"Lord Noctis! You must not go ahead with the wedding!" A monk bowed to the young king and gasped to catch his breath. Sweat trickled down the edges of his forehead. Noctis just let out a raucous laugh.
"Oh, why so serious all of a sudden Albert?"
"My Lord, I sense danger coming from that princess. Stella is not normal! Do you not see it in her eyes! I believe she may be possessed!"
"Albert, the wedding is tomorrow and all the preparations have been made, I do not want to hear such insolence against my future queen." The remark came out as a threatening hiss. Albert, however, was adamant.
"But my Lord! She is possessed by the devil 'Nakaara'!"
"ALBERT! Enough of this futile nonsense!"
"I attempted to exorcise her last night my Lord and look what she did!" Albert pulled up his sleeve and there on his skin were deep bite marks. "You see! Upon hearing Goddess Etro's name, she assaulted me and my holy water caused her to sneer and my Lord-her voice! It was that of a man! This is the working of the devil Nakaara without a doubt!" Albert was struck to the ground. Even before he could stand up he was struck again-and again-he was struck incessantly until blood poured out of his cracked nose. Noctis' lips curled into a malignant grin.
"What else did you attempt to do with Stella last night? You have much to explain you sick old man! Do you really think I believe your lies and this outrageous rubbish about some devil called 'Nakaara'!"
"But my Lord!" he vomited blood which caused Noctis' features to contort in rage. "Why do you think Stella was unable to see you for the past few months!"
"That is because she was arranging everything for the wedding and nothing else. Neither a fierce squall nor a lonely cloud can hinder our love."
The temple was crowded with excited faces, people struggling with cameras and flower petals scattering across the floor. Noctis watched as Stella approached the alter; her-presumably beautiful- features were hidden behind a thick veil, her movements were elegant and her figure was-as Noctis thought-hypnotising. She was Perfection! How in Etro's name could she possibly be possessed by some sort of devil? Noctis grinned at the humorous thought.
Albert gulped and continued with the vows.
"Lord Noctis Lucis Caelum, do you take princess Stella Nox Fleuret as your wife, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?
"I do."
"Princess Stella Nox Fleuret, do you take Lord Noctis Lucis Caelum as your husband, for better, for worse, for rich-"
"I do! I do! I DO!" Stella interrupted and for some strange reason, the final 'I do' was rather deep, almost like a man. Noctis turned to Albert, wondering if it was a hallucination. Albert just stared forlornly back at the king, with pity gleaming in his beady eyes.
"Hurry up and kiss me Noctis, KISS ME!" Stella pulled away the veil from her face. Her eyes immediately petrified Noctis. Her blue pupils were embedded in a thick yellow fluid. It was revolting!
"And you may kiss the-" Stella grabbed Noctis' collars violently and kissed him. At first, the guests appeared confused but without further adieu, began to clap and feign happiness after the scene of horror.
"What did you think of that?" Albert whispered to Noctis as Stella left for the cake.
"She's...very excited." He answered bitterly but deep down, he knew that was unconventional, that was...demonic.
"There's a storm coming Your Highness."
Noctis glanced out the window; dark clouds were approaching.
"Yes, you are right."
"I was being metaphorical, my Lord."
The palace was empty, everyone had left. Noctis approached his bedroom but halted outside the door. He took a deep breath. Inside, Stella was waiting for him. She was human and nothing else. He attempted to push aside any thoughts about 'Nakaara' but a heavy burden gripped his heart. He could sense a foreboding, something ominous. Slowly and cautiously, Noctis opened the door. Stella was sitting on the bed with her back turned to him.
"Greetings, Lord Noctis." Her voice was sweet and melodic. It eased Noctis' worries.
"Why do you look so scared, my Lord?" she continued enigmatically.
Why do I look so scared, you ask? But you have not even glanced at my face!
"You are thinking far too deeply. Come, sit beside me."
Suddenly, Stella revolved her head around, one hundred and eighty degrees clockwise! Her face was covered with fresh cuts and as she threw off her hat; her hair was revealed to be in a mess with bald patches around her head-as if she ripped out the hair in those areas with her bare hands!
"!" they both screamed simultaneously.
Noctis watched in trepidation as Stella contorted her body with unbelievable flexibility. She twisted her body, curled her arms and legs-screaming in the process.
"I AM NAKAARA!" Stella bellowed deeply. "And tonight, I will KILL NOCTIS LUCIS-"
Noctis rushed out of the room and sprinted down the corridor. He could hear the echo of 'CAELUM!' as he reached the stairs. Unfortunately he was not fast enough. Stella had already reached. She was crawling down the stairs hastily with her head squashed against the back of her neck and her arms and legs were stretched infront of her body. Blood gurgled out of her mouth.
"NOCTIS! I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS CHANCE TO EAT YOU ALIVE! AHAHAHAHA! AND NOW I-NAKAARA-WILL TAKE OVER YOUR COUNTRY!" The possessed Stella leaped onto Noctis. She slapped him without pausing to draw a breath, wrenched the back of his head, pulled his hair and spat on his face-still roaring.
"In the name of Goddess Etro-" Stella squealed at the sound of the name and backed away from Noctis. Her eyes were moving around in circles.
"In the name of Goddess ETRO!" Noctis choked out the words; "Set Stella free of this demon!" He picked up a miniature statue of the Goddess and smashed it against Stella's forehead-without thinking twice. Stella screamed louder and fell to the floor in a heap. She squirmed and squiggled and was sprawled on the floor like a broken animal.
"GET OUT OF HERE DEVIL!" Noctis kicked and slapped her. "GET OUT!" he continued until cloudy tears brimmed his vision.
"Noctis...S-s-stop!" Stella pleaded, she was speaking in her mellifluous voice again. Noctis pulled Stella to her feet and grabbed a bowl a holy water before splashing it over her face. He stared into her eyes. They appeared normal; blue and star-like.
"Noctis...I confess." Stella wiped the holy water with her wedding dress and watched Noctis solemnly.
"What are you talking about Stella?" Noctis pulled her into an embrace but Stella immediately slipped away.
"I allowed Nakaara to take over my body."
"WHAT! Are you still possessed! GET OUT OF HERE D-"
"Shut up Noctis! I am not possessed! Do you not understand? I despise you! My heart belongs to Albert!"
Noctis gasped and felt a large rock crash against his chest. He was too shocked to find any words, let alone a comprehensible sentence! "Wh-wh-wh-gaaa...?"
"I wanted to prove to you that opposites do not attract, Noctis. I hated the whole idea of it! The fact that I have blonde hair and you have black hair and-"
"But Stella my hair is blue!"
Stella slapped him harshly.
"And the fact that you are quiet and shy and I am not afraid to voice my opinion. The fact that you wear dark clothes and I wear bright clothes. The fact that you are the night and I am the day-"
"No Stella! You are the stars...in my night sky!"
Stella slapped him again.
"You baboon! When will you ever understand! I allowed Albert to perform a ritual so that I would be possessed by Nakaara. He warned you last night so that you could stay away from me and we would have ended up together. But you, Noctis, you decided to do this the hard way."
"But why Albert all along, Stella?"
"I just told you! And Albert comforted me when I was diagnosed with Trichotillomania and Schizophrenia! I'm sorry Noctis, but this is goodbye..."
"NO! You are my wife! I am you! We are ONE! What can you do about it!"
"You completely ignored the fact that I have two serious mental disorders, my Lord."
Stella placed her hand over her mouth and began to laugh hysterically but at the same time, large droplets of tears rolled down her bloodshot eyes. Within seconds, Noctis heard a gunshot. He felt an excruciating pain sear across his spine and fell to the ground paralysed.
It was Albert. He walked towards Noctis casually and slowly pointed a gun at the young, helpless king.
"I have warned you, Your Highness."
He pulled the trigger.