Hi again my faithful readers! Glad to see all your friendly faces, even the fang filled ones. So after several months of trying to figure out what the heck happened next in Ash's story, I finally got some inspiration. Okay, yeah it's not great, but it'll serve to pass time until Sherri finishes up on Ash's real book.

I've taken some liberties in this and tweaked a bit of cannon so you'll recognize some of these events if you've read the series up through Upon A Midnight Clear. If you haven't read them all…what are you doing here? Anyway, on with the show….

Title: Monsters & Gods II

Rating: Still M for cussing and violence. Not a lot of sex in this one, guess my smutty bunny left town.

Genre: Still covering the spectrum in this one. I tried for a bit of drama and ended up with comedy so I hope it's not a disaster.

Spoilers: If you've read Devil May Cry and have dealt with that major revelation you won't be spoiled. If you haven't read that yet, you're gonna be spoiled! Take a trip to the library or bookstore now if you want to avoid me opening the bag and allowing the kitty to escape. Go ahead, I'll wait here.

General Disclaimer: (Same as the last one) I do not own the Dark Hunters, Acheron Parthenopaeus (who really can own a god?), or any of the characters and places in this story. I'm just playing with them for a bit, I'll give them back when I'm done. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and while I will never in this lifetime be as good of a writer as Sherrilyn Kenyon is, I'd certainly like to be. I mean no harm from this work Ms. Kenyon and if I offend I shall remove this.

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone that enjoyed the last one. All of your lovely comments made me blush and all that sappy stuff I swore I'd never do. They also inspired me to go back to visit with Ash & Phaedryn and see what happened after the first part of their story. So this is all your fault! Okay, no it's not. It's all me. Anyway, I'm not completely satisfied with the way this one came out. You may find some parts that drag a bit and others that don't quite make as much sense as I'd like. I've re-read & re-worked this thing three times now and I'm sick of it so I'm passing it off to you now. But if the inspiration strikes I'll fix it as I post.

OoOoOoOoOo

Since time began, a battle has been fought. It's rather simple and often written about; however, very few people actually know the truth about it. You know the players on both sides, call them what you will, good and evil, light and dark, whatever, it matters little what names they go by, just that they are what they are. Each one struggling to gain an advantage over the other, to tip the scales in their side's favor. Each side knows the stakes in the struggle, the final decision in the fate of the universe. And each side has a lot to lose if the other side wins.

However, the lines are not always drawn plainly and sometimes what could be perceived as a tactic of the side of good is in fact a play by the forces of darkness. The same goes in reverse. It's not always easy to tell which side is which unless you've been following the conflict since the beginning. Since only a select few powers are that old, it's blurry at best and confusing to most. The being that was at your side for centuries could suddenly turn on you and become your greatest enemy. The penultimate warrior on the side of good may be the worst murderer in the history of humanity while the most holy man may be the star player for the side of darkness. Their proclivities don't always show their true nature.

Schisms appear in the armies and pawns are removed from the playing field one by one. Over the millennia the battle has come to a point where it is virtually a stalemate, neither side having any advantage over the other and each side equally tired of the war. The numbers of the armies are equivalent and diminishing and the tactics are well known by both sides. Tricks are pulled, battles are fought and time moves on.

Champions are selected, campaigns are carried out and no one in the mortal world is the wiser. If the mortals knew what was at stake they would regress back to the primordial sludge they came from. So the knowledge is kept from them and they live their brief lives thinking the warriors of good and evil are nothing more than a fairy tale. A few stumble across the truth but they seldom see the light of day after finding out the things that go bump in the night are, in fact, real.

Sometimes however, they have something to offer to one side or the other and they are allowed not only to live, but to remain sane as well. So long as they never speak of what they know outside of the armies they fight for. These people are special to the powers that control the fight and they are highly prized because they remind the armies what it is they are fighting for. In days long past these people were thought to be possessed by demons or touched by a god in the ways that mortals have of explaining away that which they cannot comprehend. Closer to modern times they became recluses, shunned from society and hiding their gifts.

They are around us everyday and we can see them if we look hard enough. But who ever looks that closely for what we don't believe exists?

OoOoOoOo

Deep in the bowels of the nether region of what the ancient Atlanteans knew as Kalosis and what more modern religions know as Hell, something writhed in the shadows and stirred. It had been many thousands of years since the creature last saw the upper planes. Long had it languished here, forgotten by time and memory. But something had woken it from its evil slumber. The pieces of the universe had realigned just right and now it woke slowly, lifting its head and sensing the purpose it had been created for so long ago.

OoOoOoOo

"Ow! Son of a…" She hissed in pain and shifted the baby away from her breast. "I think she's teething."

"Really? What gives you that idea?"

"Oh, well it could be the bleeding puncture holes in my chest," she said as she handed the baby to its father.

He tossed the gurgling infant into the air eliciting giggles and coos. "Or it could just be the tiny fangs," he said as he cradled his daughter in his arms and examined her mouth.

"Fangs huh? Wasn't expecting that just yet." She walked over to her husband's side and leaned over their daughter. Now she could see the tiny fangs starting to protrude from the little girls gums. "Wonder when the horns will show up?"

"I don't know. I'm new at this too. Maybe because you were human when you conceived her they won't ever show up? You know you don't look a thing like you did before. She looks pretty human. Well, except for the fangs and the occasional flash of purple skin when she's upset."

"And what is that supposed to mean? You don't like the way I look now?" She said as she glared at him and picked the baby up from his arms and snuggled the little girl to her chest.

He sighed softly and walked over behind his wife wrapping her in his arms and burying his face in her neck kissing her tenderly. "You know better than that Sati. You are the most beautiful woman in the universe to me and no one will ever be better looking than you are."

"Ri-ight. You're just saying that cause I can zap you off to nowhere now aren't you?"

He spun her around and looked deeply into her emerald green eyes and he put all of the emotion he felt for her into his gaze, "You…are hormonally imbalanced and a nut ball." He grinned and ducked from the hand she swatted at him. "I'm kidding!" He slid his arms around her waist and cuddled his body around both his wife and his daughter, "You know how much I love you and nothing you say or do will ever change that."