Innocent Madness

Chapter One: The End of the World (Part 1)

   "It is believed that ours is not the first universe to be created. It is said that long before our own, another was made, vast and barren, with the exception of a single world. God brought it out of nothing, cultivated it, watched over and protected its inhabitants, and it is said even died and was reborn for their sake. When the time finally came for the world to end God drew it into heaven, his dwelling place, and judged its inhabitants according to their faith. When this was done God cast the now lifeless universe into the Void, returning all to a state of nothingness.

    But God's plans were far from over. With the aid of His chosen creation He began work anew. Within the nothingness new worlds were molded, each with the potential for life. These worlds, no longer separated by physical space, where instead parted by the Void, a space between space through which ideas, wishes, emotions, and under the right conditions objects and individuals, could pass from one world to the next. Natural laws were established to bind it all together and eight elements became the foundation for these laws.

   Next they inhabited the worlds with an uncountable variety of creatures, recreating many from the old designs, but adding numerous more to the newly cast universe. Three races were then made to hold dominion over all that had been created. These races, based upon older existences were; humans, angels, and demons. demons in the past world had been spiritual beings associated with evil and sin, but in their recreation they were given authority over the element of darkness and tasked with the protection of nature. Angels, who where God's messengers and soldiers in the old world where now given dominion over the element of light and tasked with upholding justice and the Law. The humans, formerly God's chosen race, changed only in way of their potential, which was vastly superior to that of their predecessors.

      And so started the second creation.

   In the beginning balance, and with it peace, was maintained. The angels watched over the humans, showing them the proper form of law and working as mediators in disputes humans and their establishments had with each other. In this way they were kept from the wars which had caused so much destruction and sadness in the past world. The demons kept the humans in check, driving them from the wilderness any time they extended their reach too far. It was with fear that they curbed the Humans' greed, that men would not ravage and pollute the worlds as they had before. This pattern continued for several thousand years, but like all things,  this peace eventually came to an end.

   Relations between angels and demons had never been civil, much less friendly. The two races only managed peace out of knowledge of the other's necessity. With time however, this truth came into question. In the eyes of the demons, the angels were aiding the humans in their expansion and destruction, and in the eyes of the angels, the demons were a threat to the safety of the humans. Dissent grew until finally blood was spilled. The dispute was a common one humans who who had tread to far into protected lands in search of resources where attacked by the demons guarding it. The angels accompanying them intercepted but they were not fast enough to keep the demons from wounding one of the men. In response one of the angels launched an attack. Though it had only been intended as a warning shot a young demon, the alpha's son, was hit and killed. Never in the thousands of years of peace had blood been drawn between the two races but that was all it took. The demons retaliated in anger and the battle began. As it raged allies rallied to either side until eventually the battle ground covered the entire world. The first battle of the eternal war, as it has come to be called, ended in a stalemate but many more followed all of similar scale. Neither side could truely claim victory and every battle saw the numbers of angels and demons dwindling  at alarming rates and with their numbers lowered they had no way of keeping the humans in check.

    The humans quickly took advantage of their new freedom  and went to work repeating the mistakes of their predecessors. Wars were raged over petty differences, water was polluted, forests were cleared, laws became tools for control and self service. The other races watched the humans as they destroyed each other and the world around them in grief, knowing that so long as the war continued they would be unable to quell the human's natural tendencies. Even so, the war continued, drawn on by nothing more than hatred and prejudice.

    The war between the Angels and the Demons never truly ended. Now the two races keep their distance for the most part and it is rare to see any large scale battles, but any contact made between the two will always end in violence. Over time it had become unspoken law that should an angel and a demon meet, only one will leave, and so it continues with no sign of an end."

    A young boy, the teller of this tale, opens his eyes. He looks to be only six or so years old, with low cut light brown hair and dark brown eyes which, at the moment, are heavy with mental fatigue.

    "Very good. You seem to have retained today's lesson very well. Perhaps we should increase the amount again tomorrow?", the speaker is a woman who appears to be in her early twenties. She has long blonde hair, pale blue eyes filled with a wisdom that belies her years, and a figure that borderlines perfect. Her movements are graceful and flowing without the slightest hint of wasted energy.

    The child slumps down in the large cushioned chair he is situated in, clearly dismayed by the possibility of a larger work load, but knowing better than to complain he instead asks, "Mom?". "Yes.", the woman replies. "Can't we learn about something a little-", he pauses trying to think of the best way to phrase it, "happier? That story is just so depressing." His mother looks down at the limp body of her son practically falling out of his chair and smiles in spite of herself . "History can be depressing sometimes but it is important to know the mistakes of the past so you can avoid repeating them in the future." "I know. You say it all the time, but. . . How am I suppose to learn  from something I don't understand?". "And what is it that you do not understand?",She replies, earnestly. "Well, it's just. How can they fight each other just for the sake of revenge? It sounds so empty and pointless." She pauses for a fraction of a moment and then responds, "Think about this. If me and your father were killed how would you react?". The child looks at the ceiling thinking it over, "I think I would want to know why so, I would want to hear the person's reasons. . . maybe? . .". He moves his gaze to his bare feet as he taps them together. "I don't know, but it doesn't matter.", he looks up at his mother and smiles, "I won't ever let anyone hurt my family.". His mother reaches down and ruffles his hair, "You are a good boy, but you have to know your limits. Me and your father are stronger than you right now so you have to leave it to us to protect you for the time being.". The boy frowns up at his mother for ruining his little speech but is unable to hold it for long in the face of her warm smile. "I believe that is enough for today.", she states, ruffling his hair once more before sitting down in the chair behind her. "Go see what your father is up to. It should be just about time for martial arts training.". The boy, upon hearing this, jumps out of his chair the fatigue that had dulled his eyes only seconds before now mysteriously absent.