KISS and the Battle of G.O.O.D. Vs. E.V.I.L.
Part 40
by SLK

Silk was lying next to the man of her dreams. He was 
gently holding her, caressing her in all the right 
places, but something was wrong, there was an odd 
chill in the air. Silk woke up to an empty bed. She 
had been dreaming a good dream this time, for once, 
but it still had an air of darkness about it. Just 
like all of her dreams lately. At least she didn't 
wake from this one broke out in a cold sweat. She 
felt the cool wind blow across her face and turned 
towards the window. There, silhouetted by the 
moonlight stood Paul Stanley, front man of KISS and 
front man of her heart. 

She thought back to everything that had happened in 
only a few short days, but then she had a stop and 
think that it had really been years. This was all 
still taking a bit of getting use to. First, all any 
of them was counting on was getting to go to the 
final KISS show as special guest and hoping that 
they would be the one to capture a small amount of 
their favorite member's time. Time where only the 
two of them dwelled in that moment. But now, not 
everyone was here. Some were missing and some you 
wondered which side they were on. 

She glanced back over to the couch where Gene and 
Gena were still curled up together. Putting the 
spell around the book to protect it had taken a lot 
out of them. She got up as quietly as she could and 
went to stand beside Paul. He felt her presence and 
knew she was awake before she had even stirred. When 
she neared he reached out and took her in his arms. 
Silk let herself be held in strong arms, protective 
arms and laid her head on his chest. 

"So much has changed in so little time," Paul 
started. "If we would have had any idea that 
Buttercup would go to such drastic measures we would 
have never put any of Girltalk in harm's way," he 
finished. 

"Paul, you never really know how far someone is 
willing to take things, until they do. As far as 
Girltalk being here, you couldn't have kept any of 
us away. I just wish that...." Silk's voiced trailed 
off. 

Paul felt her sadness down to the very depths of his 
soul. It seemed ever since they found the book that 
his powers had been increased by a lot. "What I 
wouldn't give to just get away from it all," Paul 
said. 

Silk backed up a little and looked into his face. 
"Well, there is so much that we have to face, but we 
can get away from it for a little while, if ya'd 
like," Silk suggested. She sent out a mental message 
and suddenly Paul felt a rush of cool wind across 
his face. Rising up from below was Amadeus, the 
Pegasus that was away near Silk. "He will take us 
flying for a little while, if ya'd like, Paul." Silk 
said a silent prayer that he would accept her offer. 

"What about them?" Paul motioned towards the still 
sleeping Gene and Gena. 

"They'll be all right. Sappho is here and she will 
guard them. Won't ya' girl?" Silk was rewarded by a 
very wet and warm swipe of the tongue across her 
hand. 

"Then I say we take off." Paul leaned down to rub 
Sappho behind one large and very warm ear. They 
watched as she padded silently close to where the 
other couple slept and circled a few times and then 
lay down.

Amadeus silently landed on the balcony and kneeled 
so that his riders could mount him more easily. Paul 
climbed on first and then he reached out and helped 
Silk mount sidesaddle in front of him. He 
instinctively wrapped his arms around Silk's slender 
waist. Silk smiled to herself and reluctantly took 
one of his hands from her waist and placed it on the 
top neckline of the Pegasus. "Here wrap your hand in 
his mane and hold on," Silk instructed. She placed 
one hand in Amadeus mane and the other she held onto 
Paul's arm. Amadeus gracefully lifted off the 
balcony and started slowly rising on the winds. He 
carefully climbed till he was sure that no one on 
the ground could see them and then he started loping 
across the night sky.

Paul felt the wind in his hair and for a little 
while felt as if he had left everything behind. Silk 
always loved riding the winged horse. She felt as if 
she was truly free up here. They were lost in the 
night, lost in the feel of just being. There was 
nothing but them and the night. Silk leaned back 
against Paul and she felt him rest his chin on top 
of her head. They were so caught up in the ride that 
neither one of them picked up on the approaching 
danger. 

It was too late by the time they sensed anything, it 
was all ready upon them. Amadeus came to a 
staggering halt and reared in mid air. Silk 
frantically sent mental messages trying to calm the 
now very nervous beast. "What is it boy?" Silk asked 
out loud. 

"I feel a presence that I have not felt for many 
centuries. One that in her time, she was ruler over 
all she sought after," Amadeus answered out loud for 
Paul's benefit. The Pegasus stamped his feet. 

"Take us back to the balcony now!" Paul demanded. 

"I can't! If I flee 'She' will follow and 'She' will 
over take us!" The fear was evident in the winged 
horse's voice. 

Suddenly in front of the trio appeared a beast. One 
like Paul and Silk had never seen or even imagined. 
Silk reached out with her mind and tried to talk to 
it. She hit a solid brick wall. She tried again and 
was only rewarded with a thousand blinding lights 
shattering in her mind. She slumped against Paul. He 
quickly checked her and found her to be unconscious 
but otherwise safe he hoped. 

"I seek the beast masters. There are two in this 
realm and I will have them both," the beast roared 
in the night. 

"Two?"  'Oh no.' Paul thought, 'Peter.' "What do you 
want with them? They have done you no harm," Paul 
demanded. 

"That is of no concern to you. I have been sent to 
find them and return with them or things dearest to 
me will cease to exist." 

Paul noted a hint of sadness in the great beast 
voice. "If someone is making you do this against 
your will, then let us help. We will do all we can, 
I promise," Paul treaded carefully. 

"Promise?" The Beast spat out as if it was the 
vilest word one could utter. "That is only a word to 
humans! They hold no truth in it! They are not bound 
by the word!" The Beast's red eyes were glaring with 
anger. 

"You don't know us, we're not like other humans, 
we..." Paul was interrupted by the beast. 

"I will hear no more of this! You will give me the 
woman and then take me to where the other beast 
master dwells and I will have him also!" 

The Beast was not going to be reasoned with. Paul 
knew this. He reached out carefully and connected 
with Amadeus on a level her hoped that only the 
Pegasus would hear.  With his increased abilities, 
he used his empathy, hoping the Pegasus would know 
he was trying for silent communication between them.  
He felt Amadeus open a link between them.  

::When I give the signal, you dive and take us 
straight back to the balcony:: Paul instructed 

::What is the signal and what are you going to 
give?:: Amadeus thought for a second and he realized 
what Paul was going to attempt. ::You see where it 
got my master. There is no use in it:: 

::But I am stronger than Silk, I hope. Try not to 
listen and be ready:: Paul was trying to reassure 
the winged horse as much as he was trying to 
reassure himself. 

Paul watched as Amadeus folded his ears as flat as 
he could against his head. The Beast was stamping in 
mid air, shaking her head, it almost looked as if 
she was trying to concentrate on something. Paul 
carefully reached out with his mind to the beast. He 
immediately came across a solid barrier. He tried 
going through it and couldn't. He had to shatter it. 
He reached down and petted the Pegasus on the neck 
trying to relay to him to get ready. Paul then 
concentrated and put all his thoughts into musical 
scale. So piercing, that human ears could not hear 
it. The Great beast suddenly reeled and reached for 
her ears. Amadeus quickly dove for the clouds and 
headed as fast as he could back to the balcony.

** ** ** ** **

Gene awoke to a very nervous Sappho flaming white 
hot and pacing around the room, out onto the balcony 
and back through the room. Gena woke when Sappho's 
whimpers increased. "What's wrong with her?" Gena 
asked. 

"I don't know, but Paul and Silk are gone, so I take 
it that it has to do with them and I take it from 
the way Sappho is going out to the balcony that they 
left on Amadeus," Gene deduced going towards the 
open door to the balcony. Suddenly he saw Amadeus 
heading straight to the balcony and he was coming in 
fast. Gene quickly backed out of the way and the 
winged horse came to a skidding halt still almost 
running over Gene. Gene stepped aside and gave the 
animal room to move beside him. Amadeus ducked his 
head and walked into the room. 

"Shut the door and make sure the curtains are 
closed!" Paul instructed as he slid down from the 
Pegasus with a limp Silk in his arms, Sappho 
following close to Paul's heel and whining. 

"Oh my heavens! Paul, what happened?" Gena asked 
frantically as Paul laid Silk on the bed. 

Sappho circled around and climbed on the other side 
of the bed as close to Silk as she could get. Her 
flames burning, cold so she would not harm Silk. 

"We have trouble, BIG BIG trouble. Gena go get 
Cynthia. I think Silk is just out, but I want to 
make sure." Gena immediately ran out of the room to 
get Cynthia and the others. If anything had followed 
her friends, like Paul was acting, then they would 
need them all.

"Paul, what happened? Why were you three coming in 
like bats out of hell?" Gene demanded. 

"Because we were unsure that we were not being 
chased." Amadeus offered. "As soon as Gena gets back 
and we make sure Silk is okay, then I'll tell you."  

Paul was sitting on the edge of the bed hoping that 
she was just unconscious. Raising his hand to his 
head, he knew from his experience of contacting the 
creature that it could result in a headache. About 
that time Gena came it with the others. Cynthia 
immediately came over to the bed and placed a hand 
on Silk's forehead. She concentrated for a few 
minutes and then Silk moaned slightly and began to 
open her eyes. "Paul?" she asked, still feeling a 
bit confused. 

"I'm here. Take it easy." Paul gently pushed her 
back down when she tried to sit up. 

"What was that thing?" Silk asked. 

"'She' is something that is very old." Amadeus 
started, who was now resting near the foot of the 
bed, his legs folded beneath him and his tired wings 
carefully folded under.

Everyone turned their attention to the speaking 
Pegasus. Silk sat up against much protest so she 
could be part of the conversation. Paul positioned 
her where she was leaning up against him. "Amadeus, 
I have never read or heard anything about a beast 
like that one," Silk started. "When my powers became 
evident to me, it was as if I was aware of all the 
animals everywhere." 

"You were, to the ones in your time and place and to 
ones that you have read or heard about. Creatures 
like us were not really real to you. We were only 
myths and legends. You were not even aware that we 
existed till you came across our time. You have yet 
to open up and gain control of your full powers. You 
and the other Beast Master have so much yet that has 
not been tapped into. This is what I feared 'She' is 
after." Amadeus looked towards Peter.  If he was 
right then everyone and everything that stood in 
'her' way would very possibly soon be very dead. 

"What is this 'She' and how do we stop her?" Peter 
asked. Wasn't it enough that they had Buttercup 
after them, now they had something that even made a 
mystical beast frightened?" 

"'She' will get what she has crossed time to get and 
there will be no stopping her," Amadeus finished. 

"You keep saying 'She'.  Just what in the hell is 
'She'?" Gene demanded. His patient was wearing thin. 
Hell, they couldn't fight anything that they had no 
way of knowing how to stop it. Man and beast stared 
at each other. Both could be quite stubborn when 
they saw fit to be. 

Silk knew Gene was getting impatient and knew also 
that Amadeus was picking up on it. Men, no matter 
what species they are, one is going to always try 
and out do the other. 

She shook her head and climbed off the bed and went 
to sit down beside the winged horse. Sappho close 
beside her. Silk leaned up against the bed and the 
animal laid his head against her shoulder. "Amadeus, 
please tell us what you know about this thing." Silk 
pleaded, trying to soothe the tired animal. 

"If you will be patient, then I will tell you the 
story." Amadeus looked around to see everyone 
nodding except Gene. He stared at Gene. 

"Oh for pity sakes! I am patient, as patient as I am 
going to get, now get on with it!" 

Silk buried her face in the Pegasus' mane to stifle 
the laugh. "Amadeus, please tell us," she pleaded 
again as she stroked his mane.

Amadeus started his story. "She comes from a time 
long ago. Back when Knights and Dragons ruled the 
world. Back when chivalry was everything and love 
was forever. Back when to break a promise was not 
merely words spoken in haste and then soon 
forgotten, but words that meant to the death to do 
what so ever you had to keep that promise." 

"I know 'She' got very upset when I promised to help 
her," Paul interjected. 

"Yes. You will not win her over with promises, she 
does not believe in them anymore." 

"How sad to not be able to believe in promises," 
Cynthia remarked. 

"Her story is not a pleasant one and it is very sad. 
She once was a beautiful woman, leaving in a small 
village near Camelot." 

"Camelot, that's where Arthur and Genevieve were. 
How romantic," Peter's girlfriend commented out 
loud. 

"This was in a time before that, but it was romantic 
at first. Her name was Laviera. She was well loved 
in the tiny village by all. She helped anyone that 
needed her no matter who they were. Young, old, rich 
poor, man or beast, it didn't matter to her. They 
were all creatures from the heavens and all were to 
be respected as such. When she gave a promise of 
something that she was to do, you could count on it 
that it would be done. 

"One day she was out near the lake gathering roots 
for supper and came across a man lying face down in 
the edge of the waters. With great effort she 
finally managed to drag him far enough up on the 
banks that he was not in any immediate danger. She 
ran back to the village to get help for the man. 
When she got back, he was gone. She thought that he 
must have awoken and managed to go back on his way. 
She and the other villagers searched along the banks 
to make sure that he didn't just wander off and 
collapse somewhere, but they found no one. Laviera 
returned to the village with the rest of her town 
folks. She thought about him often over the next few 
days. His dark hair and the serene look on his 
face." Amadeus looked towards Paul and back at Silk. 

"It sounds as if she had already fallen in love with 
him," Gena said. 

"She had, but she could tell that the way he was 
dressed that he was of noble birth and she knew that 
their love could never be. A month passed and 
Laviera was out by the lake again when she heard 
someone come up from behind her," Amadeus continued 
his story. "She stared into the darkest eyes she had 
ever seen. That day she lost her heart forever. 'I 
have come to thank you for saving my life' the dark 
eyed stranger told her. I would like to repay your 
kindness' 'It is nothing that I would have done for 
anyone. You are no different from anyone else.' 
Laviera insisted. 'But I am the son of.....' Laviera 
interrupted him before he could finish. 'Do not tell 
me things that are of no importance, for as I said 
we are all the same under the heavens.' She told 
him. It was then that the young man lost his heart. 
He vowed he would make her his bride and nothing 
would keep them apart not even the fact that she was 
not of noble birth. Her heart was noble and that 
what counted to him. It was on that day that he made 
the first promise." 

Paul noted the sadness in the Pegasus' words. He was 
beginning to get the picture why the great beast 
would hear nothing to do with promises.

"Their courtship began. In secret of course, but one 
thing that Laviera didn't count one was winning the 
Queen's heart. The Queen could tell that her son was 
happier and she knew that he had a love. She 
confronted him and he told her everything. She 
agreed to help carry on this courtship that made her 
son so happy till it was right and then they would 
tell his father. This went on for many months. The 
queen sent her ladies-in-waiting to help carry out 
her son's wishes. Laviera fast became friends with 
all of them. But, one day the Prince did not keep 
his promise that he would meet her by the lake. 
Instead one of the ladies, Madeline was waiting for 
her. Madeline gave her the message she was suppose 
to deliver and turned to go. She hated lying to her 
friend, but it would be her death if she did not 
carry out the King's orders." 

"Oh, so he had found out about the affair?" Eric 
asked. 

"There was no affair as you would call it, it was a 
courtship. Things were much different back then than 
they are today." Amadeus snorted. 

"Please finish the story," Cynthia asked. This was 
something straight out of a romance novel and she 
wanted to know what had happened. 

The Pegasus started his story again. "Yes the King 
did find out. You have to understand that long ago, 
Kingdom's were lost and won over many matters, and 
that a marriage between warring Kingdom's could give 
peace to all concerned, but not necessarily peace to 
those who were forced to wed. This was the account 
with the young Prince's Father and another near by 
kingdom. They had been at war for a long time and it 
was agreed upon that they would wed their children 
and bring peace to both the lands. The arrangements 
were made without the knowledge of their children. 
The King and his daughter would arrive within a few 
days and they would be wed immediately. The old King 
had told the son of the pre-arranged marriage and it 
was at this time that the young Prince informed his 
father of his courtship and love for the pheasant 
girl. The King having a soft place in his heart for 
his son felt his sadness but there was noting he 
could do. To back out of the agreement would mean 
certain war and it was something that he was not 
willing to risk. So he confined the Prince to the 
Castle and sent out one of his Queen's ladies-in-
waiting to deliver the message. Of course both young 
people were heart broken. 

"Laviera felt so betrayed because of the promises 
that the Prince had made and she was under the 
impression that the message came from the Prince 
himself. She had no idea that it really did come 
from the King. The young Prince's heart was breaking 
but he knew as a future King that he had to do what 
was right for his future Kingdom and for his people. 
Within days the other King arrived with his daughter 
and almost a full court to help with the 
preparations for the wedding. The young Prince was 
waiting to meet them as he was commanded to do by 
his father. The meeting was pleasant at best. The 
young Prince could tell by the way the young 
Princess gave orders to her servants that she was 
mean and did not care about anyone but herself. The 
young Princess on the other hand was completely 
taken with the young Prince. She also envied the 
very rich Kingdom and envisioned herself as ruling 
over it all. After the meeting the young Prince knew 
that he could not go through with the marriage even 
if it did mean his kingdom.  Love of his lady was 
more important. 

"So he arranged a secret meeting with Laviera and 
told her everything. They planned to run away 
together but fate was against them or rather should 
I say Tatriamba was. She was the Princess' closest 
friend, advisor and also a Sorceress. She foresaw 
the Prince's meeting and she and the Princess 
followed him. Tatriamba hid them with her magic so 
the Prince would not know that they were there. 

"The Princess was so enraged that she begged the 
socceress to put a spell on Laviera so that the 
Prince wouldn't want her anymore. So Tatriamba did. 
As Laviera and the Prince talked about running away 
an eerie mist started surrounding them. They 
couldn't see each other soon, but found each other's 
hand and held on. Laviera could feel herself 
changing to what she didn't know, but she was very 
afraid and pulled away from the Prince. He fought to 
find her but could not. Soon the mist cleared and 
the Prince saw this huge form lying on the grass. He 
drew his sword for he was sure now that it had come 
to harm him and Laviera. He drew close and started 
to plunge his sword deep into the broad back. 

"Just then the beast awoke and turned its head to 
face him. He dropped his sword in horror. There 
staring back at him were the eyes of Laviera.  He 
could she right to her soul and knew it was her. He 
knelt and gently caressed the now misshapen cheek 
that in the past had been so soft. 'What caused 
this?!' he demanded to the emptiness around him. 'I 
did!' The Prince turned to see Tatriamba and the 
Princess. 'You betrayed my Princess and for that the 
girl of your heart will pay.' 'Don't do this to her.  
Punish me if you must, but leave Laviera alone.'  
'If you promise to marry my Princess, then I will 
remove the spell and she will be free to go about 
her life, just not with you.' The Prince's heart was 
breaking.  He knew that he couldn't let Laviera stay 
this way for one minute longer than he had too. So 
he promised to marry the Princess on one condition, 
that after they were married, he would be allowed to 
see Laviera one last time to make sure that the 
spell had been lifted. It was agreed. Laviera knew 
of a cave from her childhood and told the Prince she 
would wait there. 

The others returned to the castle and in two days 
time they would be married. The Prince lied to his 
father and mother about what happened to Laviera and 
nothing more was said. But Madeline and two other of 
the ladies in waiting knew something was wrong and 
headed out to find Laviera. They came to the village 
and no one knew of where she had gone. They were 
about to leave when they came across the cave. 
Madeline, remembering what Laviera had once said 
about her childhood, hoped that maybe she was in 
there trying to sort things out. 

She called out for Laviera. 'Do not come any closer, 
Maddy, for I am not as I once was. The Princess' 
companion put a spell on me and I will not be 
released until the Prince marries the Princess.'  
Maddy obeyed her friend wishes and promised for the 
next few days till she was herself again that she, 
Katherine, and LaiDonna would take care of her and 
they did. 

"But they had not counted on the Princess' rage. She 
had found out that Laviera had friends helping her 
and she was determined for Tatriamba to never honor 
her word and that Laviera would stay a beast for all 
eternity and now the traitors would also join her. 
The wedding came and just moments after it ended, 
the Prince demanded to see Laviera as promised. 

He set out with the Princess and the Sorceress for 
the cave, and when he got there he found the ladies 
in waiting and learned that they had taken care of 
Laviera. He promised to show his gratitude and 
called out for Laviera. The evening light was 
beginning to fall and Laviera quietly came out of 
the cave.  It was then that he saw her inhuman form 
for the first time. He was consumed with rage. He 
vowed at that moment even though he may be wed to 
the Princess, till his death he would never ever 
love her, not even the slightest. He called out to 
Tatriamba to honor the promise. 

The strange mist returned and the Prince watched as 
the great beast once again became Laviera. Very 
tearful good byes were said and he held her once 
last time. He turned to the Princess and Tatriamba. 
'I will never return here again.' With that he 
returned to his kingdom, not watching or even caring 
if the Princess or Tatriamba was with him any 
longer. All was lost. 

As soon as the Prince was out of site. Laviera and 
the ladies in waiting began to change.  Suddenly 
there were 4 small squirrels crouched down that soon 
scampered into the forest. The Princess and 
Tatriabma went into the cave. There behind a 
mystical barrier stood the great beast with the 3 
ladies- in-waiting surrounding her. 'You will do as 
I say, or I will have the Prince murdered. Do you 
understand?' 'This is a promise that you can hold me 
to and I will not disappoint,' the great beast hung 
her head and agreed. 'Now let the others go,' 
Laviera pleaded. 'For their part in this they will 
be punished to stay forever as you are.' 'No,' 
Laviera roared as the cave was bathed in eerie 
lights and mist. It soon cleared and she found that 
she was no longer the only one. 'From this day 
forward, you will never be human again and if you or 
any of the others try to see the Prince or anyone of 
the Kingdom, I will have the Prince murdered as 
promised!' Laviera knew that she would do as she 
promised. 

She turned to the others now like herself and they 
all mentally connected. Suddenly there was a great 
rumbling and the cave began collapsing in on its 
self. Tatriamba quickly got her and her Princess to 
safety and they returned to the kingdom. The Prince 
kept his promise thinking that Laviera was all 
right. The ladies-in-waiting's disappearance had 
been blamed on wolves. The Sorceress carefully set 
the evidence around and everyone believed it. 

The Kingdom did go on as everything does. But the 
Prince was true to his word.  He never loved the 
Princess, and vowed to never give her children. But 
once again Tatriamba stepped in and children were 
conceived and bared. This started a long line of 
blood with pure hatred for anything good. The 
Princess knew although she was married to the Prince 
and it seemed everything was hers, that the one 
thing that she couldn't make him give was his love. 
Not matter what potions or spells Tatriamba 
concocted, it was merely a spell and not real. So 
the Princess passed down her hatred of anything that 
was good and pure. This was passed from one 
generation to the other right down to the present." 

"Amadeus, you not saying what I think you are saying 
are, you? Paul asked. 

Thinking now that he had figured out the end of this 
story. "Yes Starbearer. I am.  This Buttercup as you 
keep calling him is a direct descent of the evil 
started so many many years ago.  And if you have 
figured at that part, then you should also be aware 
that he is not alone in his quest."  

"Certainly you don't mean that nasty Princess," Gena 
spat.  She would love to give her a piece of her 
mind.  

"No.  That one, along with her enslaved Prince left 
this world many, many, many years ago.  But now a 
Sorceress can live forever!"