Whether fuellled by pure emotion or a shadow that refuses to awaken,
Everyone who walks into the Temple has a little darkness inside of them.
But only the truly great accept and embrace every part of it.
You see, long ago there was once a boy terrified of the darkness and the monsters that lay beyond.
Every night he’d scream and beg for absolution, running in terror to the safety of his parents.
They’d comfort him, hug him close and tell him all was well but nothing helped.
He’d lie there, eyes wide, shivering uncontrollably until he eventually passed out from exhaustion.
For it wasn’t the ghosts or the demons that terrified him.
It was the shadow that refused to leave his sight.
Time passed and the boy grew into a man, as his fear grew into hatred.
The shadow still clung close as it became a scapegoat for everything he despised.
Every broken promise, every pang of loss, every failure.
Convenient just to blame the darker side that he would rather forget.
Even if it did cripple him beyond belief.
For the shadow had become an extension of his very soul and denying it cost him dearly.
The potential that he once had went unseen, the greatness once promised slipped through the cracks.
As the only fleeting moments of glory came when his weakness couldn’t deny the power his darkness gave.
It took until the end of the line, in the clarity of rapidly approaching death that he finally realised the truth.
Apart, they were fragile and frail.
Together…we’re unstoppable.
See Tureos, it’s not that we doubt the power you posess.
We’ve seen the darkest reaches of hell itself and know how dangerous your kind can be.
It’s the lack of cohesiveness that intrigues us.
Because to us, you’re just another fool who we used to believe were our equals.
Those who slept in other dimensions yet died in a watery abyss.
Those who cracked a smile wide yet their whole universe resolved around acceptance from others.
And even the odious virality that infected my blood until the great kaboom gave me clarity only the afterlife can.
They all had the same thing in common, they couldn’t accept the worst part of themselves.
And Tureos…or Reed if you’d prefer, you’re following in their footsteps.
Tureos isn’t a burden, he’s a gift of power and Reed is the humanity you need to blend in with this world.
If you truly were smart, you’d embrace every single part of yourself for true power.
But beings like you never will. Because you walk the same path we once did.
And you’re the same petulent, angry child we once were.
Half a man stepping up to one of the greatest of all time.
Our soul isn’t for the taking boy but we will teach you a world of knowledge.
For when vengeance is all you both will ever know, you’ll adapt and work together
Or die fractured like the rest.