Unrest and pain and sorrow are the shadows of life. There is no heart in all the world that has not felt the sting of pain, no mind that has not been tossed upon the dark waters of trouble, no eye that has not wept the hot, blinding tears of unspeakable anguish. There is no household where the Great Destroyers, disease and death, have not entered, severing heart from heart, and casting over all the dark pall of sorrow. In the strong, and apparently indestructible meshes of evil all are more or less fast caught, and pain, unhappiness, and misfortune wait upon mankind.

With the object of escaping, or in some way mitigating this overshadowing gloom, men and women rush blindly into innumerable devices, pathways by which they fondly hope to enter into a happiness which will not pass away. Such are the drunkard and the harlot, who revel in sensual excitements; such is the exclusive aesthete, who shuts himself out from the sorrows of the world, and surrounds himself with enervating luxuries; such is he who thirsts for wealth or fame, and subordinates all things to the achievement of that object; and such are they who seek consolation in the performance of religious rites.

And to all the happiness sought seems to come, and the soul, for a time, is lulled into a sweet security, and an intoxicating forgetfulness of the existence of evil; but the day of disease comes at last, or some great sorrow, temptation, or misfortune breaks suddenly in on the unfortified soul, and the fabric of its fancied happiness is torn to shreds.

-Lesson of Evil


'Darkness…

That's all there ever seemed to be around him.

Utter…darkness…

I hoped…that at least – I could be his light…'


The man clad in black stood frozen, luminous scarlet eyes wide with what - ? Shock? Horror? Disbelief?

A silken voice, crooning tone broken, called her.

"My lady..."

Her chocolate hair was matted against pale, clammy cheeks in stained curls, a vibrant blue hair pin lost and crushed beneath careless heels. Her center was torn from womb to heart, ruining the stunning blue dress that fit her so well.

Slowly, the man sank to shaking knees, eyes wide. "My lady..."

Even now, the fragile girl held stubbornly on to life. He could see the gentle, but labored rise and fall of her chest, heavily lashed eyes fluttering. Dimming blue orbs stared up at him, a crooked smile on the girl's face as he came into view.

Gently scooping up the fallen woman into strong arms, a trembling hand dabbed a thin line of blood from full lips with a white handkerchief.

"You're...here, Idarius."

Her voice calling his given name soothed him unexpectedly, and yet, cause an irreparable rift to open somewhere deep within him.

His mistress...was dying. The butler took the thought into consideration as he swept limp curls away from her eyes, the girl still smiling up at him. She was dying before their contract had been completed. In the state she was in, there was no saving her.

Scarlet hues glowed a soft fuchsia, the demon's lips pulling back into what resembled a snarl. It was too early - her soul had not ripened enough, and yet here she was, the very life he had sworn himself to protect being snatched away. After all his hard work, after suffering the hunger, merely for the game of waiting, of denying himself, only to finally indulge when the time was finally right... It was all fading away, just like the light in her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

His attention returned to his mistress as she lifted a single bare hand to gently stroke his cheek. Her blood stained his skin, the smell as enticing as ever.

"This is my...fault. I'm sorry."

It didn't matter. Her words meant nothing to him at the moment. The only thing that matter - the incessant hunger that ate away at his very being as each second went by. Her hand shifted, her thumb gently touching his lower lip.

"I know you're angry at me, furious even."

Yes - he was angered. Exceedingly furious at the moment; and most of his anger was directed towards himself. He had left her side, had left her vulnerable. He didn't think...he didn't image for even one second that his meal could ever be snatched away from him, faster than he could reach her. And yet her she was, dying in his very arms.

"But...if I can protect you – then I'm not really sorry at all."

"My Lady..." His eyes widened a fraction, perplexed by her words. Protect him?

She beckoned him closer, and he could see that she was suffering now more than ever. He bent over her, protectively, possessively. Protecting what little left of her he could from the world around them.

Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears, her lips trembling in fear.

When she kissed him, it was like a knife to the heart.

It was regretful, and broken, and a goodbye.

He clung to the last vestiges of affection on her lips with a frightening intensity. Even when she pulled away, he clung to the last heat her lips held. Until her life was extinguished, she would still offer warmth to his slowly freezing heart.

His mistress closed her eyes, falling silent. She wasn't dead he knew, merely seemed to be resting. However – he barely had time to react as the hand that had cupped his face slipped away, and was suddenly thrust in front of his eyes. The mark of their contract, his mark, burned brightly on her palm.

"This is an order...the last one I shall give to you as my servant."

No, no, he wouldn't lose her. He would not lose his prey, his meal, his mistress, his lady

"Idarius...don't ever forget me."

A sudden unnatural gust of wind blasted him away from her, as powerful as the words the girl spoke. She collapsed back to the ground as she slipped out of his arms, letting out a painful groan.

"My lady!"

Cracking open her eyes, she looked at him from where she laid, a barrier separating the two. She could see a swirl of emotion raging in her demon's eyes; the fury, the undeniable hunger…and something else she couldn't place. Never had he looked at her like that, and she felt a pain in her chest, completely unrelated to her fatal injury. A shadow fell over her, the sound of a large pair of wings beating steadily above her. The smallest of smiles pulled at her mouth, her gaze softening as she looked at him.

"I'm sorry...I know how much you crave it," she whispered, her hand touching her chest, just above where her heart beat. "I'm cruel, I understand. But don't worry - someday, we'll meet again."

The demon snarled viciously, rage swelling up inside him as he watched the light further fade from her eyes, and trained on the one above her he had no doubt was the one responsible for this.

Her hand withdrew from her chest, and she reached out to him, her eyes once again filled with the strange warmth and adoration she always looked at him with. That despite knowing what he was, what his very purpose was being contracted to her, she still showed unabashed.

"We will meet again, and then...and then-..."

Idarius...maybe then, may I tell you how I really feel?

Her outstretched hand fell to the floor, the light snuffed out of her eyes forever. Her heart stopped beating, and already her blood began to cool, at least, what had not already seeped out of her corpse.

The demon stood in disbelief, and he felt the tether that tied the two to each other snap.