Bright Eyes, Dark Soul

Prologue

Long ago the Earth was ruled by spirits of light and warmth. The spirits loved their human counterparts and cared only for their happiness and wellbeing. It was a prosperous time.  But then the dark spirits arrived. No one is sure where they came from, but they came all the same and they brought cold and darkness with them. They easily overpowered the kind and gentle light spirits trapping them in a cage deep in the Earth’s crust and taking control of the Earth. They ruled through fear, darkness, and cold making sure the humans were miserable. They ruled for many millennia, feeding off the misery and despair they produced.

After many years had passed ten light spirits managed to escape their prison. These spirits were horrified with what the dark spirits had done to their beloved Earth and its inhabitants. They knew they needed to fight back. They sought the globe for humans who were willing to let them enter their bodies so they could fight the dark spirits. The ten humans had extraordinary  powers of heat and light that they used to fight the dark spirits away, but the light spirits were not naive. They knew that ten spirits, even using human vessels, were not enough against the thousands of dark spirits that ruled over the earth. So the first task of The Ten was to free their fellow spirits from their prison.

The dark spirits knew of the light spirits plan and fought to stop them, even taking vessels of their own. But the dark spirits were at a disadvantage. There were very few humans who would ever give the dark spirits permission to enter their body and the dark spirits had no patience to search all over to find those who were willing so they possessed people against their will. Most of the time it worked the people were gifted with powers of dark and cold and were a match for the light spirits vessels. But other times the spirits would be absorbed into the human’s gifting them with powers and free will of their own, meaning they took up the side of the light spirits.

The Ten eventually made it to the location of the cage. A horde of dark spirits awaited them along with many of their vessels. There was a great fight and one of The Ten perished in the process but they light spirits won out, freeing their brethren. Then began the Great Conflict. The light spirits and the dark spirits fought for many years trying to gain control of the planet. The dark spirits claimed more and more vessels each day both weakening and strengthening their fight. But the light spirits were not the same spirits that had been shoved into that cage millennia before. They had been hardened and no longer thought about the happiness of Earth’s inhabitants. They needed control. They fought hard. Taking more vessels than the original ten and destroying whole areas of the Earth (the areas we now know as desserts).

Finally the light spirits won. They implemented a system where the dark spirits are strictly controlled. The dark spirits were banished to the northern and southern tips of the earth only being allowed to extend further during the period we now call Winter. They are watched by the light spirits the entire time. Ensuring the light spirits remain in control.

It has been many years since the Great Conflict. Humanity eventually forgot the war and the spirits. They attribute the seasons to science and see the spirits as simply a story. They tell it to their children for amusement. But the spirits’ presence is still evident. The descendants of The Ten are spread far across the globe and still exhibit light powers every few generations. As do the many descendants of the vessels who absorbed the dark spirits.  Some go their entire lives never knowing they have powers, others are unable to control them and run in fear of hurting others, yet others can control them and use them, either for good or bad.

The Great Conflict is long forgotten and the world is at peace. But the dark spirits grow tired of serving the light spirits. They want to control the planet again, see the fear in the people’s eyes as they realize the spirit stories they’ve been telling for years are true. They begin to search the globe finding people who possess powers and turning them against humanity. They only turn a person at a time as anymore would cause suspicion from the light spirits and cause them to curtail the dark spirits even further.

The plan goes unnoticed but the spirits are constantly in fear of an uprising. In 1994 a woman prays to the light spirits as her last hope. She is a distant descendant of the original Ten and she has nowhere else to turn. She is six months pregnant and the doctors have told her she will probably give birth to a stillborn. She and her husband have tried for a baby for a long time. The spirits hear her and see this as an opportunity to provide happiness and give themselves protection. Saving a baby destined to die is difficult but the spirits manage. Three spirits enter the woman and combine with her fetus. The child becomes more than simply a human possessed by a spirit. It becomes part spirit and part human.

The summer arrives and the woman has her beautiful baby boy. From the moment he is born he is all smiles to everyone around him. The hospital claims he is the happiest baby they have ever seen. Even calling him “a little ray of sunshine.” His parents name him Ashton. Ashton grows up loved and unaware of the great power he possesses. He goes to school, makes good grades, plays football, and is happily oblivious to the growing tensions between the dark and light spirits.

The dark spirits are further stirred up by the actions of the light spirits. If Ashton ever learned to control his powers he could wipe out the dark spirits for good. The dark spirits could not just bond with a fetus though. They had to wait for a baby born with powers of dark spirits and then they could allow the child to absorb dark spirits and become more powerful. After three years of searching they finally find a baby boy named Luke. He is born on the winter solstice. The spirits knew he was the one. They steal him away from his parents when he was only six months of age and raise him as their own.

They tell the boy his destiny was to defeat the light spirits so the dark spirits could rule the Earth with him. They told him that the humans hated people like Luke, people who were different, that if they ever knew of his powers they would kill him. They teach the boy how to use his powers, they teach the boy to hate humans, and they teach the boy to kill . Slowly the boy’s soul darkens until there doesn’t seem to be much of a boy left anymore.

Author's note: Hey guys Alyssa here. Just wanted to preview my new fic that I thought of. I actually got the inspiration from swagdirection's fic Frozen Heart. I love her a lot and she actually encouraged me to write this :) This is like the backstory for the world. Hope it sounds somewhat interesting. Now i gotta go finish salvation's next update and study for AP bio