Cutting Ties ( Chapter 2 )

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AN: First order of business, the ever important disclaimer! I do not own

demon diary! If I did I would be able to draw more than random stick figures!

Which I can't so I don't so there. Right. Second order of business, I

apologize for any inconsistencies concerning Raenef's appearance. This chapter was

finished by the time I got the second DD, which has a color pic of Raenef's

REAL coloring (ie blonde hair, green eyes.) I had origanally gone by the cover

on the first manga, describing him as having blue hair and blue eyes. I

tried to go back and edit them, but I'm sure there's a few somewhere. Finally.

WARNING! WARNING!WARNING! WARNING!

THERE IS A RAPE SCENE IN THIS CHAPTER, IF YOU AREN'T MATURE ENOUGH TO

HANDLE

IT, OR FOR SOME OTHER REASON CAN'T DEAL WITH THE GRAPHIC SCENES THAT

WILLBE

DEPICTED IN THIS FIC, LEAVE NOW! BE FOREWARNED, ALL FLAMES SHALL BE

LAUGHED

AT, CORRECTED FOR GRAMMER MISTAKES, AND PROMPTLY USED AS FUEL FOR A

BONFIRE WITH

WHICH TO ROAST MY MARSHMELLOWS. I appreciate your attention. For all those

who are mature enough to handle this, feel free to move along to the fic! Ja

ne!

Bleeding Hearts

By: Omnipresent

Chapter One: Shattered Soul

The explosion that ripped through the palace caused Eclipse to stumble

violently, on the way to his rooms. The long-haired demon, normally graceful

and poised even in the worst of situations, lost his footing badly, and fell

into the wall. His robes, swirling and flapping about him, only hindered the

dark-haired demon as he struggled to gain his balance upon the still trembling

ground.

"What the-?" Eclipse whirled the moment he regained he equilibrium,

facing towards the origin on the massive explosion. Everything was hazy, bits of

stone and dust kicked up from the blast that had rocked the massive palace,

and though the dark-eyed demon couldn't see more than a few yards beyond, he

could feel the residue left by the powerful magic that had been cast.

The practice room... I left Raenef there to practice the new spell...

Gods, no!

With but a thought, and a fervently whispering, "Go!" the demon found

himself in the middle of a dust cloud, unable to see beyond his very own nose.

Muttering a few choice curses underneath his breath, murmuring several choice

ones concerning his own stupidity in trusting Raenef alone to learn such a

spell, and then questioning Raenef's intelligence at botching up what should have

been a fairly simple spell, and managing to take half the palace along with

his mistake. Really, the boy had a disturbing ability to cause mayhem and

disaster wherever he went. Which, wouldn't have been at all bad if the mayhem and

disaster had been, in any way intentional, and aimed at humans instead of

either, a)Raenef himself, b) Eclipse, or c) some unfortunate inanimate object

such as the palace that now lay in shambles.

The demon waved at the air around him as the dust began to clear.

Squinting, dark eyes scanned a barely visible surface that had once been the floor

of the room, and was know broken and upturned bits of marble and dirt.

Coughing, the demon moved forward slowly, his eyes searching for that

wild tuft of blond hair that resembled a porcupine, the soft fabrics Raenef wore,

or a pale hand...anything that would reveal the location of his master.

Finally, the dust cleared enough for shapes and forms to become obvious,

and Eclipse's desperate eyes found the target of his frantic search. Raenef

was lying, sprawled a crossed what had been, at one point, the smooth, polished

center of the room. The small boy lay half-turned on his side, his legs and

arms sprawled like some grotesque doll, tossed away carelessly and forgotten.

Eclipse ran forward, kneeling quickly beside the fallen form of his lord

and master. The pale cheeks were smudged with dirt, and a trickle of crimson

ran from a small cut on his temple, where a bruise was rapidly forming upon

pale, pale skin. Eclipse's eyes fell on a nearby rock, a corner of which was

stained blood red. Obviously, it had been what had caused the temple wound to

his young lord.

Eclipse, a demon renowned for his coldheartedness and his ruthlessness,

scooped up the small, yielding body of his lord with a tomoyo gentleness that

would have shocked those who had seen Eclipse during the Hangma War. Eclipse

teleported them both to Raenef's room where the dark-haired man gently de

posited the blonde on his bed. Then the demon went to Raenef's bathroom

where he filled up a bowl with warm water, retrieved several towels, and a small

bottle of disinfectant. Painstakingly, he deposited these items on the bedside

table next to Raenef, and took a seat on the soft, comfortable bed.

For a long moment, Eclipse simply stared

at the unconscious form of Raenef, appraising with a clinical detachment.

Finally, he leaned over, and skilled, nimble fingers began to work at the tiny

buttons that fastened Raenef's shirt closed. The long string of buttons took

several moments to unhitch all the way, and Eclipse had to pull the demon lord

to a sitting position, leaning the blonde hair against his chest in order to

tug the shirt free. He dropped the dirt, torn piece of cloth onto the ground

with a slight grimace. Eclipse had berated the boy he served

countless time, for not being able to pick up his own list. Dropping his dirty

clothes and then leaving them on the floor was perhaps the biggest annoyance he had

often scolded Raenef for. Now, to be contradicting himself by doing the very

thing he often scolded Raenef for, made the dark-haired demon shudder

internally.

Laying Raenef back down on the soft folds of the bed, Eclipse took a

moment to simply stare at the beauty before him. Raenef was truly lovely, Eclipse

thought, stroking a soft curve with a long nailed finger. Even he could

recognize that. The demons hook himself from dangerous thoughts abruptly. Now as

not the time to be thinking such things, he warned himself. Such thoughts

led to places that the dark-haired demons till wasn't entirely sure he wanted to

tread upon quite yet.

Admittedly, Eclipse had notice Raenef's slightly more than

teacher-student relationship with him. The young boy had always worn his heart on his

sleeve, and Eclipse had been noticing more and more frequently the slightly longer

-lasting-then-strictly-necessary-touches that Raenef would bestow upon him.

Not to mention how many times he had caught the pale emerald gaze on him when

the young demon lord had believed Eclipse to not be looking. Eclipse wasn't

entirely sure if even Raenef was aware of the way his feelings towards the man

he called his teacher were maturing, growing, deepening, but more and more

often the dark-haired demon found himself aware of it. Of

course, for a lower being, such as himself, to move against a higher-ranked one,

such as the blond waif he had been teaching, chafed against everything that had

been ingrained in him since he had been a child himself. Protocol demanded

that Eclipse wait until Raenef made an offer, or an appeal of some sort, that was

clear as to what was meant by it. The problem there being, of course,

Eclipse was almost positive Raenef did not know of this rule, let alone, even if he

did, that the blond would be able to act upon it. Sighing, the

dark-haired demon shook himself from his traitorous thoughts, drawing himself

back to the present. The crimson trail, leading from Raenef's temple to some

point hidden within the thick mane of his hair, that had previously glistened

wetly, now reflected light dully, having dried while Eclipse mused to himself

over the complicated tangle his relationship with Raenef was becoming.

Carefully, the dark-haired demon dipped a washcloth in the hot water he had brought

for this very purpose, and leaned over Raenef to press the warm wetness

against the smear of blood, pressing gently until the water did its job and the

blood came away easily, without any unnecessary pulling or tugging.

Eclipse tilted the young demon lord's head to the side as he chased the trail of

crimson down the side of Raenef's face, and finally, to the pale hairline, where

it became impossible for him to do anything about. The normally silky blonde

locks had been loosed in the explosion from their normal confinement, and

were now smeared with dried blood. The hair was now stiff and unyielding.

Eclipse dumped the dirty cloth into the muddy colored water of the bowl

he had brought along with him, and reached for the cream he had brought along

with him. Fingers with the ability to kill, rubbed the lotion in

deftly, making sure that the pale skin absorbed the cream, in order to take full

advantage of its healing powers. The cut, which Eclipse had originally thought

to be small, had turned out to run nearly two inches, once the blood had been

brushed away. The tail end of the wound brushed at the corner of Raenef's eye,

like some sort of eternal tear.

Eclipse stood, cast a last glance at the sleeping demon lord, and began

to clean up his mess. The shirt was beyond repair, a shame really, considering

the example of craftsmanship it was. Then again, Raenef, he knew, had many

more which would serve just as well, Giving the cloth up for a lost cause,

Eclipse tossed it away before cleaning up the supplies he had used to treat

Raenef's head wound.

By the time he finished, admittedly having moved slowly than strictly

necessary, Raenef was, as he had hoped, beginning to stir. The blond demon

murmured something soft in his sleep, small hands grasping at something. Eclipse

couldn't help the reflexive withdrawal of his long hair from the reach of that

grasping fist, before the demon mused at his own paranoia. Finally, those

emerald eyes fluttered open, blinking confusedly. The hugely dilated pupils took

several moments to focus on Eclipse's looming figure. "Eclipse?

What...oops..." Raenef trailed off, a dull flush covering his cheeks at sudden memory

of what had happened.

Eclipse raised an eyebrow, disdainfully, "Oops? What happened? That was

a simple spell! You knocked out the whole training room, and a good portion

of the palace with whatever it was that you did!" The dark-haired demon

shouted at his lord. Raenef quailed as Eclipse's voice increased in volume

until he was shouting at him. "Well.." The blond haired teen fiddled with his

fingers, avoiding looking at Eclipse. "...oops?" he offered, though it

sounded more like a question than an apology. Eclipse sighed at the

quiet word, unable to stay angry when Raenef looked so pitiful. "Just don't

do it again," the dark-haired demon said flatly, rubbing at his temple.

"Okay," Raenef said brightly, throwing himself at Eclipse to hug him. Eclipse

stumbled, off balance from the sudden surge of weight, however slight it was.

The dark-haired demon hesitated momentarily before wrapping his arms around

the small form, holding tightly. What is this feeling? he wondered,

absently, questioning the sudden rush of warmth he felt. The demon sighed, and

let his head fall to rest gently on the one below it. Anyone

watching from afar, through the massive window in Raenef's wall, perhaps, would have

seen two figures, one as dark as night, the other as pale as day, clutching

at each other so closely that even two things as opposite as light and dark

seemed to be able to merge together.

*********

Of course, as fate would have it, two very such watchers existed. The

two figures, both of similar height, coloring, and build, were standing in the

moonlit courtyard that offered a view straight into the large windows in

Raenef's room. Erutis watched in amusement as Chris gaped openly.

The young knight grinned faintly, walking over to a nearby stone bench,

and sitting down. The bench, as many other statues and ornaments scattered

throughout the garden, were decorated with detailed sculptures of demons, famous

war victories, any other such things. It was damn creepy, Erutis thought,

eying one of the heads that protruded from either end of the bench upon which she

sat.

The knight turned her attention back to Chris when he made a vague sound

of aversion, and turned quickly away from the rather touching scene. Erutis

raised an eyebrow at the distressed look the young cleric was wearing.

"What?"

Chris favored her with a scornful look, and, a faint blush. The boy

waved a vague hand towards the window behind him. "That!" he snapped, looking

embarrassed. Erutis gave him a very sardonic look. "That," she

repeated, turning her eyes towards the window through which Eclipse, a demon who

was famous for his wrath, a wrath she herself had experienced, was embracing the

easily seen, much small form of Raenef, the idiotic demon lord. The knight

tilted her head, looking for a better angle of the embrace. Who'da ever

guessed? the girl thought, grinning faintly. That bastard really does have a

heart. Thank god. Those two have been making eyes at each other for

practically as long as I've been here.

"Yes!" Chris snapped impatiently, waving his hand in agitation, "THAT!"

"That," Erutis said, nodding her head in the direction to which

Chris was pointing with such irritation, "is cute. In fact, it's rather

romantic," she said with a dreamy sigh. The knight nearly snickered as

the cleric's mouth dropped open as the boy gaped openly at her. "What? Cute?

Urgh. That's...revolting. Besides, they're men," he said, in a way that

made one think he believed she's missed that, never mind the months she'd spent

here. "Really now? You

know, I hadn't noticed that," she said sarcastically, watching Chris' obvious

fury at her mockery of him. "So what if they're men? I mean, seriously, have

you ever looked at Eclipse? He's hot. And Raenef's just pretty. He's

prettier than I am, and I'm a girl. Anyway, they're cute together. Strange

maybe, but cute." The young knight shrugged, and shifted so she could lay back on

the stone bench. She shielded her eyes with an arm, squinting

up at the sky. The moon hung heavy and low in the sky, startlingly bright.

"Sky's pretty tonight," she offered, not wanting to continue with that

particular vein anymore. Especially if Chris was just going to whine about the fact

that they were both guys.

Erutis couldn't' help but wonder what it was about most of the men that

she had met that seemed to make them incapable of understanding, when talking

about same-sex relationships. If people loved each other, than it shouldn't

matter. Chris blinked, tilting his head back to look up at the

sky. "Yeah. It is. Good night for star observation." The young cleric took

a seat on the stone marble that paved the whole outside courtyard. "I miss my

master. I still can't believe he sent me here." He scuffed his foot

against the marble in anger.

"Mmm," Erutis said, a noncommittal tone. "I didn't like it here at

first much, either. But you know, Raenef's pretty fun once you get used to him.

It's great to watch Eclipse yell at him when he does something stupid. How

that pathetic kid is ever gonna be a demon lord, I have no idea. Then again,

maybe it's a good thing."

Chris frowned in thought at the comments made by the knight. Vaguely

whispered prophecies about those who would have the power to breech the hostility

that gripped both the Gods and the Demons. A prophecy that spoke of a demon

lord who would be the first step for this bridging, and of a cleric under the

great god Rased.

Could it be him? Can it be me? Dark eyes turned to the now empty

window. Well, it's certainly more likely to be him than any other demon I've ever

heard about.

**************

"...by doing so, you

will allow your magic to-" Eclipse broke off abruptly at a quiet sigh

breathed from parted lips. The dark-haired demon glanced at his liege. azure eyes

were half-lidded, staring vacantly at the wall a crossed from them. Eclipse

frowned, "-turn into a giant, bouncing tomato..."

"Mm-hmm," Raenef said, absently, nodding faintly.

"The knight has been annoying me as of late, lord. Would you mind if I

disposed of her?" Eclipse asked flatly.

"Mmmm," came the faint agreement. Eclipse slammed shut

the book he was carrying, watching closely for any sign of reaction from

Raenef. There wasn't even a twitch. The blond kept staring at the wall, with the

same remote fascination. Scowling, the dark-haired demon walked over to stand

just behind the chair Raenef was occupying. He leaned down to put his lips

just beside Raenef's ear, and opened his mouth to yell when Raenef blinked,

jerking awake from his day dream.

Idle thoughts were swimming through Raenef's head. The soft, even tone

of Eclipse's voice was making him sleepy, and the demon lord dropped his head

on his hand, half closing his eyes in relaxation, not paying any attention

whatsoever to Eclipse's spiel about magic.

The demon lord made vague sounds of agreement when appropriate, and let

his thoughts focus on a subject that Raenef spent most of his time thinking

about: Eclipse. Raenef's thoughts summoned up an image of the forbidding demon

who had been his teacher for nearly a year now. Long, silky black hair tumbled

over his shoulders, whipping in a nonexistent wind, dark eyes deep with some

unfathomable meaning. Eclipse was so regal looking, and

handsome. The dark-haired demon was tall, and fine boned, and graceful and strong.

Everything that Raenef himself wasn't. Every time the young demon found

himself staring into a mirror at wild, pale hair, green eyes, and his small form,

he found it laughable that Eclipse could ever be attracted to him in return.

Not to mention, that Raenef was clumsy, and not a good demon lord at all. He

could barely handle crushing flies, let alone reign in terror and destruction

as he was supposed to. The blonde haired waif knew all too well how much of an

embarrassment he was to Eclipse. Hadn't the other demons called Raenef a

"clown?" What was worse, was that they had pitied Eclipse for being saddled

with such a miserable excuse for a demon lord. Raenef sighed

unhappily. Eclipse was completely unattainable for one such as himself. The

young demon didn't know when Eclipse had transformed from teacher to crush, but

he remembered precisely the day it had happened. It was at the Rased Temple,

just when Eclipse had been about to leave. The dark-haired demon had held out

his hand, placing it gently on top of his own pale hair, ruffling the untamed

blond locks affectionately. Then, the seemingly impossible had happened.

Eclipse, a demon famed for his brutality and ruthlessness, had smiled.

Raenef could picture the moment in his mind with the sort of obsessive

exactness that only comes to someone head over heels in love with the image of

their interest. It hadn't been a small smile, barely tugging at the corners of

the demon''s mouth. It had been a full-blown, lips curved, dark, fathomless

eyes lighting up in amusement and some other emotion that Raenef couldn't

quite identify.

That smile had made his heart leap about three feet in the air. It had

caused some wave of unknown emotion to roll through him, causing him to feel

warm and shivery inside, like the time after the particularly good catch in the

guild when he had had his very first experience with alcohol. Wine, some

particularly good sort, was the only thing he could imagine that was comparable to

that beautiful smile. The only thing that had ever caused him to feel hot

and shuddery and weak was alcohol. It was a shame Eclipse didn't smile more.

After that, Raenef found himself watching the man he had come to call his

teacher, more and more and more. Then one day, the realization came to him

with a suddenness that took his breath away and made him feel weak and

quivering, as if he been struck with a sledgehammer. Touma, one of his comrades in

the Guild, had described such feelings once. They had been for the girl he had

later left the Guild for, to marry, because...he loved her.

Raenef remembered being utterly astonished at the sudden realization. He

hadn't had a clue, up until then, that his feelings had changed for his

mentor, from simple platonic student/teacher...to something deeper, and far more

profound. Though really, it was rather unfortunate that the revelation had come

at such an unfavorable time as magic practice. The young demon had nearly

blown up the room before Eclipse had managed to stop the badly misdone spell.

The young demon winced as he recalled the expression on Eclipse's face. The

demon had not been at all happy with his lord and master. So, in

conclusion, the young demon though unhappily, we consider my standings as of yet

with the man I am in love with. On the bad side, I have demeaned Eclipse

horribly in front of anyone and everyone who counts. I have proven myself to be

an embarrassment to his skills as a teacher. I am the most unprofessional and

complete contradiction to what a demon lord should be. I have made a

complete and utter fool of myself in front of his countless of times. I am an an

idiot of magnificent proportions. Not to mention I'm a small, skinny little runt

with porcupine like hair, and muddy-green sort of eyes. And, worst yet, I'm

a kid. Although, on the good side, and at this Raenef brightened

considerably, I have...well...let's see now, there has to be something...

uh...er...hmm.......oh, this isn't good...WAIT! I HAVE it! I got Eclipse to smile at me!

That counts for something. A small part of his mind spoke up. What if he was

laughing at you? Raenef told his brain to shut up unless

it wanted him to start paying attention to Eclipse's speech on magic theory.

It did, rather hurriedly. Raenef quickly lost himself in a

lovely daydream where Eclipse loved him back, and they were talking and

laughing and-oh, well, that was rather odd, the young boy though in startlement at a

sudden, damp breath against his neck. Having always been rather ticklish,

the young demon lord shuddered, twisting away slightly, annoyed at having been

jerked roughly from that lovely daydream... Startled green eyes found

themselves staring at the object of their admiration.

Eclipse's face loomed in his vision, and Raenef gulped at the expression

the demon wore. Then emerald eyes found themselves locked on Eclipse's lips,

remembering a beautiful smile...

Eclipse flinched slightly as his student jerked free from his daydream,

twisting to stare at him. Barely an inch separated their faces. Startled at finding

himself in a suddenly very compromising situation with not only a superior,

but a young boy at that, the demon prepared to step back, distancing himself, wh

en he realized something quite astonishing. Vivid eyes, the same intense

emerald green as the stone, were staring at him with wide eyes. Not even him,

necessarily, but, more accurately, his lips. Was that a faint blush he detected

on his young master's cheeks? Eclipse mused, thoughtfully, that really, such

a blush didn't necessarily mean what his body was suddenly hoping it did...

Raenef could be embarrassed to have discovered himself in such a position with

his teacher. A perfectly logical explanation, if it weren't for the ever so

slightly dilated pupils, and the pink tounge that slipped out to wet soft

lips.

Oh, now that wasn't fair at all, young master...the demon thought, with a

sigh. Ah, well...I really shouldn't, and yet... A brain honed by years of

training and protocol, fought a desperate battle with a too-long denied body,

and a much quieter, though just as withheld, even more so, heart. Needless to

say, the two vessels that exist purely to serve the purposes of passion and

lust and love, won.

Eclipse leaned in, capturing Raenef's lips with his own. They were warm,

and soft, and by the gods, the powerful demon wanted nothing more than to

throw his lord down on Raenef's massive bed and introduce the all too innocent

boy to the wonders of pleasure. It only helped that Raenef was so damn

submissive. The small body pressed against Eclipse's was so pliant, and

fragile, and completing unresisting. A small, frightened sound drew Eclipse sharply

from his wandering thoughts. The arms around his shoulders, which he had

originally assumed to be grasping, were far too tight for that, he realized

suddenly. Raenef's hands were clenched tightly onto Eclipse's shoulders, his

fingers digging into the muscles of his back so tightly, it made him wince. Those

hands were not, as he had thought, trying to draw him near. They were trying

to push him away. The dark-haired demon drew back abruptly at

that realization. Onyx eyes stared into wide, terrified, azure ones. Tears

began to drip down from eyes of the same color. Raenef was trembling

violently, and the moment Eclipse had drawn back, he had wrapped his arms

tightly around himself. It were as though he was trying to shield himself from

the older demon's advances. Eclipse blinked,

startled, and reached forward to wipe at the tears coursing down Raenef's face

with a long nailed finger. The young demon lord jerked away from even that

touch, stumbling backwards until he ran into the wall behind him.

Eclipse stopped dead where he stood, dropping his arm. What?

He's..afraid of me? No, more like terrified. But why? I only kissed him, and it

certainly hasn't been thatlong since I've played the game that I read too much

into the signs. No, he's certainly interested in me. Then again, this is

Raenef we're talking about here. I suppose it's possible that he didn't mean to

give off the signs he was. But still, that doesn't explain the utter fear...

Raenef whimpered, sinking down the wall weakly, trembling violently.

"Don't...don't touch me, don't come near me...leave me ALONE!" he shouted,

breaking off into sobs. Eclipse stared at the sobbing demon lord. By the

gods...what on earth? What could have happened to him to make him so.... "What

happened to you?" Eclipse demanded, not moving any closer to the blue haired

boy. "No!" Raenef said, forcefully. "No, no, no, no,

no! Stop it, just leave me alone!" "Raenef, you must tell me, what

happened-" "How-how DARE you admonish ME VER-ver-ver-"

Raenef couldn't quite get out the words through his broken sobs.

Eclipse stalked over to his master. For once, he refused to

obey the laws that should have governed master and servant. Hadn't Raenef

told him, countless of times, to ignore those laws? Eclipse knelt before

Raenef's trembling form, gathering the struggling form into his arms.

Eclipse brushed at the pale hair, stroking Raenef's back, gently.

"Shhh..." The gestures, meant to be comforting, only seemed to make Raenef even

more distraught. Eclipse grimaced, and made a quick decision before things got

out of hand. Raenef was trembling even more violently then before, and

looked as though he were going to fall apart any moment. The powerful demon hadn't

wanted to, but he obviously wasn't going to be getting any more answers out

of Raenef, who was cowering and whimpering loudly.

The dark haired demon brushed Raenef's mind with his own. Trained in

using telepathy, Eclipse had also been trained to be able to take that ability

one step further. When he needed to, he could enter another's mind, their

thoughts, and discover what they would not tell him. He hesitated to use it, most

especially with Raenef. It was, above all else, one of the horrible betrayals

of trust possible. However, it was either that, or, he had a feeling, that

whatever trust the two shared would be shattered anyway. At the very least,

the dark haired demon wished to know precisely what it was that had caused

Raenef to be so afraid of him.

Raenef, at the first brush of Eclipse's mind against his own, tensed. It

felt similar to when Eclipse contacted him through telepathy, but, instead of

stopping, the other demon's mind pressed forward, insistently. Raenef felt

his mind pushing back against the intrusion, before a sharp shudder, and then

Eclipse was surging forward, deeply, so very deeply into his thoughts.

Raenef screamed, shuddering, struggling to fight that horrible intrusion

into his deepest thoughts. Eclipse held him, tightly within the circle of the

dark-haired demon's arms, and Raenef found himself unable to escape. Still,

his mentor pressed continuously forward, searching for that horrible memory

Raenef refused to speak of, even now, so many years later.

"NO!" Raenef howled. Eclipse was so close. So horribly close to that

memory. It had been so long, and Raenef had buried it so deep he could almost

forget it entirely. Eclipse was going to find that memory, and he was going

to Raenef remember every single, horrible moment.

His lord was sobbing now, his entire frame wracked by cries as he fought

Eclipse's grasp, the dark haired demon thought. At the first probe, Raenef's

mind had resisted, but as he continued to pressure it, Raenef had been unable

to keep him out. Now, Eclipse was moving steadily deeper, working his way

into Raenef's deepest, most hidden thoughts. He moved quickly past the less

meaningful, though still interesting, ones. Memories of Raenef's life, growing

up, on the streets, memories, of fights, of looking for food... Finally

though, Eclipse came to it.

It felt...different than any other thought or memory he had encountered.

Despite his generally unpleasant life, all of his thoughts were colored with

hope, and a happiness that was so like Raenef. This thought, however, was so

dark, so angry, Eclipse shuddered at the waves of dark emotions emanating from

it.

Eclipse probed the tangled weave of thoughts, shuddering slightly as he

slid slowly through the tight shield that surrounded the memory. Whatever this

memory was, it was so awful that Raenef had built a heavy shield around it,

closing it off from the rest of his mind so he would never again have to

remember it.

Eclipse hesitated before the final remains of the shield Raenef had

surrounded the memory with. Raenef gave a final, desperate, howl of pain. "No!

Nononononononono...I don't want to remember! Stop it, stop it now!

Pleasepleasepleasedon'tmakemeremember!" The demon lord tried for a desperate, final

lunge out of Eclipse's arms, fighting frantically. Eclipse tightened his grip

even more, grimacing inwardly as he felt his sharp nails digging through soft

fabric, and into delicate skin. With a final, sharp thrust of his mind, Eclipse

penetrated the memory fully. Raenef went abruptly still in the older demon's

grasp, gasping as the memory was exposed to Eclipse fully.

Eclipse shuddered as he was immersed in Raenef's memory, completely.

Thoughts, feelings, sounds...everything that Raenef had felt were suddenly as

open to Eclipse, as if he were the one experiencing them.

He was running. His feet were bare, and he could feel the grime of the

streets under them. Occasionally he would step on sharp glass, but even that

sharp pain wasn't enough to make him stop running. Adrenaline was surging through

him, giving him the strength to keep going when otherwise, he might have

stopped.

His lungs burned with the effort to keep going, and he was so tired. It

had been so long since he'd eaten something halfway decent, and his body was

so tired. He made the mistake of turning around, just for a second, just to

see if maybe, on the last couple of turns, he'd lost them. It was his mistake.

The board, a two by four, came out of nowhere, slamming into him with enough

force to make him pass out.

When he came to, they were all standing over him. Genji, their leader,

was holding a board in his beefy hands, and it took him a second longer to

realize that it was smeared with his blood. His whole gang was grinning down at

him, smirking, some chuckling. Genji smirked at him, showing of a gap-toothed

grin, and brown teeth. "So, we finally caught up to you, huh, devil child."

His stomach rolled with fear. He wanted to throw up.

Genji leaned over him, so close he could smell his foul breath, and smacked

the board menacingly against one large palm. "You're pretty good at hiding,

you know that? You keep managing to get by us. Not this time though. Can't

have a rotten little runt like yourself making me and my gang look bad. People

were starting to talk, sayings we couldn't catch one little good for nothin'

demon child, how could we run our side o' town prop'ly. Can't let shit like

that get `roun, now can we?" A sweaty hand tangled in the front of the

massively oversized shirt he wore.

He was abruptly lifted off his feet. He dangled from Genji's hold, held

nearly a foot above the ground. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no.... The thought,

looping continuously, kept running through his mind. Genji was going to kill

him.

"Hmm...." Genji commented with a smirk, as he stared at his smaller,

helpless prey. "Whatcha think we should do with `im, guys?" the leader asked.

His followers started grinning, laughing as they watched him shiver

helplessly in Genji's grasp. One, off to the side, was watching with a

particularly predatory gaze. His name was Gareth, and he was Genji's right hand man.

"Hmm...such a pretty boy, dontcha think. Maybe we should have a little fun,

first?" He grinned, licking his lips.

"No, please, no...please...let me go...please," he gasped out, frantic

now. Living on the streets nearly all his life had caused him to learn a lot

of things. The way Gareth was looking at him right now was one of the most

frightening things he had learned through all those years. He had seen that look

all too often, in his years on the street. There was no denying that he was

pretty, more feminine looking than male, even. Better yet, he was small.

Years of malnourishment had stunted his growth. The ideal uke. He

couldn't help the tears that began to well up, and spilled from azure eyes down

dirty cheeks, giving them the first washing they'd had in weeks.

Genji blinked, glancing at his struggling burden with a now critical eye.

"You know, that's not such a bad idea, now that I think about it, Gareth. He's

a pretty one, he is. Looks `lot like a girl. Betcha he'll scream like a

virgin..."

Genji dropped him abruptly to the dirty ground. He gasped at the pain,

and made a last, desperate effort to get to his feet, to run...to do something,

anything-!The sharp kick to his ribs left him seeing spots, struggling for

breath. Then there were so many hands on him. They tore at his clothes.

They weren't gentle, on the contrary, they were harsh, trying to cause as much

pain as possible.

All too soon, he was shivering, naked, bared completely to their hungry

gazes. A low, keening whimper rose up from his throat. Pale hands scrabbled

at the dirty ground as he struggle to sit up, bracing himself with his elbows,

trying to get away. He shuffled backwards, straight into the legs of one of

the gang. No, oh god, please, no, no, no, no...Help me, someone, anybody, help

me... Genji grabbed a hold of his foot, despite

his frantic attempts to kick, and hauled him backwards towards the gang

leader. Fire raced up his back, stinging with pain as soft skin was torn roughly

by the dirty streets. "Ah!" He arched, trying to get the stinging flesh away

from the source of its pain.

"None of that now," Genji crooned, licking his lips. "You area pretty

one." Saliva flecked his fat, bloated lips. Bile rose, deep within, and

he gagged, sick suddenly as he watched, horrified, at the path massive, beefy

hands took. Genji unzipped his pants, and took his already half-hard member

out. He watched, with wide, horrified eyes as Genji stroked himself roughly.

His member stiffened, grower larger as squinty eyes took in the pale, lovely

form displayed before him.

He lunged, frantic now. His back stung horribly, but he ignored it.

Terror had overcome everything. "Hold him!" someone shouted. Several pairs of

hands yanked at him, forcing him onto his back, holding his arms down. He

couldn't move, he couldn't move! Genji knelt before him, and he could feel

a foreign, unfamiliar sensation as Genji pressed his dick against his

cleft. A sound of denial, choked, came spilling from his lips as he thrashed

against the hands that held him. Genji grunted, undeterred by the fight. In

fact, it seemed to only arouse him more. His large, meaty hands clapped down on

pale, slender, kicking legs, forcing them apart, forcing them open.

He started to cry. Genji

frowned, in annoyance, and brought a sweat palm up to cup his face. Huge lips, wet

with saliva, pressed against his own. A swollen tounge worked its way inside

his mouth, forcing his lips apart. He nearly choked at the sudden, unexpected

invasion. A last resort, he bit hard.

It was a mistake. Genji drew

back with a howl, flecks of blood now mingling with the saliva on his mouth. He

snarled, low in his throat, and cuffed him so hard he slammed into the hard

ground below him. Pain exploded in his skull as his head slammed into the

pavement. Spots spun before him, everything spinning, the alleyway, the men.

Dazed, able to feel his own blood coating the back of his head, he struggled back

to awareness. And wished he hadn't.

The blow made him cry out. The harsh sobs coming from him barely had

a chance to get going when they were cut off abruptly with a sharp scream of

agony as Genji shoved inside his dry, unprepared and virginal passage. Agony

tore through his every nerve, screaming throughout his whole body. He felt

like he was being torn apart. While Genji's member was not exceptionally large,

he was so very small, and Genji was not at all trying to be gentle. Genji

didn't even pause, let alone give him time to adjust to the horribly foreign

presence deep within him. The gang leader grinned wolfishly at the shriek,

growing even harder at the sound of pain, and began thrusting even more heavily.

Faster, harder, deeper.

The heavy shoves continued, and the agony built and built. He started

screaming seconds into the thrusting. It hurt so badly, his passage ached, stinging.

It had long since canceled out the pain in his back, which now seemed minor

to this new, searing agony. Everything began to fade away, until it was only

Genji, hovering above him, his whole body slamming forward with every sharp,

penetrating thrust, saliva spewing forth from his mouth, and falling onto him.

Finally, after what had surely been an eternity, though his rational mind

knew to only have been a minute of so, Genji shuddered to a halt, thrust

once, twice, and, feeling the horrible thing inside him twitch, came. The salty

cum lit new fires of pain in his burning, raw passage, and a new howl was torn

from his overused throat.

Someone was laughing, harshly, in the background.

Genji shivered, thrusting a few more times, rhythmically as his seed poured

from him, and finally, withdrew. The sudden, sharp withdrawal hurt horribly.

Panting, the gang leader stood up, put himself back in his pants, and

rebuckled the belt. Gareth took his turn next. His entry was made only

slightly more bearable by the fact that his own blood, and Genji's cum, had

lubricated his passage somewhat. That, and Genji had stretched him more than he

had been. Gareth, had far more stamina than

Genji, and seemed to take particular pleasure in drawing out the torture.

Several times, just before he was going to cum, he would slow, and stop, waiting for

a few moments before he started again. As if that wasn't bad enough, he

seemed to have decided, midway through that he wasn't as terrified as he should

have been. He was mostly correct. His awareness of reality had dimmed to pain,

and thrusting. Gareth had switched positions, dragging him up so he was

sitting up on his knees, and had taken him that way. Then, he had commanded

one of the gang members to come forward, and drop there pants. He was forced to

suck him off, as tears dripped down his swollen cheeks, and onto the dick he

was sucking. They only seemed to find it funny. Eventually, everyone took

their turn, in every way possible. It was hours before the last one finally

dragged himself off his trembling form, and tucked himself back inside his

pants.

A few sharp kicks, and they left, leaving him lying there on the hard,

cold ground, blood and cum dripping out from between his legs, and tears

trickling from tightly closed eyes. He wretched, helplessly onto the ground, what

little food that he had. When he ran out of that, he dry hacked bile until he

was shaking so badly that he nearly choked.

For a long time, too long to count, he simply lay there in a pool of semen and of own blood and

watched the sky turn slowly, from the soft blue of day, to the pastel colors of sunset, and finally,

to the midnight black sprinkled with white, of night. As he lay, his eyes trained on the heavens,

praying to the gods above for something, anything,he could feel the fluids on him drying,

cooling...

Slowly, the sharp freshness of the pain began to fade, replaced instead by faint, trembling aches that

made him wince with every breath. His skin and

muscles pulled with every inhalation and exhalation he took. He couldn't summon the energy to move,

even as the temperature dropped rapidly. He realized, with a disturbing lack of care, that he didn't want

to move. All he wanted to do was to lay there until...

It was the voices, that finally drew him from his apathetic thoughts. At

first, they were just vague, indiscernable murmurs, and he was only just able

to differentiate them from the sounds of the town around him. Slowly though,

they gray until it became clear that they were indeed voices. More

importantly, voices that were growing steadily louder and louder...

What if Genji's gang had returned?

Sick terror filled him, and his body fought his mind, momentarily, both battling for dominance. His body

was screaming with pain at every move he made, but his mind was howling at him to go, go, go, go,

go....

His mind, and his sense of self-preservation, hammered into him by life

on the streets, finally won.

It didn't matter, for by the time he was finally able to force himself to begin to crawl away from the

place of his rape, he couldn't do anything but crawl, and even that hurt, the source of the voices were

upon him.

Wide, terrified azure eyes fell on a pair of scuffed, well-worn boots.

Slowly, blue eyes traveled up the cloth--covered leg accompanying the boots,

to the chest bared by a vest, and finally, into a startled face. A long,

jagged scar ran down the right side of the tough, ruggedly handsome face. It was a face framed by wild,

scraggly hair that was the pale blonde of most of the

people in the southern region, hair that was tamed only by the bandanna wrapped tightly around the

young man's hair.

"What the-" came the surprised words from the boy who he was staring at.

Another vice, just behind him, echoed a startled curse of disgust as

revolted eyes took in the all too obvious, telltale scene around them.

Whimpering, he drew back, trying to curl himself into a ball,

no longer caring what happened to him. He wanted to die, wanted to get away

from this horrible place... Wanted to do anything so long as he could forget

this night, never remember it again.

The crunching of gravel met his ears, and he could feel a presence bending over him. "Hey there, kid....

`M not

gonna hurt you..." The hand laid on his trembling shoulder was gentle.

"..Doesn't look to good...."

"Who the hell would...?"

"...he's tiny..."

The voices were murmuring around him, but that gentle hand, so unlike Genji's compelled him to look

up into dark, kind eyes. "C'mon, kid, come with me. I'm a thief, leader of the Guild. We won't let

whoever did this to you

anywhere near you again... We'll protect you..."

For the first time in his life, he knew he could trust what this

thief was telling him. He nodded, ever so hesitantly. Someone stepped

forward, offering up a spare piece of clothing, and the boy with the bandanna

wrapped it around him securely before picking him up...

Eclipse gasped his way out of the memory, shoving his

way out of Raenef's mind none to gently. The dark-haired demon was far too

frantic to leave that memory far, far behind to gather his wits enough to be

gentle.

The mind he withdrew from, sharply, was a

chaotic mess. Doubts swirled, with vague, distorted images of the rape

Raenef had undergone. The blue-haired demon lord lay in his arms, eyes tightly

clenched, tears trailing from beneath the lashes. His fingers were knotted into

Eclipse's robes so tightly the fabric had torn. Raenef's small body was

shaking, torn, wracked by frantic, desperate sobs. Occasionally, a scream would

rip free from his throat. They sounded raw. He must, Eclipse realized

vaguely, have been screaming the whole time I was reliving that...memory...

The dark-haired demon felt sick. While in someone's mind, he

could feel their emotions as though they were his own. He could feel their

thoughts, their pain, as if he were experiencing it. It was only because of many

years of practice, that he was able to calm himself down, forcing his thoughts

into order, shielding them. Raenef, who did not have that practice, nor his

experience, and who the memory had belonged to, was still thrashing, and

screaming. Eclipse felt slightly ill as he realized that he himself had shattered

the protective shield Raenef had wrapped the memory in, and now, without that

shield, the young demon lord was being forced to remember it without any sort

of protection.

"Raenef! Lord Raenef!" Eclipse shook the small body, trying to get a

reaction out of the distraught demon. "It's not real! It's just a memory!

It's not-" Eclipse recoiled with a grimace as a tightly curled fist struck

out at him.

Raenef tried to scramble away. "Stop

it! Stop it! Leave me alone! Stop touching me! Ow! It hurts! It hurts!

Stop it, godamn you, STOP IT!"

The demon lord was not, he realized, even remotely aware of what was

happening. He was reliving the memory again and again, as though it were the

present. Eclipse reached hand out, cupping the sweaty forehead with long, slender fingers. The sleep

spell, the most powerful he knew, worked immediately, despite Raenef's frantic state. Between one

curse and the next, the blue-haired demon fell silent. The harsh, ragged breathing slowed, deepened,

the tightly clenched fists relaxed. Moon-shaped crescents had been dug into the soft, pale skin of his

palms. Blood streaked from the indentions, leaving trails on his shirt.

Eclipse stared at the relaxed face, stunned beyond belief. I wish I would never have looked. I

didn't...didn't expect that. I didn't want to see that. Gods. How...how could...

Eclipse's hand clenched into a slow, tight fist, curling until the long

nails dug in so deep he could feel warm wetness cascading down from his palms.

I'll kill them, he thought venomously. I'll track every last

one of them down, and I'll kill them. I'll make sure it's as painful and

degrading for them as it was for him.

Eclipse leaned over, to place a gentle kiss on the sweat slicked forehead. "I'm so sorry, I wouldn't have

done that had I known." Eclipse felt truly, truly guilty. It was not a very pleasant sensation. He had

known, when he had entered Raenef's mind with Raenef unwilling, that whatever memory it was, it

couldn't have been pleasant.

He'd had no idea of the magnitude though.

The dark-haired demon got to his feet, cradling Raenef's small form to

his chest protectively. With ease born of long practice, the demon teleported

to Raenef's room with but a thought and a quietly spoken, "Go." Carefully,

gently, he laid his lord on the bed, and covered him with the blankets.

Raenef lay quietly, completely still, held deeply

within the grasp of the sleep spell that Eclipse had administered. His blond

hair hung limply around his face, pooling onto the blankets. Somewhere along

the way, the band that normally held his hair in a ponytail, up and away from

his face, had fallen out. The pale strands were slightly tangled. Absently,

Eclipse leaned forward, toying with the errant strands of hair in an attempt

to untangle them. Raenef's face was tear stained.

Eclipse felt the anger, that had slowly been calming, rise again. I will

kill them. The dark-haired demon paced the room in barely contained anger.

How dare humans attack a demon lord. Filthy bastards.

Eclipse stood, and began to pace. Thankfully, the room was large

enough to accommodate his long strides. The concept of rape was not foreign

to him. As a demon, he had certainly heard of things, known of them, even

turned a blind eye to them, on a few occasions. But, he had never participated

in such an event, nor had he ever been a victim himself.

Until now, it had not bothered him. They were

demons, and demons were superior to humans. If a demon wished to take pleasure from

a human, most especially an unwilling one, that was perfectly understandable.

It was their job, their right, even, as a demon. Never before, though, had

the dark-haired demon experienced, first hand, a rape.

Pain, anger, sadness, terror, fear, desperation, sorrow, degradation, guilt... The emotions, Raenef's

emotions, swept through him. Eclipse shivered slightly, at the tumult of feelings, not his own, washed

over him.

To think, that he had once condoned such actions... Never again! he

promised himself. Most certainly, never, ever again. It's not right. Even if

they are humans. To think, that humans did such a thing to Raenef, of all

people.

The pale-haired demon lord was so...innocent, and

kind. It was ridiculous, really. Everyone knew demons were evil, enjoyed

pillaging, destruction, inspiring terror and fear... Raenef was a complete

contradiction to stereo typically accepted demon lord.

But, how could he have stayed so nice...so kind...after that? And not just that... Other memories,

ones he had only been able to brush, briefly, on his journey through Raenef's mind to his final

destination that had turned out to be a brutal rape.

Devil child!...Demon spawn...filthy beast...disgusting creature...runt... The insults prickled at him as

though it were he they were being flung at.

Normally, he wouldn't have felt such petty things, but because he was experiencing them as Raenef had,

they hurt. Raenef had felt each, and every insult, and had remembered them.

Eclipse had never delved too deeply into Raenef's mind, aside from the

casual brushing required for telepathy he had often employed. Of course, the

dark-haired demon had always been aware that Raenef was far more sensitive than any other demon

he had ever known, more sensitive than many of the humans he had come a crossed, in fact. It was

only now though, after delving so deeply into Raenef's thoughts, experiencing his feelings as tough it

were he who the feelings were springing from, that Eclipse had found a truly accurate gauge for how

sensitive his master was.

Despite that, though, Raenef had managed to come out of all that had happened to him, kind. Though

Eclipse knew that kindness was not at all a redeemable quality in a demon lord, he found it, privately,

amazing that Raenef could posses such a trait after all that had happened to him. A crossed the room,

Raenef made a small, frantic sound. He twisted sharply, thrashing.

The sheets tangled around his flailing form, ensnaring him so all he could do was gasp, and choke out

wordless sounds.

Eclipse walked hurriedly over to the bed. The dark-haired demon quickly and

efficiently untangled his master. He hesitated a brief moment, staring down at

Raenef's slender form, before sitting down on he edge of the bed, and

gathering his master into his arms. It wasn't hard. Raenef was really very small,

and didn't weigh much at all. He quietly quickly, once Eclipse wrapped his arms

around the blue-haired demon, and began to slowly stroke that lovely hair.

Raenef likes to have his hair stroked. I'll have to remember that.

Absently, the dark-haired demon began to work at untangling the blue strands, once

more. Raenef's renewed thrashing had undone his earlier work. Having his

own, long hair, made Eclipse very good at such a thing. The task, he had often

found, was soothing. It was also, Eclipse reflected, a rather good way to

waste time until Raenef surfaced from his sleep spell.

Consciousness

wasn't too far off, for the demon lord. Not if he was beginning to dream.

Eclipse frowned at another, quiet murmur of protest issued forth from Raenef's

lips. Hesitantly, he nudged his way into the demon lord's mind, in an effort

to banish the nightmare. It didn't require him to go deep, thankfully, he

wasn't sure he could've after all that had happened today. Nonetheless, Eclipse

was able to free Raenef from the nightmare he was undergoing.

Slowly, the demon began to nudge him free from the magiced sleep.

Raenef's mind obeyed his commands, willingly enough. All too soon, onyx eyes found

themselves staring into beautiful azure, heavy lidded from sleep and an

exhaustion so profound, it was in his very soul.

Raenef blinked, slowly, dark lashes brushing against pale,

tear-stained cheeks as dilated pupils struggled to focus on the face looming above him.

Long, dark strands of silky hair brushed at his face, tickling his nose.

Dark, silk...Eclipse... That thought jarred him from the gently hold sleep still

had over him and Raenef came to full awareness abruptly.

"Eclipse...what..?" His voice sounded confused. Quite suddenly, awareness spread over his

features. Raenef went stark white. Admittedly, not a great change from his

normally pale complexion but a noticeable one. All color drained completely

from his face as he stared up at Eclipse in dawning horror. "No," he

breathed, beginning to shake.

Watching his lord, Eclipse could see the memo

ries washing over his face. The pale blue eyes were true to the saying, "The

eyes are a window to the soul." Raenef wore his heart on his sleeve, and

Eclipse could see the emotions though them as though he were watching it happen

before him. Eclipse could see the desperation welling up in those blue orbs,

building rapidly to another panic attack.

Eclipse seized him by the shoulders, staring deeply into the azure eyes.

"Look at me, focus on me... We're fine, Raenef, we're safe... I won't let

anything hurt you, I promise..."

The soothing litany, constant, its rhythm unchanging, merely a continuous

mantra looped in a calming cycle, seemed to soothe Raenef and draw him back

from the point of hysteria. The soothing circles he rubbed on the small,

slender back seemed to help as well. The dark-haired demon lost track of how long

they must have sat there, with him murmuring words of comfort, and rubbing

Raenef's back. It was long enough for the blue-haired demon's sobs to quiet to

the occasional hiccup, and for the dampness of tears on his tunic to dry.

Eclipse placed a long-nailed

finger underneath Raenef's pale chin, and drew it gently upwards. Azure eyes were

damp with tears, and the normally pale flesh surrounded them was red and

swollen from crying.

For a long time, they simply looked at one another. Finally the silence

was broken by a softly whispered, "I'm sorry..."

Instinctively, Eclipse opened his mouth to rebuke Raenef, chiding him for

apologizing to a someone of a lower class, but those eyes stopped him.

Raenef looked so very...tired.

Well,

of course he's tired, you fool. You just dredged up memories he had long

since buried, and buried for a very good reason. Anyone would be tired after

having been forced to relive such a thing.

Eclipse sighed, "You needn't be sorry, Raenef..." Raenef? Since when have

I stopped addressing him as Lord, or Master, or anything of the sort? It was

only then that it occurred to Eclipse that, for quite some time now, he had

been thinking of his master as simply Raenef, without any sort of term of

respect. This was simply the first time he'd ever vocalized it. It seemed that

entering the blue--haired demons mind, reliving so many of his memories, his

thoughts, and sharing with him the most degrading experience of all, had softened

the hardened dark-haired demon towards his master. "It was my fault

entirely... I...should not have done that..."

"What...what did you do?" Raenef whispered, blinking. He let his head

fall against Eclipse's shoulder, too tired to hold it up anymore.

"It is a skill I learned... It was originally developed to detect

falsehoods, to sense if a person was lying, and, if such was the case, to force

that person to yield the truth. However, over the years, it developed into a

way to...probe, another's mind. That is what I did. I entered your mind."

The speech came to him as naturally as breathing. Long ago, the dark-haired

demon could vaguely recall having memorized it for one of his own teachers.

The words that had been committed to memory so very long ago came to him

naturally now. It was just like another lesson, he was teaching Raenef.

The pale-haired demon shuddered slightly, burrowing his face further

into the unresisting Eclipse. "Why did you...why did you...do that....?"

Eclipse grimaced. "When I kissed you..." Inwardly, the

part of him that had trained for so long under the idea of superiors, chafed at

the thought of his advances against one of such a higher rank... "You

looked...frightened... I wished to know what it was that had frightened you so... I

thought it was me. I didn't want it to be, but I needed to know." Seemingly

of it's own will, a long, slender hand reached up, toying idly with a stray

strand of Raenef's hair.

Raenef drew back, sharply, and Eclipse found himself missing that strand

of blue hair. Wide, azure eyes stared up into his face, earnest, "No! It

wasn't...you...it was... I thought I'd forgotten, I tried so hard to forget...

But..." Raenef trailed off, and began biting at his lip in nervousness. He

drew back completely, withdrawing all of his slight weight from Eclipse's lap,

and setting back onto his own legs. Raenef's eyes fixed on the bedspread,

while his hands toyed absently with a stray thread on his clothes. "It wasn't

you, Eclipse. It's just that...it was so...and you...and then...that kiss and...and those memories."

Raenef's voice trailed off into a whisper-sob. Eclipse felt his heart twisting as a crystalline tear fell from

a too pale cheek and onto the comforter below.

Eclipse felt bile rising in his throat, the knowledge of what he had seen making him feel sick.

Raenef was still trembling from the memories Eclipse himself had unleashed, and Eclipse knew that he

might have very well just shattered any attempts for Raenef and himself to ever be more than teacher

and master.

Eclipse knew very well that Raenef didn't hate him. After swimming in Raenef's thoughts,

Eclipse had been left in disbelief when he realized that Raenef didn't even hate Genji and the gang that

had beaten and raped him so brutally. Hate didn't seem to be an emotion Raenef was capable of. Still,

the self-loathing and disgust present in Raenef's thoughts, all aimed at himself, had been so prominent

Eclipse had almost felt as though he were drowning in them. Perhaps, some day when Raenef was able

to work through what had been done to him, when Raenef could touch him, kiss him without being

consumed by shame and revoltion, then they could be lovers. Until then, what would inevitably be a

long, hard road, Eclipse would have to be the one to keep their "relationship" slow and strictly friendly.

Eclipse stared down at the exposed arch of pale neck that Raenef presented him with and felt

lust stirring at the completely submissive position. Eclipse grimaced, and shook off the feelings of

desire. As he had spent more and more time with Raenef, Eclipse's own desire for the small boy had

been building until it had reached a boiling point- the kiss, which had obviously resulted in complete

disaster. Eclipse told his libido, quietly but firmly, to go to hell.

Eclipse sighed quietly, reaching out to lift Raenef's chin to look the boy in the eyes. The

emerald pools, normally bright and vibrant were made even more so by the tears pooling in them and

slowly dripping down the demon lord's cheeks. "I'm sorry, little master. I didn't mean to cause you

pain. Get some sleep. The morning always makes things look better." Leaning forward, Eclipse

brushed blond bangs from the boy's forehead and pressed a gentle, fatherly kiss there, mentally

murmmuring a spell that would carry the demon lord into a dreamless sleep.

Eclipse sighed, lowering Raenef back onto the mounds of pillows in his bed and pulling the thick

comforter over him. He smoothed the creases in the beavy blanket, absently. "Someday, Raenef. I

hope, someday."



faint blush crept up his pale neck, to flood his cheeks with warmth as he realized

precisely what it was Eclipse was talking about. The pale haired demon

realized he was dense, but he doubted even he could have missed the obvious hint,

especially when Eclipse's voice deepened the way it did, becoming slightly

huskier, more full of intimate promise... He'd heard that same tone used by

members of the Guild, when they were making their play for the night. Several

times, he'd even heard it directed at him. "Oh," the young teen whispered

faintly.

"Now, will you tell me...what happened?"

Raenef cringed. There could be no mistaking what Eclipse was speaking

of. He couldn't help the shiver that rippled through his slight form.

"Yes...I'll tell you," the young demon whispered.

"I grew up on the streets. I'm not sure about my parents. I only

remember my mom, and even then only vaguely. I was really young when she left me.

I don't know why she did..." Raenef trailed off, the old hurt tugging at

him. "I met another orphan named Tristan. He was older than I was, and

streetwise. He took pity on me, and helped me. If it wasn't for him, I probably woul

dn't have lasted long. After a few years, Tristan was captured by the

guards, and from what I heard, he was executed. I...tried to save him, but I

couldn't. Up until then, Tristan had protected me from everyone else." Raenef gave

a small shrug, avoiding looking Eclipse in the eyes.

"Inevitably, you make enemies growing up on the streets. Whether its

some shopkeeper you stole from one too many times, or another gang whose

territory you cross into, but kids were afraid of Tristan. Nobody messed with him,

and a lot of people didn't like me because they knew they couldn't touch me, or

they'd answer to him. Genji and Tristan had been enemies even before I met

him. I'm not sure what happened, but he and his gang were always watching us,

even though they didn't dare do anything.

"When Tristan got caught...Genji started to try and catch me whenever he

could. But I was small, and fast, and I knew the streets better than anyone.

Eventually though, he caught up with me... You know what happened. After..

.that...Harek found me. The thief, the one with the bandanna and the scar. He

was the leader of the guild, you remember, the one I went to try and save?"

Raenef looked up at Eclipse, watching the dark-haired demons nod. "He took me

in. The guild and Genji had been at odds for awhile, and they don't...resort

to methods like Genji's willing to use. They take in any orphan who needs

help, and train `em to learn to live on the streets. A year later, you found

me," the young demon lord trailed off, with a whisper.

**************************************************************** *************

AN: Oh...my...god... I am...vaguely disgusted with myself. I have said

countless of times (my friends can quote me on this) that angst has to be

extraordinarily well written in order to make the reader feel sympathetic for the

character, and not want to rip their head off

instead...*coughwishesHarryPotterapainfulandagonizingdemizecough * It appears, I lack this gift

entirely. I have

just turned myself into a hypocrite. I want to go smack Raenef and tell him

to stop being whiny... Urgh... Although, considering that rape scene was the

first lemon I've ever attempted, I don't think I did too badly... Eh, well,

whatever.. To whoever's reading this, review, and for the love of god make

some suggestions, cause I have a feeling I need to go back and rewrite

some...all...of this story.... By the way, I apologize immensely for this royally shitty job as far as

formatting goes. My computer got taken in to be fix and everything had to be reloaded, but we're still

missing a bunch of stuff, like on my Appleworks program, I can't save things under html or txt format or

anything like that. So I've had to email myself this story, and upload it on a different computer, and the

format got screwed up along the way. Hopefully my computer will be fixed soon so the formatting will

be alright…until then, apologies!

****************************************************************************************

Hey hey hey! I'm baaaaaaaaaack! I had a baaad case of writer's block. The kind of great wall of China writer's case

bad. Finally I took a chisel to it and...well this is the result. This chapter is mostly the same as the original up to

about page 30 where it is COMPLETELY revamped. Chapter two will follow a similar idea. I'm rewriting as we speak

and hopefully I'll be able to get the ball rolling. Lo and behold this time I think I have a PLOT!! Oh happy day. Oh

yeah, special thanks to Judyoler. It was sooo great to hear from someone who liked this fanfic enough to hunt me

down and go so far as to help make plot suggestions. I really needed someone to give me a nice kick and the ass

and I wanted to thank you for being that person.