Chapter Text
Once upon a time in a land far away lived a poor man with his wife and children. He led an ‘honest’ life for the most part and he tried hard to provide for his wife, their three daughters and their son, but to no avail. Everything he did failed. He tried to find a well-paying job, but no one wanted to hire him. He attempted to sell the woodcarvings he made, but no one bought them. Nothing he did worked.
But his need to provide was just a facade to hide his greed.
He didn't do all this for his family. Instead he did it, because he desired fortune and nobility. He wished to become the king of these lands.
One day he was drinking at a bar when a strange gentleman approached him.
“Well, isn't today a fine day, good sir?” the nobleman spoke.
The poor man scoffed and took a sip of his drink: “Cut the crap, you posh bastard! What do you want from me!?”
The nobleman let out an amused chuckle at the man’s brash demeanor. “You see, mister,” he replied, “I heard you were finding ways to make some coin and that perhaps you were aiming even higher than that?”
“What's it to you?” the man questioned while placing his drink down.
“Well, I might be able to help, my friend,” the nobleman responded with a devious smile, “but I will need a little something in return.”
The poor man raised an eyebrow, suspicious of the other, and asked: “Oh? And why should I trust you, you–”
Before he could finish his sentence, everything around them stopped. Silence filled the room and they were left in a vacuum.
The man looked around frantically as he’s never seen anything like this before. He turned back to the gentleman, only to find his appearance had changed a bit. His warm hazel eyes were no longer that color, instead they were as red as the finest of wines. The blonde hair on his head lightened and became pale, as pale as freshly fallen snow. And lastly his face now had dark markings under his eyes that freaked the man out.
When the nobleman opened his mouth again to speak, the other man spotted the sharp teeth that lined his mouth: “Because I know you want to trust me.” His devilish smile widened as he continued: “You desire the wealth you seek, you desire it so that you would give up anything in this world just to get it.”
The poor man didn't say a word for a long while. He didn't want to admit the strange gentleman was correct. “Well then, spit it out!” he barked out eventually, “Tell me what you want for it, you beast!”
“Oh, not much, my good sir,” the nobleman replied mischievously, “just your firstborn daughter.”
Silence.
After a minute of staring, the poor man nodded. “If that’s what it takes, fine,” he agreed, “I’ll get that brat to you tomorrow morning.”
To the man’s surprise, the nobleman shook his head in response. “No, my friend,” he spoke, “I’ll come to pick up that girl of yours once the right time comes. Not anytime before nor after.”
“Huh? Why not take now?” the poor man questioned.
“I fear that does not concern you, good fellow,” the nobleman answered simply. Right after that, he reached out and offered a hand for the other man to shake: “Now do we have a deal?”
The poor man considered it for a moment, before taking the gentleman’s hand and shaking it: “Deal.”
Only when the flames sprung up seemingly out of thin air and engulfed their intertwined hands did the man realize who this strange nobleman really was. As the fire set their hands ablaze and thus sealed this deal and marked them for eternity, the man could only focus on one thing and one thing only.
He just sold his daughter to the Devil.