Cyial yawned and blinked his eyes, wincing as he cracked a kink in his neck. Then he blinked again and lurched in sudden realization. His legs were tingling, they had fallen asleep and he had been sitting on them and the stool for who-knows-how-long now. He stood up, steadying himself to get the blood flowing in them again. He looked around and noticed the man was no longer around anymore. He released a resigned exhale. “He could have at least woken me up. Ugh… What time is it…? I hope Sairek won’t be mad, ohh…! And I still need to make the medicine and the mixtures, too…!”
Cyial slowly stepped, looking up at a nearby clock. It was about 3:30 in the morning and he sighed. Even if he did make it back to Sairek, it wouldn’t be for very long, but there was nothing he could do about it now except just do what needed to be done.
Moving and seating himself at the workstation, he glanced over at the basket of herbs, the same basket which he had Nayleen fetch. There was a much larger mortar and pestle here at the table and he grabbed that as well as a random herb from the basket and started the long, long arduous process of grinding the herbs down one by one.
First came some etherweed, which he crushed down with a little bit of spring water which was poured into the mortar as he crushed it then stirred it thoroughly. Then he stored it into one of the many empty vials at the bench. He grabbed a small sticky note of paper, wrote down what it was with an ink and quill. He hung the vial back on the shelf and then put the sticky note right underneath it, labeling it temporarily until the next person would arrive to finish the concoction and put a more permanent label on it. This was the task he would do for all the rest of the vials that would follow after.
Next up was a bloodcap mushroom. A dark red mushroom with almost blood-colored sort of “blisters” dotted all over the cap. Cyial didn’t like these things. Although he was pretty accustomed to seeing a lot of bleeding working and living in the monastery, it was still something he very much disliked and the mushrooms lived up to their name in their looks.
Thankfully the liquid the mushrooms grounded up into was a different matter. It was red in color, sure, but it did not hold the same color as blood, nor the richness of it, especially when he again, mixed the herbal paste with spring water. It was too transparent and the tone of the red was a little too bright, where it could almost be mistaken as a sort of fruit juice beverage.
There were also the local colored herbs. Green, red orange, yellow, white, blue… all of these had varying amounts of potency. They were just basic medicinal herbs that had just a tiny bit of ethereal in them. Grounded up into a mixture, they were usually used to help sterilize bandages, or even tied to a wound on their own, they could help expedite the recovery process of wounds. The white ones were the best and most potent for healing wounds and disinfecting them, but they were also one of the rarest, while the green ones were the most common, but the weakest, so they were usually reserved for more smaller to common injuries, while the white ones were used for the more life-threatening ones.
Then the blue ones, the most rare of them all, didn’t help with physical injuries at all, but it did help those with psychological problems that people may have developed. It was more of a drug than a medicine, he supposed. It had the effect of helping calm people’s minds down and make them mellow into an almost meditative state. Useful for taking care of patients who often would freak or were hallucinating when being treated. Thankfully, something that was equally as rare as procuring the herbs themselves.
There would have been the mint herb, but he had used that one on Sairek earlier… so that couldn’t be helped, but mint herbs were fairly common, he doubted they would be out of stock. Sometimes even the local tavern had mint tinctures, for when people drank themselves a little too hard, or at least what he heard, anyway. Though in the case of Sairek, they could obviously do more than cure a bad hangover after a night of drinking.
However, despite all he managed to do with all of these herbs, at the end of his task, grinding all of these herbs down into just simple mixtures was only the first step. The process of making potions or elixirs sometimes had four or even five steps to making proper medicine that the monastery would actually use unless in an absolute emergency if nothing else was available. Cyial could do all of the basic preparation and even some of the second steps, but after that, he let the pros handle it. The handling of herbs and the precise measurements needed was something Cyial wasn’t able to remember off the top of his head, or he would be stuck doing what the other man had been doing, struggling for over an hour just trying to get the correct ratio of a mixture just right.
As Cyial called it a night... or, morning, and picked up his book and began to return back to his room, his mind wandered back to what that man could have possibly been making. Though perhaps it wasn’t worth thinking about. Perhaps he had fallen asleep at the other steps the man had been needing to do.
Opening the door to his room, he peeked inside quietly. Sairek was still in a deep sleep. Cyial stepped into the room and closed the door behind himself as quietly as he could and walked over towards his desk. He smiled, looking at the sleeping Prince who was cuddled up and snuggled comfortably into his bed. He doubted that his bed was as comfortable as any of the beds Sairek probably had at the castle in Marid, but he slept in his own bed like it was the most comfortable bed he had ever had the luxury of sleeping in. Cyial moved to put his book on his desk and had begun moving towards the bed, when something caught the corner of his eye.
He glanced down at the floor. It was dark as the night itself in his room and the light was off. His room didn’t even have any windows, it may as well have been pitch black to a human, but Cyial’s eyes which glowed in the darkness could still see the small little droplet of… some liquid that was on the stone floor. Curious, he leaned down and scraped his finger against it, but found it to have been dry by now.
“Weird…?” Cyial muttered quietly to himself, then shrugged. Maybe Nayleen had dropped a little bit of the stew when she handed it to Sairek. Though Cyial could see in the dark, it was as if all color to him had been drained from the world. He would clean it up later after Sairek awoke. He didn’t want to leave it staining for too long, and he sure wasn’t going to disturb Sairek’s sleep if he could help it.
Slowly, carefully, Cyial moved to slide himself under the duvet and slowly and carefully as he could, sink his weight in without trying to disturb Sairek. The Prince mumbled something in his sleep and shifted, but unlike the night previous, his breathing pattern only shifted briefly before going back to a regular pattern indicative of a boy who was asleep.
Cyial realized he wanted to sleep with Sairek… he really wanted to sleep with Sairek… but he wasn’t entirely sure if that was him, or the ‘incubus’ inside of him saying that. Even still though, he would never do anything to harm Sairek, no matter how desperate his incubus side of him drove him mad. He wasn’t the monster he heard many people whisper that he was…
So with that, Cyial once more moved to snuggle against the Prince, sighing with a pleased hum at how warm his skin felt, even though he was still wearing his robe, and began to fall back into sleep…
...One that was unfortunately uneasy for him and wouldn't last long. The Incubus inside of him, ‘The Beast’ as he called it, was not as kind as Cyial wished it would be…
* * *
When Sairek awoke, he found himself looking up at the ceiling, with his back resting on the bed. Compared to how he felt when he passed out last night, he felt much better. Almost good as new. He supposed sleeping half the day with medicine and maybe even a little bit of ethereal mixed in for good measure would do that. Sleeping was often the best medicine for the body.
He realized he could feel something weighing down on his chest and he craned his head to look down the length of his torso, sliding the covers a few inches down. He had to bite back a chuckle as he saw Cyial’s head resting on his chest, who had been underneath the covers. The boy was practically using his chest as a pillow, almost completely hidden until Sairek had pulled the duvet back a bit.
“S-Sorry…”
Sairek flinched slightly, hearing Cyial’s voice. “You’re awake?” He asked.
Cyial’s eyes opened, glowing in the darkness of the room. “Yes… I’m sorry for invading your personal space like this…” Cyial apologized again.
“...Invading my personal space?” Sairek questioned. “Didn’t we already have this discussion?”
“You don’t mind me laying like this?” Cyial questioned in an uncertain tone.
“I don’t see what’s wrong with it?” Sairek said, confused.
“It… was the... my inner incubus in me, that made me get this close…” Cyial tried to explain and he quivered when he finished making that sentence. Sairek frowned in reaction. He’d almost forgotten that fact. Telling Cyial he could sleep with him was probably an offer the boy couldn’t refuse in more ways than one.
“Listen; you didn’t do anything while I was asleep, right?” Sairek asked, his tone not at all accusatory.
“N-No…”
“Did you want to do anything to me?”
“N-No! I only slid under the covers and lay like I did until you woke up… after I slept…”
“Okay, so... I don’t see what the problem is? You... didn't do anything wrong. Like, literally.”
Cyial moved to sit up from the bed to pull away some from Sairek and sat with his legs dangling over the side. Sairek moved to sit himself up, still confused. “My dreams… Sairek… when I sleep, sometimes the… ‘hunger’ inside of me is harder to control. And it was very hungry last night because I was sleeping with you…” Cyial tried to explain. “It’s why I usually sleep alone… that dream... makes me feel sick just remembering it.”
Sairek couldn’t help but feel sympathetic to him. He moved to sit beside Cyial on the bed and moved to wrap his hands around him in a firm hug. “Shhh, no more crying. Listen, I don’t hate you, Cyial. Not for what you are, nor for who you are.”
“But I feel like I might do something terrible to someone eventually and I won't be able to stop myself…!” Cyial sniffled. “It’s so hard… everybody needs to eat to live… but what I do to ‘eat’ is completely taboo in this world…! I wish I wasn’t born as a demon at all… Why couldn’t I be human just like everyone else–!?”
“I know… I’ve asked myself the almost same question hundreds of times with me being born as a Prince, Cyial.”
Cyial moved his arms to also wrap around Sairek as well. He felt so lonely, even though the Prince was right there, comforting him, just as a lowly demon like him was somehow his equal.
“But it’s not the same… I need to eat eventually… I can’t just not eat… it gets stronger every month, every week, every day; I don’t know how long I can hold it off for… and—and I try so hard every day… but it’s like nobody but Father Abbot cares… They are just waiting for me to eventually mess up so they can crucify me… I hate it...!”
Sairek wished there was something he could do, but the truth of it was that there was probably nothing he could do other than offer his companionship as the younger boy trembled and shivered in his arms. Cyial probably had to live with this every day, for probably years, or even his whole life for all he knew. He didn’t know how long Cyial has felt this ‘hunger’ for, but it was probably a long while now, judging from this kind of reaction.
He was wondering if bringing Cyial with him was a good idea or a terrible idea. Apparently him being around Cyial made his hunger worse, but he didn’t know if he could leave Cyial as he was in good conscious. He saw Cyial as a friend—and good friends didn’t just abandon other friends to their woes.
...Huh. Maybe that’s why Nayleen acts the way she does.
There was also the possibility that him leaving could make this ‘hunger’ Cyial had worse as well… and if that happened without any support, or he did something ‘taboo’ indeed, well…
Yeah, he didn’t want to think about that.
Not even he would be able to bail Cyial out of that. Many people in Ceareste looked for an excuse to punish and ridicule demons already. Balgira had just been the kind of person who was far more... 'open' about his thoughts to the point that it was to the detriment of his own good.
“Sairek… I’m scared…” Cyial quivered in his arms, raising his head to look into the emerald eyes of the Prince with his own garnet ones. “I don’t want to be alone again… I like you and Nayleen a lot… so much… and it’s not the cravings inside of me saying that… I truly mean it, b-but…”
“Do you want to come with us?” Sairek asked him.
“I don’t know if it would be a good idea…” Cyial admitted with a shaky sigh. “I don’t want to hurt either of you by accident because I couldn’t control the voices inside of my head…”
“There isn’t anything the Abbot can do for you?” Sairek asked.
“No… there’s no magic to cure starvation for you guys, right…?” Cyial asked.
“N-No… and there definitely wouldn’t be one for a demon, either…” Sairek mumbled. “Is it seriously like if you need to eat food, or—”
“Well.. n-not quite… demons are more magical beings than humans are… of course we need to eat food too, but it’s more of a luxury than a requirement… but what we really need is black magic…”
“Black... magic…?” Sairek repeated slowly. The term was familiar to him.
“The magic used in the Overworld is referred to as white magic... The magic used in the Underworld is referred to as black magic… you know how humans need ethereal to live?”
“Ah, I understand now…” Sairek grumbled.
“Yes... As a demon born in the Overworld, I have a bit of both sides… I don’t need ethereal to live, but it’s not toxic to me like a normal demon… but when the black magic in a demon gets low, it—it can drive us insane… We won’t die without it like humans do, but our mental stability gets worse and worse over time... and as an Overworld demon who already has ethereal inside of them, the imbalance of the two magics makes it all the more worse... Yes, I don't get hurt or sick by ethereal, but this is the curse I am forced to deal with...”
Sairek pulled away from Cyial a little and bit his bottom lip. “Well… maybe there’s something we can figure out for you on our trip to Yggdrasil. Maybe there’s something that can be done to block out or subdue the cravings you are getting… or, uh…” Sairek muttered. Honestly, he didn’t even believe himself.
“I don’t want to lose control near you or Nayleen…” Cyial whispered.
Sairek sighed. “Okay, look; whatever happens, I know it won’t be your fault, Cyial. I’d rather it be me than someone innocent and unsuspecting and who would do you harm over something that's not of your conscious decision. And besides… if you do care about me, I’m sure if you feel yourself actually beginning to slip, you will at least give me fair warning. Besides, I’m pretty sure I have a pretty good idea on what kind of thing you do to ‘feed’ off of people… I think...?” Sairek muttered. “Being sheltered in the castle and having the higher ups under me urging me to get a girl in my life so I can produce another heir is… well—at least you’re a guy... so no ‘accident’ can happen. If that happened, I would truly be ruined.” Sairek said, pressing his lips together.
Cyial blinked slowly at him.
“...Oh right, I told Nayleen this and not you." Sairek sighed. "You see, my father was expecting me to just go and pick a mate on my twelfth birthday in a couple of weeks. And I had to pick someone no matter what... all so I and this stranger of a girl can live a 'happy life' and do the deed with each other eventually to make another heir...”
“Aren’t you… still a bit young for that?” Cyial mumbled.
“Yes…” Sairek flushed. “But ‘the bloodline is at stake! I can’t choose another myself!’ my father protested and his little... council of friends agreed.” Sairek explained, hanging his head in embarrassment. “A-Anyway, the point is… if you did lose control with someone else… there would be nothing I could do for you… at least if it happened to me, it can be a secret between us… okay? You wouldn’t intentionally hurt me, right?”
“Of course not, but—Sairek… you shouldn’t be speaking like this…!” Cyial whimpered, both in embarrassment and shame.
“What? I’m just saying how I feel and being honest about it. And let me tell you, being honest about how I feel is absolutely liberating when you’re having to lie and pretend to be someone who you’re not all the time for the vast majority of your life…"
“I… I see…” Cyial mumbled.
“Do you?”
“I—I think so…”
"Again, I'm not going to hate you or take it personally for what you are. You and Nayleen both accept me for who I am despite being the Prince of this realm.”
"Being a Prince is something more to look up to than being a demon..." Cyial grumbled.
"Who decided that, though, and why should we follow that? I can make my own decisions, my own friends, no matter what society or my father may say." Sairek finished, then looked around briefly. "Anyway… is it okay for me to get out of bed, doctor?”
“D-Doctor…?” Cyial blinked, letting an uneasy chuckle. “I-I’m no doctor, Sairek…”
“Well, you sure helped me feel better." Sairek pointed out. "Anyway, can I?”
“I don’t know. How do you feel?”
“Pretty good, but a bit numb around here.” Sairek said, moving a hand to the left of his chest.
“...Numb?” Cyial blinked. “Maybe that’s my fault for sleeping around there…” He bowed his head.
“It’s just a little numb. It doesn’t hurt.” Sairek tried to reassure him. It did itch a little bit, though. “Are my clothes cleaned yet?”
“Oh… they should be by now. Do you want me to go get them?” Cyial offered.
“Well… I’d prefer not to wander the halls just like this.” Sairek gestured down at himself. “Wouldn’t want to embarrass myself...”
“You look fine.” Cyial said, causing Sairek to give him a look and then he blushed. “I… I mean it though. I mean, there’s nothing ‘wrong’ about your body, Sairek. It’s normal… perhaps more on the shorter end for your age though, if you're turning twelve in a couple of weeks...”
“Oof! So you can be cheeky when you want to!” Sairek grinned at him and gave him a playful, gentle shove on the shoulder, causing the demon to grin a little bit. Cyial was feeling a little bit better with Sairek's reassurances
“Yeah, yeah… I’ll be right back in a couple of minutes to get them for you. Wait here, please.” Cyial said, pushing himself up and making his way to the door to retrieve the Prince’s clothing. Sairek had definitely helped his mood feel better.
When Cyial came back, Sairek was still sitting on the bed, the blankets now draped over his lower back, and he was gently scratching in idle fashion at his chest when Cyial opened the door with his clothes in his arms, staff included under his right arm.
“Yay, thanks.” Sairek said graciously, halting his itching and reaching out to take his clothes and setting them on the bed beside himself. He put his boots on the ground and reached for his pants as he stood up, moving to pull them up and on.
“I suppose you will want me to take you to the grave site, too? Cyial asked.
“Yeah, that would be great… It has been around six years since I was able to visit my mother last. I guess I should pay respects to all of the family members there, though; not just her.”
Cyial watched Sairek pull his shirt over himself, then with the Prince’s guidance, helped him put the rest of his clothes on.
When Sairek was ready, Cyial grabbed his book from the table near the bed, opened the door for him and led him outside and down the hallways. Sairek followed him close behind. Cyial glanced around, looking ahead and behind him in the hallways, looking nervous. “I hope nobody else sees us, though…” The demon mumbled.
“Why’s that?”
“Just… I don’t want things to get complicated, you know…?” Cyial mumbled. "People might think the worst, spread rumors..."
“I’ll tell them off myself, then.” Sairek frowned.
“N-No, please… I don’t want any drama, not with my co-workers. It would make living here even more difficult—” Cyial began, before one of the dormitory doors ahead of them opened and they both saw an acolyte dressed in the same robes as Cyial step out. It was a girl who looked in her mid-teens, older than Nayleen. She didn’t say anything, but she did eye them both. Especially Cyial, with a look that wasn't aggressive, but certainly wasn't friendly. Just... disapproving.
Despite what Cyial had said, Sairek looked back at her and stopped before they passed her by. “Hi there. Can we help you?” Sairek asked, keeping his tone friendly while giving her an equal look of disapproving.
“Ah, no. Sorry...” She murmured, and uncomfortably moved to walk away from them.
“S-See…?” Cyial murmured, when she was out of ear shot. “I don’t bother them, and they don’t bother me. It’s... just better this way.”
“As if.” Sairek's frown deepened. “Just because you’re not human like them, doesn’t mean that you’re not a person or deserve to be treated lesser, Cyial. You deserve to be treated better and be shown respect, just like everyone else. You’ve earned it and worked hard for it.”
Cyial looked at Sairek for a moment, then back ahead in thought. In his mind, Sairek was right… if the world was perfect. Unfortunately, the world was not perfect, so he had just settled for second best.
Until Balgira had started getting involved, anyway.
“A-Anyway, come on.” Cyial motioned him, resuming their walk.
At the end of the hallway was a turn and then a flight of stairs, which they took until they reached the top floor. Then there was another hallway, then another short flight of stairs before a door, which opened up into a sort of courtyard, except this courtyard was on the “roof” of the monastery. The morning sun beamed through a dome made out of glass, revealing the sky, but other parts of the structure of the monastery itself blocked any real view of the city.
Sairek looked ahead and saw that despite the fact they were on the fourth floor, there was indeed grass and even smaller trees growing up here, lined up with tombstones in small, neat little rows.
“When did the idea to make a graveyard on top of the monastery ever come to pass?” Sairek wondered aloud as they both stepped inside… or, outside—whatever which.
“Um... I think it was about a decade ago? Heavy rain has always been a problem with Lamen. It causes massive flooding and well, the city is next to the ocean, so it can’t really be pumped anywhere without Kiorian technology, which is too expensive... or so they say, anyway.” Cyial explained.
"Given our tense relationship with Kior, I wouldn't doubt it. They probably aren't going to give us the best market share price on their goods." Sairek shrugged.
“Yeah... Anyway, the grave site kept getting flooded—badly. So apparently it was less expensive to just move them here, away from the water. Safer here for them to rest, too. Less disturbances here and for them to get damaged.”
“I’d hope so.. Doesn’t sound like they were taken care of very well before then.” Sairek frowned. “Father probably made the change because he knew Mother wasn’t going to make it, I bet…”
“I suppose he cared for her that much.” Cyial replied.
“Probably… he loses his lid whenever I bring her up at all for almost any reason. And in the time he doesn't, he tells me to don't talk about her.” Sairek said with a heavy exhale. He stepped more forwards to examine the graves. There were twenty-one gravestones in total. Sairek’s mother he saw was the closest one in one of the rows which were split into two separate columns of four per row. Sairek probably had a lot of grandfathers and grandmother’s and several ‘greats’ of each resting here, but he only knew of his father and mother. His grandparents had passed before he was born. Sairek stepped towards his mother’s grave and looked down, cupping the royal jewel in his left hand for a few seconds.
Cyial watched Sairek silently. It was almost eerily silent up here. The glass dome didn’t allow any wind to blow, or any birds to be heard chirping… and that’s why he didn’t like it. It was too quiet for his liking, but it’s not like it had been his decision. After about a moment, Sairek moved again and turned to Cyial. “Hey… I’m going to be up here for a good while paying my respects to... well, everyone. It... might take a while.”
Cyial bowed his head in understanding. “Alright, take your time Sairek. Lavian might come down later today in regards to Balgira… so I’ll go wait for her, okay? If you're still here if she arrives, I'll come fetch for you?”
“Alright. Thanks for showing me the way here and... think about what I said, okay?”
"...Okay, I will, Sairek."
Sairek watched silently as Cyial turned around and climbed down the bottom of the stairs, then he turned back to the tombstone of his mother for a moment and sighed. He figured he may as well start from the first one and "work" his way down, so he moved from his mother’s tombstone towards the front of his oldest ancestor, setting his staff beside himself, slightly annoyed, he went to scratch at his chest again. It felt like something had bitten him there or something. Maybe there was a mosquito or something that had gotten him. It wasn't exactly where Balgira had hit him, so he ruled that out. He huffed a breath before he corrected his posture and positioned himself in prayer.
* * *
When Cyial reached the bottom of the stairs and turned around the corner, Nayleen was standing right there. He almost bumped into her and in reaction, jumped back in startled surprise. “G-Geez!”
“Hiii~” Nayleen waved at him. “Are you okay? Your hair looks a bit off today more than usual.”
Unconsciously, Cyial moved his left hand up to his hair on the top of his head. “It… um… well, it was… you know how last night was…” Cyial sighed.
“Well, you can say that again. Where’s Sairek? I saw him go up there with you so I followed, but then you came back down alone.”
“He’s visiting his ancestors paying his respects. I think he might want to be left alone? I don't think he would be against you coming up to see him either, though...” Cyial explained.
“Huh, Sairek often doesn’t want to be left alone I’ve noticed. Must be important to him, then.” Nayleen mused.
Cyial was starting to notice that too. Maybe Sairek felt more lonely than he thought. He didn’t act like he was lonely most of the time, but he supposed he only knew Sairek for a couple of days at most and it was bad manners to judge someone that quickly.
“Anyway… uh, what should we do while we wait for him?” Nayleen questioned, interlacing both of her hands behind her head casually.
“Um… I have no idea. Lavian will probably show up later today to talk about Balgira, but that could be as late as until this evening... if at all.” Cyial replied.
“Well… how about you show me how to mix those herbs, then?” Nayleen suggested.
Cyial blinked. “You… want to watch me work...” He stated a bit dryly in disbelief, and added a tilt of his head for good measure.
“Well, not exactly. I want you to teach me, bud." Nayleen clarified. "Look, if I had been alone and something like that happened to Sairek, well, I know what kind of herb to use, but not how to mix it like you did. I’m great at foraging for them and I know how to use them raw in a pinch, but not how to make the most out of them, if you get what I mean. Besides, I may not look like it, but I actually am interested in this stuff! Nature's cool, y'know?”
Cyial chuckled a little at that last bit. “I think I understand. I suppose I can indulge you then, if that’s what you want to do. I would have to mix today’s batch sooner or later. Besides last night's troubles, there was... another complication last night that put me behind." He frowned.
"Someone else wasn't trying to bully you again, were they?" Nayleen asked.
"N-No. The uh... workstation was just busier than I anticipated so late into the night. Anyway, maybe once I’m done, Sairek will be too.”
“Exactly! Then all three of us can finally and hopefully explore this city without a jack-rat coming in to punch Sairek or you in the face."
“Heh… I don’t know about that as long as I’m around you guys...” Cyial replied, looking down at his feet.
“Staaahhhp~” Nayleen scolded him, by grabbing his cheek and pulling it, causing Cyial to let out a squeak of a whine. “You’re too negative about yourself! Stop concentrating on what other people think you are! If they want to be bigots, let them and show them how wrong they are and how much better you are in comparison! They only get angry because it contradicts their beliefs.”
“Oh… um… okay, then…” Cyial murmured. “C-Can you let go of me now?”
“Do you promise to stop being so negative~?”
“Um… I’ll at least promise I’ll try my best not to be negative.” He tried.
“Mmmnnn... Okay! Good enough. Now let’s go!” Nayleen cheered, releasing Cyial’s cheek and beginning to march off in a random direction in the hallway.
“U-Um, Nayleen, that’s not the right way…” Cyial started, chasing after her.
* * *
By the time Sairek had paid his respects to everyone, it had been noon, but it was his mother who he had of course spent the most time with.
How he indeed missed his mother… and how he wished he knew the truth of what had happened and what had caused her to die the way that she did, but he hoped she was at least at peace now. His longing to finally visit her was at peace, at least. It had been something aching on his mind for a couple of years now and it felt like a small weight was finally lifted with him finally having that long wish of his granted.
He wished he could have had a better home life. He didn’t know if he would yearn to leave the castle so much if his mother were still alive and his father didn’t become such a dictator to him, but he assumed he may have, just perhaps later rather than sooner. He realized even though he’s already had a couple of hardships already, that he was loving this. He loved making friends and meeting new people, especially around his age. Nayleen seemed to be as loyal as anyone could be, and Cyial was… well, amazing, really. The sense and adrenaline of adventure was addicting.
He had always heard how demons were ‘bad people’ because they were banished, though he knew demons born in this realm like Cyial also existed. They were just… extremely rare. Most demons would sooner end their suffering than try and start a new family here.
Regardless, the best he could do for his mother was for now, try and stay proud of who he was and move forward. Something he was telling Cyial to try and do, but he realized he should perhaps heed his own advice. Yes, he didn’t like that he was the Prince, much like how Cyial hated how he was an incubus, but they couldn’t change what they were. All they could do was make the best of the cards they were dealt with and move forward and not listen to how other people told them how to play their hand.
Sairek sighed. He had been sitting in prayer in front of his mother’s grave for probably over an hour now. Possibly two. He had long finished praying, but being in front of her tombstone helped him reflect on things and on his young life so far. He didn’t want to forget the past, but perhaps right now the best thing he should do is concentrate on the present and carve a path forwards for the future... figure out exactly who he was, his identity and who he wanted to grow up to be... and sheesh, he hadn’t even had breakfast yet! His stomach was beginning to protest.
He gave one last look at his mother’s grave and moved his right arm towards his staff—
“...W-What…?” Sairek rasped.
He struggled, trying to force his limbs to move but he… he just couldn’t. They felt frozen, seized in place.
He could barely even get his muscles to twitch as he struggled to stand up at first, struggling to move his arms in front of him. It felt like it took all of his strength. He gritted his teeth as he struggled to make much movement. It was almost like if Samuel was restricting his movements again… but this wasn’t that…
What was going on…?
His senses jerked in alertness as he heard somebody clucking their tongue behind him. He grunted with effort, straining his neck to look and his eyes widened in even further alarm when the person was knelt right behind him, so close, he could feel their breath on his cheek. Sairek hadn't even noticed another presence was here with him at all. He had been so lost in his thoughts and in prayer...
He had to shift his pupils to look to the side because his neck couldn’t endure turning anymore. He saw a man with light brown hair, wearing a robe like Cyial’s, but dark brown with a red collar, almost looking like a coat… and dark eyes glinting with mischief into Sairek’s own. The Prince felt himself beginning to break out in a cold sweat.
“Such a unique prize you are…” The man crooned into his ear. “Your friends were rather careless last night to leave you alone unguarded, you know. Nobody even noticed that I just slipped in and gave you a shot of my own dose of ‘medicine' last night as you slept. You can feel it, can’t you? How your muscles are seized up, locked all nice and tight, hmm~?”
The man’s tone was sly and Sairek clenched his teeth together uneasily. “And, who are you exact—H-Hey–! G-Gross…!”
Sairek shivered in discomfort as he felt the man’s tongue lick the back of his neck. Without his staff in his hand, there was no way he could cast anything… maybe he could utilize the royal jewel, but right here at the site of his family’s graves…? And besides, the man was behind him… if he couldn’t move, he had no way to point the spells at him to get him to back off… and that’s assuming he couldn’t see it coming anyway…
“Humans are so weak-minded… attached to corpses, mere material things… They’re nothing more than objects now, you know. Food for crows and worms to feed off of. You all eventually reincarnate from the tree anyway... What's the point of such sentimental attachment?” The man continued to croon, and those words caused a primal growl of rage to emerge from Sairek's throat.
“What are you…? A demon yourself…?” Sairek demanded through a rough voice.
“As a matter-of-fact, yes I am!” The man grinned, poking Sairek in the cheek with a finger, covered with a gray glove. What a shame it was that he couldn’t just reach over and just bite the man’s finger in retaliation. “In fact, I am an incubus, just like your little friend is.”
“W-What–!?”
“But I am also not like your little pup… I was not born here like he was. I was banished… yes that’s right, a true, bonafide demon… You may call me... Pararis.”
“Okay… and to what do I owe you this 'pleasure', Pararis…?” Sairek growled.
“Oh, it’s a very simple request… Just, mm… some ‘associates’ of mine and myself are quite hungry. Kior has such heavy surveillance you know, and Masirean is quite expensive to get to… and Malodia is just outright dangerous to travel in. Sneaking over here was surprisingly quite easy once we escaped Kior... I cannot believe there isn’t even any security here. I just borrowed these robes and nobody even batted an eye. They’re quite useful for concealing the tail, too... don’t you agree?”
“H-Hungry…?” Sairek whispered in panic as Pararis removed the glove from his right hand slowly. Then Sairek barked out in alarm as the man pulled him back into him, and then he felt the man’s right hand shove itself down the collar of his shirt, beginning to roam underneath the fabric of his clothes freely “S-Stop that…! Just what in the Flaming Lands are you doing–?!” Sairek cried out.
“Why, I’m just feeling how tender the meat is a little bit, that is all~” The man answered him from behind. The tone in his voice made Sairek shiver. Was this seriously what incubi were like? Was this what Cyial was afraid of becoming…?
"Me... of all people...?!" Sairek snarled.
"Why yes, you are very, shall we say, high risk, high reward... We may be from the Underworld, but even we know that royalty is the highest stock... Bloodlines are carefully curated, recessive genes repressed while more positive genes are sought after to breed the more 'desirable' humans... Handsome or beautiful, naturally healthy and strong to avoid most health complications; all of these are seen as positive traits to humans. For demons of my ilk, we too, enjoy such positive qualities within humans... You are quite the wonderful catch, little boy."
Sairek struggled and writhed as much as his paralyzed body would allow, but it was fairly pointless. He felt the hand roaming over his chest, over his stomach. Sairek felt goosebumps appearing all over his skin. “Sc-Screw you! Let me go this instant! Do you think I will let you get away with this if you continue–!?! G-uah!” Sairek cried out, as the man pinched him. “G-Get your hands out of my shirt… Right now–!”
“Yes, yes, I know… I do not have long to dawdle here, playing with my food, despite how much I want a taste of you right now...” Pararis sighed in a reluctant tone of voice. “A shame, it would seem this part of the building is rarely visited on, but your petulant screaming would probably alert someone eventually, but I must say, that layer of sweat from your fear is quite enticing…” He crooned again.
“Y-You cannot be serious with this… Why!?” Sairek begged. “Do you not know of the consequences of this—how many lines you are going to cross–!? When you get caught—”
“Well, I don’t plan to keep you… selling you for ransom would net us quite a lot of seru, you know. Perhaps enough for my associates and I to not go hungry again for many years. Ah, please do not worry too much. We do not wish to actually hurt you. Merely… use you for a while, until we are satisfied. Then we'll sell you back and disappear...~”
“As if that’s any better–?!” Sairek retorted in disbelief. “If you want to talk about 'quality traits', then what is it that you see in me?!”
“Well, you see, each incubus or succubus has a sort of flavor they like to feed off of their subjects. Some like fear, some like passion, some like bliss, and some like the pain.”
“And what’s yours…?”
“Defeat. When the prey resists as hard as they can... denying it for as long as possible, all for naught."
Sairek bared his teeth. That probably meant he was going to be enjoying seeing him like this in more ways than one…
“Is that the only preference you have…?” Sairek growled.
“Us ‘cubi’ do not bother with any preferences when it comes on who to feed, necessarily. Gender, body type, age… as long as the subject is old enough to ‘produce’, then it is all fair game. Unfortunately for you, the simple matter-of-fact is that you are weak, small and light enough to carry out of here without anyone raising too many questions, and you are worth quite a hefty amount of seru to boot.” Pararis grinned slyly at him. Then, before Sairek could get a retort in, the demon raised his right hand and Sairek saw the world spin with a brief flash of pain to the back of his head, before the world went dark.
* * *
“Lady Lavian?”
Lavian groaned a sigh, looking up from her mountains and mountains of paperwork. She brushed her ponytail that had fallen in front of her left shoulder behind herself to her back again and looked up from her desk. Edgar, one of the knights who had accompanied her to arrest Balgira and stop the duel with the Prince was standing at the doorway, calling for her attention. “Yes?” She started, then noticed the man’s frown and... rather distressed expression, even though he was trying to hide it. “Edgar, what’s wrong?”
“Uhm… your audience is requested… by the demon, Cyial.” Edgar began.
She groaned quietly. “Unfortunately I’m not done here yet, can you tell him that—”
“Forgive me, but he says it’s important to meet with you right now. It’s not about Balgira. It’s about the Prince. The demon is um… crying in the main hall right now. To be honest, it's hard to make out what he's saying. He's very distressed, m'lady.”
Now it was her turn to frown. “What happened? Is the Prince okay—L-Look, I’ll be right there… go and keep him company for a moment, please, try to calm him down as best as you can.” She ordered wearily.
“Understood.”
She took a brief moment to finish the line she was working on before putting the pen down on her desk and sitting up from her chair. She glanced to her left, where her own sword was leaning against the wall in its scabbard. She reached over to grab it. There was this unshakeable feeling that she may need it again, soon.
Working her way down the hall from her office and down the stairs, she came into the main hall a couple of moments later, where Cyial sat on one of the benches, indeed, crying. In his lap, he had a book, and… a staff. The Prince’s staff. Indeed, the fact that Cyial was a demon born in this world was true. There was no way a normal demon would be able to even be able to handle having a staff in their lap, not without some intense pain and screaming on their part.
Lavian strolled over to Cyial and Edgar and knelt down to be level with him. “Shh, I’m here now. Did something happen to the Prince?” Lavian questioned him in a gentle tone. She hoped one of her knights wasn’t acting out of line again.
“Sairek… He’s… He’s gone… I can’t find him…!” Cyial choked between sobs.
“...What?”
Lavian slowly stood up, concern etched on her face. “Can you explain to me what happened and where you saw him last?”
“When we woke up… he wanted to visit his ancestors in the morning, so I showed him where… and he wanted to be alone with them for a while… but he never came back down…” Cyial began, wiping his eyes with his right sleeve took look up at Lavian. He was still choking out sobs, but he was trying to force them down. “After a few hours… he still didn’t come down… so I was getting worried, he hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet... so I went up to check and… all that was there was his staff… we looked all over the monastery... Nayleen has been looking in the city, we, we can’t find him…! Sairek wouldn’t just leave his staff like that–!”
Lavian took a deep breath. Oh dear, this… was not good. However, she had to act professional and look strong and calm, if not for the crying child in front of her and the morale of her knights. If she looked panicked, he’d feel even worse and her knights may loose faith.
“Edgar,” She said sternly, turning around to face the other knight. “Go to my office and call an emergency and order at least five knights guarding each exit out of the city. Double that for the port especially. For everyone else that is available, order them to begin searching the city for a kidnapping immediately. Do not inform them that it's the Prince we are looking for; we don't want panic or rumors to spread. Just a lost child, male, eleven to twelve years old.
Relay to them to circle the perimeter and search inwards. Look into every building thoroughly including residences. We will worry about any potential violations later. There is an incredibly dangerous and potentially armed suspect on the loose and they have kidnapped a child if anyone asks. Understand?”
“Yes m'lady.” Edgar saluted and immediately sprinted off to do as he was ordered.
Watching him run off, Lavian turned back around. “Cyial, let’s go back to the monastery…”
“B-But I swear he’s not there anymore… I looked so hard, Lavian…!” Cyial sobbed.
“I know you did, but I think I have an idea on how to find the Prince… and I’m going to need your help and that staff you have there to do it.” Lavian declared.
