We must come to an understanding, you and I. Perhaps, you are afraid, or perhaps, you simply can't comprehend what it is that I represent.. what I wish to do. Yes. I will be the first to admit. I use. I manipulate. I toy, I tease, I flirt, I seduce. I happily take the blame for all which you wish to lay at my feet.

Ah, the stars are coming out now. Look, do you see? To the north, that brightest light. That one was once known as Lucifer, the proud Lightbringer, the angel who sat at the right hand of God. Lucifer was banished from his position in Heaven because of his pride, or so the story goes. It is not pride that causes me to act now as I do.. to embrace all that is darkness- far from it. It is honesty. Honesty, kindred of truth, the enemy of God and the righteous... When the world can not admit that sin exists, someone *must* become the devil. Someone must lead the lambs to the glorious destruction that is cold, harsh truth. And that someone, joyously, is myself. I am the darkness in every soul, and I can never be driven out. The more you try to stifle me, drown out my voice, the stronger I will become...

Like the cactus in the desert, I flourish- in adversity, my power thrives.

Better to accept me. Save yourself the agony of a tormented, crosspurposed soul. Give yourself to me; I'll guide you to the truth you need so desperately.

I'll show you the Ends of the Earth. I'll show you your deepest secret. And I ask such a small price. Come, drive with me tonight...

Breathe deeply. Are you comfortable yet? Can you smell the ozone in the sky, the coming storm underlying the velvet night? I love the sensation, warm summer night on my bare chest- I love the night, and the secrets that are whispered by the stars while humanity dreams. Night is my time. For it is at night that the world is at peace, for those few hours. Free to breathe. Free from the massed mind of humanity- those million swords that ever shape, by the power of 'society', the vast mysteries of life into convenient packages, sound bites, shallow songs and stupid stories. I ask you, have you ever considered the madness that can consume a world when a hundred billion minds and wills revolve in belief that sin and evil is something that must never be addressed, never spoken? In my own small way, I seek to stem the tide of this mass illusion.

For you see, once upon a time, I was the Prince of Roses. I fought endlessly, even to the point of breaking, for humanity.. to maintain that illusion that evil could be conquered. I thought I was protecting innocence... Back then, all the world was a fairy tale, and I the bravely heroic champion of every girl. I asked nothing in return; I was content. But I was also a fool, a fool casting at the sins of humanity with only a single shining sword. For, you see, human beings made those demons, those monsters, those things that menaced themselves. And I, in my fool's quest... I aided and abetted them.

And the time came, that horrible moment... when I was forced to see the vile nature within all human hearts clearly. When they pierced my sister with their million swords of disapproval and hate... I understood. They cared nothing for me, nothing for each other, nothing for anyone. I wanted to force the light into the darkness. I wanted to become their most fearful nightmare. I wanted to make them see the darkness in their own hearts. I became that darkness' voice. I cast away, forever, the guise of the loving Prince. My devotion to my goal was absolute, and unquestionable, unfaltering over many years....

.. and yet... And yet... all of this... what I am... what I did.. what I became... was, in its own way, for love. Love of you. Even I, your darkness, have regrets. Even I, the dark side of you, feel loss. And the path of Dios... which I once walked effortlessly, as Utena now does... to me that path closed long ago. Do you truly think I do not know my own folly?