When the time came, the newest servant of the demon king walked unaided up the hill to the great hall of Lucis.
It had once been the hall of a king: One of the old warriors from the turn of the modern era, who fought the encroaching hordes of demons that swarmed the earth like a wave. Then, being a king simply meant being strong enough to survive. The greatest of those warriors lived on to create the first noble houses, and built new halls, new towns, new cities. The old halls lay forgotten, and many of the kings who lived there lay beneath, their bones yellowing in cavernous tombs.
But not all.
Noctis shivered in his thin white robes, which did little to keep out the chill that rolled over the high, jagged hills of old Lucis, and stopped at a raised stone circle overlooking the ancient hall. There, he stepped in and held his hands to the hooks on either side, and waited patiently while the town priestess chained his wrists.
"By your sacrifice," she said, in a soft, deadened voice. "Our home is free." Noctis tried to catch her eye, but her gaze traveled past him, dropping to his feet. She knelt, and gently pulled off his useless slippers. The stone was cold under his bare feet, and slightly damp.
"Luna," he said. He wished she hadn't chained his hands so soon. "I'll be fine."
The priestess tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and started unbuttoning the top of Noctis' robes. She laid bare the mark that had appeared on Noct's chest three weeks before, when he'd been out running with his friends and the world as he knew it had tilted out of true: A small rune, three intersecting lines followed by a dot that trailed out like an arrow. The sign of blood. It was the mark that came once every hundred years, regular as clockwork, signalling that the time had come for the town to pay its tithe.
"It isn't your fault, Luna," he said. The priestess placed a hand on his cheek, and when she finally looked at him, her eyes swam with tears.
"I'm so sorry, Noctis," she said. "I've sent you to your death."
She left him there, chained to the same circle that the demon king's last servant had been tied to, watching the sun sink over the grey horizon. He'd heard that the last servant had to be dragged to the circle in chains, and her family kept under guard in their home. That year, the harvest had failed, and night fell early for nearly a decade, heralding the approach of creatures that stalked the outskirts of the town, searching for stragglers. He figured that this time, it could go easier if the king were given a willing sacrifice.
He wasn't sure exactly how willing he was, though. As the sun disappeared beneath the crest of the farthest hill, he felt a hot spike of terror in his chest, and subtly pulled at the chains holding him to the circle. They made a terrible grinding sound, but they held, and Noct struggled to steady his breathing.
"Goodness, what's this?"
Noct jolted, and the chains clattered as a tall man, dressed like a vagabond in a grey jacket and a high ruffled collar, crunched over the loose stone of the hillside towards Noct. His hair was dark in the dim light of dusk, but there was the faintest hint of red there, like wine. His face had the definition of an older man who had grown into his looks, with a sharp jawline and soft cheekbones, and his brows were lowered in fierce concern.
"Who did this to you, my boy?" he asked. He approached the circle, and Noct fell uselessly back, hands clenching around the short length of chain.
"You should go," Noct said. "It isn't safe here."
The man smiled. "For you, certainly. Was this some... prank? Something for a stag night, perhaps?"
"What's a stag n--No," Noct said. "No, it's. It's. There's a demon. Sort of. No one's seen him in ages, unless you count people like me, but he takes someone every--hold on, don't touch that!" His voice rose, desperately high, as the man reached for the chain on his right wrist. "Look, I have to stay here, okay? And no one else is allowed up here, 'cause if they are, they'll die. Alright? You get it?"
"Not in the slightest," the man said. He leaned against one of the curving slopes of the circle and looked Noct up and down. "I take it this is one of those quaint rustic traditions where they send a pretty little thing up to an altar to starve to death, and then when the crops don't do well, they assume their sacrifice wasn't virginal enough."
"What? No." Noct frowned. "No, this is real."
"Of course it is." The man looked out over the darkening sky. "I expect whatever it is happens at night?"
"That's what they say. So you should really get going."
The man hummed to himself, as though mulling it over. "No," he said, after a slow, awful minute had passed. "I like to think of myself as a man of no consequence, in the grand scheme of things, but I can't allow a man in the prime of life to be used as a backwards country sacrifice." He pushed away from the circle, and carefully examined the chain around Noct's left wrist. "Oh, this is easy enough to break."
"You can't," Noct said. "Don't, this'll fuck everything up, you-" He gasped as the man gripped the length of chain in both hands and yanked painfully, bending one of the links out of line. As he picked at it with his fingers, Noct lifted a foot and kicked out at his knees.
"None of that," the man said idly, sidestepping him as Noct kicked again. "Honestly, one would think you'd be grateful."
The chain snapped, and Noct wrapped his fingers around the hook instead, holding on tight. The man only rolled his eyes and saw to the second chain. When they were both off, spilling onto the ground with a clatter of metal, Noct glared the man down and kept his hands in place.
"Go on," the man said. He flapped his hands like one would to shoo off a bird. "Go home."
"No," Noct said.
"I'm telling you to go home," the man said. "You're free."
"And I'm telling you I'm not," Noct snapped back.
The man stared at him for a long moment. Finally, just as the greyness of dusk gave way to the cool blue of true evening, his look of well-meaning shock gave way to pure, unbridled pleasure. His lips peeled back in a smile, and Noct's fingers clenched on the hooks as he saw his incisors flash in the moonlight, too long and sharp to be fully human.
"Oh, my dear boy," said the demon king. "You are a wonder."
FILL [1/?] Re: Noct is Vampire King Ardyn's newest pet
It had once been the hall of a king: One of the old warriors from the turn of the modern era, who fought the encroaching hordes of demons that swarmed the earth like a wave. Then, being a king simply meant being strong enough to survive. The greatest of those warriors lived on to create the first noble houses, and built new halls, new towns, new cities. The old halls lay forgotten, and many of the kings who lived there lay beneath, their bones yellowing in cavernous tombs.
But not all.
Noctis shivered in his thin white robes, which did little to keep out the chill that rolled over the high, jagged hills of old Lucis, and stopped at a raised stone circle overlooking the ancient hall. There, he stepped in and held his hands to the hooks on either side, and waited patiently while the town priestess chained his wrists.
"By your sacrifice," she said, in a soft, deadened voice. "Our home is free." Noctis tried to catch her eye, but her gaze traveled past him, dropping to his feet. She knelt, and gently pulled off his useless slippers. The stone was cold under his bare feet, and slightly damp.
"Luna," he said. He wished she hadn't chained his hands so soon. "I'll be fine."
The priestess tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and started unbuttoning the top of Noctis' robes. She laid bare the mark that had appeared on Noct's chest three weeks before, when he'd been out running with his friends and the world as he knew it had tilted out of true: A small rune, three intersecting lines followed by a dot that trailed out like an arrow. The sign of blood. It was the mark that came once every hundred years, regular as clockwork, signalling that the time had come for the town to pay its tithe.
"It isn't your fault, Luna," he said. The priestess placed a hand on his cheek, and when she finally looked at him, her eyes swam with tears.
"I'm so sorry, Noctis," she said. "I've sent you to your death."
She left him there, chained to the same circle that the demon king's last servant had been tied to, watching the sun sink over the grey horizon. He'd heard that the last servant had to be dragged to the circle in chains, and her family kept under guard in their home. That year, the harvest had failed, and night fell early for nearly a decade, heralding the approach of creatures that stalked the outskirts of the town, searching for stragglers. He figured that this time, it could go easier if the king were given a willing sacrifice.
He wasn't sure exactly how willing he was, though. As the sun disappeared beneath the crest of the farthest hill, he felt a hot spike of terror in his chest, and subtly pulled at the chains holding him to the circle. They made a terrible grinding sound, but they held, and Noct struggled to steady his breathing.
"Goodness, what's this?"
Noct jolted, and the chains clattered as a tall man, dressed like a vagabond in a grey jacket and a high ruffled collar, crunched over the loose stone of the hillside towards Noct. His hair was dark in the dim light of dusk, but there was the faintest hint of red there, like wine. His face had the definition of an older man who had grown into his looks, with a sharp jawline and soft cheekbones, and his brows were lowered in fierce concern.
"Who did this to you, my boy?" he asked. He approached the circle, and Noct fell uselessly back, hands clenching around the short length of chain.
"You should go," Noct said. "It isn't safe here."
The man smiled. "For you, certainly. Was this some... prank? Something for a stag night, perhaps?"
"What's a stag n--No," Noct said. "No, it's. It's. There's a demon. Sort of. No one's seen him in ages, unless you count people like me, but he takes someone every--hold on, don't touch that!" His voice rose, desperately high, as the man reached for the chain on his right wrist. "Look, I have to stay here, okay? And no one else is allowed up here, 'cause if they are, they'll die. Alright? You get it?"
"Not in the slightest," the man said. He leaned against one of the curving slopes of the circle and looked Noct up and down. "I take it this is one of those quaint rustic traditions where they send a pretty little thing up to an altar to starve to death, and then when the crops don't do well, they assume their sacrifice wasn't virginal enough."
"What? No." Noct frowned. "No, this is real."
"Of course it is." The man looked out over the darkening sky. "I expect whatever it is happens at night?"
"That's what they say. So you should really get going."
The man hummed to himself, as though mulling it over. "No," he said, after a slow, awful minute had passed. "I like to think of myself as a man of no consequence, in the grand scheme of things, but I can't allow a man in the prime of life to be used as a backwards country sacrifice." He pushed away from the circle, and carefully examined the chain around Noct's left wrist. "Oh, this is easy enough to break."
"You can't," Noct said. "Don't, this'll fuck everything up, you-" He gasped as the man gripped the length of chain in both hands and yanked painfully, bending one of the links out of line. As he picked at it with his fingers, Noct lifted a foot and kicked out at his knees.
"None of that," the man said idly, sidestepping him as Noct kicked again. "Honestly, one would think you'd be grateful."
The chain snapped, and Noct wrapped his fingers around the hook instead, holding on tight. The man only rolled his eyes and saw to the second chain. When they were both off, spilling onto the ground with a clatter of metal, Noct glared the man down and kept his hands in place.
"Go on," the man said. He flapped his hands like one would to shoo off a bird. "Go home."
"No," Noct said.
"I'm telling you to go home," the man said. "You're free."
"And I'm telling you I'm not," Noct snapped back.
The man stared at him for a long moment. Finally, just as the greyness of dusk gave way to the cool blue of true evening, his look of well-meaning shock gave way to pure, unbridled pleasure. His lips peeled back in a smile, and Noct's fingers clenched on the hooks as he saw his incisors flash in the moonlight, too long and sharp to be fully human.
"Oh, my dear boy," said the demon king. "You are a wonder."