The Hell Day

'''The Hell Day. The Beginning of it All.'''

Syvaris. The hub of humanity, of all that was both good and evil in the world. A beautiful, thriving paradise for all those of both human and inhuman origins.

The city spanned for miles. Towering buildings, beautiful views making up the center of the main island. A moat-like body of water ringed the city. Bridges going across the water to the outskirts which stretch even further.

Beautiful, really. Absolutely filled with millions of people. Its only a wonder how many people are in the rest of the world if there were that many in this city alone.

Unfortunately, even in a city of absolute beauty there is always going to be horror. Darkness. Suffering. Things going bump in the night. Or in this case, disappearing into the night. This includes sub humans.

Even though the human world had done all they could to appear as though they accepted the subhumans, it was pretty obvious that it wasn't the case.

The looks… the comments… the lack of work. The beatings, the discrimination. All of it just leading to more and more confusion and tension.

There was always subhumans 'disappearing'. Stories being told of screams in the night and a feeling of absolute horror that lingered around certain parts of the cities. Just an underlying sensation that something wasn't quite right. Tension rode the air, though nobody could seem to tell for what exact reason it did.

There were always seeds of discontent between humans and subhumans, but it was always just underlying judgement, and nothing overt.

Then - Hell.

So, the humans got as humans get. Greedy. Spiteful. Angry. They got a little tired of just experimenting on sub-humans, of trying to harness their power for themselves, since it wasn’t always working out for them. They weren’t always getting what they wanted, after all.

When stealing abilities is no longer enough… what can you do? Well. That's what they have labs for, isn’t it? To create. So that's what they did. Well, at least what they tried to do.

They meddled, they tinkered. They made all manner of abominations, most of them failed experiments. Except for on this day.

Hell.

They had been experimenting for a little while with making sentient beasts. Creatures entirely made of energy. Cruel, really. And absolutely horrifying, if they had managed to pull it off. Good thing they didn’t. Or, was it?

Right in the centre of the main city, was where the hub of all of the human labs were. Evolus. Where they performed all of their rather barbaric experiments, tests and trials. Nothing more than a place of nightmares, pain and suffering. Although the humans seemed to think themselves justified in their reaction. In their desire to keep their 'kind' safe from the outsiders. Funny what happens when jealousy and spite get mixed into the melting pot.

The day it all began really was like any other. Clear skies, all manner of people of both kinds roaming the streets. Going about their business as though it was just a normal day in the city. After all, that's all it was. Right? A normal day.

And then the screaming started. The smoke. The explosions. The sirens. Absolute mayhem as demonic shapes burst forth from the labs - quickly followed by sub humans. Half alive, incredibly beaten up… and the humans chasing after them.

All manner of illusion was shattered. All ideas of cohabitation, of a feeling of safety from the Sub humans was eliminated in that one single event. As they looked to the Labs in absolute horror, seeing what was happening to their people. What the humans were trying to create, to harness.

The humans weren’t trying anymore. They weren’t pretending to be good, they weren’t pretending to even vaguely get along with their inhuman counterparts. They were now hellbent on making sure that their plans weren't ruined. That they could still achieve their goals, even if their plans had gone sideways. They couldn't fail, not like this.

Chaos… bodies… injured parties. And then... beings of utter horrific beauty beside the smoke, the bodies, the injured trying to escape.

The creatures looked to be some form of dog... and then a cat. They shifted form as though they were beings of shadow and matter molded into one. Almost entirely made of shades of black and blue matter turned into something solid. A weird, golden substance dripping from their eyes and mouths, and it had quite a startling effect.

Any 'human' this golden substance came into contact with caused these humans to scream, writhe in pain as the substance ate at their flesh, slowly killing any human this substance touched in screaming agony. Any sub-human they came into contact with? Was entirely safe, strangely enough.

All of these beings had to go somewhere. The chaos had them fleeing from the labs that had been their cruel 'home'. All flowing throughout the city as word spread like wildfire. The humans were done playing house, and it was time for the sub-humans to fight back. Or run.

They fought back, and they fought back hard. Explosions, magical warfare. Blood, bodies on either side. Gruesome painful combat as either side fought for their lives in a very literal sense. The humans trying to fight for their city, the sub humans fighting for their right to survive.

It was brutal, painful carnage. The sub humans seemed to have an edge over the humans. Their magic and abilities overpowering the humans and their weapons. The war was turning, and it wasn't turning in the favor of those who started it. The sub humans were on top. Painfully so, in fact. They moved towards the labs where their people had been tortured, hellbent on enacting revenge for what had happened to their people, for the monsters the humans had created. To treat them to exactly what their own people had been treated to.

In just one day, more life was taken than had been taken in more years than anyone in Sylvaris could have possibly remembered. It was a massacre, and the sub humans had every intention of ending it once and for all.

Until the Rift Haze.

The sub humans couldn't have pictured what would happen. Not in their wildest dreams could they have possibly dreamed of the weapon that the humans had been creating, right under their noses. As they marched upon what was surely to be their victory, a sickly purple substance began to seep from the air vents in the city.

For a little while, the sub humans didn't notice. And then they felt it.

The gas was draining them. Robbing their ability to use any of their powers, their ability to move. The humans had found a way to stop them from fighting, and it was painfully effective. The sub human march towards their destination paused... but not for long.

Fight or flight kicked in, and they turned. Screaming, alerting their friends and family to what was happening, to what was being felt as anyone who was not 'pure' ran from the gas in absolute terror. Those who had already been effected to the strongest extent were swarmed by those of pure descent with handcuffs, dragging them away as they screamed.

They knew what was happening, and what their fate was. The absolute terror of the events unfolding around them filled the bodies of any sub-human being within the City before they realized what they had to do, with painful clarity. They turned, they fled. Leaving their loved ones and friends behind who had been infected by the gas. They had no choice. Survival instincts taking over their desire to save their loved ones. Dragging those out that they could, and leaving behind their friends, family and loved ones that they couldn't possibly save. They fled in terror from the Rift Haze, fleeing the cities as fast as their legs could carry them.

The sub humans were no longer in charge. They no longer held the power, and any who was sound of mind understood that. They were nothing more than monsters being hunted, and they needed a way to be safe. To protect themselves from the humans, and to try to survive.

The sub-humans found places across the world, hidden from the human cities filled with their toxic gas to call their homes. Sanctuaries for their people hidden from the humans, helping them to survive. To hide, and to prevent extinction of their kind.

Though it wasn't easy.

Even with their relative safety inside of the Sanctuaries, they were still hunted. Humans using their advanced technology to track them down, to scour the landscape of the world that once belonged to anyone for any sign of these beings they wished to capture, and to replace. To extinguish and eliminate their competition once and for all.

What started as a simple capture and distort mission from the humans morphed into something else that day. They no longer cared to simply capture and experiment on those who were different. With the amount of death, bloodshed from both side on that fated Hell Day, that hatred grew to levels that couldn't possibly be recovered from.

The humans didn't care for their 'lesser' counterparts any longer. They didn't care if they survived. They just wanted them gone, by any means. Killing them all was always an option. One that turned into the primary goal. Hunt them down. End them all. Make humanity pure once more.

The humans think that they have the upper hand. They have the sub humans hiding, running for their lives and to simply survive. This was never the end goal. Although the sub humans have their weaknesses, the inability to fight back against that horrid gas, that does not mean they don't have weapons of their own.

No. When you back these people into a corner, they only have one option.

Time to fight back, or die trying.