Monster

TW: mentions of blood

 

        He was the monster now. He had spent so long mourning over what they had done to him that he had become a monster, just like them. Cries of anguish rang out around him as creations of his own making, Demons, fought in his honor. Plumes of feathers interspersed with blood flew through the air as did shadow matter and liquid essence of vibrant hues. He was unfairly ousting these creatures out of their home all so he could claim the space for himself and his tainted children. It was almost a shame they would never be able to achieve the status of a proper civilization; the signs that they were well on their way to such a conclusion could be clearly seen in the actions of the oversized fowl growing more complex with each generation. 

 

        He watched in astonishment as he wasn’t required to lift a single finger in this culling. The brutality of his creations was awe-inspiring, the seeds he sowed in them with his training blossomed quite beautifully. His younger self would be horrified to learn what he had become — a monster in both appearance and action. But he couldn’t care less now. If people refused to listen to him then he would simply force the matter. He had spent far too long under other people’s jurisdiction, mind forever plagued by that monumental moment where he discovered his horrible transformation at the hands of others.

 

~~~

 

    

        “So what’s your name, newbie?” Several eyes peered at him in an unnerving manner, all belonging to the same creature. He jumped back as he heard those words. This was the first person he’s encountered in a while, if person is even the right word? First things first, assess the situation. The stranger had smooth blue skin with dark dots that took turns lighting up along his entire body, creating an almost hypnotic display. He waved his hands in wide gestures. The claws on the tips of his fingers matched the talons he stood on. Flippers hung limp to the side of his arms and eyeballs scattered about his body followed his every move. His face consisted of a sharp toothed smile and a single eye crowned by the six fins hanging from the sides of his head. A thick tail beat the ground behind him, the fluke at the end reminiscent of a whale. Right… What was it he wanted again? His name, that was it. He was being rude by not introducing himself earlier. No matter a person’s appearance, manners were of utmost importance.

 

        "My name is Vla-" he was startled before he could finish. The first words he had spoken in however long and evidently there had been a change since last time. Why in the realms is there an echo to his voice? They were surrounded by large trees, not of a cave of any sort, and the stranger's voice had no such effect so there was no rational reason for such a thing. "My name is..." he tested, uttering each syllable slowly. Sure enough, that same echo subsisted with each sound he made. Nonsense, all of it, he needs to get on with this. With what meager stability he could muster up, "Vladimir, my name is Vladimir."

 

        The aquatic stranger’s eyes crinkled and his smile stretched wide. The eyes on his limbs refocused on Vladimir as they had started to wander during his show of hesitance. “Nice to meet ya Vladimir! You can call me King if you’d like,” his sharpened teeth glinted in the sunlight as he tipped his head to the side curiously. “I’ve been all over Infernum for millennia and I’ve never seen you around. I find it a bit hard to believe that I would’ve missed someone like you in my travels so if you don’t mind me asking, just where are you from?”

 

        If the narrowing of the peripheral eyes was anything to go by, Vladimir’s jolt at King’s mention of Infernum didn’t go unnoticed. The realm of Demons, the land where humans were puny compared to even the most meek wildlife and the days seemed to stretch on for forever under the harsh light of the three suns, Infernum was a merciless place to live. King’s appearance made all too much sense now that he knew their location. Vladimir had read tales of Infernum’s vast waterways in smuggled tomes but he never thought he’d get to meet the Demon that inhabited them. His awe subsided once he remembered he had absolutely no recollection of traveling to Infernum, much less coming across a portal he could use to get here. “I’m… Terran? How did I get here?” It came out with less confidence than he’d like, he was indeed from Terra but his uncertainty made it seem like he was asking King to reaffirm an assumption instead.

 

        King’s fins lightly fluttered and his four arms crossed as he took Vladimir’s words into consideration, his grin faltering into a more thoughtful expression. He scanned the Terran, analyzing all parts of him with a growing disbelief shown without shame on his face. “Are you sure?” His words were drawn out, painfully slow like Vladimir was supposed to object before it finished. “I must say, I’ve never seen any human that looked quite like you. Certainly never met one of such extraordinary size either.” 

 

        “Extraordinary? I always thought I was rather…” Vladimir finally looked down to assess his own appearance. “Small.” The most shocking thing was the lack of color, his entire body seemed as if drenched in form fitted tar. The visage of his thin arms and legs melted into one another, skin absorbing any light wishing to distinguish his form to onlookers. His fingers were slender as he remembered but the ends were sharpened into claws. He couldn’t feel a heart beating. The panic drenching his body like cold water did nothing to make his heart beat faster. He clutched desperately at his chest, the stillness felt fatal compared to the heaving breaths he expected. The coating on his body reacted to his distress and began to drip downwards. His vision blurred as he stumbled back in a stupor and fell directly into the ground. 

 

        One last glimpse of King’s frantic expression was all he got before he plunged into a world unlike any other. It was cold, dark, and endless. Was his body still there? Or at least, what seemed to be his body now. Bits and pieces were coming back to Vladimir now. Harsh hands grabbed at him and mercilessly tore him from his home. His pitiful cries didn’t dissuade former friends and family from shoving him into the hard dirt. He was still so young. His sole crime of using magic outside of the village’s divine right had him shunned and beaten half to death. The leaders declared banishment the moment he hit the ground. Chanting from the other villagers drowned out his screams as excruciating pain forced him into unconsciousness. Had they been able to achieve the impossible? All the evidence pointed to it — his altered body, the Demon King talking to him, and his new residence in Infernum. They had actually managed to transform him into a Demon. He felt the need to weep and yet he had no tears to shed — not in this void prison that held him captive. His humanity had been forcibly taken from him and he suspected there was no way to return to the way things were before.

 

        He couldn’t tell how long he had spent in that plane of shadows hidden within the ground. All he knew was that King had waited, even as the suns set and the entire realm was shrouded in darkness, for Vladimir to claw his way out. Hands and flippers helped pull him away from his personal torment. He spent a moment shaking in the Demon’s arms as he regained his bearings. He was led to what appeared to be a lagoon but the true depth could not be determined. A quiet spell uttered by King on the shore was all it took to make Vladimir sob. He recognized that spell. Oh gods, he recognized it before the effects kicked in. An Infernal spell to illuminate their area, all so that he could finally see what his reflection now held in the dark waters. This was the magic he had given his entire life to learn, this is why he had spent months sneaking around with books he bartered relentlessly with traders to obtain. He had put in all of this effort and now it reflected back to him as some horrible monster. A monster spilling inky tears that mixed like oil with the navy blue water below.

 

        This was the longest night of Vladimir’s life, as he sat with his knees clutched close to his chest and lead on his tongue, and recounted his life to someone he had met just that day. The water rippled faintly around King, the Demon long since retreated into the pool. Perhaps it was to lessen the judgement Vladimir might have felt coming from his peripheral eyes, or maybe it was just him needing to rehydrate. Nevertheless, King’s eye never left Vladimir’s face that night, not even when he ducked from the lights as sobs wracked his body. Neither felt the need to sleep as he shared the story of his upbringing. Living in one of the many Terran villages obsessed with one of the other two realms, it was rather unfortunate that he had taken an interest in all things Infernal as his village followed Caelum and its Angel inhabitants with a religious dedication. The leaders even regularly practiced Caelic spells despite humanity’s inherent inferiority when it came to magic. It was no surprise that they went on to use that same magic against him when his treachery had been discovered, clued in by someone he thought he could trust with his deepest secrets. King had no words of comfort to offer. He simply floated to Vladimir and guided one of his pitch black hands to touch the smooth blue skin over his chest. The irregular beating of King’s heart underneath his hand brought a sense of comfort he didn’t realize possible.

 

~~~

 

 

        Vladimir could vividly remember the comradery he felt with King the first day they met; the one good thing about his rebirth as a Demon was the lasting relationship they had formed. He knew King’s fond gazes still held a touch of pity in memory of the young boy he found lost in the forest. Surely he disapproved of Vladimir’s actions now. King never enjoyed it much when conflict broke out — it was the entire reason for his role as Infernum’s peacemaker. That’s why Vladimir was counting on his creations to be bloodthirsty and ruthless. He needed to make this a quick and painless affair for his friend. King was one of the few people that accepted the monster Vladimir had become.

 

        He had spent the past thousand years discovering all that his transformation offered him. The shadows that coated his body proved useful in shaping himself into whatever mold he wished to fit. It was how he had deceived the Nocturix into accepting him and his creations as one of their own until he decided to overtake them. For now, he looked vaguely human again. His long pointed ears flicked down in disappointment as stray droplets of crimson blood splashed onto his white clothes. It wouldn’t create any lasting stain with the malleability of his form but it was still an unpleasant sensation. He huffed a sigh, sat down on the tree branches, and perched to watch the carnage. Others sacrificing themselves in his name was a glorious sight. If he still had a heart, it would’ve fluttered just then. The birds were on their last leg now. It would be time for him to make his move soon enough, to show the world what a monster he really was.