Chapter Text
Chapter One
Fire. Screams. Destruction.
A tall, black-clad figure shot to the sky from the midsts of the chaos, revelling in the disorder.
Oh how he thrived on the despair of the mortal. Oh, how beautifully their cries echoed into the night.. how gracefully their blood arched from their bodies as he cut them down. How satisfying it was to become overwhelmed with rage and hunger and violence.
For too long the humans of this realm had made the same mistake, for too many years had they tried summoning creatures like himself, seeking to control him, to use him as a machine of war; and how quickly he had shown them the gravity of their decision to give him access to the mortal realm once more. With a deafening roar and a mindless, animalistic urge to kill, he leapt into an attack.
-
The infant had been abandoned in the monastery. The smell of blood had drawn the demon towards the building, where he had spotted it.
A tiny thing swaddled in a blanket, so tiny that Namjoon knew it would take only a finger to end its fleeting life and feast, flying forward to do just that, when suddenly, something made him stop dead in his tracks.
A cut on its cheek was making it cry pitifully, fat tears mingling with the blood to stain its cheek cherry red, eyes screwed up tightly, a tiny hand gripping the blanket it was in. Beside it, the lifeless body of a young woman, her blood soaking the child.
For once, this was not Namjoon's doing.
The black swan tilted his head, curious to know who else could have commited such an act, padding forward, ignoring the chaos in the town behind him, focused only on the two figures he had discovered. His bare feet dipped into the blood pooled on the stone floor, he crouched down to touch it. Cold. The woman had been dead for a while. The infant was still crying, the sound making Namjoon's ears twitch and his fists clench.
"Quiet!" He snarled, unfurling a fist, sharp talons glinting in the moonlight. One quick swipe would end the noise, just one little cut across its neck-
All thoughts disappeared when the infant opened its eyes for the first time.
Huge, soft golden eyes, full of innocence, full of life. It made Namjoon freeze, claws inches away from its face, falling back as the breath was knocked out of his lungs. The infant was not human, yet those eyes harbored no darkness behind them.
It was then that the black swan noticed the full scene before him.
The tiny sharp talons on the ends of the infant's fingers that were sticky with dried blood and flesh. The lifeless human woman whose stomach was torn from the inside out. The sigils painted on the ground before them, some faded, some fresh. Namjoon stood up slowly, putting two and two together.
They had tried summoning his kind many times before.. but to attempt to summon a black swan through a female host, to bring it into the world like a human child.. despite his nature, he shuddered.
The infant had fallen silent, save for a few sniffles, watching him with big eyes, tears still tracking down its face.
He hesitated.
This thing was just like him. Maybe the only other kind around in this time. Those eyes.. he clenched his fists, taking a step forward again, slowly bending down to pick up the tiny newborn. It weighed nothing, yet it felt like he was trying to hold up the heavens themselves as he cradled it.
For some reason, Namjoon was no longer thinking about chaos, or destruction, or death. For some reason, despite his entire existence, his instincts, and the natural order of things telling him to kill, he was rooted to the spot, staring down at the infant in his arms, a strange bubble in his chest that travelled up until it formed a lump in his throat.
His stomach dropped as the child stared up at him and let out a happy gurgle, content now that it was being held.
The demon stumbled back, short of breath, the world was spinning. This wasnt supposed to happen. This was not what he was brought to this earth for. He set the infant down quickly, backing away, eyes darting around, feeling trapped by the monastery walls, the eyes of the saints staring down at him, judging him, seemingly staring right through him. Two giant black wings unfurled on his back, their presence giving him some security. He couldnt do this. He had to leave.
The night air was cool amongst the clouds, helping him clear his head. When he had held the infant swan..What was that feeling? And why was the lump in his throat not going away? He didnt care about the infant, surely he couldnt. Namjoon didnt even think he had the capability to feel such things. It didnt need him. The humans would find it eventually. The black swan slowed to a hover, heart sinking, panic spiking through his heart.
The humans would find it.
Those stupid, revenge stricken, terrified, ignorant humans. His wings acted faster than his mind, taking him back to the descimated town, speeding through the air faster than a hawk, arriving just in time to see a mob of them surrounding the monastery.
The infant was screaming, the echoes of its cries reaching up into the night sky.
Namjoon let out a grunt, crashing into the ground hard enough to split the earth, scattering the humans outside, breaking through the heavy wooden doors just in time to see three men around the child, two holding it still, one with a dagger raised above his head. They would have no idea what killed them as they crumpled lifelessly at his feet. Breathing hard, stepping forward unsteadily, Namjoon picked up the infant once more, gently running a thumb across its cheek, wiping away a tear. The terrified crying stopped, its eyes opened again, searching the creature's face, grasping for him with tiny, blood encrusted hands. Mesmirised, he raised a finger, offering it to the baby, letting out a short, breathless laugh as it gripped on as hard as it could with its tiny limb, a satisfied coo bubbling from its mouth.
Namjoon spun around as the mob yelled in fury, now clutching the infant in his arms, panic building up inside him. He couldnt let them hurt it. But he couldnt fight back like this. Was he reduced to fleeing? Like a coward?
For the child.
He was up in the air once more, flying silently, slowly, the town long gone behind them, the infant fast asleep in his arms. How could such an innocent thing trust someone like him? How is it this creature born from darkness had the ability to freeze him to the spot, render him useless, change his entire life in the span of an hour? He flew on, searching for shelter, landing amidst a vast, ancient forest. He settled in the hollow of a giant oak, clutching the child, wrapping his wings protectively around them, unable to tear his eyes from its sleeping form.
Exhaustion lay thick over his mind too; he had not yet reached his full powers, still so fresh to this new physical form himself, this current reincarnation. It was evident in the cuts on his body, the injuries he obtained as he had laid waste to the town. The infant shivered, uttering a whimper of complaint, prompting the black swan to instinctively cradle it against his chest, pulling his wings around himself tighter as his eyes drooped. The tiny creature was created from darkness, like him, but.. was there a chance to give it a different life? Would he be capable of doing that? Namjoon closed his eyes and leaned against the sturdy inner wall of the oak. He didnt know what the future held in store, but he was willing to try.
For the child.