Natasha stared at the messenger in disbelieving shock for a very long time. Stan? Gone? It couldn't be. He couldn't be dead because that meant that his body would break up into its component parts. He wasn't allowed to be dead; she needed him alive.

She needed his blood to complete her ceremony. How could she get that if he was dead? How could she kill him off to revive Gohma if he was already dead? How could…how could…

With a cry of despairing rage, she mind blasted the little demon and started furiously kicking its twitching corpse. The knowledge that she would one day be reunited with her beloved was all that had kept her going these centuries past. She knocked the ritual paraphernalia to the stone floor and collapsed onto the altar, sobbing.

Rosalyn looked back at the town of Triste one last time. They had taken Ari there to recover, as much from the physical damage as to the mental. He couldn't even look at Illisaith, which was perfectly understandable as far as she was concerned. She was having trouble with it herself.

She never thought she would actually miss the pompous, self-absorbed Evil King. What was there to miss, really? He was pompous and self-absorbed. And he was evil. Or so she thought. But…he had fixed her shadow at last. He had sacrificed himself for all of them. "I can't believe he's actually gone," she muttered.

Star chirped softly, and Illisaith shook his head. "I don't know. Would I know?"

"What'd she say?"

Star chirped again. "Apologies," she replied in a more understandable language. "I wondered if the dark one could have survived. And…I fear I do not know either, brother Illisaith."

They fell silent for a time until Rosalyn was compelled to say, "He sacrificed himself for us." She found herself rather stuck on that point.

Illisaith scoffed. "Please. I wouldn't have. You think he would?"

"He did!"

"Why are you defending him?"

"Why are you so jealous?"

The Image opened his mouth and closed it again with a snap, turning away. He heard a soft click as Rosalyn loosened her rapier and, as usual, pretended he did not. She would trust him on her own terms or not at all. Anyway, that wasn't even what bothered him.

Even dead, he found himself competing with his creator. He wasn't falling back into his old habits; he refused. But it did make him very, very irritable. He didn't even like Stan, but Rosalyn seemed to expect him to mourn or something. As far as he was concerned, the world was a better place.

Oh, who was he kidding? Maybe he didn't like Stan, but he didn't rejoice in his demise either. He just wished the woman he loved didn't keep going on about how great the stupid Evil King was.

His thoughts were interrupted by a click as she finally relaxed again. At least she was doing that sooner than she had been.

"What are we to do?" Star began. "With dar-Stanley gone?"

"I'm going to help you find Lightless Void," Rosalyn answered. "I still think Natasha probably has him."

"And I'm helping," Illisaith interjected. "I promised I would, and I don't break my word unlike some people."

Rosalyn smiled a bit at the jab to her former enemy. He had redeemed himself in her eyes, but it didn't make it any less amusing. Besides, she rather thought it was fitting.

Ari watched his companions until they were well out of sight. Unlike the three of them, he didn't believe Stan was truly dead. Marlene had mentioned that he was in denial and he should move on. Shortly thereafter, she had started bashing the demon king, and he had lost his temper.

Neither of them had ever done anything but boss him around, but at least Stan had never expected to be liked for it. He was what he was, completely honest and unabashed. Well, as honest as a lying Evil King could be. He never claimed to be good. He never claimed to be anything other than what he was.

Marlene, on the other hand…

She seemed to expect Ari's affection while doing nothing to earn it. He was fed up with her attitude and with her. He would still consider her a friend if she wanted to be one after his little explosion, but that was it.

He stared at the last place he had seen his friends for a while longer. He just needed them to get far enough away…

Ari wasn't about to take this sitting down. He wasn't sure what he was going to do exactly, but there had to be someone out there who could help Stan. And if not, he would find Natasha finish his master's quest.

That's what Master Stan would have wanted.

Standing, he dashed to the door, spared a moment to compose himself, and went out. There was no one around, which was just as well; he didn't much want to lie to anyone, although he would if he had to. But most everyone was on the other side of town, working to rebuild.

He shivered in the chill of the PosPos snowfields and briefly wondered what he was doing. Part of him felt that he should rejoice at his newfound freedom; Stan was evil anyway, and the world would be a safer place without him. That voice sounded a bit like Rosalyn, in fact. He felt driven by something, though; almost as though someone was shouting in his ear.

It sounded quite a bit like Stan, in fact.

Ari blinked and glanced around furtively. There was an odd little thought echoing around his head. It did sound quite a bit like Stan. He couldn't seem to focus on it, but…

"It's not enough for you to possess my shadow, is it?" he sighed. "You just had to get the rest of me, too."

If there was an answer, he couldn't hear it. He shook his head and debated whether to be happy or annoyed. It certainly explained his unusually short temper. And why he couldn't look at Illisaith without wanting to kill him. Rosalyn was going to have kittens, he realized with a laugh. Obviously, whatever remnants had been left of Stan's personality after Incubus tore him apart had latched onto Ari to keep from vanishing completely. He briefly wondered if that was something the Evil King could just do, or if it was because they had all been reduced to bodiless personalities anyway.

Something told him it was the former, so it was clearly the latter. Something felt a bit angry at his deduction, so he was clearly right.

Something informed him in no uncertain terms that if he didn't stop being clever, he was quickly going to discover how bad a migraine could actually be.

Ari grinned. "Yes, Master Stan," he said in mock resignation. He was further informed that if Rosalyn ever found out, he was going to wish Stan were nice enough to provide a fate worse than death. "Whatever you say, Master Stan."

There was a pause, and he was ordered to quit being cheeky and hurry up. Apparently, they needed to reach the Simulacrum. Ari asked why, but Stan had exhausted his ability to focus. His faint voice was reduced to an echo, and the boy was more or less alone again.

A/N: /relieved sigh/ Whew, I thought I was going to have to scrap this and start over for a while there. That'll teach me to write something before I think about the consequences, won't it? Anyway, sorry my first chapter in so long is so short, but the nature of the chapter demanded it. Now, this is one of three stories (one original /squee/) that I have going at once, so I make no promises as to when the next will be done, though I'm fairly confident it won't take another...what, two years?

Also, I'm having a crisis! Supposedly, someone drew a fancomic about this story. I must find it! I'm going insane, here! I can't believe nobody told me! Does anyone know who it was and where I can find it? Or one or the other? Seriously, there is nothing I love more than people who /coughfeedmyegocough/ draw fanart of my fanfics.