"There are those who would say that this story is true in its entirety. There are those who would say that it is but a legend, a delusion created by those who will not accept the reality of our world. But, how can I make you understand, you who have tasted freedom, and peace? I can only ask: if you had been born into a world of war, (as had you father, and your grandfather, and your great-grandfather had been, as your children, and their children would inevitably be) would you not create a fantasy? And if you had been born into such a world, had known death since before you were old enough to understand the concept, would you not think that a tale of peace, peace and prosperity that all supposedly existed in some far off past was a lie?
"You must understand, all worlds have monsters, and not all monsters are strictly inhuman. Humans in almost all worlds tell children there are no monsters under the bed, or in the darkness of their closets. But of course, they lie.
"It is not intentional, for what they say is usually true. Most people can go through their entire lives without seeing a true monster, or at least, they live happily, in forced ignorance, pretending they cannot see what is in front of them.
"But this is not one of those places, and here, you would no more tell a child that there where no monsters than you would that there was no sun in the sky, or salt in the ocean. To do so would be the most blatant lie, in this place were evidence of monsters is given daily, by the hour, by the minute, by the second. Monsters- in the most acute and most extreme connotation of the word-creatures born from shadows, which feed on death, souls of hard black stone...or at least, that is what they say.
"Which brings us back to the story, a story known in this world, my world, to every mother, every child, every person, in some version or another; it is not quite a history, nor exactly a legend, and just shy of a myth. It is no such things, but only because humans will not agree that it is any of them. And the others try desperately to forget it.
"A thousand years ago, (the time being always just so specific) men did not call them monsters. And there was no war, no death, only a vast and endless peace. All the people of the world lived together, ruled from a great Shining City set upon a peninsula, which jutted out into the sea, a city of resplendent beauty, unsurpassed as yet by any other. Towers of pure white stone, with ivy and flowers of the same stuff creeping along them; carved animals, and idols from pagan lands, alongside the heroes and the beasts of fairytales, dancing upon every surface. And every flower beset with rubies in its petals, each beat with ivory in its horns. Every idol made from gold, so that the whole city shimmered and sparkled in the sunlight.
"And in those days, men called the others 'angels.'
"There is very little which every version of this story agrees on, though it is agreed that in those days, humans had a king. And the others had one as well, the two ruling jointly over all the land. Their king was wise and magnificent, as they all may appear to humans, when they wish. He was good and just, some versions say. Others that he was cruel, and merciless, a demon even if he wasn't called by the name, and deserved all that was done to him and more. This is but the barest facts, so I will make no judgment.
"The king grew older, and thought his people are said not to die, he became tired of ruling, so long had he done so, and wished to pass the throne on to another. However, he had no heir, and had never married…there are other stories as to why, but I will not tell them here in detail. So he took in two orphan boys of our own kind, twins with fine pale features, hair like the sunlight and eyes bluer that the shining sea around the city, bluer than some carving on the city's tower's sapphire eyes. It has been said that the only person alive to rival the beauty of one twin was the other. They were loved by him as his own children, and raised as his successors to the throne.
"It is said that the younger twin fell in love with a human. The king did not know of it, indeed the only one he told was his brother. But his lover was cruel, and one day, he killed the younger twin. We can only ever guess as to why, and the only one who knowsfor sure would be the lover.
"The king himself was lost in rage, and grief. He had loved the boy as a son, and so he sought the human who had murdered him, and used his powers to kill him. The king was mad by then, and drank the blood of the fallen man, finding it sweet. And so he killed again, and again, no amount of blood sating his new hunger.
"The humans fled from his madness, terrified. And none of his own people could suppress him, so powerful had he become in his rage. So his remaining son went to him, knowing that the king would not kill him, if only him. He went with intent to do what he had to, and yet when he saw his father, saw the insanity of the madness that griped him, he felt only pity, and love. For he had cared for his brother too, and was stricken with grief over his death. It was then that he realized he could never take the life of this man…not, in any case, for feeling grief over his son's death. So he sealed him away in sleep, to dream forever, and hopefully never arise, and vowed that one day he would return, if ever he could discover a cure for his father's insanity.
"Then, he went into exile, and was never again seen.
"The humans however would no longer trust the angels. They said that they were demons, and named them vampires. And many of the vampires had followed the king into madness, finding blood to be intoxicating, killing and drinking it at will.
"The old gods, who guarded the world, saw this, and they saw the terror that their children were causing. So they cursed them that they would need blood to live, that they would crave it with an endless hunger, that without it, they would die. And with that, they left this world to its fate, returning to the perfect realms from whence they came.
"And that was the start of this war, the great war, the endless war. Or so it is said. The only ones who could confirm the story will not speak of it. So you must decide for yourselves, if that is what occurred. It matters little to me what you might think. You think I am an animal, regardless of how I became one. You will not give me a second chance.
"Why should I give you one?"
