Matrimony
A/N: Okay, all I can say is sorry for the wait! I love you readers and reviewers!
Chapter 6: The Third Race
A month flew by, and all was silent in the demon palace.
Sitting at the throne was the dark prince with his cold, calculating eyes darker than coal. Silently, Noctis jogged his memory by replaying all the events that had come to pass, from his exchange of vows to the adopting of Pluto.
Though he had been determined at first, he had never stuck with his plan of ridding himself of his wife. All of his prejudices had been thrown out of the window when he promised her he would take care of their family. He had decided to give her a chance.
And to put it quite simply, her entry into his life was the best thing ever.
His nightly habit of going out had stopped. He developed patience, which that in itself was a miracle.
His wife stated outright that it was her goal to tame him. As far as that issue was concerned, she was doing better than well.
"Fuck!"
"Noctis, language!"
"Sorry..."
He laughed out loud. She had done the impossible; he had apologized!
Of course, his influence was not lost on her.
"Light, you're going to hurt yourself."
"No I'm no—ah FUCK!" Lightning cursed before quickly clasping her hands over her mouth, mortified by her improper use of language.
"That's my girl," he laughed.
Now that he thought about it. Maybe just maybe his little wife could pierce his black heart and slay the devil within him.
"Yip!"
Noctis settled his head against the headrest of his dark throne and mouthed off a few curses. That damned mutt was crying again. Agreeing to let Light keep the little piece of shit was the worst decision he had ever made.
And he was paying for it.
"Yip!"
One more time, he chided. Do it, see what happens. Shifting around in his seat, he dared the pup to bark once more.
"Yip! Grr..."
That was it. He stood and walked away from his throne, with the intention of reuniting the pup with its mother.
Following the gradually increasing number of barks, he came to his room. The sound was coming from the other side of the door. Time to play puppy night-night forever, he thought amusingly as he opened the door.
Seeing what the stupid thing was whining about, he concluded that the mutt had to be the most idiotic creature in the world
Trapped between his bed and his wife's lovely bosom was the pup, who was trying desperately to free itself from its sleeping master's clutches. Didn't the stupid thing realize where it was at, and just who it was being smothered by?
He'd kill to trade places with the mutt. He'd kill to feel his wife's soft, creamy breasts on his face.
Good God, he was envying a puppy!
Noctis moved over to the side of his ridiculously large bed and examined his wife. Christ, she was a silver goddess sent to him by the heavens. He would never tire of her or her angelic looks. Even in her sleep with her ruffled appearance, she was inhumanely beautiful. He inhaled painfully as she sighed in her sleep. He wanted nothing more but to show her what real pleasure was, but damn he'd be lucky if he ever received her consent. His desire to mate her would be fulfilled in time.
He nudged her slowly. Lightning unconsciously shifted to the left, freeing little Pluto from his prison.
Grabbing Pluto by the nape of the neck, Noctis chucked the puppy off of the bed. Pluto landed on the hard floor and whined pitifully, hoping that his lady master would awake and punish her evil husband.
"Get out of here, you stupid mutt," Noctis growled and stomped on the ground when he got no reaction.
Pluto scampered out the door frightfully.
Closing the door behind Pluto, Noctis climbed under the covers and pulled Lightning to him. He placed his hands against her toned stomach and groaned. Her body molded perfectly into his, strengthening the notion that she was made for him.
Lightning stirred awake.
She turned to greet her husband. With a half grin, she nuzzled his muscular chest.
"Hi."
"Hi," Noctis replied softly, his lips forming some semblance of a smile. "You were supposed to be awake an hour ago."
"Mmm..." was her lazy response. "I want to sleep some more."
"You can't," he brushed her cheek with his. "We have to get ready for today. A whole bunch of people are going to be unhappy if they find out that the host of the party is going to be absent, especially when weeks of preparations were put into this day."
"Boo," Lightning mumbled and buried her head under a pillow. "Really. I'm fine, I don't need a gigantic party for my introduction into demon society."
"You do. A lot of ambassadors and diplomats from different demon races are coming to bestow their blessings upon you. The only way to keep them entertained is by sticking with this plan of throwing a party, so wake up."
"No."
"What was that?" Noctis asked in a sing-song, sweet voice.
Lightning shivered and sat straight up, rubbing the last remains of sleep from her eyes. Whenever her husband used that tone, bad things happened, especially to her. Her husband wasn't a notorious sex icon for no reason. She had found that out the hard way during the past few weeks. She didn't even want to think about the time he had tied her to the bed and... Oh God that had been a devastating experience.
"Good girl," he patted her head.
"Stop that. I hate it when you do that!" Lightning growled. "It's so condescending."
"I'll stop it once you deserve it and right now, I don't think you deserve it," Noctis ruffled her hair again. Only this time Lightning was ready for it. She grabbed her husband's arm and bit him on the shoulder, hard.
"Ow! What are you, some kind of vampire?"
Lightning nodded and licked the tips of her canines. "Blood, I want your blood."
"Well then my lady," Noctis answered. "I want something in return."
"And what would that be?'
Noctis pinned Lightning to the bed with his body. "Your body of course."
"W-what? What are you doing?" The shocked princess gasped when her husband subdued her by tying her wrists to the bedpost. Unable to move her arms, she tried to wriggle out of her husband's hands, but he had already caged her with his iron arms.
"Noctis!" Lightning squeaked. "N-no, we can't d-do this! We have to get ready for the party!"
"What party? Oh right, the one you didn't want to go to?"
"Noctis! Stop, oh..." moaned Lightning as her husband silenced her protests with kisses to her stomach. The electrifying feel of his tongue trailing over her skin was enough to have her panting for more.
He settled his face over her breasts and stopped to listen to her heartbeat.
Lightning used this opportunity to kiss her husband on the head. His spiky hair tickled her face, eventually forcing her to crinkle her nose. Seeing her husband with his eyes closed, she couldn't help but smile at the sight. Her husband, who was supposedly the most terrifying being on the planet, looked nothing of the sort.
To be honest, he looked like a fragile child right then.
Not wanting to snap her husband out of his peaceful trance, Lightning carefully soothed his hair, only to stop at the sight of a figure at the door.
"Noctis, there's someone at the door."
"Huh?" Noctis sat straight up and addressed the manservant. "What do you want?"
"Pardon my interruption young master, there are guests waiting for you in palace hall."
"Understood, you may leave."
The servant bowed and prepared to leave.
"Thank you for your hard work," Lightning called out.
A blush crept onto the servant's face. For an imp of his station, he wasn't worthy of the princess's praises. The fact that his lady had thanked him—he who belonged at the bottom of the Infernal hierarchy—was enough to fill him with thoughts of vanity, pride and joy.
"Keep your pants on, imp." The prince replied harshly, offended by the servant's quick perusal of his wife.
"F-forgive me, my lord. I did not mean to, it's just that I find my lady to be the most beautiful woman in the universe."
In seconds, Noctis shot to his feet and held the servant up in the air by the throat. "I thought I told you to fucking leave. I don't need you to tell me something I already know."
The servant choked and tried to pry the prince's hand off his throat, but the prince's Archdemon strength proved to be too much.
"Noctis, drop him now!" Lightning shouted. She rushed over to her husband's side and warned him again. "Noctis... I'm serious. Drop. Him. Now."
Noctis held the imp in the air for a few more seconds, just for kicks, until he released him. "You're lucky. Run along, before I change my mind."
Praising his lady for saving his life, the servant left without further ado.
"Noctis, you have to learn to control your temper, you can't just murder, or try to murder everyone that looks or talks to me funny!"
Lightning flinched as her husband roared his response. "Who the hell do you think you are? I'm the prince, for God's sake! I do whatever the fuck I want to do. I don't need some little angel to tell me what to do!"
The prince balled his fists. No one ordered him around, ever.
Hurt by his words, Lightning managed to reply with as much intensity as her husband had used. "Who do I think I am? Well for one, I am your wife! If you haven't already accepted that fact in that thick skull of yours. Second, I can show just what this 'little angel' can do whenever her husband decides to be unreasonable."
Lightning didn't even flinch as her husband's fist missed her cheek by inches and completely destroyed the wall behind her.
Shaking uncontrollably, Lightning started to cry. Just when she thought that their relationship was starting to flourish, it had gone back to step one. It was too much. Being married off, living in the demon world, being separated from the angels, everything was overwhelming.
"That's right, cry. It's the only thing you can fucking do," he spat angrily. His temper got the better of him.
"I hate you," she replied weakly, her heart in her throat. If only she could rewind time, she would go back to this morning when they were actually civil to each other. What happened? What had she done to elicit such anger from her husband?
"Yeah, yeah."
"G-get away from me."
"Love to," Noctis hissed. Without another word, he exited his room, slamming the door shut without remorse, unaware that he was abandoning his mate when she so desperately needed him the most.
Lightning slid to the floor, back against the wall, and sat for ages thinking about her marriage. Was a little happiness too much to ask for? Could she not, for a second, enjoy a moment with her husband without either of them sporadically erupting in anger?
God she hated crying. She wanted to be strong. She wanted to be the reputable angel princess, the pride of her people, but one look from her husband was enough to melt away her ice, cold facade.
She rubbed her dry cheeks and stared at the floor. Now that she thought about it, she had cried more throughout her marriage than she had ever in her life.
"E-excuse me..." came a timid voice from the doorway.
Lightning looked up and saw a servant girl, holding a black dress in her hands.
"Master Prompto requested that I deliver this to you, my lady."
"Please leave it on the bed," Lightning said gently.
"Of course, my lady. Also, Master Prompto asked me to relay this message to you. He said that the party starts exactly in an hour, and that he will never forgive you if you decide not to be in attendance."
Lightning smiled softly, picturing Prompto scolding her for not going to the party. Well, she supposed a party would remedy the bad mood she was in, and plus, it was also a perfect opportunity to relax for once.
"Thank you."
The servant girl smiled before exiting with a bow.
Taking the dress and putting it up against her chest for inspection, she found that the dress was exactly her size. Leave it to Prompto to know what her measurements were. That pervert, she thought with a smile.
Placing the dress off to the side, Lightning entered the shower and stood under the glorious hot water for a few minutes before drying herself off. Taming her wild hair with a blow-dryer, she checked her image in the mirror one last time before putting on the dress.
The clock read 12:10. The party had started ten minutes ago.
Lightning walked—or rather she limped—to the palace hall wearing a pair of godforsaken, uncomfortable as hell, high-heels.
Holding the door handles, she breathed deeply.
Show time.
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Noctis was in a bad mood. That was actually quite the understatement of the year. If looks could kill, everyone in the hall would have dropped dead.
The party did nothing, but irritate him even more. He cursed himself for losing control. Damn, but his infamous temper had lived up to its reputation. He had gone off and frightened his Light. Even now her calm, but terrified posture and expression haunted him.
To make things worse, he had seen her tears and laughed in spite of her.
"You look unhappy," a voice drew him from his thoughts.
"Why aren't you with your husband, Stella?" Noctis replied to the blond-haired demon female.
"We're not talking," Stella smiled, glancing over at her husband, who was standing in a corner with a drink in his hand and an unhappy grin on his face. Ignis shot her an angry look that probably meant she was going to get it. No matter, she brushed that thought away. "I haven't seen you in a while, how's life little cousin?"
"Just peachy," Noctis muttered his response.
"Really? I don't see why. Your wife is quite the angel, I've heard."
"Hence, the problem."
Stella darkened visibly. "You're not beating her, are you? Noctis! Look at me! You're not, are you?"
"No, I'm not," he replied. "Dude seriously, I'm not, stop giving me that look."
"Well we'll find out now won't we? Here she comes."
As if the whole room had become bewitched and entranced, all eyes turned to graceful angel, who seemed to be gliding down the staircase in her dark attire. Immediately, the room came to life. Every royal member of the Infernal hierarchy—the demon caste system—gathered around their princess to make her acquaintance.
"Tch..."
"Aww, are you jealous Noctis?"
"Not really, but are you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Look," Noctis inclined his head in the direction of his wife, and sure enough, Ignis was there. Noctis smirked when Stella's jaw dropped at the audacity of Ignis's kissing the angel princess's hand. He shook his head at his cousin's overreaction. Some things never changed.
"W-w-why!" Stella stammered. "That good for nothing! RRRGH!"
On the other side of the room, Lightning was overwhelmed by the amount of attention she was receiving. She was getting compliments from both male and female demons.
A tall, brown-haired man introduced himself to her as Ignis, one of her husband's closest advisers and friends. Lightning blushed hotly when he took her hand and brought it up to his lips.
As he continued to introduce himself, his hazel eyes seemed to glitter behind his sharp glasses. Out of all the demon males she had met, she would have to say Ignis was most graceful and intimidating. He was the sort of person that no one wanted to make an enemy out of.
"My lady," Ignis whispered softly.
At a loss for words, Lightning couldn't do anything, but nod her head. Damn, he was good looking. "How do you do?" She managed to squeak out.
"Will you honor me with a dance?"
Her heart plummeted in terror. "D-dance? I can't dance!"
"Just follow my lead, princess," Ignis pulled her to the dance floor and placed one hand on her back.
She tried to protest, but Ignis ignored her complaints. Men! She thought. Why were all demon males so overbearing, cocky and arrogant... And sexy?
A few minutes into the song, Lightning was making Ignis pay. She had lost count now how many times she had purposely stomped on his foot with her razor sharp heels.
"Oops!" Lightning feigned innocence as she performed another 'misstep'.
Ignis winced. "Princess, your cooperation is recommended."
"But I really am trying!"
Dance. Stomp. Wince. Curse.
"Princess!" Ignis raised his voice then lowered it. "This whole ordeal I am going through is purely for your benefit. Do you want to command Noctis's attention or not?"
"Oh."
Stomp.
Ignis closed his eyes and clenched his teeth.
"I'm sorry!" Lightning apologized profusely. "I really didn't mean to do it that time."
"That time?" Ignis inhaled, eyebrow twitching. "You mean to tell me that you were destroying my feet on purpose?"
"Heh... Maybe?"
Suddenly, a ragged scream broke out and sliced through the silence. The pained response was followed by the smell of coal, tar, and ash.
Lightning did a room scan and sensed a couple of uninvited, odd auras. Figures in dark hooded-cloaks emerged from the pillars of the hall and surrounded the party guests. Embedded in their cloaks were silver crosses.
"Shit," Ignis swore. "Humans, exorcists."
Each of the cloaked figures was holding guns in their hands. Demons that were struck by the bullets dissolved into thin air. It was a massacre. Left and right, demons were being vaporized by the flurry of bullets.
"What's happening, why is everyone disappearing?" She asked Ignis.
"The guns that they're using have bullets made of holy water, something an inferior demon cannot tolerate. Holy water eats away at a demon's body like acid would a human's."
"When you say inferior..."
"Right, Noctis and I are exceptions."
Ignis quickly turned and smashed an approaching exorcist to ground with his fist. Lightning watched as the exorcist struggled to free his face from Ignis's hand. His struggle was pointless. Ignis's hand lit up in strange black flames, and the cloaked man's head exploded, leaving only a pool of blood in its place.
"Stay here, princess."
Lightning nodded and pressed her back against a pillar.
She cringed at Ignis's brutal method of killing. It was even worse than her husband's. While Noctis beheaded his enemies, Ignis blew them into pieces. Every being that he made contact with exploded on the spot. As a result, blood and body parts decorated every inch of the hall.
And if that wasn't bad enough, Ignis seemed to revel in the death of his victims. A maniacal smile was plastered on his face, and his tuxedo was bloodied.
He was definitely a force to be reckoned with and an expert at killing.
Meanwhile, Noctis was busy murdering the fools that had dared to trespass on his lands. He could sense their fear and saw their shock when they realized that their weapons had no effect on him. One of the exorcists tripped against a corpse while fleeing from him. Noctis went in for the kill, but another cloaked figure tackled him.
Noctis swiped lazily at the small man, but he easily avoided the blow.
Impressive.
From the sleeves of his cloak, the man produced a deck of cards.
Noctis snorted, and then realized the man was a magician.
The mage threw down a few of his cards and the room lit up. An army of phantom soldiers emerged from his cards.
So he's a summoner, Noctis thought. How annoying.
With one swipe of his blade, the phantoms were destroyed as quickly as they were summoned.
Ignis rush to his side, accompanied by Prompto.
"You okay?"
"We're not late, are we?" Prompto snickered, winking at his best friend. Their recent quarrel was just a distant memory now.
Noctis grinned. "I'm fine. What do you say we kill some annoying humans? Starting off with that one." He pointed to the card magic user.
"First one to kill him wins," Prompto laughed.
The card user, seeing that his situation was useless, turned and fled. Noctis, Ignis and Prompto were hot on his heels. Each of the demons enjoyed the thrill of hunting their prey. They were in bloodlust, nothing could stop them now.
The mage took to the skies by summoning a giant, glass eagle.
Prompto whistled. "This guy's good. Let's see... What I want is an RPG!"As he requested the grenade launcher materialized at his shoulder. "Bang!" He shouted as the rocket made contact with eagle and exploded.
The exorcist fell to the floor, his cloak burned off.
"Christ," Prompto swore as he examined the unconscious human. The boy had sandy blond hair so light it almost looked white. "He's just a kid."
Noctis paused. "So?"
"This is strange," said Ignis. "Why would the humans attack us now, and why send such amateurs? It's obvious that the exorcists that attacked us had no idea that we were immune to their weapons. Perhaps we should interrogate the boy."
"Wake up!" Noctis shook the human boy.
The boy stirred awake. When he realized he had been compromised, he smiled. He had done his job.
"What the hell are you smiling at? You think this is funny?"
"Fuck you, demon," he spat.
Noctis laughed and punched him in the gut. "I like this kid."
"Ugh..." the boy rolled and groaned in pain. "You damn..."
"Talk," Ignis ordered.
The boy started to laugh, again.
"Do you thi—"
"Oh shut up, you stupid demons. Don't you see? I won."
"What the fuck does that mean?"
"I'll tell you, but first answer me this. If all three of you are here, then who's with the princess?"
"SHIT!" Prompto was the first one to react. Without replying he shot to his feet and rushed back to the party hall, but Noctis was already ahead of him.
Watching the two demons retreat, the boy laughed at the demon with glasses.
"I am getting irritated by your laughter," Ignis replied.
"You're pretty stupid, too you know?" The boy smiled and revealed a card that he had been hiding. "See ya." Ignis moved to grab the boy, but he had already vanished. The card he used must have been a teleportation card.
"Well played," Ignis applauded.
Back at the palace, Prompto and Noctis were in disarray.
The boy's words were true; Lightning was gone. They had taken her.
Noctis yelled angrily and punched the floor, causing it to crack. The exorcists' sights had been set on his wife, not the massacre of demons. That had merely been a distraction, and then the card user had led them away, only to have his cohorts kidnap his unprotected wife.
Damn, for an inferior third race, the humans had played all of the right cards tonight.
No one would have expected them to make a move.
Noctis cursed. He could feel the mental link he shared with his wife expanding and moving further away from. He could also sense her fear and confusion.
From the corner of his eyes, he saw a slight movement. Noctis walked over to the human that had tripped on a corpse earlier. He lifted the hood from the human's face. The human was a young girl, who looked to be the same age as the card user. Her hair was long and white like snow. He couldn't tell what color her eyes were because they were closed.
"What are you going to do with her?"
"I'm going to make her talk."
"I see."
Ignis walked into the hall. "The card user escaped"
Prompto frowned and motioned to the girl. "I guess she's our only intel on the whereabouts of the exorcists' headquarters."
Noctis growled. "Prompto, I want you to call all of your contacts, every single spy and tracker. Notify all of the demon lords about the situation. Have the demon army militarize as well. Ignis, assemble every assassin at your disposal and have them infiltrate the human's lands. I want my wife back. No, I will have her back."
"Right."
"What about the human girl?" Ignis asked.
"Take her to the dungeons and chain her up."
"All right."
Noctis closed his eyes and tried to search for the connection he had with his wife. Where are you? The distance between them had grown again.
I'll find you my lady, he promised. Just wait.
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A/N: Sorry for the wait! I'm really pre-occupied with school right now. This chapter was a bit rushed, but everything will make sense, if it already doesn't. So I guess the main conflict/crisis of the story has appeared. Humans vs. demons, now that should be an interesting battle! And poor Light, what's going to happen?
I'll try to update when I can, but it doesn't look likely that I'll be able to anytime soon. Stupid college, and exams :(
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