The cavern was suffocatingly silent.

Beneath the surface of the Earth, beyond layers of rock untouched by the sun, young Senku Ishigami crouched beside an ancient fissure, his small hands scraping away the last bits of sediment from a glowing black mineral embedded in the stone. It pulsed faintly, like a dying heartbeat.

Interesting.

Senku, all of eight years old, had followed the seismic patterns he charted with a homemade pendulum, hypothesizing that something massive lay buried beneath the crust. He hadn't expected this. A material so dense it seemed to swallow light itself, a substance unlike anything in his geology books. The deeper he dug, the more the air felt charged, like the static before a thunderstorm.

And then, the whispering began.

You're clever, aren't you?

Senku's breath hitched. The voice wasn't one he recognized. It slithered into his mind, slick and heavy, like oil coating his thoughts. But he wasn't afraid. He was… intrigued.

"Whoa," he murmured, pushing his red goggles up to his forehead. "Did I just discover a new form of mineral resonance? No, wait, maybe an electromagnetic vibration—" He reached for his notebook, flipping pages with small, ink-stained fingers.

The voice laughed, an eerie hum reverberating in his skull.

No, child. I am far more than mere rock. I am Metallia, the stone planet's exiled soul. And you… you are the one who has freed me.

Senku frowned, rubbing his chin. Exiled soul? That sounded like a myth. But if this was some kind of sentient entity, then it meant…

"You're an energy-based lifeform," he deduced, snapping his fingers. "And you were trapped down here? Fascinating! How did you maintain consciousness without an energy source? Can you perceive the passage of time? How do you—"

Hahahaha! The laughter shook the cavern, the black crystal pulsing like a heartbeat. Oh, you are a peculiar one. No fear. No awe. Just questions.

Senku grinned. "Of course! This is a scientific breakthrough! I need to record this—maybe even run a few tests. I bet you've got properties we haven't even discovered yet." He started sketching the strange glow radiating from the monolith. "Your oscillation pattern is unusual. I don't recognize the waveform. That means you must be an unknown energy type…"

Metallia seethed. She had whispered to humans before—tempted kings and queens, bent empires to her will. They cowered before her, begged for power, offered their souls in exchange for her darkness.

But this child? This mortal boy?

He does not care.

Very well. If his hunger was knowledge, she would dangle it before him.

You are wasted here, little one. You see beyond your kind. You are like me, greater than those who would control you. They do not understand you, do they? The others. They laugh at your ideas. They fear your mind.

Senku tapped his chin with his pencil, considering. "Not really," he admitted. "Dad thinks I'm a genius. He says I'm the smartest person in the world."

Metallia paused. That was… not the answer she had expected.

I see. And do you wish to rule the world, child? Do you wish for power? I can give you dominion over all that exists. You could burn the heavens, drown the weak in darkness. All will kneel before you.

Senku snorted. "Pfft. That doens't excite me. Not one millimeter."

Metallia faltered.

"…What?"

Senku adjusted his goggles, squatting beside the crystal with a deeply unimpressed expression. "World domination? Power? Pffft, no thanks. That's the opposite of interesting."

But… power—

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Big scary darkness, consume everything, blah blah blah. But what's the point?" He pointed his pencil at her. "It'd be way cooler to understand how you work. If you're an energy-based lifeform, there's gotta be a way to replicate you. Maybe even harness you as a power source. Imagine the science behind that! If I can study your structure, I might be able to create a whole new branch of physics."

Metallia, devourer of civilizations, bringer of planetary ruin, was… speechless.

Never in her existence had she encountered something like this. She had promised men conquest, immortality, chaos—whispers of their deepest desires.

But this boy? This strange, grinning boy with his wild hair and bright, unyielding eyes?

He desired nothing she could offer.

And that made him more dangerous than any king.

I see… Her voice dripped with something almost resembling amusement. You are not like the others.

Senku smiled, turning back to his notebook. "Obviously. But I am interested in your energy signature. That's unique. Do you emit heat? Are you a self-sustaining plasma entity? If I can isolate part of your structure—"

Enough! Metallia snapped. You may have freed me, little one, but know this—I will not be studied like an insect under glass. The cavern shook, the shadows stretching unnaturally long. I will spread across this world, and you will see true power.

Senku sighed, clicking his tongue. "Oh great, you are a megalomaniacal energy being. That's disappointing."

Metallia raged, her darkness coiling in frustration. You are a foolish child. One day, you will understand that knowledge without control is meaningless.

But Senku had already turned away, scribbling in his notebook. "Yeah, yeah. Good luck with your evil overlord thing."

With that, he tucked his pencil behind his ear and started climbing out of the cavern.

Metallia watched him go, and for the first time in her existence, she felt something unusual.

She felt uncertain.

Xxx

Above ground, Senku's father, Byakuya, read the seismic readings with mounting horror. The temple ruins where Senku had vanished moments before trembled beneath him, and a dreadful, unnatural chill crept into the air.

He had seen this before.

Centuries ago, whispers of a darkness exiled from the sun had been passed down among the scholars of Earth. Metallia. A name forbidden to speak. A force buried deep beneath the planet's crust for a reason.

And now—his son, his brilliant, fearless son, had found her.

Byakuya didn't hesitate. He ran to the cavern entrance, pulling Senku out just as a black mist began to slither up from below.

"Senku!" he gasped, gripping the boy's shoulders. "What happened? What did you do?!"

Senku blinked up at him. "Oh, I just found an ancient energy being. She's kinda dramatic."

Byakuya paled.

"We have to leave," he said, panic rising in his voice. "As soon as the atmosphere is clear. Now go to bed Senku."

Senku frowned. "What? But I need to study her—"

Byakuya didn't let him finish. With the kind of desperation that only a father could have, he scooped Senku into his arms and tucked him in the protected tent—safely within the barrier.

Far beneath them, Metallia's laughter echoed.

Run, little one. Run while you still can.

Because one day, she would return.

And when she did, she would see whether the boy who rejected her darkness could still defy the inevitable.

XXX

The fire crackled softly in the clearing, casting flickering shadows against the towering stone ruins. Byakuya sat cross-legged, arms resting over his knees, watching his son fiddle with a small device in his lap.

"Senku," Byakuya murmured, voice laced with exhaustion, "you're supposed to be sleeping."

The eight-year-old barely glanced up. "And waste valuable time? No way. I had to modify the sensor readings from earlier. That crystal wasn't just any mineral deposit, Dad. It had electromagnetic resonance and an anomalous waveform structure. If I can calculate the frequency, I might be able to—"

Byakuya sighed. "Senku."

Senku blinked at his father's tone, then sighed, reluctantly setting his device down. "Fine. But only because my calculations can wait until morning."

Byakuya chuckled, ruffling the wild tufts of his son's hair. "That's my boy."

The night was eerily still. The ruins, once bustling with archaeologists, had been abandoned in recent months. Strange tremors had driven the scholars away, and now, only father and son remained beneath the star-flecked sky.

They should have left, too.

But something kept them there.

Something was watching.

Xxx

Beryl had felt it—an intoxicating pull beneath the earth.

She had wandered the ruins at dusk, a queen in crimson, drawn by whispers laced with promises. And when she found the fissure, when she reached out to the obsidian glow… she knew she had discovered something far greater than the kingdom she served.

You seek power.

The voice coiled around her mind like a serpent.

"Yes," she breathed. "I would have the strength to claim my destiny. To rule the Earth. To take what is mine."

Then kneel, child.

And she did.

As the darkness slithered into her veins, Beryl felt something awaken inside her—a hunger, a knowing. She was no longer merely a woman. She was the chosen, the harbinger, the first to wield the power of the Dark Sun.

When she emerged from the cavern, her eyes gleamed with a new, malevolent fire.

And that was when she saw them.

Byakuya Ishigami and his strange, brilliant son.

Sitting by their fire.

Watching her.

XXX

Beryl's gown swept across the stone as she strode toward them, the firelight dancing against her blood-red attire. Byakuya tensed, his easy smile slipping just slightly.

Senku, however, merely tilted his head, regarding the woman with mild curiosity.

Beryl's gaze was sharp, predatory. "Tell me," she murmured, her voice dripping with a newfound power, "have you been exploring these ruins?"

Byakuya's stomach twisted.

He had seen it—just for a moment. The darkness clinging to her aura. The way her pupils gleamed like slits, the faint, unnatural energy humming beneath her skin.

She had been down there.

And if she had, then she knew.

Before Byakuya could speak, Senku beat him to it.

"Oh, we're just camping," the boy said cheerfully, stretching his arms in a deliberately lazy motion. "Dad promised me a night under the stars, but he forgot the marshmallows, so I'm rating this trip a six out of ten."

Beryl's lips curled into a thin smile. "Camping?"

Senku nodded enthusiastically. "Yep! I was trying to track some tectonic movement for a research project, but then we just ended up stargazing." He gestured at the sky. "Did you know Jupiter is at its closest orbital point right now? Pretty awesome, huh?"

Byakuya held his breath.

Beryl's gaze flicked between them, searching.

Senku looked up at her with the wide, oblivious eyes of a child who could not possibly understand the depths of the darkness slumbering beneath their feet.

The seconds stretched unbearably long.

Then—

Beryl exhaled, the tension in her shoulders easing just a fraction.

"Fascinating," she murmured. Then she turned sharply. "You should leave these ruins soon. There are forces at play that do not concern mere travelers."

With that, she strode away into the night, the shadows swallowing her whole.

Byakuya waited until she was completely gone before letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

He turned to his son, eyes narrowing.

"Senku," he said carefully, "what was that?"

Senku pulled his goggles down over his eyes, grinning. "That, Dad, was me making sure we don't get incinerated by an Evil Queen."

Byakuya pinched the bridge of his nose. "We are leaving."

Senku smirked. "Oh, definitely."

They had to. Because Beryl wasn't just dangerous.

She was changed.

And if Senku had learned anything from Metallia's whispers, it was that this was only the beginning.