A/N: hey people!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Oh how the mighty have fallen.
Throughout the years the name of Arthur Kirkland had struck fear into the hearts of both demons and angels alike. Tales told of his crimes and deeds. How his home was lined with the wings that he had ripped off of the angels bodies and the tails he had ripped from the demons.
How he, and he alone, had caused the black plague that had consumed so many human lives so long ago. How his silk tongue had been the one whispering into the ears of the leaders that had caused the most bloodshed to their countries.
He had been feared. He had countless ready to serve him. Begging him to teach them his ways.
He still remembered the Greatest War. The only full out war between the angels of heaven and the demons of hell.
It had lasted decades, with the demons winning of course. Those white clad things had no idea how to fight, only to defend. And once a demon had been able to destroy their shields and defense it had been severely easy to attack and kill the angel.
With the angels backed into their own holy place in the sky and clouds the demons had been free to attack and prey on the humans to their content. From actively harming the humans with their own hands to simply whispering into the ears of men that would be able to cause nations to fall.
It had been a glorious time. The bridge between the human world and the demon world had been almost completely destroyed, allowing them to easily go through both realms. The so called angels did nothing to stop them, they were still attempting to recover from their many losses.
If anything the angels had turned their backs on humanity, leaving the demons to play with them until they tired.
Boredom set quickly however. Arthur Kirkland's name was known throughout the land. He had conquered many nations; in their view of course it meant that he simply controlled the entire population that had resided in those areas. However to do so he had had to kill many demons that had claimed those areas.
Demons killing angels was nothing, you were not considered a real demon if you hadn't killed at least one angel. Demons killing other demons however was not something any of them had anticipated. However there was no rule against it either.
Demons hurting demons was nothing, it happened every moment in their homeland. However there was only one way for the demon to be killed by the hand of another demon. The demon attacking must bring them down and consume their heart in order to destroy the victim as well as obtain their power and strength as well.
However one day the angels had struck back once more. Stronger than before. As the demons made their time with consuming as much as the human life and lands as they had been able to the angels had used those times in order to strengthen their forces and focus more on offense and attacks rather than shields and defense.
It had taken more years however soon enough the angels had been able to slowly cleanse the human world of the demons and push the demons back into their own lands. Finishing with replacing the bridge with a stronger one that kept them from the human world.
Now with nothing better to do they had attacked one another. Unless they had been able to perform the shield spells they had to be on the constant guard from their own, most of them had been killed in sleep when they had left their guard down.
Arthur Kirkland had never worried about being killed. He had long ago learned the spells that most demons had sneered at learning. He knew how to attack and defend.
And when the scrolls that had the information on creating and keeping the shields that protected them to allow them rest were destroyed they had flocked to Arthurs side begging to be taught.
He had only sneered and scoffed at them before sending them away, most likely to their deaths.
And now he walked through his home; grand, big, demanding respect, empty, lonely, echoing, staring at his babbles and war trophies; the wings, the tails, the occasional skull or hand, he would sigh and leave the safety of his home to walk along the lands hoping for some foolish little demon to attempt to kill him if only for a distraction from the boredom.
He had lived a full life to demon standards. Most of them when they had no longer had anything to do in their lives killed themselves in a fight or battle in order to start their lives over again with a fresh and blank slate to fill.
If only for the fact that he would lose all his memories and babbles Arthur had chosen not to walk down that path.
It was boredom and nothing more that drove him to visit his old; friend? Neighbor? Once ally? He didn't know where he stood and he didn't care.
Yao raised an eyebrow at Arthur from across the table.
"Never thought that you would be one to be restless." Yao said, sarcasm lacing his voice. "Living such a great life and then suddenly to be pressed back here."
Arthur snorted as he took the cup of tea that Yao had given to him and poured it into the plant leaning against the wall. The poor plant shuddered before the green leaves darkened to brown and it collapsed.
Yao wrinkled his nose. "I liked that plant; couldn't you have picked some other one?"
"You try to poison me, that doesn't leave any room for you to complain." Arthur said placing the cup back on the table. "Now I would like some tea that isn't tainted, it almost pains me to say this but you actually know how to brew a somewhat decent cup."
"I will take that as a compliment." Yao said dryly as he picked up the teapot from its hidden place under the table and poured some of its contents into Arthurs cup. He then picked up his thin pipe and held it delicately on his fingers.
"You had better not start smoking." Arthur warned. "I hate the way the smoke fills my lungs."
Yao raised a single elegantly eyebrow. "And this is coming from the demon that had introduced me to this drug? Hypocrite."
"I had hoped the drug would melt what little sense you had." Arthur said taking a small sip from his cup. When he was satisfied that there was no poison in this one he took a bigger sip. "I had wanted to take the land you had controlled. Plan backfired on me, unfortunately."
Yaos lips curled into a smirk for a moment before he composed himself. "Now I know you didn't come here in order to talk about our past misdeeds, why are you here?"
Arthur shrugged. "I literally had nothing better to do; you are my last source for entertainment."
Yao didn't choose to comment as he placed the pipe in his mouth and inhaled. He blew the smoke into the air and tapped the pipe in the ashtray.
"Restlessness and boredom." Yao murmured. "I am sure if I didn't have my own little kin to look after I would have succumbed to it as well."
"You have children?" Arthur asked.
"Yes, quite a few actually." Yao said. "I am not going to show them to you however. I would rather they not witness a being such as yourself."
"You mean strong and handsome?" Arthur asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Boorish. Disgusting. And of course pitiful." Yao said. "They are still young, no need to let them see just distraught things just yet."
Arthur barred his teeth. "I could kill you for those remarks."
The corners of Yaos lips curled upwards once more. "As if you could, admit it young Kirkland. Out of all your conquests, I was the only one who refused to bow down and the only one who you were not able to end no matter how hard you tried."
Choosing not to answer Arthur instead sipped from his cup and narrowed his eyes.
"Case proven." Yao said. "If you are feeling so restless then why not have children? Unlike the humans we do not need a partner, just the desire."
Arthur scrunched his nose. "Children…are not one of my top priorities."
Yao shrugged. "I find that before I end my life, or someday it might be ended for me, I wish to explore all the aspects of this life that I can. Children, I find, is my most favorite one of all of them."
"Hearing you speak of them like that makes me think that you have them for…not so honest reasons." Arthur said.
It was Yaos turn for his eyes to narrow. "I would never do that to a child; demon, human, or even angel."
Yao placed his hands on the table. "If you are so bored, may I offer a small bit of advice?"
"Go ahead."
"You are aware of the demon Romulus, correct?" Yao asked.
Arthur snorted. "I think all of us know of Romulus."
"Then you are aware of his conquests." Yao said. "How he had conquered and ruled. And then he had done the ultimate demonic act."
"He had stolen an angel infant and corrupted it until it had shed its white wings and gained the black wings and tail of a demon." Arthur finished. "However the 'shedding its wings' is a bit of a lie. The wings had to be cut off in order for the procedure to begin. Cutting off the wings symbolize severing the ties the angel has to heaven."
"Do you know what happened to the angel he had corrupted?" Yao asked.
Arthur shook his head, fighting the blush of ignorance that was threatening to erupt on his face. Yao had centuries on him, there was no shame in not knowing something that the elder did.
"Of course none had wanted to have anything to do with the corrupted angel. Although he had gained his black wings and tail there were many that still didn't consider him one of us. The demons wanted nothing to do with him and neither did the angels." Yao said. He turned his cup so the handle faced the wall. "When he had, for his own unknown reasons, decided to have children he did something that none of us in the lands had expected. Alvar, that was the name Romulus had given to him, had given children; for he had done this twice, to the angels so that they can be raised as angels in the clouds and the sky. Far from the turmoil's of what happens here."
Yao looked thoughtful as he sipped from his cup. "I met him once, Alvar, and in truth his position saddened me. He was young however he already refused to show emotion, preferring to hide himself within. After he had given his children to the angels; he did name them however, Gilbert and Ludwig respectively, he refused to return to these lands and choose to live on the human land instead. In fact I think he still lives somewhere on the humans land."
"Romulus, on the other hand, had been hailed as a hero and wonder. No one in the history of ours had ever been able to turn a born angel into one of our own." Yao continued. "Countless have tried of course, however when Alvar the infant had been taken from heaven the angels have increased their protection on the children, keeping it one of their highest secrets where they kept the children."
"Where is this heading?" Arthur asked.
Yao allowed a full smirk to appear on his face. "If you are so bored why not attempt to enter heaven and take one of their infants? Should you succeed in corrupting an angel you would be only the second demon in our history to have done so."
Arthur felt the start of a smirk start on his face.
"Demons generations from now would sing songs about you." Yao said indifferently. "You would be reigned as a hero just as Romulus was. What do you say?"
Arthurs smirk widened. "I think." he said silkily. "That you have just given me, the best idea that has ever come out of your mouth. I'll even thank you."
"You're welcome." Yao said. He watched as Arthur drained his cup and nearly sprint from his house.
Yao shook his head in amusement. "I'll be drinking to his corpse, the angels will kill a demon the moment they enter heaven."
A cry from the other room made his put down his cup and immediately went to calm his now crying children.
It had been surprisingly easy to enter heaven for Arthur. Unknown to the angels the shield that they had made to keep the demons in their own lands had a hole in it that allowed them to leave. The same went to heaven. There was always a hole somewhere that could be found that would allow anyone to enter the lands.
It took Arthur around two weeks of nonstop searching and looking until he found the hole.
The only downside to entering the lands of heaven was that in order to not be detected by the angels he needed to hide everything about him that told he was a demon. His aura, his scent, his power. If he was caught he would be caught helpless and he would need to buy time in order to get back his power and escape with his life.
He waited until nightfall when the angels would be asleep and he could easily maneuver around the clouds.
Walking through the clouds he had to scrunch his nose in disgust. Such…cleanliness. Such manners and being nice. Merely being here caused his stomach to turn over and make him gag.
He had to laugh however. Even though the angels had been going crazy in keeping demons away from the infants they couldn't have made it easier to find the place where all the infants were kept. They might have well put a giant neon colored sign that said 'We Keep Our Children Here'.
When he had entered the room he was assaulted by the scent of powder, freshness, daisies, and the pure and innocent scent of babies.
He just wanted to get out of here, before anyone noticed that he was there. He picked up the first child that he saw until he noticed that the child he now held had been in the same bedding as another. A quick look confirmed that they were twins.
He chewed on his lower lip for a moment. Making up his mind he shifted the first child to his right arm and picked up the other child with his left. Two children was a bigger prize than just one of course.
Shifting them so that he could comfortably carry the both of them he quickly left the building and ran towards the hole. Even though the clouds were empty and all the angels were asleep he needed to get out of there, if only to destroy his massive headache that he got ever since he had stepped foot in the clouds.
Suddenly he heard a loud screech behind him.
"WHAT THE FUCKING HELL DO YOU FUCKING THINK THAT YOU ARE FUCKING DOING WITH MY FUCKING CHILDREN!" a voice, who did an impressive combination of a screech and a roar, came behind him.
Choosing not to look behind, lights were starting to flash around showing that the angels were now waking up, Arthur ran to the hole as fast as he was able to as he called to his power which he had sealed away.
Claw-like hands attacked his back which he had positioned over the children. He allowed himself a single glance at the one who was attacking him. All he managed to see was furious and rage filled blue eyes and shoulder length blonde hair that was flying everywhere. The angels wings were flapping hard and fast in order to keep up with the demon and his hands were glowing in a light blue color. The color of the angels preparing his magic to attack.
Finally his own magic came back to him and with a blast of green light the angel, all of them that were eagerly closing in on him, were blasted away. When he saw the hole he threw himself headfirst into it.
Unfolding his wings as he dropped he flew himself through the air until he reached his so called 'home', a small cottage in the deep forest trees where no human would go and magical creatures wouldn't be allowed entry because of his own protective spells.
Breathing hard, and his back hurting from the scratches, Arthur entered his cottage. Walking to the bedroom he placed the two stolen angels on the bed to look them over.
Surprisingly the both of them hadn't roused from their sleep even with the entire commotion. Both looked alike however they weren't twins. One had a single hair strand pointing upwards while the other had a hair strand that was curled and going downwards. Although they both had blonde hair the one with the curl in his hair had a slightly lighter color.
Arthur shook his head as he ran his fingers through his hair. First thing first. He needed to get rid of their wings. The first sever to their ties to heaven. A quick run to the kitchen allowed him to find one of the knives he had placed there and he quickly walked back to the bedroom as he glanced the knife over to secure its sharpness.
Movement caught his eye. The one with the darker hair was moving on the bed whimpering softly. Slowly and gaining volume with each passing moment the boy started to cry.
Arthur failed around looked to the sides and allowed the knife to drop to the ground. He hadn't even touched the child and it was already crying! He poked the child a few times to get its attention. However that had the opposite effect and if anything he started to cry harder. The other child started to squirm in his sleep as well.
Arthur had no idea what to do. From the small reminders of his own youth he remembered that when he had been foolish enough to cry his mother had smacked him, which if anything made him want to cry harder, and told him that a demon didn't cry.
However the children weren't demons yet, that would take years to get rid of their angelic innocence.
The boy spotted him and lifted its arms towards him, crying out softly and a pleading look appearing on his face.
Arthur scratched the back of his head. What did the child want?
The child let out another cry and held its arms out once more before his strength failed him and they fell back to the sides. His brother started to join in the crying as well.
"By the devil. What do they want?" Arthur whispered.
The child had extended his arms. Did he wish to be picked up?
Hesitantly Arthur picked the child up. Placing his hands under the infants arms and lifted him. The boy giggled which caused a strange heat to flow up his chest.
Arthur brought the boy back down slowly before he brought him back up. The boys giggle became a laugh.
A whining noise caught his attention once more. The other infant was holding his arms up as well with the same pleading look on his face as his brothers.
Arthur shifted the first one onto one hand as he picked the other up in the other. When he performed the same actions, bringing the children up and then down slowly, both of them giggled and laughed softly.
Arthur didn't realize it until then however he had his own smile appear on his face as well. He quickly wiped it away and placed the children back on the bed. He bent down to pick the knife back up and sat down on the bed and placed the first child on his lap.
First things first, cutting off the wings. Pure bone and skin and muscle, he had cut humans and animals, he was sure that this wouldn't be that different.
The boys wing was folded against his back in what Arthur believed was most comfortable for the child. He took a firm grip of the wing and forced it to unravel.
The boy cried out once more, obviously not liking how his wing had been forcefully unfolded, he squirmed on Arthurs lap.
Arthur pressed down on the boys shoulder to keep him on his lap and still, no need to make this more painful than it had to be.
When he tightened his grip on the wing the boy cried out again, louder this time. When droplets of water fell onto Arthurs knee he realized that the boy was crying.
His chest. His chest was clenching and hurting him. His hand started to shake.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" he hissed to himself. "You, one of the most feared demons in all the lands, to be stopped by a child's cry? A child that you are going to turn into a demon? Such a disgrace."
Resolve restored Arthur tightened his grip on both the knife and the wing, he pulled the wing outwards more in order to find where it connected with the back.
The boy cried louder. This time the cry penetrated Arthur to the point where he was shaking. The boy turned his head and looked up to the demon almost pleadingly. The boys lips were trembling and his eyes were filled with tears that were running down his face in rivers. A quick glance to the side showed that his brother was in the same condition, almost responding to his brothers pain.
Arthur felt himself gasp as his shaking hand dropped the knife to the ground and allowed the wing to slide through his fingers and the boy curled it back into its position. Before he could even think about it his foot shot out and kicked the knife away from reaching distance. Scooping the other child onto his lap he hugged the both of them close.
"How the hell did you do it Romulus?" Arthur whispered. "Did that boy Alvar cry as well? How did you harder your heart against his cries and pleas?"
Content with the knowledge that Arthur wouldn't hurt them, at least for tonight, the boys curled up to his chest and nuzzled closer to him. Soon enough they had fallen back asleep.
Moving as much and as fast as he was able to without disturbing the children Arthur backed up until he hit the pillows. He laid himself on the bed comfortably and shifted the children to the side, with his arms still around them however.
He stared at their innocent and peace filled faces, content and happy to be safe and with one another. They slept, undisturbed.
Arthur simply stared at them, their innocence, their purity, for a long time before he followed them in the land of Morpheus.
Oh how the mighty have fallen indeed.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.
Questions? Comments? Leave them in a review.
Until next time.
This is Phoenix-Fire Power over and out.