disclaimer: oh please......i'm not even gonna bother

a/n: here we are!!!!!! the landmark 11h chappie!!!!!!! and it really hasn't been that long. actually it hasn't been long at all. probably four days. that was REALLY good. u guys r doing better :) nEway....this chappie is VERY important. u must r/r. very important. my a/n's have stopped being funny, haven't they??? well that's because i'm doing them in the morning before school and the dread of the oncoming classes puts me in a very non- funny mood. nEway.....on w/ my chappie!!!!!!



Chapter Eleven

When Stanton came to, he was in a very dark room. He was laying on his back so all he could see was one torch against the wall, its flame flickering and dancing, seeming to be the only source of light in the room. It danced across the rugged, chipped, and battered old stone wall it's light bouncing off every imperfection entrancing him.

He sat there, watching, pretending to be asleep still, to prolong the inevitable. The Atrox was near. Nothing good could be happening. He was still groggy and his head hurt tremendously.

But wait! Serena had defeated him! He had let her! He should be mortal. He should be free. He knew that certainly wasn't true at the moment because he felt the same hopelessness and despair that he always did. The same longing and yearning for a better life than he already had. And he had no wounds, which he knew he would from that battle if he was mortal. So what was this? Maybe the Atrox had to initiate some ceremony and that's why it was still here.

Stanton sat up, wanting more than anything not to see what he was seeing. There was the Atrox, fuming in the corner. It would be terrifying to anyone who hadn't been near it almost every day for the past hundred years. And there was Serena. She was bound and gagged like some kind of common sacrifice. She was not being treated with the respect a goddess deserves even when she IS in the underworld. She had a trickle of blood running down her face from a cut on her forehead. With a pang he realized that he had caused that, flipping her over as he had done. She looked at him, pleading with those beautiful, exquisite eyes. Her lovely dress was torn and she looked so frightened.

He had to put a block on his own mind. He knew she would try to speak to him, not realizing that the Atrox would hear everything the said to one another. Stanton saw her face fall, her last hope defeated. She thought his rejection of her thoughts was just ignoring her, not a protection. He couldn't bear this any longer.

"Atrox, set me free. You have promised that I would be free of my bond to you if I let her defeat me. I have. Now let both of us go."

Stanton smiled at Serena as he saw her face light up. She still seemed a bit suspicios.

FIRST OF ALL, MY SLAVE, the Atrox was taunting him, 'I NEVER PROMISED THAT SHE WOULD BE FREE. I ONLY MADE THAT PROMISE TO YOU.

Stanton's heart froze up. He hadn't thought of that. What was the use in being mortal if he couldn't have Serena?

AND ALSO, DID YOU ACTUALLY BELIEVE ME? DID YOU ACTUALLY THINK THAT I WOULD SIMPLY GIVE YOU YOUR FREEDOM? YOU KNOW OF ALL THE PROMISES I HAVE GIVEN IN THE PAST. NOT ONE OF THEM HAS COME TRUE. THIS ONE WON'T, EITHER. NOW I KNOW WHERE YOUR LOYALTIES ARE, FORMER PRINCE OF DARKNESS. YOU WILL NO LONGER HOLD A PLACE OF HONOR. YOU WILL MERELY BE A PAWN. A REGULAR FOLLOWER. NO BETTER THAN THOSE YOU HAVE CONVERTED.

Stanton wanted to bash his head against the wall for his stupidity. It had been too good to be true. Of course the Atrox wouldn't give Stanton back his life. He would simply make it worse and then rub his nose in it. Well, he wasn't going to let that happen. If he was still a Follower he still had his powers, if not his position.

Stanton put all of his power behind the ties that bound Serena. He was prepared to push with it for hours on end if need be, but the force of all his power at once snapped them right away. Serena fell to the floor below and Stanton ran to kneel beside her. Serena looked up at him, all the hope in the world in here eyes. She obviously couldn't quite believe that he had forsworn the Atrox for her. He looked back, lovingly, telling her it was true, without saying a word. Cautiously, Serena put her arms around Stanton, and rested her head on his chest, not able to say anything for the emotions battling in her heart.

Stanton glared up at the Atrox. "You made a deal with me. Let me go."

The Atrox burst into an evil laugh, or its own version of a laugh. It was more like the sound of breaking glass or of fingernails on a chalkboard, cutting to the very soul, and causing even the bravest of men to have a chill down their spine.

YOU FOOL! WEREN'T YOU LISTENING? IT WAS ALL A SCAM. I WILL NEVER SET YOU FREE. WHY WOULD YOU NOW RISK YOUR VERY LIFE, FOR THIS WOMAN THAT HAS BEEN DESTINED TO BE AGAINST YOU FOR ALL ETERNITY?

Stanton looked into the face of the Atrox defiantly and said four words that had never been said by a Follower. He said four words that would change the course of history, because no one had thought it possible. He looked up at the Atrox and said:

"Because I love her."

And then, the Earth seemed to shift on its axis and what happened next changed their lives forever.

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a/n: oh, i know....major cliffie, huh??? well.....maybe this was the climax, maybe the next will be the climax, who knows??? i don't. cuz i really wasn't paying attention when the teacher told us how to judge these things. but the next shall be important, as this once was. i hope u liked this chappie and now you must REVIEW!!!!! if you don't i think i shall cry. sadness. i'm saying shall a lot 2day...sorry about that. nEway. w/e. REVIEW!!!!!!!!