Prologue
When I speak of Dark and Light, I do not refer to the sun and the shadows it casts. In this plane, people cannot see Darkness and Light at all. What I speak of is within each sentient being, part of their make-up, part of their behaviour and personality.
But I forget myself; on this plane, many know the story of the battle between good and evil that exists within the ‘soul’. Do not apply that preconception to the idea of Dark and Light. Darkness is not evil, and the Light is not good. Darkness is… Passion, aggression, and chaos. It is strength, and it can be good or bad. A being full of only Darkness will never be content, will always cause strife and pain, and strive for and feel pain.
Light? Light is the opposite of Darkness. It is contentment, peace, and stasis. Those sound like they can be only good, but beings of pure Light can never be anything but idle and apathetic. They will go on in their lives with no change and no curiosity. They will be weak, so utterly empty of Darkness that they cannot oppose, cannot change, cannot even want to change.
I can see the balance of Light and Darkness in people. The proportion of each does not tell you how ‘good’ or ‘evil’ a person is, but it can give you some measure of their personality, whether they are calm or energetic, home-makers or thrill-seekers. What is more telling is how the elements interact within a person, the pattern of the Dark and Light strands woven together. When the two elements are distinct, but woven together, a person is what I consider ‘good’. The elements reinforce each other and counter the weaknesses of the other; together they create strength tempered with compassion, the ability to love, ambition balanced by compassion.
What is frightening is when Darkness and Light mix together within a person until Light and Dark are indistinguishable and there is only grey. The elements will then corrupt each other, leaving nothing but weakness and what I consider ‘evil’. Passion will become violence, contentment will become sloth; there will be viciousness, self-entitlement, and bigotry.
How do I know this? How can I see this? Light and Darkness cannot mix where I come from. I am from a different plane, where there is only Light. My people are beings full of magical potential, but we are so full of Light that we rarely do anything with it. I was both blessed and cursed with curiosity; it led me here. Living on this plane, this planet you call Earth, has brought enough Darkness within me that I can never go back. Truly, I do not wish to; Earth, with this strange mixture of Light and Darkness within it, is the only plane where true happiness exists. But sometimes, I do miss my homeland. I miss flying to greet the dawn, singing in perfect harmony with a thousand other souls. I can still sing here, but I sing alone. I can rarely fly; it is not an ability humans are born with, and in my human guise I do not have wings. What am I? The word I use in my native language would sound like singing to you, but if you saw me in my true form, you would probably say, “Angel.”
