Hello my beasties! It's finally here! We're journeying back to the land of the dead where Duke will soon meet again with a figure from his past...(Random bonus note from like two years later where I'm two years older and a hell or a lot wiser: THIS IS A REWRITE. Mainly because I totally hate how I handled Duke and Lilith's scene, and I have a lot of ideas for how I want to re-write it....... And I think I can fix it now!)

But anyway, my first OC will be appearing in this chapter and I'm very excited to start including her in the story! The song above will be an introduction of sorts to my OC (It seems to fit her character) but watch the video from 0:00 to 0:41 and take a look at the final verse at the end because I'm not willing to put a whole song into the chapter again. Anyway, let us return to the land of the dead, where we open on the outside of one of the nastiest places in the underworld, Tartarus, where some of the nastiest beasts are imprisoned.....

Oh yeah, and since I'm editing and what-not, this chapter's going to feature some of that good stuff...... mainly complicated feelings and Duke kinda being terrible(but then again, Duke is kinda a terrible person... That's why we love him.), all good stuff (or at least it's stuff that I enjoy and think you darlings will enjoy too!)! Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!

Dukes P.O.V:

Outside Tartarus loomed ahead. Stepping out of the boat and tossing a coin to the ferryman Charon, Duke gazed up at the foreboding prison ahead of him. Damn, no matter how many times he saw this place, he was always filled with the same feeling.

What was it called..... Oh yeah..... terror. That's it. At least he never let it show directly how unsettled he was by this place, considering if fate had pulled a different card, he would have been confined in a practically inescapable cell for the rest of eternity, no chance of escape, no chance to enjoy the finer pleasures of the afterlife...... And he knew an afterlife without the chance to enjoy himself would be a fate worse than.... well, you know......

Jeez, even thinking about it sent a proverbial chill down his spine.

 He'd  been here over a year and he was still shocked into silence whenever he even went near the imposing place. But guess that's the effect a prison specifically designed to hold the worst of the worst for the rest of eternity was supposed to do......

And jeez, wasn't the whole decaptated heads upon an iron pike thing just a tad overdone? So fifteenth century. Wouldn't it have made more sense to add a little more skulls along those imposing looking stone walls? Seriously, who was the decorator down here.....

But then again, Tartarus was pretty piss-your-pants terrifying anyhow, even if you weren't being held as a prisoner. Guess that was the whole point of the place, after all.

 But who could blame him, some of the most evil souls in the underworld were held here including her.... The woman who still tormented him, who invaded the far reaches of his thoughts all these centuries later, the woman who he adored, whom he despised......

Shaking off his uneasiness, Duke started up the winding staircase built onto the side of the prison, his boots echoing against the onyx steps.

The cries of the damned and imprisoned echoed throughout the prison, a strange, almost deliciously dark type of music to his ears but he ignored them as he approached a recently familiar dark-skinned man with a top hat and wearing a dark suit. The man turned around, suddenly realizing that Duke was right behind him.

"My liege, I didn't realize that you were here.." With a tip of his hat, the smoothly accented man turned out an elegant bow, 

Duke waved off the man's simpering. Geez, he still wasn't entirely used to the whole "bowing before your supreme ruler" thing that very few of the denizens. But enough of that, it was time to turn on some of the wickedness and callousness....... "Enough of that Fallicier, I've come here for one reason and that's not to listen to you making excuses." (A/N: Yes, Dr.Fallicier is the "keeper of the keys" in the underworld, because Duke decided that this human would be useful in serving him.... And yes, I will probably forget about this at some point or reference something different instead of this, so I apologize ahead of time. )

"Yes, of course my liege, but why are you here? Business or pleasure?" Dr. Fallicier asked with a smirk.

"Business ." Duke replied. "I've come to see, you know who..."

The smirk quickly faded from Dr.Fallicier's face as soon as it had appeared. "You mean, her?" Of course, he had no idea WHAT exactly had transpired between the two of them all those centuries ago, the events of that fateful evening that had ended when she wound up with a stake through her perfect breast, and then..... No, he was over her, over the young servant who'd captured his heart all those years ago, completely and totally over her....... But was he?

At least Facilier knew well enough not to pry any further into the whole thing. Frankly, Duke didn't want to recall the whole mess himself.......

"Yes."

He lead Duke down a dark passage. "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you. Because she's been acting stranger than usual as of late." Then, he paused, as if remembering something else he'd wanted to add. "Oh yeah, and couldja ask that bitch to sing something different? THAT DAMN SONG IS GETTING ON MY NERVES......" Then he inhaled sharply, the rage slowly sloping off his features, as if remembering who he was talking to. "You'll find her down there...."

Before Duke could ask him what he meant by that he heard a faint, but almost hypnotizingly beautiful voice:

Upon one summer's morning,

I carefully did stray, down by the walls of Wapping, where I met a sailor gay

Duke knew it the moment he heard it. It was her. He'd know that voice anywhere..... Almost in a sort of daze, he moved down the hall, towards the music.

Somehow, on some purely subconscious level, he'd missed this, missed her dulcet tones, missed the woman behind 

Conversing with a young lass, who seem'd to be in pain

Saying, William if you go I fear you'll ne'er return again

He approached a single cell at the end of the winding hallway. Inside, there sat a beautiful woman, wearing the tattered remains of what used to be a fine ball-gown, clutching something in her pale hands and seemingly singing to it.

Hm. Had Lilith finally started giving in to the insanity of this inescapable place, going around the bend from hell knows how many centuries spent down in this place, imprisoned......

But then again, it'd been centuries since he'd heard her voice....

My heart's been periced by cupid,

I disdain all glittering gold,

there's nothing can console me-

She suddenly stopped her song, as if to realize that she was being watched. Standing up, a wide smile appearing over her angular features she gazed at Duke as if happy to see him. But was she really brimming over with joy, or was it another ploy designed to ensnare him, to bend him to her will to play with him as she pleased.....

After all, 

"Ah Duke, to what do I owe this pleasure to?" She said, smiling at him. Duke did not return her smile. Her smile faded as she regarded Dr.Fallicier who was standing next to Duke, a very angry expression on his face. "Oh look, you've brought the rabble along with you. How wonderful." She said, her expression on her face contradicting her words.

Dr.Fallicer opened his mouth as if to tell her off, but Duke silenced him.

"Go along, we're fine here....."

A wicked grin stretched across Lilith's face, twisting her graceful features into that of a demon, a creature of teeth and blood....

"Run along little mortal. I think I still can call up your friends so they can have a little "chat" with you...."

Watching the voodoo doctor scramble madly up the sloping steps, Lilith seemingly tried to stifle her laughter as the man scrambled out of sight, eventually leaving the two of them alone. Once she was absolutely sure the man was gone, she let out a relieved sigh, slim shoulders slumping in relief.

"Satan's tits. I thought he'd never leave."

Duke watched her unimpressed. "You didn't have to terrify him so bad, that's supposed to be MY job after all." To be honest, he WAS a bit impressed with how she'd managed to spook Facilier. If anything, she still possessed that very same mischievous streak that made her so endearing....

Or appear endearing until she had you within her charms.

Lilith remained unflapped, merely offering him a cool glare in reply. "Hmph. When did you become so serious?"

With a snap of her fingers, the air in the dank cell seemingly shimmered for a brief moment, then the fetid chamber vanished entirely, quickly replaced with a room fit for a lady of the underworld, velvet cushions, lacy wall fixtures, a freaking chandelier on the ceiling, a vanity table(lacking a mirror), and countless other little embellishments of luxury that 

Somehow, without noticing, a silky grey,  "my husband just died in mysterious circumstances" robe, flowing down nearly to the floor of the cell, clinging gently to every curve, every angle....

Despite himself, Duke found his gaze drawn to her body.

She looked just as radiant as the first moment they'd met, maybe even more so, even....

Even.... queenly.

Okay, now that was sort of impressive. Was it some sort of illusion magic? Duke wasn't too familiar with the type of glamour magic Lilith was known for, the type of magic that 

Lilith shrugged, offering a tantalizing glimpse of breast as her robe slipped off her shoulder, ever so slightly, hypnotizingly supple and unblemished.....

"Please forgive me for my state of..... undress, lordling. Had I known you'd honor me with your company, I would have worn..... less." 

Um, yes please.

Her body offered up some deliciously dirty thoughts, most of which involving the floor of the cell and a couple of those manacles hanging on that nearby wall..... 

"So..... why have you come to visit me, this time? I KNOW it isn't because you miss my charming presence....." She pretended to trail off, the barest hint of a smile stretching itself across her lips.

Okay, this playing dumb thing was getting a little annoying. Why did chicks think that acting the ditz was a sure-fire way to catch a guy? Sure, it was kinda cute for a few moments, but a guy can get annoyed after a while by the whole "ditzy dame" approach. Duke would know.

"Just seeing how my little prisoner is doing. How's the prison food? I hear it wrecks havoc on your figure..." A sick thrill went through him as she let out a surprised gasp, before her eyes

The glower she gave him only widened his grin. What? He was telling the truth here.......

Lilith scoffed. "I see. And here I thought that you still cared....." She let out an overly dramatic sigh, putting a hand to her brow as if going into a faint. Seesh, guess she hadn't lost her flair for the dramatic.

"Don't sell yourself short, doll." Despite himself, a tiny smile crept up his face at her antics.

Lilith remained unimpressed.

"And I know that you're still hung up over that silly little mortal.... Oh, what was her name? Something frothy and silly, Rosabelle maybe, or was it Lucinda.... No, Lucinda was the name of that little wench in Paris.... Ah yes, now I remember. Her name was Annabelle. That little trollop you still are lusting over nearly four hundred years later...."

"What? Why do ya think that? I-" Jeez, he really was babbling here, struggling to explain away the surge of feelings within his core. Somehow, she always had this effect upon him, reducing a villain like himself to nothing more that of a sniveling schoolboy.....

Lilith rolled her ruby eyes, a scowl quickly marring her brow.

"Please, I can read you like a book. A completely open and shut case...." Miming opening a book, Lilith pretended to peruse the contents, making a little "tsk-tsk" at whatever imaginary information she found there, sometimes giggling at something she clearly found amusing.

Eventually, a wicked smile... no, more of a sneer spread across her face.

"You're a textbook case of a man who thinks he's the only one in the world who's ever suffered a broken heart, who tries to cover up the fact that he was vulnerable enough to actually fall in love with somebody instead of lust." She shook her head. "Honestly. You gentlemen are all the same."

Duke's eyes narrowed. "You should remember who you're talking to sugar, or else-"

"Or else what? You'll put me back right where you found me, being tortured in the pits of Gehenna?" Her tone raised ever so slightly, her fangs bared underneath her ruby pout as her eyes flashed with rage. 

Okay, that struck a nerve.

Honestly, Duke didn't HAVE to have freed her once he'd laid his eyes upon her, left her to have her flesh scoured with whips, her delicate feet encased in a block of ice, her eyes repeatedly torn out and fed to her, swallowed alive by monstrous behemoths and digested before being brought back to do it all over again.... Countless tortures personally designed to keep those who'd committed unspeakable sins alive(in the sense) for an eternity of suffering to come....

But the look, the look of pure hopelessness, of pure defeat....

One could say that it was one of the rare "nice" things that a villain actually did. Although if one did happen to mention it, Duke would have probably doused them in steak sauce(Underworld extra spicy) and fed them to Cerberus.....

Honestly, it was probably more out of pettiness than actual soft-heartedness that he'd freed her, practically carried her broken body away from that place of tortured shrieks, of broken souls....

And as for giving her own cell far away from any of the other prisoners, sending her little gifts of jewelry; novels; scarves, whatever else she loved.......

It'd been more out of guilt than anything. Honestly, what did he care if she was comfortable or not? She'd be stuck for eternity in the same cramped cell either way while he was out living it up as the supreme ruler of the underworld?

As for why he hadn't listened to any of her offers to free her? Well, frankly, he enjoyed watching her squirm, as nothing more than a prisoner, paying for having crossed him for her sins......

Hey, he didn't care if it was petty, it was just too amusing to watch her squirm.......

"Please. You're so predictable Duke..."

Now it was Duke's turn to roll his eyes.

Really. It'd be an awfully snowy day in the Underworld when he accepted an offer from HER. And besides, their "union" had llong since dissolved into the stream of time, 

"Of course...... I would be willing to forgive you.... if you were to do something for me.... Say, for instance, grant me my freedom....." Her voice turned to a silky purr, her ruby eyes danced in the light, it was clear that she was turning on her own very specific set of charms.....

Come on, he couldn't get involved with her again, after all there was so much hate between them on both sides of this whole thing, after all they'd done to one another......

Noting his silence and slightly pained expression, Lilith continued. "You see Duke, we're two of a kind you and I. We're like two large fish in such a small pond, we can either fight until one of us is dead, or we can mate..." Those words, those deliciously sinful words, those words that wormed their way through 

But after what she did, after she'd caused everything to go so wrong on that fateful night, after.... after..... After Annabelle had rejected him, spurned his advances, disappeared completely, leaving his heart as nothing more than a splatter on the ground......

Had he been right to chose her over Lilith? But he'd realized long ago that although she was so much like him..... that maybe having somebody who was so similar to you in so many ways basically rendered you almost fundamentally incompatible in the end.....

Almost immediately, he felt himself give in to her charms.

Then again, Annabelle had never desired him, never lusted after him like Lilith had done, never placed his heart under the enchantment of pure folly that love brought....

After all, what was love but for fools? Only fools who gave their heart away so easily deserved all the pain, suffering, giving your heart away to someone only to have them trample it into a pulp once it was all over and done, making yourself into a lovesick fool and finding that it was all for nothing, that she never even adored you in the first place....

After all, it was HIS fault that Annabelle didn't love him, that she'd-

The memory came upon him almost before he could shoo it away.

What makes you think I'd love you after you've... you've.... Oh god... You're a monster.....

She smiled seductively and reached a pale arm out of the bars of her cell, running her fingers across Duke's face, her shell-like nails gently pressing against his flesh, his goatee..... Part of him wished 

She smiled, her fangs just visible beneath her pout.

"You see Duke, we're meant to be together, a dark king and queen, ruling side by side, there's so much we could be if we came together." Her fingers worked their way down his body, her lips barely an inch away from his own, the longing in her ruby eyes as clear as a beacon within a darkened night....

And hello to an inconveniently timed erection. 

Ohhhh god...... He'd missed this, the wild nights of pure abandon, of frenzied lovemaking, where they'd rip off eachothers clothes; tearing buttons and ribbons, going for hours at a time to do unspeakable things to one another, the feel of her lips against his, the way that their voices intertwined as naturally as their bodies....... Him with his malicious charms, and she with her supernatural wiles......

God, they might have just only cared about eachother for the lust, before they realized that they were incompatable on every other level, but where it really counted..... damn.

Then again, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she became his queen....

Then, the memory came over him in a flash, a sharp jolt that completely destroyed any of the lust he was feeling, any of the remaining feelings he still felt towards the vampiress in question, quickly drawing him back to reality.

You really think that SHE will love you? Mortal's hearts are fickle and flighty things, flickers of light that barely last for the  duration of an hour..... SHE WILL NEVER LOVE YOU, NOT LIKE I DO......

"Stop...." At the last moment, he turned his face away from hers considerably surprising the vampiress.

Lilith withdrew her hand. "What's the matter Duke? I thought we were-"

"Stop!" The blaze of light that flashed through his eyes made the woman jerk back, removing her other hand in an instant, 

She stared up in silence at him, stretching an entire moment into what seemed like an eternity....

"You do realize, it wasn't my fault she didn't love you, do you?" There was a steadiness in her tone, nothing sorrowful, no visible evidence of her trying to manipulate anything,  nothing accuisitory, just completely calm.... It was almost uncanny that someone like her would let their guard down for such a moment.....

Taken aback, Duke struggled for a response. What could you even say when you were presented with the single thing that even your own black heart couldn't deny, couldn't explain away.....

The truth.   A very tricky beast indeed. 

He could have denounced her right then and there, offered up some witty retort that would have put her back in her place, waved off her words with nothing more than a smirk....

But, like a coward, he offered no response, turning on his heels and walking up the sloping stairs, out of Tatarus and back to the river barge, waiting to take him back to his castle.....

It was needless to say that he wouldn't be exactly resting so easily after that little conversation......

Lillith's P.O.V:

Lilith watched Duke leave, a slight expression of shock on her face. When she could no longer see him an evil smile quickly returned to her face and she laughed out loud.

Poor, clueless Duke. Really, she felt almost a little sorry for him.

 Almost.

"Oh Duke, you should really enjoy your kingdom while you still can..."

Look at him, her dark creation, waltzing around with voluptuous female gorgons and generally getting everything that he wanted, even though she knew she felt like he didn't deserve it after what he had done to her...

Honestly, she'd been pretty angry with him the first couple of centuries. And who could blame her? After all, she'd specifically warned him against pursuing that mortal girl in the first place, and then he had to go and-

Ohh, it just burned her up even thinking about it!

But she pushed those pesky feelings out of her head and kneeled onto the floor of the cell, pulling out a fine choker from a pocket in her hopelessly ruined dress(at least when she got free of this place she wouldn't have to wear the same old rags anymore.), an almost invisible thing covered up by her dressing robe, so inconsequential that Duke himself wouldn't have given it any notice...... 

Hey, a girl had to have her secrets. Especially in a dump like this, where there were eyes literally and proverbially on you at all times.....

The choker was made out of dark shining beads and in the center of it was a pendant of a bat with bright red chips of ruby for its eyes. It was one of her most prized possessions, the one personal effect she'd managed to hold on to for all the centuries she'd been alive, all the countries she'd travelled through, everything she'd done, it was her one constant, the one reminder of her humble beginnings.....

After all, the man she'd taken it from all those centuries ago, long before she even met Duke, had no need for this little trinket anymore....... And she'd made sure that man, the man who'd torn her innocence away from her like the stockings off a pretty girl, who'd corrupted her, irreversibly changed her.....

Wouldn't be around to corrupt anyone else like he'd done to her. But then again, she was no longer the blushing, lily-fair maiden in  the storm swept skirts, that weaker version of herself was lost to the ravages of time, replaced by something darker, something as beautiful and as deadly as a nightshade blossom......

And the little trinket she'd  managed to keep?

It was very old, the silver of the bat covered in a fine series of scratches, a slight chip in one of the spread wings, but other than that, it was in almost immaculate condition. She'd taken VERY good care of this 

Thankfully, before she had been locked up all those years ago, she had managed to keep her one link to the human world and a certain girl back in the world of the living.......

She smiled as she turned the choker over in her hand. With her the help of Missi her puppet, and the unwilling assistance of that other young girl, Y/N,  she would have her revenge very soon on her former lover. He'd pay dearly for having betrayed Lilith, having gone after that little serving wench who'd wound up shoving a stake in her heart, and then.....

Oh, she knew that story all too well. After all, she lived it, once upon a long forgotten time. Emphasis on "Lived".

But the past was past, and you had to look towards the glorious future, where rewards beyond anything you could ever dream of awaited you.....

Fastening the clasp of the choker around her neck, she stroked the bat pendant on her neck while she sang:

My heart's been peireced by cupid,

I disdain all glittering gold,

there's nothing can console me....

Soon, Duke would realize that he should have taken her offer while he still had the chance. But then again,  it would be much too late for him once he realized....

But my jolly sailor bold.....

A/N: Well beasties, I finally got around to publishing another chapter! (sorry for the wait and also sorry that its not very good.) Now you've met one of my OC's and have heard mention of another one of them, but what exactly is their story with Duke and how do they fit into the grad scheme of things in the story? Well, Author-chan knows, but she isn't telling, because that would be spoiling, my dear beasties and you wouldn't want that would you?

Anyway I'll just share some of my inspiration for Lilith, our villainess before I leave(like Duke, she was inspired by many different villains):

Lilith inspiration: Evillene from The Wiz(The Mary J. Bilge one),

  Angelique from Dark Shadows(she's been a huge inspiration for Lilith and I ADORE the chemistry between Barnabas and Lilith, which makes ),

  Hattie from American Vampire(an awesome comic about bad-ass vampires that you should read),

Evanora from Oz the Great and Powerful,

And Heather Chandler(like her Lilith is a mythic bitch)

Also, if you want to use Lilith for your own works, she would be happy to appear in whatever story you are writing, you just need to give me credit first for her okay?

On another note beasties, I'll probably be taking a short hiatius from writing after the next chapter because the fourth chapter of Daria Cohen's amazing series isn't out yet, so I'll be having a question and answer!

Yes, you heard me right, you can ask me any burning question that you have about me or the story I'm writing! This Question and Answer will also be hosted by another one of my OC's who will not be appearing in the story until the future, but you will be able to ask her questions too!(She's very excited for it, believe me)

See you soon, my beasties!

On another note, hope that the scene I wrote between Duke and Lilith didn't suck! Let me know if it's improved or not because I'm always looking for ways to improve! And hope you enjoyed the scene, regardless! :) And yes, I've introduced a bit of.... rather complicated feelings between the two of them. Basically, they hate each other, but there's still a little bit of the original spark there...

Hope that isn't too confusing!