Shadow was surrounded by his friends. They had found out about him being a Vampangel from when he had fought Malchior with help from the others, especially Renia, Raven, Ekelo and Rorek. Renia had left with Rorek that very night and now…now Shadow was going to explain to the others of what exactly he was.
That itself, believe it or not, was not as simple as one would think. The explanation itself would be long and tiresome. However, nonetheless, it needed to be done. Blackfire, Raven, Jinx, Draco and Pluto knew the whole story, but not the rest.
That was why he was in a circle of his closest (and only) friends. Taking a deep breath of air, he began his explanation, "As you all know now, from my display…" he was referring to when he had turned into his Vampangel Mode when activating the Evolution card, "…That I am THE Vampangel. However, as I suspect, you all want to know exactly what a Vampangel is. I'll tell you then. I am a creature born from both creatures of darkness and light. From the name Vampangel, it would be easy for you all to guess that, yes, I am a vampire and angel hybrid. In fact, I am the only living vampire and angel hybrid in existence." He added, "That was why I never told any of you."
"But what's the big deal anyway?" Beast Boy questioned. "I mean, Raven is a half demon." He caught her glare and gulped, but continued anyway, "So why is that so bad?"
"Beast Boy," Raven began. "Being a half human, like myself, is one thing. However, Shadow is, and never was, human." She paused sadly. "And never will be."
"But, what did you mean the only living vampire and angel hybrid?" Robin asked "Aren't there others like you?"
Shadow shook his head, "No. So far, there has never been another hybrid like myself. And if there were, they wouldn't live so long."
"Why?"
"Because this isn't a simple demon procreating with a human to have a child; this is about a celestial and a hellion having a child together!" Shadow said, almost angrily. He sighed, "Forgive me for my outburst. It's still not easy to talk about this." Raven placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Celestials and hellions?" Terra questioned.
"Creatures from different ends of the spectrum. Celestials are creature of holiness and purity like angel and gods. Hellions, as the term can explain for itself, are creatures born of evil like demons and hellspawns," Shadow explained. "I, apparently, am a creature of both." He emphasized by letting his wings out. One wing was a dark bat wing and the other was a shining angel wing. Starfire gasped. "This is proof of that, as well as this." He pointed to his forehead, the inverted red triangular mark. "This is the Mark of Sin and it is named that for a reason."
"Sin?" Cyborg asked. "But you haven't done anything that bad to marked like that, have you?"
Shadow sighed and took a sip of water, "It's a mark of, not my sins, but the sins that I carry. I am also a mark of my parents' own sin. An angel and a vampire, falling in love and having children. What is more sinful than that?"
"Your mom's an angel…and your dad is a vampire?" Terra asked, surprised. So was Cyborg as well as those who didn't know.
"Yes," Shadow nodded. He pulled his mouth open a bit to reveal his fangs. "That's proof of what I am. And my powers come from that fact."
"Wouldn't God be pissed off that your mom and dad got together?" Cyborg asked. This still didn't make sense to him.
Shadow was hesitant to answer, "Actually…no." seeing Cyborg's stunned expression, he elaborated. "You see…my parent's being allowed to love one another and marry was…a reward…"
"A REWARD?" They all shouted. This was new.
"Yes," Shadow admitted. "I don't know ALL the details, but apparently my parents helped saved the known universe. That, itself, was a great feat even for an angel and vampire like my parents. Therefore, they were allowed to be together."
"Wait, I'm confused. How can you be the ONLY vampire and angel hybrid? What about your sister?" Robin was referring to Shadow's sister, Moon/Megami. All this still didn't make sense to him. "Wouldn't she be-"
"No," Shadow interrupted. "It doesn't really work that way. Celestial and hellion blood doesn't really mix that well. The DNA is too different and the result of the merger is never exactly as you may expect. You don't always get a mixed baby. My sister is a half angel and half human. She has a bit of vampire in her, but not as much as me. I have a little human blood, but not much. For me, I would be about 45 percent angel, 45 percent vampire and 10 percent human." He caught everyone's looks. "I know, it's confusing, but that's all I know."
"But what about the living part?" Terra asked.
"Most hybrids like me…" Shadow sighed sadly, "Don't really last that long. The mixture of celestial and hellion blood is fatal and can kill the child even when it's being conceived. And most hybrids either went mad and destroyed themselves…or were hunted down and killed for being abominations in the eyes of those who couldn't accept their existence. " This reminded Shadow of Masaru. "My existence, however, is being allowed for some reason. Don't bother asking because even I don't know what that reason is." He was lying, in fact. He knew WHY, but he wasn't really sure, at least not yet.
"But I still don't get the sin part," Beast Boy said, "I mean, what's the whole big deal about angels and vampires?"
Shadow nodded. Beast Boy had a point. It was really complicated to explain, so Shadow had to put it simply, "An angel is supposed to be a creature without sin, pure holiness and free of earthly desires. A vampire, on the other hand, is in fact a creature that revels in sin, a sort of demon. Angels and demons CAN'T and SHOULDN'T be together. To do that would be a GREAT sin. That is why others like me are either dead before they are even born or don't live long. A creature like me is a living sin, plain and simple. A representation of what the union of a celestial and hellion may produce. I am forbidden."
"So, would that mean you're either evil or good?" Robin asked.
"That would mean that I am the physical embodiment of balance, of Yin and Yang. I am both light and darkness!" Shadow said. "That is why I never told any of you."
"But why?" Starfire questioned.
Raven said, "I don't think you know how it feels."
"Feel what?" Starfire asked.
"To be a half breed," Raven answered, dreading the word. "Half breeds are often always treated with fear, hatred, scorn, and disgust. They are seen as abominations to those around them. Even if the half breed is innocent, they are seen as lower life forms undeserving of anything but death. As always, it is taboo and a half breeds are marks of that taboo, a living sin."
"That is why I never told anyone. I never wanted to be treated that way. I only told one person…and she's no longer here, unfortunately. The way she reacted was not of fear. She accepted me, and that made me more accepting of humans. Before that, I never really liked humans for they treated those different from them with hatred, like mutants. I didn't want that. That was why I was alone for most of my life since I was unable to make any connections with anyone. That one time when I was accepted as a person and not a freak…I felt…I felt free."
"But now you have us," Draco said.
"Me too."
"GROUP HUG!" Starfire announced.
Shadow couldn't help but smile at this. They had accepted him.
But for how long?