Darkness.
Not simply the absence of light.But a darkness like a womb of oblivion — a timeless void that does not give birth, but devours.
There was no sound.No air.Not even a thought.
Only one sensation flickered deep within that nothingness:
LONELINESS.
EMPTINESS.
SADNESS.
It felt as if life itself was draining away.As if someone were stealing it — because of helplessness, because of the absence of all that was precious or dear.As if it was predestined.As if he was doomed.
Hinokami could not see his body.He felt no skin, no muscle, no bone.Yet the poison of the void wrapped around him like a cloak — cold as a forgotten past.
"Where… am I?"The thought echoed within the darkness itself, sorrowful, almost afraid.
And then…
LIGHT.
Not an explosion.Not an impact.Just… a presence.
A light that did not blind, but observed.A light that did not burn, but judged.
"Welcome, nameless wanderer."
The voice was neither male nor female.It was simply part of the light itself — as if this voice were the First Thing to ever speak.
— Where am I? — Hinokami asked, though he had no body to speak with.
"You are in a world that knows no rest.A world where light is an ordeal, not a comfort,"the mysterious voice replied.
Silence followed.The darkness trembled, as if afraid the light might tear it apart.
— And you… who are you?Hinokami asked.
"I am the First Flame.The Memory of the Beginning.The one who has seen all things, and the one who will be the final witness."
Hinokami wanted to ask more — "Why me?" — but two words appeared before him, written in gold and stardust:
Forgiveness of Light — the strength to not destroy when you can.Master of Fire — a flame that accepts your will as its own.
The voice continued:
"Only one who carries both forgiveness and flame may survive the path that awaits."
The light trembled and parted like a curtain.
And the world…
Merged with the will of Hinokami.
THE AWAKENING
When he opened his eyes, the sky was no longer the sky he remembered.It was torn into three colossal shards of light:
— One moon — violet, glowing like amethyst. It could burn, but it could also warm and heal.— A second — divine white, like the full power and love of the Creator.— A third — blood-red, pulsing like a heart that guards life.
All three hung above him like three destinies, arguing over which of them would teach him the essence of life and love.
Hinokami lay beside a spring.Its water shimmered with a soft silver glow — as if it reflected not the moons, but the soul of the world itself.
The grass whispered around him, every blade trembling with mana, as if it breathed.
He stepped toward the water and looked into its still surface — like a living mirror connected to all things — and saw:
A face he did not recognize.A face carved from stone, stern and strong…yet with eyes that held the tenderness of a mother gazing upon her child with boundless love.
Hair wild like flames.A faint, rough stubble on his jaw.
He staggered back and whispered:
"I'm… not dreaming."
He lifted his hand.
From the tips of his fingers bloomed a quiet flame.Small. Warm. Alive.
— Fire… that does not hurt. It warms.
His eyes widened — not in fear, but in recognition.The flame did not burn him.It accepted him.
He felt its creative nature — a power vast and immeasurable hidden within that tiny spark.He felt its limitless love.He felt infinity.He felt Eternity.
But even as the fire warmed him, the sense of being watched did not leave.
He turned sharply.
No one was there.
Yet the silence whispered:
The same presence… as in the abyss.In the nothingness before the light.