Chapter Text
Lute Infini was a simple migrant man, or that’s what it would have looked like if anyone had taken a glance at him. He had messy and disheveled hair, a worn down coat with large tears in it as well as carrying a book bag resembling one of a hikers. Sometimes he smelled as if he hadn’t showered for weeks! And the state his work was in… well he seemed to barely scrape by to make a living but he managed. That pack of his was stuffed with assortments of medicine and maps of a great variety of areas. His residences were always temporary, always traveling on the road. However despite the way he smelled of the earthly soil weeks on end, the man was brilliant, employed as an alchemist but simply had no ties to anywhere.
He had arrived at a small town earlier this week, where some of the citizens were suffering through pains, and sicknesses.” I’m just a wandering friendly neighborhood alchemist!” he had said with a carefree tone as he entered the town. He set to work early on the children who had fallen sickly from an unknown disease and cured their ailments. As thanks Lute was given a room at a local inn to stay at for a while until he could figure out the cure for the elderly’s muscle pains.
Lute was looking to help create a potion for that particular infirmity but it required him to look back at an old recipe of his, which unfortunately was in his disorganized pack. Emptying its contents, Lute had begun shuffling through the massive amounts of papers he had negligently shoved in forgetting about it until it was necessary to go through them. “Recipe… recipe! There we are!” he said rather excitedly, like a small child. He found the box containing his materials for these particular symptoms! It was wrapped shut with a ribbon and he fumbled as he tried to untie it. Despite how cautious he tried to untie it, a single sharp yank was enough to let the ribbon fly; send the whole box and it’s insides to the floor. He sighed as he watched his papers scatter and flutter so ever slowly onto the floor and he bent to pick them up.
A book of green color had fallen to the floor with a thud along with the rest of his recipes startling him. Gingerly picking it up, Lute took note he was sure he had never seen it before nor did he ever remember putting it away, although he wasn’t surprised with the state of things his possessions were in…
Curiosity took over as he slid his hand across the cover, strange runes decorating it. The runes were most definitely carved in by hand. He was rather bored having taken so long, he had thought, it would not hurt him to look through, to kill some time. Lute opened the book with an eager and earnest expression
Lute recognized these symbols, the language of the old that alchemists had been taught to read and decipher. It took him just a single minute to translate the entire page before he moved on and on. The book described an entire history of a forgotten civilization and a single spell.
In summary of Lute’s understanding, there once had been a civilization that had incredible power. They used this power to create something from nothing… the technique, even forbidden by god. However the civilization continued to use this power for their own selfish purposes, God had grown angry. The people had disobeyed god’s wishes and so god eradicated all of them. That’s what most of the book was on. Lute paused to think on this… eerie story. If the whole civilization really was eradicated then who had grown to have been able to write these after events? That certainly stood out in his mind.
Flipping to the last page was the same technique mentioned previously. It held a warning. Dare he try?
… Lute was always a daredevil, besides as usual he told himself, if nothing happens there was no loss no gain!
Chanting and repeating the words off the page, Lute had focused on an incredible amount of dark energy to be controlled in the palm of his hand. Lightning crackled through the room, large gusts of wind seemed to be blowing through the room as Lute continued his ritual. “…Yes! This is it! The embodiment of the demon spores!” He yelled over the sound of the deafening thunder.
The wind was blasting even more furiously than before, made Lute wince as he instinctively moved his arms to cover his face. There was something different in the air though. Not just the wind there was a presence, something heavy and it felt dark. Did…. Did he successfully summon the embodiment of the demon spores? The gusts of wind died down from the sounds of… flapping?
“…I crave the sweet souls of fools.”
Wings. The first thing Lute Infini had noticed was the wings as he stared into the eyes of the devil himself. The structure of them weren’t like a birds, they were more like bats, he concluded, however these bat like wings were attached to the back of a young male. His brown hair reached past his chin but not past his shoulders. The devil Lute had summoned wore a pair of red rimmed glasses obscuring his dark violet eyes. Horns sprouted on their head, close to a Ram, but purple in color. Lute's eyes trailed down and the next thing they noticed was the male had goat hooves instead for feet. he must have been staring at them for quite a while because a sharp snapping brought his attention back up. The demon had snapped their fingers to get his attention and he started laughing nervously. Their cold, disdainful eyes had looked down at him now, tilting their head to observe this new... figure... before they opened their mouth to speak. Their voice, to Lute seemed like velvet; smooth, yet somehow intimidating. He found the attire of his clothing cute somehow...
“Offer yours unto me! And you shall receive whatsoever you wish for. Come… What is your desire…?”
“You want me to trade you my soul…?” Lute inquired, it wasn’t fear, more like a deep sense of interest and the demon he summoned from dark matter nodded.
I can have anything I want…” Lute began mumbling to himself as if in deep thought and the devil stood momentarily surprised as the man rambled on but he was patient. He looked around the room, No doubt this sage was to ask for riches, treasures… perhaps glory across all lands. Mortals were ALWAYS so predictable despite as he looked around the room he was intrigued by the way it was arranged. It didn't seem like a typical place for someone to carry out such a complicated summoning.
It seemed like the human had come to a decision so he had turned back to face him. “Hmmm……… well… Can’t think of anything! Yeeeaaaaah!” his summoner replied rather shamelessly laughing giving him a gesture of two thumbs up.
“...Wh-“ The devil started, dumbfounded. “What?! Why did you summon me then?!”
“Oh, I was looking for some old recipes and then I found the spell so I just decided to try it out! I was really bored and it was really tough, but that’s what makes it fun!” Lute said brightly.
‘Recipes for what?’ The demon paused for a moment and looked at Lute although clearly still unsettled by this man’s happy disposition. “You can’t be a simple mortal, to be able to distill that much dark matter…Then… are you the king’s demon conquering sage?”
“The king? Nooope! I’m just a friendly neighborhood alchemist that helps people and stuff! I make medicines for the old grannies and the kiddos!”
'An alchemist? How interesting--'
“Wait- You’re not even a summoner?!”
“Nooope!” Lute replied with a genuine look of innocence.
“This…This is terrible…how could I get stuck with a man like you?” The demon seemed distressed now and Lute felt partially guilty. “Hey, when you say it like that I feel kind of bad!... Ah I know! Think about it this way! It was pretty fun trying to summon you! It was a really hard ritual! Besides summoning demons sure is romantic isn’t it?~”
“You are a fool… I can’t believe you would offer your soul to the demon spores for this.”
“Ahaha… it’s okay! well now I’ve made a new friend! Of course it’s worth it for that!”
The demon gawked at him wondering to himself about this oddball of a man. A man with no desire but powerful enough to summon him simply to make friends…?
‘Friends…?…What a nutcase.’
“… If that’s all you have to say and you have nothing to wish for I’ll just eat your soul and go back home.”
“Uhhn… wait I got it! I’ll think of something, just give me a minute!” Lute said enthusiastically as he thought to himself. The smaller male only watched the other stumble around in his thoughts, pacing back and forth in the room and could only feel uncomfortable by this man’s shameless attitude.
“Oh! I got it!”
He nearly tripped on himself as he raced to the opposite end of the room looking through the disastrous mess on his bed. “Perfect!” He produced a much smaller book bag but similar in fashion to his own and moved the boy’s arms so he could place it on him. “Taa-daa!” he announced proudly. “You’re now my assistant!”
It took a moment for the other to comprehend exactly what the alchemist was implying or rather straightly stating. “…I have to be the assistant to some mortal alchemist?” the brunette questioned in disbelief. “This is your wish…?”
“Mmhmm! It’s kinda lonely around the road sometimes and it’s really busy so it’d be a great help if you were around!”
“…I can only appear around night though.”
“Ahaha, I should have expected as much. That’s fine also! Even if you can only appear around night you’ll still be a big help!”
“Ugh…” The devil couldn’t help but sigh.
'This man is very odd... the more he talks the more I am confused.'
“Oh yeah! that’s right! Let me introduce myself properly! I’m Lute Infini! What’s your name?” Lute said graciously extending an arm for a handshake. "I mean if you're going to be working as my assistant we should get to know each other!" The devil looked a bit surprised at the action, hesitating for a mere moment before shaking it with his gloved hand.
“…It is Wallenstein. Pleased to meet you, Lute.”