Csoh: NO!!! PRELUDE!...Hieronymus...(leaves room, eats dinner, watches movie, pets cat, watches another movie, finishes dark-hunter book, brushes teeth)...

(Seven Hours Later)

Csoh: (eating breakfast) NO PRELUDE! NO!!!

A/N: Might be upset by his death...

Acheron: No way I never would have guessed. (rolls eyes and hops onto motorcycle)

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Chapter 9:

The world must have ended. Surely the fates couldn't be this cruel.

Holly tried to wake him. He wasn't getting cold like the dead people in movies.

NO!

Her prelude couldn't be dead. Not now. Not when she realized how she felt about him. Holly couldn't think past the fact that Hieronymus was dead. It all seemed like a nightmare. She started to perform CPR. Mouth to mouth. Anything!

Footsteps approached her as she looked up, eyes red from her tears to find the last person she ever wanted to see. Ferdinand. He was grinning widely as he forced her to her feet.

"Get out you bastard!" Her voice cracking at the end. He started to laugh.

"This is just perfect. We'd heard Artemis had the idiot following you." She spat in his face and pulled the dark-hunters body away from the guy. Her freedom was shortly ended as she ran into a tall black-haired man. He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to release Prelude.

"Can you believe the nerve of that guy? Would you mind if I took care of him?" Holly nodded and bent down to try and bring her dark-hunter back.

Ferdinand backed away. "C'mon! I helped you get in here! WITHOUT ME STRYKER YOU WOULDN'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT HOLLY'S LOCATION!" Holly looked up at the two of them. The man named Stryker pushed Ferdinand out the door and closed it in his face.

She started to flat out sob for Prelude. Stryker kept back a good distance until the room seemed to be so hot it was on fire. He pulled her away from the corpse and Holly tried to fight him off. He smirked at her and held tighter. A smash from the kitchen echoed into the foyer and Holly felt something hit her.

"HOLLY!" Ferdinand's voice screamed for her as she started to fall unconscious. Her last glimpse one of Prelude on the floor. His corpse laying on the floor gathering dust.

Ferdinand rushed into the room and towards the daimon leader. He dodged his fist and smashed him against the wall. All without letting go of Holly.

"Why would you even bother?" He opened a bolt-hole and turned one last time toward Ferdinand. "I have Holly and in about a day, I'll have the power to defy the Fates." He walked into the bolt-hole and vanished, bolt-hole closing behind him.

Ferdinand fell to the ground and cursed himself. He should have stayed away from her business, he should have just left her in the hands of Prelude. Prelude. He turned with a cold glare toward the corpse of the once lethal dark-hunter. He nearly wet himself at the sight. Prelude was getting up and looking around.

Prelude awaken to a pounding sound. He looked expecting to see Artemis or Holly only to find his newly made squire, Ferdinand, hitting the marble floor. He pulled himself to his feet. It was an effort and he found he did have the wounds Artemis had inflicted on him.

"Oh shit!" Ferdinand headed towards the door and Prelude ran just in time to stop the guy from leaving.

"How the hell am I still alive?" Ferdinand looked horrifically at him.

"I don't know! Why are you asking me!" Prelude twisted his hand and sent the squire to his knees. He squirmed in pain and cried out. "STOP IT! IT HURTS!"

"I asked you a question." He twisted the hand more, sending more pain into the squire. "I expect nothing less than an honest answer."

"OKAY OKAY! I DON'T KNOW-" He twisted the hand to almost its limit. "OW! STOP IT I WASN'T FINISHED! HOLLY WAS TRYING TO BRING YOU BACK AND SRYKER CAME AND TOOK HER!"

He froze at the name of the daimon leader. It made sense that someone like Stryker would go after Holly with her powers. Still-

"How did he get in without an invitation into my house?" Ferdinand tried harder to escape his hold. Prelude grabbed and twisted his other hand while pushing his foot into the guy's back.

"STOP! I DID IT! I LET HIM IN! PLEASE STOP! IT HURTS!" Prelude pressed his foot into the guy's back more.

"Why did you do that?" The squire looked at him with absolute hate.

"YOU TOOK HOLLY WHEN I WAS TRYING TO MAKE HER DEPENDANT ON ME! SHE WAS SUPPOSE TO COME CRYING FOR ME TO TAKE HER BACK NOT RUN AND FIND YOUR HAIRY ASS!"

Prelude released him and the man went running out the door. He looked around the room and thought about what to do.

"Hieronymus, I know that you would make a great fighter!" Prelude looked up at Shanta. They were in the back of the music hall while she prepared for her show.

"You know that I wouldn't get to see you anymore. With all the fighting that is happening and all the hunting for witches I couldn't stand to leave you to defend yourself on your own. I love you far too much for that."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" She snapped at him. She relaxed and looked apologetically at him. "I love my family and if they want you to fight then so do I. Do you know how long it took for me to get them to even consider having you marry me." He nodded. It had taken them three whole years to get permission from her parents.

"I'm sorry. I just can't stand to be away from you for so long. After all the times of having to hide when someone was getting close enough to see us together-"

"Hieronymus! Tomorrow we shall marry and I don't want to hear another word out of you until then." He felt that feeling again. Premonition.

"Shanta, shouldn't you cancel your music until after the wedding?" She looked furiously at him.

"NEVER! NOT EVEN YOU WILL TELL ME WHEN I CAN AND CANNOT PLAY MY CELLO!" She walked out the room. He went towards the balconies to watch her. After tonight she would be his and-

Prelude felt his anguish come over him as he thought of the night she had died. She had never been his. He should have realized what her family had been planning. Now Holly was in danger. The question still remained though...Why had she been here and why did she save him?

"You're a moron!" He looked up to find D'spute leaning against one of the walls.

"How long have you been watching?" He straightened up and looked at Prelude.

"Since Holly came and beat on ol' Artemis. She's deadly when upset." The oneroi smiled. "You should have seen it. She beat the snot out of Artemis. Artemis had to run away and still-"

"Why did Holly come here?" The dream-hunter looked at him like a moron.

"Hm... I wonder. She brought you back to life, beat up Artemis when she saw you dead and Artemis still beating on you, now why would someone do something like that?"

"She can't have feelings for me. I left before anything could happen." D'spute looked at him.

"Yeah, you never shared your memories with her or open up to one another. You two never kissed or anything that would show affection-"

"Shut it D'spute. I get it. How do I get to Kalosis?" D'spute shrugged.

"How the heck should I know. Hell, you're not even immortal anymore." Prelude froze.

"WHAT?"

"Artie released your soul from her command. Holly brought your soul back before the fates could take your soul away from this world. Your not a dark-hunter. Your just another human. A weak one at that."

"How am I suppose to get her back?!" He was starting to get pissed. Holly's face went through his mind. She was all alone. She needed him at full strength.

"Dunno. LATER!" D'spute vanished and Prelude cursed his luck. Why did his luck send him into these situations?

He pulled on his coat and ran out into the sunlight. He should have been rejoicing his freedom from the darkness, but he had bigger things to do. Like save his libeling.

The rained soaked him to the bone as he ran down the streets. What he was looking for, not even he knew. He hurried down one street when he stumbled upon Kyrian and Julian leaving a doll shop. They looked at him shocked.

"PRELUDE?!" Kyrian looked at him astonished.

"I don't have time for you two, I have to find a way into Kalosis. Holly's been stolen!" Julian stopped him from continuing to run.

"How do you expect to fight alone in a place like Kalosis-" They both noticed that Julian's hand was covered in blood from Prelude's wounds. "You're bleeding."

"IT DOESN'T MATTER! HOLLY'S-" Kyrian pushed him into Julian's van and they drove him back to Kyrian's house. Prelude trying to push open the back door the whole way there. They dragged him to the house and onto a chair in the dining room. Amanda ran in with a bottle of peroxide and bandages. Prelude fought to get away. Holly needed him.

Together, the three pulled up his shirt and started to treat his wounds. He hissed at the tender spot in the center of his back as Amanda treated it.

"How the hell did you get whipped?" He ignored Amanda and tried to get up despite Julian and Kyrian holding onto him.

"I've heard of getting whipped, but DAMN!" Kyrian shook his head. "I've never seen anything like this."

Acheron walked into the room and froze as he saw Prelude's back. He looked like he was seeing a ghost. Amanda tossed aside the empty bottle of peroxide and sighed.

"I'll finish him up for you Amanda. You go and take care of your children." She nodded and left.

"Acheron. Have you seen anything like this?" Kyrian looked towards the dark-hunter and he shook his head.

"Leave us. I've got a handle on him." The two Greeks nodded and left them alone.

Prelude watched him as he grabbed another bottle of peroxide and doused his back with the contents. It burned terribly and Prelude hissed at the pain.

"It'll be wrapped up faster this way."

"Acheron, Holly was taken by Stryker!" Acheron looked angrily at him.

"What did you do?!" Prelude looked furiously at him.

"I was dead during that time. In case you haven't been told by dear Artemis yet. She killed me!" Acheron was still upset.

"How do you know it was Stryker then."

"We have a rogue squire that let him in my house."Acheron pulled out his phone.

"Which one?"

"Ferdinand."

Acheron dialed and waited for an answer. "Urian, find out where your father is keeping his newest hostage. And Tell Alexion to tell the blue bloods to take care of Ferdinand Smith. He had gone against the code." He hung up and finished wrapping up Prelude.

"We need to find Holly and get her away from the daimons." Acheron didn't handle being ordered around well.

"We nothing. I will be getting her out of there. You need to return to your home and live out the rest of your mortal life."