person for the job.”

“I actually want to touch on that again.” Fang looked at the woman. “You said you’re something called a Radiant Acolyte, right?”

“Something we’re calling a Radiant Acolyte, right.”

“And that means you’re a Gray who became human because of the Cerulean light. How does that work? From what I understand, Luminance is the memory of our humanity and Grays have forgotten theirs, but should exposing you to the Arbiter have changed that?”

“I don’t really know myself. I’ve been thinking about it but I feel like I’m missing a lot of stuff. We’re all technically batteries, but the ones we used to power things in Cerulean weren’t able to speak. If you tried to let one out it’d rip your face off.”

Ace raised his hand. “I have a theory actually.”

Neither King nor Fang could hide their shock. Ace didn’t take it personally, however. It shocked him too, and he didn’t know how to take this theory further. Still, what he felt in Sector One was at the front of his mind. Dark Gods weren’t just vessels that could contain Luster. They were a source of Fear.

“Khalaf, what was belief like before the Overcast?”

“You mean religion in general? An absolute mess. Even the ones that preached pacifism had people who’d kill in their name. Then there was this idea that you weren’t supposed to scrutinize them. Their tenants were absolute, except when they were too much of a bother for you.”

Ace nodded. “When I fought the prince people were afraid of me. I felt it in the end. I couldn’t see any of them but I knew that I meant something bad for them. I still don’t know what I can do with this information, but it makes me wonder. What if the difference between an Acolyte and a Battery is how the soul responds to god.”

“Ah!” Khalaf nodded. “You mean the difference between Coveting God and Worshiping God.”

“Ah!” King and Micaela said.

“I was pretty young when Darkness Day happened, so I would have never learned to covet. Most of the people in Sector Three were around my age, with some exceptions. All of us worshiped God—loving him for his kindness, but you think the Batteries were people who coveted god instead.”

“It makes sense, loose batteries are people who get overwhelmed, right?” King nodded.

“And it makes sense in terms of the old world too. There was a moment that made me twist my face when I was young. My neighbor said to my dad one day that God gave him a new car. I asked him, why would God give you a car when there are people who need food, and he said that God had rewarded him for being a devout follower.” Khalaf shook his head. “That moment might actually be what made me start questioning my faith.” He stroked his chin. “What even measures how devout you are? There’s no math in that.”

“What you’re suggesting is that there are two kinds of souls, worshiping and coveting.” King nodded. “That could explain why some people become Acolytes. But how?”

“That’s all I have, sorry.”

“Don’t be. I think that was a good place to go.” Fang said. “I think it means the soul holds on to a part of who we are. The Luminance makes us human, but humanity does not make us ourselves.”

“You fought Princess Brigid, right?” Khalaf asked. Fang nodded, and he went on. “The two of you would probably have something interesting to talk about. She always believed the soul was more than what you saw in the body.”

“It’s a shame Rashawn isn’t here. He’d probably have some interesting thoughts.” Micaela sighed.

King turned back to Khalaf at that. “Why did you send Rashawn with Corrosion?”

Ace glared. “You knew him too, just like Judge. Who is the Crimson Prophet?”

“When I looked into Rashawn’s eyes I saw a person I haven’t seen in a long time. I can’t even remember what his real name was, Savior just made more sense. If I had to describe it, those were the eyes of someone who could see a better world than the one we knew. As matters have it, Fang here has those same eyes.” He took a moment to meet them, but Fang’s face remained neutral. “Maybe it’s cause he doesn’t have any now, but Corrosion’s eyes don’t look the same as they used to. I might be a little hopeful, but I wonder if Rashawn can remind Savior of who he used to be.”

“And what if he’s exactly who he always was?” Ace asked.

“Well, I see the eyes of someone who won’t hesitate to kill him, even if he does become better.”

“Are you going to try and stop me?”

“Not at all. Even if I had a body! It has been fifteen years since I last saw Savior. As far as I know, he died and the Crimson Prophet is just walking around with his memories.”

“Could that crimson guy be a loose battery?” Micaela wondered aloud. “I mean, with the story you told me about how a Gray ate a shining heart, it makes sense. A covetous soul came in contact with a God’s light.”

“Alas, I don’t have an answer this time. But Rashawn’s out there! I bet he’ll come up with a good one…”

⁘⁛⁘

Rashawn was not going to start calling people his followers, but the ones who did follow the painted dog were for the first time free of Castle Cerulean's walls. He would have liked to take them on a trek across the city, moving them as far from the castle as their feet would allow, but Fiona had better ideas for how to keep them safe. Peter's sister seemed to know a lot more about this world than even the witch. She gave the Reject the same impression though, wielding the light in ways he had never imagined. Fiona insisted they only take the survivors a couple of miles away, and there she set them up in the radiance of Cerulean. There, they'd be safe, hidden from both the castle and the monsters outside. The worst thing about it was that the building would move with this part of the town, but so long as Rashawn could find it, he could find the people he saved. The people he saved. He didn't know how to feel about that. When he woke up today he wanted to solve more of his life’s mystery. Now he was on the other side of it, as a hero of praise. It made him leave the thankful Rejects to their new lives with more energy taken by them than by the Vengeful coming for his life. He headed up to the roof to get a fresh breath, and found Peter sitting on the edge, looking out to the city.

“You good man?”

“I’m fine. I think.”

Rashawn laughed. “Damn. That’s the same thing I’m thinking too.”

Peter smiled and caught him completely off guard. "Some of the kids talked about how your dogs saved them. You're superhero now."

“Can I quit? I’m already tired.”

“No. You have to go find super villains, and stop them from hurting others.”

Both of their eyes moved to Castle Cerulean in the west.

“The only ones I know might be a little strong.”

“Yeah.”

Rashawn took the spot beside his friend. “I didn’t hear it all, but I heard about where you came from.”

“I wish I could remember it. Fiona sounded so sad when she told me, but kind of happy too. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her sound like that. She was a different person, but now she’s back to her normal self.” He looked down below, where his sister spoke with Corrosion.

“How do you feel about her?”

“I’m glad she’s all right.”

“Yeah, but how do you feel about her? You got doubts, right?”

“What do you think of Corrosion?”

Rashawn scratched his chin. “On one hand, he saved my life. On the other, I liked those two from the lab. They weren’t really feelin the guy though. I figure they prolly got some beef. But now I’m here and they’re where ever.”

“Did you see the fight between it and the King?”

“Front row seats basically. It was wild as hell! When the king knocked it to the ground I felt the building shake. None of that mattered though. It could rip off its head and still fight! I know we don’t know anything about this power, but I don’t think we’ll be doing stuff like that.”

“Yeah. That thing is powerful. That orange guy wanted to kill it though. He didn’t hesitate, and Fiona fought him off.”

“I can’t blame her. They guy cut Corrosion once and it tossed its arm. It knew he was bad news.”

“But it said that group was useful.”

Crimson light swirled below, vanishing as it sealed into a halo. The two looked at each other, then back down. The ball disappeared as it sank into Corrosion’s hand, and as if it felt their eyes, it looked up. Fiona’s eyes followed and she waved. Peter waved back, but put no heart into it.

“I trust my sister.” He said to Rashawn. “I trust her because, even if she wanted revenge against Cerulean she didn’t want me to become a monster. She wanted me to help people and even killing those Angels helped. I trust that she wants to do good, and that she’ll only do bad for the right reasons.”

“You’re gonna stick with her, huh?”

“Yeah. She has a lot to show me about our power. Besides, there’s no where else to go.”

“I hear that.” Rashawn smirked. “I want to learn more about this world too. I want to see those three in the armor and Micaela and Khalaf again. I want to see what Corrosion’s up to. I want to figure all this out, you know?”

“Sounds like you’ll be sticking with us then.”

“Sounds like it. Wanna look out for each other out here?”

“If you have my back, I’ve got yours.”

“Bet.” The two stood and bumped forearms.

Fiona sprouted wings and rose to meet them. She smiled, and they smiled back.

“Have you decided what you’re going to do?”

“I’m sticking with you.” Peter replied.

“I’m hanging around too. I wanna see if I can find a place for the survivors, and y’all know some good stuff.”

“Glad to hear it, but if either of you want to head a different way, don’t hesitate. I’m on the same page as Corrosion down there. What I saw after the Azure Coast was destroyed still bothers me. I want to do something about it.”

“I think we want to, too.” Peter nodded.

“Yeah. I’m on board.”

“Then you two should join us as we head to our next destination.”

“Where we going?”

“The Spear of Hell…”