~0~

Adrian silently gazed out over the horizon, taking in the picturesquely beautiful dawn sky. On the mornings when he arose early, it had become a pleasurable habit of his to slip out of the house to watch the sunrise (and when he could sneak away at dusk he watched the sunset as well). Every part of it intrigued and impressed him. The light, wispy clouds bathed in varying shades of magenta and lavender. The endless expanse of the sky turned into nature's canvas, painted flawlessly; streaked with brilliant reds, golds, blues, silvers, purples, and every hue imaginable in between. The landscape before him that stretched out to the edge of the horizon to meet the sky - formerly dim and melancholy under the cloak of night - becoming pleasantly bright; and optimistic, in a sense…the darkness washed away by the rising sunlight pouring over the earth.

But what interested Adrian most was the sun itself. He leaned against the railing of the deck, gazing at the distant, brilliantly shining circle nestled in the soft, airy clouds; his thoughts wandering and focusing themselves around it. From so very far away, the sun looked merely beautiful. Only that, just something to admire from afar. Only having beauty to its name. The light and warmth something to enjoy, not marvel at. But Adrian also considered the strength behind that enjoyable light and warmth. His father – no, Adrian reminded himself, Robert Thorn was definitely not and never would be his father – Thorn has once shown him pictures of the sun up close on seeing his fascination with it, and he remembered his amazement at what he had seen, what he had really been looking at on all those mornings.

The sun, he had discovered, was actually an enormous sphere of endless fire; a great, incandescent form suspended in the despairingly dark, star-studded void of outer space. It shone intensely, with a light that was unrivaled in its glory. And it seemed to Adrian that the sun knew it; and that was why it went on, proudly shining, forever. Thorn had told him, though, that scientists suspected that even the sun had its limits and someday it would run out of its power, and one day would burn no more. That was an idea that was unfathomable to Adrian.

The sun appeared so powerful, like no force in the world could stop it from burning and shining. Even when the night fell and the moon rose to prominence in the darkened sky, the sun still shone somewhere else; Adrian just couldn't see it, was all. Adrian could not accept the idea that something so great could ever be ended, that such power could ever be restrained. If the force of the sun was so powerful, it could never be stopped, no matter who or what ever tried to. Complete and utter power, Adrian reasoned, was the ultimate force that could be attained by anything, and thus could never be defeated. Similarly, he concluded, the sun would shine forever, in radiant glory and splendor. Unhindered by anything, no matter what anyone thought, said, or did.

"Adrian! There you are!"

Holly. Adrian mentally cursed her for breaking the silence he had been pleasantly sinking into, and turned to face her. He smiled like he was happy that she had joined him, like she had not provoked the fury of hell by disturbing his peaceful morning. Childish naivety, that was the way to go, he had learned. And usually it was not difficult to do.

He did not hate Holly. He was really quite fond of his sweet, empathetic caretaker, but there were times, such as now, when she could be very irritating to him. But he had always acted the part of a polite, guileless child, and as such, she never suspected him of doing anything bad on purpose. The act was even better for hiding his and Damien's true natures.

Also, a fault Adrian had discovered in Holly was that she could be quite naïve and too trusting, and he had become adept at using this to his advantage. Again, like now. She wasn't angry that he had slipped away from his room very much at all. She looked more confused than angry with him.

"What are you doing out here, Adrian? You should be in bed right now!" she chastised him with both hands on her hips.

Adrian changed his expression to one of wounded innocence, and lowered his head slightly in faked shame. "I was just watching the sunrise," he murmured. And enjoying it, too, before you came along. "Just watching and thinking," he said, louder, looking back toward the sun.

Holly looked understanding. "I know, it's very pretty, isn't it?" Adrian nodded. "But it's still too early for you to be up. Come on back to bed; you can't be too tired to celebrate Damien's birthday today," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder and leading him back into the house. Adrian went with her willingly – he did, admittedly, get tired from waking early to look at the sunrise - but turned his head back for a moment to gaze longingly back at the sun, which was just barely showing itself, greeted by the swirls of color in the sky all around it.

~0~

"Yo, Adrian."

Adrian turned to see a seemingly human figure, clothed in ashen gray, materializing out of the heavy fuscous mist surrounding him. "Shaeido," he returned the greeting.

"Boy, have I got things to tell you," the rangy, honeydew-eyed demon drawled, putting his hands behind his head and interlocking his fingers.

He was always relaxed that way, like it was impossible for anything to go wrong in his world. He could be serious, angry, even grave, but Adrian had never seen Shaeido frustrated or stressed, and he didn't think he ever would. Sometimes Shaeido's casual coolness calmed him as well; but sometimes, like now, when he felt that sense of impending danger flow through his veins and chill his blood with apprehension, it irritated him that he could be so easy-going.

"So then tell me."

"Heh, heh…alright. I came to give you a heads-up about two new protectors coming to look after Damien soon. Straight from hell, just like yours truly."

"New protectors?" Adrian didn't know why, but he had always felt somewhat territorial about his place as Damien's protector. It did not feel right to him to have others assume his role. "Why? I'm doing fine on my own," he protested.

Shaeido laughed softly. "Yeah, but you don't know what's coming."

"If you tell me, then I'll know."

"Hmph. The new protectors will let you know."

New protectors. Adrian did not like the sound of that at all. He almost felt silly about asking Shaeido the question growing in his mind, but he asked anyway.

"Am I…being replaced?"

To his chagrin, Shaeido laughed again. His laughter sounded like the high yip of a hound. But his words soothed Adrian's worry. "No, are you kidding me? Of course you're not being replaced!" He said the last two words like they were the most ridiculous things that could have come out of Adrian's mouth.

"You were born to be Damien's strongest line of defense. Everything about you was all planned out so you would be his most efficient protector. You literally can't be replaced."

Shaeido's laughter ceased for a moment, and his face became serious. "You want to know why you're getting reinforcements? Because, whatever you might think otherwise, you need them."

Adrian cut Shaeido off. "I've protected Damien well before, haven't I? Am I not doing a good enough job? What's wrong?"

"Nothing you're doing is wrong," Shaeido assured him. "But there was nobody coming for you before. There is now. The forces of God are moving, and they're coming fast."

Adrian's blood froze cold. God. He inherently hated and feared that name, or more accurately, the force and being it represented. It both unnerved him and lit a wildfire in his soul. It shook him to his core and made him feel like he could take on anything daring to try and harm Damien. He looked at Shaeido, and saw the same feelings reflected in his grim expression. "They're…coming after Damien?"

"Yeah. And you can't repel them by yourself. Like I said, you were born to be Damien's strongest protector, but you aren't there yet. The new one will be training you as well as watching out for Damien."

"These new protectors. Tell me about them."

"Well, I'll just run through what's going to happen today, and you'll get to know them when you meet them."

"Alright then."

"You know your nanny? Uh…Harriet?"

"Holly."

"Yeah, her. She's the one who's being replaced. See, one of the new protectors will assume the role of your and Damien's new nanny."

"What'll happen to Holly?" Adrian asked, confused.

"Yeah…" Shaeido said, dragging out the word. "She's going to have to die," he said, like a doctor saying he'll have to give you an unexpected shot.

"What?" Adrian had known, always, that the path to Damien's and his ascension to power would be littered with the corpses of those sacrificed in the name of their purposes. But the sudden news that Holly would have to be killed shocked him.

"Does she…I mean…Does Holly have to die?" The words spilled out of his mouth before he had even begun to think about them, and he instantly felt foolish about them. There was no changing the way things had to be. He understood and accepted that.

Shaeido fixed him with a stern gaze. "You know it must happen this way."

Adrian shook himself. Of course he knew. "Yes. I was just a little surprised, is all. How is she going to die?"

"The other protector will take care of that. Look carefully and maybe you'll see him at work. But trust me, Adrian…" he began; rearing his head back, shaking out his long, unruly ebony-colored hair, and grinning widely, baring short, sharp, glistening triangular teeth. His forked serpentine tongue, abnormally long and colored like a rose veiled in mist, snaked between his reptilian fangs and hung lazily out of his mouth; and his eyes glowed eerily bright and streaks of lava-bright incarnadine color, which looked like molten rock but still possessed the likeness of flesh, slashed through his hair and skin. A human would faint with shock and horror if they saw Shaeido like he was now, Adrian thought. Part of his true demon form. He must really be excited.

"You'll really get a show today," he promised. "Better than any entertainment Thorn could pay for."

Adrian smiled. Shaeido was adept at arranging bizarre deaths. He was eager to see what his mentor had come up with for Holly. And maybe getting a couple new protectors to join him would not be so bad. He had never had anyone to teach him besides Shaeido. He was curious now, to meet them and see what they were like.

"Heh…yeah," Shaeido said to himself, his face reverting to its normal human form. He looked at Adrian. "You understand now? You're okay with this? No problem?"

Adrian nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Hey, and you enjoy yourself at that party, you hear me? I've got everything covered. You can just hang around and watch. Oh, and when she dies, it'll only hurt her a little, so don't worry."

"All right, Shaeido."

"Good boy. Now get up and wish your brother a happy birthday for me, will ya?"

The mist hanging in the air whirled around Adrian, and Shaeido's form was swept into it. And all of a sudden Adrian found himself lying again in his bed, on top of the covers since he had not felt like getting under them. He did not know whether to smile or frown on remembering Shaeido's visit, and his messages. He opened his eyes and sat up to see Holly helping Damien get dressed. When they saw that he was awake, they cheerfully wished him a good morning. Damien waved excitedly at him, as if they were a hundred yards apart and not just across the room from each other.

"Happy birthday, Damien!" Adrian said, equally cheerful.

"Thanks, Adrian!"

Adrian looked at Holly's smiling face and smiled back at her. The smile became less friendly and more sardonic when she turned away from him and back to Damien. She did not know she was being replaced. Only Adrian knew. Sorry, Holly. You've got to go.

~0~