Chapter Two: Surprise, surprise

If you haven't read Hate and Love, you should know. Rosalyn and Stan got into a relationship, sort of. I apologize in advance for any typos.

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Rosalyn twirled her sword, lounging against a tree outside of Ari's manor. She listened to the idle chit chat of the family as they set up the tables. They were having some kind of cook out, and since she was in the area she thought she'd stop by. Ari's mom was the best cook, and she missed her friends. Sheathing the rapier, the Hero stood up and stretched, wandering over to the gate. She sighed and looked up.

There were always bad guys around, but none like the fake Evil Kings. She really wished-

Don't go there Rosalyn. That's just going to get you corrupted!

When a Hero started to wish for war, that was…just wrong. Really wrong. And Rosalyn wasn't going to let it happen.

Granted, even she couldn't lie to herself. She wished something interesting would happen. She had come over to Ari's manor just looking for someone…

As if reading her thoughts, Stan appeared with a crooked grin. He solidified into his demon form, twirling something in his fingers.

Rosalyn smiled slightly, and then narrowed her eyes.

"What the heck do you want, you fake evil being? And what are you holding?" She glared suspiciously at the object in Stan's hands.

Stan smiled, slipping it into his pocket. "Nothing, you walking pig."

This exchange of insults had started to become almost…loving. Ever since Stan had told her he loved her in the spring. If the others noticed, they said nothing.

"For real, Stanley. What is it?" Rosalyn turned and walked up the stairs, keeping her eye on Stan.

Unbelievably, she still didn't trust him. Not fully.

Stan suddenly grabbed her and hauled her into the trees, all in one smooth motion. Setting her down, he removed the object from his pocket, and opened his hand.

Resting in his palm was a good sized insect. But the insect was shiny silver, with tiny wings like stained glass that whirred loudly, like a fan, before stopping without warning. The thing's eyes were big and red; the legs thin, with little hooks on the end.

"What is it?" Rosalyn asked in surprise. Stan just grinned wickedly and extended his hand.

"Take it and find out."

Rosalyn didn't. She backed up. Previous to this spring, she would have simply drawn her rapier. But her trust of Stan had grown just a teensy bit thanks to that day.

"Oh come on, it's not going to hurt you." Stan rolled his eyes.

"Ha-ha. No."

Stan smiled, leaning close. "Are you afraid of what it could do?"

"Heroes don't get afraid. I'm just cautious." She smirked, shoving his hand aside. "I bet it's some kind of evil tool. I wasn't born yesterday, you wannabe elf."

"Heroes are-"His eyes bugged out, and he bared his teeth. "What? ELF? DID YOU JUST SAY ELF, YOU-"

Ari appeared suddenly, pushing aside the plants. He smiled faintly at their bickering.

"Mom wants you two to stop arguing and come help with the party."

"What? You actually believe moi, Evil King Stan, is actually going to help-"

Rosalyn grabbed his arm and hauled him forward. "Come on, you big baby."

They all began helping Ari's family with the preparations, Stan only grudgingly doing so, and James, his "Evil" Butler, mostly salivating over the food.

Once it had all been set up, something unexpected happened. Linda came running down the path, her eyes wide.

Marlene crossed her arms, but smiled anyway. "Hello, Linda. Glad you're here!"

Linda stopped for breath, staring at the floor. Rosalyn caught the dark gleam of the onyx necklace around her neck.

"Oh, Linda." She breathed. Then she got mad. "Didn't I say get rid of that guy's stuff?"

Stan smirked. "I knew she wouldn't listen."

Annie liked Linda; she was upbeat, just like her. Another member of the sisterhood Rosalyn was a part of.

"Oh, Linda. What's wrong?" Ari's little sister asked.

Linda walked over to Stan, ignoring everyone else.

"Oh, Coach." She held her hands over her chest, gripping the necklace. "Epros is back."

Everyone stared in disbelief.

"Eh? Where is he?" Stan growled. "I'll show him to toy with little girls! I mean, really!" Stan ranted a bit in the background, and Ari just sighed.

"Where is he?" Ari asked.

Linda frowned. "All I know is that he came to me in Madril…and he said he'll be back for my concert. But there's something I don't get…"

"That's a new one." Stan smirked, and got slapped for his trouble by Rosalyn.

"He gave me this necklace, see?" She held up the beautiful silver chain, with the black pendant. "The night we broke up."

Stan's eyes widened slightly, and then he just looked skyward. Rosalyn didn't miss a thing. She resolved to bring it up later.

"That is weird." Marlene admitted. "We'll talk about it later. If Epros shows up again, we'll ask him."

"Beat the answers outta the guy! Messing with the Diva!"

Everyone whirled around to see Big Bull, constant grin still in place, walk over to the party. He must have been in the area also.

"Hey, Big Bull." Rosalyn said.

"Anyway, talk about this later. The food is ready." Ari's mother said to them.

Everyone went to eat the food, which was really good by the way, but the whole time Rosalyn noticed Stan's eyes kept flicking from the sky to her.

Finally, annoyed after the tenth time, the Hero snarled, "What is it Stanley?!"

All the conversation vanished, and Stan raised his eyebrows. "What's up with you?"

"You keep looking at me!"

He smirked. "You wish I would."

Rosalyn suddenly grabbed her drink and splashed it on his face.

Stan stared in disbelief, then snatched a slice of pie and hurled it at her. A food fight promptly began, with everyone laughing soon after.

"Well, it's a good thing we all ate our fill first." Ari's grandfather said, snorting with laughter.

"Uh huh, uh huh, that's right honey." Ari's grandmother added.

Rosalyn spent the next ten minutes helping everyone clean up, and then she got to work cleaning her own clothes.

"Good thing I have spare clothes." The Hero grumbled, emerging from the house, clean.

"It was your fault." Stan snickered, emerging from the shadows and transforming to his solid form.

"All I did was throw a drink. You were the one chucking pies at people, you pathetic excuse for an evil…elf." She smirked.

Stan looked like he was about to rant, but decided to simply smooth his hair back. "Whatever…woman. I'm glad you're not as brain dead as I thought, I was looking at you."

"What? Then why-"

Stan laughed, cupping her face with his hand. "It's so easy to get you angry." He whispered.

Rosalyn slapped him, and Stan pouted.

"What did I do?"

"Oh…Whatever. What did you want?"

Stan gestured for her to go into the forest a bit with him, and then he removed the odd bug from his pocket again after they positioned themselves in a sunny glade, speckled with the white flowers they were familiar with in the springtime.

"Tch. Woman. So impatient. I'll get to that…sweetheart." He laughed again as Rosalyn fumed, hand on her sword.

He suddenly became serious. "Have you heard of the Oblivion Emperor?"

Rosalyn shook her head. Stan stood in front of her, still holding the bug.

"I hadn't either." He admitted. "But I did some work on the matter while you were off 'adventuring'. I left Ari's house for a few days…and went to the World Library."

Rosalyn didn't say anything, just listened.

"If anyone had books on the guy, it had to be in there, right? Since the former creator of our little universe used to exist there."

"Where is Beiloune?" She interrupted.

Stan raised his eyebrows, and then spat on the ground. "Eh, how do I know? The guy came to visit Marlene a while ago, haven't seen him since that whole winter holiday fiasco. Now will you let me finish? Heroes and their so called manners!"

Rosalyn huffed, crossing her arms.

"I went through book after book, and the place was deserted, even those weird men, so I had to guess on the whereabouts of the book I was looking for. I'm from the Diablerie, you know, so I figured I might as well start there, since all demons are from there. Don't think the Diablerie and the Devildom are different areas, they're the same."

"Linda is-"

"Yeah, she is, was born there but taken elsewhere. Now shut up! Anyway, I finally found what I was looking for, a big black book. I flipped through it for a while, trying to figure out why I kept having these nightmares…"

He trailed off.

"What…nightmares?" She asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm not some little kid, woman! I don't need help when I have nightmares! But from those I heard of the Oblivion Emperor." Stan sighed, rubbed his head, and then continued.

"I found it. You thought Beiloune was tough? Thought he shook everything you believed in? What until you hear about the Oblivion Emperor. He goes by a lot of names, apparently. The Dark Monarch, the Eclipse Master, the Lightless Champion, oh and this is the best..." He curled his lip. "The Supreme Ruler of Dusk."

"Okay, guy has a lot of names. The point?" Rosalyn snapped.

"Tch. Calm down. Okay, what's his real name you ask? I looked through the records, and I think he used to be Addonexus. He got a hold of some power, became super evil and immortal..."

"What?!"

"I know. He has a weakness, though. He can be killed, I think, by a mysterious object called the Spiritus, but it's been lost for an eon."

"Oh my God. Please-"

"Yeah." He snarled, baring his teeth. "Makes me so...angry..." He took a deep breath. "Rosalyn, there's something you need to know. Addonexus is coming."

"How do you know?" Rosalyn prayed the Shadow King was wrong.

"How do I know? The nightmares. Those of the Diablerie are closely aligned with the object he stole, a long time ago. It's called the Necomortis, and it powered our world. Having Evil King blood, I get the dreams."

"Oh." Was all she could say.

"Listen, woman. The reason all of us ghosts are here, is because even Beiloune, with his fancy power, couldn't stop the powerful outside influence of Addonexus. He just kept him out. We had to leave the Devildom after..."

"Wait, that makes no sense. You said Linda had been there before-"

Stan just stared, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh. My. God. She isn't that old!"

Stan laughed mirthlessly. "Yes, she is. Not only that, but our ditzy little friend is an important key to the puzzle. She probably doesn't know she's that old. I'll explain that later. That's not important right now. What IS important..."

He stepped so close to her they were only centimeters apart.

"What's really important..." He murmured. "Is what Addonexus can do."

"Which is?" She was always uncomfortable when he got this close. He looked at her.

"He infects an area with a destroying aura. It's supposed to destroy...Light. We're equally matched, but opposites. I'm The Shadow Evil King. What does that make you?"

Rosalyn stared. "You...mean..."

"That's right, Rosalyn."

He was calling her by her name, it was serious now.

"How can I fight him?"

Stan stepped a little bit away, then turned back around and showed her the bug.

"You're uncorrupted. It may destroy Light, but if you corrupt yourself a little...you'll enter a state called Corrupted Light. It'll still be there, granted, but it's tainted enough that hopefully, you'll be able to survive the aura when he comes."

"What are you in?"

"I'm in the..." He growled, looking at the sky. "Corrupted Shadow state. It means I'm mostly Evil, but you stupid slaves have turned me toward the path of 'Light'." He sneered the word.

"What happens when it..." She gestured to the bug.

"I'll tell you." He laughed, sending chills down her spine. "You'll start having bad thoughts. You'll probably become a little Evil. But you'll be mostly be...Rosalyn."

"Wait. No. Heroes aren't a little Evil! I can't!"

Stan suddenly banged his fist on the tree, ignoring the splinters in his hand, and the groaning noise the tree made as it threatened to fall over.

"Darn it, Rosalyn! You have to! Get over your stupid Hero pride and let the bug bite you. This bug, it's called the Infectus. I promise..." He lowered his voice, looking at her. "I won't let it bite too long."

"Can it be cured?"

"I don't know." He admitted.

Rosalyn stared at the bug, which was crawling on Stan's hand.

"Please, Rosalyn."

She stared in surprise, lifting her eyes. It went against everything she ever believed in, to be purposely corrupted...

"If you don't corrupt yourself, no one will be left to stop Addonexus."

She hesitated. "What about Ari?"

"He...might be okay. He's a natural deviant; the spells might not work on him. I'm not sure. The other former Evil Kings should be okay." Stan rolled his eyes. "Since they borrowed some of my dark power, and it leaves a mark. Kisling will have to get bitten, though. And Marlene, and everyone else."

"We're creating a corrupted world!"

"If there's a cure, we'll find it! Rosalyn, come on." He growled, showing her the bug again.

She sighed. "Prove to me it's real, this Addonexus thing."

"I don't have time! There is something I need to show you, but we don't have time to go to Wap Wap Island. There's a hidden temple there, just take my word for it. Trust me, for once, you stupid Hero woman, or there won't be a world left to rule, or to save!"

Rosalyn looked at Stan.

Then at the bug.

Then she extended her arm.

"I trust you." She said unhappily. He placed the bug there, and she shivered, watching the Infectus prick her skin with sharp feet. Then something worse happened. It bit her, and she felt herself begin to lose conscientiousness so fast, it was startling.

She was afraid, and it wasn't helped by the fact that Stan was smiling, looking at her with wicked eyes.

The last words she heard for a while, words that were a distorted echo of her own, that fateful spring day.

"The king made his move before the queen."

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