A few things before this story starts:

First, I just discovered Mistborn recently. I've only read the books once. This entire thing is purely from memory, so I apologize if I have some facts misconstrued. Please speak up if you notice inconsistancies, so I may correct myself. I won't be offended.

Second, Brandon Sanderson once alluded to gunpowder. I took the hint and interpreted that the Mistborn saga is indeed a future Earth. I'm not sure if those were his intentions, but that's what I got from it. It was also just a way for me to bring the story closer to reality, while remaining true to the history.

There are astonishingly few Mistborn fics on this site. I'm hoping my story inspires other writers to join the cause and get these characters a wider audience. They deserve it.

This particular story is mixed between a prequel and an AU fic. That is to say, I plan to write about events that were mentioned in the books, but never depicted. And some key scenes from the novels will play out very, very differently.

I apologize for the brevity of this first chapter. It was necessary. Further installments will be longer.

The characters, ideas, sand pebbles, and blades of grass presented herein are the property of Brandon Sanderson. I claim nothing.

Except a popsicle, if anyone has one. Thanks.

PROLOGUE

SAZED FLOATED, LOST IN SPACE.

It had taken him a thousand years to get to this point. All in all, it hadn't been long to wait. Not for a god. He drifted lazily, the darkness of space complete around him. The void was endless. Galaxies wheeled overhead, and as he watched, a blinding flash of light tore through his vision.

The Terrisman cringed from the blast. Or, rather, he felt as if he would have been cringing, had he indeed been able to do so. He didn't have a body anymore. His essence was in everything. Everywhere. Omniscient. Omnipotent. God.

But how could a god feel so unsettled? If he was now the ultimate power in the universe, why was there this growing sense of dread?

The light subsided, the darkness of the void returning. Sazed withdrew within himself, searching his extensive mind for information. Once, not so long ago, he had been a Terrisman Keeper. The sect had been few in number, due to the Lord Ruler's attempt to breed Keepers out of the population.

The Lord Ruler had destroyed almost all of the history of the world prior to his experience at the Well of Ascension. There, beneath the cold peak of Mount Derytatith, the simple Terris packman known as Rashek had known power.

And he had taken it for himself.

In that brief instant, Rashek had become something else. Something close to what Sazed now was. Power flooded him. Rashek had tried to make the world a better place in the span of a few seconds, but had only succeeded in nearly destroying it. He used his power to correct his own mistakes, forging new species and protection from the harsh atmosphere. The man known as Rashek had died, and become the Lord Ruler. Emperor of the new world.

Enter the Keepers: Terris stewards dedicated to discovering and memorizing all of the knowledge and religions that existed before the Ascension. The Lord Ruler had hunted them to near-extinction, forcing the Keepers to remain hidden. Sazed had believed that the Keepers were an invaluable asset to the people of the world, due to their knowledge and usage of Feruchemy.

Feruchemy was an ability similar in many respects to Allomancy. However, while Allomancers used metals to draw upon their powers, a Feruchemist had to rely on his own body to supply the energy. Feruchemists could use metals to store mental and physical attributes. While doing so, their body was left weakened, but they could later call upon their metals to give them a much needed boost, or, as Sazed had once used them, to provide information.

Of course, being a god did have its perks. Sazed no longer needed to use his copperminds. He simply floated, at peace for the time being, searching within himself for the answers he knew were there.

Except….there was nothing. Emptiness. Blank. Aeons of knowledge, and nothing that could help his current predicament. He sighed.

Another burst of light, this one much closer. Or at least, he thought it was. It was difficult to tell sometimes. He shielded his eyes, or what passed for eyes, turning his mass away and hurtling downwards, toward the galaxy which contained his former homeworld. Earth.

Sazed had spent much of his life studying dead religions, and now sometimes he felt insecure about his own divinity. He smirked at that thought. What right did he have to govern, to control things? He was starting to doubt he even could control things. The universe was infinite and chaotic. He sometimes felt like a child just pulled along by a torrential storm.

Was this how the Lord Ruler had felt? Incompetent? He had taken the power of Preservation at the Well of Ascension, but he had blundered about with it like a blind man. Sazed was a force of balance, but after years of experience, he hardly felt as if he did any better.

Sazed had not returned to Earth since that fateful day a thousand years ago when he had first taken the power, and the planet had changed remarkably little. A quick survey of the surface confirmed that the continents had hardly shifted position at all. The oceans were deep and blue, the mountains of the Terris Dominance stark against the horizon. He swept further inland, toward Luthadel.

What's your game, steward?

Sazed paused. The voice had plagued him for some time, and he had begun to think he was going mad. But this time, it spoke with forceful insistence. And the most disturbing part was that the voice seemed to come from his very soul. Sazed experimented, casting out a thought.

Who are you?

Silence.

Light assaulted his vision as he drew closer to Luthadel, and he felt a momentary stab of panic before he determined the source. Metal. Of course. The power of Ruin couldn't penetrate metal, and since Sazed had taken that power for himself, he had inherited the same defect.

It was for this very reason that the Lord Ruler had been able to hide Ruin's body from him for so long. Without it, the dark god had been weakened, and the destruction of the world had been postponed. Elend had discovered the atium cache in time and distributed it to his force of Allomancers, thereby weakening Ruin severely enough for Vin to press her advantage.

Vin. You can bring her back. You can bring them all back.

Who are you? Sazed thought again.

I'm a part of you. I have always been a part of you. Search your mind.

Sazed drew to a halt, hovering directly over the city, his mass churning in a violent storm. Suddenly, he knew that something was very, very wrong. He couldn't even remember why he'd come to Luthadel.

Ruin, Sazed thought.

Yes, the voice said. And no. Not Ruin. At least, not what Vin knew as Ruin. I am the essence of his being, but I am now of you. I am Sazed. And I want to help myself.

Sazed paused, frowning to himself. He watched the skaa mill about below, oblivious to the power that frothed in the sky above their beloved city. Kelsier had freed them, so long ago. He noted with some satisfaction that there was a barren patch of land where Kredik Shaw had been. The Lord Ruler's palace had never been rebuilt.

What do you want from me? Sazed thought.

Go to the Well, Ruin said.

Why?

You're going to have to die, Sazed. We are going to have to die.

Comments, questions, praise, critique? ~ Revan419