And There is a Darkness
By SMYGO4EVA
Such horrible eyes, such bright crimson…
Something feels wrong, just wrong.
Tetia didn't know where she was, nor could she fathom how she was brought in this realm. Everything was oil-black, smelling of heat melting flesh.
A Devil stood before her, dark eyes swimming in the color of blood.
"Wh-What are you?" Tetia finally asked, her form shaking, her question still unanswered from the creature who stood right before her.
This creature only smiled, sharp cruel teeth, his claws extended. "What am I? What am I? Such a silly girl, aren't you?"
Tetia thought her heart was to burst, hearing the Devil's voice in her ears, lilting, mocking, an echoing falsetto with a gravelly edge. She stood frozen where she stood, rooted to the cold ground.
"What are you….and why, why am I here?" Tetia asked again, her hands at her sides, trying in vain to steady her breathing.
The Devil still held that horrid smile on his features. "Oh, it's no use pretending to be brave. It's pointless. I can smell your blood, your fear within you. Weak and afraid, just like any other human."
Tetia bit her lip, an attempt to quell her fear in vain. "You haven't answered me. Why am I here, and what are you?" She repeated herself, her voice quavering.
The Devil chuckled lowly, a sound that sent a chill through Tetia, gooseflesh rising on her arms. "Persistent, aren't we? And yet, you're about to throw everything away, just so you can become a blushing bride to such a lowly elf. It's quite pathetic."
Tetia inhaled sharply, and her fists clenched, fear melding with a rising anger. "You! You creature! How dare you say such a horrid thing about Licht?! I love him, and he's going to be my husband."
Such anger, such fury born from goodness.
Tetia narrowed her eyes, tears pricking the sides, but she continued. "I do not know what you are or where you come from, but you do not get to choose my fate, you monster! You cannot!"
The Devil was silent for a moment. But his grin widened, and then he laughed. He laughed a cruel cackle at the princess's words, a mere spectacle for his entertainment.
His laughter brought terror and repulsion in Tetia, her heart thundering in her chest, roiling.
Just as he began, he stopped his wicked, mocking laughter, ebbing into a delirious moan. "Oh, my sweet, it never ceases to amaze me how silly, foolish, and naïve you humans are."
Tetia heard her heartbeat in her ears, so loud that she thought he could hear it.
"And you, my dear, are one of the most foolish I've ever met."
She couldn't breathe.
The princess's body flushed hot, a jolt of horror striking her. She couldn't utter a single word. Not a word before the Devil swooped down right in front of her, his blackened claws cupping her face, her eyes forced to look into his irises of demonic crimson.
"I am choosing your fate, princess, and it is not a joyous one. You will die, your precious elf will die, and everyone you love will suffer the same fate as you. You cannot change it, my dear, I promise you that."
His voice fluctuated between a high voice and a monstrous rumble, his grin wide to impossible lengths. Before she could utter another word, The Devil pulled Tetia forward and pressed his sharp, jagged mouth against her lips.
Crushing, bruising, filled to the brim with lust, hatred, despair….
The shocked and pained moan that came from her throat sent such delight through the Devil, and when her mouth opened beneath him, he wasted no time in slipping his elongated tongue inside, tasting her for the first time, tangling insistently with her own tongue and coaxing her to submit to the pressure.
He tasted bitter, of rotted fruit and of blood, of her blood.
She struggled against him, futilely so, and all it did was make him pull her even closer.
His stygian wings enveloped them both, and her scream was swallowed by the encroaching darkness.
Tetia jolted, sitting straight up in her bed, and coughed, breathing in precious air, all before her heartbeat settled back to normal. It was morning, rays of light shining through the curtains, and the day had begun anew.
She smiled, relief flooding through her. For it was her wedding day. Still, the sense of dread sat within her, burrowed, brimming, and waiting.