Prologue
There is a saying that has been said among mortals for centuries, The goodness of a person cannot be truly good without the darkness.
This story is a story about the testimony of that thought. A testimony of goodness, and of righteousness. A battle of light and darkness.
An ultimate test of despair...
And hope.
This little test has been plaguing mortals among many worlds for eons. I’ve witnessed all kinds of epic battles from the outskirts of cold, barren wastelands, to the beautiful, dark, crevices within the mind. They seem to play out to me like extraordinary tales, fantastical stories of mankind. Tales of mankind, tucked into the library of stories about countless worlds.
But this particular tale, I’ve found to be quite interesting.
And it all begins with a single gift.
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Barcelona, Spain 2074
Long ago, there was a lovely, grand cathedral, that was hidden far from the busy city lights, and tucked away behind a forest of evergreen trees from those who were unwelcome. Within that cathedral, there were hundreds of beautiful, seemingly delicate windows.
Night after night, there was a shadow lurking around the catacombs of the church, prowling in the darkness of the night so that it wouldn’t be seen. Making each step, as soft and agile as a cat, the shadow would peer through each of the elegant window panes, until it found it’s prey.
Then, it found her.
The shadow saw a massive, unlit bedchamber, filled with rows of tiny cots, with only the moonlight illuminating the room. Within every other of those cots, was a tiny sleeping child, intertwined in their dream worlds. The shadow could see their fragile bodies shuffling in their soft sheets, their small chests rising and falling, even their little hearts beating, and their blood flowing through their succulent veins. Resting in the last cot of the last row closest to the wall, closest to the window, was her.
A little girl, who seemed to be the weakest one, was the shadow’s prey. But, the shadow wouldn’t slink in to pounce, to catch the little mouse. No matter how much easier it would be, no matter how simpler it would be.... no matter how much more painful, the shadow thought.
So it only watched.
But the little girl heard a noise come from the window, it was so faint, she thought it was a slight brush of a tree or a large bird nearby. But night after night, she began to grow weary, that it might be something else. But, the little girl wouldn’t get up from her bed, to look for the strange noise, for the presence that seemed to be watching over her. No matter how much easier it would be, no matter how much more assuring it would be....how much more scary, the girl thought.
So she only watched.
The shadow returned the night after that, and two moons after that, to watch over the little girl. The shadow still found her little chest rising and falling, still found her little heart beating, still in the ideal conditions. But as the shadow returned and watched over her, it found that its light agile steps grew more heavy, as well as its own hollow soul. The shadow felt less like a cat prowling for prey, and more as a raven, perching near the little girl with watchful eyes....
and bringing upon only sorrow.
On the fourth night, when the shadow returned once again, the little girl was prepared for the shadow’s visit, and instead of falling into her own pleasant dreams, she waits.
She hears the faint sounds, the brush of the tree, the presence at the window.
The little girl turns her tiny head towards the window, and the shadow took a second too long to hide away from the window and blend into the cold, brick cathedral wall.
She saw it. In that small second, she beheld the sight of the lurking shadow peeking through her window.
However, the shadow didn’t expect this to happen. In fact, it is a disgrace, a dishonor, a fail to follow a simple order, that the shadow was seen, and failed to stay in the dark.
But that doesn’t mean that shadow didn’t want it to happen.
" There you are!” The girl harshly whispered in a tiny voice.
The little girl’s raven hair flew behind her as she sped towards the window, but once she was at the grand window, the shadow had disappeared from sight.
There was nothing there, it was just her imagination, the little girl thought.
Just as the girl was going to head back to her cozy cot, she saw something that caught her eye. There was a tiny folded paper wedged into the window sill. She opened the window and grabbed the paper. When she unfolded it, she found a necklace with a long, silver chain. At the end of the chain, was a small silver crescent, with tiny dark blue and black jewels coiled around it. On the note, was some writing:
This is something that belongs to you. I would rather have it in your hands. I heard it was used for good luck. Sorry I couldn’t give to you personally.
- A friend
When the girl looked into the fields beyond her window, she saw a boy wearing black looking up at her, with his hair and eyes shining in the moonlit night. He smiled up at her with a salute, and then he ran back toward the trees, becoming one of the shadows once again. The boy in black wondered if the little girl would even keep his gift, if giving it to her was the right thing to do, as he blended into the dark once more, disappearing into the night. Never to visit that church again.
The little girl has worn that necklace ever since and still wears it to this day.
And that, is where this story begins.
