The Many Mini-Misadventures of Stan and Spooky

Plot Three - A Band Reunited

by Syrenia

Chapter Eight - The Truth

She walked towards the door, Stan grinding his teeth as he moved toward her, grasping her arm and pushing her as they went across the room, away from the door.

Soon her back was to the wall.

"You want the truth from me? I'll give you the truth," he ground out, finally ready to be rejected.

He had put off telling her the truth because he feared she'd leave.

But now it was time.

"You wanted to meet the demoness I love," he reminded, taking her by the wrist roughly. "Well, you will."

Leading her, he headed toward the side of the bed, past the chair she had sat in, stopping and standing her in front of a mirror.

"You're looking at her," he announced, letting go of her wrist.

Her hand, now free, moved in front of her, Spooky pointing to herself.

"M-Me?" she asked, speechless.

"You're slow, but you're right. You're the most amazing demoness I've ever met. You proved me wrong. I thought I was too evil to love, but you showed me otherwise. If you were just some other demoness, I wouldn't have kept you with me and protected you. I wouldn't have fought another demon just to have you," he confessed, watching her face in the mirror.

"If that doesn't prove it to you, I'll say it, and you know this is hard for me, so just listen," he said, seeing her lips had parted to speak. "You're special to me. You're the only one of my kind who has never fled from me and you've even disobeyed me. You don't treat me like a King, you treat me like a friend, which is something I didn't truly know about until I met you."

"But, Master--" she mumbled, highly confused.

"Shh, just listen," he interrupted, continuing. "You not only became the only official friend I've ever had, but you helped me conquer the world. Because of you, my dream was fulfilled. I want you to rule beside me. And I also want you to give me an heir."

"But, Stan!" she shouted, spinning around to face him.

"Listen!" he commanded. "You may think you look strange, but I think you're beautiful, so don't tell me otherwise."

Blinking, her cheeks flushed, her wide eyes staring into his.

"I fought to keep you because I love you, Spooky," he confessed. "If you hate me for it and want to leave me, I'll let you. I know I can't force you to feel anything for me. I've known it all along and I've only been waiting for the right time to tell you the truth. You wanted the truth, so there it is."

"I don't... know what to say," she whispered, looking down. "I... I want to go..."

Hearing this, he felt his heart break, Stan turning to watch as she headed out the bedroom door.

Running to catch up, he called out, "Where will you stay the night?"

"I'm... going to see Ari," she decided, Stan catching up.

Eventually, throughout a very long silence, the two returned to Ari's house.

Immediately, she asked Ari to talk to her alone, the two going to his room.

"Ari, I'm going to leave. I'm going back to earth," she told him, the boy standing from where he'd been sitting on his bed.

"What happened?" he asked worriedly.

She turned her back to him, "Stan... told me he loves me."

Ari realized it had finally happened and now she was confused. She couldn't understand why the Demon Lord would have feelings for her.

"Do you love him?" the boy asked, Spooky turning to face him.

"He's my Master," she said as if the two could not exist at once in harmony.

"Do you love him?" Ari repeated.

Spooky couldn't seem to find the words, eyes searching the room before they returned to her friend.

"He said I can leave if I want to, so I'm going and I just thought... I'd tell you before I went," she said, avoiding the question. "So goodbye, Ari."

Quickly, she left his room, heading down the hallway and downstairs, passing Stan.

Following her, the demon tried to keep up...

Eventually they made it to the spa near Triste, Spooky going in and renting a room after they saw Stan.

Stan, who also got a room, watched her head into hers.

It was almost nighttime, but he simply had to ask.

Knocking on the door, he called out, "Spooky? Where will you go?"

"I'm going back to earth, Stan," she replied, his heart breaking even more.

"Are you really going to leave? Is that really what you want?"

"It's what I want most," she replied, the demon hurt.

Upset, he headed down the stairs, seeing Rosalyn, who had just come in, and knocking her over as he went.

The hero hadn't expected to see him, but was still huffy about being knocked over, following him out the door.

Meanwhile, from her room with a window, Spooky sat on the windowsill.

Moments later, she heard voices, mainly coming from Stan.

What she heard stuck with her and kept her awake, so she simply headed for her homeworld, Stan following right behind her...