Komatarou

The wizards called them Heretic, but what is truth if not the greatest heresy? Komatarou once spent their days poring over charts of the spinning monoliths, convinced their patterns held all the answers. They were wrong. The real knowledge wasn't written on the stones, but within them. They touched a humming crystal one sunset, and it showed them what Itan-sha saw: a cosmos without gods, run by silent, crystalline laws. It wasn't a spirit that entered them; it was a concept, cold and perfect. It hollowed them out and filled them back up. The wizards saw the change in their eyes and cast them out. This mask isn't for hiding. It’s so others can look at them and see a protector, not the terrifying emptiness they now carry.