“In the beginning, there was no one but Anorea: the supreme, omnipresent, and the most magnificently beautiful being. This dark-skinned, cat-eyed beauty with heavy, long, black, flowing wavy hair existed everywhere as restful darkness—like a warm blanket that wraps you in love and comfort. However, she was very lonely. As forever is a long time to live alone, she decided to invent Creation. Anorea, the one who always existed, darkness incarnate, the one who is present in everyone and everything—that ultimate power gave birth to Areliam, the universe we now reside in

“One moment there was nothing but a blank state of blackness, and then out came creation like an erupting volcano.

“The great eternal mother Anorea tore through her own self to create new existences. She broke herself into four pieces, each piece becoming a planet. Thus, the four everlasting planets Solem, Yonder, Ragonia, and Harbor came to be in the newly formed cosmos. Then, she created the three primordial races through the Mother’s Womb present in Solem.

“The Elementals who had the power to create elements, the Anons who had the power to shape those elements, and the Veiled Ones who taught them how to use their powers. Together they created things like the stars, other planets, asteroids, and such. Lastly, it was the Veiled Ones clan of Paradigm that harnessed Anorea’s powers and breathed life into all the living beings of this universe. Imagine the Elementals, under the guidance of Veiled Ones, releasing an endless stream of fire out into the void, and the Anons shaping stars out of that. Then envision the Elementals and Anons building planets around those stars, that the Paradigms populated with intelligent life forms. 

“The Anons were one of the most powerful creations of Anorea. However, very soon after the beginning of the universe, they were no longer happy to just remain as one of the best. They wanted to control all. So, they started a war. This war went on for thousands of years, where Elementals would create destructive elements like lightning to weaken the Anon, till they figured out how to shape the newly created element in a way that could be harmful to the Elementals.

“The Veiled Ones tried their best to keep out of the conflict. However, we Veiled Ones are the keepers of knowledge. As such, we knew how disastrous the continuous clashing of the two primordial races would prove for the freshly born universe. So finally, we mediated between the Elementals and the Anons and convinced them to take turns in ruling the universe. The Veiled Ones created a tournament, the winners of which would go on to rule the universe until the winners of the next tournament were declared. The Anons pretended to accept this but worked behind the scenes to destroy the Elementals and subjugate the Veiled Ones with a power-binding curse. 

“When all-out war finally broke, most Veiled Ones sided with the Elementals. However, then the Anons activated their power-binding curse and destroyed the strongest clans of the Veiled Ones. The Veiled Ones were given an ultimatum by the Anons: either help the Anons defeat the Elementals or lose their powers forever. This left the Veiled Ones with no choice but to turn on the Elementals. So, on the eve of the Battle of the Behemoths, the Veiled Ones betrayed the Elementals. With their help, the Anons gained victory over the Elementals. Once they won, though, the Anons enslaved the Veiled Ones to make sure they could never rise up against the Anon rule.”

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“Pa, were we Veiled Ones really very powerful before?” asked a beautiful five-year-old black boy getting a haircut, sitting on his father’s lap. The boy was named Leon Hearth-Bringer, lovingly called Leo by most. His father was telling him this story to keep him still while cutting his hair.

“Yes, Leo, we were. Now, stay still so I can properly cut your hair,” replied his father Calaren Hearth-Bringer. 

They were sitting somewhere in Solem’s countryside under a beautiful light pink sky. The weather was nice. The rays of Eloth, the red giant star Solem was currently orbiting around, made the day shine brighter. There were people nearby but not too many. The black Veiled Ones were mostly dressed in rags while the white Anons wore fancy clothes. Most were minding their business. Nonetheless, a few men more interested in controlling others’ lives than their own were still present.

“Hey, you! How dare you impart that information. Don’t you know Veiled Ones are forbidden from holding knowledge! You must be punished,” said a white man clad in garbs pricier than his character.

Calaren couldn’t even say anything back before the man called more people like him who together started to beat him. Leo’s father had no option but to take the beating quietly so that Leo could remain unharmed. The men used sticks, rocks, and clubs to beat Calaren until he was heavily bleeding and senseless.

“Stop! Please stop. Please don’t hurt my father. He didn’t do anything wrong,” pleaded Leo, but the men didn’t stop. Leo tried to pull Calaren out, but his small hands couldn’t reach his father. So, Leo went around asking for help from others at the scene. No one helped him. People chose to stay silent, averting their eyes rather than stepping in to stop the violence.

Until a miracle happened. A black man stepped up to interfere. A ball of fire engulfed the men beating up Leo’s father. The men screamed and rolled on the ground to put out the flames. After the fires were dowsed, they got up on their feet, ready to bring down the man who had attacked them. Except, they stood frozen in fear after seeing who it was.

“I’ll personally kill anyone who lays a finger on Calaren Hearth-Bringer or his family,” said the man before signaling the men behind him to treat Leo’s father. Once Calaren was treated, the man instructed his guards to take Leo and his father back to their home. 

Before leaving, Leo went up to the man and said, “Thank you!” The man looked down at Leo and nodded his head. Leo was so traumatized by this event that he forgot to ask the man’s name. The only thing he noticed to remember him by was a cat face on his wrist. However, Leo did learn an important lesson that day: No one can stand alone against injustice.