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Very, very long ago, there was an island in the corner of a continent. The island was sparsely populated - and not rich in resources - and thus very little chose to settle there. However, the island still belonged to a kingdom, and thus even for an island as small as this, a church of the national religion was needed.
Deacon Emil was the only clergy on this island. The island was small, and so was the church - the chapel could just barely hold ten people, and could be managed by one. Even so, the amount of people that came to church before Sunday did not fill the room - If everyone was busy working to make a living, how would they make time for faith?
Although he was a deacon, Emil did not have a particularly deep connection to this faith. To him, the work he did at church was like any other job on earth, just a way to earn income. At the same time, like any other job on earth, this job required a knack for connections and a silver tongue. Emil, silent and unwilling to put up a facade could not climb high on the ladder, and so it was natural that he was sent to this remote island to work as an outsider low on the job ladder.
Although Emil’s words were harsh and he could be a little spoiled, he was actually terrified of being lonely. Much like the climate here, the residents of the island were not friendly to outsiders, and he even got lonely enough to try and talk to birds. Letters from his brother came once a month - sometimes delayed by the weather - but they were all the same in convincing him to try and quit and return home. The deacon understood that his older brother was concerned, but he had only ever studied theology - what work could he do after returning home.
The days were dark - or so they had been supposed to be.
But right now, to Emil, there was still one reason that made life not so bad.
“How have things been lately?”
The backyard of the church was a graveyard - although the customs of the island tended towards burials at sea, a few choose to lay their family’s remains to rest here. Emil grew some flowers here - these were small blossoms that had white petals ; although they looked delicate, they were able to grow healthily in this cold weather. When they blossomed together, they looked very pure and cute - and sometimes Emil put one on his collar.
A black haired, black clothed boy slowly descended from the air before stopping, his feet still a distance away from the ground.
“...…Can’t you just let me look you in the eye?” The deacon said, hands on his waist and a disgruntled expression on his face. “This is really impolite.”
“Well~ But even if we were both on the ground, I’d still be taller than you?” The boy stretched his palm out, and measured the distance between Emil’s white, fluffy head before his palm was pushed away by Emil’s.
“Stop always bringing that short distance up!”
– This man that looked to have a very close relationship with Emil’s name was Leon - although his appearance was sightly and he had an adaptable attitude, he was an unquestionable devil, and the wings that almost seemed to meld into his black clothing on this black made the best proof. He had black hair, black clothes, and black wings, but a pair of golden eyes that were as clear and bright as the sun.
In any religion, demons were blasphemous in existence - they spread temptation, tricked human’s souls away from them - they were what any clergy should scorn the most. However, as we’ve established, Emil was not devoted in his faith. More than blasphemy, he feared loneliness - and so could make a friend even in a devil. He made a promise with Leon - as long as he did no harm to the residents on the island, he could move freely about the cemetery of the church - within the chapel was still, after all, a holy place, and difficult for demons to enter.
At first, Emil was very wary of Leon. However, after establishing conversation, they quickly became friends. Although Emil was not clear about the lifespan of a demon and was unsure about Leon’s age, they looked similar in their chronological appearance, and interacted like they were peers. Emil had grown up in a religious school with strict rules, and had very rarely experienced this easygoing, almost bold kind of converse.
Leon was very interesting - he travelled far for work and thus had inexhaustible topics of conversation, and sometimes even brought gifts - like a pretty rose from a noble’s garden; although it couldn’t live long here. They didn’t interact consistently, sometimes once every day or other, sometimes once a week. He treated this little garden like a rest stop between jobs, and lonely Emil hoped every day in this heart that he could meet with him that day.
The demon said that he usually only templated those in positions of power - their greed was deeper, more bottomless than those of commoners, and to a demon, was an easy target. This, Emil thought, was why he always brought delicate-looking things here.
“.....How do you usually tempt people?”
“Mm...… Money that you can exchange for things you want, power to do things that you want to do - usually, these two methods.” Leon responded - casually perching on top of a tombstone - the deacons cleaned them everyday - and Emil said on the grass beside it.
“Then, what about unusually?”
“Oh, you want to know?” The demon grinned, “Some people love me enough to die… But those are probably topics I can’t tell you about.”
“Huh? What.” Emil felt unconvinced. “Why do you have to treat me like a child too?”
Although he didn’t know if Leon was really old enough to be justified in treating him like a child, he usually acted like a teenager - and sometimes very very childishly.
“I didn’t mean it that way - just that, some things might be too exciting for his highness the deacon~”
“......I don’t understand what you mean.”
Sorry, Leon said, laughing. He gently fluttered his wings, spinning circles from next to Emil - but keeping his golden irises on him beautifully.
Emil didn’t like this.
Late at night, the moon was for once not covered by clouds, a corner of Emil’s room shone with moonlight. This didn’t improve his mood - mainly because of Leon’s attitude from the day.
The demon wore the same apathetic face he always did, always speaking to Emil from midair like he couldn’t be bothered to land, and never really talked to him about things from work - and these Emil could accept. Leon had that sort of personality, and talking to a clergy about tempting humans didn’t seem right either way. He understood, but there was just one thing he didn’t want to admit.
- Did Leon not actually consider him someone close to him?
In Emil’s heart, Leon already had an irreplaceable existence - he fulfilled at least 99% percent of the poor deacon’s social needs. But what was Emil, on an island, to Leon? If he wanted, he could reach the most luxurious gardens. Perhaps to him, Emil was just but a negligible existence in his heart, just something to kill time.
Did he think it was interesting to talk to a clergyman? Because there was never an unfaithful clergyman like him. Had he already taken part of his soul? Then, why would his heart feel so jumbled?
Emil curled up beneath the blankets, heart full of anger towards himself for being suspicious towards his friend and doubt towards the way Leon saw him. At some point, the moon was covered again, and the room plunged into darkness. He turned around, and went to sleep upset.
“What did you say?” Leon was creasing his eyebrows.
To have made Leon show an expression like this, Emil must have said something very strange - and it was so. The deacon looked up at the devil mid-air as usual - you don’t want to come down, even now? He thought.
“Don’t you want my soul?” Emil repeated. “......To you demons, to have the soul of a clergyman, would be a....... very interesting thing, right?”
He thought that the word “interesting” wasn’t very appropriate, but he couldn’t come up with another word on the spot.
“Why would you think that? Emil, I’m really not here for your soul. The sternness on Leon’s face was extremely rare - and he was even a little impatient. He’d always loved keeping him guessing before.
“......What you mean by that is, I’m not worth enough to have my soul harvested?”
Emil started to feel like he was being a bit unreasonable - but he had already been pushed by his emotions and suspicions, and couldn’t stop, losing this filter. Oh god, why was this happening? The self hatred in this heart deepened once again - his long-term solitary lifestyle must be messing with his nerves.
Leon, someone with so many places he could go. Why did he have to come to this island, make friends with him, come into his life, take up such a large part of his heart.
And after doing that, gently fly away and just disappear like he wasn’t coming back. This Leon, a true devil, one that had stolen Emil’s focus and all of this feelings - had done something worse than taking away his soul to him - and Emil could only admit, was left with nothing to do but admit, more than committing a sinful act, he cared about whether Leon cared about him after all.
“If it’s like that, why don’t you just-”
“Emil!”
Emil opened his eyes to see Leon’s feet on the ground. His hand was taken with force, forcing him to stand closer to the demon.
He saw the pair of golden, amber-like eyes - and Emil had never gazed at them so clearly before. Under the sunlight, they shimmered with a beautiful, seductive light.
“......Do you really want to be tempted by me so badly?”
The deacon opened his mouth to respond, but realised he was left without even one word. Not only his mouth, but his whole body was suddenly deaf to commands. He suddenly discovered that Leon’s face was very close to him - and left unable to move, he was forced to look the demon in the eyes: What expression was Leon wearing now? He had no energy left to observe this.
A strange warmth was rushing from his chest, gradually spreading to this whole body -numbing, chasing reason far away. The cross at his chest was only a prop, his holy vow now thrown to the heavens - The only thing Emil could think now was Leon, Leon, Leon - everything else, he knew nothing about.
Leon’s face was getting closer, almost touching his; Emil was willing to accept anything Leon did to him right now, including offering up his soul. A sort of warmth encompassed him, on the cusp of swallowing him whole - he only felt really comfortable, almost willingly closing this eyes -
A moment later, Leon let go of him. His legs softened, half kneeling on the floor, heart beating out of his chest; body temperature abruptly cooling; a soft breeze came, bringing a chill more piercing than before.
“Emil, you have a very pretty soul; but I won’t take it.”
“.......”
“As to the reason, I’ll leave that up for you to guess.”
The demon spread his wings, and flew away - This time, there was no hint of laughter on his face. It took all of Emil’s strength to lift his head, and only a trace of the shadow the other had left in the air was visible.
After that, the deacon did not see the demon again. When he tended to the flowers, he looked towards the sky, hoping for that black silhouette to appear and appear again and greet him, laughing - but it did not.
Because he started to spend more time indoors, he ended up interacting more with the residents. The few children on the island came to the chapel for shelter from the winds, and the deacon told them folk tales he had heard around. Not long after, the adults came to thank him, saying that the fable about the deacon falling into a river because of ice cracking was very educational - the children would no longer play on the ice.
That had originally been a tragic romance, Emil thought, but he ended up not saying it aloud.
Here, any day with sun was good weather. The golden wheel hung midair and in a rare display, did not fold its light away. Emil couldn’t look at things that were too bright, and gave up after less than a few seconds. He closed his eyes, now a bit sore; the shining gold afterimage remained on the inside of his eyelids - for a moment looking almost like the eyes of the devil. That was unquestionably a gaze that was capable of taking a human’s soul for himself - the scorching golden in Leon’s eyes had stayed in Emil’s heart, and even as he sank his thoughts into darkness, it shone flickering in the center.
“I saw ravens around the church lately.” Someone had said this to the deacon.
This sort of remote, cold island rarely attracted ravens, In theology, fully black creatures were viewed as incarnations of the devil, a bad omen. I’ll handle it, Emil said. And even if he hadn’t promised so, the daily labor would allow everyone to forget about it.
The deacon had once talked to birds while lonely - of course, he did not know the birds’ language - it had only been a way for him to disperse the loneliness. It had been a puffin, its body pitch black, with a white stomach unlike the others. When it landed at the graveyard, Emil had told it his confessions. After that, Leon had taken this place, and Emil had not seen the bird after that.
Had it found a partner, and gone off far away with it? He had heard that whether puffin or raven, when the black birds found their other half in life, they would abandon other prospects in favor of remaining together for life. If one thought about it that way, it was pretty easy to be envious of birds.
Suddenly, he heard the rustling sound of wings. Emil lifted his head, and it was as expected, not Leon. The raven landed on a tombstone, cocking its head while looking towards him - and that had been the demon’s reserved seat.
A jet-black feather landed on the grassfield, and Emil reminded himself to pick it up in a bit without allowing anyone to see it. What had Leon’s wings been made of? He suddenly wanted to know - were they bird’s feathers? Or like a bat’s? He had never looked at them from close up, and Leon had not let him touch, but he hoped they were feathers.
At the thought of a demon diligently trying to comb his own feathers, he laughed. But after a short while, his emotions fell flat; Emil realised that he might not have a chance to touch them ever again.
“If I had wings like you.” He said to the raven. “I would fly to chase Leon.”
The raven only cocked his head, looking to him.
That night, Emil had a dream about taking a walk in the air, hand in hand with the devil.
The next day, sunlight woke him, and Emil felt in a good mood, but also a little down.
In the dream, the clear sky had been warm, everything on the ground fading into dots, like he could take them into his palm. The clouds floated across his head, soft to the touch, and one brushed across his mouth, itching. And Leon was right at his side, and they went to a very far off place together - when he opened his eyes, and saw his room, everything in it as usual, it all disappeared.
With some reluctance he got him, and got dressed. As he did, one black feather fell to the ground - before that, it had almost melded into one with the dark clothing.
Hurriedly, Emil picked it up, wanting to press it back into his notebook - he had put the raven feather there yesterday. However, that feather remained undisturbed, folded into the newest page of the diary.
Late at night, Leon sneakily opened the window.
There were no locks on the church windows, and this made him very worried about Emil’s safety. However, perhaps with the exception of him, there was no one able to easily come to the attic. As a demon, he should naturally be appearing quietly to no one's notice, mysteriously bewitching people's hearts - that's what was cool. Except Emil, who could reduce him to such a haggard state? He looked less like a demon like this, and more like a thief. He sighed, trying to squeeze into Emil's bedroom from the tiny window.
The deacon slept early everyday - he must’ve been a good kid at school. His eyes were shut tightly, breathing evenly, in a deep sleep. Demons could see well even in the dark, but unfortunately, those amethyst-like eyes could not be seen while he was sleeping.
His uniform was folded neatly to the side - however humans bestowed a holy meaning to it, they were only normal clothes. Emil’s uniform was made from dark fabrics, plain - with the exception of a pure white dryas flower, still on the cloak.
Even though Emil claimed he was only planting these flowers because it was convenient, he treated them quite preciously. Leon had picked one once, and the deacon’s expression had been very interesting.
“Hey, don’t just…”
“Oh, sorry, sorry. Look, how’s this?”
The demon’s flower-picking hand changed courses, pinning the white flower to the deacon’s cloak. In contrast to the dark clothing, it appeared even more pure, and Leon was very satisfied with this.
“This does suit you more than a red rose after all.”
“Are you saying I’m dowdy?” Emil frowned, but made no move to remove the flower. After that, a loveable white flower bloomed at the deacon’s chest often.
Leon stretched out a hand, gently petting that soft short hair - the same pure white as the flower, and Emil’s heart almost seemed like it was the same color. Leon thought, dissatisfied - was he just ignorant, or blunt, to not know the meaning of a red rose? Not only that, even his own emotions had been questioned.
I want to have you, he murmured, but not in the way that means taking your soul.
.......Was he, the person that had done something like tempting the other, qualified to say this?
He had been too reckless - After Emil had said that, his mind had gone blank. Emil had been his first human friend, he, and only he, was incapable of misinterpreting his feelings. In that garden, Leon carefully pretended to be at ease, hiding his other side as best as he could. This way, they could be together only as friends, and not a human and a demon. On this island where everyone knew one another. he couldn’t even disguise himself as a human and blend into the crowd.
The souls of clergymen that Leon possessed reached uncountably high levels ages ago. Emil didn’t seem to know that the amount of people with true, devoted faith was rare. Leon understood, that he was just a normal, slightly naive young boy, and that there was no way he could have had the ability to resist him - any demand that he had made then, Emil probably would’ve accepted.
.......Even including that sort of thing. He caught a glance of the bare skin exposed at the neck of his sleepwear, and quickly averted his gaze.
But, if only a little, it should be alright.
A demon that rejected desire; what kind of a demon would that be? Leon convinced himself that way, bending down; and brushed the deacon’s lips as gently as a feather - he could smell the faint scent of florals and soup on him.
And then, a little dazed, he flew away from the window.
What exactly had he done?
After that day, Leon pricked his finger countless times on the roses in the noble’s garden; spacing out while signing contracts and almost ramming into sticks while flying.
This was all because of Emil’s lips.
To demons, kisses did not carry any meaning of love. They were all born beautiful, in order to better tempt humans, to take their soul. Like a pretty rose, packed thorns under brilliant petals.
Leon had kissed a lot of people - perhaps not as many as his female peers. But on Emil’s lips, he tasted a sort of sour, sweet, thing that almost felt like something he shouldn’t have, for the first time. He didn’t dare touch for more than a moment, like if he had continued for one more second, his own lips would have been burnt.
He wanted to be closer with Emil, but didn’t dare to kiss him. He wanted to talk to Emil, but didn’t dare face him again. He was smart and calculated, but when with Emil, felt that he was stupid and anxious; the sunlight in that garden had melted the demon’s heart too, and remolded it into the same shape as Emil.
Before meeting Emil, he wouldn’t even have dared to imagine that he would have been distressed over anything. Leon had always been careful, unrestrained by the grasp of any rules - even elderly demons couldn’t handle him. But yet, this feeling now, wa salmost like that of an indecisive human’s: he wanted to see Emil, wanted to talk to him, but, after selfishly leaving him to himself coldly, would Emil still want to see him? This wasn’t a friend’s quarrel, something that could be solved by just going and asking “Could you please forgive me?”
Why Emil? He couldn’t understand as much as he tried. Emil was cold, and capricious, not strong enough, and clumsy at a lot of things. But, out of his control, he had started to like him - not in the sense that he wanted to toy with him on the palm of his hand, but that when he sat with him in the garden, he quietly hoped that time could stop, right there.
- And at this moment, his thoughts urgently drifted towards his want to see Emil.
A few days later, Leon came to the deacon’s room once again.
Tonight was a little cold, and maybe for that exact reason, Emil was curled up especially tightly under the duvet. Did he get cold? Leon thought that, from his limited memories of having had contact with Emil’s limbs, that Emil’s hands were always very cold.
The deacon’s sleeping expression was cute as always, white eyelashes quivering slightly, if only shadows under his eyes a little heavier, looking as if he hadn’t quite been sleeping well recently. Did he have a nightmare? Leon was a little worried, and bent down, wanting to pat his hair again.
Although Emil always complained about his hair curling upwards disobediently, Leon believed that that was just in line with its owner’s unstraightfoward personality. It was soft to the touch, fluffy, and entangled with Emil’s warmth - if he wasn’t scared of being discovered by the other, Leon really didn’t want to take his hand back.
Actually, he never got the chance - his hand was suddenly tightly grasped.
Emil moved the hand down slowly from his hair, and Leon felt his face, slightly flushed with heat. HIs purple eyes were clear, set in determination, and did not in the slightest look like they had just woken up.
“Why didn’t you come see me?”
Ah, Leon thought, he seemt to have fallen into a trap.
However, if he said that he hadn’t been awaiting this day in his heart, that would have definitely been a lie.
“What kind of clergyman wants a demon to come to church?” He deliberately answers easily, secretly feeling anxious from the touch at his palm.
“...…You know that’s not what I was asking about.” Emil’s eyes carried a little sadness in them, and Leon knew, that he had caused this.
Purple crystals looked straight at him, with a sort of cunning perspective from above, like a plea, and also like he was cajoling. After staying like this slightly for a while, Emil spoke again.
“Take my soul away, Leon.”
“Why are you talking about things like this again?” The demon let a sign escape. “I told you, I won’t do that.”
“You’ve obviously already taken a part of it.”
“When did I ever do that sort of thing?”
Emil put his other hand to his own chest, and said quietly: “If Leon isn’t here, it feels empty and painful here, and it’s unbearable...... If not for you taking away my soul, there’s no way this would happen, right?”
Leon went silent, and realised what exactly was coming. Perhaps, that was the thing he had been yearning for all along, but when this moment truly came, his instincts wanted to run away. What was he scared of? His hand started shaking, firmly held in place by the deacon’s hand.
“So, rather than not seeing Leon, and continuing to live painfully like this...…”
“Emil....…”
“I’ll just let you take all of my soul.”
The deacon’s face was hidden in the shadows of the night, however, the demon’s eyes could see everything clearly. A faint red was seeping through the slightly pale face, and that warmth was being sent to Leon through their connecting fingertips.
Leon already understood that what Emil wanted him to take away wasn’t his soul.
Quivering, he caressed Emil’s face again, slowly shortening the distance between the two, only only each other were left in their eyes. He saw his own shadow reflected in purple amethyst, and this time, he felt that was the one feeling just a little dizzy.
~fin.~