When had it begun"

Perhaps with the arrival of the gifts" but no; the gifts, in and of themselves, were not the true beginning"

It was the ribbons that came wrapped about them. A dark intense power radiated from them, it beckoned and called, but above all it tasted divine. Not as in angelic by any means, no, but rather it harkened to the darker side that lurks within all creatures.

Balance, it is the key upon which everything exists. From Heaven to Hell and in all things in-between, the multiverses have been built with balance as their foundations. Good could not exist without Evil, Order without Chaos. It is the common state of everything.

Balance.

But for Bel balance has been a hard road to travel; not an easy path to walk"

Her earliest memories are tied to Hades and Morningstar, she believed herself born of the demonic; created to destroy, to collect stray, confused souls. She'd lost herself in madness during her Fall from Grace, and whatever happened Above" Forgotten as it was it could not shape or mold her, it held no influence over what she would become"

Years, (many, many, many years) later, Sariel had set upon her in a crumbling warehouse on the New Orleans" Waterfront and had "awakened" her to her true heritage. Her existence has never been the same" Good, evil" A mixture of both perhaps" It no longer made any sense.

Belial had been born, (if born can be used to explain such creation"), Angelic. Neither good nor evil, but made to answer to a duty. So' what is she now since she cannot serve what she was created to do' Would she want to return to such tasks, that is" if the Above would even allow it"

Corwyn's spell had changed everything" new emotions, new powers" and total chaos. Gabriel had declared her Abomination" and Morningstar" Once revered as "Father" he now seeks to reclaim what he feels has been stolen from him' even if it means her destruction.

Belial is a creature without true purpose" who still struggles to understand what? who she is and what her purpose should be? It had been so easy before" when she'd believed herself Satan's child.

But now" She's no idea"

Good" evil" Compassionate" Cold-hearted" She has been all these things and much, much more" does her past define her" Do her actions today redeem her" And what is redemption really' Is it something she truly seeks or is it something she perceives she should" Does she really want it' What does she benefit from it' Certainly not acceptance" that door has been closed both Above and Below to her and she sees no way to rebuild either bridge.

Introspection is a new state of being" often times less pleasant than simply reacting according to one's perceived nature. But she no longer knows what that nature is" the more she learns about her brethren the more confused she becomes. It seems that the line, once clearly delineated between Heaven and Hell has devastatingly diminished. Gabriel behaves no better than Morningstar, and Michael" He's made so many bad mistakes for so long it's harder than ever to believe he knows "right" from "wrong".

Corwyn" He comes closest to speaking what sounds like "truths" but Belial is very aware he has his own agenda. Can she trust he has the best in mind for her or Sid" He has made them into what they are today' but his reasons may not be nearly as noble as he lays claim. And those changes haven't made her choices any easier" Now she is plagued by foreign emotions she'd rather never have tasted!

Yet the attraction of the darkside has only grown since the spell, since the "awakening". She's been drawn over and over again to that which is most dangerous, most evil, the opposite of what she believes she should be. The question remains why' What is this misplaced attraction and what aspect of her does it feed"

To be good" one must not glory in bloodshed, one should seek peaceful conclusions. To be good, one must strive to right wrongs, not create them and certainly not perpetuate them. To be good" she will need to tackle all that she knows is not.

Or so the newly born conscious whispers to her" It has become her bane, her overbearing tutor that dictates that she is not as she should be. But the question still begs an answer: what, who should she be, and who gets to decide"

Tonight

It is very late and the night dark sky lays heavy with rain clouds. Belial is awake and feeling rather restless. Ever since the meeting with Anubis she's been experiencing a strange oddness" She can't really explain what?s happening, it just is. Desires long dormant have reared their ugly heads and the pervading darkness within, which she had thought banished, seems to have surged back to new life.

She has no explanation for these events, just a growing restlessness that lies like a snake coiled in the very depths of her.

Bel lounges belly down on her bed, in front of her rests a small wooden box. The oak has been finely tooled with elegant leaves from the tree of which it has grown. A small lock allows her to keep its contents safe; the key hangs low from a delicate silver chain around her neck which she never takes off.

The key is fitted to the lock and the box opens with barely a sound. Inside are the things that hold the most sentimental value to her. The ring of oak and ash that Ash had given her the night of their betrothal long before she'd lost him to another dimension. The onyx ring Welv had granted her that night in the Oak and Ash, before his death at the hands of a rival vampire clan. The amulet that allows her to pass into Vincent's domain unharmed and once, long ago, always welcomed, until she'd forced an end to their relationship. The silver necklace Jodiah had made for her, a beautiful and unexpected gift, the only token she has left to remind her of him now. And a black, velvet-smooth ribbon"

Why had she put the ribbon in this box" Her brow furrows with a puzzled frown as she stares at it, even as fingertips brush over the yielding softness. She asks herself the question but gets no response" only the longing to hold it, to press it between her fingers and stroke it"

Green eyes drift off towards the middle distance as memories of her past in Rhy"Din particular assail. She can recall so many details" so many small things" but the big picture always seems so fuzzy and somewhat vague. When had everything changed"

But there is no shining light on one single event, no simple detail that comes to mind that could be pointed at and called "the moment". It was a gradual thing to be sure" each and every second, every adventure, every small step, all the tiny details, this is what has made her into the creature she is today.

Is it possible to step backwards in time" Would it be easier if she could" But really' the question most pressing, what is going on with her"

Again? there is no answer? just the soft hiss of rain drops hitting the pane of her window and the smooth texture of the black ribbon laced about her fingers.

Dreams.

Dreams are the path of communication from the sub-conscious. It is the sleeping mind. Deprived of truly living, the sub-conscious reaches out in dreams.

And they become real for a few seconds.

"So drop your hesitation, and come with me," a chilled voice reaches out from the darkness. And hand reaches out of the shadows.

Reality fractures, seperates in dreams as the sub-conscious creates it. Dreams dominate the mind.

"I know you hunger for more," The shadowed voice says explains. A black ribbin appears in his offered hand.

Dreams form from the burried desires of the mind and body, it is uncentered, uncontroled - Raw. It focuses on symbols and images, than words or feelings. Blue for cold; Red for anger; A chain meaning capture.

"Remember the ones that have lied. Who said they cared, and laughed as you cried." The ribbin was drapped with care over the palm of the hand.

When a dream demands, a dream receives from the body. A broken sweat from a nightmare is a warning that the mind is not getting what it needs...or wants.

"You know you've got to stop thinking about right and wrong. Tonight it's you and me, It's now or never. You've got nothing to lose." The ribbin began to float in the air as the hand was removed from under it, returning to the shadows.

When a dreamer awakens, if the dream is strong enough, he or she will remember the dream in details, as if it had happened; For a moment, becoming reality.

"Nothing you can say will stop us now. We'll take this night, make it remember us. So come with me." There was only the shadow left.