Genre: Angst/Horror
Rating: PG-13 (this chapter)
Warnings: Shounen-ai (la-duh), general angstiness
Notes relevant to text: This is part one of a huge chapter that I couldn't bring myself not to break up, despite the difficulty in finding a cutoff point. I'll post the other half as soon as I can, although I won't have internet access again until (Australian) Sunday. *ducks flying tomatoes* I promise I'll make it up to you though!
Notes not as relevant but still important in my opinion: *jaw drops* Wow, change the summary and watch the up in interest...^_^ *waves to new readers* Hiya! Scared of me yet? I won't hold it against you. *huggles as always for Silent Sorrow, Silverlie and Kalli* Greetings once again to Wizard and cookies@midnight (yes, that certainly was a big enough amount of praise. #^_^# Here's ...er...part of your new chapter)! Yay! Pocky! *hug for Kuraii Koneko*
...I just read that back and realised I sound like I'm on crack.
Raenef shifted uncomfortably in Eclipse's chair, and to Erutis he suddenly looked very small and very frightened. Well, he always looked small next to his imposing servant and he was as undisputedly girly looking as Erutis herself was boyish...
"What am I going to do, Erutis? I--I'm scared," he whimpered.
Erutis slid off the bed, joints cracking, and eased herself onto the arm of the demon lord's chair so that she could embrace him, if somewhat awkwardly. "It's going to be okay, Rae."
"How and why is it going to be okay?!" the boy yowled indignantly.
The girl shrugged sheepishly. "I don't know. It just seemed like the right thing to say. But we will think of something." Leaning over, she rested her chin on the crown of his head, allowing her exhaled breath to stir the strands of cornsilk blonde away from her nose and mouth.
"'Right thing to say' again?" Raenef mumbled.
"Yup," the knight assented. "But we are going to figure something out here. Let's see...can you renegotiate with Krayon?"
"Doubt it," the boy replied. "Erutis, ow! Quit that!"
"Oops, sorry. Nervous habit." She stopped chewing her tongue, the movement of which was grinding the point of her chin into her captive's skull.
Raenef could all but see the gears turning in his 'page's head as she suddenly quit the chair, almost toppling it over in her haste to get to the balcony. Erutis pointed to an unremarkable spot on the horizon.
"That's it! Right over there!"
The demon lord moved to join her and followed her aim. "That hill? What's so special about it?"
"Not the hill," she snapped, "the sun. If the sun goes down, technically it's night. When it's night, Krayon has to send you a dream. Since Eclipse isn't back yet, I can stay here until you've watched it and we can talk it through so he won't have to know. Mother always told me that dreams are less scary when you talk about them."
"Okay, we'll try it to see if it works," the boy agreed half-heartedly. "But Erutis...I never imagined that Eclipse could be so mean. His eyes are frightening."
She smacked him on the back of the head, sending his ponytail flying into his eyes. "Raenef, Eclipse is a demon. What do you expect him to have done all these years? Knit? There's a good reason that nearly nothing mortal likes demons, you know."
"But Erutis, I'm a --"
The girl poked him roughly in the chest. "Shut up and get ready to sleep before he gets back."
"Yes'm..." he grumbled.
Thus, Raenef the Fifth, Demon Lord of the Unnamed Castle of the Southern Mountains, famed for taking orders from his minions and taking in mortals as companions, took yet another order from a snip of a human girl and crawled back under his covers obediently. Folding his arms behind his head, he scratched at his still-untidy hair and debated whether or not he regretted losing an entire day of freedom in exchange for an utterly embarrassing, self-governed presentation on his own foolishness.
Outside and out of view, his servant's long strides brought him ever closer to home and the terrified child he hoped he wouldn't find there.
Erutis settled herself in the high-backed chair, reaching for the book someone (undoubtedly Eclipse) had left there in the hope Raenef would read it. Scanning the cover, Basics of Dark Magic, vol. 3: You Too Can Memorise More Than Your Own Name, she cast it aside in favour of twiddling her thumbs.
Far away in a realm Raenef had never consciously visited...
"Get out of my way, servant," Meruhesae snapped.
The servant girl cowed before the demon Seer, whose cascading hair rippled almost menacingly in a breeze created by her own frustrated power.
"But my Lady, Lord Krayon doesn't see anyone in his palace unannounced. He hasn't done so for centuries! You must know this!"
"He will see me, whether he likes it or not," Meruhesae's face lost its ferocious scowl at the servant's impudence, and she reached out carefully to hold up the girl's chin with one perfectly manicured hand. The girlish smile on her face could have won over anything without cleavage (with the exception of Eclipse) and most things with. "Such a pretty child. Now, be a dear and show me to your Lord's chambers. I will vouch for your steadfast insistence that I shouldn't be in here and no fault will fall to you."
"But--"
"Now."
The girl's chin trembled in Meruhesae's grip as she managed to stutter out an affirmative, "Y-yes, My L-lady. Follow me."
Meruhesae was left standing at the threshold of an elegantly carved set of wooden doors that towered above her. Sniffing, she pushed one opening without so much as knocking.
"Master Kraaaayon..." she sung as sweetly as she could.
"See-eer," he called back mockingly as he materialised into the air above her head. "What are you doo-ing here?"
Nonplussed, Meruhesae stroked a wayward piece of hair back into place and spoke as if he sat across a table from her, rather than hanging childishly in the air. "You know perfectly well what I'm doing here."
Krayon stretched out of his invisible throne and began to sink towards the ground. "Terrible memory, love. Humour me. And be quick about it, would you? I've got an appointment to keep."
"Very well," the woman quipped. "What are you doing to that sweet little boy?"
The demon lord perched himself on the edge of a polished mahogany sideboard. "You know exactly what I'm doing. I'm keeping my end of our bargain. And I've even metered those dreams out over a week instead of hitting him with all of it at once, which we both know would probably serve me better. Am I not being generous enough?"
Meruhesae scowled. "That's not the po--"
"It is the point, love. Still can't see that brat's future, can you?" Krayon pushed away from the piece of furniture and swaggered gracefully towards the Seer. He raised his long fingers to stroke her cheek lightly, and the defiant lift of her chin was answer enough. He smirked in a manner that could only be considered predatory.
"Tough. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have plans." He drew back a step and cocked one eyebrow. "Your hair looks nice, by the way. Go!"
Left alone in the plush sitting room, Meruhesae stomped one delicate foot on
the rug and hoped fervently she'd trodden in something on her way that would
stain it.
"Erutis?"
The knight glanced over to the pile of blankets and pillows, where a knot of spiky blonde hair protruded like a tail from one end. "What?"
A pause. "Where's Chris?"
Erutis blanched - for all they knew, he could have blown himself up into bite-size pieces hours ago. "Um...I guess he's still in the--"
A terrified shriek erupted from the corridor, muffled by distance but unmistakeably the cleric. "Yaaaah! What're you doing here?! I thought you were Eclipse about to toast me!"
Another voice, still muffled but obviously amused, answered him without hesitation. "I thought you were Eclipse, hideously deformed!" Airy laughter followed it, and clerical chanting chased the merry sound.
"--In the kitchens, entertaining Krayon," Erutis finished.
"Oh," said Raenef.
Another pause.
"Erutis?"
"Mm-hm?"
"I can't sleep. It's too early."
A wicked glint flashed in Erutis's eyes. "Well, we'll soon fix that."
"How--?" Raenef's face, now imprinted with the carved pattern the knight had hatched into the handle of her wooden practice sword for grip, froze in its expression of curiosity as he fell back onto his pillows, soundly unconscious.
***
It was almost unbearably hot, and yet Raenef garnered the impression that Eclipse
had not moved from the position behind his desk in hours. He could feel the
cautious wonder of whomever he was inhabiting as the demon moved just enough
to swipe a strand of hair out of his eyes, combined with obvious fatigue. This
person had been standing in the same position for a considerable length of time,
and was doing their absolute best to remain still and avoid drawing the demon's
attention. Had he been able to move, Raenef would have squirmed in discomfort.
Minutes that seemed like hours passed before Eclipse finally laid down the black feathered quill he had been writing with, and turned his attention to Raenef's host. Thankfully, his eyes held only the lofty disdain of one who knew himself to be superior to his immediate company and his clipped but not completely unkind voice told Raenef he was inhabiting the body of a servant - one which had yet to displease the elder demon.
"You." Eclipse summoned Raenef and his host gratefully forward with one beckoning finger.
"How may I please you, Master Eclipse?" A timid, quiet voice that could only belong to...//Krayon! Will you quit turning me into a girl?! Once was enough! Oh gods, this just isn't fair...// The small mirror beside Eclipse's desk confirmed Raenef's suspicions, and the boy huffed.
"Go to the cellars and fetch me a pitcher of wine." Raenef cracked a smile as he recognised Eclipse's 'you haven't disappointed me too badly so I'll cut you some slack' tone. //I knew you weren't all bad! You can't let her go away or even let her sit without looking bad, but you can let her move and go somewhere cool for a while.// The demon lord danced around in merry mental circles.
"At once, sir." The servant bowed carefully and moved on light feet to the door, which flung open in her face and knocked her to the ground.
Raenef had never seen demon mercenaries before, and he wasn't sure he ever wanted to again after this particular lot. Most of them were dark haired like Eclipse but dishevelled, clad in armour and tanned far beyond the pallor of the demon behind the desk by the sun. A few grinned as they spied Raenef/the servant on the floor, and their apparent leader reached out with one scarred, heavily muscled arm to yank him/her unceremoniously to his/her feet. Instead of freeing his captive, he dragged him/her against his broad chest and sniffed at his/her ear. The girl shuddered, but wisely kept her mouth shut. Raenef registered that the man not only looked scruffy and bad, but smelt horrible as well.
"Put her down," Eclipse ordered tiredly, massaging his temples at the racket the group had brought.
"Well, the great Eclipse is having a little fun on the side, is he?" Raenef/the servant's captor drawled. The men behind him chortled appropriately, and as Raenef/she looked up, s/he caught a glance of pointed teeth behind the cracked lips. "I don't think the Lord would be happy to see you fooling around with the staff."
Eclipse sighed heavily, and stood up. It was obvious that the mercenary had at least an inch or two in height over the paler demon, and probably half the body weight again.
"Hardly, although it would not be your business if it was," he snapped. The group behind the demon holding Raenef/the servant stopped laughing. "I believe I told you to put the girl down. It took a considerable amount of time to find a servant that doesn't complain about the heat or faint like a noblewoman in a corset, and I am certain you wouldn't enjoy the consequences if I am forced to hunt for a new one." His eyes glimmered dangerously, and the smirk on the mercenary's face failed a bit.
"Now, for what reason have you barged in here?" Eclipse eased his way around the desk to lean on the front of it, one arm folded casually over his hips. Raenef sighed in relief - for a moment he had feared for his tutor's safety with this group of smelly, uncouth ruffians, but it was becoming obvious even to him that the group was frightened.
Raenef/the servant felt the restraining arm let up, and s/he scurried away as quickly as s/he could. The group still blocked the door and s/he glanced helplessly at Eclipse, unwilling to give him a reason to punish him/her but equally unable to carry out his order. Eclipse eyed him/her disdainfully.
"You. Get over here and seal these envelopes. The wax and seal are both in the top drawer."
"Yes, sir," the servant/Raenef replied gratefully, glad not only for the seat which had been offered but also the protection which came from being behind rather than in front of Eclipse, should he choose to blow his top.
Eclipse's face turned from disdaining to outright annoyed. "Well? Hurry up. Surely you didn't come here to stand around like a bunch of dumb mutes."
Plucking up his courage, the lead mercenary scowled. "We're bored. It's hot and boring here, and if you don't give us something worth doing," he leered at Raenef/the servant, "we might just have to abandon this place for greener pastures."
Passing a hand over his immaculate hair, Eclipse laughed - a short, humourless bark. "I assure you that you will do no such thing without permission. That said, entertain me and you may live long enough to regret your impudence," he snarled.
"Entertain you? How?" the mercenary growled as he adjusted his armour, moving a section of it off his bare skin - if he hadn't known better, he could have sworn it was about to light up in flames.
"I propose a game of sorts. Firstly, get your men out of my doorway before they disrupt the airflow any further." Without another word, the demons cleared a moderate passage out of the room. Eclipse's attention once again returned to the servant/Raenef.
"The girl who arrived here as a bride despite her brother's foolish attempts to stop it, the one who weeps incessantly. Go and fetch her for me."
"Yes sir." The servant fled out the gap in the doorway, dragging Raenef with her.
...To be continued
Endnotes: *ducks flying sharps* Sorry, but I'm sure you didn't need a 5,000 word chapter. I promise the next half is better, for there is Eclipse and Raenef flangst. ^_^ ...I never realised I was writing fluff. Thanks for pointing it out, Reyana. I'll be sure to put a stop to it immediately. :) *dodges bolts of lightning no doubt sent in advance by cookies@midnight for picking on Raenef*