Sakura, Guardian of Light

Lessons from the Dawn

Sakura gazed in wonder at the ghostly panoramas surrounding her, feeling the veil lift between worlds as Master Hiroshi began his lesson. She beheld visions of an ancient past long buried from modern knowledge.

"In the primordial ages, when life was only taking shape on this world, we of the Watchers came to observe and gently guide evolution," Hiroshi intoned. "Our race hailed from realms beyond this universe, gifted in sciences and magics far exceeding your kind's wildest dreams. We saw promise in the primates evolving here and sought to cultivate humanity's gifts in a responsible way."

Scenes played out of tall, luminous beings in flowing robes using subtle arts to enhance humanity's traits - quickening intellect, kindling creativity, imbuing early Homo sapiens with sparks of sentience that would one day flower into full consciousness.

"For many eras we lived openly amongst your ancestors, sharing knowledge that allowed advanced civilizations to bloom," Hiroshi went on. "But some among our numbers grew enamored of mortal flesh, deserting observation for cruder pursuits of the physical form."

Sakura looked on with horror as projections showed Watchers engaging in unnatural unions with human women, siring monstrous offspring called Nephilim. Their hybrid children possessed unnatural strength and appetite for violence, threatening the natural progression of life on the planet.

"We were a benevolent race, seeking only to nudge your species along an enlightened path," Hiroshi said sadly. "But the Fallen brought discord, awakening mankind's baser instincts through their brutal example. They had to be contained before further damaging the genetic blueprint."

The panoramas shifted to a terrible war between loyal Watchers and the Fallen hybrids. Advanced celestial weapons were brought to bear, cataclysms scarring the face of the young world as divine fire rained from the sky. When the smoke cleared, only ruins remained of once-great civilizations, with the corrupted bloodlines confined deep under holy mountains.

"We withdrew from the physical realm then, judged it wisest to let humanity develop untainted," Hiroshi concluded. "But some Fallen survived in hidden strongholds, breeding further aberrations. Throughout the ages we Watchers have kept silent vigil, guiding mortal minds with subtle nudges as evolution took its course, until your species was ready to learn the truth of its genesis. And now, it seems, the time has come for history to repeat, unless stopped..."