Moonlight Ocean, Frozen Nights By Dream Fox

This story is a work of fiction, created by the author's own imagination. The characters and rough plotline, however, belong to the maker and publishers of Demon Diary.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * He walked quickly down the dark hallway, chin held high in a proud, almost arrogant fashion, and he carried an air of superiority around him, like a king would drape himself in jewels and fine cloth. His night black hair flew out behind him like a fan, bobbing up and down when he walked, and with a certain glimmering shine, so it looked like a moonlight ocean, on a dark, frozen night.

And such was his manor too, cold, calm, and calculating, assessing everything around him with a mild indifference, tolerating what must be tolerated, and annihilating everything else.

He was Eclipse.

But he was a demon, and as such, born to act like one. He was well known for his merciless killings, letting none go, not women or children, nor the old or feeble. He told himself he was being merciful, after all, they were only human, destined to live a short, terror filled life, full of death, disease, and hardships, and what would come of it? What would they accomplish in their short life that would be worth such suffering? Nothing.

His very name struck terror in mortals, and the very image of his flowing night cloak or hair would send even the bravest man whimpering in fear.

And to think, he was only twenty.

Some people lead good happy lives, full of joy, and fulfillment, kissing spouses and parents, and playing in wild flower fields with their children.

It takes a lot of suffering to have killed 7234 people by the age of fourteen.

But who's counting?

Demons, unless they are the offspring of other demons, rarely live easily childhoods. It isn't unlikely for them to be murders by the age of six, as often as not killing a close family member, like a sibling or parent. Because, all it takes is a thought, a brief flicker of hatred and destruction, and the life ends.

As though it never was.

But because of their killing and natural destructiveness, it isn't rare for them to feel little love towards others, particularly living things. When you're an orphan, hated and despised for things outside your control, never feeling love or kindness, it's hard to have any real value for life. It isn't cherished like a happy person loves theirs. It's only regarded with mild distaste, and thing to be kept for the sake of keeping it, not for the love of it, much like one keeps an old love note; it is only to be thought of with a shallow kind of sadness and acceptance, not because the thing has any value, simply because throwing it away wouldn't be quite right, and is almost not worth the effort to do so.

Such is too often the life of a demon. But, if it wasn't, they wouldn't be demons, would they? Joyful people don't torture and murder for fun. If people had any sense, they would learn that the better they treat people of the dark magic, the softer the demon lords become. But, as too often as the way of the world is, it never occurs to them that they could, in any way, make the slightest difference in how anyone acts.

Bah, foolish mortals.

And Eclipse was too much like other demons. His own childhood had been hard, full of bloodshed and death..but that's another story, for another time.

He knocked on the door twice, and stopped to wait for an answer.

"Come in," a voice purred, like a cat, lulling in the fat of luxury.

He pushed open the large wooden door with a creak and turned to close it softly behind him. "Ah, Eclipse," the voice sighed with recognition.

"Master Raenef," he bowed deeply, then straightened himself to better view his master. Raenef the Second was lying on a couch with a pile of books open around him and several stacks on the floor. Sheets were spread out around him, and a bottle of ink was to his side, a white feather pen clutched in his fingers. His long white hair lay spread over the papers like rivers of thawed snow, and deep blue eyes twinkled at him from under heavy lashes.

"I have heard you had a successful voyage, Eclipse," Raenef stated, not asking, but the demon nodded anyway. "And you wiped out the entire brotherhood?"

"Yes, my lord. Then entire priesthood of Maho has been destroyed, leaving the god defenseless from our own. It is only a matter of time before he, too, is destroyed."

"Good, good," Raenef said absentmindedly.

"What shall my next assignment be?"

The demon lord looked carefully at the other demon. "To be honest," he began, "I was intending to keep you around here for a short while. Only ten or twenty years until you've had a bit of rest. You've been doing very good lately, Eclipse."

Carefully schooling his features, Eclipse bowed respectively and murmured some praises to Raenef and denial of his own compliments, as was expected of a servant.

Raenef, however, saw through Eclipse's facade his displeasure, and frowned slightly. "You disagree?"

"My lord," Eclipse quickly responded, "I did no such thing."

"You voiced no displeasure, that is true, but we have known each other for many years, Eclipse, and I have learned to read you like a book. Come now, don't just stand there, tell me what you'd rather do."

The demon let him self relax slightly, shrugging instead of formally responding, taking away his cold, demon-like appearance. "I just don't like to be idle."

Raenef laughed lightly. "Now, Eclipse, even a work-a-holic like you requires a short break between assignments. At least rest for a few years between killing the brotherhood and destroying the world."

Good demon edict required Eclipse to laugh at Raenef's joke, but Eclipse would have laughed anyway. "Even I am not that ambitious," he told the demon lord. "I would be perfectly content in just destroying a continent or two." It was Raenef's turn to laugh.

"Indeed?" he chuckled. "We shall have to watch our backs then, make sure you don't destroy one of us in the process."

They both laughed together, but Eclipse heard the warning. He would not forget. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hello everyone!

I seriously doubt many people will be reading my new story, since demon diary isn't as popular as YYH. I do hope, however, that it will encourage all my other fans to buy the new "demon diary" manga and enjoy it themselves! It is a wonderful series, and one of my top favorites, aside from Hanakimi (For you in full Blossom) or Vampire Game.

If you're new to my writing, I suggest you go and check out some of my other YYH and Inu-Yasha stories, since you might enjoy those as well. And those stories, will, by the way, be updated soon!

Happy reading, and love and kisses! Dream Fox