Hi hi!
Aight guys, final stretch, almost there!
We're going to ignore the fact that I missed the end of the year deadline tho, let's not mention that ever, yes?
Any who, enough of this, let's move it on!
ONWARDS!
It was the big day.
All around the castle, there was a sort of festive murmur going around, as the servants and maids went about the castle.
The normally dark and brooding castle had a sort of glow to it, as the final preparations were put into place.
The main reception was to take place in the main lobby, something Kuro thought to be a bit funny at first. To think that the first place she met him would be the same place she'd be officially bonded to him.
That morning she had been moved from her prison-not-prison to a new sort of temporary suite, "After tonight, you'll get to be back in the prince's room~." One of the maids had giggled, before she left to go grab the army of maids to help her get ready.
Times like these, Kuro missed Vanth. She missed the casual conversation she use to have with the timid maid, how she had slowly but surely gotten her to open up and just talk without being scared of a title.
Now it was just...awkward. None of these other maids wanted to be friends or anything, they were here to either do their job, help spread gossip, or a little of both. None of them worked nearly as hard as Vanth tried, which honestly made it all the better since Kuro had helped the tiny demon girl get out.
Maybe she missed being able to speak her mind more than she thought she would. Of course, nothing that happened during the escape had been planned, but at least she had the faith that the tiny demon would make it in life.
As she was once again guided to the middle of the room, she thought it was kinda funny; the word faith. It was usually used for those who followed that powerful guy up above, right? Her thoughts allowed her an escape, as she was once again forced into that perfect white wedding dress.
Each second with it on, she felt like more and more of a fraud. To think that so much money would be spent on a Rifter, she'd hear one of the maids say as she left her alone in the room.
Once they were all gone, Kuro couldn't help but step down from the little stage they had propped her on, pressing her ear against the door.
"...And to think that he didn't give any of the prettier noble girls a second thought when they were first thrusted at him!" A maid scoffed from the other side.
"Wonder if that's just a royal thing," Another voice spoke, giggling, "Turning down what's turned up on a silver platter?"
"Bet that he realizes how screwed and cornered he is now." The first maid laughed, "He made such a show with her, and now he's got to marry her. What luck!"
Kuro couldn't help but laugh along with the two as they faded. She wondered how screwed Corvus would be, not because of the union, but more so with the elders and nobility of the Capitol. What would they think of him, now that it would be solidified?
A knock at the door made Kuro step back, taking a moment to compose herself, before letting that person in.
Standing on the other side was the prince himself, a surprised yet pleasant smile on his face, hands behind his back, "Kuro...You look gorgeous."
"Corvus," Kuro hissed, looking around, before giving him a pointed look, "I don't care how royal you are, you're not suppose to see me before the wedding!"
"I'm sure we'll be fine." Corvus muttered, letting himself in, closing the door behind him. He took another look over her, "Besides, you're not fully ready just yet."
"You look as you do every day." Kuro muttered, gesturing to the usual suit and tie.
"When you dress formally every day, there's only so much you can do without looking too...flamboyant." Corvus said, having just a bit of a shudder from the word, before pulling out what he had behind him back, "Besides, I wanted to give you something before they force you down the aisle."
He revealed a thin silver necklace, lined with dark gemstones that gleamed almost evilly. Kuro couldn't help but be drawn towards it, "It's very enchanting." She admitted, allowing him to put it around her neck.
The two stood in silence for a bit, just slightly unsure of the other, before Corvus finally rubbed the back of his neck, "Well...I'll see you out there." He murmured, placing a kiss on the back of her hand, before slipping out of the room, silently closing the door behind him.
Kuro toyed with the necklace. She could understand why he had gotten it for her, he must have noticed how she pulled at her finger, absent from its ring. And while it was nothing like the ruby ring that kept her safe, not even a ring at all, it was still something.
Yes, they had a lot of up's and down's, but at the moment, Kuro felt...content with her own arrangements.
Sure, she was still basically being controlled, but at this point, what could she do? It still felt as detaining as ever, but when she looked back, what did she have to escape to?
It was laughable, in some saddening way, to see how her life had gone from this point. She could stay, slowly but surely becoming one of them that she had grown up despising, or escape, only to either be captured or surely die out there.
And, from the dress and necklace, it looked like she was going to be taking the coward's way out of this whole ordeal.
All because she listened to Vale and attended that stupid party.
From there, her mind wandered, helping to pass the times as more maids came to put on make up and other things that Kuro really didn't care for.
Yes, this could all be blamed on Vale, right? She nearly laughed out loud to the thought; how does one go about blaming the dead? It's not like anything would happen, so it looked to be something that would have to be forgiven and forgotten.
She felt like she'd only blinked, but before she knew it, she was standing outside two grand doors, smoke and wisps being seen floating around on her right.
"Look at you, little Rifter mouse; all dressed up for your big day. Must feel like an honor, hmm?"
Kuro didn't listen to Legion, not even giving him a single sign of greeting or even acknowledgment, as the doors opened.
The usually grim walls were now covered with white satin cloth, making the place look so much brighter than it ever really naturally could. the back of the room had an extravagant throne, making Kuro believe that they had carried the throne down from the throne room. And if the lounging figure of the smoky king himself said anything...Yeah, the king really wasn't giving anything up.
The whole while, Second-in-Command stayed at her side; even holding onto her arm, as he walked her down the aisle. Kuro scowled, looking around. The lobby had been filled out with exquisite round tables and chairs, making a straight way from the doors to the front of the room, where Corvus stood, a small knowing smile on his face.
Looking around, Kuro couldn't name any of the demons present. Each looked as rich as the next, she noted, much like those ladies that attended that party so many nights ago. She frowned a bit under the veil when she noticed Arc didn't seem to be out there.
In her head, she had imagined a smaller reception, if she ever got around to finding some demon to "settle down" with as they said on the surface. She imagined it wouldn't be much, just her, whoever was unlucky enough to have caught her eye, and the other four.
She always imagined it in Shax's bar, whether he was okay with it or not. Most of the reception would just be drinking and half-assed vows; not that they would have meant much down here. There would be a big party though, courtesy of Abraxas being, well, himself.
Vale would most likely be the one to finally tell them when enough was enough, Zagan quick to take Abraxas' side, while Shax would find a way to get out of the situation in a whole, most likely "too busy to deal with children".
As chaotic and unplanned as it all sounded, that's exactly how Kuro wanted it.
Looking around, Kuro noticed that Legion had walked off to the side, allowing her to walk the rest of the way alone. Not that it was much, but being how it was just her walking alone with so many eyes on her, it felt like each step was at least a mile.
By some miracle, she finally made it to the sort of pedestal for the two, looking down as Corvus lifted the veil.
She wasn't listening to anything that was going on from there, just blanking out as she continued to stare at the ground.
She'd attended a total of two human weddings during her time on the surface, one of which she was sent to murder the bride and the other she attended on orders to "relax and unwind".
She didn't expect a union down here to be anything similar to the extravagant weddings she'd attended, but this was about where the similarities came to an end.
For who knew how long, Corvus and Kuro just stood there, as the crowd of richies watched them like they were some sort of show. Kuro slowly but surely began to feel uncomfortable, were they just on for show? What the hell was going on here?
Corvus must have known that she was beginning to get agitated, as he squeezed her hand, "It shouldn't be much longer," Corvus said lowly with an apologizing tone, forcing a smile as the two posed for a bit longer, "It's all part of tradition."
After that, The King rose from his seat in the back of the room, making his way over to the two. He was talking about something, probably some other tradition-nonsense that no one wanted to hear but was forced through it anyway.
All the while, Kuro just kinda looked off. She stared at the now closed doors, half of her mind deciding to muse with her, just for fun. She imagined the doors being kicked in, or punched in, by Zagan all while laughing loudly.
That would probably be followed by Vale shouting at him to stick to the plan and be discrete, while those damn richies were sniped down from left and right. Zagan would probably run right up, either picking her up or going to bat the prince into the next week. Either way, Vale would probably be chiding the giant the entire way, all while finding time to be able to do the same to Abraxas over the com.
Meanwhile, if Shax wasn't busy being tucked away in the room, there was a small chance that he'd be there, going about with his white gloves and he decided to go ahead and make demon blood into a sort of finger painting project.
In the end, either Zagan would throw her over his shoulder, or Vale would almost resentfully carry her out bridal style. Either way, as they left, Kuro would turn around just in time to see everything go up in both smoke and flames.
They'd go to the bar for drinks, but after that, the dream faded back, bringing her back to reality with the sounds of dull claps. Kuro had to blink a few times, coming too when the king walked back to his throne, his speech apparently over.
With that, Kuro nearly jumped when the then dead silent crowd went back to bustling with noise. Corvus stepped down, lightly tugging on Kuro's hand as he did so, guiding her to a more distinguished set of two chairs, a long thin white table before them.
From there, it looked like any other party, some of the nobility came up to congratulate the prince in finding a mate after what was, apparently, a long and grueling uphill battle for the one.
After some time, food was brought up, allowing for a rest period between them and those false smiles and congradulations.
Even if none of them gave her more than a polite smile and what seemed like forced bows of forced approval, it still felt exhausting. She wasn't use to so many eyes on her, and she doubted that that would be the first thing to change after years of living like a royal.
All Kuro could bring herself to do was silently eat watch what the crowd of nobility mingle. Peering into the crowd, her eyes caught the ones of a certain sin, causing her to instantly look down and away, uncomfortable.
Corvus noticed, about to ask what was wrong, only to be stopped when a voiced cleared its throat, "Aw, Prince Corvus, a great congratulations to you!"
Corvus bowed in respect for the sin of Lust, while Kuro inspected the lady attached to his arm. She had long lavender hair and navy blue eyes that just didn't feel quite right for a succubus, "Thank you for clearing time to come join us, Lord Asmodeus."
"But of course!" He said with a hearty laugh, before placing his hand in his date's back, "I'd like to introduce you both to my one and only queen; Gloria De Regina."
"Ah, the queen of the butterflies," Corvus said, taking her hands and getting down on one knee respectfully, "A pleasure to meet you."
All she did was nod, her eyes too cold to be a demon of Lust, before turning back to Kuro. They both regarded each other, Kuro wishing that she had some sort of knife to defend herself at the moment. There was something about her that looked wise, almost ancient; like Shax and Vale at times. There almost seemed to be some sort of dry amusement in her eyes, as if she'd seen everything but was still looking for something else to laugh at.
Those were the eyes of someone who had seen it all and was so past disinterested.
"So you're the lucky girl," the succubus mused, ignoring the other two demons as they carried one with what seemed to be demonic politics and what not, "I've known Corvus for a good section of his life; I never did think that he'd find someone that would be able to complete him so well."
Kuro only nodded, knowing that she couldn't trust her mouth to say something nice, before the lady laughed humorlessly, "Do tell me, little kitty cat; what do you think you have that all the other admirers?"
She gave the succubus a small grin, "Well, a sense of humor, for one."
That got another laugh out of her, this one sounding just a bit more real, "Well, that must be something, hmm? Lucky for him, not many girls here have that sort of joking air about them." She murmured, "For that, I envy you."
Chills went down Kuro's spine at the words, ready to ask what she meant, only to force another respectful smile to her face when Asmodeus said his farewells, walking off of the stage with his wife in hand.
"Are you alright? you look rather drained." Corvus noted, prompting Kuro to shake her head.
"Nah, it's nothing too big, it's just that...Well…" Kuro murmured, making sure that no one was too close to hear her, "Does she rub you the wrong way too?"
Corvus gave a confused look, before it fell into place, "Oh, Gloria De Regina? Don't worry about her, she's always been a bit...Off."
Kuro only nodded, going back to watching the mingling in a rather comfortable silence.
Kuro sat back and watched them all, noting how they all looked so oddly uniformed.
Again, she found herself wishing this was all Rifter. It would be such a chaotic celebration. That, of course, would be where the fun came from. It wasn't a real Rifter celebration unless someone was drunk, someone else was high, someone was found dead, and someone was running away to make sure they're not found for the murder.
It would be big, loud and just plain crazy. That was something she could never find here.
Finally, Corvus got up, "I'll be right back, I'm being called over to speak with the other sins."
"All you have to do is sit here and be pretty," Corvus insisted when she saw Kuro showing just a bit of panic, "I'll be back as soon as possible."
And with that, he vanished into the crowd.
Kuro sat back down, trying to ignore the judgemental eyes of all those walking about. She wondered if this is how it would be for her; demons being nice to her face just to get in good with the royals, but the moment that Corvus or any royal figure left, would they strike? She scoffed to herself at the question; it didn't matter if it were the Rift, Limbo or the Capitol.
A demon was still a demon.
"You look so lovely."
Kuro jumped, whipping around to see those frozen golden eyes. He stood in his usual rigid way, glasses, for once, hanging out of his coat pocket rather than on his face.
"Arc, hey." Kuro muttered, suddenly feeling very self-conscious, knowing that the dress was the worse disguise she could wear in front of the spider prince, "About time you decided to show up."
Arc only nodded. If Kuro looked carefully, she could see the dark shadows under his eyes, and...No way, she shook her head to keep herself from looking closer. But, in the back of her head, she swore that she saw some sort of dark bruise on the back of his neck…
"I'll offer it once and only once more."
His sudden cold tone grabbed her attention once again, her eyes moving back to him from the crowd, a sudden chill going up her spine, "Escape with me."
"This really isn't the best time to dangle that before me." Kuro muttered, before going over to her chair to sit down. After the whole mess in his room, there was too much tension in the air between the two. Of course, it was warranted, given how their last encounter had gone, but for whatever reason, Arc didn't seem to mind or care for it much.
"You once told me that you hated be trapped in," Arc went on, walking to stand right in front of her, "But the moment I hold out the key to your little cage, you refuse me. Why?"
"Nothing comes around for free," Kuro said, the words slipping out, "You'd expect something from me, right?"
"In a way, I guess that's what you could say."
"I think I've been through enough deals where I wasn't able to pay my dues," Kuro said with a dry laugh, "Don't worry about it, I'd probably never be able to pay you back anyway."
"I've yet to tell you my price."
"After that little incident last time, I think I can tell what it is."
To that, Arc's eyes narrowed, "Are we not friends, Kuro?"
"At one point, yes, we were." Kuro muttered, "Too bad too, there was a point in time that I trusted you more than anyone."
To that, Arc scowled, before marching off, "You'll learn to come around, one way or the other." She heard him mutter, before he too disappeared into the crowd.
She wasn't sure exactly what it was, but something about that comment was nagging at the back of her head.
She forced herself to sit and stay still, unable to keep her sanity had she not. There were too many people, and as big as she knew this castle to be, she felt as if the walls were beginning to close in.
The only thing that helped was when the crowd began to go back to their seats, Corvus returning to sit beside her, "Do not worry, Kitten; it'll all be over soon. We just have to go through the blessings and vows, and then we're done."
Kuro nodded, her fingernails digging into her arm rests. She didn't feel safe, something felt very off. She only half listened to the blessings and vows, her mind focusing on everything but nothing, her fingers absentmindedly pulling at each other.
Finally, Corvus stood up, gesturing for Kuro to follow. He was saying something, probably whatever vows he was about to bind himself to, but Kuro couldn't hear anything.
All of her senses were going haywire, making her head feel like she was about to explode. She could feel everything but nothing, and as time went on, she felt her skin growing almost feverishly hot.
Corvus didn't seem to notice, as he slipped on something cold and firm around her finger. She looked down, almost in a daze, as she noticed just how pretty yet simple the ring around her finger looked.
She didn't remember if they took her ring size, but it was a perfect fit. Looking closely, she'd almost forgotten how she'd given her ruby ring to Vanth. The ring on her finger, while she knew it felt wrong on her finger, it was a near-exact replica. From the width of the band to the size of the ruby, it all looked the same.
She looked up at Corvus with questioning eyes, something he must have thought to be adorable, since he offered an adoring smile, before holding her hand up, "If there is anyone to question the bond between the two of us, I urge you to speak out now, or forever hold your peace."
For just a moment, Kuro could see it. The two of them, while it wouldn't come along easily and quickly, they'd be happy. they could grow up to be happy, maybe even have children one day, if they both wanted to. She could see herself, holding a little girl, while watching a little boy running around in the gardens, maybe even Corvus back there with them, laughing along with the child.
But no, it wasn't meant to be.
She saw it before it had happened, but she still couldn't stop it. He seemed to jump out of nowhere, last time she'd seen him being him walking up to that queen of the butterflies or whatever.
He leapt out, his eyes narrowed with what could only be described as a second of crazed rage, his arm out, hand wrapped tightly around the hilt of an odd looking sword.
The blade looked like three other pieces of metal, intertwined at the very tip of the blade. The handle itself looked to be similar to the one of a fencing sword.
Corvus pushed Kuro out of the way at the last moment, Arc landing in the spot right between them. Arc's emotionless gaze suddenly made her feel apprehensive, how he managed to keep such a calm expression during all of this could only mean one thing.
This had all been pre-meditated.
"What are you doing?" She could hear Corvus shout, the only sound she could make out at the moment, "You fool, you'll be charged with treason for trying to pull a stunt like this!"
Arc remained silent, once again taking a swing at Corvus, only to have him jump back, off of the stage and onto a table.
He staggered a bit, fighting to regain his balance, forced to crouch on the table, hands flat on the surface.
Arc made another swing, forcing Corvus to pick up whatever was closest to him and throw it out, rolling to the side and out of the way of the sword.
Arc only scowled slightly, seeming more irritated than hurt when the offending silverware lodged itself into his right pants leg. He gave Corvus a look, as if to further question his choice of weapon, before taking another swing.
Corvus dashed about, ducking under the surprisingly long blade. He was so agile, putting those almost oddly long legs of his to use.
That was, until he Arc finally caught him.
Right there in front of her, Arc made a swipe for his feet, managing to finally trip him. Arc was slowly making his way over, enjoying every moment he could as he walked over, "You want her to be happy, do you not? Or was that some naive mindset you had in that arrogant head of yours? You can't possibly think that, after all you've put her through, a nice ring on her finger will make it all go away."
Kuro didn't think. She had already kicked off those damned high heels, already made the dash over. She glared down Arc, his surprised expression the only thing that could change in such a short timespan, as he could do nothing to control the downwards momentum of his sword arm.
The agony was like no other. Sure, she'd been stabbed and shot at with shards before, but to have the very blade meant to kill demon slide right down from her shoulder to her hip, the pain was searing. Her vision was giving out, to the point where everything was giving in to this sort of harsh white glow.
She felt herself fall to her knees, shaking arms just barely keeping her up. There was something else helping to hold her up, two pairs of arms trying there best to help. She went from dizzy to mental self-slaughter.
All she could comprehend was being slowly helped up, turning around the hold close her prince tightly, before finally, the heat from within unleashed itself, making everything fade into white.
Me: Aaaaaaaand that's how you kill off all hope!
Amy:...What...The...Fuck...
Erin: (0_0)
Lilith: Well...that's one way to close up a story.
Me: Nope, not closed up just yet. We've got one more to go, than I think I'm going to take a bit of a break from posting.
Any who, hope you guys enjoyed, reviews help to fuel the beast, and hopefully the next chapter will be done within the next week!
Till then, bai bai!