Dishonoured Asylum

Prologue: A n a r k h i a

Death was inevitable. This fact was no stranger to the personas who dared to roam the universe anyway, a bold resistance to destiny. Yet, when it had become Anathema's time to descend, she struggled to grasp with her looming demise. With a shaky and frail hand, she placed the kettle to boil on the stovetop. She followed her daily routine to a T, despite the odds stacked against her. She plastered on a brave facade and simultaneously feigned a relaxed disposition. Agonizing screams of peril held onto the walls of her tiny home although resonating from a distance. Still, she carried herself with grace. The children who sat before her, terror-stricken, made her heart lurch.

"Mama, I'm s-s-scared..." the small girl stuttered, tears streaking her chubby cheeks. Her older brother reached out to hold her tiny hand in response, too terrified to verbally reassure his baby sister. The freckled boy looked up at his grandmother, doe-eyed, for his own set of reassurance. Anathema faked a smile, her heart rate quickening as explosions sounded nearby. She watched as her grandchildren recoiled in fear. They didn't deserve to see this end. So young, robbed of a chance at living. She clenched her fists, feeling defeated that there was nothing she could do.

"There's nothing to fear, my love. This is what was meant to happen," she crouched to the height of her grandchild, attempting to ease the burden that began to stifle her. Violent tremors shook the floor beneath them; the literal foundation of their quaint home and metaphorical foundation of their mental stability were both dwindling.

Anathema clutched the backrest of a chair so tightly, her knuckles turned white. Her body shuddered with every blood curdling cry in the distance, but she hid it very well. For the sake of her kin. "Where's mommy?" the little boy cried. At the mention of her daughter she wiped a silent tear before they could notice. They didn't know what happened. So naive. So clueless. "We'll see her soon enough." she said with a grim smile.

Uneasily pacing into the living room, Anathema quickly sought comfort in her recliner. She patted her lap, as a signal for her grandchildren to join her for one of her very much anticipated story times.

This would be the last one. She shook the intrusive thought away. Although afraid, the children eagerly hopped into her arms. This was tradition; and they absolutely loved grandma's tales. She stroked their heads protectively, deciding to continue her earlier sentiments, "You mustn't feel frightened. This day was meant to come. This has gone on for far too long. This is the onslaught of the Aquarian age; for a new dawn to rise we must first see the descent of dusk." The little boy donned in freckles shifted in his seat uneasily, "What's happening mama? Why?"

"The inevitable, my child."

The children looked up at her, uncertain, but yet with an insatiable desire to have their curiosity fed. Another explosion sounded off in the distance. A painful reminder that the clock was ticking. She took a shaky breath as her granddaughter gripped onto her sleeve in fear as a response to the chaos that surrounded them.

"It's all rooted in the inception of our universe. It wasn't intended for us to be divided. Without equal balance we will always fall apart." The children grew quiet, all ears for the story they were to be told.

At first, in time and space, nothingness existed. Then nothingness birthed everything, and so anything could be. Energies from both ends of the spectrum formulated; the luminous and the shadow. Dancing amongst each other, coexisting yet unapologetically embodying their traits. Like yin and yang, a cohesive union. Enchanted by the other, they desired to be whole. And so they did, colliding whilst simultaneously scattering their galaxies with stardust of the light and the dark, respectively. The core essence of each became long lost as realms of existence emerged from the dispersed particles.

And this is how the universe of Caelestia came to be. But what was once a unit that cooperated in harmony, soon found itself separated into different entities due to greed, entitlement, selfishness and dishonour. They strayed further from the origins as they sought to distinguish themselves from the other; all that was within the light made ironic claims that it wished to protect itself from being tainted by the shadow, whilst those of the dark saw the light as disingenuous, ingenuine as well as pompous and had no desire to have association.

The north west of Caelestia became the home of the luminous or those of the light; Angels, the Fae, the Pegasi and even some of the Elven---these however were not the only beings who were native to the Lumin.

Contrasting in Caelestia's north eastern hemisphere, was the domain of the shadow. All things of the dark would find its home here; the Demon race, Imps and the Chimera are only but a fragment of those who reside there. Those who did not fit into these criterias or rather, wished to separate themselves from the strained atmosphere of the Lumin and the Shadow, found home in "The In-Between"; a realm that took central placement in the universe of Caelestia for those seeking refuge outside of the two prominent empires.

A chorus of sirens infiltrated their space once more. It took Anathema every last bit of strength to continue on with her story, despite the visible fear that rolled off of the shoulders of her grandchildren in the form of tremors.

Vampires, werewolves, centaurs.....a place where beings of the Lumin and the Shadow could coexist peacefully. After all, neither of which were inherently possessing qualities of good or bad---or right and wrong. Both were capable of embodying these traits; it was determined by a variety of factors like the environment they found upbringing and which of this energy they naturally tapped into. Those of the Shadow had a natural affinity to being mischievous but this in itself was not inherently bad. Similarly, the Luminous were more inclined to be agreeable, or "sickeningly sweet" but this could easily manifest itself into cunning and conniving behaviour. Whichever path taken was relative to that particular individual, not the entire species.

Those of the Lumin and the Shadow possess unique abilities that once working together in harmonious union, can achieve absolute nirvana. This coalition has undeniable power and once truly in sync with the other, is entirely unstoppable. This is the only way to put an end to the anarchy that has begun to engulf us. The Shadow Aristocracy has gone mad with greed. They will murder and pillage every last one of our kind because of our association with the humans. They see us as a threat to their newfound power.

"Humans?" her grandson inquired. He had never heard of such a species before. Deafening banging began to envelop the feeble front door before Anathema could formulate a proper response. For the first time her barriers began to fall apart. The colour drained from her face. "The Aristocracy." she told her grandchildren calmly. Tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn't bear to see them suffer. On impulse she grabbed them each and ran into her drawing room. Shouting resonated from outside. Rummaging through a drawer she unsteadily withdrew a key and struggled to shift a neglected coffee table out of the way. They were growing impatient. The sound of the kitchen windows shattering made her fumble with the object in her hand. "Mama?" the child cried out but her brother covered her mouth. The energy that radiated off of his grandmother in waves alerted him of the gravity of the situation. She lifted an inconspicuous rug that once supported the coffee table. Placing the key in an obscure location, an entryway was revealed. "Go. Run. Whatever you do, don't stop running." she whispered harshly to her grandson. "Mama, where are you going?" he cried out in dismay. "Go, you hear me?" tears trickled down her cheeks, kissing them both before prompting them inside. She frantically put everything back into place, discarding the key in the fireplace. Grabbing his little sister, the boy ran through the underground tunnel, tears blurring his vision. He didn't dare stop.

A stampede of footsteps dominated the floorboards of her once quaint little home. One look in their eyes told her she made the right decision. They were out for blood. A sad smile found its way across her face. She couldn't quite feel the blunt force that hit her head. Numb. Even as they ransacked her home, she smiled at the possibility of her kin making it out alive. The vile words they communicated became incoherent.

"Burn this bitch to the ground. I want no survivors."

"But sir, there's no one else here, we checked the premises-"

With one swift movement, his hand violated the ribcage of the other man, ruthlessly butchering his vital organs. "Anyone else will dare to defy me?!" he interrogated maniacally.

Anathema looked up in horror. He took one glance at her and smiled wickedly.

Time's up.