Hi guys. Sorry for the incredibly late update. I was supposed to be updating this along with Child of Winter Solstice before 2014 ended. But apparently I got busy reading Every Day by David Levithan (which is a very good book with an incredibly unique and bittersweet plot. Even better than John Green's The Fault in Our Stars in my opinion) I hope you like the second installment to Totentanz. I'd also like to thank hydro0228 for some help on the previous chapter. This is for MischevousRose and her friend who recently got hooked to this story. :D
FYI: Totentanz means "Dance of Death" in Greek I think. Correct me if I am wrong though.
Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen or Rise of the Guardians.
… … …
Jack was met with a vengeful knee to the groin.
"F***!"
He glared at the tear-stained eyes of the angel he had recently molested. He had half a mind to think he deserved that, but then again, how was he to care?
The girl looked down upon him with a mixture of guilt and anger. Fighting a smug smile in spite of the pain in his lower regions, he had guessed that the angel had enjoyed his ministrations for a time. He had tainted a spiritual being, and in a demon's book, that was nearly as good as having to kill one.
He would enjoy taking the girl's innocence by force. Every sweet second of it.
Jack knew that the angel had thought this as her opportunity to run. Unfortunately for her, he had cast some sort of magic on her knees, making her crumble to the ground the soonest he took a staggering step back. He winced, surprised that she had so much leg power for a very petite person.
He laughed.
"That was pretty impressive, babe," he chuckled darkly. "I guess you'll enjoy it rough then?"
"You filthy swine!" she cried angrily, trying to wipe away the evidence of his kisses from her lips. "What did you do to me?!"
The demon bent down to cup her chin with his thumb and forefinger, staring at her angry blue resolve with evil satisfaction. Her fringe was all messed up, her cheeks a blazing red, and the tears that stained them only made her look mouthwatering. Jack realized he enjoyed her anger more than her fear. It made her look more alive and more beautiful.
"I told you, we are in the City of Promiscuity," he murmured in a dangerously friendly tone. "The very air of this place reeks of every being's most perverted fantasies."
He took in another deep breath, almost growling with approval when he inhaled her luscious scent. Under different circumstances, this woman would have been the death of him. But how lucky he was that they were in the darkness' territory. In this world, he had the upper hand.
"It only means that you, my dear, aren't really as pure as I thought you are," he grinned wickedly. "You liked the attention I was giving you earlier, didn't you?"
She surprised him by spitting on his face. "You disgust me!"
Jack blinked, wiping the spit from his face. He would have slapped a woman who had done this to him if it was a different situation. But something about the scrunch in her brows or the revulsion in her eyes triggered something akin to want inside of him. Jack almost wanted to laugh at the realization, but he wasn't going to fight it either.
He surprised her by snarling and claiming her lips the second time.
Elsa's eyes went wide, but this time she could not find the strength to resist him. His minty scent had been clouding her senses ever since that first kiss, and it disgusted her to admit that she had been entranced by it. It had nothing to do with the air of the city, but more to do with the way he had expressed such tenderness and care in kissing her despite his roughness. What was hardest to admit was that a curious part of her had wanted to indulge.
She knew that it was wrong on so many levels. He was her enemy. He was meaning to kill her, and she knew he wasn't kidding when he said so.
"Stop…" she managed to say in between his kisses.
He pulled away from her abruptly, his eyes wide and gleaming, his pupils thinned into slits. She stared back dumbly, wary and dizzy from lack of air. Elsa had never felt more helpless in all her life.
Was this to become her fate? To become a victim of a demon's wicked desires?
"You have The Sight."
Her eyes snapped wide open, blood turning cold as a chill crawled down her spine.
How did he…
There was accusation in the demon's eyes, and then swift comprehension. Without preamble, he gathered her into his arms in swift motion, carrying her to who knows where. Placing two fingers in his mouth, he let out a sharp whistle and summoned an inky blue power that nearly suffocated the angel by the darkness reeking from it.
Wooooosh!
It took three seconds for Elsa's mind to register the fact that she was now a thousand feet above the city. The demon must have used some form of teleportation spell, and the jump from one place to another had left her feeling disoriented. She thought about screaming for help, but then thought better knowing that no help would come for an angel in the Netherealm. Cold air whipped around them, dark murky clouds passing swiftly behind. She found herself shrouded in darkness, but her eyes were sharp enough to catch glimpses of her surroundings.
She found herself lying face down against a hard, scaly surface, and the demon was above her, shielding her in an almost protective manner. His eyes moved rapidly from left to right, as if fearing that they'd be seen, and Elsa couldn't help but strain her eyes better to see where she was or what was happening.
Only when she heard a high-pitched roar did she realize that they were riding on a dragon.
"KLDFHUAGSKFLSNALRIHASAKLCNDKLVNAEVI!"
A black dragon. The unholy offspring of lightning and death.
"Stay quiet if you want to live." She heard the demon's deep voice whisper by her ear. Gone was the playful tone from his voice, replaced by a cautious warning to it. It chilled her in a not so unpleasant way, and the thought terrified Elsa to think that the sound of his voice had thrilled something inside of her. She bit her lip, fighting the tears upon realizing that she was discovered. It had only been days since she entered the Netherealm to do her mission, and she was instantly captured…
But then she realized that she was riding a black dragon… and there was only one black dragon known to have existed, which was said to have been killed by one of hell's most ruthless killers: the demon who killed the Son of Haddock…
She was riding on the legendary Night Fury. And the man above her was none other than the demon who was sent to kill it.
"Where are you taking me?" she managed to ask as the wind whipped viciously around them.
J ack only grunted in response. Soon they dove from the sky, into a far off place surrounded by mountains that glowed white against the night. They looked almost beautiful if not for the truth that it was a place found in enemy territory. No demonic presence occupied it, and Elsa guessed that this must have been this demon's lair. They descended into a deep pit, making her scream as everything around her blurred.
… … …
Elsa woke up, feeling soft silky sheets beneath her. Everything in her body seemed to ache, feeling a throbbing in her temples and a heaviness in her legs and her sight was still fogged with sleep. She briefly wondered if everything that happened had been just a dream, but she knew that the bed covered in black sheets weren't hers, and there was something about the chilly air that told her she was in a place that was nowhere near safe. She sat up and stretched her arms, feeling cold and bare as cool air greeted her skin…
And then she shrieked when she discovered that she was naked.
"Scream all you want. No one will hear you."
Elsa instantly pulled up the blankets to shield her bare form, finding the white haired demon leaning against the doorframe of the dimly lit room. His blue eyes glowed in the darkness, looking blank and vicious. His stance was casual, and this time he sported a silver chain around his neck and loose black pants, with strong arms folded loosely against his bare chest. Dread pooled in the angel's stomach as she registered the sight of his half-naked form.
"What did you do to me?!" she asked, her voice laced with fear and panic.
A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
Tears of rage stung at the corner of her eyes. The angel regarded herself, looking for bruises, for evidence of his violations on her body. She wanted to scream, to cry, to bury her face in her hands in shame. And that was what she exactly did.
Nothing was more humiliating than being defiled by your enemy. What would her parents say? What would Anna say? She'd be an object of disgrace in the heavenly realms. She'd be worthless. She'd be doomed to wander the unknown forever. She'd become fallen like the angels who rebelled against Tsar.
It was a fate worse than death.
"Save the tears, princess." Jack scoffed in irritation as he moved from his place. "I wish I could say we made love like wild animals, but that wasn't what happened. So shut up."
Elsa looked up and stared at him viciously.
"I'll be honest, I saw everything," Jack admitted shamelessly as he pulled open a drawer and grabbed a dark grey tunic. "But I wanted to see for myself if you really do have it."
He slipped the tunic over him then sat on her bedside. She scrambled away from him, her poise cautious and the blanket held protectively over her frame.
"You have The Sight." Jack said. It wasn't a question, but a confirmation. "I had to seal the marks in your body so that no one but I would be able to see it."
"Why?" Elsa asked him. "Why would you do that?"
Jack smirked. "If you bear The Sight, it only means that you're here to kill Lucien, am I right?"
Elsa looked taken aback, "But how did you—"
"Demon's aren't stupid," Jack interrupted her. He paused in thought then continued, "Well, those below the B class are. But everyone in the Netherealm knows that the one who possesses The Sight knows the answer to killing Lucien."
Elsa narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, "Then why would you help me then?"
"Because I want him dead." he answered, his voice laden with ice that it made the angel shiver.
She looked at him with genuine curiosity. This was new…
All throughout her life, she was taught that all demons bowed to Lucien's will. Even the mightiest of them heeded to his every beck and call, and here she was face to face with a demon who admitted to wanting their king dead. Was he meddling with her? Was he trying to gain her trust through deception?
She stared at him, tried to look beyond the determination in his eyes. This was a different man from the one who had violated with her before, like a side of him that was more honest than the evil picture he had presented to her earlier. By any circumstances, he could have raped her, killed her, or exposed her to Lucien the moment he found her. She could have fought back in fair battle, but demons were an unfair lot. He had every chance to do what he wanted to do with her in her sleep, and yet he had shown her the civility to give her privacy. He might have seen her nude, but she found no evidence of him touching her in ill manner. And now he claimed that he wanted their king dead. She could tell because of her Sight that he was speaking the truth.
But the question was why?
In spite of what she knew however, the guarded side of her had only warned her to be more careful around him.
"Are you… are you the demon who killed the Son of Haddock?" Elsa asked him, her voice barely above a whisper.
Jack regarded her with a blank expression before answering, "Yes."
A pause.
"We came here… on a black dragon." She murmured. "It was said that you were ordered to kill it… Why didn't you?"
Jack stared back at her for a few seconds until he stood up and walked towards the door.
"I burned your clothes," he said, changing the subject. "You'll find ones that might fit you on the top drawer. Meet me downstairs in five."
She blinked, "You burned my…"
The door shut with a soft click.
She sat on his bed stunned.
"…clothes."
She wanted to yell in indignation, but then again thought better of it. Elsa sensed the logic in what he did. He had to eliminate traces of her scent for her to survive the Netherealm. But then what was she supposed to wear?
She stood up, blanket wrapped protectively around her as she perused the drawers. All of the clothes were too large for her, and she settled for an off white tunic that covered her down to her thighs. Her face burned red as she found a few black boxers and thought twice about wearing one of them. But then again, she thought it was better than having to roam around a demon's lair without any undergarments.
Once clothed, she raked her hair with her fingers until they were tamed neatly to the side. Taking a deep breath, the angel studied the room she occupied. It was dim and murky, and nearly empty if not for the black bed, the drawers, and a chandelier of bones hanging above her. There were no windows, but frames hung by the walls that casted off faint blue light to illuminate the chambers. Elsa always thought that a demon's chambers would be more frightening than this, but then the moment the demon made no attempt to do anything horrid with her had already struck her as odd.
She didn't know how, but for now, she knew she could somehow trust this demon… for now. But just to be cautious, she murmured a spell of angelic tongue, a last resort that would summon a powerful blast of cold energy should he ever attempt to hurt her in a massive degree. And should he ever try to molest her again, she swore she'd make him regret ever touching a heavenly being in an unholy manner.
She left the room and trekked cautiously down the ivory stairs. The demon's lair was like that of a mansion in Fleurdelis, only that it looked more depressing in comparison. The ceilings were high, supported by buttresses, and chandeliers made of bones graced the center of the hall's ceiling. Tall, stained glass windows of dull hues were framed by dusty dark blue drapes. The faint light from the windows made the dust in the air sparkle like tiny snowflakes and even the gargoyle structures by the beams of the walls made the place look less hostile. Once again, such a place struck her as odd. Elsa didn't think that a demon's lair would look anything like this. Apart from her home, this was one of the most elegant sights she'd ever seen in her life. It was the only beautiful place she had found in the Netherealm.
It surprised her that she'd ever deem something in the dark realms as beautiful.
Somewhere from the large door to the left, Elsa heard a soft growl, almost a purr, echoing through the empty hall. She followed cautiously, her bare feet padding soundlessly against the chilly floor. A small hiss escaped her lips upon contact, the cold bothering her though it usually didn't. She rubbed her arms together and lightly pulled down on the hem of the tunic she borrowed, slightly annoyed that it barely covered her legs and it didn't give her enough warmth from the unnatural chill.
But these would have to do, she thought. If she was being honest with herself, she was grateful for the change of clothes as her old ones were already torn and nowhere near decent.
Upon entering the path through the door, Elsa realized that it led to a large dungeon. The purring sound became louder and she held back a gasp when she saw the white haired demon, laughing in a curiously boyish manner as he fed a large black dragon with slabs of white meat. She hid behind a stone pillar and spectated, awestruck at seeing an affectionate exchange between dragon and demon.
Taking a good look at the dragon, the angel discovered that it wasn't really as frightening as her imagination told her that it was. It had big green eyes and stubby limbs, and its teeth seemed to retract when in a light mood. Elsa thought it almost seemed kind of cute, comparing it to a large black kitty with scales and a pair of wings.
"You see this, big guy?" she heard him ask the beast as he held another slab of meat in front of the dragon. "This came from one of those shiny white moon fish I was telling you about."
The dragon snorted and sniffed at it playfully. It snapped its jaws, attempting to steal the meat from the demon, but failing.
"Ah-ah-ah!" the white haired demon scolded. "Say please."
The dragon growled. The demon laughed. The angel stared.
A breath escaped her lips quietly. The sight of the demon so uncannily happy with the black beast's presence almost made Elsa forget that demons were evil. Crazy as it may sound, there was a peculiar innocence in the laughs that reverberated from his chest as he reciprocated the dragon's affections with brotherly pats. The only time she'd heard a demon laugh, it usually was a cackle that chilled the bones and ignited fear and promise of death to its victims. But to hear him, chuckling like a regular teenage lad had Elsa thinking that the place wasn't the only thing that was odd about the Netherealm.
The demon himself was odd. And in Elsa's mental book, odd always equaled to suspiciously dangerous, no matter how innocent it seemed.
And he's nowhere near innocent looking, she thought wryly.
"I know you're there." Jack called out to her after feeding the dragon. "And it's already ten minutes. You're late."
The angel emerged from her hiding spot, looking at him cautiously with arms wrapped around herself. Jack raised a brow as he regarded her look from top to bottom, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips as he crossed his arms casually and leaned against a pillar beside him.
"You look incredibly sexy in my tunic, angel." Jack quipped. "Definitely a sight I'd like to see every day."
He took wicked satisfaction in seeing her blush and huff in annoyance.
"There were no other clothes that fit me well," she muttered under her breath. He noticed that her arms were protectively folded against her chest, and he raised an amused brow upon realizing that she wore no bra.
Of course she wouldn't. You burned everything, remember? He snickered in thought.
Without warning, the black dragon hopped to the angel's side, startling her as she took stumbling steps back and squeaked in surprise.
"Toothless," Jack warned the dragon with a glare. But the creature had downright ignored him. It placed its large head in between Elsa's arms and nuzzled her face. She visibly cringed at the contact, but was soon replaced with curiosity as she observed the dragon who showered her with affectionate attention.
"H-hi…" she greeted the creature uncertainly as she patted its scaly head with her dainty hands. She giggled as it blinked its large green eyes at her.
"Toothless, come here now." Jack nearly barked. The dragon listened to him this time, retreating to his side with an apologetic look. He forgave him by patting his head briefly before whispering something in demonic tongue as an order to dismiss the black beast.
Elsa realized she'd been holding back a breath as soon as the dragon retreated to its chambers.
"So that was the Night Fury…" she said, more to herself.
"The only demon that couldn't be controlled by Lucien." Jack murmured, loud enough for Elsa to hear. "That's why the damned king kept ordering demons around to find the beast and slay it before it gets even more powerful. A powerful creature that can't be controlled can lead to the royal family's doom."
Elsa stared at him, realization dawning on her. So that was why The Sight had been urging her to find him. He had protected the one thing that could definitely destroy Lucien.
"But why would a demon want to kill another demon?" Elsa wondered, her voice barely above a whisper. "Aren't demons supposed to protect their own kind?"
Jack smirked humorlessly. Why indeed? "It depends on how you define demons, angel."
She scrunched her brows. "Dragons fell along the angels who followed Lucien."
"Not all of them fell." He answered her. "One species stayed the neutral party."
"The Night Fury," the angel breathed. "So that's why…"
To the angel it made sense. The information must have been kept hidden to protect the creature's existence. Or so The Sight had deduced for her. Until the murder of the human family Haddock, not a thing has been known about the Night Fury.
The dragon might as well be the key to defeating Lucien.
"No angel or demon knows about this," the white haired demon went on. "I have nothing to prove that the Night Fury isn't a fallen being, but that's the only conclusion I could come up with on why Lucien wanted him dead. Any powerful creature that isn't for him is against him, and that dragon is just as strong as an experienced S class demon, and he's barely a century old. What more when he's to age centuries more?"
"They say a dragon's power grows with age." Elsa murmured. "I understand why the demon king would fear such a being…" She turned to the white haired demon and finally raised the question that's been bothering her since she came. "But why would you want to destroy your king?"
Jack nearly laughed at her question, but then again, it is a curious little thing for him to want to destroy his kind.
"Lucien is not my king," he answered her with a venomous smile.
Elsa narrowed her eyes at him accusingly. "So you want to usurp his throne then?"
This time, Jack laughed. And it wasn't his typical conceited laugh. It was a laugh that was hysterical and out of control, like he had found a terrible joke extremely funny. Elsa had to bite the inside of her cheek in irritation.
He's not just odd. He's crazy.
When Jack had calmed down, he answered her with a deadpanned, "No."
"Then why do you want him dead?"
"Because I am sick and tired of demons," he answered her with ice in his tone. He stepped swiftly towards her, almost like a flash that Elsa had barely seen him move. She was backed up against the pillar behind her, eyes wide with dread at finding herself once again in this very compromising position.
If he was going to kiss him again, she'd make sure to kick him down there harder.
"Why?" she asked him again.
"Because it is true what you angels say," he hissed, angry sparks triggering within his steel blue resolve. "And as much as I hate to admit that you prude hooligans are right, it's true that demons are worthless scum. We are nothing but pieces of a big mistake by that idiot you serve, and I want to put a stop to it with my own hands."
"You do not speak of Tsar that way!" Elsa growled angrily at him.
"Che—" he scoffed, pulling away from her as he took a step back.
Elsa regarded him for a moment, a pregnant silence ensuing as she watched him rearrange weapons on the racks situated on the walls.
The Sight told her there was more.
"You're guilty."
Jack froze.
"You're guilty that you killed an innocent man." Elsa stated, certain that she was correct. She trusted her strength. She trusted The Sight.
He was silent. He didn't confirm it. Nor did he deny it.
"You want to know why you've become part of the fallen." Elsa continued. "I assume you're not of the first generation of rebels."
He continued fixing his equipment, briefly wondering why he wasn't sending her away. He thought it was because he needed her for his plans. He needed her to keep Toothless safe. But part of him knew that it was because she was right, and he needed to know more…
"You want out… you've never wanted to serve a demon nor become one." She murmured. "You want to make amends."
"Are you finished?" he deadpanned.
Elsa paused, looking at him cautiously before saying, "You want atonement."
Jack stared back at her, then smirked.
"You may have The Sight, angel, but that doesn't give you the right to assume that you know me well."
"But I'm not wrong," she said, grinning triumphantly.
"Believe what you will." Jack answered her. "I don't care what you think of me, whether I'm a saint or sinner in your eyes or what not. My only concern is to keep Toothless safe until he's strong enough to help me kill Lucien. And I need a person with The Sight to help me see his weakness."
Jack took a staff with a curved end, almost like the one shepherds use. He pointed its tip to the floor and circled the room, creating a spell circle made of frost. The ice shifted across the floors in blue electric light, spreading in rivers of swirls and points. Elsa observed him warily, staying beside the ivory pillar as she waited.
"What are you doing?" she asked him finally when he finished.
"This is a marking spell." he answered her. "It's what demons use to mark territory, to ward off other creatures who'd want to claim it. It's usually used to mark places, but it can be used for beings as well."
There were warning bells ringing in the back of Elsa's mind. She took several steps back and tried to summon power in her fists while keeping an eye on the white haired demon.
"What are you going to use it on?" she asked, but she already knew the answer.
Jack smirked. "Not what. Who."
"You will not mark me!" she hissed as she backed away and raised her arms forward, the blue glow in her hands beaming threateningly.
Jack placed his hands on his hips and snorted. "If I don't mark you, then other demons will find you and they will kill you."
Elsa's eyes turned to slits as the glow in her hands gleamed brighter.
"Or, they might do something extremely worse, like turn you over to Lucien." he stated matter-of-factly.
"Why should I trust you?" she challenged him. "You're my enemy."
"Am I?" he asked her, his lips stretched into a crooked smile.
Was he the enemy? The angel's guard mildly faltered. She'd left the heavenly realms to find this man, to seek answers to her quest to save her world. Elsa knew trusting him was a dangerous gamble… and to be marked by him only meant that she would submit to his will, if only for a time. She'd become like the fallen, demons serving demons who have no will of their own. To be marked by him would protect her from other demons, but it would not protect her from him. Elsa would become his possession. An angel slave to a demon.
She placed a hand to the nape of her neck protectively. She had already sacrificed so much to fulfill her quest. If she would bind herself to him… she would lose whatever liberty she'd have left.
It would be like she'd sworn allegiance to him.
"How do I know you're not my enemy?" she asked him resignedly, dispelling her powers.
He grinned, "When all this is over, you have the glorious privilege of killing me yourself."
… … …
Her heart was beating fast. She was nervous.
If an angel had heard of what she was about to do, she would have been banished from the heavenly realms forever. But then, Elsa had already exiled herself by taking on the quest on her own.
Now she was to ally herself with a rank-A demon.
The process was simple, and not entirely as gruesome as she thought it would be. She was to stand at the circle within the circle, where the demon's power was to bind her temporarily. Once the incantation begun, she'd be rendered powerless and all of the seals in her body would open simultaneously in a gush of bright white light, releasing her inner powers save for The Sight. Her wings would unfurl, and the white demon would have to re-seal them with his own mark. The purpose was that only the demon who marked her would be able to open the seals for her use, and the marks on her body would become a branded proof that she was his property.
Yes it would be simple. But it didn't mean it wouldn't be painful.
What dreaded Elsa most of all was the way the marking spell would be completed. The final seal would be an intimate act for marking. For the seal to be powerful and believable, there must be an act that binds the host and the caster as closely as possible. The more intimate the act, the stronger the seal would be to ward off other demons.
"It'd be stronger if we'd have se—"
"NO!" she retorted furiously.
The demon snickered. "I was just kidding."
"I won't go through with this!" she complained angrily, stomping away from the inner circle. "What you're asking of me is—"
"Perverse? Disgusting? Horrible?" Jack raised a brow in amusement. "Usually women would want me to f*** them in a heartbeat."
"I'm not like your women, devil!" she hissed.
Jack shrugged, "Don't expect a strong seal if we hug, sweetheart. Demon's aren't the cheesy type."
The angel groaned, "Shut up!"
"You angels are so prude," he chuckled.
"We don't give ourselves freely like your whores, demon." Elsa spat, her cheeks burning red with anger and her arms wrapped protectively around her. "Our bodies are sacred. We give them to a person we want to be bound with for all eternity."
"And now, you are to bind yourself with me so—"
"This is different!" she argued. "That's it. I'm not going through with this."
Jack exhaled through his nose, exasperated with her stubbornness. "You were totally okay with smooching when I found you in Promiscuity."
"You caught me off guard!"
"You were pretty well-guarded, princess." he deadpanned.
"You—"
"Look, do you want my help or not?" Jack interrupted her, a vein popping by his temple. "You angels seriously can't take a joke. Do you think I'd want to be bound with an angel forever? I'm just as disgusted by this as you are!"
Elsa was taken aback by this. She would be lying if she said she wasn't insulted.
A bite to the neck would be strong enough to warn demons that they can't touch you, but it's not intimate enough for us to be bound together forever." he explained. "Once we kill Lucien, it's either I dissolve our contract or you kill me and the spell will be broken. Just consider it as a sacrifice for some divine calling s*** or whatever."
The angel pressed her lips together. Though she was doubtful, Elsa knew that this demon was willing to give up everything for this cause as much as her. Even without The Sight, she knew that his convictions are true. She saw it in his vicious blue eyes, the hatred pooling out from its dark depths. Along with hate was something that she was sure resembled guilt. He must have resented doing something, and it was an emotion she'd never thought she'd associate with a demon. She would use that emotion, use him, to fulfill her purpose.
Using each other was their mutual agreement.
She squared her shoulders, posing a calm demeanor although her heart beat loudly against her chest. If swallowing her pride was the price to pay to save the world, then it was a small price she was willing to pay. If losing a precious, innocent piece of herself was another price to pay to save the universe, then she would pay it gladly.
Even it hurt in so many levels that the demon wouldn't understand.
What was more to lose? She had already lost pieces of herself upon leaving her realm. She had lost a bigger piece when she yielded to his kisses. Elsa knew that the demon was right. She was now tainted in a way. She was no longer as pure as she believed herself to be.
She took small steps back within the frosted circle, hands held protectively over her chest. The cold stone floor made the soles of her feet numb, but she didn't care. She welcomed the sensation of the biting chill, if only to keep the shamed tears from falling down her cheeks. It was weakness to cry in this situation. She'd already lost much of her pride, and she wasn't willing to lose any more.
"Fine. Do it." she said. She had said it like she had declared suicide.
... … …
The lights of the dungeon dimmed. Only the light emanating from the spell circles gleamed in the darkness, covering angel and demon in an ethereal, ghostly glow. When Jack's lips moved as he uttered an incantation of demonic tongue, the strength from Elsa's body had left her, leaving her slightly suspended in the air. She felt exposed and helpless, feeling streams of energy moving from the core of her soul to every nerve-ending in her body. It was an alien sensation, much like lucid dreaming, but more peculiar in a way. She was conscious of her body, but she had no control. It frightened her, but her voice would not serve her to shout her protests.
"I rise, Jackson Overland Frost of the Silver Hel, the third generation of the fallen," he chanted, rivers of electric blue light cascading all over his body. "I bind this creature to me, an angel of the heavenly realms as my servant, to heed to my every will, to answer my every beck and call, until I release her from her bonds, in life or in death…"
He lifted his left hand towards the angel, whose wings now sprouted from her back in all its splendor. The energy inside the dungeon rippled in magnitude, making Jack stagger slightly from its intensity.
He realized that the angel was more powerful than he gave her credit for.
"Servant, speak your name," he ordered the angel.
"Elsa, daughter of Uriel." She responded while in trance.
Jack raised a brow, 'The daughter of Uriel?'
"As bonds are forged by blood, Elsa, daughter of Uriel, be bound to me in blood." Jack took three steps forward until he was face to face with the angel. His right arm snaked around her waist, while his left hand softly cradled her head as he craned her neck for him to complete the seal.
"So mote it be," Elsa answered.
And he bit the nape of her neck.
… … …
It was painful. Excruciatingly painful.
Her wings retreated into her back, the beautiful marks of the angel tongue that sealed it replaced with Jack's seal. It forged with her skin until it turned invisible, burning into her like cold fire. As lightning strikes the open field, so did the light of the spell circle disappear in a flash of blue and white. The dungeon turned dark as her scream pierced through the walls in a horrible, horrible, horrible cry. She clung to the demon who caught her as her feet met the cold ground once again. There was no strength. Only pain, wariness, and the blood soaking the tunic she had borrowed.
But it wasn't the physical pain that came as an aftermath of the spell that made her cry helplessly like a child. Jack saw it when he leaned back and watched her, clinging to him, almost as if embracing him for dear life. The tears that ran down her cheeks belonged to a broken woman who was robbed of everything. He saw it in the eyes she'd squeezed shut, as if she was afraid of what she'd see. He heard it in the sorrow of her wails, as if a loved one had died.
There was no consolation for an angel who'd submitted to an enemy of her race. What she'd done… what he'd asked her to do, even if it was to protect her, was about the same as asking her to commit suicide.
"Shhhh…" he whispered by her ear. The hand that held her neck now caressed her platinum locks. The tenderness of the action surprised the both of them, but they'd set it aside for now.
It didn't matter to Elsa if the tenderness was false, or just an attempt to silence her. But she welcomed the comforting gesture. She welcomed the voice of her master who murmured soft hushes by her ear, even the kisses that followed on her temple, her cheeks, her lips.
"Shhh…" Jack murmured again. Now that she was bound to him, her scent had become more powerful to him. Or maybe it was their proximity that had caused it. Even though the angel was bound to him, her purity still seemed so powerful that it almost made him disgusted with himself.
This was a sickeningly familiar feeling. It was the same heaviness in his chest, the same guilt that haunted him when he killed the Son of Haddock.
He knew that he had stolen a very precious piece of the angel's heart.
"Elsa," he murmured, still caressing her hair, still within the circle of his embrace. "It'll all be over soon."
Both of them hoped that 'soon' would come sooner.
… … …
It had been three hundred years.
Elsa didn't think that her sanity survived in those arduous years. She thought that becoming bound to a demon would make her bitter all her life. She had decided that being his servant would destroy her, but apparently she had underestimated herself and her resilient nature.
Her first few years were torturous. She was to act like his maidservant, cleaning his lair, running his menial errands, cooking his meals, among others. Other times, his orders were ridiculous, like having her stand on one foot for four hours, or have her forced to watch demons killing each other on his scrying glass. The worst was when she was ordered to clean Toothless' dungeon, something that she knew she would never enjoy doing, ever.
Strangely, Jack never punished her harshly when she tried to defy him, even when he had the very power to do so. The only punishment she'd ever had from him was that she was refused of her meals, and that was that.
In those three centuries, Elsa had become Jack's assistant in killing demons. Were it not for the fact that demons were their victims, Elsa would have resented the act. In spite of their nature in killing demons, angels hated the act of killing itself. It was the reason why they ended their enemy's lives swiftly. It was the mercy they bestowed upon demons that fell by their hand.
In the first hundred years that she accompanied Jack, he'd slaughtered their enemies in a rhythm that was swift and clean. But the following decades, her master's methods of murder had turned crueler. It began when stories of genocide occurred in the human realm, resulting to thousands and thousands of deaths, mostly children. Most of the stories of these humans' deaths were as gruesome as the way Jack killed his prey. One event had made her vomit, when she saw him pierce a lance through a B class Baphomet's mouth, and chopped its limbs with his sword to feed it to a swarm of giant locusts. He had killed the locusts with his fire, and shoved its remains down a she-devil's throat before killing the demon with his ice magic. Blood spurted all over the place like a fountain, coating his body in inky red.
He had done it all in one fell swoop, and replaying the memory in her head still left her gagging and baffled.
But it made her equally curious
In those years, she had also discovered a side of Jack that she'd never hope to see in a demon. She saw this mostly when he'd step into the dungeon in the lower levels of his lair when training with Toothless. His smiles and laughs were genuinely happy, and he'd acted like he'd never harmed a soul in his life. She saw it when they spotted a child nearing death when they entered the human realm on a winter evening, and he had gazed upon the child from afar with a solemn expression. She saw it when he was asleep in the days they had camped out, when he would snore softly as if he didn't have a care in the world. . Though he'd never admit it, Elsa discovered that Jack had a soft spot for human children. She'd doubted it the first fifty years of accompanying him on his travels. But little by little, she could see that he valued them in his own sick way.
His own sick way was the way he destroyed the demons who ever messed with them.
There were also some nights when he'd hear him scream in his chambers. Spiritual beings didn't need to sleep, but to do so was a luxury to them. In the times that Jack had slept though, there were occasions when she'd hear him mumbling in some unknown tongue. Because she was bound to him, she could sense if something was wrong, and in those times, she discovered that demons were also capable of having nightmares.
But then again, she'd always known that demons were cursed to have nightmares in their sleep. What she wanted to know was what terrified him in those dreams.
"I'm sorry…" she had heard him mumble one night. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"
It was the only part of his mumbling that she understood.
Three hundred years, and she still couldn't figure him out.
Her conversations with Jack often lead to heated arguments or discussions about visions she'd seen through The Sight. Ever since she found Jack and Toothless, the visions had changed. She'd seen a pair of wings, one white and the other black, and when Jack demanded an explanation, she'd answer that she didn't know. It aggravated him, and it annoyed her to no end.
The change in her visons was another puzzle piece to defeating Lucien that they'd have to answer. Since she found no reliable interpretation to her vision, the only option they had for the meantime was to train the black dragon. The more Toothless grew in power, the greater chance they had in defeating the demon king.
Even though she was doing her very best training the beast, it still didn't give her the treatment she wished she deserved from Jack. Apart from training sessions with Toothless, she'd never had a civilized conversation with her master.
Other times it was him being his annoyingly perverted-self teasing her until she'd wished she could strangle him to death. She detested Jack for how he'd insist she wear demon apparel. He always argued that 'less is more', and the more slutty she dressed, the less demons would suspect that she was an angel.
That was his only order she readily disobeyed.
But then she had noticed that he'd only want her to dress as such in his presence. He nearly chopped the head off of a demon when it tried to grope her.
Like right now.
"Stay calm," Elsa reminded herself in a whisper, a vein threatening to pop in her head. "Think happy thoughts."
A chorus of baritone chortles reverberated through the bar filled with demons of every kind. Loud music blasted through hive holes in the ceilings, and the bar's walls were made of slimy red-black tissue glistening with some sticky saliva that dripped from the corners. It would have been pretty were it not for the fact that it was a demon's slaver. It smelled like bile and blood, and it made her stomach churn.
A crowd of devils grinded against each other in the dance floor, strobe lights flashing from who knows where. Sparks danced off their sweat-slicked skins, twinkling in time with the sensuous chime of the pounding music. By the bar stool sat Jack and a few other demons who'd been ogling at harpies that danced in the air. Elsa dared not look.
"Lemme see more of that junk—woah! That's what I'm talking about!"
"The red-headed bitch is mine!"
"Oh f*** off Marconi!"
"Hah! Your man stick is too small for that chick. Pick on someone your own size like tha' harpy over there!"
"Look at all them boobies!"
Even though they were female, she detested seeing them and their bare chests for everyone to see. But the perverted remarks from Jack and his… drinking companions were much, much, much worse.
Jack had been down to his tenth bottle of scorpion beer. Because she was bound to him, she could smell him above all the reeking stench in the crowded room. If she could, she would have smashed the bottles in the bar stool and dragged him out of there, and probably give him a lecture on how drunkenness was sinful and horrible.
But you can't tell a demon that. It was their nature to be sinful and horrible.
"Hey Elsa!" Jack barked at her while smashing a glass across the floor as he laughed. Though he sounded drunk, Elsa knew better that he was completely sober. "Get your ass over here! We gotta go!"
Three hundred years and she still wasn't used to the demon world. True to her angelic nature, she detested it with every fiber of her being.
On her way to her master, she was stopped by another demon. Unlike the others who looked monstrous or animalistic, this one was much like Jack, human in form but definitely demonic. A tall handsome man with brown hair and a goatee, and he wore a leather vest and dark pants and boots. There were markings in his arms, and Elsa guessed they were seals that hid different weapons. A Tormenter, Elsa figured, for Jack had mentioned that demons with such markings were identified as such.
"Hey," the demon greeted her, eyes looking at her with impish desire. "How're you doing?"
Elsa narrowed her eyes. This was wrong. Another demon isn't supposed to want her because of Jack's mark on her. It wouldn't be possible unless…
Her eyes widened with dread as a sickening feeling churned within her stomach.
"The name's Flynn Rider," the demon introduced himself.
"My master is calling me," she told him uneasily, her eyes avoiding his. She went past him until he caught her by the arm.
"Come on," he cooed. "Why in such a hurry?" He bent down and sniffed her.
No…
The demon's eyes went wide, and his lips curled into a malicious smile.
"You smell mouthwatering baby girl," he murmured against her neck. "What kind of demon are you?"
Alarm bells rang in her mind. Flynn Rider was a rank-A demon… the same class as Jack.
Which meant he was powerful enough to detect her true identity.
"F*** off Rider!"
It was Jack. For once in her life, she was relieved that he had come to her rescue.
The brown-haired demon turned to him with a smirk. The presence of the Winter Plague didn't faze him, and he proved this by snaking an arm around Elsa's waist to press her flush against him. Jack snarled, his pupils dilating into slits as power crackled through his skin.
"Why so possessive Frost?" Flynn taunted him, ignoring Elsa who tried to push herself away. "I thought we agreed on sharing whores. Remember the summer of 82?"
Jack smirked humorlessly, eyes still slanted with killing intent. "I only share when it's worth throwing away, Rider. Now f*** off."
The Tormentor ignored him, choosing to whiff along Elsa's neck instead. "She smells so damned good…"
Elsa cringed. She was very well capable of defending herself…. But if she used her powers, she'd be discovered.
It would be more dangerous than having been groped by a demon. But it still angered her to be helpless.
She felt herself yanked away from Flynn abruptly, barely having the time to register Jack's lips covering hers. His wet tongue that tasted of alcohol invaded her mouth roughly, and warmth sizzled through her skin that had nothing to do with the way he was kissing her.
The warmth that traveled her skin was a trigger. A reaction that exposed Jack's markings on her skin. A pattern of electric blue swirls danced on the skin left exposed by her skimpy black bolero and shorts. But that wasn't what bothered Elsa.
What bothered her was the way Jack had kissed her so licentiously, so lasciviously, that their little show made demon heads turn their way in lustful fascination. The way he forced a moan out of her by biting her lip and running his hands all over her body made her cringe with disgust, coupled by the humiliation of having been seen by a crowd of devils who were clearly aroused by their public display.
It had become more demeaning when their lips separated with a loud pop before she had the chance to push him away. It made her look dazed by the kiss when in truth she wasn't. It had made her look weak.
It had made her look like a wanton in the eyes of her enemies.
Flynn raised his brows and chuckled, "Whoah."
"She is mine." Jack nearly roared, his eyes warning not only Flynn, but every other demon inside the bar, that he would destroy anyone who ever dared touch his property.
The brown haired demon snorted, "Alright, alright. You proved your point." And then he turned away, grumbling about how Jack Frost was such a killjoy.
Elsa had wanted to storm out of there, but her master had beat her to it. He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the bar wordlessly and ruthlessly. It was time for them to go home.
But Elsa had no home in the dark realms. Only the prison that was Jack Frost.
… … …
They'd reached Jack's lair in only a few hours. They hadn't spoken a word to each other since they came as Elsa quickly went to her room for a change of less revealing clothes. Jack had proceeded to the dungeon to feed Toothless, and the following hours were quiet.
Jack was still pissed. He was tempted to hunt Flynn Rider down for touching what was his.
He couldn't explain it, but he felt an urge to kill that was as wild as his hatred for seeing tortured human children when he saw Flynn touch Elsa. It made the blood in his veins boil with rage, and he didn't even care if people discovered that he was the one responsible murdering the higher up demons that moment.
He was so mad he could murder an entire army.
Jack always knew that he was possessive. What he didn't know was he'd have the intensity of possessiveness that he'd had with Elsa. He'd always known that he was protective of her in the same way he was protective of Toothless. He needed the both of them to fulfill his goal of killing Lucien.
He had kissed Elsa to prove a point. It was a defensive mechanism to protect the both of them, to protect his cover and to protect her identity.
But the rage in him had him doubting his own intentions.
What's wrong? Jack asked himself. What's wrong with me?
He cursed the Son of Haddock. It was because of him that he had known what 'caring' was about.
So I care about the angel too now? Jack thought wryly. First the dragon, and now an angel. Can you believe it?
Jack decided he was a freak of demon nature.
"Elsa!" he called out to here. "Come here now."
He had to see her. Elsa was the only one who calmed his nerves. He didn't know why, but it started during those nights when he had dreams of that night he killed Toothless' previous master. She had come into his chambers quietly, and sung him songs in angelic tongue. He admitted to himself that he loved her voice, because it was the only piece of heaven he had ever experienced.
Those nights she came to sing to him, he had begun imagining what heaven was like. Many nights after, he likened heaven to be like her songs… soothing and peaceful and carefree.
The angel's presence in his lair brought him a little piece of heaven. It took away other forms of demons, like his anger, like his guilt.
Elsa was his little piece of heaven.
"Elsa!" he called for her again, sounding angry this time.
He turned to the door and found Elsa there, a blank expression on her face as she walked towards him. He paused, slightly confused on why the usual fire in her eyes was muted to a dull hue.
"Take it off." She mumbled.
"What?"
"Your mark," Elsa said more clearly. "I want you to take it off."
Jack narrowed his eyes. "Why?"
Her response was instant, fire igniting her eyes as she yelled in indignation.
"Because I don't want you touching me again!" she cried angrily, her eyes shining with power and unshed tears.
He scoffed. "Are you so disgusted by me that you want out of this contract so soon?"
"YES! YES I AM!" she yelled at him with all the pent up frustration of the three hundred years she'd been his slave. "I am disgusted by you! I am disgusted by all of you!"
She was crying. This was the first time Jack had seen her cry since he'd met her. It was a cry of anger and humiliation and downright frustration, and a sudden pang of guilt sliced through his chest at the sight of it. He took conscious steps forward, hands carefully reaching out to her. But she took this as hostility as she took several steps back while maintaining a fierce glare.
"You will not touch me again!" she yelled. "You will not! You will not! YOU WILL NOT!"
Elsa struck him with her powers, but the spell that she was bound with prevented her from harming him even with her magic. Frustrated, she struck a gargoyle behind him and wept bitterly. Jack realized she was fed up with the way he was treating her, and that scene at the bar had went past the breaking point of her patience.
The demon of guilt had once again crept its way into his heart. The fact that he was consumed by it was a problem in its own.
He was turning soft.
"What about Lucien?" he asked her. "Will you cast aside your mission just because you're bitching about me kissing you?"
"You don't get it!" she yelled at him. "You demons don't get it! You will never understand!"
"Understand what?"
"You've stolen my eternity, Jack!" she answered him angrily, rubbing her tears furiously. "What you demons throw away like rags are precious to me! My dignity, my innocence, the kisses I promised my sister to save for the angel I'll marry are the only things I have that reminds me of who I am! I've given up everything… everything to protect my family, to protect my world, to protect the human race, and you've taken the only things that remind me that I'm still me!" She hiccupped, taking a deep breath. "But now… now you've robbed me of my pride. You took my liberty and you've tainted me with your demonic scum! I can never show my face to my family again after this is over… I've lost my honor…. I've lost... I've lost…"
She was wrong, Jack thought. As he watched her weep into her hands, Jack knew she was wrong about what she said, about not understanding.
Jack understood how prudence meant a lot to her race. He knew how much she valued purity, and grace, and innocence and liberty and love. Such things were beautiful…
He knows because he saw those things in her. He understood.
And he had taken them away.
He walked swiftly towards her, and to both of their surprise, Jack had enveloped her into an embrace, much like the time they first made their contract.
"I'm sorry," he murmured, kissing her forehead. "I'm sorry," he kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry," he kissed her nose. "I'm sorry," he kissed her lips.
He showered her with kisses and apologies. He had never done this to her since the day he met her. He had never done this to anyone, even to the women he had kissed before. He had never shown such tenderness or care, or sweetness or gentleness.
Only with this angel. Only with her.
"Stop," Elsa whispered as she closed her eyes. Her knees felt weak as she clung to him. His tenderness had mad her vulnerable, his apologies more so. "Please stop."
He didn't stop.
He kissed her slowly, tenderly, wrapping his arms around her with so much care, fearing she'd break. She responded, the same way she did when she first met him in that alley in Promiscuity. But in comparison, something about this kiss was more intimate, deeper, something that had more depth than just fleshly passion.
"Then stop me," he murmured in between kisses. "Kill me this instant."
She whimpered, "No… I can't."
He kissed her longer this time, harder, but maintaining the gentleness he knew she deserved. "You can."
"No."
"You want out remeber?"
She replied by kissing him back, the tears in her eyes disappearing.
"No," she replied breathlessly.
He claimed her lips again, his soul drowning in euphoria.
When he leaned back to break the kiss and look at her eyes, he saw something that he'd never think he'd see in Elsa.
Desire.
No… something deeper.
All restraint he had kept the moment he laid eyes on her from three centuries ago crumbled into dust.
He kissed her again... And again... And again...
"Jack,"
"Shhh..."
"Mmm.."
And again... And again... And again...
He couldn't get enough of her.
He gathered her in his arms and took her to his chambers. Throughout, he never stopped kissing her, never stopped murmuring apologies, never stopped holding her with his uncharacteristic tenderness.
He ignored the vases he broke, he ignored the doors he'd shattered open. His sole attention was on the weight he'd carried in his arms.
His sole attention was on her, his little piece of heaven.
"It'll be over soon," he promised, planting his lips on hers more throroughly.
What in hell's name had gotten over him?
… … …
A/N: I am blushing furiously in embarrassment as I end this chapter. (./.)
May the Fortress be with you…