Helial had now recovered completely and could finally train all night again. The training ground was desert. Helial sat cross-legged alone in the darkness. He was carefully examining a scroll in his hands. His eyebrows would furrow often, and he would gaze up at the sky to seek advice in the moonlight, and then he would lower his head to read again. It was a seemingly endless cycle.

On a gliding armchair suspended one meter off the ground sat a black-haired kid with a black bangs over his eyes. His face was hidden behind a huge manual he was pretending to read. Actually, his mind was filled with nostalgia, and memories he couldn’t help being blown away by. One same image was set before his eyes…

***

Countless years before

“Why do you have to take part in this war, big bro?” asked Tsukuyomi.

A young boy, whose gaze was way deeper than the universe itself, put his hand on the girl’s forehead. He exuded a diabolic elegant charm. “We need to win this war so that your Clan won’t be able to put the whole universe in chains. I have to travel ‘cause there’s an army we need to build up. Destruction has no clear centre, which is why the Forces of Life have always been free to lord over anyone undisturbed.”

“But, brother,” Tsukuyomi said doubtfully, “why didn’t you stand by big sis’s side? Have you ever considered fighting with her, instead of fighting her?”

The young boy spread his huge bat wings onward. A dark shadow covered the girl. He enveloped her in a plumed sheltering hug. He cradled her slowly as he whispered in her ear: “What would you do if someone were to kill your big bro, little Tsukuyomi?”

Tsukuyomi fell silent as a homicidal Aura peeked out of her body.

The young boy with pitch-black hair shook his head as he held her tighter.

“Tsukuyomi! Kyeheheheh!” suddenly cried the young boy as he let go of her. He spread out his wings in all their spectacular width. The youngster was now standing in front of little Tsukuyomi with his arms stretched outwards, his eyes glistening in a sinister shade: “A war? What’s so frightening about a war? Tsukuyomi! Look at the vastness of the sky, glimpse at the profoundness of your heart, and then tell me, do you really think that something exists which could possibly contain the sky or your feelings? Would you ever let anyone limit the sky? And then why would we try to limit what’s inside our heart?”

“I won’t kill your sister, Tsukuyomi. That will never happen. But as far as the rest of her Clan is concerned…” The temperature suddenly dropped as the air turned bleak, so bleak that little Tsukuyomi felt her dermis hurt slightly. That hatred was indeed so intense it stung skin.

“I, Tsukuyomi, will fight everyone who’ll try to put our heart in chains. Destruction is no good, but it’s no evil either. It doesn’t claim to act for the good of people, but it’s not like it aims to hurt them. I will rule over this universe unrivalled. I will let every single one of us decide whether to harm others or not.” The youngster’s tone of voice rouse with every syllable. When he stopped talking, he was twitching spasmodically. He went on talking like a maniac as a gleam shone in his pitch dark eyes: “Everyone will get to choose! What do you think would happen if your father and your sister won this war? The Clan of Life will force good out of everyone. Even if doing good will mean that evil must be done! Hypocrites!”

The devil stretched his arms towards the sky as he whispered: “Tsukuyomi, I’ll never let them take who we are away from us. Let them take free will away from our heart …” As he spoke these words, the youngster had gradually lowered his arms until they reached Tsukuyomi’s shoulders. She rushed into that hug, tears stinging her eyes. Tsukuyomi knew that that conflict would bring about suffering. However, she also knew that he who was presently holding her was meant to suffer more than anyone else; he was meant to be hit in the sorest spot, his heart.

***

Orma, training ground

The kid went back to leafing through the huge book he was holding, whose cover went, namely “The secret to the perfect fried fritters.” His reading process was scattered with remarks like: “Ah! Damn, so that’s how they’re done?! But these are stuffed!”

A big blue vein started bulging on Helial’s forehead.

“When will I learn one of your Skills?” asked Helial as he repressed the headache caused by the Devil’s enthusiastic comments.

“Huh?” the Devil asked as he glanced away from the book on fried fritters he was immersed so deeply in.

“You said I’ll have no easy time trying to step forward towards both Life and Destruction. However, I already possess a Qilin’s Skill, many Life attributes, and I’ve recently acquired an Affinity for Light. So my question is, when can I learn a Devil’s Skill?”

The Devil raised its index finger as he said: “First-”

“We gotta talk about the Quest later,” Helial interposed, “ now I wanna know when I can learn a Devil’s Skill.”

Helial wanted to immerse himself in training as much as possible. After all, he didn’t know how long this period would last, and he wanted to spare no effort. When would that peaceful times end?

Exhausted, the Devil rubbed his eye with a palm. “Yawn. Well, with your current body you just can’t.”

“What can I do then?”

“You can’t do,” the Devil sneered.

During the past days, they had gone into this several times. Helial was stubborn and wouldn’t let the matter go that easily. For how much he insisted, however, he just didn’t fulfil the standards to acquire the Skill of a Devil. Helial had indeed no Affinity for Darkness, and he certainly had less Affinity for Destruction than needed. As far as Death Mana Pistol was concerned, he was able to learn such a Skill just because its foundation were Life-rooted. And then, what was the point in learning the Skills of his Devil master? Even pure Destruction practitioners would fulfil enough requirements to learn them.

The Devil’s eyes shut open. He had just recalled something. “Oh! I can offer you an alternative anyway,” he sneered. “A really interesting one,” the Devil mumbled wickedly.

Helial nodded slowly and said no words.

“This won’t be nice,” the Devil warned him in a smile as he put the recipes book aside. A drop of thick blood leaked from the kid’s index finger, and then glided over his palm. “It’s a while I have it, so it might as well be the right moment to take it out. This is the solution to your problem. You’ll never be able to use my Skills without interiorizing this technique created by… Well, anyway. Have fun.”

The drop of blood left the Devil’s palm and catapulted right between Helial’s eyebrows.

The guy’s sight turned black as he lost consciousness.

He could only heard some voices.

“In this life, there are people who shine like suns and can infuse this radiance to other people, making them shine in turn. Today I’ll find out if I shine enough to rip the darkness.”

That voice, that tone.

“In my life I have committed two great sins: you are one of them. I indulged so much in love I lost myself. But I couldn’t have committed a better mistake. The other one… In order to reach the greatest brightness I had to plunge my heart into darkness, and I fear I have never resurfaced completely. I created something I should never have created. If anybody found out… But after all, what aren’t we willing to do to warm the heart of those that love us with such intensity…”

Helial felt two warm tears streak his face as his nose burnt. He had a lump in his throat. He shook his head violently while unconscious.

“And what if tomorrow someone was be forced like me to plunge their essence into darkness, in order to shine like the brightest of suns? Is there such damnation? Can we embrace evil to do good?”

“Vidio…” Helial whispered.