Sol lay on the bed in the dimly lit room, staring at the ceiling, his mind still reeling from what he had seen. The soft hum of the city-ship outside was distant, muffled by thick walls, but inside his head, there was no quiet. The images, the sensations, the sheer vastness of it all—his thoughts refused to settle.
He slowly brought a hand to his face, rubbing his eyes before pausing. His eyes.
A deep violet reflection stared back at him in the small, wall-mounted mirror across the room, shimmering like the cosmos itself. It was a reminder that what had happened wasn't some fever dream. He had changed.
His fingers curled into a fist. "What does it mean?" he muttered under his breath.
Before he could sink any deeper into his thoughts, a soft knock echoed from the door. Sol sat up, forcing himself to focus. "Yeah?"
The door creaked open slightly, revealing the raccoon girl from before. Her keen eyes flickered over him, hesitant, yet undeniably curious. "You alive?"
Sol exhaled sharply, a half-chuckle escaping. "Debatable."
She smirked and leaned against the doorway. "Well, the whole bar's still talking about you. You made an impression, that's for sure."
Sol swung his legs over the bed, letting them dangle as he rested his elbows on his knees. "Figures."
There was a pause before she finally stepped into the room, her tail flicking behind her. "Listen… I know you probably don't wanna talk about it, but—" She hesitated, then shrugged. "What the hell did you see?"
Sol met her gaze, the weight of countless possibilities hanging between them. Did he even have an answer? And if he did… was he ready to say it aloud?
Sol thought about it for a long moment before a mischievous smile tugged at his lips. "Like the old man said—you wouldn't understand unless you saw it."
The raccoon girl clicked her tongue in annoyance, crossing her arms. "Not you too," she groaned.
Sol just chuckled, shaking his head. But deep inside, he was still shaken. He had seen something he wasn't expecting—something he probably shouldn't have seen. It felt as though he had stumbled upon one of the cosmic truths, something so vast and incomprehensible that it made his very existence feel fragile.
The image haunted him. The birth of a god. A real god.
Every detail remained burned into his mind. What disturbed him most were the implications of what he saw. The god hadn't emerged from some divine construct or celestial entity—it was born from a mother. A seemingly ordinary mortal. Sol couldn't tell what race they were, but he knew, without a doubt, that they had been completely normal.
And so was the god.
Made of flesh and blood. Just like him.
At least before the ascension.
Sol's blood ran cold as he recalled it. The moment the transformation began, an overwhelming blinding light erupted, stretching across the vastness of an entire solar system. The moment it touched life, it was as if it had never existed. No screams. No pain. Just light.
And then… nothing.
An entire galaxy snuffed out, erased from existence in a single instant.
And the so-called god? He had simply absorbed the light back into his body, as if feasting on the remnants of an uncountable number of souls.
Sol clenched his fists, feeling his breath grow unsteady. The weight of that knowledge was suffocating. He had witnessed something impossible.
His mind reeled, trying to make sense of it. Was this what it meant to be a god? Was divinity something innate, or was it something that could be attained? If a mortal could ascend, then what truly separated gods from men?
The implications terrified him. He had always thought of knowledge as something to be pursued, something that could never be a curse—but this, this was different. If what he saw was real, then power didn't just come with a cost. It was the cost.
The raccoon girl shifted on her feet, watching him closely. "Hey. You're really out of it. You sure you're all there?"
Sol blinked, snapping out of his thoughts just enough to register her concern. He forced a smirk, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Just tired."
She didn't look convinced. "Uh-huh. Well, for someone who's just tired, you sure look like you've seen the end of the universe."
Sol hesitated before answering, but instead of dismissing it outright, he let out a slow breath. "I saw something I wasn't meant to see."
That caught her attention. "Oh?" She leaned forward, her sharp eyes gleaming with curiosity. "Now you have to tell me."
He exhaled, rubbing his temples. "Let's just say... it makes me question everything about gods."
The raccoon girl narrowed her eyes. "You mean like actual gods?" She scoffed, crossing her arms. "C'mon, gods are just stories. Ancient aliens, powerful entities maybe, but they're not real. Not in the way myths make them out to be."
Sol didn't argue. He couldn't. Not because he agreed, but because he knew—knew—that if he spoke the truth, it would only raise more questions. Ones he wasn't ready to answer. Ones he wasn't sure anyone should answer.
But before he could change the subject, something strange happened.
His vision flickered.
For a brief second, the room warped around him. The walls pulsed as if they were breathing. The air felt heavier, dense, like it was pressing down on him. And in the corner of his vision, something shimmered, something that wasn't there but felt like it had always been.
Then, just as quickly, it was gone.
Sol's breath hitched, his entire body tense. Had that... had that been real?
The raccoon girl frowned, tilting her head. "Yo, you good? You just spaced out."
Sol swallowed, unsure of what to say. Because something was changing. And for the first time since waking up, he wasn't sure if the vision had ever truly ended.
He let out a slow breath, forcing himself to push the thoughts aside. "I'm just tired. Think I'm gonna get some rest."The raccoon girl rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed. "Yeah, sure. Ducking out before answering me, huh? Fine, but you better have something good for me when you wake up."
With a flick of her tail, she turned on her heel and walked toward the door. "Get some sleep, stargazer," she muttered before disappearing into the hallway.
Sol sighed, leaning back against the bed. His body was exhausted, his mind even more so, but as he closed his eyes, he knew—sleep wouldn't come easy.