Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize, unless you've read this story twice.

No matter what form or shape he takes, there is always a flaw to be found, for no creature as dark and evil as he can last without a wound.

I met a man with a blackened eye once, walking through the forest. Scorched away in a fire, he told me, but he didn't have me fooled for a second. He was looking for an honest man, but instead, he found me, and I found him.

We're certainly not friends, no. I'm not sure we can be friends with anyone except ourselves. They say he's the shape Evil takes when it wants to corrupt you, but he's not. He's a demon, a devil, a creature of the dark and blackness. He's the thing you hide your children from, the thing you try to cast out of your house.

We made a deal, though. My boy wouldn't age, or rot, or fall to the lure of disease. It would stay as it was; twenty your old, in the prime of my life, or so I thought. As long as I didn't get myself killed, I would never die.

So why is it that I find myself drifting, floating almost, but when you float you're supposed to feel as if the air around you is lighter than you, and I certainly don't. It feels as if it's pressing against me, slipping past me in search for something I cannot comprehend.

And then I realize it's not air, or water, but souls, rushing past me to a great fire, except they're not going that way, they're pulled that way, and I'm merely being pulled slower. I try to rush to the other side, and to my surprise, I succeed, going the other way, away from the fire I'm sure is hell.

I emerge from what turns out to be water, soaking wet and gasping for breath. As I do so, a small, ominous chuckle echoes through what I recognize as a cave. I look up, and see one red eye, one blackened one. I cursed inwardly.

''Impressive,'' He allowed, watching me trying to dry myself off with a flick of my wrist, only to find out I failed. ''Not many escape. Not many wish to.''

''I didn't want to die, if you'll remember our last conversation.'' I said dryly, watching the other man warily. He just chuckled again.

''Oh, I remember,'' there was a furious glint to the red eye. ''Your body would stay in that exact condition as long as you didn't get yourself killed. Which is exactly what happened; your Curse rebounded. You were hit by the Killing Curse.'' Instead of allowing me to ask my questions, his eye turned thoughtful and he looked at me. ''Do you know why God never killed me?''

I admitted to being curious and he smirked before continuing. ''It's because Ying and Yang. Black and White. Good and Evil.'' He said it like it was a well-practiced rhyme. ''It's because, if there's no crime, there's no passion. If there's nothing to fear, people become too confident. If there's no such thing as darkness, no one would appreciate the light.''

I blinked, not understanding what he meant. He sighed. ''Look at it like this; if you didn't have water, you wouldn't appreciate the wine. The water's worse than the wine, like I'm worse than God. But if you didn't have the water, would you ever really know how good the wine is?''

I nodded slightly, wondering why he was telling me this. His smirk widened and he waved his hand carelessly. Immediately, I felt like I was fading. I panicked, not wanting to die, but I noticed that, as I faded, a very familiar woman appeared next to the other person in the cave, looking scared but determined. Her green eyes sparkled in the darkness of the cave, and only then did I truly understand what he'd said; they shone so much brighter when they were the only light in the cave.

''You're not dying,'' he said in what may have been a reassuring voice but what just sounded hungry. ''You see, dear Lily here offered me a greater deal; in return for her soul, so pure and untouched, would I protect her son, and would I help you understand the necessity of the Light.'' He looked at her, but she didn't glance at him. I just continued to stare at her, curious. ''See, bright, wonderful Lily understood that you'd find a way to escape from my clutches, and wanted to ensure that her world continued to exist when you did. So now you'll return to Earth as a spirit.''

I looked at Lily, the woman I'd killed mere moments ago. She looked at me and nodded, a signal I wouldn't ever fully understand.

''You'll return, though, Tom,'' the Devil laughed. ''They always do.''

This was written because Spy For The Right wanted everyone to understand the concept of Ying and Yang, but couldn't quite write it down.

Love,

Crimson