The White Devil

A true lady of war, born from the fires of hell itself, tempered by raging wars and one of the most powerful beings in existence. She had cast down the Unseen Lurkers. She had destroyed the homeworld of the alien Returners by herself. She had resisted the Dark Angel and exposed that woman for what she was. She had broken the Siege of Tulis that had raged for ten years in a single day. She had led the charge on the Field of Souls, the domain of the Reaper, and broken down the Black Gates herself.

That was my lady. That is the woman I love. A goddess. When my goddess speaks I listen. When she orders me to besiege Corvian Prime, a fortress world of Death's Princess, I don't blink. I obey.

She knows I have the book. She said as much. She wants me to read it, learn from it then come to her. For what reason I know not. This lowly worm has received the blessing of the sun to crawl on the surface.

Who am I to disobey?

Now I stand upon the Whitefire's bridge watching Corvian Prime rotate in the distance. The admiral is calling for me, he wants to discuss battle plans no doubt, but my mind is far from here.

It is with my lady. She gave me everything and I owe her everything. I give my body, my blood and my soul to her to use as she pleases. The book is still with me. I wouldn't fail my lady. I would finish the book.

The admiral quietly huffs and begins to explain his plan. The plan is sound, so I pull the book out and begin to read…

It was odd… Stepping though the doorway was like trying to wade in a swamp. Harry could feel raw magical power flowing to and fro, pushing him forwards. Brilliant sparks of light urged him onwards. Gray sparks pushed him back. He made no motion to block their passage and a moment later he left the strangeness of the dimension between dimensions.

His boots sank into the ground. That was the first thing noticed. Looking around he shook his head sadly. It was much less impressive than he had expected. They, Signum and Zafira were waiting for Hayate at the portal, were in a massive, cavernous, dark room. He couldn't see the walls in any direction and the only light was from the portal and the minuscule red cracks that ran across the floor. Looking down he saw the floor in question was made of gray matter, the same gray matter as the outside. The air was still and carried the certain tang he had smelled upon many battlefields, the iron tang of blood.

"Yuck!" he mumbled as he took to the air. The gray matter still clung to his boots, but nothing could be done about it.

Fate, whom had come through a moment after him, made a similar move. Her lighting sword gave off a good amount of light piercing some of the darkness surrounding them. Ten meters away he made out an area were the gray mass seemed to drop off like a hill on a rolling plain.

His Havoc Reaper gave off some light, but it was enough to see part of the ways. He strained to pick up any noise. The constant droning was gone thankfully, but the silence was deafening; outside of the heartbeats and regular breaths of his allies, he heard nothing. Dead silence. Given the nature of the beast they were in he was surprised. No massive lungs heaving in and out, the hollow rush of air, or the steady beat of vital organs nor the sound of foot steps from deathless guards, nothing made noise in this place. The swish of clothing was a welcome reminded that their was noise. The mad cackle of magical energy was an old friend in this otherwise silent place. The silence was unnerving, no lifeform should ever be as quiet as it was. He was assuming that this beastie could even be called a lifeform in the first place.

"What now?" Hayate whispered despite the silence. The attack squad had huddled up after her arrival. The light of their combined weapons gave them a fairly good field of vision.

"At this point we go on to fight the secret boss, looting any treasure, and hope some allies will come along and make the secret boss weaker. I wonder if we'll see any dragons," Harry wondered, half mocking their situation.

"This isn't a video game!" Hayate responded, whispering forgotten.

"So? If anybody sees any chest, urns, boxes, torches or anything that looks out of place and it could contain treasure, touch it." Harry hefted his lance and gestured towards the edge of the light. "I'll go this way."

"Wait!" Signum said. "Is that wise to split up our forces in this situation?"

Harry shrugged a short distance away. "Has nothing to do with wisdom. This place is dead anyway. Anyway I work better alone, and its not like the portal out of here is blending in or hidden." He pointed to the portal two meters away from them that was glowing with a fierce white light. "If I happen to run into the secret boss I'll tell you." With that he was gone, heading towards the area were the gray matter rolled.

"Rash." Signum shook her head.

"Yeah, he is, but I think that's a defining characteristic." Hayate said.

"Along with a snarky attitude, and an ego," Fate said quietly.

Signum nodded sagely. "True, but he is a warrior born. I'm sure he would be a Knight in any age. More than that, he is a veteran of combat. He has seen and dealt death many times."

"How do you know that? We haven't known him that long," Fate asked the swordswoman.

"His eyes. We should get going. Hayate you're with me, Zafira go with Fate. We'll meet up in a half hour. Keep the portal in sight at all times. We need to find the central brain or nervous system to big the program down." Signum reminded the group.

Fate and Zafira nodded then left, heading in the opposite direction Harry had gone. They wisely choose to fly, but stayed close to the floor. Who knew what lurked in the upper reaches of this place.

As Hayate and her Knight explored, the girl asked her Knight to explain what it was about Harry's eyes. "Come on Signum! What's the deal with the eyes? How can you read that much into them?"

Signum was silent. She would not reveal any more of the wizard's secrets on this night. In Harry Potter she had found a True Knight, a rare thing even in all her time was a Guardian of the Book of Darkness, no Tome of the Night Sky, Reinforce. She had met many Knights though the ages, men and women of honor, and fought beside and killed many, but they were not True Knights. To be a True Knight was to stand alone, to have a mindset rarely seen, to have the ability to stand out amongst the crowd, to have the skills and power to back up any claim, to have a certain gentleness and fighting ferocity long unseen by mortal men, that was a True Knight.

Leaving a True Knight alone resulted in what Harrison "Harry" Potter was; jaded, cynical, arrogant to an extent, hurting and angry at the world, but with a heart of gold. He was a Knight out of place and time, the unknowing follower of an ancient code trapped in a reality that was not his own. She would save him. As a True Knight that was her duty. The place where she had sworn that oath so long ago may be ground to dust, but the words were engraved upon her very being, no matter whom the Master of the Night Sky was.

She would break the walls he had set around his gold at all cost. She would pound them by force or trickery until the True Knight was free. That was her new task. That was her new secondary mission, after protecting Hayate. That was her hope so that she could make amends for her mistakes.

Hope…

Was she allowed to have such a thing? Yes, Hayate had given it to them. Hope for tomorrow, for a life outside of the Book, a real life with real emotions. She didn't know what to feel. So long their various masters and mistresses had ordered them to do the unthinkable that she had buried her emotions and resigned herself to an endless circle of the same. They had seen them as tools and other times as playthings. Not this time, not with Hayate.

The girl, so young, so fragile, had nearly broken them with kindness. Four Knights that had seen the worst, experienced the depths of evil humanity was capable of plumbing, that had broken the unbreakable time and time again were laid low by little girl with a big heart. She was all too aware of how corny that sounded. Yet…yet she wouldn't deny it.

She had been drowning in her own darkness. Dragons of the past had haunted her sleep between masters. Faces and places, names and numbers of the dead and destroyed haunted her. Alone among her fellow Knights did she torture herself nightly. The rest had chosen to forget, she had not. She would cling to the dead, for somewhere in there she would find that which she sought. In the darkness she would find her original memoires, memories from her human life and finally lay to rest the question that had on her mind for many ages. Even if it broke her, and cost her everything she would find them because she had hope. The hope given to her by a little girl would be her light, for that alone she would defend Hayate Yagami to the end and beyond.

The General of the Raging Flames, Dragon of Heaven, Flame Mistress, Fire of the Light, Vengeance Flame…all titles she had acquired over the ages were trash. Only on title remained, only one mattered anymore, only one title she would respond now and forever more, Signum Yagami.

That girl had taken them in and made them into a family even though it wasn't needed. Bearing her name was the greatest honor she had ever received. The girl who saved her, a monster guilty of many acts beyond horrific and given her a home. That had the most surprising night of Signum's many long years when Hayate had insisted the four Knights take her last name as their own. They had refused, but when she threatened to use her power of the Mistress of the Book to make them accept they accepted.

For that reason she would pass the favor on. She would save a man from himself whether he wanted it or not. Never again would she be responsible for letting another Modred be created.

Stopping suddenly Signum looked ay Hayate, who gave her a curious look for having halted so suddenly. Her…sister? Mother? That would have to be decided later. Impulse took over her body. With a long step Signum stepped towards her mistress and captured her in a tentative hug. "Thank you," she whispered in the surprised girl's ear and let her go.

Before Hayate could respond, Fate sent a frantic telepathic burst.

~Everyone! We found something!~

Harry let out a low whistle of appreciation when he cam upon the wall. He had flown far from the portal for it was but a speck of light in the distance. The floor dropped into a lower section and continued onwards. The red cracks randomly traversed the floor, but he couldn't help but feel they were important. The wall itself was the same gray matter, but that didn't concern him.

All men share a common love, not for love, but for a metal. That most precious of all minerals that led to wars time and time again. That ageless symbol of power, love, and royalty that enthralled men and women alike, lay stacked in heaps along the wall. Gold.

Malleable and magical both wizard and mundane loved gold. And here, in the least of all places, Harry Potter stumbled upon cache of gold. Gold in every shape and size lay before him, coins and bars, staves and horns, swords and rings, necklaces and brooches, helms and chains; the Treasure of the Dead. The loot of many ages lay to rest upon the sea floor gathered into one place.

"Damn! I was kidding about the treasure thing earlier too." Harry watched the treasure horde, contemplating what to do. He could take it and risk the spirits of the dead. For the dead held no terror over him and he was confident Azriel could blast them to bits. He could leave it and let the dead keep their treasure. "They're the dead anyway. They have no need of treasure anyway. The dead should stay dead and away from the living. I'll just help them along."

"Master I detect several spirits tied to some of the objects here. Do you wish for to vaporize them?" Azriel offered quietly. They kept their voices down, not wanting to draw any attention from allies or enemies.

For a moment he considered it, but a cruel thought crossed his mind. "What if I gave the pup one of the spirit bound items? That would be hilarious!"

"Master that almost seems needlessly cruel."

"Almost? Anyway it I'll be funny. We can set up a video camera and what the haunting," Harry said resisting the urge to cackle madly.

"The treasure does no belong to us. Our allies may have…words about the actions you about to undertake."

Harry reached into waistband of his Barrier Jacket and removed a thin bag, no thicker than a piece of paper. With a quick shake the bag inflated and he knelt near the treasure after laying Azriel nearby. "The way I see it, the world owes me for services rendered. This is just collecting apart of my payment. Anyway it's not like I'm a hero anymore. I do what I need to survive and this gold will help me do just that. I don't remember signing a contract saying I had to be a hero or perform only the good and noble actions all of my days."

"Point, Master of Death. However it is my assertion that revealing the existence of this treasure to our temporary allies would not be our best interest."

Yeah, I agree. Now then let's see if we can't fill up an Endless Bag from George's Shack." Harry began to scoop the gold items into a large pile. Then he took the bag and let the bag do its work. The mouth opened wide as it sensed the pile and swallowed the gold, storing it in its supposable endless depths. He started repeated the process again when he heard a noise.

The sound of shuffling in the darkness.

Seizing Azriel he looked into the darkness where he assumed the noise was coming from. Out of the darkness, near the edge of the light from his Havoc Reaper, shuffled a figure. He leveled the lance at the figure. "Identify yourself!"

The thing, if could be called that, shuffled forward and into the light. It has a vaguely humanoid shape, a head, body and two legs, but the similarities ended there. The thing seemed to be made of the same gray mass. Instead of arms, it had bird like claws on each of its four limbs. The head was covered by a white mask in the shape of a screaming face. Its feet were blade like slits that caught the light revealing their metal origin. The body itself was covered in the same dark gray metal. The thing like out a screech, like a bird and sprung towards him.

With practiced ease Harry leveled his lance at the thing's head. It made no move to avoid the magical weapon. The masked head met the lance with a crunch and the mask shattered. Harry pushed the lance forward even as the claws sought his flesh.

"Nova Blaster," he said quietly. The lance briefly flickered and jade sparks scattered to the floor below. The thing's head was vaporized in an instant. Yet it kept coming. Black blood flowed from its neck.

"Nova Blaster." He forced the beam into a wide area, annihilating the torso. He with drew his lance and took a step back, expecting the thing to fall.

Yet the arms and their claws still sought him. The thing's arms and legs were moving as if it never suffered any injury. The arms were relentless and clung the last straps of the torso's flesh as they sought his body.

"Die already! Wraith Shot!" Harry guided the jade orbs into each of the arms and watched with satisfaction was the four clawed arms were blasted into nothing. Finally the legs gave up and went limp. "About bloody time! Annoyances!" Harry huffed and returned to his treasure collection.

With half an eye on the darkness he watched for more of the things. They were annoying, but not too difficult to kill. In an instant he would drop the bag and take of Azriel. There would be no more holding back, not matter the consequences. His nerves were on edge, worn down by the day and know this. "Why did I have to open my mouth and volunteer?" he bemoaned his stupidity. Then he saw the gold and smiled. "Perhaps it wasn't a waste after all. Might even be worth the headache."

"Of course Master. It was the right choice. My scans reveal that several of these artifacts have magical properties I cannot isolate."

"That alone might make it worth it. I might need to take to some of the old guard back home though… The goblins might be able to help," he mused as he continued collecting his pay.

"They hate us."

"Who? The goblins? No, they were hit hard by Tom and I didn't help, but at the end of the day greed will override their reservations."

"Perhaps we would inform our allies of the thing we battled. We may need their power to bring down this place. I wouldn't do for them to be…done in as you humans put it."

"I agree Azriel. We can't have any of them dying now, not yet at least and in this manner. They deserve a…grander finale. We will warn them if I feel it's needed. Otherwise it might create a bit of panic in the younger ones," Harry said coldly as he swept the last of the gold into the bag. With a flick the reversal magic took effect and the bag deflated into its original form. He replaced the bag and hefted Azriel. "We'll come up with something in time, I'm sure."

Azriel was silent. That was odd for her to remain silent when the topic of planning death came up. "You have…grown."

"What!" That had caught him off guard.

"You are becoming more like Death every day. Colder, darker, vengeful, calculating, less human…"

"That's not true!" he objected. Tom had lost his humanity and Harry Potter had no intention of walking the same road. He wouldn't subject another life to the hell that was his own because he decided to abandon humanity.

"Amoral, you have changed. Three years ago you would have never touched the gold, yet know you took it all. Many find my voice…disturbing at best, yet you do not. You are becoming the man you were destined to become my Master," Azriel purred as knew as a Device could.

Harry looked incredulously at his Device. Her words rang true to him. He was at perfect ease with her. Three years ago he was a foolish, Golden Boy trying to live a life of lies and illusions. "What are you? You're not a normal Device are you?"

"Correct. I am older than your homeworld, older than the stars themselves, older than magic itself, I am the prototype Intelligent Device. Born from the fires of creation, shaped by cosmic waves, powered by all the power of creation, I am yours. I am the last of my kind, the last Reaper of Al-Hazard. I am yours forever, all I do for your benefit. I will never abandoned you even when the stars themselves die. Together we will walk into the void, then you shall see me in all my glory and I will be yours for all time."

Harry stopped midflight and looked at the Device. She knew him better than he knew himself. She knew he needed to here those words, words to heal the scars of battle. "Perhaps, but I will not let everything I worked for go to the void," he reaffirmed.

"So be it. If that is the will of the Master of Death then I shall abide by it."

Harry swore he heard the unspoken 'for now' from Azriel, but dismissed the idea. She had given him her everything. She wouldn't betray him. Putting their conversation aside he focused on their current situation.

He flew towards the portal, looking for any more of those things he had fought earlier. He assumed any others would be drawn to it like a moth to flames. The way out was so close when the message came.

~Everyone! We found something!~

He bit his lip hard when he turned away from the portal. His mind said head for the portal. It wasn't his battle after all. He hadn't unleashed this beast. He could have run, he had the loot and the power to leave, but he didn't. This beast of a program would ruin everything he worked for. That override any desire for gold or to avoid harm that bound to come soon. "One last time doing the right thing. One last time. No more then, I'm sick of it," he vowed to himself as he took off in the direction Fate had sent along with her message. "…never again."

Those words sounded hollow to him.

"What in the world is that?"

"Impressive…"

"Kill me now…" Harry wanted to kick himself for not expecting something like this.

Fate and Zafira had discovered the 'brain' of the program and what a piece of gothic architecture it was. The entrance a massive, yawning archway in the gray walls with gargoyles and other beings were perched upon the archway leering at those before them. They had passed from the entryway and ventured deeper. Numerous arches, alcoves, pillars all covered with statues of magical beasts and spikes greeted them with a deeper darkness. High overhead the arches met, but they were hidden by darkness. The room went onwards and onwards, further back into the darkness.

"In all reality we should have expected this. I mean what else does this place need I was just thinking to my self; a little gothic inspiration would go a long way here." Harry's comment was met by snicker from Hayate.

"Oh yes, all it s needs know is the boss at the end with the organ. Then it would be prefect," Hayate said with a snicker. Her illness from the Book feeding off her had left her handicapped and she had played many games to pass the hours. The death of her parents left her well off and her guardian made sure she was well, but she hadn't met the man in several years. He always said his job was demanding and he wished he could come she her more often. "Cue the dramatic music!"

'Don't jinx us," Harry said with a snicker of his own. The group was slowing moving forward down what he assumed would be the central aisle if the place had pews or benches. ~Signum, this place has guards. I fought and killed one earlier~

"That's enough talking," Signum commanded. ~Very well~

Harry glanced at the swordswoman. He could listen to her and he knew them to be good advice or he could try to chase away the silence. It was really getting to him after all the noise outside. The air was off; everything about this place had him on edge for some reason. Something entered their field of vision; a white light in the distance, a mere speck that grew in size with each step taken.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Harry asked, raising his lance.

"I don't know. Be on guard," Signum warned as they picked up the pace.

A minute, or at least he thought it was a minute for time might flow differently here, later they came upon the source. It was massive flower with white petals a meter across at least. White roots buried into the gray mass below. The whole thing shone with a luminous white glow and it looked completely out of place.

"It's beautiful…" Fate quietly said.

"Like a piece of glass. Look at the leaves and the detail in the veins." Hayate reached forward to touch the leaves, but Signum snatched her hand away.

"No, do not touch it. I believe this is the core of the program. We must destroy it to advance if it's not the core," Signum finished then brought her flaming sword up.

Beside Signum, Fate raised her lighting blade high to cleave the flower. Harry began to let mana flow into his lance. The jade energy leapt down the length of the lance and he felt Azriel gathering the power for a single blow. He aimed for the center of the flower.

"Wait!" Hayate protested. She flew between them and the flower. "What if you're wrong? What this is all the good and noble intentions of the Book's defense program?"

"There is that possibility," Fate admitted, lowering he blade a bit.

"I'm sure this is the core," Signum reinforced her point. "I can feel it."

"Things of the dark love to take the form of things of the light. Happened to me once too. Such a nice old lady too. Pity she was that overgrown snake," Harry said no remorse in his voice.

"Huh? An old lady was a snake?" Hayate asked. "I don't get it."

Harry was keenly aware of the odd looks Fate and Signum were giving him. "Yeah, long story, probably should be saved for latter." Why was Signum giving him that odd look anyway? "Let's just say a wizard did it and leave it at that."

"Fine, lets blast it," Hayate relented and stepped away.

The group moved back and apart.

"Havoc Reaper: Supernova Cannon!" Harry was determined to end this as quickly as possible. Jade energy began to gather and condense into a small ball at the tip of the lance.

"Plasma Zanber Samsh!" Fate yelled off to Harry's right as he heard the other three fire off their spells.

"Flying Dragon Flash!"

"Resound, horn of judgment! Ragnarok!"

"Steel Yoke!"

The poor flower never stood a chance. Magical beams and spikes ripped, tore, and blasted it into oblivion. And kept going. The beams blasted through the gray matter and continued forwards, obliterating all that lay in their path.

The five were left standing in the cathedral like room with a massive crater at least a dozen meters wide and many more across. Harry blinked away the spots from the brilliant burst of magical light and let out a low whistle. "Damn." He couldn't come up with anything wittier to say.

"That was…anti-climatic," Signum deadpanned.

"Yeah, let get out of here. Ug, I don't feel so good," Hayate parely fisniedh before she beagn to fall.

Signum was fast, but Fate was closer and reached the other girl before the Knight could. Fate kept her friend from hitting the gray matter and Signum gently took Hayate from Fate. "Exhaustion, she wasn't ready for the drain of that spell," the Knight explained.

"Hey you…whoa! Spinning…" Hayate mumbled.

"Put her on my back," Zafira suggested, having transformed into his human form; that of a muscular, dark skinned man with wolf ears and a tail in some kind of blue clothing that Harry had no name for. He gently took his mistress from Signum and placed her on his broad back. "We should be gone."

Harry couldn't help but agree. They should have been gone five minutes ago. He let the rest of the group get ahead of him slightly as he kept a rearguard watch. In the darkness he saw thousands of shapes moving behind them, swarming over each other. Yet he didn't shout an alarm. They would reach the portal long before the things did. There was no need to cause worry. The boss had been beaten and the soon it would all be over.

No! Pull yourself together Harry! You can relax once you're sure this thing is dead, he berated himself. Ahead their portal shimmered. They didn't bother to slow down. On the heels of Signum, Harry hurtled himself into the portal at his maximum speed. The swarming mass was nearer than he had expected. He could hear their low moans that formed a great roar as dead flesh sought to add him to their mix.

This time he didn't see the magical lights that existed in the world between dimensions. He ripped through that place and into the reality he called home. "Fire, Nanoha! Fire!" he screamed.

The girl looked startled for a moment, but complied. "STARLIGHT BREAKER!"

That massive pink beam tore into the portal. Instantly the results were seen. The main body began to bulge and contort. The gray matter, flesh of the dead, began to boil and fall away. Black blood flowed like a river to the sea below. Tentacles crashed to the waves below. The droning screams ceased and the faces vanished.

"Come on! We have to get away!" a nameless man urged him.

Harry saw that the man was an Enforcer and they were helping the rest of the attack squad move away. His other temporary allies had already moved off with all, but the essential personal needed to maintain the portal and its defenses.

He headed for the pier and slowly descended. Magical exhaustion was starting to catch up to him. He wanted food then a bed, but forced himself to turn around and watch the end of the defense program from the pier. Mad Eye always told him to watch his handiwork to see his mistakes and where he needed to improve.

The last of the tentacles fell to the sea. For a moment the main body, still bulging and boiling away, was floating then began to fall. It hadn't gone far when it began to invert and black lighting began to arc across it. Then all at once it stopped. The lighting, the boiling, the bulging all stopped. Like an over filled balloon it burst. A cascade of black sparks was all that remained. The flesh had been destroyed by magic. The rouge defense program was gone.

"The longest night ends," Signum said softly beside him.

Harry was surprised by her appearance and missing her arrival, but was a bit pleased. This was an event to be shared. "Yeah, it will be dawn soon."

"It didn't take us serious. Still it was a good workout…"

"More fun than I ever wan to have again," Harry sardonically said.

"Dawn will bring a new light. Come with us," Signum offered suddenly. "Come with us into the future."

Harry gave the swordswoman a side long glance. "No, I walk my own path. For the time being I'll walk beside you people. Besides all I ever wanted was to stop the fighting and get on with my vacation."

"As I expected. Mistress Hayate asked me to extend the offer anyway." She turned to leave.

"For what it's worth, I'll be in town for a while. Chances are good we'll run into each other. Well then, I've said my piece so… ta!" Harry began to walk towards the city.

Signum continued walking towards the medical station without another word. They would part for the present, but they would meet again. True Knights couldn't escape each other. No words were needed between them. She was sure they would meet at least once more; she had hope after all.

The admiral finished his blathering and I shut the book. There was a time to read, a time to plan, a time to fight, and a time for all things, but now was the time for war.

I summoned a holoscreen and began to look over the list of men, ships and resources my lady had committed to this mission. Millions of ships, billions of men and heavy armor, and she was even sending a Daemonguard battalion, her elites. My lady wanted Death's Princess at all cost. Other Warlords would join the battle against me, maybe even the Dark Angel herself, as Death's Princess was beholden to the Angel.

To think my lady would give me command over this mission. She must truly trust me or…she could be setting me up to fail. She worked on many different levels, far more complex levels than I did. If I was to fail it was for her glory, yes if I was to fail then I would take as many of her enemies with me into the Maw.

She had seen something then who was I to reject her will?

She ha ever watched out for our race and those under her banner. She is our guard against forces beyond our comprehension, our sword to cast down those who would do us harm. She is our Queen, Empress, Goddess, Master, and Tyrant by our own volition.

For that reason I will follow her in the Maw itself. Beyond if she calls me. Perhaps she would use my soul and make me a soul weapon once I died, then I would be in her hand for the rest of time. Ohhhh! The idea makes me weak at the knees!

"For the White Devil!" I roared suddenly. My passion consumed me, it became my everything, my passion for my lady.

My cry was taken up across the ships, across the fleet and beyond. In a fevered pitch we roared as one being, heralding the arrival of our Goddess. We would feast on the flesh of our enemies! Drink their blood from their skulls! Break their souls for instruments! All for the greater glory of my lady! Forward the Devil in White! Hellfire judgment comes! Death and glory! Victory to the White Lady!

Death's Princess would fall!

My blade will sever that pretty little head with glee!

A/n: Cut!

Such a fun chapter to write! I wrote most of it in a single night too. Yes, the end of the Book of Darkness was rather anticlimactic, but that was the point. It never took any of the attackers seriously. Don't think this is the last time we see that beastie, it may come back someday. Probably rather mad too…

What do people think of Anastasia Von Se'kual now? Good? Bad? Crazy? Insane? What?

Onwards to the second arc! Timeless Days, otherwise known as, Vacation! Finally!