In the beginning, I lived among the Immortals of Haven.
For a thousand years, Haven was my home.
It was both physical and spiritual: a paradise beyond imagination.
Forests that never withered. Rivers so clear they felt like light given shape.
Mountains sharp enough to cut the sky, yet gentle beneath your feet. Time did not decay there. It simply… waited.
At the heart of Haven was the Pond.
Perfectly circular. Perfectly still.
Most days, it was just water—clear enough to reflect the trees, the sky, our own faces when we leaned over it.
But when the Immortals wished to watch, it changed. The surface became a mirror not of Haven, but of Earth.
Wars. Births. Prayers whispered in the dark.
Humanity, laid bare beneath divine sight.
The air in Haven carried those echoes. Not loudly—never loudly—but softly, like distant music.
Thoughts. Pleas. Regret. Hope. Every Immortal felt it. We were connected to all life below… and yet untouched by it. Safe from hunger. Safe from age. Safe from consequence.
In Haven, we called those below Flawed, while we named ourselves The Flawless. It was the only way to explain why everyone on Earth was infected by anger.
That single emotion, born from the Wrath of Sitan, made humanity what it was: self-destructive, corrupted, and mortal.
You might ask where Sitan himself came from.
Well, above Haven were the Heavens.
Not a place you could walk—no ground, no horizon. Just infinity. Silence. Light.
The Divine Light ruled there—an extension of the Creator himself.
Around her, the Eternal Lights glowed.
Each had a consciousness older than creation, each capable of fusing with an Immortal. Guardians. Guides. Power given form.
From Earth, they were stars.
From Haven, they were watchers.
Adam, the Father of Humanity, was the Divine Light's vessel. Her only spokesman.
Dawn had once been the same—for Nature itself. Before the love Nature had for Sitan separated them. Before Wrath entered the world, Dawn and Nature were one.
This was the world I knew.
And in that world, I was told stories.
Tales of humanity's salvation. Promises of peace. Prophecies that stretched across centuries, spoken as calmly as weather forecasts.
Whenever I questioned the suffering below—whenever I asked why humanity destroyed itself every hundred years—Adam and Dawn would give me the same answer.
"The Heavens have a plan."
That plan had a name: Victor Zefar.
The Heavens blessed him with inevitable victory.
Haven gave him support.
He was chosen to unite the Earth. To end the endless war. To save humanity from itself.
And for a time… he did. Borders fell. Armies disbanded. Babel stood as the Empire of Men.
They called him Peacekeeper.
I never bothered to see Zefar in action.
That was my first mistake.
The day I finally looked into the Pond—truly looked—was the day Zefar won the war against Oma.
I saw him standing over corpses.
Men you once called uncles. Older brothers. Sons of Oma reduced to ash and blood beneath the sun. He wore black. His army stood behind him.
He called them Slayers. They were his wrath made flesh.
The Heavens called this man the Bringer of Order.
I called him a monster.
On that day, I watched him commit genocide.
And then…
He lured the heir of your land to Babel.
Prince Oma.
Your cousin.
A mere boy at the time, forced to take on the mission of going after Zefar.
Anger made him believe he could end Zefar with only his blade and resolve.
In that moment, every tale I had been told shattered.
Zefar was no peacemaker.
Victor was a tyrant—granted blessing and power by the Heavens themselves.
I could not unsee it.
I dared to defy Paradise.
I went straight to Adam and Dawn. I asked questions no Immortal ever asked aloud.
I begged them to interfere, to stop Zefar themselves.
They refused.
They then revealed their vow to never interfere in the matters of the Flawed.
So I decided I would descend to Earth. Save the child. Stop Zefar. End his reign—no matter the cost.
I didn't know it was Heaven that forbade interference. I didn't know the Immortals would be forced to turn against me if I crossed the line.
I did not announce my decision.
I chose to run.
For the first time in a thousand years, I ran toward the Pond—not to watch, but to leave. To dive. To fall through water that would become sky. To feel the terror of gravity. To land on Earth as something less than divine.
I wondered…
What would happen if I left without consent?
Would they fight me?
Could they stop me?
Had Haven ever been my home…
Or my prison?
Well, I never made it.
The moment my intent became action, the Heavens moved.
The Eternal Lights descended—not as falling stars, but as will. They fused with my brothers and sisters: the Immortals.
The Eternals took control of their bodies. Faces I loved went empty. Eyes burned with borrowed light.
Adam stepped forward.
And the Divine Light spoke through him.
Her voice came from his mouth—calm, absolute. "You cannot leave."
She declared me a threat to her order. A flaw in the pattern. A rebel who dared disobey.
She ordered the Eternals to subdue me.
They tried.
Hands that once embraced me became restraints.
Power crushed down on my limbs, my breath, my will. Haven—my paradise—turned into a cage in a single heartbeat.
As they held me down, I found myself staring at the Pond.
I should have noticed it from the start. I was allowed to look through it, but for me, it was forbidden to touch.
If choosing to save a child made me an enemy of Heaven…
Then Heaven was wrong.
With newfound determination, I attempted to escape.
Not with legs alone—but with everything I was.
For a thousand years, I had lived in stillness. In Haven, motion was unnecessary. Power was measured.
Obedience was expected. I had never tested the limits of what slept inside me… until that instant.
Something answered my choice.
The world shattered around me.
The ground did not resist my steps—it disappeared. Light tore apart. Distance folded like paper.
One heartbeat, I was kneeling before Immortals, their mouths opening too late, their Eternal Lights flaring in confusion—
—and the next, I was already at the Pond.
I did not outrun them.
I surpassed them.
Everyone except me moved as if trapped in time. Their awareness lagged behind my presence.
Sound arrived after I had passed. Wind screamed only once I was gone.
I hovered at the edge of the Pond, suspended midair, divine power burning through me like a second heart.
Beneath me, the water shimmered—already changing, already becoming sky. Freedom waited just one dive below.
I was going to escape.
I could even feel the ripples as my feet touched the surface.
Shock.
Fear.
I had never done something this bold.
I had never been this brave.
Then—
Everything froze. The Pond locked in place, its surface turning to ice.
The air hardened around my body like an invisible hand holding me still.
My momentum died instantly, trapped at the edge of motion itself.
A force closed around me.
The Divine Light had stopped me in my tracks.
Their fusion—the Divine—floated forward, effortlessly coming toward me.
The Eternal Lights fell silent. The stars above dimmed, as if afraid to watch.
She did not rush.
She did not need to.
I struggled, but it was useless. The hold was not strong—it was permission denied. Reality itself refuses to let me fall.
Still… I turned my head.
Slowly.
The Pond was right there. So close I could see the blue sky waiting beneath its surface. One dive. One fall. One act of defiance that would split eternity.
The distance between us was closing.
I knew the truth then—clearer than prophecy, louder than command.
If I did not escape now—before the Divine reached me—
I would never leave.
Not Haven.
Not her will.
Not this prison disguised as paradise.
This was my only moment.
And I would either fall into the world…
or be owned forever.