~No More Tears
~~ by Jessi Maxwell (Nemesis_Raven@hotmail.com)

~ * ^ * ~

Warnings - violence, bastardized Imati...this was written when he was still a bad guy,
folks...so don't be too harsh on him.

Imati - ....Bitch....

Jessi - *smacks Imati with a stone cookie for being mean*

Imati - @_@

~ * ^ * ~

~...~ denotes lyrics
<...> denotes thought

~ * ^ * ~

~ The light in the window is a crack in the sky
A stairway to darkness in the blink of an eye ~

Starlet slammed the heavy gilded door of the temple behind her, grateful to be out of 
the rain and, in truth, to have a solid wall between herself and the nagging threat she 
felt was pursuing her.  She couldn't quite shake the sensation that she was being followed, 
and closely.  

Starlet frowned as she took off her cloak and shook some of the water out of it.  It wasn't 
so much the sudden torrential downpour that had set her nerves on edge and made the hair on 
the back of her neck stand up; not the heavy rain that made every one of her vast psychic 
alarms go off in rapid succession.  Something was amiss.  Very very amiss.  But...what?

~ A levee of tears to learn she'll never be coming back
The man in the dark will bring another attack ~

Her nervousness proved to be accurate when something slid out of the shadows, slamming into 
her back and throwing her against the wall.  Her head cracked hard against the thick marble 
of the temple, and she saw stars.  Even still, she had the common sense not to remain where 
she was and rolled out of the way just as a curved, jagged blade of rune-carved black 
diamond drove into the water as a hot knife would slice through butter.

Starlet choked back her fear and narrowed her eyes as she swept the room.  Her attacker was 
not visible.  She used her mind to gently but rapidly probe around the room, trying to find 
her unseen attacker.  Though her senses didn't show her where her attacker was, she got a 
very, terrifyingly clear view of WHO her attacker was.

A cold, dark power, able to multiply itself exponentially in less than a second.  

A power so dark it rivaled the Demon Queen Lycavi herself.  

The dark Rider of Death, the head of the Demon Queen's army.

A creature like his maker, so beautiful it could make one weep or go mad in the deadly glory
of his seduction.

The Demon Highlord, Imati Widowkiss.

<No!> Starlet's mind screamed.  <This can't be happening!  How could he have found me?! I 
was hiding here, in this temple, for the sole reason of being untraceable...who could have 
told him, this terror born of hell...who could have led him to me?>  

A sudden image sprang to the angel's mind, and her eyes flew wide.  Earlier that morning, 
in the marketplace...a poor man, a beggar...asking her for money, then where she lived so
he could repay her...he had demanded to know... <Oh my gods...no...I didn't even see 
through the illusion...oh gods...>

Tears sprang to Starlet's eyes and she desperately tried to teleport out of the room.  
But she was too late.  Imati's dark magic had cocooned the temple; escape would be 
impossible.  Starlet hung her head, tears slowly flowing.  <He'll destroy my soul...
I won't ever be coming back...I'm only 13 years old!  How can it be over so soon?!>

~ Your momma told you that you' re not supposed to talk to strangers
Look in the mirror; tell me, do you think your life's in danger? ~

"Your mother told you that you're not supposed to talk to strangers..." a silky voice 
whispered insidiously, from behind her.  Starlet whipped around and was confronted with 
nothing but the mirror on the wall.  Her eyes immediately shot to the image reflected in 
the glass.

The demon winged, deadly beauty that led the forces of darkness.  His deep gray eyes 
glistened with the light of the hellfire that could be seen, flickering in the stormy 
depths.  Starlet was frozen, unable to look away.  She saw the tiny flicker of a twisted, 
tormented soul dancing in the flame.  

She shook herself out of the near-hypnosis that she had fallen into, and her eyes widened.  
He was right behind her, the glistening black blade raised, blood red gems set into the 
hilt reflecting the hellish gleam of the demon's eyes.  Starlet bit back a cry, but 
couldn't move.

"Look in the mirror, tell me...do you think your life is in danger?..." Imati whispered, 
a grin curving his blood-colored lips.  Before Starlet could react, Imati drove the 
blade forward.  It sliced neatly between her wings, driving through her heart cleanly 
and sliding out her chest.  Her death was quick in coming, but she made one last desperate 
move.

Imati cursed as he felt her soul flee her dying body and punch through his shields, 
darting away.  < Aralycavi won't be too pleased about *THAT*....however...she told me 
to kill her...not her soul.  Mmm...loophole.  Ah, well.  Can't win em all.>

~ Here
No more tears
No more tears

Another day passes as the night closes in
The red light goes on to say it's time to begin ~

Kas'Ralin sank to his knees in the cold, dark room.  <I killed her...I killed my daughter...
oh gods...>

Imati turned and grinned at Lycavi, who smirked approvingly in her throne.  It hadn't taken 
much to weave the magic that had taken such hold on Kas'Ralin.  She had injected the memory 
of killing his daughter into his mind, erasing all evidence to the contrary.  As far as he 
knew, he had been the one to end her life.

Lycavi smirked as she watched the sun dip below the horizon, a brief flash of red light 
calling her armies from their patrols to guard her palace for the evening.

"Imati, I want you to take him to...wherever it was you found him, and leave him there.  
Erase his memories of his time here.  You have done very well.  I am most pleased."

With a nod and a smirk, then a bow, Imati grabbed Kas'Ralin and sent a short burst of magic 
into his mind, knocking him unconscious. "I live to serve, Ashiryae."

And with that, Imati slung Kas' over his shoulder and headed out of the Netherworld.

~ I see the man around the corner waiting, can he see me?
I close  my eyes and wait to hear the sound of someone screaming

Here
No more tears
No more tears ~

Kas' blinked dizzily.  He felt as though he had suddenly and without explanation fallen into 
a dark hole, then been pulled back out.  He looked around.  He was in town...the capital city 
of Withlynne...where he had been when he had heard of Starlet's death.

So now that it's over, can we just say goodbye?
I'd like to move on and make the most of the night
Maybe a kiss before I leave you this way
Your lips are so cold, I don't know what else to say

I never wanted it to end this way, my love, my darling
Believe me when I say to you in love I think I'm falling

Here
No more tears
No more tears
No more tears
No more tears

~ OWARI ~