"I... Morningstar, now in the body of a mortal? What has happened? Have I fallen?"

Scar shook his head, attempting to shake loose the confusion tangling his identity.

"Somehow, I feel that Morningstar and I have become one."

He clutched his head in desperation, reaching for something beyond what he currently possessed. But there was nothing there. Nothing at all.

He was supposed to be hated. That was what felt right... what made sense of the world’s hatred toward him. And yet everything he could remember was clean of it.

His eyes moved from his predecessors to the chained creature. He tried moving toward it, and found himself right back where he started, as if the space between them refused to be crossed. He had tried before. He had hoped this time would be different. It wasn’t.

He exhaled.

"I understand it now."

The moment the words left his mouth, his body began fading, and when his eyes opened, Amber was already beside him.

"You don’t seem okay... what happened?"

Scar’s expression twisted into a scowl, a sneer pulling at his lips. The anger over what he remembered was still there, but he knew well enough to keep it contained in front of Amber.

"I believe Morningstar is the source of this Inheritance, though my memories don’t go any further than understanding who he is and why he’s despised."

Amber looked confused.

"My father’s Inheritance came from the Sun God. Though he never told the god’s name, people often called the deity ’Phoenix,’ said to be the embodiment of the sun. If you think about Morningstar, the truth might dawn on you."

Scar adjusted himself in his seat and extended his arm. Light erupted from it like flame and slowly formed into a star. Who or what Morningstar was, he did not doubt about. It was what came after that sat heavily on him.

"Morningstar was brought into existence by a master. Who that master was, I cannot say. What I do know is that he was made as a reflection of his creator, a being meant to embody perfection."

His expression darkened.

"I command the flame of light, much like Morningstar did when he was first brought into being. It resembles the purification wielded by Theo, Ally of Mankind, with his Blade of Purity but I sense our ways of purifying are distinct."

He locked eyes with Amber.

"Morningstar was the God of Light. His abilities included purification, divine wisdom, the power to command, protect, and punish, and mastery over control and divine authority."

He smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.

"The thing is, I don’t feel any smarter. Still as dumb as I was yesterday."

Amber smiled gently.

"First of all, you are the very embodiment of perfection, just as Morningstar was."

Scar couldn’t tell if she was trying to cheer him up or if she meant every word. Him? Perfect? The thought almost made him laugh. He was far from it.

"That’s about all I know. Morningstar would never act in a way that caused his creator to imprison him in an endless fire. His loyalty is genuine; he would have sacrificed everything to uphold it."

Scar weighed his thoughts for a moment.

"Hm. If I’m judging correctly, it seems that at some point, Morningstar underwent a change in personality, becoming a completely different person. That must be the one everyone came to loathe so much."

He stroked his chin, thinking about a few things. He now understood why Morningstar’s memories weren’t given to him when he awakened. He needed to know what sides of the God of Light were.

He understood now why fighting his predecessors had been necessary. To become Morningstar, he needed authority over his inner selves, complete control. And then his eyes widened in realization...

"With every predecessor I defeated, a fragment of my light passed on. I’ve come to believe that true authority over someone begins the moment they are touched by my flames."

For a brief moment, he had actually considered setting Amber ablaze, then immediately thought better of it. The last thing he needed was to look like a psychopath who tortured his servants.

"Hmph. You might not be wrong... but what about wisdom? Do you really need to bathe yourself in light just to gain divine wisdom?"

She wasn’t wrong. In this moment, Scar had no contradictory thoughts, no question of why a being like him was confined to a mortal body. That only ever surfaced in his inner realm, where his entire body burned in the flame of light and the truth of what he was became impossible to ignore.

"You may be right, Amber... To truly wield Morningstar’s power, I’ll need to assume my Light Form. That means awakening my Protector State."

Something else nagged at him though. He’d need to ask the others to be certain, but he wanted to know if everyone felt like the embodiment of the ability they wielded. Because he couldn’t separate himself from Morningstar. He felt as if they were one. The same.

Amber’s eyes met his and she flashed him a smile.

"You’re closer than you think to awakening your Protector State. I believe in you."

Scar narrowed his eyes slightly. Something about Amber was off, she was acting a bit too strange. But he was glad for the encouragement all the same.

The secret auction at the Jubilee House was fast approaching. The tablet was there; the one capable of completing his memories. And once he had it, he would finally know the truth. Whether he was truly Morningstar. Or something else entirely.

But before any of that, there was something else he was looking forward to. Five days remained before the mission, and while his training wasn’t complete, he had grown considerably with the sword. Far better than when he first started training with Amber. But there was something else...

He had been going up against the Gate God in the simulation room, trying to prepare himself for creatures of that nature, the kind that hated him and wanted him dead, and yet not once had he managed to land a single hit on the monster.

When he had faced the creature in real life, it had obliterated his jaw in a single swing. But now everything was different. He had authority over seven flames, including his own, Light.

He felt more confident than ever, and even if he couldn’t defeat the simulation, he would at least be able to put up a fight.

More importantly, the forgotten god was more than capable of putting him through the kind of hell he needed to awaken his Protector State.