Joyful Suffering
There was once an ancient dynasty, forgotten by time and lost in its endless annals of history. In this age, there was a mysterious birth. Once, a woman died in giving birth to her child. The father was also dead under unknown circumstances, most likely murder. The child still came to the world, regular enough except for a strange patch of pale skin that dominated his left cheek. It was believed to be a symptom of a disease, but of which, that was unknown. This child was named Jonathan Zel Dark. The child lived a regular life...until it was the age of 5. From age zero to five, the pale patch of skin on his face had become more apparent, spreading throughout the lower part of face and upper neck. The large patch of irregular skin seemed to be thinner and weaker than regular skin, and less blood traveled to it, thus giving it a pale look. At age five, the skin was now far more than just pale and weak. It had decayed into a demonic, undead look, the meat and muscle still apparent but now vulnerable and visible. The boy was innocent and naive, as all kids are at that age. So, he was confused and unable to know why people had started shunning him and avoiding him.
At age 6, a whole year of being shunned and neglected, the young boy who called himself by his middle name, Zel, finally understood why this was happening. To fix the problem, he got a rather large white piece of bandage and wrapped it around the decayed part and all of the neck, concealing the ugly appearance. When he attempted to make friends again, it once again failed. The people that lived around him were especially vile in a way in that period of time. They judged ruthlessly, never forgave or forgot, and discriminated against the one they knew as "Dead Dark".
The years went by, and the prejudice became worse and worse very day until it finally resorted into sometimes beating him on sight, hurting him for no reason besides discrimination, and insulting him in vicious ways. He was the most miserable human in that place, and would often seal himself up in his dark home, from which he continually neglected the light. However...This eventually changed.
At one point at the age of 10, Dark had taken a walk away from the people who shunned him. He walked in secret, wanting to look all around him and examine the beauty of the nature that is now long-forgotten. He eventually stumbled upon someone, a child his age. The friendly stranger led Zel to a friend of his. As it turns out, all three of them were unfairly discriminated against for various reasons. While Zel had doubt of the people who had made his early childhood miserable, the other two were much different. They, who introduced themselves as Selkerath and Rekiell, were the friendliest people that Zel had ever known. They believed that all humans had good in them, though it may not seem apparent. They believed that humans were all actually very caring behind whatever mask of negative emotion they wore. This touched the heart of Jonathan Zel Dark, restoring all of his faith in humanity as a truthfully kind race.
The three became an inseparable trio, always together. They grew up together in the ancient dynasty now long forgotten by time and lost in history's many annals. None at that time were as a happy group as they were. They were the closest of closest friends, and no matter how much prejudice was thrown at them, they stood through it with forgiveness. This life of happiness lasted for twenty years. However, no matter how long they would ever have been friends...It would not compare...to the misery that followed afterwards.