Genre: Angst/Horror
Rating: PG (this chapter)
Warnings: Shounen-ai (as per usual)
Notes relevant to text: Fairly short chapter, back into full-blown angst mode. :)
Notes not as relevant but still important in my opinion: Getting back into the swing of things. And before you shriek "out of character!" at me like some kind of harpy from hell, have patience. I'll explain myself at the end of the chapter. Silverlie, yipes! You've followed this the whole way through and I still haven't bored you to tears? *happy teary eyes and hugs* Hurrah! And Scarbie came back for more, too? Whee! *waves to Eike and Kyia Star* Sankyuu! ^_^
"Let me go!"
The disgruntled cry echoed down the halls of the earthbound residence of Krayon, Demon Lord of Egae. Unconcerned by the squalling of his more than reluctant visitor, the demon complied with Erutis' request and let her drop ineloquently onto her rear end as he eased himself into a plush, high-backed chair.
After assuring herself that her tailbone was merely bruised as opposed to fractured, Erutis took a long moment to survey her surroundings. A surprisingly warm, comfortable sitting room decorated tastefully with antique looking furniture, thick rugs and heavy velvet drapes of opulent burgundy. A well-established fire crackled merrily beneath an ancient mantelpiece and across the room, bathed in the golden glow that accented the richness of his hair and fineness of his complexion, was Krayon. An egotist he might have been, but an egotist with cause, Erutis was forced to concede. Watching her every breath over his steepled fingers with eyes like keen chips of slate, there was no denying his beauty, nor the fact that he was abundantly aware of it.
The knight raised her chin defiantly, narrowed her eyes to slits and attempted valiantly to mask the fact she'd been gaping open-mouthed at everything she'd cast her sight on since she arrived. Naturally, she was less than impressed when Krayon let out a soft chuckle.
"What, no 'where am I' or 'what do you plan to do with me', love? I admired your sharpness, and you're disappointing me." One bejewelled hand unmeshed its fingers from its counterpart and came up to support the demon's chin as he cocked his head curiously.
Drawing her feet up under herself, Erutis huffed over her folded arms. "No point, is there? This whole place drips with your energy, so I'm probably wherever you call home," she snapped.
A tiny smirk quirked the edges of Krayon's lips. "True. But what about what I intend to do with you?"
Erutis scowled. "You'd better not get any ideas about me, fancy-pants. You lay one paw on me and I'll--" She groped blindly at her waist, and found nothing. Something akin to panic crossed her face as Krayon lazily balanced her wooden practice sword on the tip of one finger.
"What? You'll whack me with your stick?"
"Give it back!"
"Or what?" Krayon's voice oozed amusement as the knight tried to establish the best way to get her weapon back without putting herself in swipe range.
As Erutis' fingers twitched reflexively, she cursed to every god she could think of and settled on Eclipse as the perpetrator of all her miseries. You bastard, if I live through this I'm going to hack you into bits and force-feed you your spleen. Raenef's miserable face flashed across her mind's eye, and as she remembered the boy cradled against his tutor's chest, her shoulders slumped in defeat. You might be a bastard, but you make him happy.
Krayon continued watching her quietly, and at her slump he couldn't help but brush his thoughts carefully against hers. Decidedly Less Amused at what he found, he let the wooden sword drop into his palm and glared in a way that reminded Erutis that playful or not, she was at the mercy of a real demon lord and somehow she'd managed to tick him off.
"Why," Krayon began through forcefully unclenched teeth, "must every visitor to my dominion focus their thoughts on him?!"
Erutis had never seen Krayon more than jealously annoyed, and that had been frightening enough. What did I do...? Apparently her confused silence was not the response the demon had aimed for, and her sword shattered to dust and splinters in his hand with an almighty crack. Gods, he's going to kill me.
"U-um..." she began shakily, extending a hand unconsciously in the demon's direction which she hastily retracted to the safety of her chest when he glared at her.
"Stay here. There are servants who will take you to your quarters," Krayon snapped.
Without another word he stood, smoothed invisible creases out of his clothing and vanished. Erutis sunk back onto the thick rug with a fiercely exhaled breath, and as much as she didn't want to recognise it, saw that her hands were shaking. I'm in it deep now. I have no weapon, no way of getting out, I don't know where I am, nobody will come for me, and I've pissed off an immensely powerful demon without even trying. What am I going to do?
The room, which had at first seemed cheerfully warm, suddenly felt stifling.
Erutis pulled her knees up to her chest, buried her face in them, and allowed
the shake that had possessed her normally steady hands to take the rest of her
as she waited for the servant.
Curled in the other demon's lap simply because he lacked the motivation to move himself and break his carefully constructed illusion of normalcy, Raenef heaved a sigh as he waited for Eclipse to interrogate him on his latest foolish venture. But the interrogation did not come. Blinking dumbly, the demon lord hauled himself back into a cross-legged position amidst his tangled sheets and cushions and reached unconsciously for the tip of Eclipse's hair. It was so soft beneath his twisting fingertips, so well maintained and beautiful; much like it's owner himself. Raenef's mind simply couldn't reconcile the conflicting thoughts of the individual who would devote such care and attention to something as aesthetically pleasing but genuinely useless as it with the cruel slayer of beauty and innocence who had haunted his dreams.
"I should have listened to Erutis, right?" he began quietly.
"That depends upon what advice she offered you, Master Raenef."
Raenef let out a short, bitter bark of laughter that froze the blood in Eclipse's veins. "She told me that if you didn't want to tell me about yourself, it was probably for my own good. But I couldn't help it! I couldn't! And now I don't know who you are any more!"
Eclipse's dark eyes slid closed. "I can only hazard a guess as to the memories Krayon has shown you, my lord --"
"They were so scared, Eclipse. All of them. Why didn't you just scare them and leave it at that?" Raenef exchanged his grip on his tutor's hair for the other demon's sleeve. As much as it affronted Eclipse to see his master so upset, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance.
"I am a demon, just as you are a demon. We are more than simply the monsters hiding under a child's bed or the threats of a tired mother. If we do not kill, they will not believe."
"But--"
"There are not 'buts'. That is the way it always has been and always will be," Eclipse said softly, but firmly. "Now I disgust you. I will not defend myself nor repent my actions, because I do not regret them."
He eased himself off the bed and made for the door, turning his back on Raenef's watering eyes. Keeping his eyes firmly on the doorknob, he added almost hesitantly, as if testing unfamiliar words, "My only regret is that in finding out, you are in pain. I am sorry to have caused you grief, my lord."
As the door clicked shut the whimper that had been building in Raenef's throat
faded, leaving the demon lord of the Southern Mountains to contemplate the peculiarity
that was his servant and the meaning of his parting words.
Endnotes: Okay, don't yowl at me about out of character behaviour on Krayon's part until you hear me out. Yes, I played him up as more pervy than usual last chapter. I'm of the opinion that as a man-bitch, one of his most definitive traits is his ability to do a complete 180 in a split second. If he wasn't being something resembling jovial before he cracked at Erutis, the abrupt shift in mood would have been less noticeable. Furthermore, I realise Erutis isn't one to take someone else's bad mood sitting down, but let's face it: if you were weaponless, helpless and completely at the mercy of a demon who seemed to be unpredictibly bipolar, you'd probably be a little frightened too. ~_^ I left you a note. How about you leave me one? *points to review button*