Angels and demons

Few know of its existence, but the supernatural exists: vampires, spirits, these beings from fabulous tales exist in the real world. Humans — or most — are laymen, because they do not know what surrounds them outside planet earth and the orbit of its solar system.

The truth is, entire civilizations exist and relate to each other, throughout the universe, making deals and exchanging precious items and artifacts. Among these mythical beings, the most respected and feared, without a doubt, are angels and demons, after all, they are creatures considered as celestial beings, carrying great power, having their power recognized by all other civilizations.

There are several types of power. Ideological, political, intellectual, brute power... Likewise, there are various ways to impose power over an individual.

Ningen, Mana, Dengen, these are forms of vital energy of certain living beings. What defines how powerful something is how much you can exert your will over other people and have influence. After all, everything is linked to power.

My name is Twilight Morningstar, I'm a hybrid of angel and demon, and that's my life story.

But before we go directly into the day of my birth... Why don't we talk about my parents?

The war

It all begins when demons make the risky choice of using angel bodies to carry out various experiments in laboratories, in order to create perfect soldiers who would withstand the divine energy, to deal a blow to the current state of peace between the two civilizations and become the most powerful and feared civilization of all. The current ruler of heaven and supreme leader of the celestial troops, Johto Harumi, found out about the illegal experiments carried out by the demons, and in an act of revolt, would decree war against hell.

[Note: The position of leader of heaven may also be referred to as 'Prince of light' or 'Light Carrier'].

[Note: The position of leader of hell can also be referred to as 'Prince of Darkness'].

The war would last a long time... The angelic troops would be attacking the infernal city, but the power of the two civilizations was almost equal, which would make the demons resist the attacks and apply counterattacks on the empire of heaven. It was a battle in which both sides suffered heavy casualties and losses. At the end of it all, the current Light Carrier, Johto Harumi, and the current Prince of Darkness Takashi Raiji, after an arduous battle, decided to end the fight, thus signing a peace agreement.

However, due to the revolt of the inhabitants of heaven, a condition would be imposed: Both of them would have to resign their positions and pass the title of commander to the angel and demon most apt to assume the post. Even disagreeing with the idea, the leaders would be forced to accept such a condition to put an end to the war, which was already beginning to cause consequences not only for these two peoples, but for other neighboring civilizations, especially in the economic area, since heaven and hell were using their resources only in military forces. After the deal, Kaede Zane would take over as Carrier/Princess of Light and Neo Raiji would take over as Prince of Darkness.

You must now be wondering what this has to do with my birth, and I answer you: It has everything to do with it.

My parents

 During the war, Hidataka Morningstar, a warrior of the infernal troops of approximately 100 years old — who would be considered young by the natural standards of demon civilization — would be fighting in the war, assisting the combat troops who would be carrying out an attack against the sky. In the midst of this scenario, he would meet a woman with red hair, a well-defined orange and with small streaks that seemed to transpose into a more reddish tone. She wasn't very tall, she was between 160 and 172 centimeters, and her eyes were light blue, like diamonds in the rough. Her clothes were ordinary armor, which covered a good part of her body, but did not appear to be heavy to the point of hindering her mobility. In addition, she used a bow for combat, with arrows that were materialized with her own Chi energy. This woman was Nadeko Nikkou, who would be assisting the military troops in the defense of the sky.

[Chi: Vital energy present in living beings, known and dominated mainly by angels and demons. It is also called "Ningen", which is the method of channeling that energy. Among the various abilities of the Ningen that will be explained over time, one of them is its ability to mold itself into physical objects, as was done by Nadeko to create solid arrows with its innate energy. Likewise, some people can heal the wounds of an injured being, as was also done by Nadeko, a healer].

You may have already noticed... And yes, Hidetaka Morningstar was my future father.

"They fell in love at first sight and with that I decided..." Oops whoops whoops, stop it, that would be very illogical and completely unlikely, don't you think? Given the moment of war they would be living... Well, that happened, they got together, but it wasn't love at first sight, it took a long time for these two to date. In fact, what happened was that the two fought a battle, Nadeko would evidently be weaker than Hidetaka, which left him with a great advantage in the battle, if he wanted to finish the fight in a few minutes. The two fought a battle, which at all times was marked by Hidetaka's superiority in the fight. However, Hidetaka admired Nadeko's strong will to continue the fight and protect his home at all costs, which caused Hide to let his guard down during many moments of the combat, in addition to letting himself be hit by attacks that were totally defensible to him. What happened was that Hidetaka, at a certain point in the battle, refused to fight, which left the woman with several questions in her head, doubts that also haunted Hidetaka, after all, it is not every day that you spare the life of an enemy at war. However, it would not advance to attack him, even if it were at war. She just stood in a defensive position, waiting for some attack from Hidetaka.

[Despite this, the attack never came.]

Nadeko was not a combatant, in fact, her main function was to serve as a healer. Being forced to fight against her will, even though she couldn't perform as well in combat, she fought with pride and determination to protect what was important to her — and maybe that's what enchanted Hidetaka.

Well... Since the combat was interrupted, at that moment, Hidetaka turned his gaze to any other enemy — given the chaotic scenario he was inserted in — and advanced towards his new target, surprising him with a shower of blows, thus leaving Nadeko behind. He was refusing to continue fighting the woman, even though at that moment, Nadeko didn't want to admit that a demon had avoided fighting her. This event marked their first meeting, leaving them questioning why they did it.

But it didn't end there! They met again on the battlefield, this time in reverse positions. Hidetaka was helping the military troops of demons in defense of hell, while Nadeko held the role of attacking hell with the military troops of heaven. With Hidetaka advancing between the front lines of the angel troops, he was able to reach the healers' wing — in this sense, Nadeko needed to protect the wounded from the enemy. Hidetaka was far superior in every way as a soldier, he was stronger and would win the fight against her if he really tried, that was a fact. However, at no time did Hidetaka fight to kill her, to eliminate the threat as he did with others... He either avoided Nadeko's blows or defended them.

Nadeko attacked to defend the soldiers from the sky, but at this moment, she didn't know how she should act in the face of an enemy that didn't want to hurt her. Questioning the strange situation, Nadeko says:

"What got into you...? You've killed so many soldiers so far, to get to me and do nothing but defend yourself, Hidetaka Morningstar?!! THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE! You're a demon, a cursed and unstoppable demon on the battlefield, so why is that demonic and violent aura of yours gone?!! Answer me!!"

Nadeko would ask, confused and at the same time indignant with the situation, trying to understand what was going on in that man's mind.

He remained silent, without saying a word. Nadeko would take the same stance as Hidetaka and refuse to advance and attack him, mainly because she was a healer, her intention was never to fight. Seeing such a situation, Takeru, a member of the army of hell, at that moment would advance to Nadeko in order to finish her off with a blow, since Hidetaka would not be doing anything against the woman. But seeing his brother's onslaught, Hidetaka quickly stops Takeru from getting to her, jumping towards him and causing the two to roll away.

[Note: Hidetaka and Takeru are brothers of the Morningstar family and a war duo known in and out of hell, being feared for their strength and synchrony in battle. The Morningstar family is seen as a noble and respected family in hell.]

With that, Takeru would shout in an explosive tone:

"HIIIDEE!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

"I don't know... But don't kill her." 

Nadeko is confused by the situation — and who wouldn't? — wondering if that man had been put on some kind of mind control by some soldier from heaven, if it wasn't the cause of some special ability. His morals and logic were questioned by Hidetaka's unpredictable actions, arousing a certain curiosity in the woman.

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Takeru, extremely angry, would reply:

"You've gotten so loose like that you can't fight back... Is this serious? Just because she's a woman?

"That's not it... It is that"

"So what the fuck is it?!", Takeru exclaimed, enraged.

"She doesn't deserve to die.", said Hidetaka.

"You're no longer the same Hide I knew... My war partner. You look like you've gotten old, but instead of getting wise, you've become more stupid in the head!! He has unlearned everything and now wants to act like a loose teenager who can't even kill an enemy?!"

And then, Hidetaka says:

"Shut up Take...! I don't know how to explain it, but... I just don't want her to die, she... She has the potential to become a great warrior... She already has a strong spirit, like mine and yours... I see a glow in her. I don't think she deserves to die now, in the middle of a war, where she won't even have her name remembered, when she could become someone imposing, important."

At this moment, Takeru remains silent, listening to what his brother is saying.

"Honestly... We are fighting a futile war. We both know that we can't keep fighting forever, the angels are very strong, this fight won't end without both sides having huge losses, which won't pay off for anyone. This confrontation will be resolved in a while, with a peace treaty, it is the only sensible decision. All these dead people will be forgotten by society and will leave families in tears... And for what?"

"Okay, you might even be right about that." But do you value a person that much even if they are on opposite sides in a war? Whether you like it or not, we have to fight for our territory, you idiot. There is no right side or glory in a war, we are just warriors playing our part in the army.", said Takeru.

Takeru was questioned by his morals, but there was something that surpassed any precept: love for his family, respect for his brother.

"But... Hide, I will not attack her at your request, I will respect your choice and support you. Just don't expect me to play the babysitter and defend her if someone else attacks. If you say she has that much potential, then her willpower should be enough to keep her alive in this war. If she can't get out of here alive, everything you said is just a bunch of!"

[Note: despite the dialogues transcribed in an organized and progressive manner, the war scenario they were in was ghastly and totally uncontrolled. As they talked, other angels tried to attack and kill them, but almost comically, Hidetaka and Takeru outlined why they were feared by the angel troops, as they dealt with distinct attacks easily while arguing with each other. Nadeko heard everything during their argument. Other demons did not hear the discussion, as they were too immersed in their own combats, unlike the three characters: Nadeko, Hidetaka and Takeru].

These weren't the only times they met. In fact, this chaotic war scenario repeated itself like a loop — and several times, Hidetaka and Takeru always avoided attacking Nadeko, who was always there, fighting, healing their allies.

Falling in love in the middle of a war is something really hard to imagine, there's no way two people can make out while there's a legion of people dying in the background of the scenery... Seriously, that wouldn't be romantic at all. So, come on, how did they get together? Some force majeure — like a movie script — would have to act to unite the two, wouldn't it?! And that's when something inexplicable happened. In a certain confrontation, the troops of hell were attacking heaven, when Takashi — prince of darkness at the time — decided to interfere directly in the battle, and fire his most powerful attack towards the sky, to sweep it away completely, and kill everyone there, in an inconsequential way.

The intensity of the attack would be devastating, it could be said that it would be exponentially more powerful than the nuclear bombs that hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The destructive power of the attack would be immensely powerful and could reduce everything it touched to dust. The problem is that Johto — the prince of light at the time — was a great war strategist, and already foresaw this reckless attitude of Takashi — so he planned the following: as soon as the attack approached the angelic territory, a containment barrier would be activated. This barrier was made in advance by the Prince of Light himself with his troops, which would prevent the attack from causing any damage to the sky.

After Takashi's initiative, Johto entered the war — with that, the two princes entered into direct and intense combat, causing the entire battlefield to have its atmosphere changed just by the collision of power of the two. Since the troops of hell were attacking, the fragility that the territory was left with after Takashi and Johto fought, allowed them to invade heaven. A killing spree began to take place there and in the midst of so much destruction, Nadeko, the red-haired angel, had injured her leg, thus being unable to walk. She could heal herself if she had time, but she was already ahead of a powerful soldier who had fainted her and was ready to finish her off with his sword. Hidetaka, seeing such a situation, hurried and acted: he used a teleportation relic, and made the woman disappear from there immediately, taking advantage of all the mess that was there and the attention that the power of the princes attracted. He left the battlefield and went to the place where he teleported Nadeko.

 The reason Hidetaka helped that woman, he that he had fallen in love. In the middle of a war... Seriously, telling this story I still wonder if it makes any sense, falling in love with the enemy at first sight... It makes me think that maybe all the talk about destiny is true after all, it had to be what it was meant to be.

 Nadeko remained unconscious for a long time. Hidetaka stayed awake, watching over her the entire time. Nadeko would wake up after a while, find herself in a domestic environment, lying on a sofa, covered by a blanket, with a pillow under her head. She wore the same battle armor as before. She gets up and suddenly looks at Hidetaka, who was in the kitchen by the stove, preparing dinner. 

"W-What happened?" Nadeko asked. 

"Oh, you've woken up. You were wounded in battle, so I brought you here to tend to your wounds. By the way... Your leg, how is it?"

"Oh, she's much better... W-Wait, what?

"Oh sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Hidetaka Morningstar, nice to meet you!"

"Who are you... No, I know who you are. You are a demon!", she screamed.

"I hope you're talking about race, and not using 'demon' as a pejorative term. But yes, I'm from the Morningstar family, from hell."

"Then why do I... Am I still alive? A-Are you going to make me be your sex slave or something else scary?! That's why it kept me alive all those times?!!"

The woman would be frightened, and would raise her energy quickly, thinking of attacking Hidetaka at that moment and fleeing from there.

"Calm down! It is far from it. In fact, I think it would be a shame if you died so young in the middle of a war that is about to be resolved. I wish you could trust me, but it's something hard to ask for, because you just met me and I am a demon. Look, I'm not saying to become best friends, I just ask you to believe that I don't want to hurt you, and as proof, I took care of your wound, and I'll let you go if you want at this moment.", Hidetaka said, calmly.

"Why... Are you doing all this?", Nadeko asked.

"Ah... As I said, I think it would suck if you died in the middle of a war, I was surprised by your willpower, if you keep training, you will certainly be a warrior as powerful as me."

 After this conversation, Nadeko immediately left the house extremely confused, as if she was denying what happened, as if she thought she was being manipulated. She refused to believe that the man really didn't want to hurt her, for all the values her family passed on to her about demons, who were terrible and evil beings. When she left the door of the house, she would find herself in hell, where only civilians would be there, since the entire soldiers were attacking heaven. Hidetaka moved quickly and pulled Nadeko into the house, closing the door.

"I'm sorry, I know I said you could leave, but you can't get out of nowhere like that! Think again, there are still civilians there, we are still in hell. It would be a problem for me if they knew that I welcomed an angel into my house."

"I... Am I in hell?!", she asked.

"I brought you here when I came to take care of your wound, it was the only safe place I could bring you. But don't worry, I'll take you away to heaven.", Hidetaka would say.

"I can go back alone." Nadeko would say.

"Don't play hard, I just want to take you back to your house. After it, I'll leave you alone."

Nadeko, being forced to accept the gesture of kindness, was taken to heaven, accompanied by Hide.

Was this the first real conversation of the two, perhaps the first "meeting"? What I was sure of was that, after this encounter, Nadeko did not see Hidetaka with the same eyes as before. Nadeko showed gratitude for Hidetaka's act, being something unusual: an angel being grateful to a demon.

"Thank you."

 In a polite gesture, Nadeko would thank him. After that, he would leave Hide and return to the combat area, to help defend his home. This day was special for both of them because, after Hide rescued Nadeko, they had already taken the starting milestone, knew each other and could get closer and closer, given Hide's constant initiative. Hide was interested in Nadeko and that was obvious.

 Hide had marked Nadeko with a special ability of his Chi when he helped her, so that he could locate her from a distance with the goal of keeping her safe. Yes, he may look like a stalker, but actually... He was a stalker.

 Nadeko loved to go to a distant planet called Earth when she wasn't fighting, it was a habit of a small group of angels — sometimes, some demons also went there, but it was much more unusual and it was a reprehensible act, since many angels protected humans, so to avoid confrontations and wars, the demons didn't approach Earth. Seeing this as an opportunity, Hide proceeded to meet with her there, even though she ignored him at first and pretended she didn't know him. Even so, she continued to always go to earth because it was a habit of hers, which became even more special, because whether she wanted to or not, Nadeko was starting to take an interest in Hidetaka. These meetings were repeated a lot, until it became a habit for both of them, and with this constant coexistence, they developed feelings for each other, starting only as friends, and of course, having this feeling nurtured, it turned into love.

 They finally fell in love. After a long time of dating, it was discovered that Nadeko was pregnant! Libidinous acts were done — however, Nadeko's pregnancy was not talked about in heaven. She left the army and went to live next door to Hidetaka, who gave the necessary support to his fiancée. The father of the then child would be Hide (obviously), but this information would not be disclosed to anyone from either of the Nikkou and Morningstar families. The relationship between an angel and a demon was until then, a novelty and seen as a taboo – in fact, it even considered a crime for angels or demons, therefore, it was seen in an extremely negative way, as a pagan practice, as a sin. In view of all this, it was decided to keep it secret to avoid future problems.

 Subsequently, Nadeko's sister ends up finding out about her son and his bloodline. At first glance she would not approve of such an act, but out of compassion for her sister, she would be empathetic to understanding what happened and would help keep our "royal lineage" secret — so as not to have scandals — by keeping our existence secret for 13 years. I say existence this way, because of course, my mother was removed from the war for becoming a mother, they knew I existed! I even attended the Hell training school because of my father..., but nevertheless, for me, it was always like a part of me was hidden, the blood of my parents in all its truth, it was always omitted from everything and everyone, as if I was denying a part of myself, which I didn't like at all.

Our existence?

Exactly, I'm not an only child. Nadeko was pregnant with twins. Because of this, I have a beautiful and adorable younger sister named Sunny Morningstar.

(To be continued . . .)