Chapter Text
“You damn SCUM!” Tyos Kivrah was harshly thrown into a dark cell, his face hitting the ground hard.
“Shit low life thief.” The deer demon guard spits, locking the cell door.
Tyos sits up, rubbing the side of his face where he hit the unforgiving stone ground, and brushes the dirt off of his old grey sweater and tattered pants. He knew the risks of trying to steal from the Royal Qilin family, though he was fairly certain he could pull it off. Boy, was he was wrong. The royal family aren’t actually Qilin though, it’s more of an honorific term, they’re actually just deer demons. Whatever they are, they pack some SERIOUS cash.
“Oh great. Great. Nice. There goes my chance at making some real money.” The small demon mumbles to himself, running his clawed hands through his dark and shaggy brown hair, and scratching the skin around his curved horns.
“Ugh. Whatever, I’ll just teleport out of here.” Being a crossroads demon, Tyos could teleport himself to the closest crossroads at will. Though, he couldn’t escape this cell.
“What the…” Tyos looks down and, to his horror, there was a sigil painted on the floor of the cell. A sigil to prevent teleportation. “No. No! What the fuck seriously!” There was nothing in the cell to chip the paint off, and the stone just ate away at his nails. Tyos was trapped.
“Ugghhh. You stupid fucking Qilins!!!”
-
He’s been in the empty cell for hours now. Maybe even a day? Nobody has entered the dungeon since he arrived. No guards, no new prisoners, nothing. Tyos was beginning to believe he’d rot away in this cell. So when someone finally enters the room, the tired demon quickly perks up. But it wasn’t a guard. The person is tall and slender, wearing dark robes adorned with gold and red silks. Actual gold adorns their impressive antlers, as did the ceramic deer skull mask that covers their face. And intricate designs were etched into the sides of their short brown hair. This person was part of the royal family.
“Damn, you really are a crossroads demon.” The person spoke, their voice slightly muffled by the mask.
“Yeah, and you’re a fucking Qilin.” Tyos growls, his tail swishing back and forth. “What do you want, rich kid?”
“I wanna help you, but only if you help me as well.” The Qilin says in an odd voice that seems to be a combination of desperation and unbridled calmness. A voice that Tyos did not like.
Though it makes him laugh. “What! Why the hell would I ever help you, damned Qilin!”
“Because you’re gonna be executed tomorrow,” they take a step towards the cell bars, “and you’re my ONLY chance of getting out of here.”
“Well shit. Fuck. They’re really gonna kill me for trying to steal one tiny little trinket? And why the hell do you want to leave here? You LIVE here.”
“Well, considering the “tiny trinket” you tried to steal was an ancient family heirloom, yeah. And I wanna leave here because I’m sick and tired of BEING here.” The Qilin starts to pace, moving their hands as they talk. “I hate this royalty bullshit, and I’m sick of all the shit my parents expect me to do! The damn idiots want me to be king, for fucks sake! They have countless other kids between them but they want ME to be king because of some ‘potential’ that I have! I’m the fucking youngest son and they want me-”
“You’re rambling, kid.” Tyos cuts him off, tired of hearing him whine. He stops mid-pace, and strides closer to the cell bars, taking off his ceramic mask and- oh. Oh no. He’s cute. Fuck. His face is a lot rounder than Tyos would think, some type of black powder surrounds his eyes, and even in the dimly lit dungeon, he can see that his eyes are piercing red.
“Listen. All I need you to do is take me out of this kingdom, I’ve studied the surrounding lands but they’re just maps. I don’t know how to navigate them.” He sounds really desperate now.
Tyos grins, rubbing the side of his face. He’s gonna play this cutie for all he’s worth. “Hmm, sorry. Can’t help you. Looks like we’re both stuck here. That is, unless you want to make a deal?”
“A deal?” Intrigued, the Qilin steps in closer.
“Yeah, your freedom in return for your soul. You normally get 10 years, but,” Tyos grins the most smug grin you could imagine, “I’ll make it 15 because of your pretty little face.”
The Qilin is glad for how dim the dungeon is, otherwise it would be apparent that he’s blushing. “Flattery won’t get you anywhere with me, but fine. You have yourself a deal.” He starts to quickly walk towards the door, putting his mask back on. “We make it before we leave. Be ready, I’ll be back within a few hours.”
“Don’t got much to get ready with, kid. Guards took all my stuff.”
The Qilin sighs. “Fine, I’ll get you your stuff back.”
-
Tyos can’t tell how long it’s been since the Qilin left. ‘Damn, why the hell does this guy gotta be so cute? Why the hell am I even helping him? This idiot’s just gonna slow me down, he’s just a rich spoiled brat who-’ Tyos is snapped out of his thoughts when he hears the dungeon door open. He gets up to see the Qilin, but he’s dressed drastically differently. He’s no longer wearing the sleek robes, but visibly old gray tattered ones, and an even more tattered black cloak with a hood. His antlers no longer have gold on them, and he has on a old and cracked plain deer skull mask, that looks just a little too real.
It was honestly hard for Tyos to not laugh. “Nice look, kid.”
“If I went anywhere within the kingdom looking like I did, we’d definitely be stopped.” The Qilin grumbles, taking off his mask. He fishes out a key from a small sack, unlocks the cell, and throws it in the sack. “Here’s your stuff back, now let’s make that deal.”
Tyos picks up the sack, walking towards the taller demon. He can’t actually take the soul of another demon, but this guy doesn’t know that. “First of all, what’s your name?”
“Saphron Aspeos.”
“Well, Saphron Aspeos,” they stand close now, inches away from each other, and Tyos now sees just how tall Saphron is, at least a foot taller than him, “you do accept the terms, your soul in exchange for 15 years?”
“Yes.” God, this dude is gullible.
“Good. Now,” Tyos yanks Saphron down by his robe, and kisses him. Harshly. All passion and no restraint, that has Saphron’s eyes wide and his head spinning, “let’s get outta here. Don’t move.” He snakes his free arm around the tallers waist, and in the blink of an eye, they’re out of the dungeon, standing in the middle of a crossroads.
“How… how did you-” Saphron is dizzy, and feels like he might puke.
“We’re not called crossroads demons for nothing. I can teleport to any crossroads closest to me at any time.” Tyos isn’t paying attention to Saphron, he’s too busy gearing back up with his weapons and disguise. He ties a thick cloth bandana with a pointed tooth smile and a- most likely real- blood splatter around his face. Then he dons a hooded cloak, similar to Saphron’s.
When he looks up, the taller demon is hunched over, one hand clutching his stomach, the other over his mouth. “Jeez kid, don’t puke.”
“Stop calling me kid!” Saphron snaps, shakily standing back up. “I’m not much younger than you are!”
“Oh yeah? How old are you then?”
“Two hundred and twenty four springs. I’ll be two hundred and twenty five next spring.”
“Oh.” Tyos didn’t mean to say that out loud. “Well, I’m still two springs older than you.”
“Hah! See, we’re-”
“Save me your bullshit, Saphron.”
“I prefer to be called Saph.” The taller says coldly as he walks closer to Tyos, putting his old mask back on.
“Ugh. Fine. And I’m Tyos, but while we’re all buddy-buddy, you can call me Ty.” Looking around, Ty realizes they’re still very close to the castle they were just in. “Alright Mister ‘I’ve studied the surrounding lands’, tell me, what’s north of this shitty kingdom?”
It takes Saph a moment to think. Not much is written about the north lands, but then he remembers. “Neutral territory, not owned by any one family. The High North.”
“Exactly. Hope you don’t mind the cold, because that’s where we’re going. Let’s go, we gotta get as far away from the castle before the day breaks. And you better keep up with me, I’m not gonna have you slow me down.”
Saph laughs at the statement. “Says the one with the short legs.”
“Watch it.” Ty growls.