Authors notes: Is it just me, or did this update come earlier than the others? Either way, I present to you the next chapter of 'Dark Knight'.

(this chapter is the result of listening to the Gregorian version of 'My Immortal' for 12 hours straight')

Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction using elements that do not belong to the author. These aforementioned elements belong to their respective owners. Any similarities with other stories by other authors, either living or dead, are purely coincidental.

The abysmal knight rode slowly into the castle. There were very little intruders today, none of which provided much challenge to the servant. Most were just magic wielders and were quickly dispatched. It was very strange to him. Not a day went by that his entire sword went red with blood. Now it didn't even cover half of the edge. It seemed a lot has change since that night with the crusader.

As he rode he heard a faint whimper. Thinking that it was an intruder, he turned his steed to the source of the sound. As he entered hallway, he noticed a ring of wandermen huddled over something. Thinking the group of undead warriors was dealing with the intruder, he began to turn away. As he did he noticed the pieces of a broom close by. He turned again to the group and saw their victim.

It was his healer.

Alice huddled on the floor. She knew her end was coming soon. She had made the mistake of angering a group of the black city's soldiers, even though they had started it. She was cleaning that part of the hallway when the undead group came in. The lead wanderman pushed her aside as they got close to her. She aired her annoyance with the act, and was promptly answered by blows.

The lead wanderman raised its sword, ready to strike down this insolent servant girl. Alice knew this was it. As the undead swordsman was about to strike, the sword was suddenly thrown out of its hand. It turned to see who dared deny it its prize. Alice looked up and gasped as she saw who her rescuer was.

The looming form of the abysmal knight presented itself before the wanderman. By the way he held his sword, it was clearly seen that the servant was the one who interfered.

The wanderman hissed at the mounted terror, not intending to back down any time soon. The servant, seeing that the leader had no intention of standing down, did what he did best. With one quick swing, he cut the wanderman in half, straight down the middle. The two halves promptly burst asunder, living nothing but ashes.

With their leader destroyed, the other undead wisely backed away and disappeared into the darkness. With that matter over with, the servant went over to Alice. She was shaking all over, most likely from fear. Her clothes were all torn up and her apron was in pieces. There were cuts on her arms, legs and face.

Behind the frightening mask, the servant's eyes were going wide. Images began to flash before his eyes, images of that crusader woman. She was smaller, younger, and in the same state as Alice. The servant could feel pain in his chest. It wasn't pain from a battle wound, or from some kind of punishment from his master. It was far painful and severe than anything he has ever felt. And it grew more the longer he looked at the wounded servant girl.

Alice looked at the black knight with apprehension. She knew he was…her abysmal knight, but in the state she was in, she feared him as much as her attackers, if not more. She knew of his kind's heartlessness, and at that point it seemed absurd to her that he rescued her simply because she was in peril.

The servant dismounted and walked towards Alice. The servant girl began to quiver more as he did. The manner in which he held his sword and the way he walked made him look like a predator ready to deliver the death blow. He stopped a step away from the girl and raised his sword. Alice covered her face with her arms and closed her eyes, awaiting the blow that would end her life.

A thunderous crash was heard as metal hit stone.

As the shaking subsided, Alice opened her eyes. There was no sword sticking out of her side. Instead it stuck from the ground beside the abysmal knight. The servant knelt slowly in front of her. He raised his hand and she flinched. He stopped for a moment then continued to reach out and wiped a tear from Alice's eyes.

Feeling how gentle the touch was, she relaxed a bit.

As gently as he possibly could, the servant put his arms behind Alice's back and knees and lifted her up. He took her to his steed and put her on its back. He then retrieved his sword, mounted the Nightmare, and rode out of the castle.

Outside in the castle courtyard, there stood a large fountain. Though most of Glast Heim lay in ruin, this fountain was in relatively good condition. It may be falling apart in some places, but water was still flowing to it from the near by river.

The servant stopped beside it. He lowered Alice from his steed and sat her to where some of the water was trickling from the large main basin. He ripped a piece of fabric from his cape, wetted it with the water, and began to clean the servant girl's wounds.

This was the first act of kindness Alice had ever had during the long span of years she had been in the dark city. Her life was filled with the endless sweeping of the great castle, interrupted only by the abuses from its other denizens. But with the servant it was different. Not once did he lay a heavy hand on her, or violently cast her aside. He never abused her like others of his kind. If she would ever come close, he would just let her be. It was with him that she felt safe.

Soon the abysmal knight finished dressing Alice's wounds. He picked her up again, and then sat her on a stone slab near by. He then sat beside her. The servant felt uncommonly weary. At this point, he didn't know what to do.

Alice looked at the servant. Even with his face covered by that hideous mask, his body language told her he was under a lot stress. She hated that mask. It was not only frightening, but it also hid the goodness she knew the black knight had inside him.

She slowly moved herself so she was kneeling on the stone slab. The servant looked at her as she did. She then reached out and tried to take off the abysmal knight's mask. He hesitated for a moment, but then allowed her to continue.

Alice slowly removed the tall helmet. As she did, dark hair fell on the servant's back. Now, all that remains is the face mask itself. With shaking hands, she took it off his face.

His eyes were closed as she removed his mask. Slowly he opened them and gazed down at the girl beside him. His eyes were pools darkness, dull and empty. Yet in the middle of it all, the little servant girl saw herself. A tear fell from Alice's eyes. Never has she felt such happiness within her. She hugged the servant out of delight.

The abysmal knight was taken aback. He did not expect such a reaction from her. Something was shouting at the back of his mind, telling him to do something. As he looked at the girl snuggled to him, he slowly lifted his hand and began to stroke her hair.

Alice could feel the servant stroking her hair. It was a comforting feeling and it was lulling her to sleep. As she began to fall into slumber, an image began to form in her mind. She was in a beautiful, sunlit garden. Beside her was a man clad in an ornately decorated silver suit of armor. He looked similar to her abysmal knight, though he was older and had a mustache and beard. He, too, was stroking her hair and was smiling at her lovingly.

As sleep finally began to take her, Alice unconsciously said in a soft voice…

"Papa."

Kat was walking down the streets of Juno. She had woken up bright and early that day so she could continue her research. Perhaps she could find her answers this day.

As she walked through the city, she noticed a young mage sitting on the steps of a building. He was just a child, probably the same age as when Kat began her swordswoman career. The boy turned his head often, as if looking out for someone.

"Are waiting for someone, child?" Kat asked as she approached the boy.

The boy nodded, "I'm waiting for my mistress."

"Where has your mistress gone to?"

"She went to take the test for her advancement. I think it is taking her some time to finish, but I can wait."

The crusader smiled at the loyalty of the young mage.

"Then let me wait with you."

The two sat together for almost an hour. Finally the young mage jumped up and said.

"My mistress is here!"

Sure enough, a young woman in sage trappings came towards them. The boy ran to her and gave her a hug.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. The test was harder than I expected." The newly appointed sage said to her charge.

"It's okay. She kept me company." The boy said, pointing to Kat.

The sage turned to Kat and bowed.

"Thank you for watching over him, miss."

"It was nothing." She responded.

"Mistress, you look really pretty in that." The young mage suddenly said.

"Really?" the sage said as she turned around to give the boy a full view of her clothes.

Kat watched the boy as the two talked. The young mage blushed, for obvious reasons, as he commented on his mistress' beauty. A smile adorned his face and his eyes sparkled. It was obvious. He was in love.

As she looked at the him, Kat could feel a great pain in her heart. She was once like that, hopelessly in love with someone older than her. She remembered she use to give the same comments to Jays and look at him with the same enthusiasm. She was in a dream she never wanted to wake up from.

Yet all of a sudden, her dream became a nightmare. Her beloved was taken away violently from her, never to return again. The fire of rage and vengeance burned in her heart during the aftermath of that event. She had thought she had put it out when she became a crusader.

But after that mission at Glast Heim, and now as she looked at the boy, she realized the fire of hatred and anger still burned within her. She was still grieving her loss. She still wanted revenge.

Fearing her emotions might overcome her, Kat fled the scene. Try as she might to contain her dark feelings, she couldn't. Tears began to fall from her eyes.

'I shouldn't have these thoughts. I shouldn't have these desires. I'm a crusader. I can't let vengeance be part of what I do…

…but I want it so much.'

She ran back to the inn. Surprisingly, nobody noticed her. She went straight to her room and collapsed on the bed.

'Oh, God, please help me. Give me the strength to resist these dark thoughts…

… Jays, why did you leave me? I need you. I'm so lost without you.'

Kat opened her eyes to the sound of a lullaby and the feeling of someone stroking her hair. She turned her head to the sound and looked up.

"Debora?"

"How are you feeling, Kat?"

"My head is aching." The crusader answered.

The sage smiled, "Maybe that's because you went to sleep in your dress uniform. C'mon, let me help you out of that and into something more comfortable."

Kat took of what she was wearing with Debora's help. The sage then went to the chest on the foot of the bed and took out a simpler dress.

"Debora, how did you find me here?" Kat asked as she received the dress.

"I saw you running back here. I followed you up to this room. I wanted to go in but I heard you crying." Debora answered.

Kat didn't move. She just knelt there on the bed, hugging her dress. Her head was bowed and her eyes had sad look.

"Heart problems?" the sage asked.

"You could say that." The crusader.

"Can I ask who Jays is?"

Kat blinked once and answered.

"He's someone important to me. Someone I lost long ago."

"I see. I'm sorry."

There was silence between the two. Debora decided to leave the heart problems topic at that and changed the subject.

"Are you still going back to the great library today?"

"No," Kat answered as she put on the dress she was given. "I think I'll skip that for today. I don't feel too good."

"Oh, ok. I'll just give you this tomorrow, then."

"Give me what?"

The sage smiled and produced a fairly large black book. Kat took it and read the golden embroidered words on the cover.

"History of Glast Heim?"

"Well, I noticed you were researching on dark magic and its history, and since there's nothing darker in the entire kingdom of Rune Midgard and republic of Shwartzvald than Glast Heim, I thought you could use it."

Kat looked at the sage and smiled.

"Thanks, Debora."

Kat opened the book and began to skim through its contents. Debora sat beside her friend and watched her as she intently studied the tome. Kat's suddenly stopped when she came upon a picture. It showed several men and women in armor and mounted on what looked like the living versions of Nightmares. They looked like Abysmal Knights, although they were alive and looked nowhere near abysmal. She began to read the words underneath the picture.

The Order of Royal Knights of Glast Heim, also known as Angel Knights, were the soldiers and protectors of ancient Glast Heim. Their loyalty to their King was only surpassed by their loyalty to God and to the people they serve.

These knights followed a strict code of conduct, which stressed the virtues of humility, honesty, kindness, charity, honor, and fear of God. Because of their great faith, they were known to be able use holy powers to a small extent, but with great efficiency. When not in armor, they were like ordinary citizens, some were farmers, teachers, laborer and pillars of families.

Their first lord is God, to whom they offer their lives and from whom they gain their power. Their second lord are the people, the common men and women of Glast Heim, to whom they vow their eternal loyalty and service. A ruler of Glast Heim would only have the order's allegiance if he has proven himself a God-fearing man and devoted to the service of the people.

'They are like a mix of knights and crusaders' Kat thought to herself.

Yet even with their power and devotion, a great and terrible fall awaited the Royal Knights. When the great shadow began to fall upon the city, the entire order of the Royal Knights died trying to prevent it. The order was then turned into a dark mockery of its former self. Their souls and bodies were twisted and corrupted into evil

From then on, they were known as Abysmal Knights, the blind servants of the black city's new lord. These black knights then turned on the people they had sworn to protect and defiled all that their once noble order stood for.

With Glast Heim now in ruin, the abysmal knights became the sentinels of the dark city forever bound to their dark master. Though their bodies withered away, the corruption that gripped their soul didn't. The black armors now contain nothing but the blackened spirits of these once noble and holy warriors.

As Kat finished reading, she began to understand what had happened to Jays. Evil has gripped his soul and corrupted in. With this realization, doubt that she could rescue her beloved knight began to bud in her heart.

'Could I turn him back from this evil? Do I have the power save Jays?'

Kat quickly turned the pages to find a possible way to help her beloved. Her page turning was stopped again by a picture. Her eyes went wide.

'This…this…'

The picture showed a skeleton clothed in dark, tattered, yet regal green robes. Giant skulls served as shoulder armor while two horns protruded horizontally from its head. A halo surrounded by a black aura floated over its head, and a pentagram shined behind the monstrosity.

Debora noticed the sudden change in her friend's face. The crusader's eyes became clouded.

"Kat…?"

The crusaders grip on the book began to tighten. Her hands began to tremble.

"Kat."

Suddenly, Kat's eyes turned from clouded brown to bloody red. A fiery aura burst from her body causing the sage to be thrown off the bed.

"KAT!!!!"

Panicking, Debora used her psychic ability to throw the book out of Kat's hands. Once the tome was out of her hands, the crusader went back to her former self. The sage quickly went to her quivering friend.

"Kat, are you okay?"

Kat looked at her friend. Her eyes had a look of shock and fear in them.

"Debora, what happened to me?"

The crusader broke down and cried on the sage's shoulder. Debora held her friend as she eyed the book wearily. It was still opened on the page where the picture was. Below the image were the words…

The Dark Lord of Glast Heim

The master looked upon his servant from a special viewing globe. The abysmal knight had been sitting in the courtyard for almost two hours, doing nothing but stroking the hair of the servant girl that slept on his lap.

The master's eyes narrowed into slits. This scene was not new to him. He had seen this exact same event centuries before, and it proved to have been a bad omen for his part.

'I must eliminate that servant girl before she upsets my plans…'

'…just as she did when she was still alive.'

Author's Notes: MALIGAYANG PASKO!!!!

(or for you non-Filipino speaking people: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!)