I'm going to kill her. I'm going to rip her to pieces and make you watch, Sethy...

He grit his teeth, “Be silent you horrid shrew...” He cupped his forehead to still the migraine pulsing in his brain.

“Seth?...”

“Don't worry,” he tried to assure her but he was fairly worried himself. It seemed to be his day of returning emotions. “Be wary of your steps, Cy.”

She nodded and crept ahead almost on all fours. She was a nimble girl, he gave her that much, and she crept across the bed of thick wires soundlessly.

And than Astarte greeted them.

The lights flickered on and a great hum filled the air. Cy stared wordlessly at the horror before her.

Astarte, what was left of her, was embedded in a tree trunk of wires suspended from the ceiling. A clear panel showed where her heart floated, barely sustaining the disengaged eye trapped in her skull. Had it not been for those disfigurements she would have been more beautiful than could be bared. Golden curls still swung from one side of her head onto her creamy, bare shoulder.

“Ahhh,” she hissed, the wires seeming to thicken, “My favorite plaything.”

“It figures you wouldn't die so easily,” Seth muttered. Something was shaken in his voice though.

It hit Cy like a ton of bricks. This had been his lover.

No time to worry about it now! Look out!

She rolled away just in time before one of the ungodly tendrils slammed down where she had been. It whipped with a surprising speed.

“Leave her out of this,” her master hissed. He raised an arm in front of her protectively, “I'm the one you want anyways.”

“You're not the brat that bog witch chose to come and get me,” Astarte snarled. “You should have killed her when I commanded it! Don't you realize you could be in my arms right now if you had? We could have been together, Seth...”

This statement seemed to make him falter. The pain in his eyes was visible even through the cloud of dust in the room.

It was a large, half circle room and Astarte had nestled herself in the midst of the curve. Wires were everywhere and all of them seemed to sustain the mechanism holding her together.

A faint groan made her duck into one of the small blind spots from the wires. “Damian!”

His eyes were rolling in his head, “Unnnhh...k-kitty?” He was slumped over in a bed of Astarte's wires.

“My name is Cy,” the clash of metal made her jump, “Damian, do you think you can help?!”

It took him a moment to sit up but once the adrenaline had returned he was on his feet quickly, “There's no stopping her, Cy! I've tried!”

“Well you're just going to have to play nice with Seth and myself!” She dragged him back out.

Seth was brandishing his long sword once more and he effortlessly held back the metal whips clawing at his face. He cut through the labyrinth and aimed for her heart cylinder.

“Stop it, Seth,” she said. Her voice was soft though and it made him falter. “Stop being so mean.”

“I'm not-” he clenched his eyes shut, “Get out of my head, Astarte!” Through the blinding migraine he saw her eyes shift, “No!”

But he was too late. Again.

Cy gasped as she was ensnared. It was enough to stir the two vampires to fury.

“NO!” They roared simultaneously and attacked the hive surrounding Cy.

“So this is who you have replaced me with, boys?” One of the wires lifted Cy up so she dangled in the air, “This pathetic little...kitten?” Her laugh was horrible. Until than Cy hadn't been able to feel the extent of her power but laughing let it wash out like a tidal wave.

I should have never let Seth come, Cy thought, watching them struggle with her, He's still in love with her. I think both of them are...This is my fight.

“I'm a woman of my word, Seth. I am going to kill her and make you watch every precious ounce of life drain out of her.”

Their eyes met briefly and Cy shook her head. She knew what the look meant but if he saved her now than it would be over.

“Go ahead,” Cy hissed at her, “My life is meaningless! But you will never, ever, understand the lives you ruined!” She looked down at the two men staring at her uncertainly. “Those two...”

It didn't seem like Astarte knew how to respond so Cy continued. “You don't even care how bad you've hurt them, do you?! I've gotten the chance to see it for myself and it's, it's...” Her eyes caught Seth's briefly, “Heartbreaking.”

“They're men, silly girl. They feel nothing but lust and coldness,” Astarte finally answered. Her tone was indefinitely bitter.

Cy paused a second before she murmured, “Gods, who hurt you, Astarte? Who raped you?”

She would never get an answer. Astarte seized the stitches in her throat and ripped them violently away. Cy instinctively grasped at the wound, lights bursting before her eyes.

From somewhere far away she heard Seth and Damian both scream.

Someone shook her and in her swimming vision she could see Damian's face hovering before hers. The panic in his eyes was the only thing that convinced her she was going to die again.

“Please don't die,” he begged, cradling her, “You're the only one whose ever forgiven me!”

The word made something in Seth numb. Forgiven. “She forgave me too...”

What a waste...what a fucking waste. Someone that can forgive two monsters for their crimes and she's bleeding out again...Godamnit, everything beautiful in this rotting world dies in my arms. Not her. Not this time.

And this time, when Astarte screamed in rage and sent her mechanical arms spiraling towards Damian and Cy, he was in time.

He grimaced as she ripped his chest open. The arms were silver. Ironic.

A small smile spread over his lips. “Thank you, you frigid bitch. You've killed me.” He crumpled to his knees and the smile never left. The arms continued to rip into him but the pain had gone.

There was something warm amongst the cold, metal assault and for one wild moment he thought he might be bleeding. But when he looked down a white hand was on his chest.

“Master,” she gasped as her eyes swam with tears. Her clumsy embrace made him topple over onto his back.

She landed easily on top of him. One hand clasped the wound in her throat but the free one intertwined with his fingers. “Don't die, danna!”

He stared up at her, his lips parted ever-so-slightly. The wound foamed shadows up around her form, staining her white dress as black as death.

“It's fitting that you die while I feast on your blood, my beloved Sethy.” The shadow like mist began to swirl in towards the cylinder.

The bitch doesn't know I'm poison...He almost laughed.

“We have to go...,” Damian cried as Astarte's shriek made the castle quake. “C'mon Cy!”

“Not without Seth,” she insisted, holding on to him.

Seth vaguely heard Damian curse and than his essence curled around them. A burst of cold air rose under his body and like that they were gone from the Devil's lair.