The four of them, Scar, Loki, Julien, and Amber, talked over breakfast. Scar and Loki had just returned from the Rangers, having had to apologize for using the Rover name without permission, not the most glorious morning errand.

Most of the conversation, however, was praise. The auction owed the Rovers compensation for having a purchased item stolen right under their roof, and that was the part worth talking about.

The item had been recovered, and every party involved was caught, save for Scar’s crew and the second group. It could have been worse. None of them had known each other’s identity to begin with, which kept things clean.

"You mean Morningstar survived more than 150 flames? How could that be?" Amber asked.

Scar motioned his agreement.

The rest of him hadn’t quite moved on. No real conversation with Haven, and worse, she’d attacked. He wasn’t sure which bothered him more. Either way, it was heartbreaking.

"It’s an old tale, known to all in ancient times. Morningstar was a being born of perfection, until pride got the better of him and he mistook his closeness to the divine for equality. He wreaked havoc in the heavens and was cast into an eternal flame as punishment."

He glanced through his mind for a moment.

"Legends tell of more than 150 flames in which he was imprisoned, and each myth manifested as a torment he had to endure."

Julien furrowed his brow.

"But is that really what happened?"

Loki smiled.

"Does it even matter? Whether it’s true or not, people still hate him for his actions."

Loki was correct. Morningstar learned the hard way. It didn’t matter what was true, people believed what suited them. He had been among the most powerful. Among the most trusted. None of it had been enough to make them see him differently.

To be fair, the rumors weren’t entirely false. But they weren’t the full truth either. That distinction hadn’t saved him, everyone hated him for it and wanted him dead. He accepted that in good faith. And he would meet them with everything they feared.

This was why Morningstar had endured every last one of those flames. Many were bearable, and when stripped down, there were only twelve that truly mattered. Seven of them belonged to Scar and those who came before him.

"Is Morningstar the reason the Red Day happened?"

Amber’s words caught Scar’s attention.

"Huh... Red Day? Nope. Nothing in my memories says anything about it."

Loki nodded.

"The Red Day is relatively recent. Morningstar betrayed shortly after humanity was brought into existence. Perhaps his deeds led to it, but even Arthur did not know. There are, however, some who do."

Scar’s eyes narrowed. There were people he could turn to, people who would have the answers he needed. But that could wait. Dain came first.

"Hey, Loki. Now that I’m a Moon Killer, can you tell me what Arthur learned about Dain’s ability?"

The pain of it wasn’t lost on him. Someone wielding Zeus’s ability coming after him didn’t sit right. Zeus was a god, even so, those words about justice would never have left his mouth face-to-face.

But Dain wasn’t Zeus. He was his incarnation, and worse, he carried the potential to surpass the god himself. That demanded respect whether Scar liked it or not.

Loki took his time, but he covered everything... the full account of what had happened between Arthur and Dain, and with it, every detail Arthur had gone out of his way to make sure Scar wouldn’t miss.

"Uh... so it’s an attack that nullifies magic and is faster than lightning?"

Scar gave the thought a moment. He had options: Void and Gluttony, two possible counters. The problem was whether either of them could genuinely withstand Dain’s Ethereal Strike. That part he couldn’t answer with confidence.

’It’s possible he could trigger an even more devastating attack, or enhance the Ethereal Strike to make it deadlier.’

If he was going to win this, he needed exactly two things. The first was an item capable of killing and erasing Dain’s Inheritance entirely.

The second was harder, becoming the embodiment of the very thing both heavens and earth had always feared most about Morningstar. The Disloyal.

’That will have to wait. I need a strong reputation as a Moon Killer first. It’ll help me stall Dain, and it’s the first step on my path to becoming the Disloyal.’

Breakfast wrapped up and the two found themselves in the training room not long after. Scar kept to his swordsmanship, even Amber’s absence hadn’t changed that. Julien, meanwhile, worked on his Protector State.

"Wait... you mean the person called the Highest One helped us, and he’s the one who got V and the Breath of Hell out too?"

Scar nodded positively.

"I’m not sure what they want from me, but they seem to know me perfectly. They knew I’d avenge Emma and used that to awaken the Gate God. They also wanted me to grasp the origin of my Inheritance, so they sent Robin to assist me."

"From the way you talk about them, they sound like a major pain in the ass."

"You bet..."

Julien came to a stop, the shift in his expression subtle but unmistakable as he locked eyes with Scar.

"Scar... I can trust you, can’t I? We’ll be a family, no matter what, won’t we?"

It took Scar a moment. Then understanding settled in, and it wasn’t comfortable. Morningstar was believed to have brought havoc to the heavens, a sorrow so profound it had given birth to Julien’s Inheritance.

Whether it was truly Morningstar’s destruction that caused it, or something else, even Julien couldn’t say for certain.

Scar knew better than to pretend otherwise. Julien had become family, genuinely, not just in name. But there was something underneath that truth he couldn’t ignore. He needed Julien’s loyalty. Above everything else, that was what mattered.

"Of course. We’re family, and nothing will ever change that."

A faint smile pulled at Julien’s lips before he turned back and resumed his training without another word.

Scar felt the atmosphere shifting somewhere he didn’t want it to go. Too sentimental. He cut it short before it got any worse.

"What’s the deal with the mask? And why are there three of them?"

Julien laughed.

"The mask’s appearance comes from a fictional character from before the Red Day, they called him the Joker. Whoever made the artifact based it on that character.

"I feel only happiness and malice when I wear it, and it makes me practically immortal. Nothing can kill me unless it strikes my soul. I’m not certain, though... so the safest move is to take out whoever controls the Joker Mask, Purple."

Something about this felt like old ground. Julien had put a similar question to him once, back when Scar hadn’t been fully settled on his decision to get the Joker Mask.

"So, what exactly do you owe Purple in exchange?"

"Whenever I put on the mask, I lose control and become her puppet. She’ll use me to weave conspiracies about her family and make her threads stronger."

That had Purple written all over it.

For the time being, Scar had put a stop to her weaving his fate. He was on his way to becoming a Moon Killer, it wasn’t necessary anymore. Beyond that, his trust in her only went so far. There was a chance he’d need her expertise before long, and he could only hope she’d done enough to earn it by then.

"Do you want to see something... interesting?"

Julien nodded energetically.

"Protector State, Decay Incarnation."