#inpherno

The child woke, seeing her mom and dad relieved at her awakening. Her parents were resting in a cave. The air was a lot cooler than the outside. She saw her dad plucking feathers from what looked like a giant bird as he was also trying to find a way to cook it. The mother was keeping a lookout, watching out for the horned creatures that had been chasing them. The girl looked out of the cave and into the night. Her mother pushes her back into the cave after seeing some of the horned creatures on birds again, they dimmed the light to their fire to not catch attention. Who knows what would happen if those things caught them. After a while, the bird was cooked. Albeit, not very tasty. The meat was bitter and tough, but it was better than nothing. The girl and her parents ate their fill, not knowing when they would have another meal. It would be safer for them to keep moving during cooler hours and rest during the heat of the day in this desert.

The next morning, the family saw a what looked like a roughly scratched door on the rock in their cave. It looked like something had found them with the footprints that came from the door. The father decided it was time to move again. The family unit packed up and began to move again. Before the sun even rose, they ran. Ran in a direction that they didn't know what would lead them to. The girl wished for her family to find to somewhere safe to stay until they could return home and for help. The family kept running. The father led the way, something seemed to pull him into a certain direction. The group made their way across the red sand desert and in to the horizon. As they passed over the ridge, a horrific sight greeted them. It was a city ablaze. White stone buildings on fire and scorched partially black with fire that seemed to have a life of its own. The trio carefully moved through the flames as to not get burned. They could not help but to wonder what even happened here. How such a beautiful city was destroyed in such a way. The father noticed a door at the edge of the city. It looked like the door that had appeared in the cave they had stayed at before. He wondered what it led to and what used it. The family found a building at the edge of the burning city that was not touched by the raging fires. It seemed almost like a miracle as it was somewhat too clean and cool. The woman placed the child down and checked around. She was satisfied and the parents agreed that this was a good shelter until they found another later.

The desert sun rose to a peak and the family decided to rest through the heat of the day. Their stomachs still had their last meal to keep them from being too hungry. Sleep was soothing for the family. They could finally recover from being thrust into this strange place and from the injuries they had sustained. However, within their sleep, they did not sense the intruder in their hiding place. A tall and dark figure that had appeared from seemingly nowhere. The figure watched the family with interest and noted their lack of features normally attributed with the inhabitants of this place. The figure left before the family woke, but he would be back to check on them. The father figure woke first and did a check around the perimeter of the building. He made sure that he and his family were alone. The child woke and then woke the mother. The mother's ankle was swollen. She had hurt it when they first came and was running from the violent horned creatures that inhabited this place. The woman was careful as she walked on it as she looked for water for her and the rest of her family. The child explored the area under the watch of her father. She found a image in some rubble. It was some of those horned creatures. It looked like a family picture. It was damaged, but she saw the youngest of the creatures and what seemed to be the eldest of the family. She ran her tiny hand over the children's images. These creatures had families like hers.

The woman called her family as she had found a well and aquaduct, fresh and clean water. They would at least be able to drink and clean their injuries. She took some water and washed her daughter's face. The man drank and cleaned the cuts he had gotten from his fights to protect his family. They had not seen any more signs of those horned things besides what was left in the ruined city. It was relatively safe. At least as safe as they think they were. The family still needed food. As they settled back down, their bellies growled with hunger. Deep into the night, the father fell asleep during his lookout turn and did not wake his wife to take watch. During this, the figure returned.

You woke from your sleep, smelling something cooking. Your parents were asleep. Mother and Father looked tired from all the running and fighting they have been doing to protect you since you all fell through that hole that brought you to this place. Your curiousity and hunger got the better of you and you followed the smell to the source. After following the smell outside, you saw a tall figure in dark clothing cooking some fish over a fire. This figure looked like a person, but clearly was not. The skin was too dark. There was a single black wing made of bone stick out of the back and a black horn with branching points sticking out of a wizard had that seemed to cover most of the face. You were able to see green glowing teeth grinning under the darkness of the hat and some markings on the cheeks that were darker than the rest of the skin. The creature turned to you, the grin seemed to widen. The figure picked up one of the fish it had and blew on it before holding it out to you, offering it. You carefully inched closer and took the fish carefully. You backed away quickly, making the creature chuckle. It then spoke to you. The speech was a bit garbled to you, you could not understand it. All you did was tilt your head in confusion before the creature lightly tapped itself on the head with a laugh. "Sorry, Sorry. Do you understand us now?," It inquired.

The voice was deep and the tone was friendly, albeit with a bit of mischief behind it. You nodded. "Oh good.," The creature continued, "Glad that we can finally converse. It has been a long time since we have spoken this language." He watched as you took a big and hungry bite of the fish he gave you. His head rested on his hand that was propped up on his leg. That smile never seemed to leave his face. Maybe you should go wake your parents. This creature seemed friendly eno- "Get away from her!," You heard your father yell as you were snatched up. The creature raised his hands. "We are not here to hurt anyone.," The creature spoke, "We just wanted to help a little." Your father was suspicious, but you could tell he was also looking at the fish the dark creature had. The wizard hat wearing being motioned to your father to sit. "We're not permitted to fight anymore.," He spoke, "Mortals being weaker and well.. You saw the city. We just observe for the most part." Your father was cautious but sat with the creature. He took an offered fish before holding his hand out and introducing himself to the creature. The being looked at his hand and took it in kind, "Darkheart is our name. We are or were considered a god in this place."

Your father took a bite of fish as you kept eating yours. "So what made you come see us?," Your father asked. Darkheart hummed a little, "We got the feeling that someone was doing something bad and investigated. Plus We haven't laid eyes on a hornless in over a hundred years! Imagine our surprise to see a family of them." "Hornless?," Your father echoed and felt his head. "That's what we call your kind. The hornless.," Darkheart replied, "You do not have horns like inphernals do. We haven't seen any since our own creator disappeared. So imagine our surprise to see you three." Darkheart continued to tell your father and soon, your mother, about how 'hornless' were tied to the creation of the inpherno itself. You could not understand much of it at all, mostly feeling sleepy from a full belly. Your father allowed you to sit closer to Darkheart and even lean on him as you dropped off.

Your family continued to struggle to survive, your father would go hunt for food and mother would gather edible and medicinal plants based on Darkheart's directions. The being who called himself a 'sword' was enigmatic but friendly towards your family for the most part. He was even teaching you and your parents how to speak his language so you could hopefully trade with less violent 'inphernals'. You grasped the concepts and speech a lot easier than your parents. Your father kept coming back with more and more injuries. Your mother started to go out as well. But one day, Your parents did not return. It was scary. You wandered around the ruined city and returned to the building you were staying in. Darkheart did not come back like you wanted him to. You were getting scared. You were getting hungry. Days passed and you finally decided to wander out into the desert and follow the path your parents had made. Eventually you got lost. You had to run from the birds that would try to eat you. You were getting sick from dehydration and hunger. But you kept walking.

A group of inphernals moved their caravan through the desert back to their home. They had gotten more supplies and were laughing as they made their way back home. A large bird landed in front of the caravan before the rider dismounted and ran to the lead car. "There's a newspawn ahead! They are in rough shape.," The rider relayed, "Do you have any water or food to give them?" The driver nodded. The crew within the caravan got the water and some food for the one the scout saw. They kept moving until they saw the little one wandering the desert, tired and thin looking. One of the members got out and carefully approached the little one. The little one was dirty and covered in scratches from the thorns and cactuses they more than likely hid in to avoid the vultures. The little one tried to run, but was too weak to get anywhere fast. The member was able to pick the little one up and brought them back to the caravan. Water was offered and the little one drank. Now that the caravan could see the newspawn, It was apparent this one would have died if they did not find them. The group decided to bring the little one back with them to their home.

When the caravan reached their destination, the leader took the 'newspawn' to the medbay to be checked out. The little one was given a wrapping of cool, wet cloth to cool their body temperature. "Is the doc in?," The leader asked and got a look from another waiting inphernal. "He's in, What do you have there?," The other one asked. The caravan leader unwrapped the barely conscious 'newspawn' to show. "A newspawn. We found the little one wandering the desert.," The Inphernal replied, "I think this one needs immediate treatment. Our scout went to report this to the father." The Other nodded, "I agree. But at least we have a new member of the family." The Inphernal set the newspawn down on a waiting seat and knocked on the door. A gruff voice called out from within. "What is it?" "Doc, We found a newspawn in the desert. and well... they are not doing well." The door opened for the doctor to look out, his eye looked over to the wating chair with the soaked 'newspawn' on it. "Bring them in."

The Inphernal doctor removed the cold cloth covering the small body, nothing the softer, more colorful skin, the growth of fur on the head, barely open colorful eyes and most notable, lack of horns. He took a glove off his hand and pressed it to the face of the little one. "Seems to be suffering heat exhaustion or heat stroke.," He murmured, "Some minor injuries. malnutrition as well, that can be fixed." His eye flicked back up to the scalp, His hand touched the little head gently. "Where are the horns?," He asked. "Don't know. We are betting that they were either torn off or... They spawned without them...", The leader answered. The doctor looked down the hall, seeing a small gathering of others who came to see the newspawn that was found. He clicked his tongue and picked up the little one to take into the medical bay. "I'll take over from here.," He said and closed the door behind him. The doctor set the little one on the examination table, the crystal floating between his horns giving him light as he started healing the wounds on the kid. The wounds were small, but difficult to close for him. Thankfully, the little one's body temp was falling back to normal range. Danger was passing for the little one. At least they were safe now.

You came back no longer in the vehicle caravan. You saw a horned creature touching your head. Instinctively, you kicked at the horned one. You didn't know this one, not like darkheart. Your small foot made contact with his chest, but it did not hurt him. It just put some dirt on his clothes. The horned being looked a little miffed but did not attack. He instead backed up and talked. You could not understand most of what he said except "Calm" and "Help". You noticed that most of your bloody cuts were gone, so he must have been helping you. The creature had teal horns that looked like a deer's antlers with a small crystal between the horns. He had an eye patch over his left eye. His clothes looked fancy. All in shades of teal. He touched your skin, feeling your soft cheek before trailing back up to your head. "You are safe.," He said with a small smile to comfort you and rubbed your head gently. The being kept examining you, you felt like you were at a doctor's office again. Did the inphernals who found you take you to their doctor? "My name is Medkit.," he introduced himself, "what is yours?" You didn't know how to respond to 'Medkit'. Darkheart did not give you a name to give out like he did for your parents. You shook your head, not knowing what to say to him.

Medkit seemed a little miffed, but finished treating you. He kept examining you though, specifically your eyes and head. He made you open your mouth to look inside. He noted that you did not look like a regular inphernal. You did not even have any nubs for horns to grow from. You were completely hornless. He found that even though your eyes were strange and colorful, they looked pretty. He finally finished and set you aside. "Stay there.," he told you and called another inphernal in. You watched him. The teal horned inphernal healed patient after patient and worked on prosthetics of others. He was efficient, albeit lacking of a bedside manner. You heard a knock on the door and Medkit called for them to come in. It was an inphernal that you had not yet encountered. They talked to medkit in a hushed tone while glancing at you. Medkit waved his hand and replied something.

The being walked over and picked you up, making you struggle. "You are safe.," Medkit repeated to you. You did not understand much else of what he said but did pick up "clean" and "clothes". You were taken away from Medkit and to another room within the large place. The inphernal that held you carefully put you down and started to remove your dirty garments. They spoke softly in their strange language while also wiping you down with a damp cloth. You soon realized that this one was tasked with cleaning you. That must be what Medkit was explaining before! You were then placed in a tub of water and washed. More inphernals came, either helping to wash you or to observe you. After being groomed to an inch of your life, you were wrapped in new clothes. A small pale teal robe accented with a darker teal collar and bow. You were taken to another part of the building where more horned creatures were. All the infernals were watching you as you were carried in. You were set before a tall inphernal who seemed to be the leader. Eyes lined his coat. Beside him was one wearing what could only be described as a white cowboy hat. The horned swooped back with smaller spikes jutting off of them.

The leader looked down at you, seemingly judging you. He leaned forward and spoke. Most of what you did not know. You heard a familiar voice. It was Medkit, the doctor came up and seemed to tell the leader something. The leader nodded. He returned his gaze to you. "I welcome you, to the family.," he spoke. You did what darkheart told you before about greeting. You smiled and bowed your head. The one beside him smiled at you with a friendly smile despite of how intimidating they were. The skin seemed darker than the others, with a glass eye visible and a large scar on the cheek right below the eye. A teal shirt and a green tie was covered by a white jacket. This inphernal also had a green bandana on. The inphernal held out the mechanical right arm to you. "I'm Scythe, darlin'," she greeted. You did not take the hand, but hugged the legs of the large inphernal. Scythe was a little taken back by your actions. She was not complaining though. You were small and sweet, not knowing about violence. You didn't even seem to have the usual reactivity or violent temper some newspawn had. You were docile. She knelt down and used her non-prosthetic arm to return your hug. You could feel her musculature on your face and one of her teeth poking your scalp. You heard her say something to the leader. Whatever it was, the tone seemed affectionate.

After meeting the leader and Scythe, you were led to a room by another member. It was now your room. It was a rather plain room with just a bed, an empty bookcase, closet and a desk. The bed was at least comfortable. You were taken around and shown things. Where you can eat, the medical bay, where many other things were. It was a rather comfortable place. The Inphernals were rather nice, some of them looked at you with a strange, almost pitying look. You settled in rather quickly. The 'family' were quick to catch on that you did not understand them and started to give you lessons on their language and writing. While you were learning that and the history of the inpherno, they were also urging you to summon a 'gear'. You had tried many times to summon the said gear, but nothing ever happened. You were told that they would not know your real name until you were to summon forth your gear. You kept trying.

And you kept failing.

It was frustrating for you. But, you decided to keep moving forward. You attended both your lessons and the Sermons that the leader, Father Overseer, gave. You helped around the building as much as you could while training and trying to summon your gear. While you could not summon a gear, you started to find some shining crystals that seemed to appear out of nowhere in your room. You kept some of the bigger and prettier ones on your bookshelf while keeping the smaller ones in the drawers of the desk. While living in the church with the family, You grew closer to Scythe. You often came running to her when she came back from her missions and escapades. What you did not really know was that she started to look forward to coming back to your happy face. Your joyous expression relieved all her previous exhaustion. She could just come back and have you stick by her like a little baby chick with a mother bird. The other members noticed this budding relationship as well and teased you two lightly. Scythe never denied it. Sometimes even smiling wider and laughing. You found yourself wanting to be near her more when she was around, even finding yourself hiding behind her when something scared you.

She was already a looked up to figure in the church. Yet, you looked at her in a different way. To you, she started to become your mother. You would follow her, even when she was working on something in the church or talking to the fellow called ' The Broker". She would let you be beside her, sometimes had you in her lap and petting your head with her non mechanical hand while swirling a glass of wine in the other. You sat with her during the sermons. The day you finally called out to her with a 'mama' is the day the others saw her shed tears of joy. Father overseer decided that you would be officially be her ward and she your caretaker. Your outfits soon changed to match that of your new mother, a White little dress robe with accents that matched hers. You followed her to training grounds and watched her while also doing some light training of your own. You kept trying to summon the 'gear' your family keeps talking about. Everyone else was able to summon them so easily. Chainsaw, a crossbow, your mother's scythe, and more items. It was hard to be the only one without a name because of your lack of gear. You did not realize that you were slowly forgetting that you were not an inphernal.

The family let you wander around the church facility. You were allowed to look at the artifacts that they had in the archives. The tablets and scrolls had writings on them about old civilizations and stories. You would sit in the archives and read these old manuscripts. The stories they held interested you, Especially the one name that kept repeating over and over. Telamon. The apparent creator of the Inpherno. You read that he was born without horns, similar to you. This somehow gave you a little hope. If the powerful Telamon did not have horns and could do things that were so amazing, would you be able to as well? You showed the manuscripts to your mother and the researchers in the archives. It became clear that they could not read the words on the pages and tablets at all. But, how? You could read them just fine. You are soon asked by the others to read the manuscripts to them for records and cataloguing. This gave you a new feeling of purpose in the church other than the cute hornless newspawn.

One day, you were lay on the bed in your room and fiddling with one of the crystals that you kept finding. The light of it felt familiar and soothing. You had been living in the church for quite some time with your mama. It was nice. A knock at the door caught your attention. "Little one, may I enter?," Called the voice of one of the family members. You sat up on the bed and answered, "Come in." The Inphernal came in with a smile, "The father says it is time for your induction." You felt happy and a little scared. You were finally going to be recognized as an official member. But at the cost of one of your eyes. You looked down at the crystal in your hands. The Inphernal knelt before you, wrapping their large hands around your small ones. "I know you are scared, but it will be okay.," They said with a smile, "Father has called in Medkit to look after you one the ceremony is complete." "Will it hurt?," You inquired with a trembling voice. "It does a little, sister. But Medkit will be there to make that stop.," Was the answer. The Inphernal helped you slip on the ceremonial dress clothes that were prepared for you. They led you to the room where the ceremony was to take place. Scythe was already there and waiting with Father Overseer and others. You saw Medkit looking on, already prepared with his gear. His facial expression looked a little concerned. The Inphernal that was tasked with the ceremony was already waiting in the center of the room with the dagger.

Father clapped his clawed hands together. "Our little sister," He said and got your attention before continuing, "Today is when you shall be accepted as a true member of the family." You gulped a little saliva and walked up to the father and the dagger holder. "Do you agree to become a member of our family?," He inquired, "To work and live for your fellow family members?" "Yes I do.," You answered, "I want to stay here with mama!" This answer got a few amused chuckles from the audience before father made them all silent. "We still do not have your true name, but we will still accept you as you are. Gear or none at all.," He said, "Welcome to our family, our hornless sister." As soon as the father spoke, your little head was grabbed and held still by a member behind you. The dagger holder before you knelt down and held one of your eyelids open. "Be still. I will try to make this quick.," He spoke, trying to soothe your nerves. You have seen the ceremony many times before. All the others did not flinch as they had their eyes removed, However, you are not like the others. You were terrified. Out of pure instinct, you began to fight back.

"Stop moving!," The dagger holder ordered, "It's gonna be worse if you don't hold still!" Fear had taken hold of you. You gripped the crystal in your hand before it shattered. The sound of it snapping echoed through the room before you felt a flash of energy rip through you. It was white hot and bright as a lightning strike. In the blink of an eye, The ones holding you down were pushed back and away from you. The Inphernals surrounding you were also pushed back by the shockwave of pure energy. The smell of blood hit you. But not yours. During the burst of energy, a tidal wave of razor sharp crystals formed and burst out into the crowd, tearing into the bodies of those nearby. You were panting from the sudden burst of energy and the adrenaline coursing through your small body. You saw what you had done and were terrified. The looks the others gave you scared you. The way the father looked at you. Your mama as well. Faster than you think you could move, you retreated back to your room and dug yourself into the empty space under the bed. Your small body was surrounded by the crystals that appeared when you were resting and the ones that coated you after the outburst. You were sorry that you hurt your brothers and sisters. You didn't mean to.... You didn't mean it...

You lay under there for what seems like hours before you heard the tapping of shoes coming to your door. You knew those steps. It was your mother. She opened the door and walked in. You saw her white and gold boots walk around your room, looking for you. "Darlin', Where are ya?," She called out, "It's okay. Nobody is mad at you. Well, not everybody." You crawled out from under your bed and looked up at her, She looked down at you before kneeling down. "There ya are, little darlin'," She chuckled and pulled you into her arms. She brushed the crystal shards from your hair and clothes with her mechanical arm before giving you an affectionate nuzzle. "You gave everyone a scare with that gear of yours.," She said, "'Kit has about finished patching everyone up." You were carried by your mother out of your room. She took you to Father overseer. The Father was holding a piece of the crystal that had been created by your outburst. It glowed faintly and sparkled with multiple colors reflecting within it. He looked at you as Scythe walked up. "I'm sorry.," You whimper. "You reacted from your fear. It is only natural for you.," He mused, "But you have shown your ability, Do you know your true name yet?" You shook your head. The name should have been obvious when your power was shown, so nobody knew what your name was.

"Then it stands to reason that your gear is one that is either unrecorded or forgotten.," The father said, "You shall be given your new name when we identify your gear." He waved his hand to dismiss you. "Go. You will not be doing the ceremony." You bowed your head to him and were about to be carried away by Scythe when he called her. "Scythe. We need you at this meeting to decide her new name." Your mama placed you down and patted your head with a smile. "I'll see you later, Darlin'," She chimed at you before following the Father. You noticed other higher ups in the church following the Father and cutting glances at you. You even saw some of the archivists that you had helped with translating the manuscripts. They had the papers with the translated texts with them. Wondered what they needed the texts for. Another Inphernal had a crystal that was from your room, They took it to Father overseer as you walked away. You were at least glad they didn't take your favorite big one.

The Father rolled the crystal in his fingers as he listened to the work that you had done with the archivists. What secrets you had uncovered and the reports of your medical biology given by Medkit. Finally he had the crystal you made examined by the former blackrock scientist. All in attempt to find your name. "This crystal should not exist like this.," Medkit finally said, "It is just as, if not more pure than the ones in the spawn wells." He wanted to keep this secret from the church, but was being paid to tell them these things. Plus Scythe and Broker would call him out for lying. "That is an interesting discovery.," The Father said while looking through the crystal. "The original owner of such a power was the creator, according to these manuscripts my lil darlin' helped to translate.," Scythe said. "The name of the power is Lua.," one of the archivists said, "The Original owner's name was Telamon." Medkit scowled slightly. He knew how dangerous this could be if the child was found out about and started to be used by the wrong people. The wrong people also included this church in his eyes. "Lua? It has a good ring to it.," Broker chimed, "But a little simple, hm?" "It comes with a gentle light.," The Father said before finally stating, "I have decided. Her name shall be Lualight." His smile evident, "Our faith has been rewarded, As we have been blessed with a Newly spawned God."

Your outburst did not just effect the curch. The shockwave traveled much further than that. Eleven beings shivered from the the feeling of a new power creeping over their skin. Their reactions differed from the other but one thought all united them.

"Who was that?"

It's... a little colourful...

She gave you a supportive smile and raised her gear up. Some of the naysayers stood down after seeing support from Scythe. Father looked to the audinance, "Will you accept our Lualight?" Cheers ripped through the crowd. Your new name was chanted as you were lifted to be seen by all of the members. It was strange to have been found as a child and now elevated to being a god. After being introduced to the congregation, you had to meet and greet the members of the church. You had questions about you, mostly about where your horns were. Chatter and murmurs were heard when you answered that you were born without them. The crowd met you with gentle wonder and tender touching of your head. Medkit himself came up to you to greet you. "You finally have a name I can call you instead of kid.," He said, "It's sort of cute and fits you." "I don't really understand what it means.," You replied to him, "But I will try to use my power to help as much as possible." He knelt down to your height and placed a hand on your head, "I know you will." His small smile was encouraging to you. You appreciated his support.

The Father still let you be under Scythe's care, Yet he started to train you in being a god and secondary leader of the church. He had you practice sermons and writing some for you to practice while you also were given other duties. Duties that included healing alongside Medkit. Your new duties were a bit hard to learn, but you learned quick. You could tell that not all the members were warm to you. But, none acted on their dislike of you. You did notice that some members had vanished, as if they never existed. You still found time to spend with your mama between both your schedules. You felt safe in the church, but felt safest when being held by your mama. Her hand running through your hair and her soft humming were enough to settle you down. After you finished your duties, you liked to nap on your mama as she relaxed. She could be talking to Broker while you dozed on her chest. Broker was very friendly towards you while you rested. He would ask you questions and tell you stories about inphernals he was watching. You liked hearing about a friend of his, an inphernal named 'Zuka'. Something about the retired soldier turned single father was charming.

One night you woke from a dream. It was a dream of being talked to by a large dark figure. You knew his name, Darkheart. But, something else bothered you. The other people in your dream made you feel sad. You finally remembered. Those were your birth parents. Your parents that disappeared. Using a light from a crystal, you wandered the church in the early morning. Your small feet walked to your mama's room. She was still resting in her own bed when you found her. She was fast asleep. You placed down the crystal and climbed up onto the mattress before squeezing yourself into her arms. Tears fell from your eyes as you nuzzled to your mama's chest. You felt a bit of fear and sorrow from remembering that you lost your parents. You knew that they wouldn't abandon you. They had to have been killed by something or someone. But that creepy other figure, Darkheart. You could still feel like he was watching you, even when he was not there.

Scythe found you squeezed against her in the morning. She figured you had a bad dream and wanted some comfort. You were a god, but you were a child first, so she did not blame you. She held you and nuzzled into your scalp before getting up and putting her uniform on. Scythe heard your little yawn and gave you a warm smile. "Mornin, Darlin'.," She greeted, "Did ya have a bad dream?" You nodded and rubbed your eyes, "Sorry mama." "Don't apologize, Lua.," She replied, "Scary dreams happen sometimes, But mama won't let those scary dreams hurt you." Scythe placed her hand on your hair and rubbed your hornless head. She gave you a kiss on your forehead. "Go get ready. The father wants you to try doing a section of the sermon today.," She told you. You dragged yourself back to your room and got ready while looking over the notes that the Father left for you to look over. He wanted you to talk about about the hornless in the manuscripts that you helped translate, especially since you are the last of these hornless gods.

You brushed out your hair and cleaned your face. You slipped into your ceremonial robes and tied a little bow onto your collar. You put on your headdress and took one of your crystals with you before leaving for the auditorium. There was a line going to the auditorium, your brothers and sisters of the church were chatting happily. They saw you and you were given a warm greeting from them. You returned the greetings and had to deny some of them the ability to pet you on your head. You walked to your seat in the room, sitting between your mama and Broker. The stitch covered inphernal gave you a friendly greeting and patted your head lightly. Chatter stopped as soon as the father entered and stood on the stage. He greeted the congregation and started to speak his lessons. You listened with intent to his teachings. He finally called you up to give a small sermon based on your findings of the manuscripts. You remembered your public speaking training and used his guidance to give your first sermon. You could hear some of your brothers and sisters snicker when you stuttered, but you had support from all of them. When you finished, the auditorium gave you applause.

Father approached you after the sermon was over. He knelt and patted your head with affection. "You did well, Lualight.," he praised. His words got him a smile from you. Praise from Father was always nice. You were allowed to roam around the church after as a free day. Other members gave you friendly hellos and petting on your head or back. You liked how friendly everything was in the church. It was much better than starving in the desert and almost being killed by animals. You continued to walk and visit your sisters and brothers of the church, seeing how they are and helping as you could. You stopped to listen to one who had something from the outside world. She and another had boxes stacked on a table. A sweet smell came from the boxes. The smell enticed you closer. The inphernal, who you knew as Crossbow, saw you and waved. "Lualight! Good job on your first time speaking this morning.," She smiled. You gave a small bow, "Thanks, Cross. What's in the boxes?" She motioned to the boxes and picked out a small cake. Her scarred hand gave it to you as her blue glass eye sparkled. "Chainsaw and I went shopping in Crossroads.," She replied, "Decided to get some sweets to celebrate." You tilted your head. What was she celebrating? Was it her and her twin's spawnday?

Chainsaw laughed, throwing back his head with a belly laugh. "Did you forget that today is the first anniversary of us finding you?," he asked, winking his good eye. So it had been a year already. You had lost track of time since they were keeping you inside. Your own spawnday must have passed already. The twins crouched to your height. "Have any plans?," Crossbow asked. Chainsaw chimed in, "Is there something you wanted?" You thought a bit before answering.

"I want to visit Crossroads, too.," you said.

Your reply caught both of them off guard. They looked at each other and then tilted their heads as they looked at you, touching their horns together. "You... wanna go to Crossroads?," they echoed in unison. You nodded while fiddling with the paper on the bottom of the cake. "I have been hearing a lot about the outside world from the others and I want to see it myself.," you explained with some hesitation, "I've only seen the desert. But I have heard about other places from Broker and... I want to see them too." Crossbow looked a little worried as Chainsaw lifted your head from looking at the floor gently. "The outside world is not safe.," Chainsaw said, "You were almost dead when I first saw you." "I don't know if Father would even let you go out.," Crossbow added. She ran her fingers over the cracked stump of her lost horn. It still had to be painful for her, yet she never let you heal it. "You can ask the Father.," Chainsaw said, "But I think it would be better to also ask if you can go with an escort of you really want to go." Crossbow smiled a little, "Well, toy are a child. You were bound to be curious." You were left with the small cake they gave you after they stood to take the food to the dining hall.

You decided to find your mom and talk to her about what you wanted. You found her with the animals. She was brushing the feathers of her vulture. You sat on a nearby surface as you watched her. "Howdy darling.," she greeted once she saw you, "Crossbow gave you a cupcake I see." "She did, mama.," you replied, "She and Chainsaw also asked what I wanted." Scythe put down the brush and came to sit by you. The much older inphernal smiled at you with such love in her expression. "What did you tell them?," she inquired. "I want to go to Crossroads," you answered. Scythe's smile left her face. She was not mad. She looked a bit worried. Her hand touched your cheek. "Lua, I don't know how safe it would be if you went. There are a lot of dangerous 'phernals in the inpherno." "What if someone came with me?," You asked, "Like you, Crossbow, or even Medkit!" Your mama was still worried looking. She was always concerned about your safety and well being since she adopted you. You felt her hand on your hair after a bit and she picked you up into her lap. "Have I e'er told you about the warden that has been tryin' to arrest Broker 'nd myself?," She asked you.

You shook your head. You were interested in this Inphernal. Your mother chuckled. She began to tell you stories about the warden. How he was a massive, muscular brute that weilded a hammer. How he was persistant in his pursuit of criminals and other beings who he deemed to be annoying or lawbreakers. She even told you about the silly nicknames she and Broker called him. 'Banny' being one of the favorites. You were so immersed in her stories and watching her move as she told them, that you didn't notice Broker sneaking up behind you. "He's tried and failed to cage me multiple times.," Broker said right behind your head, making you jump in surprise, "Hee hee~ Sorry Lualight, But it was too fun to resist." You pouted a bit as he picked you up. Broker had his usual friendly smile on his face. "I heard that you wanted to visit Crossroads, Lualight.," Broker chimed, "Did my stories of visiting inspire your curiousity?" You nodded with a small pout, "I want to see these places you talk about." He held you up against his chest, letting his head rest atop yours as your mama watched both of you. She was making sure Broker did not accidentally hurt you. "You could always ask the Father.," Broker said while carrying you to the animal pen. You patted the head of your mother's vulture. The large bird made a cooing sound as it leaned into your hand, used to your petting. "Chainsaw said I could ask to have an escort to go there.," You said, "Would that be enough to let Father allow me to go?" "Maybe, maybe not.," Broker replied, "The Father does want to keep you safe, as do the rest of us. You are one, If not the most important person in the church."

His face nuzzled the top of your head lightly. Scythe went back to grooming the animals in the pen. Broker carried you back inside. The two of you got friendly greetings from the different members of the church. You jumped in Broker's arms when you heard screaming. "Bah! Another unruly guest.," The scarred inphernal holding you said and looked down at you, "Don't you worry about that. Our brothers and sisters can take care of them." You nodded and held up the cupcake in your hands, "Want a piece?" Broker made a silly expression towards you and took a bite of the cake, leaving only half. You knew he could not taste, but still offered it to him. It was nice to share as mama told you. You ate the rest of it while being carried by your mama's silly friend.

After dinner, you wandered around more. You heard your brothers and sisters talking about looking for someone. You wondered what that was about. Was someone lost? Tiny feet kept carrying you as you wandered. The memory of that horrific sound was still in your mind. It would not leave your head. You felt frightened by the sound. You heard the unmistakable sound of one of your church sibling's gears being used. "FOUND YOU, BASTARD!" There was something terrifying about hearing the amount of rage in their voice. You felt fearful, but drawn to the noise at the same time. You peeked around the corner and saw your mama talking to the church sibling with the loud weapon gear. She seemed to be scolding them about something. You looked down when you smelled something with a biting metallic smell. Blood was pooling and it was starting to reach your feet. You gasped quietly and stepped back. Your eyes followed the blood to the source. A body. It was mangled from extreme damage being done to it. You felt like crying and throwing up at the same time. The body did not wear the same color scheme as you, nor the same dress code. They seemed to have more wild clothes, more akin to what your mama wore, but red and earth tones. You found yourself feeling sorry for the poor soul and reached your tiny hand out to the corpse.

As soon as your fingers brushed over the hand of the corpse, It grabbed your wrist tightly. You could feel the energy of your power, your lua pouring into the corpse. The wounds mended by themselves and the horns regrew. You screamed as the body moved. The formerly dead body got up by itself and the inphernal snarled, showing the fanged teeth. Your mama reacted immeditely. With a flourish, she sliced the hand of the inphernal right off, making them drop you. She caught you before you fell to the ground and held you close to her chest. "Keep your damn hands off my daughter.," She hissed at the inphernal. "Scythe..," The other inphernal gasped in both pain and rage, "You bit-" Scythe severed the inphernal's head from their neck in an instant while holding you. You were on the edge of tears and clinging to your mama. She relaxed and despawned her gear, using her newly free hand to hold you closer to her. "Lualight, are you okay, darlin'?," She asked and looked at your wrist, "Oh you're getting a bruise." Your eyes were filled with tears as you started to cry from how scared you were. Your mama held you and let you cry into her. She told the others to clean the mess as she took you to a safer area. Scythe took you to the Father after she cleaned the blood off of you. The Father was in his office. He took you from your mama and sat back in his chair. His fingers wiped away the tears escaping your eyes. "Oh dear Lualight, You see why I am hesitant to let you go out into the inpherno?," He asked, "You barely survived both times."

So he knew about your wish to go out. The twins must have told him. You sniffled and clung to him for a sense of safety. His hand ran over your hair. "You are not injured are you?," He asked. You showed him your wrist, which was starting to turn a purplish color. The Father let you down after looking at your bruising. He sent you to bed as it was getting late and you were still growing, But he made your mama stay behind to talk. "So what happened?," He asked. "The bastard was dead, then they got back up.," Scythe answered. The father grimaced, "Was it one of them?" "No. They were fully conscious. Even saying my name when they got up.," Scythe replied, "I think it was Lualight. The wounds had her crystals in them as they healed." "That power is greater than what those false seven can do.," Father mused, "What great fortune for us to find her when we did. It's a shame her parents had to die." Scythe's fingers twitched. She saw it all. How your father fought to protect you and your mother from the church's scouts. How you hid behind your mother. And how they died. It kind of hurt now that she had fallen so in love with you and being your mother. The father waved his hand, "Return to your daughter. She needs you right now."

Word spread through the church about your increased power. As did the rumors about your want to go to other places. You noticed you were being watched more as you wandered the church and did your duties. When you asked, your brothers and sisters told you it was because they were worried about you getting attacked again. The fellow that was killed was apparently from another faction. They were there to do something mean from what the others told you. You didn't understand why someone would want to hurt your family, all of you were so nice and wanted to help others. You kept helping around the church and giving small sermons after Father was done with his turn. He even had a small stool made for you to stand on to reach the poduim. The party to celebrate you was fun as well, with you giving out some of your crystals to church members that have helped you before or have found some favor with you. The crystals were made into small necklaces or brooches for them to wear with their uniforms.

Father called you to the animal pens one day with Broker beside him. "I have finally decided that I will let you go to Crossroads, But You need to have an escort team.," He explained, "As you saw a few weeks ago, our neighbors are dangerous. They are unruly and barbaric." You remembered. Your bruises had healed, but the viciousness of the being that you accidentally revived never left your mind. Father patted your head to bring you back to the present and turned you around to see some of the vultures from the pens were getting their tack put on them. Chainsaw and Crossbow were placing saddle bags onto the saddles. The twins smiled at you and waved. "The twins volunteered for this job. I would have let your 'mama' join you, but she is a bit busy right now.," Father said, "You two. I want you to protect her during this trip and to bring back more supplies." "Yes Father!," the twins chimed back. Father turned to another member who was going with you and gave them orders as well. The inphernal, You think was named Crowbar, gave a silent salute and jumped onto the back of their bird. You felt yourself being picked up as Chainsaw put you on his bird. "If you start feeling sick, tell me.," He smiled. The birds were loaded up and the group took off. Broker and Father waved as you and the others took to the skies. You were scared at first and clung to the bird with your eyes closed shut. However, Chainsaw tapped your back and told you to look. You followed his directions and looked. Before you was a beautiful scene of the expanse of desert with the blue sky above your head.

A small gasp escaped you. "Pretty, right?," Chainsaw asked, "This is why Cross and I like going on supply runs. We get to see wonderful sights like these." You nodded as the wind rushed through your hair. It was so beautiful. You leaned back against Chainsaw's chest and belly, getting comfortable to enjoy the trip. The group enjoyed almost an hour of flying together. In the distance was the shape of other birds flying. The group did not mind them much. That was until they turned to head right for you. Along with a Gear flying right by your heads. "Ambush!," Crossbow shouted and summoned her gear, "Saw, Get Lualight to safety!" "What about you, Cross?!," you asked. "You're the priority, go!," she yelled back, "I'll be fine!" Chainsaw turned his bird away as his sister and the other guard engaged the ambush in battle. He tried to fly you and he to safety as fast as possible. You prayed that they would be safe and that if they were hurt, that they would heal quickly. What seemed like a Grappling Hook whizzed by your heads. Chainsaw looked back and saw an inphernal and their vulture dive bombing his. The attack knocked the bird out of the sky. Chainsaw used his own body to cushion you as you two hit the ground. The air was knocked out of him.

"Now then, what's this?," an unfamiliar voice caught your ears. It was the Inphernal that knocked you off the bird. They walked up and summoned their gear. Chainsaw forced himself to catch his breath. "Hn? A newspawn?," the attacker said in an inquiring tone, "That's unfortunate." Chainsaw summoned his gear and slashed it at the attacker. He turned to you. "Run Lua!," He yelled, "Just get somewhere safe!" You did as he ordered and ran. Right into the nearby flaming ruins. The other ambush party members stopped chasing you as ran into the flame. The fires did not seem to even lick you. "Damn kid is suicidal!," one of the members yelled. Another chimed in, "Lets find them later, we have business to attend to at the moment." You continued to run to the ruins, keeping out of sight and trying to block out the sounds of fighting. You felt that these ruins were familiar. You were here before. You followed a path to a larger building that was unscathed. Inside were makeshift beds. Beds that you and your parents slept on. You remembered. You were left behind by your parents. You knew that they had to have died in this place. You started to sniffle and then cry. You sat on one of the beds and cried. Cried from fear, from stress, from sorrow, from pain. You could not help but to cry. After a bit of time, you stopped crying. The sounds outside had stopped as well. There were no more sounds of birds nor fighting. Only the crackling roar of the fire. Something else came with the silence. A feeling of not being alone.

You looked to see a dark figure in front of you, grinning down at you with bright green teeth. You were a little scared, but you also knew this man. The ever familiar grin and the wizard hat. He pressed a hand against your face. "It's been a while, little one.," He chuckled, "We wondered where you went. If we knew you needed help, we would have taken you to safety." You wiped your tears and whimpered, "Darkheart.." The large being tilted his head. He looked to be thinking. The tall being did not flinch when you suddenly hugged him. He took a moment before placing a clawed hand on your head. "It was so noisy outside for a bit there.," He said, "And we don't think it is clear yet... We can take you somewhere safer." You looked up at him, you were torn on what to say before he just stood up. "That actually sounds like a better idea.," He snickered, "Plus it will be more fun." He reached out his arm as it started to glow and gripped the handle of the door beside you. The door turned black. He opened it to a dark area and walked right in. The corridor it led to was filled with many more doors. Your small hands gripped onto him as he walked through the door filled hallway. He was humming the whole time.

"Here we are.," He finally said and stopped while looking up. You wondered what he meant before he started to float into the air and towards a door high above you. He reached out and opened it, leading to an alleyway. The area was much different than where you had been. It was much cooler and there was noise from cars and other living beings. Darkheart set you down, "This is a safe area. Much better than being near the flames of our dear brother." Your little eyes looked around at the alleyway. It had graffiti in it of other horned creatures of different shapes and colors. Darkheart nudged you to move, leading you somewhere before you heard a noise. It was two horned creatures arguing. You looked back to Darkheart to see he had vanished. With a bit of fear, you started to wander the alleys before finding your way to the main streets and roads. You found yourself getting excited and full of wonder. There were so many other people around! You saw inphernals walked around, talking and shopping. There were so many sights and smells that it started to overwhelm little you. But you needed to deal with the gnawing hunger in your belly first.

You caught a smell and began to follow it. You were lead to a restaurant that had a lot of food in it. The name was not important to you as you were hungry. You walked in and sat at an empty booth before looked at the menu. You checked how much money you had in the little bag that you had with you, the allowance that Mama and The Father gave you for your work. You were happy to see you had more than enough to get a small meal. An inphernal who looked like they worked there walked up to you smiling, then looked puzzled. The inphernal looked around before turning back to you. "Where is your caretaker?," The waiter asked. You did not see any reason to lie, "Mama is busy working." The waiter rubbed his long green horns and sighed, he looked at you and. Seemed drawn to your head. Oh right. You didn't have horns. You were glad that The Father had given you a veil like hat to wear. But he also was looking at that you had some injuries and dirt on you. "Hey, are you okay? Newspawn like you shouldn't be alone.," he asked you, "Did something happen?" You nodded, "I got separated from my group when we were attacked while coming here." The waiter looked a bit worried when you said that. But he kept a smile. "Okay. My name is Shuriken, and I will be your waiter.," He introduced himself, "Please ask for help if you need anything."

You told him what you wanted and he took the order. You watched him go back to the staff area, but not before stopping by a much larger Inphernal with pink horns and telling that one something. The pink one gave you a quick glance before snapping her head back to look at you again. She seemed to give you a look of pity before returning to work. You sat in the booth and watched the crowds outside pass by. You had your head resting in your palm as you leaned against the window. Until, you saw a familiar pair of horns. Teal stood out against the colors in the street. But with the teal was a splash of red. You watched as Medkit walked by with another inphernal, one in a gladiator like helmet. You wondered how the two knew each other. He walked right by the window and gave you a quick glance. Then he walked back to look again. By this time your meal was already served to you. You were nibbling when Medkit almost ran into the restaurant and look right at you. The red horned inphernal was right behind him and looking confused. "What are you doing here?," He asked you, "Does Sc- Your mom know you are here?" You kept nibbling as Medkit sat across from you. You swallowed the food you were chewing before answering. "I was allowed to come. We were caught in an ambush and I escaped.," you replied, "Chainsaw said they'd be okay. I- I just have to believe him, right?" The doctor sighed and took your hand to look at it. He determined that you were at least not suffering from serious injuries.

Medkit sighed. The red horned inphernal with him slipped into the booth and sat beside you. His eyes were on your head and the lack of horns you had. He touched you lightly and felt that you were warm. "Medkit, who is this?," the young inphernal asked, "She's so cute." Medkit looked annoyed and tired, "Sword, this is a... colleague's daughter. Her name is Lualight." Sword looked happy to see you and meet you. The two decided to have lunch with you since they were there. Sword kept feeling your head, as if trying to find any trace of horns. You were still trying not to break down again. You had to be strong for your brothers and sisters, right? You were their newspawn God. "After we are done eating, I am taking you somewhere more private to check you for injuries.," Medkit said. "How about Rocket's place?," Sword asked, "Da Shop is close by." "That is up to Rocket and Zuka.," Medkit replied. The three of you ate your meal and began to leave. You stopped and went to Shuriken and the other worker. Shuriken crouched to your level. "Hey, is there something I can help you with?," He asked. You looked at his face and horns. He looked pretty strong. He had some facial markings on him and a pair of long green horns. You dug in your bag and brought out three necklaces you made from your crystals. "For you.," you said, "You, her, the chef. They can protect you."

He and the other worker took the necklaces and put them on. "Thank you, sweetie.," the much larger, pink horned inphernal said to you, "We'll give our brother his." You waved and left with Medkit. It was hard to keep up with them, so Sword ended up carrying you. His fingers kept invading your space, though. He was poking at your soft cheeks, enamored at how soft your skin was. You were used to being petted and prodded by others, so you didn't mind him. You remembered what Sword said. Da Shop. You remembered that Broker had mentioned it before. And this 'Rocket' person as well. And 'Zuka'. You remembered how grumpy his voice sounded when Broker let you say hello to him over the phone. Medkit and Sword talked about things as they walked, Sword even asked you some questions. Mostly about your name and why you didn't have horns. You did not really know how to explain those. But, you tried to answer his other questions as best as possible. Da Shop come into view. A pretty well maintained building that you could see a selection of weapons through the window. Sword put you down and walked into the shop. You could see him greeting another inphernal with blue horns. Medkit followed sword in and motioned for you to follow as well. You walked in and looked around. The selection of weapons was pretty decent from what you could see. Plus it looked like there were things that could help repair gears if they had been damaged.

"Are you two here to buy something, or are you just visiting?," You heard a familiar but gruff voice ask. Behind the counter was an older inphernal. He looked to be older than your mama. He had four horns, two sets on either side of his head, all black. He was missing an arm and looked pretty serious while also being tired. "We needed a safer spot to check her for injuries, Zuka.," Medkit answered. So you finally had a face to match the name. The younger one with blue horns must have been rocket then. Zuka looked over the counter at you. He seemed a little confused. "What happened to this one?," Zuka asked, "Her horns are missing." The teal horned doctor looked down at you with his single eye, "She was spawned without horns. But to answer your question, she survived an ambush." The tired old man motioned for your group to follow, leading you to his apartment. "Do not make a mess.," He said, "But you can check on her here." You looked up to him and held out your small hand. He crouched and took your hand into his large and calloused one to shake.

"Nice to finally meet you, Mr. Zuka!," You greeted, "I'm Lualight! We talked on the phone before!" Zuka made an expression that looked like soft surprise. His eyes slightly widened. He recognized your voice. He let your hand go and stood up. "Glad you are safe, Lualight.," he said and went back to the store. Rocket stayed back with your group as medkit took off your cowl and veil. He checked over your body for injuries, even pressing into your sides and back to check for internal damage. "You have some bruising.," Medkit stated, "And some heat damage, but you are otherwise healthy." "Chainsaw broke my fall.," You replied. Sword and Rocket watched, leaning over the couch to look at your skin and head. They were curiously looking at your hair and colorful eyes. Sometimes reaching out to feel the hair, your nose, or your ears. Your skin was colorful as well. Warm toned compared to their pale grey. "Thank you for letting us use the apartment.," the teal horned doctor said to Rocket. "What is up with this thing anyway, Medkit?," Rocket asked with a blunt tone, "You're treating her like she's going to break at the slightest touch." "I.. Am unable divulge too much.," Medkit replied, "But, she is a collegue's daughter. And she was Spawned much differently than were were. She is a lot more delicate."

"That's obvious.," Rocket stated and pressed a finger lightly into your head, "The kid doesn't even have horns. How the hell is she alive?" You smacked his hand away, annoyed by his painful poking. He started poking again, enjoying the teasing. "So soft and weak.," the blue horned inphernal teased. "Stop it...," You whined. Medkit shook his head. He just watched the younger ones interact. You got up off the couch and hid behind sword. It kind of became a game of Rocket trying to catch and poke or tickle you while you escaped. You squealed as he caught and tickled your soft skin. "Be careful with her.," Medkit warned, "Her skin is not as thick as ours." Rocket put you down, You ran back to the familiar eyepatch'd inphernal and hung onto one of his legs. He placed a hand on your head. It was light and gentle. He looked serious at you. "You never told me what happened.," He said. You looked down before he knelt before you. His hand gently raised your head up by your chin lightly. "How did you get here?," He asked, "The distance you had to travel is great, especially at your age and size."

You teared up a bit. It was scary to think about again. Seeing the fight and hearing those screams. "He told me to run, they were going to catch me.," You whined as you tried not to cry, "I hid. In the burning place. There is a untouched one deep in the flames." "Oh, so you're from Lost Temple.," Rocket commented. Sword leaned in to listen, "So what happened next?" "I was hiding and alone, then I was not alone.," You continued, "He found me." "Who found you?," Sword asked. "The tall one. He wears a wizard hat and has a big smile.," You answered, "He brought me to Crossroads." You heard Rocket make a noise like he was choking. Medkit stood immediately. Sword made a face you could not read. "Did you get his name?," Sword asked. You nodded.

"His name is Darkheart."

You could have sworn you heard a giggle coming from the shadows as the inphernals in front of you grimaced. They did not seem to like that name. Rocket groaned. "Of course it was that one.," He muttered and got up, "I have to go back to work." He left you and the other two. The sudden heavy air felt crushing. Medkit looked stressed. Sword, however, looked like he was contemplating something. "He's not supposed to interact with inphernals outside of his family.," the helmet wearing inphernal said before snapping, "I got it! I can ask my mentor about it! He should know!" The three of you left, wiith Medkit and Sword going different directions after saying goodbye. You were about to follow Medkit when a scratching, deep voice spoke to you.

"Follow Sword, It'll be more fun."

You looked around, searching for the origin of the voice. Medkit had already disappeared into the crowd. You decided to follow the advice of the voice. You followed Sword into the back alleys and to roads that were not as walked on. The crowds began to dwindle as you continued to follow Sword. You lost sight of him a few times, but the voice guided you.

"Turn left." "Follow the second street." "Too far, go back" "Continue this way."

You found Sword walking into a building in a secluded area. It looked fairly maintained. You followed him in and heard him speaking. It sounded like he was talking to someone close to him. You got closer and heard a chirp. You looked up to the side table beside you and saw a little black bird. The bird looked at you with its little green eyes and made a small 'caw' sound. It did not seem unfriendly as you reached up and touched the smooth feathers. The bird fluttered from on top of the table and perched onto your shoulder, pressing against your cheek. You made a small giggle about how friendly it was. You heard a much deeper voice from where Sword was. It had to be who he was talking to. You slowly approached and looked into the doorway. A tall being, like the one who brought you here was standing before Sword. This one had a military uniform on and was wearing a scary birdlike mask. The yellow-green horns curled like ram horns. "-and she was hiding from the attackers before she was brought to Crossroads.," Sword said. You relized that he was relaying your story to the tall one. This had to be his caretaker or mentor. "How did she get here from Lost Temple?," The tall masked inphernal asked. "She... Mentioned Darkheart.," Sword answered, "That's what I was wondering about, You said that you could not interact with others."

"It is true, We are not allowed to.," The masked one said, "He must have had a reason."

"The reason is quite clear, if you see who is eavesdropping~," An all too familiar voice chimed from the shadows. Darkheart stepped out from the shadows he blended into and made Sword jump from fright. The Mask wearing inphernal did not seem very pleased about the intrusion. "Is this true?," the mask wearing one asked, "You took a newspawn from the Lost Temple and put her in Crossroads?" Darkheart laughed in his usual jolly manner, "We did! But we had good reason~" "Pray tell would that be?," the other tall one inquired. "Her father asked us to take her somewhere safe if anything were to happen to him or her mother.," The dark colored inphernal answered, "We could not deny the last wishes of a Hornless, now can we?" The masked one had his full attention on Darkheart after he said that. You leaned in a bit closer to listen. 'Hornless'? Is that their name for your kind? The bird on your shoulder was nuzzling up to you as you listened. You watched the masked one get closer to the wizard hat wearing one. "There is a Hornless? Where is she?," The masked one asked, "Where did you take her?" Darkheart still wore his mischievous smile. The bird on your shoulder started to caw, catching the attention of the masked inphernal.

Sword looked right at you after he heard the bird. He looked a little surprised. "Lualight? Wha-," He asked. The masked one was looking at you as well. He was even more scary when he looked at you from his intimidating height. "We brought her here." Darkheart chuckled, "The safest place that We know." You tried to hide, but was caught by Sword. He brought you to the tall masked one while you shook in his arms. "Our job is done here, Bye~," Darkheart chimed and disappeared once more. The masked inphernal turned his attention back to you. The bird that had been on your shoulder flew onto the tall inphernal. The beady eyes still looking at you. You flinched as the tall one touched your head. He felt you shiver and your fearful whimpers. You were not too scared because of Sword being there, but this inphernal petting your head was by far the scariest looking you had seen so far. "What is your name, little one?," The masked inphernal asked with a gentle tone as he sensed your unease. "Lualight.," You answered. "Lualight... That is a pretty name. But I know that is not a name a Hornless would give their child.," He stated.

You looked up at him as he removed his hand from your head, only to reach behind his head and removed his mask. He was showing you his face. It was a lot kinder than his mask let on. His smile was wide, yet peaceful. He knew about your kind, he knew that Lualight was not your original name. "I am Venomshank.," he introduced himself, "And you already know my brother, Darkheart as well as my ward, Sword." Sword smiled down at you before looking back at Venomshank. "What is a Hornless?," He asked his mentor. Venomshank motioned to you, "She is one. Perhaps even the last one. They are a species that are older than ours, a species that created the inpherno and us." His hand patted your hair again, "Although I have never seen a young Hornless. I never expected one to be so adorable." Venomshank was a lot nicer than you expected. You can tell where sword got his kind and gentle personality. You let the two pet your hair and examine your head. "How have you survived?," Venomshank asked as he took you from sword. You thought of how to answer without revealing too much, "I was taken in by a group who do not mind that I do not have horns or a gear. " Venomshank looked a little disappointed. He made a face that looked like a silly mix of sad and pouting. This made you giggle at him. "I would have taken you in if you didn't have a home.," He admitted, "Sword would have made a good older sibling."

You looked over to Sword, who was practicing with his gear. "Mama would not like hearing that.," You said, "She killed someone for hurting me. Well, they also wanted to hurt others..." "Your 'mama' sounds like she is very protective of you.," Venom mused, "I understand. I do not want harm to come to Sword either." You looked up to Venomshank, seeing the bird on his hat now. "What is the bird's name?," You asked. "Oh, this is Sisyphus.," The friendly man replied, "He is my wings, as I was born without them. My siblings all have wings." "Siblings?," You asked, "More than just Darkheart?" "Yes. There are seven of us in total.," Venomshank answered, "Myself and Darkheart you have already met. There is also my sister, Windforce." He grimaced as he said the name. "She is not exactly nice. Neither is my brother, Illumina.," He continued, "Ghostwalker is fine, albeit a little cold. I have not heard from Icedagger in a long time." He paused and looked down at you, Seeing the soot that stained your cheek and feet from running through the flames. His expression was reminescent of your biological father's. So kind and concerned. The love you could feel. Scythe had also made that kind expression towards you many times. You were starting to miss her. "Firebrand would have loved to meet you. He always had a soft spot.," Venomshank said, "His flames did destroy, but it seems they were also protecting you from those who wanted to harm you."

You dug through your bag and pulled out some more of your crystals. you presented it to Venomshank. "Here. For you and Sword.," You said while holding it out, "I don't know how, but I keep making these. They are good for healing and making some small things." Venomshank took the crystal and looked at it, turning it and observing the colors. His eyes widened in amazement, then he had a look of what seemed to be a realization of horror. He looked down at you with concern. "Were you in danger a few months ago?." He asked in a serious tone, "I felt this stone's energy burst. It felt like someone was terrified." You remembered. A few months ago was when your eye was supposed to be removed. Your energy outburst that almost killed the brothers and sisters around you stopped that. You nodded to his question. He gave you a firm but comforting embrace, your head was resting on his broad shoulders. "I am sorry.," he said, "I should have- Darkheart should have-" He was struggling to find the right words, even with his over a century of experience. You felt his breath heave as he made himself calm down.

"We should have helped as soon as we felt you fall into this inpherno.," Venomshank said to you in your language, "Then you would not be alone." It was strange to hear it again after all this time. He spoke it so well that it almost sounded like your father was speaking to you again. Sword wandered back over and got Venomshank's attention, "Its getting late. I should probably take her to Medkit's place so she can be returned to her mom." The tall inphernal did not seem to want to let you go, but he relented. You were given to Sword and he left with you. He carried you through Crossroads. Through the roads and to an apartment building. Sword carried you up to an apartment and knocked on the door. The Teal horned inphernal you knew well opened the door. His expression turned to relief. "Where?," Medkit asked. Sword looked a little bashful, "She followed me back home. My mentor liked meeting her." The red horned inphernal put you down and patted your head. He gave you a smile and said goodnight to you. But you got scolded by Medkit for following someone you just met in unfamiliar territory. You noticed that Medkit's apartment did not have a bed like your room back at the church. Just a couch. You watched as Medkit changed into something more comfortable and laid down on the couch. You crawled up onto his stomach and looked at him, seeing him without his eyepatch for the first time. There were stitch scars keeping his eyelids closed.

You lay on top of Medkit after pulling the sheet on top of both of you. Your head rested on his chest and felt his heartbeat inside. You could tell he was barely asleep. You closed your eyes and felt yourself slipping as well. You prayed that both of you got good rest and good dreams this night.

Scythe was pacing and fuming. Her baby was out there and she didn't know where. The supply team had not reported back yet. She looked up when she heard footsteps. The supply team's bodies were being dragged in by some other members. Scythe walked up to see the wounds. Crossbow's veins and muscles were reattaching her lost limb back on. She could see Chainsaw's bones and organs reforming inside of him. Crowbar Gasped and saw up quickly as his skull healed back over, covering the reforming brain material. Chainsaw groaned and sat up. "Fuck... um.. Hi Scythe.," The Inphernal gulped. Scythe looked down at the freshly revived supply runners, "Where is my baby?" "She um... Ran into the flames of the ruins??," Chainsaw said and covered his head while receiving a punch to the top of his noggin. "Why didn't you protect her like you were supposed to?," Scythe asked with a twinge of irritation in her voice. "We were ambushed.," Crowbar said while reattaching his jaw, "More'n just us three. They are getting more desperate." Scythe was about to say something else when Broker's voice sounded, gaining the attention of the group. "Lualight is safe.," he said, "So you can stop scolding them." Scythe looked back at her friend.

"Where is she?," Your mama asked, desperation for your safety and location in her tone. "My contact in Crossroads saw her. She's with Meds.," The broker replied, "Don't know how she got there on her own, but she's perfectly safe." Scythe heaved a sigh of relief. You were safe. The newspawn God was okay. Her baby was safe. She despawned her gear and wiped her eyes, she didn't notice her tears before. The supply group was allowed to go back to their rooms to rest, leaving Broker and Scythe alone. "I should have gone with them.," She said to the scarred Inphernal. Broker smiled his usual smile, "Lualight is going to be okay. Meds is not going to let anything happen to her." "He might stick me with a pretty big bill, though.," Scythe chuckled. At least you were safe. But, they still had to report this to the Father. Their enemies had seen Lua, and the church had to be ready if said enemies got too curious about their hornless newspawn. Scythe placed the special necklace you made for her on her desk before getting ready for bed. Her fingers ran over it, the feeling of warmth and pulsing energy from it made it feel like she could feel your heartbeat through it.

Medkit woke the next morning oddly refreshed feeling. He was able to sleep through the night. Your small body was still on top of his. You were quite warm and your hair looked like it shimmered in the way your crystals did. The teal horned doctor rose up and held you against his chest. You looked peaceful. Not like a god, but an innocent child. You were just an innocent child. Conflict rose in his mind. He should return you to the church, but wouldn't it be better for you to be given to sword and his mentor. Or even better yet, returned to where you originally came from. He had heard whispers that your spawning was not natural, that you and your parents were taken from your home in a ritual that barely worked and was expensive to accomplish. Now your biological parents were deceased and you were left all alone.

Vunerable.

You stretched in his arms as you woke up. Your bright and colorful eyes looking up at his duller one. You smiled at him in the same innocent and friendly manner you always did. The same way that Sword smiles at him. "Good morning!," Your cheerful voice said as he finally set you down on the floor. "Morning.," was his simple response. You were used to his blunt and simple attitude. You looked around as he went about his morning. Your eyes locked onto a bright red phone. It was the same kind that you saw on Broker's desk. You climbed onto the desk chair and reached your hand to the phone. Medkit saw you pick it up and listen to the buzzing line. "Did you want to call them?," He asked. You nodded and Medkit gave you the number to call. You punched in the numbers with and waited as the tone played. "Good morning," the ever familiar voice on the other side said. You were happy to hear him, "Broker, Good morning!"

"Oh Lualight! I am glad you called, We were worried sick about you.," The Broker chimed back, "Your mom looked like she was going to pop a blood vessel. I am assuming you are with Meds?" "I am.," You replied, "Crossroads is fun. I got to see new faces and try new food." "I know you met Zuka. He told me last night when I called him.," Broker said, "Stay with Medkit, We shall come get you when it is safe." You heard some talking on the other end between Broker and someone else. "Lua, Darlin', are you okay?," You heard Scythe's voice. Your face kit up at her voice, "I am mama! It's fun here in Crossroads!" You told her about everything you saw and the different inphernals you had seen, purposely leaving out Darkheart and Venomshank from being mentioned. You knew how the church felt about the Seven from how Father talked about them. You stopped your talking before asking your mom a question, "Are the twins and Crowbar okay?" You heard her sigh, "They're okay, thanks to the crystals you gave 'em." She did not speak for a few seconds, there were more sounds from their end. "Lualight, I cannot get you just yet. Just stay with Medkit and stay safe.," Scythe told you. "Okay mama! I love you!," You said and heard her choke a bit from happiness of hearing you say that. "I love you too, Darlin'," She said and the phone hung up.