“Back in a long forgotten time, humans were able to freely control every aspect of the natural world, and they coexisted with what we now label as the supernatural community, or the Others, as they were called then. The Others are very much like the ones that you know of today, consisting of goblins and mermaids and vampires and the like, the ones who were different were humans. You see, the people of the time had powers that rivalled the gods. And as such, the basic human aspects of greed and lust grew over time, fed by that immense power. Eventually the humans craved so much more that they demanded the fidelity of every other race. You can say that they were drunk off their powers and the superiority they they thought they possessed over the other races. They thought it fit to rule over them, to control every aspect of the Earth's populace to what the humans deemed correct.

“As you might have imagined, the Others were not very supportive of this decision, and soon every other race – the vampires and trolls, dwarfs and elves and everything in between – banded together to fight a common enemy: humanity. The battle that ensued was far from pleasant. And although the humans were still few in numbers, the sheer power that they had made it easy to snuff out all resistance, and thus the humans had once again enslave the majority of the world's populace. Through the generations, the Others suffered through the seemingly unending tyranny of the humans, devoid of hope.

“That is, until one being appeared. No one is quite sure about where he came from, or what his name was, but his arrival heralded a new dawn for the other races. He was only known as the Hero – or the Devil, depending on which books you've read. This Hero had powers that surpassed the might of the humans, possessing the ability to both manipulate and more importantly disperse the energies of the universe. In theory, he could negate the entirety of the human's might. It was through him that many a victory was won against their common foe. He toppled human regimes and soon, it was clear to the humans that they had to concentrate their full might on this one being. This realization came after brutal losses, for even in defeat the human's pride prevented them from from acting sooner.

“It is said that at the height of his success, when he faced the remaining human resistance, he possessed an army that encompassed every non-human species on Earth. Legend goes that the Hero gave a part of himself, a piece of his very essence, to each individual soldier. How much of this is fact or symbolism remains unknown, but it was through him that the rule of Man was toppled. But even victory came with suffering. Both sides suffered irreversible losses, and even the oldest of records do not detail the final battle between the Hero and the humans.

“What is known in the end is that even with the combined might of the Hero's army, he was unable to fully crush the humans. In fact, the Hero himself was almost defeated. Some say that his lover betrayed him on the night of the final battle, slipping poison into his drink, or that his powers were beginning to weaken from giving his essence away, but either way the end result was the loss of the majority of the Hero's army.

“Thus some would say that the end result was a victory for humanity, for he captured, although not killed. Yet others would claim that it was a victory for the Others. You see, my boy, the humans found that they were unable to kill this being, this Hero, and thus opted to imprison him for all eternity. Before he was completely sealed away, the Hero shouted one last curse for all the heavens to hear – he vowed that for as long as he lives, he will have his revenge on the humans for all the cruelty that they had inflicted. Some say that the very universe heard his cry, because shortly thereafter, the humans started to lose their powers; those very powers that they had abused.

“It was a gradual event, but the outcome was the same. They could no longer completely control the Others. The humans knew that the powers they once had was fading, and instead of taking the higher path and allowing the Others to live once again in peace, they opted to drive them off, to eradicate as many of the Others as possible out of pure spite and hatred. In one last, desperate attempt to appease their wrath, they sought to erase the Others from the history books. I'm sure you can figure out what came after that.

“Nowadays, the ability to control the energies of the universe is but a tiny fragment of what it once was, reduced to what you see now. Why, the majority of the populace are unable to even notice the energies around them, and the rare few who can are limited to just one variant of power. It's a sad fate, but it's the one we are forced to live with.”

“I... see. So I guess we were the bad guys then, huh?” I said as I tried to take the whole story in.

“That's one way of putting it, my boy.” Atticus smiled, “but that was a long time ago. How much of it is truth is unknown, but it is ultimately up to you to decide on what you trust and believe, for morality is based on the views of the individual, so who is to say that we were truly the 'bad guys' of the story?”

“Assuming that the story you told is correct, it's safe to say that the supernatural beings that are here today are the remains of the Others from long ago. But why don't they attack humanity for revenge? I mean, we slaughtered and enslaved their ancestors for years and when we were finally taken down a few notches we erase them from the history books and bury their Hero. If I were them I'd be hellbent on revenge, even after all of these years. Hell, if it were me I'd slaughter every human in sight, no, simple revenge wouldn't be good enough, I'd want to ravage their cities for what they've done, kill every family member, kill-” What was I saying? I didn't know where these emotions were coming from, and I felt like I could relate more to the Others than my own race. We were the ones who wronged yet they are the ones to suffer for it? It just... wasn't right.

“I mean...” I said, forcing my pulse to lower, “why don't they fight back?”

“But they do, my boy, they do. It's just that their efforts are, for the main part, squelched by what remaining might the humans still have. Even without that, the number of Others have not regained significantly enough for them to overtake humanity, especially without a leader to organize their actions. And even today they are largely under the shackles of humanity, living in the fringes of society, feared and misunderstood. However, I am beginning to doubt that the supernatural community will continue to take the abuse so meekly. I am sure you have noticed the recent increase in supernatural activity. It is clear that something has changed, and only time will tell if the consequences will be of concern.”

“You know, Atticus, I actually feel kinda bad for the Others. I mean, no matter how you look at it, they're the ones who are suffering just because we humans are in charge. They get the short end of the stick 'cause we were stronger. We were greedier. They belong to the Earth just as much as well do. And it's not just the Others as well, it's every other living being on Earth, we've been tearing down rainforests and polluting the waters, enslaving countless species for our own benefit. If any species deserves to be wiped out, it should be humans!” I felt like I was betraying my own kind thinking like that, but that was how I felt nonetheless. “Is that way of thinking... bad? I mean, they're my own kind, aren’t they?”

I looked up at the face of the head librarian, and saw him smiling. The gesture wasn't something worth noting, but to me it looked oddly eerie and uncharacteristic of the old man.

“Your feelings on the subject is your own, neither right nor wrong. However I would strongly advise you to keep that particular opinion to yourself when you are in the presence of Sarah Fortune and her people. They are, shall I say, more closed minded than you or I.” He sighed, “The only advice an old man like me can give is to see the world for yourself and base your judgements then. Unfortunately, as much as I love the company after so many years, I'm afraid that it's getting late, and I have some urgent matters to attend to at this moment. Do feel free to drop back anytime.”

With that, the Head Librarian lead me to the door and with some final hand shakes and enquiries about when I'd be back, I left the place.

I took out my new phone to check the map of the SIDNA HQ, trying to find something to do for the remainder of the day. I was about to click the map app that Kelley thankfully added (I would have been all kinds of lost if I explored this place without one), when something caught my eye: the time. According to the phone, it was 9:48pm, which was impossible. I remember waking up at 10:30 in the morning, left the house at maybe 11, and I couldn't have gotten out of the Raging Boar before noon at the latest. Where did all that extra time go? I was with Atticus for a half hour at most, and as much as I liked the old guy even I wouldn't have lasted 9 hours listening to him.

Maybe I got knocked over the head a little too hard earlier. Hell, I was seeing ghosts this morning and now my day just went off and disappeared. I just needed some sleep, I'll feel better the next day.

I followed the map back to my home – or would it be called a dorm given the size and location ? No, home would be a better word, the place Kelley prepared for me was infinitely better than that shit-hole I lived in when I was a broke student.

The walk back was relaxing, and for the first time since I've been forced to work here I got to enjoy the view without being pestered with hunger or uncertainties. The narrow streets and monolithic structures that honeycombed the city was absolutely beautiful. Even despite the missing time, I was lost gazing at the huge stone structures which looked like behemoths gazing down at the inhabitants below.

As I kept walking, I started to really enjoy the eternally dim lit streets of the underground city. Ever since I was fired from my old job, I've been sleeping more and more during the day, and the dusk was refreshing. No, I guess I was always a night person, even before losing my job, all of the happy memories from my childhood and adolescence were basked in darkness, and I found that I was more comfortable in the dusk than I ever was in the morning. Despite all the hellish places I've been warped to and all of the crap that I had to deal with 'cause of it, I still found the dark eerily calming.

Maybe I have gone completely insane.

I arrived home at a quarter past 10, and with nothing better to do I decided to sweep out the room to see if there were any hidden cameras or voice recorders. Like I've said, you can never be too careful with stuff like that. After about an hour, the only thing out of place that I found was some oddly coloured dust and a standard looking remote for a T.V. I couldn't for the life of me find anything that even looks like a television in the room, but I was wrong. I pressed the “on” button and a huge portion of the wall opposite to the bed lit up and noise echoed through the walls around me.

Damn! Kelley really did spare no expenses. The screen must have been at least 80 inches wide, and it spanned almost the whole wall high, add to it the surround sound and the whole set up was definitely not cheap. Can't say I minded too much though.

I flipped through the channels while plopping the pillows on my bed into a makeshift chair. There were cartoons on, some documentary, some commercials about “super absorbent towels” - probably a sham though, if the name is any indication – and overall, there was nothing at all interesting on. I flipped to a news channel, seeing nothing better and just idly watched, half listening and half thinking about my current situation.

“... the liberal party has given...” I found my thoughts going back to the old Librarian's story, about the Hero and the Others, and for the life of me I couldn't get it out of my head. “...with the threat of a coalition looming, the Prime Minister has officially stated that...” Why was it still in my mind? It was just another fairy tale, was it not? But that was what I thought about vampires, and zombies, and I'd be damned if I think they're nothing but myths now. But even if what happened before was unjust, why did I feel so strongly about it? I didn't feel like this about the Jews under Hitler's rule, and that didn't take place thousands of years ago. “... and in other news, the death of 26 year old Francis York Morgan of...” I just couldn't understand-

Wait, what? The death of whom?!

I removed all of my lingering thoughts and stared at the TV screen. Impossibly, I saw the faces of my parents, crying their eyes out.

“He was such a good boy,” my mother said in between sobs, “He would never have turned to suicide!” Turn to what? I couldn't believe my eyes, let alone my ears. “But I saw it, his...” my mom broke down into unintelligible tears at that point, and after a few moments she regained some of her posture to continue, “I saw it, his body.” She saw my what? “I'm sorry, I can't go on.” she said, holding back tears, “My little boy, how could he? Why didn't he tell us something was wrong? Why would he shoot himself?” I did what? I couldn't make sense of any of it.

The screen shifted back to the reporter, “Thank you, Ms. Morgan; we at CP25 mourn for the loss of your son, now back to you Stephanie.” The screen turned black for a split second and the camera pointed back to the original reporter. “The death of young Francis Morgan has shaken the small community of Brightsville, and serves a grim reminder that suicide and depression are a real issue in the world. His funeral will be held next Sunday.”

I was at a loss for words, I picked up the phone and immediately dialled for Kelley. After a few rings she picked up, “Hello, Kelley speaking, how may I help you?” said a bright voice on the other end.

“Hi, it's me, Frank, I got a, uh, little problem here.” I replied, trying my best to sound less shaken and confused than I was.

“Oh, sorry Frank, I'm a little busy right now-” I heard some other voices in the back ground, all of them seeming very stressed, “Yes, I'll be right there Bill, just give me a moment!” I heard Kelley shout, her voice a little distorted no doubt because she was holding the receiver away from her, “Um, sorry about that Frank, I'm in the middle of something urgent, can this wait?”

“Oh, uh, sure, but this is something that I really need to discuss.”

“Ok, can you wait until tomorrow? I'm so sorry about this, how about we go for some coffee? I know this great place near-” I heard more shouting and buzzing noises in the background, “uh, I have to go, how about 12? I'll meet you at your place.”

“Sure that sounds-” I said, but before I could finish I heard the dull click of the phone and the line was dead. Kelley must have been really busy with something.

With nothing better to do, and TV seeming less pleasing than ever, I went back to bed, lied down and closed my eyes, hoping that tomorrow would come sooner.