Hark, hark! Listen, for begins the telling of a tale. It is not a tale of war, or of lovers, ill-fated or otherwise. Be it a tale of the stars, and how they came into the heavens above. Their origin be not from thy heart, or thy soul, but from the eyes of two younglings, an angel and a demon. Fated enemies they be, until it is the judgment of their realms that they put behind. Hark! Hark! For the telling of this tale is nigh, sit upon these words as they come from the page, so that they may reach you, and the stars may end your twilight, as well, as they had for the angel child and his demon companion.
Once upon a time, a young angel named Pip came up to Earth from Heaven. He had the form of a child who has seen no more than nine winters. He had hair of shiny gold, and skin of pale. He carried wings on his back, like a giant bird's wings, made of pure white feathers, and was dressed in beautiful, white robes that flowed to the ground at his feet. On his waist, he carried a bag of miracles, tied tightly with a golden string. But his most striking feature was his eyes, so radiant and blue, that they could shine in the darkness of any night.
That same day, a demon named Damien came up to Earth from the Underworld. He, too, had the form of a young child. His hair was made of midnight, and his skin was cold and sickly pale. Just like the first boy, he also carried wings on his back that resembled that of a giant bird's, made of pure black feathers, and when one of his millions of feathers would drop down, misery would be plagued wherever it had fallen. His robes, however, only reached to his knees, where they were colored with burns and tears. He bore a serpent's tongued and a long, pointed tail, and wore no shoes. His eyes, however, were his beautiful feature, as they were luminous, glowing yellow, and shone like a torch.
The angel and the demon searched relentlessly through the plains and the forests of the Earth in search for good company, but, both found none. Until, however, the angel found the demon.
"Ho, demon! What be your name?" asked the angel.
"Damien," announced the other boy, proudly raising his chin. "And who are you, angel?"
"Pip is my name, sir," answered he, bowing politely to him.
The demon did not appreciate this boy's kindness, and gave him a smack to his head as he roared, "Kindness to the face of your enemy? Have we come to a secret treaty? I beg not!"
"It is not to my knowledge," said the angel, rubbing his sore head, "But, I do believe, sir, that you have done me no harm other than such hitting to my head due to my lack of undeserved retaliation. And, you see, I am not a boy of many companions, thus I aim to prove myself good enough for your friendship. Unless, my angelic being disturbs you?"
With a scrunch of the nose, the demon pinched the cheeks of the angel, and said, "Why make friends to an angel?"
"Because, demon," said the angel, "You, too, are lonely. I can see it in the exhaust of your features, you, too, have been searching for a companion. And do not shy away, for here is one before you – and it is me!"
And so, the angel followed the demon across the plains of the Earth, through the forests, and over the oceans. Everywhere they went, where the demon would leave chaos from his feathers, the angel would fix it with a miracle from his bag. They would talk endlessly through their rests, speaking of their origin, and whatever else may cross their young minds. They'd share secrets, tell stories, and play silly games. And, though the demon was reluctant at first, as time progressed, the angel and the demon grew inseparable, like Cupid and his arrows, or Narcissist and his reflection. The two stayed soaring the Earth and spreading curses from the wings of Damien, only to restore the peace with cures from Pip's bag of miracles. It was all in good fun, to these boys, like one of wits. Could the demon possibly out curse the world with his feathers? But, the angel was much too clever, and would always restore the landing place of the demon's feathers to even better than before.
But, one day, the angel told his demon companion that he had to return to the Heavens, and would not return for seven days.
"I do not allow such things," roared the demon, snatching his friend's wrist into his hard but small hands.
But, the angel covered the demon's hand in his own, and moved it away as he said, "Forgive me, my friend. But, I shall be back soon, and then we may play our games and tell our stories with much enthusiasm. Surely, the Underworld must miss you, my friend. Return to Hades, and come back onto the Earth once seven sunrises has passed, where I shall meet you once again."
And the angel turned away, and returned to the Heavens, leaving the demon behind. As a soft tickle blossomed at his bare feet, he looked down, only to notice a small, black feather brushing against his heels. He bent down and pinched the cursed thing between his fingers, before blowing it on a wave of his breath through the air.
Seven sunrises passed, and had been spent by the demon with much rest and impatience. But, the angel did not return. On the eighth sunrise, still the angel had not returned. On the eighteenth sunrise, he had still not returned. Not even on the thirtieth sunrise had the angel returned.
Through this time, the demon grew miserable. No one was there to enjoy a game with him, and no one was there to make him smile. His days were spent dully and bleakly, awaiting the return of his one and only companion. Exhibiting the sorrow of his loneliness, the demon vanished to the top of the tallest mountain and plucked the feathers of his wings and sent them into the heavens. All the feathers gathered together, and half of them created a blanket over the moon, and the other half blanketed the sun. The world became very dark, with only lanterns and fires to light the Earth.
It was not until the fortieth sunrise that the angel did, at last, return. However, in the darkness of this artificial night, he could not see. Blinded and clueless to his friend's whereabouts, the angel took the glow from his eyes and threw them into the sky, and made a map with them. They lit the sky like a million tiny fires, casting their radiant light upon the Earth. With dark, black eyes, the angel followed the map written in the dark sky above, as he was both confident and determined in finding his demon companion.
When the angel finally found the mountain of which Damien, the demon resided upon, he could hear him roaring violently as he threw his hands up to the Heavens, powerlessly cursing all the angels, and all the demons, and again powerlessly cursing the mortals and the animals. Quickly, the angel flew up to the top of the mountain to the demon, and cried, "Damien! My dear demon friend!"
The demon snarled at the angel, crying unto him, "Pip! My reason for despair!"
"Your wings have been stripped of their cursed feathers, thus it must be their final act of misery that blocked the sun and the moon. But why, my companion?" asked the angel, reaching for the demon.
"Swallow your words, for I am not a companion of you, Pip!" howled the demon, biting the hands of the angel.
The angel was quick to recover, and cupped the demon's face, saying unto him: "Do not say such things. I have returned, have I not?"
"Thirty and three sunrises too late, Pip! You had abandoned me, thus you have lost all of my affection. Sit upon your actions!" cried the demon, pulling the hands of the angel from his face.
With a frown, the angel dropped his hands to the demon's shoulder and said unto him: "I sit upon them, as I request for you to abandon this one-sidedness, for I assure you my reasoning was well."
"I no longer wish to hear your reasoning!" the demon shouted, landing his fist upon the cheek of the angel. The angel was, yet again, quick to recover, and reached to seize the demon's arms at his sides, but received a hit to the torso instead. With a vicious snarl, the demon clawed and bit at the angel's arms, torso, and face, tearing off his bag of miracles and tossing off the mountain as he cried, "Cursed miracles!"
Still, the angel, bloodied and bruised, rested a gentle hand on the demon's shoulder and said, "Please, Damien, dearest friend and demon, do not beat me again."
A tear fell from the demon's eyes as he wrapped his arms around the angel's waist, pulling him tightly into a desperate embrace. He sobbed into the white robes of his companion and whispered incoherent words of sorrow and woe. Keeping a firm hold on him, the angel flew down to the bottom of the mountain, picking up his bag of miracles and tying it back around him. With a friendly smile, the angel said unto the demon, "Damien, do you see those lights that shine in the sky above our heads? Tis the glow that had once been in my eyes. I took them from my eyes, you see, and put them in the sky so that they may become a map, one that would lead me to you. They shall guide me to you forever and always, as long as I shall exist. Put the glow of your eyes into the sky as well, and allow them to be your map to me, so that they may guide you to be in your times of solitude and anguish."
And so he did. The demon took the glow from his eyes and threw them into the sky, forming a map above their heads. And, though his eyes were forever dull and dark, the light that had once been so striking and radiant remained in the dark sky. The angel then took his bag of miracles and emptied it, throwing the miracles to the sun and the moon, where they destroyed the feathers that darkened them, and brought back the moon to the night sky, and the sun to the daylight hours.
The younglings never fretted again, for if they ever be separated, their stars would always lead them back to one another as they shone with the moon every night. Damien, the demon, and Pip, the angel, were companions forever after, with their smiles, their laughs, their games, and their tears as the proof. But, the biggest reminder of their companionship would always be their maps in the sky.