He appeared in an empty foyer, left in the glow of cobalt flames as they danced on their torches nearby, facing a great ornate stairwell that lead up to what was the upper floor of a black castle.
Lukrite stared around him as a terrible nostalgic feeling entered him.
He had been here before.
Many, many times.
But the last time he had set foot inside these walls...
Lukrite then heard footsteps.
"Aluxio, sir, it's a pleasure to see you again!", an armor-clad skeleton announced, his boney feet crackling on every step down. "You were calling for Prince Titanium just now, weren't you? I am sorry to inform you that he is currently resting in his chambers and is not accepting any guests at this time..."
The Angel felt his insides suddenly squirming with a surge of panic.
He had heard these words before, seen this very scene play out.
Lukrite quaked now where he stood.
"T-This is where I said...I knew all about Titanium resting from his wounds... He was in battle with my family, and now he has called me here to show me something..."
The skeleton stopped on the last stair, just as he was supposed to on that day, with all his correct motions and completely unaware of anything that was happening.
The Angel shook his head, the anxiety there in his yellow eyes.
"Titanium said... He said it was important..."
His eyes opened wide with the realization, now darting up to push the skeleton out of his way with his focus now on one of the upper floor doors.
"N-No! I can't let it happen again!"
He rushed headlong across the balcony hall, the doors at his side whipping past him as he went directly for the last one of the row, where Titanium would be.
Where she would be.
"KARA!! I'M COMING, KARA!!"
"Lukrite! Help me!"
The Angel had reached the door to Titanium's chambers before she had even cried out the way she did on that day, and he then kicked the door with all his might to break the lock he knew was there.
The door broke and swung open.
Before the time was ready.
Lukrite ran immediately into the darkness of the bedroom, heading directly for the large windows that exposed their bodies in black silhouettes up against the glass.
Titanium was there, in the act, pinning her against the window.
She was crying out in pain, fighting with all she could muster to free herself.
Then there was the sword... Rising up in the dark, ready to come down on her.
Lukrite spurred his feet forward.
"NOOOO! YOU GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!!"
The Angel rammed into the prince from behind, taking him crashing through the windows out onto the connecting balcony where the storm of Hyroniemus never ended, where they had once been after the tragedy had already taken place.
He wouldn't let it happen again
Not again.
Lukrite rolled on top of the Dark Angel, heart burning with the rage he felt as he looked into those horrible verdant eyes, now throwing his punches as hard as he could with that smug face still looking at him.
"Do it, Lukrite... Kill me..."
He felt his teeth sharpen, hate for him ready to bite his face off.
"Arrrrgh! Die!!"
He pounded harder, the force of his strength starting to mash the face into a mere bloody pulp, over and over, until the prince was barely recognizable.
"You'll never take her from me again! NEVER!!"
Blood splattered back on the railings of the balcony with every punch pulled back.
"You wanted me to be a Demon, Titanium?!"
His eyes then changed, morphing into an orange brighter than flame.
"I AM STRONGER AND MORE POWERFUL THAN YOU EVER WERE!!"
"Lukrite..."
He then whirled around, turning to look back at her as she stood there now in the doorframe of the broken glass, to see her now safe and looking at him with the sweet smile he had always remembered.
Lukrite immediately got up to go to her, stumbling from the physical exertion to which she reached out for him to hold each other in an embrace. He held her so tightly, shaking, planting several kisses on her forehead despite the fangs that were now protruding from his mouth.
"A-Are you alright? Don't worry, he won't hurt you anymore..."
Her garnet eyes closed as she rested in his arms, her smile never fading.
"I knew you would come for me..."
He cradled her in his forming black claws, clutching her, unable to let go.
The longer he held her, the more of his feathers began to fall from his wings, turning into a leathery pair of Demon wings. He didn't notice the crimson horns that slowly wove out of his skull, either.
"Kara... My Kara... You're here... With me... I saved you... Just as I always dreamed I would..."
There was a light hum from her.
"No... Lukrite... I beg of you, do not look..."
At this, he narrowed his eyes.
"What? What do you mean? You are not making much sense..."
She seemed more limp in his grasp now.
She breathed wearily.
"Lu-Lukrite... Why do you weep?"
He froze like stone.
Her words. The words she spoke.
They were the lines spoken like perfect, terrible lyrics to a song.
The song that was sung on that day.
And she was still singing it...
He gently slid down with her onto his knees, letting her fall back to rest in his arms. He was soaked now in her blood as he looked at the gaping wound in her stomach.
Tears then fell from his eyes in endless streams.
He realized he was doomed to play his part.
"D-Do you not know?", he managed to say, finally responding to her prior question. "I have realized that I'm about to lose you..."
"Darkness...veils...my sight......", Kara says faintly, her eyes glazing. "Lukrite... I cannot..see you...."
The Demon then looked at his love, her eyes staring into an abyss. He bit his lip as more tears flowed down his face. He sealed his orange eyes briefly, and took her hand and held it in his.
He then leaned down and kissed her pale lips.
They had lost their warmth.
The agony seeped in, remembering his next line.
"Can you feel me, Kara...??", staring into her still eyes, clasping his fingers around her hand firmly.
Her lips then trembled as she uttered an answer to him.
"The...sense of...my flesh...has vanished.....", Kara replies quietly, body motionless in his grasp. "Lu-Lukrite... I cannot..feel...you...."
His eyes then squinted, his heart shattering as she told him this. He managed to take a deep breath, but it escaped his lungs shakily.
It wouldn't be long now, he knew that deep inside his aching soul.
He knew it then, he knew it now.
"Kara... Can you hear me??", Lukrite asks, leaning in towards her as he spoke softly through his grief.
Her lips then moved and paused briefly. He heard her lungs struggle to take in air, and he heard through her voice the struggle to speak.
"Y-..Yes......", Kara answers, intact words impossible now as she faded.
He then held her even closer, held her as close as he most possibly could.
This was it.
This was the last time he would be with her, this was the last chance he'd get to speak with her.
Again. Just as it had been.
He then leaned down and pressed his lips against her ear. As the blue candlelight shined on them both, the darkness around them, he said the last words she would hear.
The words he sent to her in his prayers every night since she passed.
"Kara... Not a day will go by without me thinking of you. Not a night will go by without me dreaming of you. For all eternity, I will feel you in my heart. Ever since I laid eyes on you, I loved you. It didn't matter where you came from, or who you were, or what you might have done..."
He was shaking, the lines just sputtering out on perfect cue.
"I knew you were the one for me. And you always will be. I will never be able to let you go."
He breathed, now looking up to see a mirror that revealed his Demon form.
"Never, I'll never let you go."
His orange eyes burned with rage at the change of his role.
"I love you..."
Her voice ended.
Just as it should.
"I-..I... Lo..ve... Y-..you.... Lu...kri..te...."
He then stood, coming up immediately to the mirror.
"No... No! This is wrong!"
He seethed.
"I WAS BETTER THAN THIS!"
He charged at the glass.