The realm of Sithicus, home of the Maximoffs since time immemorial, was a place both somber and brooding. Rivers of blood ran throughout the realm, segregating Sithicus into smaller baronies as well as providing the source of nourishment for its chief inhabitants. Gothic architecture seemed prevalent and Makai's eternal night only added to the sense of despair that loomed over Sithicus like a palpable miasma. And yet this day there was a rare sense of gaiety that cut through the gloom for it was the day that the Lord of Sithicus was to be wed. Each vampire Clan sent its elders as their emissaries to this momentous event, the joining of two realms.

The River Lethe separated Sithicus from its nearest neighbor, which was Nocturne, the Land of Succubi. Lamia, eyrines and succubi took wing in concert as they flew to the matrimony of their queen. Over the dark forests and untamed wilderness they journeyed; gaining numbers with every mile as more and more of Nocturne's chaotic denizens partook of the pilgrimage to pay homage to their ruler.

The Phlegistron, Lake of Fire, warded Gehena, the Demon Realms. And yet today it saw an unusual amount of traffic as petty nobles from all kingdoms crossed it, moving in a dark tide towards their destination: the Cathedral of Castle Ozum.

The Amazons of Joketsuzoku gazed nervously as a dense fog surrounded the village. Once before their numbers had been decimated; if their foes struck now when their brightest and best sensei were scouring the world for new recruits, they could crush the ancestral home of the Amazons once and for all.

All knew that the fog could not be natural and all strained their senses to catch a glimpse of what the fog concealed. Faint pounding hoof-beats echoed through the unnatural stillness and the warrior maidens readied their weapons. The sound of a single rider had the power to paralyze the once-mighty village.

Khu Luong was one of the first to catch a glimpse of the horseman as he broke through the wall of fog. Easily the largest man she had ever seen, he was clad from head to toe in archaic armour. Planting his massive blade in the soil, the warrior stood at attention just outside the boundaries of the village. Holding up a talisman inscribed with the symbol of the Arch-matriarch, warrior intoned, "Inhabitants of Joketsuzoku, I am the herald of a being who has ever been a friend of your line. He extends his invitation to his wedding as well as aid for your beleaguered state. Will you accept?"

Half-forgotten legends raced through Khu Luong's mind as she tried to recall a fragment of the knowledge entrusted only to the Arch-matriarch. Ancient warnings of a mighty creature that called the Joketsuzoku friend, an entity with a lust for blood but a soul of honor. Someone who could give them succour in their hour of need; if they could pay the price.

With all that they had lost, could they still bear to deal with such powerful, if dangerous allies? Could they afford not to? Praying to her ancestors that she was not about to condemn the entire village, Khu Luong made her choice. "Tell Xi Xue Kuang Mo Er Wang (The Prince of Vampires) that we accept his gracious invitation."

The armoured being nodded once and the mist churned violently as it enveloped the entire village.

On a balcony above the main hall of Castle Ozum, a young human-seeming girl in a sailor fuku sighed in relief as Ishan emerged from the magical cloud with the majority of the Amazons following him.

"Oh, good, they came," Sakura Yugure commented to Morrigan and her husband-to-be as Ishan dismounted and the Amazons began to look around at their new surroundings.

"I had no doubt that they would accept," Demitri replied. "If they can be said to have a fault, the Amazons as a group favour boldness over caution. Their Elders are somewhat improved in that regard, but few completely discard the ways of their youth."

"Speaking of caution, Khu Luong looks as if she's worrying herself half to death. I'll just reassure her," Sakura commented, vaulting the balcony and dropping in front of Ishan and the Amazons.

"Lady Yugure," Ishan acclaimed, sketching a slight bow.

"Hello, Ishan. Thanks for going to get the Amazons," Sakura commented with a bow of her own before turning to the group in question and hailing the Elder. "Khu Luong-san! Ohayo!"

"Wha - miss Yugure!" the Elder spouted in surprise. "Were you summoned here too, then?"

"Sort of," Sakura hedged. "A lot happened. But, well, Lord Demitri there is getting married to Lady Morrigan Aensland, and since he's your ally and she adopted me as her sister while she was teaching me about my powers, they wanted to invite you to the wedding. I think Demitri-sama has something else in mind too," Sakura finished, nodding to the ruler of Makai on the balcony above.

Khu Luong tensed up at the mention of 'something else,' and Sakura noticed. Seeing the girl's inquisitive look, Khu murmured, "Child, such a being may have motives that are far less than charitable..."

Sakura scoffed, her hands on her hips. "Khu Luong! You're worrying over nothing. He's the one who pointed me to Jokuzetsu Village after Bison seized it. Without him, I wouldn't have been there to help Ko-chan and the others!" she stated.

The Elder was taken aback by this news. "Oh! You never mentioned that," she replied, her wrinkles realigning in odd ways as she frowned, trying to reassure herself of the safety of her tribe.

"I didn't know you knew him," Sakura commented, "and saying a vampire lord sent me would have given folks the wrong idea." Khu Luong had to nod at that.

"Lady Yugure!" Demitri called.

Sakura turned and bowed, acknowledging the summons, and turned back to Khu Luong. "This is kind of risky," she said frankly. "You won't be harmed - not since you're Demitri-sama's guests - but that leaves open a lot of mischief and such. Keep everyone together, and try to stay with Ishan, Veldrane, or someone bearing Demitri's coat of arms," she said, pointing out the death knight and the vampire ranger, both of whom bore the Maximoff crest.

Turning away, she leaped back up to the balcony where Demitri stood watching with Morrigan. "Yes?" she asked, curtseying.

"Your friend Akiko would not be a suitable guest, however much I appreciate her aiding the liberation of the Amazon village," Demitri began, "and she would not come without master Kasuga, who has... issues... with Makai in general. There is one remaining liberator whom you might extend an invitation to, however."

Sakura nodded. "Ko-chan, naturally. Does anyone know where I can find her?" she asked.

Demitri cast a look back to Nordriel, his Loremaster, who cast a quick scrying spell, showing an image of Makoto Rindou walking along a road near Tokyo Tower, in the dead of night. Sakura nodded.

"I know that place. I'll go see if she'll come," the fuku'ed fighter stated and with a short bow to Demitri, she vanished in the -ffzwwhaw- of the Ashura Warp.

Sliding out from the protective coccoon of her sisters, the Amazon Lin Mo made her way nervously to the imposing figure of the Death Knight. With awe she regarded his obvious power as a decision made on impulse crystallised in her mind.

As Demitri's Warlord lowered his head so that he gazed upon the mortal who had the courage to approach him, he was intrigued. Few Darkstalkers dared to address him, let alone a mortal woman of fragile flesh. He was unprepared for her words, however.

"Make me as you are."

In the deepest bowels of Castle Maximoff, there is a chamber warded by some of the mightiest spells known to Darkstalkers. No one who was not Maximoff by blood or marriage could even walk within ten feet of the door without being fried with enough Dark energies to level a mountain.

The door opened silently to Demitri's touch.

With the chamber was a room dedicated to antiquity. Shelves upon shelves of librams and grimoires lined the walls, every one the humble vessel of mystic secrets long lost to humanity and some works that contained secrets that Man was not meant to know.

Bubbling alembics and various arcane devices littered the tables emitting noxious fumes that would have killed any creature that still needed to breathe. In the centre of this magickal paraphernalia stood a vampire that had outlasted three generations of Maximoffs.

Bowing low in respect, the Lord of Makai spoke reverently, "Greetings mine elder."

Raining dust as the decrepit figure stirred from his meditations, the withered skeleton that still housed an intellect unrivalled by any being extant in Makai turned to regard his younger brother. With tones drier than bone dust, the figure spoke with a voice that hinted at wisdoms which could only be obtained by passing beyond the grave. "So you have come my brother. Much have I seen upon Makai. Much has happened since I walked under the twin moons. Why have you come to disturb my contemplations?"

Demitri looked firmly into the eyes of the vampire. Although he appeared to be nothing more than a desiccated corpse, this vampire was the repository of all the lore of the Maximoffs since the days of the Seven Realms. Nordriel was Demitri's Loremaster but this being outstripped the lich as much as Demitri outshone the typical vampire. "I have come to make a request. I am to be wed in a few days."

The vampire would have raised an eyebrow if he still had eyebrows to raise. "I know. The thought of the Maximoff heir marrying the Aensland Princess!" The figure began to laugh in dry chuckles that coughed out clouds of dust. "And you want your progeny to marry Ozum's youngest son. A daring plan, uniting our bloodlines. The result will be a Darkstalker that could match the might of any of the Great Old Ones." Instinctively the vampire made a warding gesture upon the mention of the progenitors of the Darkstalkers lest any of them stir at the mention of their name. "So what has it to do with me, your poor entombed elder brother?"

"I want you to be Best Man at the wedding."

The elder vampire tried to blink. He tried again before he remembered that his eyelids had rotted away nearly eight centuries ago. He began to laugh uproariously as the ludicrousness hit his semi-rotten brain. "Me, walk Makai again after all this time? Your audacity has always endeared you to me, my youngest sibling. I accept. Please allow me to make myself presentable for your guests."

Gesturing at his putrefying garments they glowed and reformed themselves into a gleaming white robe tied at the waist with a belt of gold. A chain forged of Shadow hung from his neck bearing Ozum's symbol even as a sash across his chest bore the coat-of-arms of the Maximoffs.

Even more dramatic was the change that swept over the figure. His emaciated form filled out with powerful muscle, his skin assumed a healthy bronze tone while his flesh took on a mortal seeming after centuries of neglect. Before long, a man proportioned not unlike a Greek God stood before Demitri. "If I must return," his voice remained unchanged, "at least I will return as befitting Prometheus Maximoff. It will be... nice to see Ozum after all this time. I wonder if he has any kind words for his former Loremaster?"

On a road at night in Tokyo, Makoto Rindou was walking home. {I could be scootering, but I don't want to rush,} she thought. {I've got a lot to think about - YOW!}

Makoto leaped back as an odd rippling began in the air in front of her. A barely-remembered -ffzwwhaw- tickled her ears and teased her memory, before Sakura Yugure phased into solidity in front of Makoto.

Makoto sweatdropped. "Aah! S-Sa-chan!! What - how..." she babbled briefly before calming down. "Okay, *how* is obvious - you teleported to me. But how'd you find me? Aren't you at the dojo? And why now?"

Sakura smiled lopsidedly at her. "Um, in order, I had help, not for the last few days, and I've got an invitation for you. Want to attend a really wierd wedding?"

In a reclusive chamber of Castle Ozum, a conspiracy was building. The leaders of no less than four Clans as well as several Succubi Nobles spoke treason in the very heart of the Demon Castle. Despite being so secure in the power of their wards to defend them from prying eyes, the conclave quickly shattered when a dagger bearing the Maximoff sigil embedded itself in the ground next to the feet of one of their number. Perturbed and frightened, they fled to the shadows, abandoning any semblance of dignity.

Obfuscated from sight both mortal and immortal, Veldrane smiled in satisfaction as the conspirators ran like frightened striplings. If his orders did not forbid him from shedding blood during the wedding, they would all be dead by now. It gratified him that now, they knew this too.

Despite the fact that all of Castle Maximoff was in utter chaos as preparations for the wedding was underway, Demitri made time to hear the requests of his faithful servants. Ishan had asked for an audience and Demitri knew that was a thing the Death Knight would not do lightly.

The Death Knight strode into the Throne Room and knelt before his liege. What was out of place was the slim human girl who knelt beside him. Mousish, slender and plainly pretty, her abundance of freckles and awkwardness hid the fact that she was one of the premiere minds of the Amazons as well as a consummate swordswoman.

"My Lord," Ishan began with a hint of trepidation in his normally toneless voice. "This Amazon humbly begs that your majesty give her the Dark Gift."

Demitri tilted up his chin to regard the mortal, busy fidgeting furiously; she hardly looked worthy to become a Darkstalker. "A vampire?"

"Nay my Lord. A Death Knight."

"Oh? And why mortal would you think that I would bestow such power in your hands? Why do you desire the curse and powers of the Deathless Ones?"

Lin Mo's whisper was barely audible in the Throne Room but carried a strength that was undeniable. "For my people. You have shown us that there are powers greater than anything we have ever imagined in our mythology."

Standing, clenching a fist defiantly before the Lord of Vampires, the Amazon's voice rang with passion. "If Joketsuzoku is to survive, they will need a sleepless, unceasing sentinel. A deathless guardian that will protect it for eternity."

"And what would you offer me for this?"

"Everything."

"You offer me nothing that I could not already take."

"I offer you my soul."

Demitri's face scrunched up into an expression of supreme distaste. "I do not truck in souls."

Lin Mo knelt, tears streaming down her face. "Please. Anything. Just name it."

"Would you give up your life? Your honour?"

Lin Mo nodded from her prostrate posture. "Yes, for my people I would die."

"Could you live with the stain of dishonour attached to your name? And those of your descendants? To know that your people would cast you out as a creature of the night?"

"Yes," she answered tearfully. "I would take the disgrace to my name so that my people could live."

Demitri was silent for some time. Gathering her courage, Lin Mo raised her head. Her jaw dropped when she found that Demitri was smiling.

Sakura reached forward even as she came out of her teleport, pinching the hand of the handsome, and apparently human, man about to embrace the Amazon Warrior Kher Ler. "Oh no you don't, you fake!" she admonished him.

With a 'You caught me' shrug and a leer, the man morphed back into his natural form - that of an Incubus - and walked away from the shocked Amazon he'd lured off into a nook. As Kher stared at her, dumbfounded, Sakura pointed over her shoulder. "Back to the other Amazons. Now. Trust me, too long with him and you'd have been willing to throw over your heritage to become his love-slave - even if it meant licking his feet for the rest of your life."

Kher bolted - fortunately in the direction indicated - and Sakura turned to glance into the room across the hall and see how her friends were doing.

"Akuryou! Taisan!!"

"HAAH! HAYATE!" WHAM "Take that, you shapeshifting Casanova!"

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

A dazed-looking Amazon wandered out of the room, still bearing the tell-tale sparkles of Sailor Moon's healing magic, and Sakura pointed her down the hall to the chamber her fellows were occupying, now beginning to wish she'd simply had the Amazons lock themselves into a room until the wedding started. "Ami-chan, how're we doing?" she asked the blue-skirted Sailor Senshi.

The mousy girl took a moment to study her computer's scan readings. "Well, I don't think there are any more stragglers or luring victims at the moment, but we know from the past several hours' experience... that won't last long. Between my Computer and the abilities of Makoto-san, Yohko and Asuza, and yourself, Sakura-chan, to detect human life energies-"

"Chi. Or ki. Not just life," Makoto corrected, and the Senshi of Mercury nodded in acknowledgement, then went on.

"..To detect human ki, we've been able to discover any victims quickly and act to prevent undue harm, but many of the enemies seeking the Amazons can teleport - an ability only Sakura possesses among us," Mercury finished. "It's only a matter of time until they risk moving the Amazons too far for us to pursue as a group. I fear we'll have to impose upon your sister after all, Sakura," she finished.

Sakura sighed and nodded. "Okay. I'll see what I can do," she finished, casting her thoughts into the Aensland Signet Ring she wore.

~Oneesan! Oneesan! Can you hear me?~

~Quite well, little sister. What's the matter? Schedule problem? Need to go over your duties as maid of honour again?~ Morrigan replied, her voice seeming to echo inside Sakura's head.

~No thanks, I think I have that straight. I, um, need a favour...~ Sakura asked hesitantly.

~That being? Now I'm quite curious...~ Morrigan answered.

Sakura sighed mentally. ~Some of the Nocturne residents are... um, a bit overenthused? ...about mortal women being here. They're getting out of hand, even for the nine of us,~ she commented.

~Ah, I see. Well, we can't have you getting distracted from your upcoming role in the wedding,~ Morrigan commented, then teleported into the hallway, her wedding dress half-donned and two of her Soul Bats hovering at her shoulders. "Here," she said, gesturing as the bats flew to the two doors of the Amazons' chamber hall. "They will provide more than adequate protection against the mischief-minded, trust me," she finished with a sinister grin. "As long as your Amazons stay in that hall, they'll be safe until the wedding."

"Thanks, Oneesan," Sakura commented with a sigh of relief, noting that the energies the bats were emitting were like a ward against intrusion, subtly repelling Darkstalkers from the chamber doors.

Morrigan merely nodded before teleporting back to her chambers.

Sakura nodded. "Ko-chan, you stay with the Amazons. Ami-chan, you use your computer to do a scan and see if all the Amazons are still there - we don't want to miss any! Use the readings you got when they arrived to do a head count. Everyone else, take the room over there and stay near the Amazons - they'll need an escort when the ceremony begins. Okay?"

"Okay!" the others chorused, and Sakura teleported away herself, looking to snatch a few moments' rest - and maybe some food from Ozum's excellent kitchens - before she had to report to the chapel.

A loud booming gong rang through the entirety of Castle Ozum as the inhabitants dropped their merriments and headed in a flood of (partial) humanity for the Chapel. At long last, the wedding had begun.

Assembled in the four walls of Castle Ozum's chapel was perhaps the greatest gathering of the mighty among demonkind since the Realms War. Rarely enough did the Vampire Clan Elders, Succubi Nobles and Demon Lords take to the field at the same time. More rarely still did they meet for parley. Never had they had occasion to see each other face to face under such festive circumstances. It was a fragile peace, enforced only by the combined might of the three Royal Families. At any moment, the smallest provocation could spark a battle that would see the leadership of Makai permanently shattered. A return to the chaotic days that heralded the end of the Realms War, internecine battling for power and position that left much of Makai's inhabitants dead or dying. It was the perfect opportunity for Demon Hunters everywhere to eliminate Makai as a threat for the foreseeable millennium or two.

Save that so many of them were there to enforce this peace. Demitri's army, recruited from the demon hunters who had challenged him, became one of the balancing forces that would see the Demon World reunited under one throne. Woe, woe to the children of Seth for their predators now had a single Alpha Pack.

A single trumpet blast heralded Demitri's arrival at the ceremony. Resplendent in finery tailored to emphasize his heavy musculature, Demitri strode to the altar in strides most martial. Behind him walked a figure clad in silks that did little to hide his own powerful figure. Upon sight of the Best Man, the oldest in the assemblage began frantic whisperings among themselves. The solution to an ages old mystery walked in their midst.

Another trumpet blast signalled the coming of the bride. Morrigan was celebrated as one of the most beautiful women in Makai but this day her beauty was of such radiance that her usual self was naught but a flickering candle to the brilliance of the sun. It was a beauty that shone from within, something that only true happiness could bring.

Behind her, holding the bridal train were the Sailor Senshi and Devil Hunter (plus apprentice). Clad in gowns woven of moonlight, the bridal maids had a beauty that outstripped anything mortal. And even then, they paled before their mistress. The Maid of Honour, Baroness Sakura Yugure of the House of Aensland, formed the rear of the bridal contingent. In Aensland form, she smirked a little as she imagined how Ryu would have reacted to her now.

The trumpets sounded again in a triumphant crescendo as Demon Emperor Ozum and the rest of the attendant Darkstalkers took their places. In his full regalia as Demon Emperor, Ozum seemed to be the vital figure of old, not the grieving father that he really was.

Sakura looked up at Nordriel, Demitri's Loremaster, from her position beside him on the dais of the great chapel. "Nordriel-sensei?" she asked quietly.

"What is it, child? Whatever it is, keep it quiet," the lich replied.

"Who is the Greek God-type standing next to Demitri-sama? I don't recognize him at all - and I would remember someone like that if I'd seen him."

Nordriel sighed. "He is Prometheus Maximoff, elder brother of my Lord Demitri. The legends of the mortal world bespeak of a Prometheus who was meted dire punishment for giving fire to mortals. My teacher was this Prometheus but it was not fire that he bequeathed mortals. It was magic."

It took a moment for Sakura to place the reference, but when she did, awe reduced her to silence. {Wow...} was all she could manage even in thought.

Ozum began to read from the gold-embossed pages of the tome that Nordriel had prepared for the ceremony. Only Nordriel and Mizuno Ami, Sailor Mercury, had any idea that the book had only been completed minutes before. Even now, Nordriel's fingers bore the stains of their work, stains that he lacked the energy to banish with a small act of magic.

"Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today to join this vampire and this succubus in unholy matrimony, if there are any here who think that they should not be wed, speak now or forever hold their peace."

At this juncture, no few of the most powerful nobles felt the temptation to stop the wedding. At least four different groups had drawn up plans for exactly this scenario. However, none could muster the courage to carry through with their whispered schemes. Maybe it was the fact that at the altar were four of the most powerful Darkstalkers alive. Or perhaps it was the fact that the Maid of Honour had turned to give the congregation her sweetest smile. All the while limned in the grey fires of the Satsu no Hadou and surrounded by an aura of red, promising instant destruction to anyone who disrupted her oneesan's big moment.

Ozum cleared his throat to capture the attention of the congregation once more. "Say now the vows that would bind you forever."

Demitri held up the Maximoff Royal Signet Ring. Although lesser rings existed, it was this One Ring that bound them all. "With this ring I, Demitri of the House of Maximoff do formally take Morrigan of the House of Aensland as my lawfully wedded wife. By the Endless Night I swear to be true to her, to love her and honour her until the End of Days." With that he slipped the Maximoff Ring onto Morrigan's shapely finger.

Morrigan held up the Aensland Royal Signet Ring. "With this ring I, Morrigan of the House of Aensland do formally take Demitri of the House of Maximoff to be my lawfully wedded husband. By the Dark Mother I swear to be true to him, to love him and honour him until the Dawn of the Endless Night."

Ozum stretched his hands out in benediction. "By my authority as Demon Emperor I do hereby declare you to be man and wife. Let no one divide what has been united here this day." The "or else" went unsaid but was no less palpable. "You may now kiss the bride."

Then Morrigan and Demitri shared a tender kiss for all to see; a kiss that went soul-deep and promised much for their future. It was significant for it was the binding part of their pact, a pact that bound them heart and soul courtesy of the Aensland Promise.

Slowly, ponderously, the great bells of Castle Ozum rang for the first time since the time of the Realms War when strife wracked the lands of Makai and four Realms fell. Once used to summon the Seven Lords for conference, the chimes of the bells spread through all of Makai heralding the first marriage between two Lords of Makai.

Across the Ruined Lands the chimes swept, though the inhabitants knew not the significance.

In the Chaosgrounds where the power of sheer chaos seeps into Makai, the gibbering, formless beings that called it home howled mindlessly at the chimes as they protested the interruption to their eternal hymn to their fallen God. There, in the heart of the Chaosgrounds, Everyman the right hand of Aballam screamed in defiant rage at the powers that had brought the Mad God low.

The Wastelands, ancestral home of all weres, was unnaturally silent. Cursed by Ozum for the treachery of the Weres during the final days of the Realms War, no living being could step foot in the tall, swaying grasses nor frolic in its meadows. The last sanctuary of nature in Makai stood silent and still as the chimes from the bells rolled across the plains.

In the Land of Shadows, the Shadow Council that held the essence of the Shade Lord shuddered with trepidation as the chimes reached their realm. Though they knew not the momentous event that had prompted Ozum to ring the bells once more, they were sure that soon all of Makai would feel its effects.

In the blasted ash of Sharaku, the Plague City where the Festering King once held sway, the chimes tolled unheard. A blighted land which once fostered only agents of pestilence and pain, it had been utterly destroyed. Unnatural flames, bolts of lightning and the fury of the elements themselves ensured that none of the plague zombies or Byoki survived the death of their King.

An august assemblage had surreptitiously absented itself from the wedding festivities to converge in the grand libraries of Castle Maximoff. Demitri, Nordriel, Irini, Ishan and Sengir stood in a circle around a tabernacle. Upon the unforgiving marble slab was Lin Mo, late of the Joketsuzoku Amazons. Clad in ancient armour from ages past, the lamellar and leather armour made her appear to be a Chinese Warrior from the Dynasties that once ruled the Middle Kingdom.

Only the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest hinted that she was still among the living.

Holding a gem encrusted chalice, Sengir dipped his finger into the blood contained therein and used the fluid of life to inscribe runes that none save a select few could read. Runes that spoke of the denouncement of the Light, of the rejection of everything humanity holds sacred. Runes etched with the blood of an innocent man.

Irini began to sing a wordless, toneless hymn to the Dark Gods banished to the Centre of Time; calling upon them to give their blessings to this endeavour. A supplication to eldritch powers that gave even Darkstalkers pause.

Nordriel too began to chant. A harsh, guttural language full of clashing vowels and dissonant syllables tumbled from his lips as he summoned the magics of the Great Old Ones. Imprisoned by their own madness, the forefathers of the Darkstalkers nevertheless possessed near omnipotent might beyond the ken of any Creature of the Night.

Lin Mo could feel herself change as Dark energies permeated her very being. Reforging her into something else, something no longer human. The process was not painful so much as uncomfortable; a sensation of profound coldness as the Dark spread throughout her body, extinguishing all light and life in her.

Demitri stood above her now. Her saviour/condemner. Lin Mo's thoughts spiralled in a red haze as the ceremony transmogrified her mental state into something more suited to her new existence. She gasped as he plunged a sword right into her heart, ripping through her sternum as if it were so much wet cardboard. Miraculously, she still clung to life, the mortal wound he had dealt her did not even impair her in any way. It was only a few seconds later when she realised that she was not breathing. What need would a walking dead woman have of her heart?

Demitri held out to her a slim scholar sword still dripping with her blood. Of a type favoured by Chinese blademasters for five millennia, it was Lin Mo's weapon of choice. Forged in fires of the Plains of Ash, the home of the fire demons, and quenched by her own blood, Baldric's latest creation gleamed darkly even in the sparse light of the Libraries. Imbued with Dark power by all three Lords of Makai, it would be a mighty instrument of death in the hands of its rightful wielder. If she survived her transcendence.

Ironically, what the Darkstalkers term "transcendence" to their level with attendant powers and abilities far beyond those of ordinary men, is what most "mortals" would deem "eternal damnation." Cut off forever from those you love and those who love you. Damned to live a life in the shadows, ruled by instincts and desires that make you a danger to those around you. *All* Darkstalkers need to feed in one way or another. Vampires sup on blood, Succubi dine on life energies and Death Knights feast on souls. Once a creature falls to your blade, you can consume his very essence to strengthen your own.

This was the reality that now faced Lin Mo.

She tried her best not to scream.

She failed.

Some time later, Sakura was jogging along the halls of Castle Ozum, cursing under her breath. Ami had called her after the wedding and said her computer had determined one Amazon was missing - a slender, somewhat mousy Amazon with freckles and brown hair. {What could've happened to her??} Sakura thought, upset. {She must've been snatched early, before Ko-chan, the Senshi, and I started keeping an eye on the Amazons. Please God, let her be all right,} the girl worried.

As she trotted deeper into the castle's dungeons, she caught sight of a warrior in Chinese armour of old, and hailed her. "You there! Have you seen a human warrior woman pass this way? She's slender and has freckles-"

She cut herself off as she saw that the face inside the armour was that of the very woman she sought. "Oh, it's you! Finally! My friends and I have been turning the place upside down looking for you..." Sakura began, only to trail off as she realized what her senses were telling her.

First, that while her aura was that of an Amazon, there were certain differences - the taint of the Dark, the increased power.

Second, this girl, while animate and sentient, possessed no life energy of her own at all. She was dead - undead.

"Oh my god... what have you done?" Sakura asked rhetorically. She could see the resemblance between this (now former) Amazon's power and Ishan's - the girl had become a Death Knight.

"I have purchased my tribe a future as their unsleeping guardian, in a way I could not as only a warrior. I am Lin Mo, a Scholar of the Amazons, Sakura Yugure - I have heard your story as you told it to Xian Pu, the one you call Makoto. You are like me, are you not? You did this to yourself, so that your friends might live..." the woman replied in sepulchral tones.

Sakura stood back, stunned. "To protect those precious to us... yes... that is the point, isn't it?" she asked, again rhetorically. Stepping forward again, she laid a hand on the Death Amazon's shoulder, ignoring the cold that seeped into her limb. "Look, you're a Maximoff now, by the crest on your armour. That makes you an Aensland too, now that the ceremony is over." She held up her free hand, showing off the Aensland Ring she wore. "If you ever need me - for help, for advice, just to talk... send your thoughts to me through the ring. I'll come if I can - I know how hard it can be to adjust to a new way of... um, life," she finished somewhat lamely.

Lin Mo nodded, gratitude written across her features. "I will."

With great reluctance, the festivities wound down. In a rare fit of gaiety to possess the Demon Realms, the revelry had lasted a three full nights under the twin moons of Makai. The Amazons gathered in the cathedral of Castle Ozum, adhering to the old saying about strength in numbers. In the presence of some of the greatest beings in Makai, Demitri stood before the throne of the Demon Emperor and made his decree: That the Joketsuzoku would forever more be under the protection of the Throne of Makai regardless of who actually ruled in the Devil World.

A whistle carved of bone (Khu Luong was wise enough not enquire what type of bone) was presented to the Arch-matriarch. Should their village ever find itself under attack, all she need do is to blow the whistle and any Darkstalkers within the region who considered themselves loyal to the throne of Makai would rush to their rescue (and woe to those who don't.)

Numbly, Khu Luong accepted the gift. A weapon that could turn the tide against any intruder who dared attack Joketsuzoku. By calling a horde of Demons to rampage in the heart of their village. {Oh, such joy.}

Kow-towing to Demitri, Khu Luong spoke in her native Chinese, "Da ren tai kang kai le. Shi pei." (You are too kind Great One. By your leave.) Demitri nodded once regally and the Amazons bolted out of the throne room post haste, trying vainly to look as if they were not running away.

In the courtyard, they counted heads in preparation of their imminent departure. They began to worry when they found one of their number missing. Accounting through family lines, they elucidated their missing member.

Khu Luong's mind went into overdrive as they tried to remember exactly when Lin Mo disappeared. As far as they could tell, she had left just as they had arrived in this god-forsaken place.

Working quickly, Khu Luong began assigning their fastest runners and most resourceful scouts to search for their errant kinswoman when her voice came from the shadows. "I am here arch-matriarch."

Khu Luong's head swivelled to regard the young Amazon who had just stepped out of the shadows. Literally. She had materialised on their midst rather abruptly. No one was that good as to fool so many canny warriors with their skills at stealth. No one.

Clad head to toe in the armour of their ancestors, Lin Mo looked as if she were a warrior girded for battle, not a guest at a wedding feast. When Khu Luong looked at her eyes, the unnerving feeling in her gut coalesced into sheer horror. Instead of two human orbs, Lin Mo's eyes were twin wisps of flickering flame.

Looking around her, Khu Luong had noticed that not a few Amazons had adopted fighting stances. Lin Mo's voice had changed; although still recognisable, it held an eerily hollow quality that unnerved the already skittish Amazons.

"Oh you foolish child, what have you done?" Khu Luong said as she stroked the face of her Great-Great- Granddaughter. Hissing in sudden pain, she snatched her hand away from Lin Mo's armoured hide. Her armour was cold; the cold of the grave.

In sepulchral tones not natural to the bookish Amazon, Lin Mo said, "I have purchased us a future. Come let us return home." Lin Mo took a step towards the gathered Amazons to encompass them in her power. It hurt her more than she could say when her sisters shied away from her.

At her bidding, the mists rose up and swallowed the Joketsuzoku whole.

As the Amazons left, Sakura stepped away from Morrigan's side (which she had rarely left since the ceremony) and pulled Makoto away from where she was talking with the Senshi.

"We should get going too, Oneesama, Demitri-sama," she said quietly. "Makoto has to go back to her home, and I have promises to keep in Ningenkai."

Demitri nodded once. "Of course. May the twin moons light your path until we return to the Dark."

Sakura nodded, then turned it into a bow. "Then may enmity never darken our hearts, whatever else happens," she said, glancing at the Senshi and Devil Hunters as she spoke. {I won't let you down, Usagi-chan,} she thought to Sailor Moon - and then she and Makoto vanished in the -ffhzwhhaw- of the Ashura Warp.

Morrigan's fingers dug deeply into Demitri's arm. "Why did you say that to her? That was a farewell for comrades who never expect to see each other again in the world of the living."

Demitri whispered to her, "I know not save that I feel trying times ahead for your little sister."

Darren McClauren was a researcher; a seeker of the arcane, purveyor of lost secrets, mystic and sometimes gourmet. At the moment he was something else.

A lost tourist.

Grumbling in over six different languages, including two dead ones, Darren consulted his map. It was just his luck that he had to be in the toilet when his tour group left. He walked past a cleft in the cliff and was treated to a breath-taking vista. A valley filled with numerous pools. Jusenkyo.

His curiosity getting the better of him, the mystic made his way into the Valley of Cursed Springs. Now if he were the erudite man of magic he fancied himself to be, he would have recognised the place he had stumbled upon. Instead, he had no clue where he was but he did sense strong emanations from the place. He heard a faint sobbing far off in the distance and being the chivalrous man he was, he went to investigate.

Floating above a pool, was the shade of a beautiful woman. Japanese by birth, she was dressed in a simple kimono. Darren quickly pulled out his camera. An honest to goodness ghost! Now let those University prudes laugh at his theories.

The ghost ceased her crying when she found that she had an audience. Unknown to the enthusiastic Darren, an evil smile crossed her lovely features as she regarded the man who had come before her. Clasping her hands before her ample bosom pleadingly, the spirit spoke with her best little-lost-girl voice, "please sir, could you help a poor girl rest in peace?"

Darren nodded mutely. This was his dream come true! An experience with the supernatural that would vindicate his theories!

The ghost pointed to the pool at her feet. "I was murdered by a wicked, wicked woman and dumped into this pool. I cannot rest until I am given a proper burial."

Darren was furiously scribbling in notepad as he recorded every word she said. Walking to the edge of the pool, he found the corpse of the spirit that had spoken to him. Despite being submerged in water, it was remarkably well preserved. Only the garish wounds differentiated it from the body of a living girl.

Pulling the cadaver out of the pool, Darren began to feel a strange tugging, as if something was trying to reach out and grab him. The ghost floated towards him until they were face to face. In sweet tones she spoke, "Oh, thank you! I'm now free! Fool." Her voice changed abruptly into one full of hatred. Before Darren could react, Shidoshi plunged her hand into his chest and drained every last drop of blood from his body.

Laughing madly, she pitched Darren's lifeless body into the pool where a semi-translucent version of the would-be mystic materialised. Freed by the exchange, Shidoshi began to float upwards towards Joketsuzoku. And her Precious.

~Epilogue~

Retiring from the festivities, the newly wedded couple made their way to the bridal boudoir. Morrigan was interested in only one thing but Demitri had something else in mind.

He presented to her a box fashioned of ebony. Intricately carved, it was a magnificent work of art. "Before we were wed," Demitri began as he guided her hands to the box, "I swore that I would find the most beautiful thing in all the worlds to present to my queen on our wedding night."

Demitri took hold of her fingers and gently undid the latch on the box. "I searched every corner of Ningenkai. I spoke to the wisest in Makai. I braved Jedah to walk the borders of Mikai and this is what I found."

The box slid open to reveal a mirror of purest platinum. The filigree on its borders was of such intricacy that it told a multitude of stories depending on how one viewed the mirror. Polished by a master craftsman, the mirror held a beauty that only love could bring.

"I fashioned this with my bare hands," Demitri said as he angled the mirror so that Morrigan could see her reflection within its shining surface. "So that I could show you the most beautiful thing in the Three Worlds."

Morrigan blinked in surprise as she beheld her own reflection.

"For nothing in Creation could ever rival the perfection that is my queen," Demitri finished by placing a chaste kiss on the nape of her neck.

Morrigan, so glib of tongue, the seducer of Kings and Emperors, found that words failed her now... so she let her tears answer for her.