• Night fell. Greed was still awake, unknowing I was as well. Not until I said "When is your dad going to be here?" my voice was meak, soft, almost scared in a way. It didn't sound like my voice, but it was. "Soon" Greed said. My head was on his lap and he was staring intensly over the cliff, whatching the dancing diamonds. I adjusted myself in his lap to be able to sit up. I still felt a little stiff, but shook it off. "Do you think, your dad will really end the war?" I asked him. He sighed "I hope so." I heard the sound of trees falling and the agonizing screams of dying animals. "He's here" Greed said. He stood up, than bent down to help me stand up. I felt the energy suddenly leave my body. I felt weak, angry, sad, frustrated, and most of all, hate. I saw a dark cloud go through trees, and the trees began to blacken, crumple up, wither, fall, and die. The animals having seizures on the forest floor before sucoming to death. The dark cloud had dark red devil eyes. I felt fear overflow, casting away all of the emotions I had felt before, and pain. I felt those dark red eyes, the eyes that seemed to have seen every kind of pain imaginable, and expiericnced it, creep into my mind and start attacking. It felt like a rabid army of red ants were inside my head, spreading venom and pericing my brain. I clutched my head in pain, and almost fell to the ground if it weren't for Greed's arms holding me. "Dad! Stop!" I heard Greed plead to his father. " PLEASE! Don't hurt her!" he pled. "PLEASE!" he yelled. The demon king's eyes left me and I gulped in fresh air as the pain slowly went away. I panted, still feeling the lingering pain. Greed steadied me, helped to stay on my own two feet. "Why? Where did I go wrong with you, son? Loving a mage! Pah! And with the dragon of all mages!" The demon king said to Greed. "What are you talking about? I thought you sent me here to be with Mages!" Greed yelled back. "I sent you here to drink mage's blood! And! To learn to hate them! As have I." The king said back. "What are you talking about?! Mom was a mage!" Greed yelled back. I lifted up my head to look at him, surprised. "Yes, your mother was a mage. But, not just any mage, she was Saphire!" The demon king shook his head. "No, no, no, she still is Saphire!" he told Greed. "But, that's impossibe! Saphire died a long time ago!" Greed said. The King shook his head, it looked the front half of a cloud moving side to side "No, I made that up. I made it up after people began to hurt her. You see, your mother was sent to kill me, but instead, we fell in love. When she told her parents, they turned against her. Everyone she loved tried to burn her at the stake, until I saved her. I erased the memory of everyone in her village and replaced them with new memories. That I killed her. Her dragon, Aquamarine is still with us, in spirit. She was killed before I could get there. Don't you understand? Mages are not to be trusted. Your mother trusted them, now look what's happened to her!" Greed shook his head "That's not what will happen! Don't you see?! Everyone here doesn't hate Izuna! Even though they know she loves me!" he yelled back. "No? What about Kiri Koshiba. She would have Izuna burned at the stake if she could. So would other girls, Kairi, Suki, Dance, Serenity, and many more. What do you think they'll do when their hatred reaches it's boiling point? Say 'We forgive you'? Unlikely." A small silence. "I'll protect her." Greed said quietly. "I'll protect her! Even if it kills me! Becouse I love her! I love the way she talks, the way she bangs me in the head with her staff, I love how she laughs, the way she smiles, even her stubborness and her short temper. The way she walks, her hair, her eyes, her kindness, her meaness, the way she pushes me away, the way she pulls me close, I love everything and anything about her............ And I won't let you or anybody else stand in the way of us being together!" Greed yelled. I felt my cheeks grow warm. "You ungrateful little-!" The demon king said, his anger growing. "Let's see if you can withstand this!" The demon king shot a blast of darkness at me. It was like acid, burning my body and boiling my blood. I yelled out in pain. "See, son? This girl is not worthy of you. She is nothing but a weak little insect." Greed went to help me, but his touch only burned my skin even more. "You b*****d!" Greed yelled, teeth clenched. "I don't care if you are my father! No one touches her!" he yelled and attacked his father. "What do I do? By this rate, they'll end up killing each other! What do I do?!" I thought. Than, I remembered what Greed's mom had said "Remember the song 'Lullaby for a stormy night'; It will save your life that day" I stood up, something that made my entire body feel like it was on fire. I folded my hands together in a prayer way with my fingers intertwined and put them on my chest. I took a deep breath and sang. Greed and the Demon King, stopped fighting as soon as I started.

    "Little child,
    be not afraid.
    The rain pounds harsh against the glass,
    like an unwanted stranger,
    there is no danger,
    I am here tonight.
    Little child,
    be not afraid,
    Though thunder explodes and lightenening flash,
    illuminates,
    your tearstained face,
    I am here tonight.
    And someday you'll know,
    that nature is so,
    this same rain that draws you near me,
    falls on rivers and lands,
    and forests and sand,
    makes the beautiful world that you see,
    in the morning.
    Little child,
    be not afraid,
    the storm clouds mask your beloved moon,
    and it's candlelight beams,
    still keep pleasant dreams,
    I am here tonight.
    Little child,
    be not afraid,
    the wind makes creatures of our trees,
    and branches to hands,
    they're not real,
    understand,
    I am here tonight.
    And someday you'll know,
    that natrue is so,
    this same rain that draws you near me,
    falls on rivers and land,
    and forests and sand,
    makes the beautiful world that you see,
    in the morning."
    A voice, old, but full of wisdom and kindness not of my own or Saphire's, began to sing with me.

    "For you know,
    once even,
    I,
    was a little child,
    and I was afraid,
    But a gentle someone always came,
    to dry all my tears,
    trade sweet sleep the fears,
    and give a kiss goodnight.
    Well, now I am grown,
    and these days have shown,
    rain's a part of how life goes,
    but it's dark and it's late,
    so I'll hold you and wait,
    'til your frightened eyes do close."
    Suddenly, a bright cloud apeared beside me and morphed into a young looking woman with light brown hair hair, hazel eyes, peach skin, and wearing a beautiful white dress. Her mouth moved to the song as I was singing, and we sang together, as she held my hand.

    "And I hope that you'll know,
    that nature is so,
    this same rain that draws you near me,
    falls on river and land,
    and forests and sand,
    makes the beautiful world that you see,
    in the morning.
    Everything's fine in the morning,
    the rain will be gone in the morning,
    but I'll still be here,
    in the morning."

    The lady evaporated into white dust, even as she did, she smiled, and beckoned towards the Demon King. "Mother" I heard him say, as he turned to white dust himself and blew away with the woman.

    Next, Demon King 31