Although almost everyone, apart from a few in the native magical horizon where the rainbow kissed the earth, entering an ocean called the Rainbow Bridge, has won their battle.
The Battle of their inner demon which sprouted out at age eleven for every young man and woman.
It is a battle fought in the metaphysical realm or the Dreamland every last night of the full moon.
It took most people a few years, and some people a few more, to conquer and tame their shadow.
It was even recorded in the land's history that some took months and days.
This gave Anikulowo a problem; he had been losing to evil Noobu, his demonic shadow for a score of years now.
It is a fight you must win before your angel can come close to you, the one that prompted the magical being in you.
Anikulowo's case was different because most of the people around him thought he was lazy.
“ I dealt with Zoobu, my shadow when I was fifteen and you are still here fooling around” his brother, Ikuyeri, hinted.
“ You don't want to take responsibility for your life,” he concluded, pitifully nodding his head and disappearing into thin air.
Though Anikulowo grew up as a bright kid who enjoyed life; played, laughed, and oozed positive vibes as he continued growing up, everything died down simultaneously.
Noobu, his demonic shadow has dealt with him breaking him to pieces; it broke his self-esteem in a battle long years ago, his spirit and confidence many years ago, his relationship several years ago, and his dreams and ambitions a few years ago.
What Anikulowo left to hold on to were his faith and resilience in the land where magic ruled.
People do things with just a snap of their fingers, clapping of hands, and chanting of incantations.
Anikulowo was isolated by family and friends who said it would take eternity before he could meet up with the magic ways and his brother who visited had rubbed salt into his wound just a day before another full moon.
Anikulowo knew that he had tried and that trying which they said was not enough, was a matter of time but what time would it be was the question he kept asking himself.
The night of the full moon came and almost everyone in the magical kingdom slept like a baby knowing that no shadow dared to wake them but Anikulowo and others slept with different significance; some slept in fear, some in anxiety, and a few of them slept in peace.
Anikulowo was among the set who slept in peace knowing that the battle isn't today and it had been a long time since he had been fighting it and that mentality changed the outcome of the battle.
He was tapped as usual and he woke up in a very dark land facing the voice of the evil Noobu which he had never seen before.
At first, the fear of the dark was what always aimed at him in any battle he fought before and lost but today, he stood calm and embodied the darkness and he started seeing things as clear as daylight.
“ Welcome my boy and mentee” Evil Noobu said with a frightening laugh. Its skin was as dark as burnt charcoal and cracked with glowing veins that pulsed like molten lava. Its twisted horns curled from its skull and its blood-red eyes burned with cold and merciless hunger. Its mouth stretched unnaturally wide which revealed rows of jagged yellow fangs dripping with black saliva. Its long razor-sharp claws scraped the ground sending sparks into the darkness but as Anikulowo looked closer, it had the same face as him.
“ I will eat you raw as usual” evil Noobu said and for the first time in years, it saw something different about his opposition, Anikulowo did not fidget but looked straight in its eyes then it asked a question to put more fear on Anikulowo, " What do you see in this darkness hell” and Anikulowo answered, “ I see you and you are me”
Evil Noobu fidgeted for the first time and his hand dropped.
Anikulowo understood this and said “I am not your boy nor mentee, we are equal”
Evil Noobu dropped to his knees and Anikulowo woke up. He looked around him and saw a radiant white robe that shimmered like morning sunlight on fresh snow. The face he looked at glowed with calm and gentle brilliance which was free from fear or anger. He observed that this being had large magnificent wings that were white as ivory stretched gracefully from the back with shining feathers in a soft golden light and Anikulowo was also surprised that it was his face that the being also had.
“ You have met your angel,” the identical being with supreme features to Anikulowo said.
“ I am also you,” Anikulowo replied.
“ Yes you are,” the angel said and continued.
“ I saw the pain and struggles you faced whenever you were battling evil Noobu. If it's not the most powerful, evil Noobu is the embodiment of one of the meanest demons, stronger than everyone you have met and their demons together.
It is said that the thicker the crown the severer the headache,” the angel concluded.
“So what is next?” Anikulowo asked.
“ Taming evil Noobu may look like a delay, it is like a detour to make you” the angel replied.
The being pointed forward and a tornado came and carried Anikulowo away then finally he woke up in his room.
Nothing about him changed even though his magical abilities are now one of the strongest in the kingdom.
He walked to the store to buy needed things instead of using a flying broom and everyone looked at him but knew he had changed as his angel was at his right-hand side while his demon was at his left which none of them had the power to summon.
They said “ Look at Anikulowo, his angel now protects him while his demon respects him.
