Ayashii takes over Klug's body for a late night stroll. They revel in their momentary freedom, but upon sensing a true demon, they only realize what else Primp Town has to offer them. Requested by a tumblr anon!
Meeting of Demons
Having a real flesh and blood body again made their heart skip a beat. When Klug tired out from studying so much and fell asleep at his desk, Ayashii possessed his body the moment they heard his snoring. They would return it by morning, and Klug wouldn't have been any wiser. Maybe he would've felt a little tension in his joints from how far Ayashii decided to walk, but they assumed Klug would never suspect them.
They breathed in the crisp air, a faint aura of honeysuckle and pine surrounding them in the gentle breeze. Primp really was an incredible village. It had developed so much in the past century. The town was almost unrecognizable compared to the quaint shacks and thick forest that once dominated the land. With the budding magic he could sense from magical students slumbering in their homes as they trekked by delightful cottages, they smirked.
To think they had been defeated so easily by three children. Teenagers really were the worst. They had no respect for poignant demons such as themself. They simply took their artifacts without a care in the world. Even that pink-haired girl had the gall to sneer at them before uttering a uncouth trilling cackle.
Sighing, Ayashii put the past behind them. There was no use moping over what had happened. They knew they needed to urge Klug to collect the artifacts again, constantly barraging him with promises of unfathomable power, but Klug denied them each time by slamming the tome shut. He caught on to their games and trickery, refusing to lend them any help with with a smug sneer plastered on his lips as Ayashii writhed under the musty sheets.
They streaked their fingers through their short hair. Threading through the uneven locks gave them an odd sense of satisfaction. It was like they could truly be perceived in the way they desired after so long. Stuck in a book, their body a ghostly shell of their former self, it was beyond humiliating, but Klug's body gave them a greater sense of joy than they could have ever imagined.
It was as if they had never been trapped. If they could live out the rest of their life in Klug's body, then they wondered if they could be happy. They had been trapped inside the tome in a half-hearted jest for their mischief for hundreds of years, and they craved the reality outside of the pages. Breathing, speaking, permanence among the populace, it all made their lips curl into their cheeks until a chill raced down their spine.
They nearly stumbled on the dirt path, their eyes wide. Their heart thudded against their ribcage, and they clutched Klug's vest, the shimmering purple a blight on their sight. Jerking their head over their shoulder, they discovered the source of maddening power.
A girl not much older than Klug stood in front of a cottage draped in violets. Her short hair and tattered cloak billowed in the wind. Under her arm was a mask inked in white and scarlet with a rather large round nose.
"What power," they mused, catching her attention, "do you possibly possess?"
Her eyes burned with a hatred that they could never match. Unlike the cheerful mask she held, her face was purely neutral. She inspected Ayashii, scanning them up and down. They followed their eyes, their own insides twisting, reminding them that Klug could awaken at any second.
"A demon," she curtly said, her voice low and a bit raspy.
"You can tell." Ayashii straightened and smirked. "That's comforting compared to my previous treatment by children your age."
"'My age?'" She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. "I'm sixteen and yet, I'm much older."
Ayashii glanced at the cottage. They recognized the home belonging to Arle, a girl Klug spoke of in passing conversation. He mentioned she had shown up one day out of the blue, transported from her world to Primp after popping too many Puyos. They had caught a few glimpses of her, and she matched the description of the young woman before them, but Ayashii suppressed a shudder.
There was no way that this monster before them was Arle Nadja.
"You look like you've seen a ghost." She chuckled and gestured at the home. "I suppose if my life went according to Satan's plan, then I'd be as ignorant as my doppelganger living here. I'm surprised she abandoned everyone to come play in such a boring village."
"I wouldn't call that abandonment. I heard she accidentally teleported herself here." They weren't sure why they defended Arle. They assumed it was Klug's influence beginning to awaken and bristled. "And who are you exactly?"
"The real Arle Nadja, the one who defeated the Creator of her own world and ascended to godhood."
Her tone spoke of authority, her eyes and fangs shining like they belonged a devilish cat. They way she carried herself, assertive and cold, demanding them accept her, made them swallow. They hadn't faced such a monster in hundreds of years. While they were a demon, before them was someone truly demonic hiding behind the face of a young girl.
Chuckling, Ayashii furrowed their brow. They couldn't believe what they had stumbled upon during their walk. As they felt Klug claw at their brain, they spread their lips into a grin and said, "I hope we meet again, my fellow demon."
She snickered, playing along with a humble wave. "Well, I love to make friends. I'll see you again if you ever maintain control."
As their control slipped, their soul awakening back in the tome as Klug panicked in the middle of the path, they laughed between the pages. Primp Town was only becoming more entertaining the longer they lived, and as the tiny fire on Klug's candle dwindled, the wax seeping onto his notes, they smiled, knowing that they would need another night in order to enjoy the company of their fellow monster.