Chapter Text
For as long as Fran had known her, Chrome had been into anything and everything paranormal - her house was filled with crystals, she owned several decks of tarot and other reading cards and had spell books and herbs lying around her room.
Fran, on the other hand, had always been a skeptic. If you asked him, it was all just a big mumbo jumbo to scare people.
So, naturally when Chrome had asked him to try out the Ouija board with her, Fran had accepted. It was just a children’s toy, after all.
The two of them sat on the center of Fran’s living room, which was the most spacious area in his otherwise cramped house. Chrome had been concentrated and serious as she laid out the wooden plate, explaining briefly the rules to Fran, who was picking his nose in disinterest.
Too many rules for a kids’ game , he thought to himself.
Chrome had been the one to do most of the talking, asking if anyone was there with them, if anyone wanted to communicate, but nothing came through.
Only silence surrounded them.
Fran had grown bored and he felt bad for Chrome, who had been so excited about the board, so he decided to spice it up a notch.
‘’Any demons here?’’ He deadpanned. Chrome’s face went pale and she hissed at Fran. ‘’Communicate with us, make yourself at home.’’
Chrome had gone livid and nagged at him about the dangers of inviting something sinister to his home. Fran had simply waved her off and they closed the board immediately after. Nothing had come through the board for the entire night and everything had been normal after Chrome left, too.
In the morning, everything was different.
Fran knew someone was in his room as soon as woke up.
Something evil, watching him, waiting.
He cursed himself for not sleeping with a knife under his pillow in case of a robbery, but reminded himself that he had nothing worth stealing anyway.
So, instead of theft he was going to get murdered.
Fantastic.
Hesitantly, he sat up and opened his eyes, blinking away the sleep from his eyes. At the end of his bed stood a lanky male dressed in an all black Victorian suit. The first two buttons of the undershirt were undone, revealing a peek of the man’s almost transparent white skin.
What caught him off guard were the two jet black horns poking out of the unruly blonde hair and a set of bat like wings. The man had tucked them neatly behind his back - they would’ve bumped something down otherwise.
‘’Erm…’’ Fran scratched his cheek nervously. ‘’Who the fuck are you?’’
The man grinned wildly, revealing a pair of sharp fangs. ‘’I’m Belphegor, one of Hell’s seven princes and the demon of sloth. You summoned me, mortal.’’
Fran eyed the male from head to toe once more, coming to a conclusion. Chrome must’ve told Mukuro what they had done last night. It wouldn’t be the first time for him to try to prank Fran.
‘’Sure you are, buddy.’’ Fran pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance and rose up. ‘’I appreciate the effort, but I don’t have time for your fantasy roleplay nonsense. Tell Mukuro to try harder next time.’’
The man - Belphegor - was agitated. He grabbed Fran by the forearm as he tried to walk past him.
Fran yelped in surprise, looking at the hand that easily wrapped around his skinny arm. Only then did Fran notice long, black claws which were grazing his skin. Red marks were already forming on the area from the tightness of his grip.
‘’You dare to ridicule the prince of hell, mortal?’’ Belphegor snarled.
‘’First of all, it’s Fran,’’ he tried to tug his arm free from his iron grasp, ‘’and second of all, you can drop the act now. Also stop calling yourself the prince of hell, it’s kind of embarrassing.’’
The lack of fear and self defense seemed to momentarily stun Belphegor long enough for Fran to snatch his arm away, rubbing on the area he had grabbed.
‘’Now, shoo. I have somewhere to be.’’
He is no ordinary mortal , Belphegor figured as he watched Fran walk away, unfazed by the demon.
A wicked grin rose on his lips.
This could be fun.
‘’So,’’ Fran stole some fries from Chrome, who only shot him an annoyed glare, ‘’caught any demons on your way home?’’
Chrome would’ve smacked him across the head had they not been in a public place. He reached for the fries again, but Chrome was quicker and slapped his hand away.
Fran rubbed his hand and faked a hurt expression on his face.
‘’No,’’ she admitted, ‘’what about you?’’
He thought about the blonde man from this morning, standing in the middle of his room and claiming to be a prince of Hell. Fran would bet all of his money - which wasn't a lot - on Chrome falling for the act and believing he was a demon.
‘’Oh yeah, my place is filled with demons. We’re having a tea party after this, you should come.’’
Chrome rolled her eyes at him. "You're a prick."
A mischievous glint flashed across his emerald eyes. ‘’Yet I’m your favorite person, who you hang out with almost daily," he said, not missing a beat, ‘’what does that say about you?’’
‘’That I have a bad taste in friends.’’ She said, yet her eyes were filled with affection. There was no bite in her words. There never was.
Fran offered her a quick smile before stealing more food from her plate and earning a vulgar hand gesture in the process.
"Oh right, you can tell Mukuro his prank failed." Fran licked the salt from his fingers before wiping them on a napkin. "Though his friend almost had me."
Chrome gave him a long, confused stare. "What prank? What friend?"
"You know what prank," He muttered, "I mean the tall, lanky guy? His name is Belsomething. Dresses really funny."
She shook her head, purple hair whipping from side to side to follow the movement. "I don't know him."
Fran studied her, trying to spot any signs of her lying. There were none.
He gave up, shrugging off the topic. "Must be a new friend, then."
The front door creaked loudly when Fran opened it, making him wince at the screeching sound. No matter how many years he had lived in that house, he’d never get used to the sound.
The house seemed more vacant than it had been in the morning - there was no sign of Belphegor, which Fran was deeply grateful for.
Something grabbed his attention as soon as he took a step forward.
What’s that smell?
Fran brought his hand up against his nose, trying to block out the gut turning reek filling his house.
The smell of rotten eggs and death lingered in the air. As if something was decomposing inside, but he couldn’t locate the reason behind the smell. Nothing should be causing the smell, he had taken the trash out before meeting with Chrome.
Maybe the house was starting to rot from old age and would collapse and bury him under one of these days. Fran shuddered. What a way to go.
Holding his nose with one hand, Fran started spraying lemon scented air freshener all over the house, eventually getting rid of the sickening smell. He might get an asthma attack from the amount of air freshener, but he was willing to risk that.
If the smell came back, he would have to call the landlord in case there was a dead body rotting somewhere. That wouldn't be pleasant.
After eating his daily dose of chicken flavored cup noodles, Fran took his laptop to bed and began to read a long academic text. He'd have to pull an all-nighter to make up for the missed hours last night or else he would fail his exams desperately.
No longer than fifteen minutes later, his eyes were feeling heavy and it took every last bit of his focus to keep them open. Twenty minutes and he had fallen asleep with the laptop open on his lap, illuminating his face with blue light.
A long shadow appeared on the wall behind Fran, but he didn't as much as stir in his sleep. Not until the lights in the room flashed on from the command of snapping fingers.
With his heart pounding against his chest, Fran straightened himself and looked around the room in mild panic.
"Hello, mortal." Belphegor grinned from the end of the bed, "Hope I didn't interrupt your nap."
Fran took a few deep breaths and waited for his heart to settle. He eyed Belphegor warily, noticing the change of attire - tonight he was wearing a dark red three piece suit with a black vest with black velvet details. Much to Fran's disappointment, he had kept the horns and wings on.
"Are you stalking me?" He asked, praying for his voice to not fail him. This prank had gone too far. "How did you even get in?"
Belphegor waved his hand dismissively before shoving them in his pockets, leaning forward ever so slightly.
He crouched a lot, Fran noted.
"Through the portal, of course."
Fran stared at him.
"The portal to Hell? What are you, an imbecile?"
After a long, awkward silence Fran cleared his throat. "Right, of course. Because you're a… demon. And my room has a portal straight to Hell."
Belphegor simply nodded as if he was confirming the weather for him.
"Well," Fran snapped his laptop shut, "next time you see Satan, tell him I said hi."
"As if He would have time to---" Belphegor paused. "You're messing with me, aren't you?"
Fran couldn't see his eyes but he could feel them following his every move. Perhaps he needed to be more wary of him.
"Of course not." He deadpanned. "Also, you can't just come here uninvited. You're breaking the law. And you're stalking me."
Belphegor cocked his head to the side, his grin never fading from his face. Something about it made Fran's skin crawl.
"You invited me here, mortal," he said nonchalantly, "make yourself at home, those were your exact words."
I might've made a mistake, Fran realized.