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Red. Everything was red.
The anger that coursed through your soul. The blood that boiled in your veins. The rage that dilated your eyes and curved your fingernails into claws. And finally, the fury that tore through your body as it contorted and transformed.
All you saw was red. All you felt was pain.
The black horns came first, bursting out of your skull. You hissed in agony, clutching your head as the horns rose upward and curved towards each other so their pointed tips just barely touched.
Then the wings appeared. Bones split in your spine, multiplying, then binding themselves together in new configurations. New muscle cells coated them in an instant, sprouting and maturing in seconds. You screamed in pain when they pressed against your back and broke through the skin. You felt the hot blood drip down your spine and your eyes rolled into the back of your head. The webs straightened behind you, and black leathery skin materialized over the raw tissue. The spindle-like wings stretched. Born.
And finally, your feet mutated. Bones crunched, crooked, and circled. You shrieked as they melted together to form something different. Something round and hard. You gnawed at your lips, tasting blood through the soft tissue, squeezing your eyes shut. Hot flashes of pain shot up through your legs, forcing your eyes open to see no feet now. Instead, hooves appeared in their place.
Then the pain was gone, replaced by the sensation of warmth. It flooded your system, soothed your mind. Erased the torture that had ripped you apart only seconds ago.
A gentle rhythmic pressing against your palm pulled you from your haze. You gazed down at your right hand, which held a heart, scarlet red, gently beating.
Hunger snarled in your gut and on instinct, you brought the organ to your mouth and bit down. Blood oozed out as your fangs sank into the meaty tissue. You chewed, the metallic taste coated your mouth.
A surge of energy stormed in your veins. Its strength invigorated yours. Power bubbled up inside of you. Potent. Heavy. The air electrified around you and your magic flared, thousand times stronger than before.
You were changed. Altered.
Your eyes flicked to the ground where the body of a large goat lay unmoving. Its chest torn was open, the angry red of its body cavity glaring at you. The ribs were broken and cracked. Between them was only empty space.
You turned your attention to the heart once again, overcome with rage and revulsion. You squeezed it slowly, feeling it fold in on itself with each moment. Your claws speared it and it crushed under your strength. Blood burst and spilled over your palm, trickling down your arm, dark and slippery.
Then you dropped it to the ground. And the red cleared.
You blinked, your vision returning to normal. Though the room was shrouded in misty red light, you could see the grey walkway that went straight down the hall to the entrance. Just past that you knew were the black gates that opened to the Devil’s realm.
That’s when reality began to set in.
You had been taken to the Devil’s realm because of a deal. A deal you had not known existed. A deal struck long ago. And the Devil….
He had looked at you with his black, void-like eyes and leering smile. Your heart had almost stopped and a chill ran down your spine. He was going to use you as a pawn in his war to break the barrier between the realms of the Arcana and mortals. He was going to chain you to him and use your magic against those you loved.
You couldn’t let that happen. But you knew of no other way to save them all except…
Growling, you glanced at the black wrought iron throne. Your throne.
A slight hesitation rippled through you and you strode towards it. Though foreign to you, your legs did not wobble. They carried you straight and unwavering. Confidence you never had before.
You placed a hand on the back of the seat, your claws tracing the engravings. It was cold, the only thing cold in this place that was hot, humid, almost scorching.
Closing your eyes, you sat. A tidal wave of emotion crashed through you. Anger, rage, despair, hopelessness, grief.
It didn’t matter. None of it mattered. Nothing mattered now.
Voices. From far off but your ears heard.
Slowly you opened your eyes. You should have been excited. They were coming. They were coming to save you.
And they were too late. Too too late. Eyes darted to your claws and hooves, and rage flooded into your nerves, jolting your body with fury. They would see what you had become, what you had done to save them all.
They wouldn’t understand. You snarled, knowing the horror on their faces you would see. You had saved the world and all they would see was ugliness.
You could hear them arguing amongst themselves. They were frantic, afraid of this realm, of not finding you, of what had become of you. They thought you would be hurt or worse...dead.
They didn’t know. They thought you were weak.
Oh, how you would show them.
You could feel the warmth emanating from their bodies as they drew nearer to your gate.
“Let me see if I can open the gates,” you heard Asra say.
“Oh, let me,” you cocked a finger, magic invisibly pulling at them.
The iron gates swung open. You could hear them scream on their hinges and you felt a grimace come from Portia. You could hear the footsteps of the group draw closer.
Seconds passed and finally, they walked into the hall. One by one they stopped, stock-still. Staring. Staring at you.
“Why hello there.” You said, voice husky, lightly tapping your fingertips on the forearm of the throne. You could see their frightened expressions etched on each of their faces. You clenched your hand into a fist. You would not be pitied.
“Is that you...Y/N?” Asra asked, trembling.
“Dear Asra, you don’t recognize me? I guess I am wearing something new.”
“What has he done to you?” Julian swallowed.
“Who?” You questioned innocently. “Oh, you mean him?” You gestured lazily to the corpse a few feet away.
A gasp. Portia quivered next to Nadia.
“Does that scare you, little Portia?” You sneered and leaned forward, studying the anxiety crossing her freckled complexion.
“Don’t talk to her like that,” Nadia growled, taking a step forward, slightly moving Portia behind her.
“Tsk, tsk, Countess. You must watch your tone. You are in my palace now,” you waved your finger from side to side. You could sense the shiver run down Nadia’s spine.
That pleased you.
“You did this to yourself?” Muriel murmured, his big eyes wide in shock.
Slowly you rose and began to descend the steps towards them. Your eyes caught Julian and Portia slightly shrink back. That hurt you, crunched the heart you still had beating in your chest. But nothing revealed this on your face. You would not give them the pleasure of seeing that.
“You all thought I would just simply wait for you to rescue me? You couldn’t rescue me before when I died of the plague, why should it be any different now?”
Silence. The truth could not be denied.
“We were coming,” Asra replied, distraught. You could see the distress in his beautiful brown eyes. How many times had you gazed into those, wishing that he would bring your into an embrace and kiss you?
Old, familiar anguish tugged at your heart. But then you remembered. How many times had he left you alone in Vesuvia, revealing nothing of his trips, leaving you to wonder and worry. He had kept the truth of your past from you, thinking he was protecting you. But all he did was keep you in the dark out of guilt.
You hissed at him. “You weren’t quick enough. I was at the Devil’s mercy and I had to act fast. I would not be his slave.”
Asra shuddered. Good.
“You killed him. And took his place.” Nadia interjected, her mouth in a grim line.
You turned your eyes on the Countess. Oh, she was trying to challenge you. To shame you for what you’d done.
How rich coming from her. The woman pretended to be benevolent, to want to change her city for the better. But did she? No. She slowly, underhandedly reclaimed control from the courtiers, from her advisors, and consolidated it into her own hands, all under the guise of creating a quest to find out how her ex-husband had died. The Countess wanted to rule Vesuvia, not give it to the people.
And she wanted to call you selfish.
“He was planning to conquer the Arcana and war on our world. Would you have liked that? Being at the mercy of another again? No. You would’ve killed him too if you had the chance. I can feel it within you.”
Nadia narrowed her eyes.
“Be careful of her, Portia. She lies to you.” You sneered.
“No, I don’t!” Nadia countered. But Portia looked between the two of you. The seed had been planted.
She deserved it.
“You sacrificed yourself,” Julian whispered, averting his eyes from yours. Of course, he would do that. He was a martyr at heart.
You glared. Or he fashioned himself to be. He only did so because he didn’t feel he was worth anything though you told him time and time again that he was worth everything. With words, with embraces, with kisses. And yet he still didn’t believe you.
Another bout of anger flashed through you. He didn’t trust your judgment. He was too self-involved to really, truly care about what you wanted for him. For both of you. And you had been blind to it.
“Do not pretend you sympathize. You would have done so out of cowardice, not out of love for your friends, family, and lovers. Still, you make this about you! I am the one banished here forever. Not you!”
Julian gasped, his eyes meeting yours that blazed.
“You don’t deserve peace of any kind.” You spat. He cringed.
“Stop! You’re not yourself, Y/N! We can fix this. Right, Asra?” Portia looked between you and Asra, pleading with her large blue eyes.
Gentle, sweet, innocent Portia. She was too good for this world. She didn’t belong here. She deserved better.
And yet all she’d done was talk over you, never completely listened to what you had to say, just talked at you and made decisions for the both of you.
“You can’t fix it. It’s done.” Your voice was cold. Dead. Ice in your eyes.
A tear swam out of Portia’s eye and down her cheek.
“I don’t believe that. The Arcana are strong.” Muriel declared.
You switched your attention to the man who towered over you. Yet you didn’t feel scared. You had never felt scared in his presence, rather you had wanted to protect him. But at every turn, he had shut you out. You had done your best to be kind, to be vulnerable to encourage him to be so as well. And sometimes...he was. And you reveled in that. Nonetheless, in the end...he chose isolation over companionship. He chose to be alone than be with you.
“So what if they are? None will come near me. And why do you care? You just want to disappear from everyone and everything.” You snapped. “You refuse to care about anyone.”
Muriel took a step back, a punch to his gut.
A movement from the corner of your eye and you swiveled your gaze to the right. Lucio met your eyes, unflinching.
“Nothing to say, beloved Count? Are you speechless at my ugliness?” You seethed, stalking towards him.
Lucio didn’t respond. He just gazed at you with forlorn eyes and a frown that broke your heart. It was too much knowing what he did to your after all you’d been through together. You had helped him break out of his limbo, his interminable prison, and he had turned around and betrayed you. Stolen your body out from under you and given you to the Devil in return.
You had loved him and he had stabbed you in the back.
“You know this is all your doing.” You growled.
“I know.” He said. His voice was low and emotional. You expected him to look away, guilty, try and make excuses, but he made none.
And that stunned you.
Before you could let yourself think, you turned away and looked at your so-called friends.
The magician who failed to embrace you.
The doctor who failed to trust you.
The countess who failed to see you.
The servant who failed to hear you.
The warrior who failed to regard you.
The count who failed to love you.
Rivers of misery and sorrow streamed through you, pushing tears to the backs of your eyes and forcing your heart to race. All you had wanted was them to believe in you as you had believed in them. Instead, they turned their backs on you.
“You all claim to care for me, but I was the one who put myself in the line of fire. I put myself on the line for all of you and what did it get me? Eternal purgatory.” You spread your arms out, gesturing to the desolate scene around them. “And you can’t even THANK ME.”
“There has to be some way to reverse all of this…” Julian trailed off.
“Who says I want to?” You laughed. Your voice was harsh, scathing and it echoed, though there were no walls that could be seen. “If I’m to be imprisoned here, then I might as well have the power to rule.”
“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” Lucio breathed.
“What did you think was going to happen when you stole my body? Did you think we were going to live happily ever after?” You taunted.
“No, I…”
You moved towards him leaving mere inches between them, but he didn’t recoil. The only one not too. He only looked at you with those eyes that had made you feel like you were the only person in the world for him. The only person he wanted by his side through all the torture and hardship and joy and bliss. How you wanted to touch him, kiss him, grab his throat and rip the life from him. You felt too many things about him, for him. And that is why it hurt so much.
“No, you didn’t think. I loved you. I thought there was goodness in you. But you are not that man. You are the selfish ass they say you are. And you deserve to be alone.”
You pivoted and made your way back towards your throne.
“I did love you, I do love you!” Lucio cried out. “I made a mistake. I see that now! I will do anything to get you a body back. I promise.”
You stopped still.
“Any body. Not my body.”
And everything became red again.
“Y/N, please…”
“DO NOT ‘PLEASE’ ME.” You roared and whirled around. “You believe that you matter more than I.” You stormed over and pointed at him, your claw just a hair from his face. And that made him shudder. “I am more powerful than you could ever dream to be. That’s what you wanted at the end of all this, right? Life? Power?”
“If I could undo what I did, I would.”
“But you can’t. I had to protect myself and you come in and look at me like I’m a monster.”
“I’m...sorry, Y/N.” Lucio choked.
Your heart stuttered at hearing the words. He hardly ever used them. But it was too late. Your heart was too broken.
“I don’t need your apologies. I need you gone.”
You flung your arm out, willing your magic to open a portal back to Vesuvia.
“Wait!” “Let us help!” Please!” “We need you!” Their voices chorused together.
But you’d heard enough and silently threw them backward. Their bodies soared through the air towards the invisible portal. And one by one they disappeared from your realm.
The only one that remained was Lucio, holding on with the last of his strength.
“I won’t leave you.” He clenched his jaw.
Growling, he shoved against your magic and reached out, taking your claw in his hand. The touch sent desire through you. Love. Gentleness. Everything you craved and yearned for. Everything denied to you now.
“I won’t leave you again.” Lucio pleaded, intertwining his fingers with yours.
Your heart whispered yes. Yes, he could stay with you. Keep you company. Love you.
But he had taken your body and betrayed you. Who was to say he wouldn’t betray you again? Kill you and become the Devil himself?
The look in his eyes told you otherwise. Your heart softened momentarily. He wanted to stay with you in this darkness for the rest of time.
And yet he had done everything to get another chance at life. He had taken yours for his.
You would make him live with that guilt until he died.
“No.”
“Wait…!”
“Good-bye, Lucio. You will never see me again.”
You flung your magic, hitting him square in the chest. He shouted in surprise, shouting for you to stop, as he flew through the air and disappeared.
Tears swam down your face. Your friends were gone. Your lovers were gone. And you were now alone forever.
You twirled on your heel and went to the throne. You did not sit, but simply stared at it, crying silently.
You were different. You were changed. You had chosen it for yourself and you could no longer go back. But there had been nothing to go back to in the first place. Because they had betrayed you. Each and every single one had betrayed you.
You punched the throne, breaking the stone. Your fist went straight through it. You pulled it back to look at the damage. Your knuckles bled. No doubt one or all were fractured.
Pain reverberated within you, but physically and emotionally. It didn’t matter. It couldn’t change the truth.
You were the Devil now.
And all you saw was red.