The sound of footsteps bounced off of stone walls to echo about the hidden underground room. As the person climbed the stairs deeper in, the low and vicious growls of beasts rose in volume. The rattling cages, the clanking of chains, and the soul-wrenching screams could freeze a man's heart solid.

The person walking down the winding stairs, however, remained unaffected and continued on as if he were wrapped up in a jaunty tune. Every shrill howl caused his lips to twitch upward and his dark eyes to brighten. There was a touch of insanity in that jovial gaze.

As this person rounded the corner and walked through the open gated entryway he was met with a hellish masterpiece. Upon an operating table with its belly split wide open was a cat-like spirit beast the size of two grown men. Adjacent the table was another displaying the freshly pulled organs from the corpse. Blood painted the ground like art fit for poetry.

A giddy feeling rose up at the sight, but he tempered down the rising violence in him to be nothing more than a heart's unfulfilled desire. The corner of his lips rose up as his gaze turned toward the bald old man hunched over at the side, writing furiously.

"You seem to be having fun, Tongchu."

"Not fun." Tongchu denied without once pausing his movements or glancing over.

"Oh?" The dark man inquiringly hummed.

The old man huffed a frustrated growl. "The experiment wasn't viable. Though Subject 285 was successfully impregnated by a great white tiger, Subject 285 wasn't able to carry to term. The energies of both the Mortal Realm and Spirit Realm within the fetus spiraled out of control killing it and poisoning Subject 285 to death. I pulled the organs and fetus for further study, but..." He put down his tome and brush and grasped a fist full of bloody organs, turning them over in his hands for the other man to observe.

"At a steady but fast rate, the poison is blackening the organs and then turning them into a pasty mush that evaporates into energy. I've already tried collecting the energy before it could disperse into the atmosphere, however soon found it to be pointless. The energy was spirit energy without a trace of anything from the Mortal Realm."

The dark man scoffed lightly and in a sing-song voice, said. "I don't believe it's impo-ssible to merge the blood of beings from the Mortal and Spirit Realms into one container." He then began to pace the room, his countenance darkening drastically. He growled. "If that bastard could be born into this world and live then surely another bastard could be born and live."

"We'd have better results if there were fresh demon blood at hand." Tongchu gripped.

Nodding, the dark man stopped his pacing and cast a glance toward an alcove carved out between two doors; one led to the caged spirit beasts and the other led to the caged beasts of the Mortal Realm. The alcove was not very deep and was barred by metal bars of iron. Arrays colored the walls; some were to act as barriers while some were meant to keep things fresh. The thing to be kept preserved was the corpse of a woman. Her lilac hair a waterfall down her frame, her crimson eyes gazed a sightless stare and her flesh pale and pasty from death.

"En," the dark man hummed in agreement. "Luckily another demon cropped up recently... very soon, I'll have her in my grasp."

-------------------

It was warm and comfortable. Nastasia was greatly reluctant to open her eyes and wake though her consciousness was beginning to rouse and knew it to be time to do so. She snuggled into the solid and comfortable mass beside her, taking an arm and leg to wrap around it. Unable to recall a time when her body pillow had felt so wonderful she tried to force sleep to keep the moment going.

Howbeit that Nastasia wanted this to go on forever, her rousing mind began to notice a few abnormalities. For instance: The pillow seemed to carry its own warmth, shifted occasionally, and seem to be petting her hair.

That last fact really sobered up her sleep addled brain and she stiffened. 'That's right, this isn't my room.' She thought in alarm. 'I'm lost somewhere strange and staying with a demonic beauty, from where could my body pillow appear?'

Nastasia slowly slid her lids open, blearily taking in an amazing sight. From the devastatingly beautiful face down to the nicely toned flesh peeking from skewed robes, her eyes shamelessly ogled. The view was far greater than the handsome models her younger sister fancied and plaster all over her bedroom walls.

Still, under the sluggish throes of sleep, it took a moment for her to register what she was seeing. The moment it did, her soul jumped from her flesh. She untangled from him as if he were a deadly and poisonous creature, throwing her body backward.

Thump!

"Ow, that hurts..." she rubbed her smarting hip and then tossed a glare to the bewitching demon laughing, deeply amused, upon the bed.

Honestly! What did this guy want to accomplish? He teased her on their first meeting and was constantly trying to come into some sort of contact with her. Now, he shamelessly decides he must climb into bed with her. Was he trying to give her poor, innocent, virgin heart a heart-attack?

Nastasia really wished she could ask after his intentions, however, they still -at the moment- could not communicate. Not knowing what to do, she fisted her hands while her cheeks dusted red.

"zǎo shàng hǎo, wǒ měi lì de chǒng'ér. (Good morning, my beautiful pet.)" Nastasia shot her gaze toward him at the sound of his voice only to be stunned at the sight that met her. Li Yu Rong had his head propped up with a hand, his body splayed along the bed seductively, while a teasing half grin spread across his face. This man was a shameless flirt!

She really wished she knew the words to convey to him, "please stop looking at me like that, my heart can't take it!" Never had she been treated this way by a man, therefore she could only sit on the floor taking an eternity on deciding how to react. The fact that anything she said would be lost on his ears made the decision all the more difficult.

Nastasia really didn't want to let him off without a scolding.

Li Yu Rong seemed to have taken pity on her as he retracted his bewitching pheromones, and put away his seductive countenance, to stand from the bed and straighten out his skewed robes. Before he walked out from the room, he patted her head in an attempt to soothe her ruffled feathers.

After he left Nastasia breathed a sigh of relief. Standing from the floor she moved to get ready for the day, all the more determined to learn the words of this world.