1. Devil's Bargain

Jude Heartfilia would have sold his soul for power. But that's not what the devil wanted.

December, 2016

Jude rested his head in his hands as he awaited his fate. He had felt it coming in the weeks before. A steady creeping that grew with every passing night. It was a passing shadow as he walked down the halls. A whisper in the quiet of his study. A flicker in the flame of his fireplace. He woke this morning with the eminent feeling that today would be his very last day.

Beaten and downtrodden, 19 year old Jude Heartfilia had a dream. He made a deal with the devil to make that dream a reality. He wanted power and success and was willing to give anything for it.

"Jude Heartfilia, if I give you power what will you give me in return?"

The answer was easy

"Anything."

The edge of the demon's mouth twitched upward, revealing the slightest bit of fang that sent a shiver down Judes' back.

"I sense a pure soul within you. I demand half of it, Jude Heartfilia. I'll be back for it when the time is right."

The success came like a landslide. Yet in time, Jude finally realized the error of his desire. Fortune and success were cold and trivial. It brought him no joy and took so much more than it gave. The power that he desired above all else was not a dream at all but rather a nightmare. It morphed him into emotionless and greedy man. And at last when he was finally at the top he realized he was there- alone.

Jude realized he had traded half of his soul for nothing. That cunning demon knew and took it regardless. Jude could see him when he closed his eyes as if he were nineteen again. Horns curved upwards towards the sky. Scales that graced his arms and neck. And those eyes, dark and piercing.

When he was 25 years old Jude found his true dream. Her name was Layla and she was light incarnate. He realized that within her unwavering smile lied his true happiness.

"Jude Heartfilia, if I give you love what will you give me in return?"

"Anything."

The demon grinned pleased. Flames flickered around him and licked the black tattoos that trailed up his arms.

"Then, Jude Heartfilia, I will take the remaining half of your pure soul. Cherish it now for I will return for it soon."

Life with Layla was bliss even when the illness came. She came and went like the changing of the seasons. One day she was beside him, and the next she was gone. Love, it seemed, couldn't be bought and couldn't be saved no matter how hard he tried to protect it. It traveled its own course and had its own fate that not even the most etherious demon could control.

Layla left a permanent imprint on his heart. One that ached so terribly, it turned him villainous. Lucy took the brunt of his anger. Beautiful, innocent, Lucy. Their only daughter. She had magic, just like her mother. Her strength would take her anywhere she wanted. The perfect product of love and power, Lucy's existence reminded him daily of the fatal bargain weighing on his shoulders.

He had sold his soul to the devil. There was a pure one within him, the demon explained so long ago. But when Jude looked at himself he wondered if any part of him were pure any more. He didn't believe he ever was.

Jude shuddered and realized the room had turned terribly, terribly cold. In that instant the fireplace beside him raged to life. The wind howled around him and the moon disappeared behind the clouds.

A shadow suddenly loomed over him and Jude turned to face the demon for the third-and final time.

"You've finally come for it, then?"

The demon nodded, his lips curling with satisfaction.

Jude had known this day would come. The demon had given him everything he had ever wanted. He had conquered the city and loved with all his heart. But it wasn't until he saw his own death before him did Jude finally realize what he had truly wanted all along.

His only daughter Lucy would never want for anything. All of his wealth and power ensured that. She would thrive with her unfailing light like her mother whom he loved till the day she died and even after. Lucy was his legacy and his truest dream. And tonight, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, he would leave her with everything he had bargained for because in the end it had belonged to her all along.

With a shaky sigh, Jude stood "I'm ready" He announced quietly with closed eyes.

The demon barked a laugh so ferocious it shook the ground beneath him.

"I've come for a soul, Jude Heartfilia. A soul you owe me. The purest and most powerful I've ever seen. One that was once a part of you and is now rightfully mine. But I do not see that soul in this room."

Judes' eyes widened. He opened his mouth to sputter questions but the look in the demons eyes answered them all before he could utter a single word.

"No" It started as a whisper of disbelief but when the demon disappeared in a whirl of flame, Jude dropped to his knees in anguish "NO!"

He rushed to his feet and clumsily raced through the mansion. He collided into doorframes and slipped on ornate rugs in his panicked haste.

By the time he had reached Lucy's room it was too late. The room smelt of fire. And she was gone.

He fell against the side of the bed in agony.

On his daughter's eighteenth birthday, the demon E.N.D. King of the Underworld had finally come to collect his debt.

One pure soul bred by love and power and sold before it was even born.

Lucy Heartfillia now belonged to the devil.

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