• A young, fifteen year old brunette was leaned against a wall, facing a blonde male (who looked like he was about nineteen years of age), with her arms crossed. "I'm not afraid of anything..."

    -------

    She was backing up against the wall, while watching the male transform and grow into something much bigger then anything she'd seen before, and far more intimidating. “What are you?!”

    “It's hard to explain...Scared?”

    “N-no! I'm not afraid of a-anything!”

    “Then why are you stuttering?”

    -------

    She was being held against someone, struggling with their teeth buried deep into her neck, sucking the life from her, as she grew weaker...She felt her legs give out, and a hand that was growing increasingly larger wrapped around her waist to hold her up.

    Her world went black briefly, then she was laying in the hand of a huge monster, whom she recognized vaguely. “You could've killed me...Why did you heal me?” She whispered softly.

    “I'm not sure...” Silent words, spoken into her mind rather then out loud...

    -------

    She was on a roof, now, numb and unable to move, but calmed somehow, even as a sharp claw traced her lower jawline, making herself shiver inside. “Hallo, darlin'...” A voice purred softly into her ear from behind her.

    Her eyes closed tight, as she replied, “Uh...H-hi..”

    “Why do you not want to go run an errand for me? It's not hard...Go out, capture a humanoid, and bring it back here for me...”

    “Because, I am not your slave...And I don't give a damn about your sick needs to devour something...” A finger, or rather, a claw, was brought to her lips, causing her to fall silent while he spoke again.

    “So you'd rather make yourself the meal instead? I'm giving you the wonderful opportunity to replace yourself with something else...”

    “The answer is still no, Luink...”

    -------

    Someone was kissing her, very briefly, a claw underneath her jawbone...Someone was toying with her mind, her emotions...And she was kissing back.

    -------

    She was screaming at a man with short, messy black hair, defending someone else...Then Luink spoke, and she spun to tell him to shut up, to stop, that he wasn't helping. She shrunk back at the booming yell that came as the reply...

    -------

    She was hugging someone...A friend...Glaring at the blond male.“If he doesn't want to fight Elf, what makes you think he would want to fight you, Luink?!”

    She received a sharp toothed ear-to-ear grin in reply, “He said he didn't want to fight a friend... Does he consider me a friend or a nuisance?”

    “Luink...Please, stop it.”

    Crimson eyes narrowed at her, “And why should I? Can I not express myself? The more I bottle it up that worse I'll get...”

    “Then take your anger out on someone else!”

    -------

    A sharp pain was shooting from her hand, which she had just attempted to slap Luink with...His teeth sunk deeply into the cuts there. He withdrew and licked at the wound before pulling away completely.

    -------

    She was bleeding...Everywhere...Her opponent only a few feet away, and her three swords floating in the air above her...Neither had the strength to move, but she had to win...This couldn't end in a stalemate. Elf and Hobo were watching, and she didn't think Luink was present.

    She ordered her swords to combine for the first time. Her sword that resembled pure light, the one that resembled pure darkness, and the one that seemed to be made of half of each...

    She only had a split second to throw up the strongest shields she could manage around both herself and her opponent, before the nova hit...

    -------

    She was laughing at him, watching as the blond she was starting to fall in love with spit dirt out of his mouth, from where he'd landed after she had dodged a pounce from him.

    Then, suddenly, he pounced again, and she didn't dodge. His currently bleeding wrist pressed against her lips, making her shriek and sputter. She hated blood.

    “EW! Luink, no! Get off! Ewewew~!”

    -------

    She was by a cliff, he was behind her...But, he'd promised he wouldn't push her again... “Pretty high...”

    “Yep.” Then, suddenly, she was lifted and swung over his shoulder, with a small scream on her part, as he jumped off the cliff. Immediately, she was hitting on his back as they fell, him laughing.

    Then, suddenly stopping, a pair of his large white wings appearing on his back, which she was still hitting blindly, “Watch the wings, dear.”

    She was safe.

    -------

    He was engaged...Luink had a finance. There was no point in going after what she could not have...So she started dating another male, whom she trusted...Her best friend.

    Luink was engaged. He was just playing with her, he got on her nerves and she did his. He did not feel the same for her as she did for him. It wouldn't have worked, anyway, she told herself.

    He was taken.

    -------

    He was standing in front of where she was sitting on the roof of a building, acting different...She asked what was wrong. He simply smiled softly, sweetly to her after sending a cold look in response to a comment from her current other, speaking in a idle manner;

    "A young man once stole a staff from a young female wizard in fear and rage that she would not want to listen to him tell her that he loved her..."

    Faintly, she heard her boyfriend, Hobo, say something, but she ignored it and jumped down from her position, to stand in front of him. She didn't understand...

    He simply smiled again, and looked away, "...When children are young... a little boy will pick on and tease a little girl that he really likes.. perhaps even loves, if they can comprehend such feelings..."

    And realization dawned, “Oh...”

    -------

    "I'm sorry... I won't be coming back... I came here to tell you so..." He sighed. "I'm only a pain here...Unwelcome..."

    “Don't leave...You're not a pain...I'm sorry, Luink.”

    "Truthfully, I don't fit in much either... You consider me an a**... And everyone else... I just don't fit in.... If I weren't a pain, you wouldn't have hated me so much either..."

    “That's not true!”

    -------

    "And why shouldn't I leave?! What's the reason for me to actually even stay?!"

    “Because! Because I like it when you're here! I
    like you, Luink!”

    He shook his head, pointing at Hobo, "No... You like him... Let it stay that way..."

    -------

    Flames...Surrounding her...Luink, as the source... "..
    You... You were... Taunting me the whole time.... Both of you..."

    “What? Luink, no, that's not true!”

    -------

    It was all okay...They worked it out...He was back. She jumped off the roof, landing on the ground and running in means to tackle him.

    Instead, she felt herself being caught by strong arms, lifted up to sit on his shoulder... “Hello, there.”

    “Hee...Hi.”

    -------

    He was insane, and so was she. He had her tied to a chair for some odd reason or other, and had blocked off every attempt at escaping the ropes that she made. And, damn it, he was teasing her far too much for this little thing he wanted from her, which she refused to give into!

    She made a comment, eyes closed and blushing a near crimson color, which was returned with a chuckle as he slid the satin shirt back onto his shoulder, and did up all undone buttons present on his outfit.

    Then blood, again. She was doing her best to not swallow the horrible crimson liquid that was flowing from the cut on his hand, that was pushed up against her mouth, and needless to say she was failing...Miserably.

    And she kept telling herself that he was engaged, it was simple fun and teasing..Between friends. Because he was engaged, and she could ignore the pain it brought her to know it would never be her with which he would be happy with. No matter what he said, or claimed.

    Because he was engaged.

    -------

    Everything was black, silent....She couldn't hear, see, feel, or sense anything at all..It unnerved her...Then, there was whispering in her ears...A familiar voice, but unwelcome. So, why wasn't she blocking it out like normal? Where was her light?

    No...She was too tired to fight him off..Just...Let him play...Get revenge on them...Kill...Give into him...

    She closed her eyes...


    -------

    Angel woke up, sitting up in her bed, black and white silken sheets pooling around her waist as she wiped her brow free of sweat.

    Strange dreams... She couldn't remember much of anyone in them...But that blond...He was the strongest one, right? He was strong...And dangerous. Very dangerous.

    Ears twitched at the sound of someone knocking on the door downstairs. She listened for the sound of her parents yelling for her to answer it, but nothing came.

    Frowning, she allowed herself to slip out from under the sheets and pull on some clothing before leaving her sleeping quarters to head downstairs, so that she could answer the door before the poor visitor would have to knock a third (maybe fourth or fifth, she hadn't any idea how long they'd been knocking) time.

    “Yes, may I help you?” She asked politely as she opened the door, coming face to face with a rather distraught looking postman, who handed her a letter.

    “Miss Saber, my deepest apologies...You'll understand in a minute, but, this...Place mentioned in that letter, do not let yourself be brought there.” The man whispered quickly, backing up from her confused expression. “They won't let you go again!”

    With that, he vanished. Presumably to deliver the Drakes' mail..

    With a slightly confused expression on her face, Angel glanced around the area inside the house, for signs of her parents. Finding neither her father or her mother around, she took a step outside, looking around there for signs. It was odd, she thought...Her birthday was normally when the mansion was flooded with people cleaning up after one of those horrid parties from the day before..

    Yet, there was still half-mess everywhere...And why were there no workers? She wasn't surprised at the blood that spotted the ground in certain areas, there was always blood...

    “Mother? Father?” She called out, cautiously. Still not looking at the letter in her hand, held limply at her side for the current moment. “Where are you? Mother! Father! This is not funny, you know!”

    This was not routine...No, her parents never differed from the routine. Especially her birthday routine. They should've woken her up again much earlier this morning...She should've been sprawled on the ground, as well. Not tucked under her blankets...

    'Where are they?'

    “Don't mind that, now. Read that letter you were given, pet.” Demon's voice replied her thoughts, making her jump, and drop the letter. She...Hadn't heard his voice first in such a long time. Star was always the first of the two spirits that possessed her body, and took up two-thirds of her soul, to speak. Demon only ever made idle comments and insults towards his sister...

    Star was Angel's chosen side...Her guardian. Angel had chosen Star's side, light, not dark...Though she did use both sets of powers among others...

    Wincing slightly at the cold feeling that swept through her in the darker spirit's annoyance, the newly-sixteen-year-old got onto her hands and knees to retrieve the letter. Yes, she could've simply crouched down to grab it, or bent, but she was tired, for one point, and her parents were not around to punish her at the moment...

    Slowly, she read over the envelope, frowning, before actually opening it and pulling out a folded piece of paper, which she worked to unfold, hands shaking. She did not have a pleasant feeling about this...

    'Miss Ira Saber,

    It is with our deepest regrets that we are to inform you of a most tragic event that has taken place on the morning of April 25th. We are sorry to inform you that Mr. And Mrs. Saber have been located, dead, a short distance away from your estates.
    We highly discourage you from visiting the scene, as it was not a sight to be seen for someone as frail of mind as yourself. Identification was provided by your family's crest, located on the heavily mutilated bodies this morning once we arrived to survey the scene.
    As a result of these events, you have been left with no remaining family members of which to take care of you. Also, as a minor, not yet being of the age of eighteen, you are not permitted to live on your own.
    Your family's estate and all personal matters are left to you, but you...You are left to The Dark Night Orphanage. Please keep in mind that we only seek to help you in your time of need, and have no hostile plans or planned actions against you, Ira. We simply plan for you to be taken care of in the proper way that one with such gifts as which you possess should be taken care of.
    Once again, with our dearest regrets for your loss, we bid you good day. We shall come to collect you in one week's time.

    Sincerely Yours,

    The Dark Night Orphanage

    P.S. If you are foolish enough to try and run or hide, we will find you. And we will punish such horrible behavior. Good day. '


    Angel shook her head in disbelief. Not only were her parents dead, meaning she going to be swept away to some terrible place where they'd try to steal her powers (her mother had informed her vaguely about such things before), but they had also spelled her last name wrong! And they had called her by the hated birth name that made her feel more like a pet then her own person.

    She had even named her pet mink 'Ira', for god's sake!

    But, no, that didn't matter now..Her parents, dead. She was an orphan, and even though she knew this meant that she was free from the horrible things they did, and the way they treated her, a cold feeling overcame her. 'You are left to The Dark Night Orphanage... You are left to...Orphanage...One week...Left to...'

    She had to find a way out...This wasn't fair! What had she done to deserve something as horrible as this?! “It's not fair...I didn't do anything to deserve this happening...They promised!”

    “Shh..You're right...You don't deserve this...You were a good, abused little pet for them...” His voice was like a faint whispering in her ear, and there was the uncanny feeling of a hand stroking her hair...She couldn't believe her eyes when she felt tears running down her cheeks.

    Even more so when she saw it to be blood...Her tears were not supposed to be crimson, they were regular! She was not a demon...Panicked, she shook her head fiercely, trying to clear her mind enough to see the tears properly. “W-where's Star?! Go away, I don't want you...I-i want Star...”

    Demon simply chuckled 'against' her ear, speaking smoothly, fluidly, “She's not here...She went to sleep...My, my...She has been slacking, hasn't she? All you can see is blood, because you want to shed blood. You want to take out your anger and grief on something....”

    “S-she's not here...” Ignore the statement about blood...Will it gone, and it will leave...It was a matter of the mind's will. But...She didn't think she had the strength, and Star, her guardian angel...One of the thirds of her spirit...One of the spirits..

    “She's not here for you, pet...But I am, I won't let you go through it on your own...You can trust me..”

    She could feel his transparent figure forming next to her, kneeling, his hand running through her hair, lips centimeters from her skin, by her right ear. She'd never seen him before...He'd never been able, or allowed, to take form...Only the one time...But was that even real?

    She couldn't even properly remember half the things that happened at that...Tavern, wasn't it? It slipping away from her, as she became aware of the male who was now kneeling in front of her...

    Semi-short, sleek hair, black as an abyss, eyes just as black, with hints of blood seeping into the black from the edges of the eyes...A pair of black satin tuxedo pants, accompanied by a pair of sleek, sharp-pointed black shoes. He wore a long-sleeved (black) over-coat, with crimson trimmings along the bottom, as well as on the cuffs and collar, and the middle-ends of the folds. Ruffles, that looked as if they were once white, but stained by blood, were present along the cuffs of the sleeves, and the collar of his over-coat...A shirt of the same black of the rest of his clothing underneath..

    All that black...It seemed as if it with neither absorbing, nor reflecting the light around...Simply...Making it void, as if there was no such thing as light. She was grateful for the crimson and blood colors, it made the black seem...Warm, appealing to her..

    It stopped the blood from appearing everywhere, she noticed when she managed to look away, down at her knees, no longer seeing crimson, but clear, tears falling freely.

    “That's it....See? I can make it all better...I can fix everything for you, give you a chance at a second life, completely your own...I can erase all those painful memories, make you forget and start fresh..” A smooth hand cupped her cheek, tilting her head up to gaze into---now---dark blue orbs, making her blink. Hadn't they just been completely black?

    “Come to me, pet...Let me soothe your pain...Let me use you, and allow you to use me..I'll make it all correct, we'll find someone to help.” She was pulled forward, into an soothing embrace, her tears slowly halting, as her sobs died out, drowned out by his words... “Together, we'll find a way to escape them, and allow you to make your own life...All I ask, is for you to leave my sister and come to me.”

    All she had to do was release the favor she had of the light... And give into darkness? The darkness... Appealed to her so much right now... Surely, it could be better then the previously... Bright out-look she had... That had brought her so much pain...Because...Because he was....Who was he? She couldn't remember...

    “That's it...Let go...Give in...”

    She wasn't on the ground anymore, she was in her cavern...Magically altered to provide room for more then an entire library of books (because, yes, she did have more then a library...Thanks to some useful duplicating spells on her parent's library plus others) to the West of the 'entrance/exit' portal in the middle of the cavern...As well as a sitting room.

    The entire North and East walls were covered in weapons of all kinds, a furnace in the corner between the two walls, everything needed to make more weapons, or repair any that might be broken, damaged, or worn down. The South wall was the only thing that wasn't cluttered with a million things...Probably because there was a small 'pool' of crystal clear water, about ten feet wide on all sides, and possibly twenty feet deep, an under-water tunnel clearly meant as another entrance.

    East of the pool was a bare stretch of wall, about five feet long, before it hit the corner that connected it to the weapons section of the room. To the West, barely a meter from the edge of the pool, the sitting room/library began.

    Slowly, she pulled herself from the 'soothing' embrace, and stood, turning and moving over to the blank stretch of wall that was east of the pond, stopping at the dead center of the stretch and placing both hands flat against the wall, and closing her eyes.

    “Yes...” Demon stayed in the middle of the cavern, the portal having vanished in a wisp of black smoke. He daren't step forward and mess up everything he'd been working towards, and put all his planning and hard work to waste.

    It didn't take more then a minute for Angel to open her eyes again, a pair of double doors appearing on the stretch of wall, taking up three feet from the middle, exactly. She didn't see the fanged grin of the darker part of her soul, as her hands immediately moved down to where the door knobs would be found on both doors, though there were none.

    She took a deep breath, eyes closing yet again before she let out what would sound like one small, soft song-note, though it was really something akin to a language that would surely die with her...Only herself and the spirits who took up two thirds of her soul knew it...

    Immediately, the knobs appeared, and the doors opened, swinging inwards as she pushed and stepped into a brightly decorated master bedroom.

    Seven feet in front of the door, against the south wall (the door is on the north wall), was a king-sized bed with soft sky-blue sheets made of a material akin to silk, a canopy made of a shade of blue that was lighter then the sky, but darker then cyan, with a outlining of white. The canopy seemed to float in the air, without support beams, the corners where beams would've connected each had one large, white feather hanging down from it.

    The bed's headboard (though the bottom half was hidden by several lightly-colored pillows), was white, and had various designs, ranging from weapons to constellations. The most prominant of the designs was in the very center of the headboard, a single sword with three stone places in it. One of which was taken, the one in the middle of the hilt.

    The very same sword was held in a golden case that was pressed up against both the wall just to the right of the bed and the bed itself, resting on a cushion that seemed to change colors with the sword's blade...Which currently rested on no color at all, revealing the blade to be made of a metal akin to silver.

    In fact, there was indeed some silver mixed into the blade...Along with several other materials that were not of this world, but several others. She smiled briefly at it, but resisted the urge to remove it from it's case for the moment...She didn't notice the black that swirled in the center of the crystal that was held in the middle of the sword's hilt.

    Instead, she turned to examine the room. A white wardrobe, with a light blue outlining, was pressed against the wall to the east of the room's entrance (the left of the bed), a full-view mirror on the wall next to said wardrobe.

    A small white side table on the same side, though it was within a foot of the bed, leaving about seven feet between itself and the wardrobe. On the west wall, about the same distance from the bed as the east wall was, was another door that led to a bathroom.

    The stone of the walls were left to their own color, while various bright white orbs floated around near the high-ceiling, giving off light enough to make it seem as if the room was bathing in endless sunlight.

    Angel barely stepped three feet into the room before Demon followed, immediately sending out a burst of dark energy, which pushed something between and yell and a scream from the young teen's lips as the energy shot forwards, through her from behind, before bouncing back off the south wall, and shooting through her from the front as well, forcing out one of three possible sets of wings.

    As they were pulling out, in the second that the dark energy seemed to fight against the seals around them, it changed from brightly feathered angelic wings, to pitch black feathered demonic wings, the black of which was akin to that of Demon's clothing, to a pair of wings of which the top of each wing was white, fading briefly into grey around the middle, and finally shifting to black as it approached the bottom.

    Though, as the seals broke the pitch black demonic wings took their place on the girl's back instead of the other two options, and Demon's grin widened as he watched her fall forward onto the bed, while the entire room seemed to become tainted by the energy emitting from him.

    The bed changed to black satin sheets, the canopy turning a dark shade of cerulean blue with a crimson outline, the feathers changing to black flames which, instead of hanging down, floated just above the four corners of the canopy. The headboard changed to a dark blue, as well, while the pillows changes to darker blues, reds, and blacks.

    The wardrobe turned black, with a blood-colored outline. The mirror gained an outline of crimson at the top, shifting into a very dark purple in the middle, then out to a deep, dark blue towards the bottom. The side table became black, as well, and drapes with the same coloring as the canopy appeared on the walls, circling all the way around, about a foot higher on the wall then anything else.

    All the doors throughout the entire cavern were turned a dark reddish-brown, the sitting room furniture changing into black leather-like material for the seats, and a simple black for the tables and various other surfaces. All the lightings changed into black flames which, while still giving off decent light, gave the place a much darker feeling.

    Yes...There were no more traces of Demon's ridiculous sister in this place...He had even tainted the girl's blue, and tossed it into the entire look...She was not the only one who could play that game, he could as well, and he would. The girl would be more comfortable with this change.

    Besides, so much bright colored things, the light they reflected could hurt one's eyes...Dark colors were much easier on one's eye...

    Now, he simply had to finish sealing the girl's memories that he didn't wish for her to have, re-seal the wings, and remerge with her until she woke up again. Then they could set out on his plans...