Chapter Text
Alcor lounged in the air over a set of twin beds, waving his hands lazily as if conducting an orchestra on a different plane of existence. One playing an upbeat composition that brought to mind candy and unicorns and bright summer’s days and all manner of joyously colorful things humans found pleasant. A relaxed smile spreading across his face as the sound of it fills his ears. Meanwhile, the screaming heads circling above him paid no heed to his attempts to enact a tempo upon their agonizing wails.
A familiar tug pulled the demon from his reverie with a groan, “Ug̡͢͡h̵͝. ̨Stupi̴d da͝mn̡ cul͠t͞i͡s͠t͏s.̶”
He considered sending it to the answering machine; but, this one tasted like human. He opened his eyes and scowled at the heads, “ F̧r͟an̡k̨,͏ ̴yǫù'r̢e st͏ill off ̀your̨ c͞ưe. ͠ If ͢y̧òu ̧d͘o̴n͝'t̢ fi͠x ͡t́ha͡t, I ̧m̧a̴y hav̵e ́yo̕ur ́repl͡a͘c̴em̡en͟t͜ ́sho͜rtl̛y.́ ̀ Yo͜u͏ wo͞u͜ld͡n'ţ w̢͜a͟n̵t ̷t̕͏h͏̕͜á̡͠t̡ ̢ẁơu̡l̴͜d̨ ̷̸͟y̵o̢ú?̙̕
They all just kept screaming.
“ Y̡e̷a,̕ ͢I͜ d͢idn̨'̧t t҉hin҉k̷ ͘s̀o̢.͢ ” He paused, as if to remember what he was doing. The summon tugged again. Alcor waved to the heads and blipped from the room, voice echoing off the slanted ceiling as he left, “ D̀on'͢t͡ ̶m̛a͜kȩ ͠a̛ ̸me͢ss͡ wh͜i̸l͢e ̀Ì'm̧ ̕g͢ơn͏e!̀ ”
Black smoke billowed up from the summoning circle, banking as it hit the cute little chalk line edge as if it couldn’t flow right over. Alcor found he liked lulling his summoners into that sense of security. It helped move things along.
Ẇ̻͚̱̫͇̼̊͂Ḩ̪͉̻O͙̰̜͍̞͎̗ͬ̑͂̏ ̴̠͍͔̬͖̫̠̈D̐̊͛̈̽̒ͩ͏̤̳̰͎Ȧ͑̓̓̎ͯͯ͏̣͇̱̬̙̠R͈̜̮̰͍̳͇ͬͥͫ̽ͨͦ̎͞E̓̿ͯ̈́͏S̃̽̉̉̚͏͈̞ ̨͍̠̳̳̥͓̃̓̾ͮ͋ͧS͎̳̎̈́̌ͤU̸͚͖͍̯̜̙̫ͨ̃ͬM̙̣͙̬̼̅̈́͛ͅM̝͂̓͞O̤̻̩ͣ̾̐N̼̲̪̫̮̪̍ ̧͍̩̽̍ͨͣẢ̢̩̏͐̔͋̾Ḽ̭ͯ̕C͓ͬ́̓ͫ̋ͬ̚͝O̝ͪ̽Rͩͥ͐ͥͤ̄̿҉̖͓̰̞͔ ̧̭͈̟̱̞ͥ̔̽̄̾T͎̙͇͛̓̔̇ͫͮH̩̗͚͕̤ͧͨ͊̈̈́̀̀̚E ̄ͮ̐̎̋͒̚ḎE̠̬̤͒͆̏͋̉A̵̝͛͋M͇̬̋ͣͫͯͩ̿̔B̻̺̄̽̈́E̪̲͔̼̝͕ͮ̓͗͒̉N͈̙̖̜ͪ̔͜D̹͍̲̯͚̱̪ͫͪ̊̈ͤE͔̹̳R̐̈́́?"
As if he didn’t already know: Some soon-to-be-corpses attempting to please him by killing one of their own kind. Cue lightning! And thunder! Eerie wind to blow the candles! Mini explosions! Fruit punch oozing from the walls! It’s the little things in life…
“Oh Great and Powerful Alcor! We sacrifice this child so that you may look upon us favorably and grant our humble request. I, Seth Uptmore, your faithful servant, and vo…”
The cultist trailed on and on, exalting Alcor’s name on high, blah blah, humbly begging, blah blah, followers, righteous quest, pretty ceremonial knife, blah BLAH, BLLAAA- Wait, did he say something about a kid?
Alcor looked to his feet as the leader droned on and on.
Sure enough.
Curled up at the edge of the circle lay a small body with long curly brown hair. Facing away from him, she almost looked like she was sleeping. Unharmed. Except for the dark puddle forming under her and soaking into her … Dress? Burlap sack? Pillow case? Did that even count as clothing?
“… on behalf of our great cult, I, Se…” Seriously, how many times was this guy going to say his own name? BOOO! No one cares!
As he looked at her, the blood matting up in her hair, a fleeting sense of deja vu sparked sudden interest in the whole affair. Storm clouds gathered around him, the wind pulling breath from the spectators as it rushed towards the demon.
“LORD ALCOR, WE OF THE WOR…” the leader had to yell to be heard over the sudden onslaught of sound, the wind tearing his voice from his lips, “… SEEK TO FULFILL A COMMON IN-” All the sound died, leaving the man screaming into the silence. “Interest.” He concluded almost meekly.
“ Th͘is w͘as̶ Y̸̨O͠U̵R̶͠ id̸ęa͞?͟ ” Alcor pointed a finger sharply at the child’s body.
All the observers, even the child’s corpse it seemed, flinched at the motion.
“Y- Yes, of course, my Lord Alcor. I know ho-”
“ Y̸̛͘͡͡Ơ̧̧͟U͡҉̷̛ ̸̵̡͏Ķ͟͟͢͢Ǹ̶̴̢͡Ǫ̨̢W͘͞ ͢Ń̴͜͠O̴T̢̀͘Ḩ̷͜Į̵̀͠Ń̵͞͞͞Ģ͢͟҉!̵̵̸ ”
Power crackled around him, eliciting a gasp from one of the cultists. Probably this leader guy. He seemed affronted enough. Like someone put a bee in his pants. OOH! THERE was a fun idea!
“ I͠ ̴̶h͜͏a҉̡v̷é̴ n̴̢ò̧ ̵ú̧͢s̡ę̀͜ ̨̨f͏͡o̵̡ŗ̴ ͠ D̢͞É̸A̡͞͞͏Ḑ̧͏ c͢h̸̕iĺ̸d̨͏re͝n̢!̛ ”
Alcor paused dramatically. All his sharp ears picked from his audience was a small intake of breath and waves of his power washed over them.
“Hąven͟'̕t͟ ̴yo҉u he̛ard ̷t͝he s̨to͡ri̛es̨ o͡f̴ ̕t͜he͟ ͡oth̡e̸ŗ ҉c͠uĺţs that̵ t͢r̶i͘e̸d͞ th̨is?́!̢ ”
Only that little gasp again. Man, these guys were so talkative a second ago. What happened to that? The temperature in the room fluctuated wildly as Alcor clenched his fists, tempter mounting. Did they all piss themselves already or something?
“I̢t ͢͞N͟E҉͘V̡́E͡͞R͏̧ ̛è̕͢n͜de͢͜d҉ ͏̧w̨e̛͝l͢l̡͞!͏ ́fǫ͢r̡̛ ҉th̷e̡m̛͡!̴̕”
No, just the one guy by the door so far. At least this time there was a soft “Heh” from one of the followers. Well, at least one of them was realizing the value of a live child over a tiny corpse. Or he was laughing at the leader, who had drop his fancy knife to the ground with a clang.
“Just̶ ̵̷l̀i̸k͡e͘ iţ'̷̀s̶͢ ̵n̢͏o҉̸t͘͢ ̵̡͠g̀o̷̷͠i҉͞n̶g͏ ̧to̸͝ ̕en̵̶d̡͝ ́w̧͘͠e̛l̸͞l̕ f̸or̛ ̸̢ỳ̕͠o̶̧ų́͝.̢ ̶”
The leader shrank back slightly, fear of the demon warring with fear of looking weak. That fear was delicious. “Heh heh.” The metal made a skittering sound as the demon’s Vortex of Power ™ pulled it toward the circle. It WAS a funny sound. Like a rat running for its life. Stopping when it hit the child’s hand, its path blocked.
“S̢E̡̕͞E̴̴̶!̧͠ E̵͞v́͠e̵͟n̶͏ ̷ý͠ó͝ư̛r ͏͝l̶͝͡o̕yą̢l̨̡ ͘f͞oĺl̛ó͜w̴͞ę̷̕r̀s͘͢ ̨͘r̨e̢͜͠aĺ̛̀i͞zę͟͢ ͞ţ̷h͏ei͏̷̸r̛ ̶fo̧͜͜ll̕y͟͏̷"
“Heh” A wave of energy crashed across the room. The child’s body shuddered. The cultists staggered. The one in the back fell over. “Heh heh heh.”
Alcor wanted to laugh, too.
Laugh at all of them. At how they would die.
“Heh.”
Slowly.
Why were they laughing at that, too?
“Hehe.”
Which one was even laughing?
“Heh.”
He surveyed the room. Every face looking back at him, a mask of terror and desperation. None looked at all amused.
The large man behind the leader and to his right jumped back and swore.
HEH!”
Alcor spotted movement at the bottom of his vision.
The child convulsed with the sound, her arms wrapped around her stomach.
“ Hehehe.”
She curled in around herself.
“Hehe heh!”
She pushed herself up to a hunched sitting position, still clutching her midriff. The movement looked painful.
“HEheheHEHEhe” Was she holding in her laughter or her entrails?
The child’s head tilted up to face the leader. Her hair smeared blood across her back like a paintbrush. “It hurts.”
Though he didn’t see the look on her face, Alcor had an amazing view of the horror that struck those that could. The man in front looked like he’s lost all bloodflow. “Hehe. It hurts. It hurts.”
The demon grinned with shark teeth as the girl rose shakily to her feet, knife in hand.
H̬͉̬ͅẽ̥̲́ͧͬh̥̦̝ͧ͢e̝͕̳͎̭̰͐ͧ͗͂̓̌̚.̤͖͎̠͢ ͔͎̻͎̪ͣ ͎ͣ̇ͅP͑ͪ̆̽ͪ̃ͮ͠ͅa̠̯̭̔i͇̙͈̹̝̦̞ͫͤ͐̆ͪͬ͢n̬̪͍̪̯̺ͥ͋̈́ͪ͋͋͊ ḭ̠̝̼̱̖̱̍͌̀̃̀͡s̝̣̙̼͚̯̦ͭ̆̀́ͭ ̷ͨ̅̎H̋͛̇͝i͙̻͉͈̲͗l͎̙̠a̵͓r̲͉̞̟̜͍i̜̩̙̱̞̿o͍̤͈͓̮̹͕͋ͦ̍̒͛͘ủ̗̙̜͎͕̪͆̑̇ͣ͘s̲̪̟̮̓͐ͨ̃͆̎.̤̼ͮ̓̋̒̈́́̚
After a short time, the child's laughter subsided slightly.
"Hey, Mister Demon?" Her voice too light, the imitation of a child's. "Hehehe," her matted hair swooshed as her head tilted to the side in a jarring motion, "Care to make a wager?"
The silence of the room rang hollow as the demon's laughter broke off. "Sù͠r̀ę́,͡ ki̴͢͞d̨͢. W͡ha͢t̢̛'̸̴c̸̨ha͢ ̡͢g̨̕ǫ̧͜t?̕"
The tiny arm hefted the knife at the meat-sack in front, "I give you his beating heart," the knife slid to the left. Moving like a puppet on a string, it indicated the next, larger human, "His tongue, throat, and hands," The knife began move again-
"YOU LITTLE BI-"
"Ş̴̳͈͇̙̞̥I̯̣L҉͝҉̥͙̹̥E͏͏͖͚̻͎Ń̜̱̭̬͉͜C҉͖̠̼̙̟͔Ȩ̗̻̮̟̹͕̫́!̷̵̥̮̯͍̭̕" Alcor waved a hand, freezing the audience at attention. The single light dangling from the ceiling swung to and fro in response, casting eerie shadows through the room. "W͡h̨i̸l͝e͝ ͟th͟e c͜hildr͝en ̴t҉a͠lk̴."
"And the eyes and ears of those two." The knife point trembled like the hand of a clock frozen in time between two burly sacks in the back, the movement synchronizing with the fluttering shadows under their hoods. "In return, you stitch up this body's wounds, ensure it lives a long, healthy life, and grant us a power I'll name once the task is complete to help protect it."
"Ǎ̉̍̅̋̐̀H̢͋ͦ̂Â͑̍͟HA̋͂̏̑̑̈́̚H͋͆ͩ̏̕ÅHͣ̄̚͢Aͣ̓̃ͮͤ̑̋H̛̐ͫ̓͋ͯA̍̂̓H͛̄̄̌̏A̓̇́!̈́̉̎̚" Well, THIS was new! A small handful of sacrifices had had the composure to make deals to save their lives before. But, rarely was one composed enough to set such well-defined terms! "Y͡o͘u̕'͢l͢l ͠h͡ave ̷t̢o̸ ̀dơ be͜t̨t̀er ͟t͟han t͠hát̀ to͢ ͏g͠e̕t̴ ͞thos͝e s͢or͠ţs ̶o͜f͘-̀"
"I will also give you the lives of all the men in this room." The demon reveled in the shiver that saccharine voice sent up the cultists' spines. THAT would be a fun sight to watch. "I'm guessing I can't give you their souls on their behalf. But, you can take them after their deaths as a bonus, yes?"
The demon weighed both sides of the deal. Not counting the souls, she still came up a little short. She had almost managed to hit the right balance on her own... He squinted at her suspiciously, "You... Have really thought this through."
The child child barely paused, voice falling like snow, "I have had a long time to weigh what I would trade to protect this life from people like this."
Revenge and survival, huh? He pondered how to fill that last little imbalance. It IS a wager after all, he realized, Let's add some stakes. "Very well. But, si͘nce͘ t̸h̛is̀ i̷s̷ a̶ w͟ager..̸. If͘ y̵ou f̶a͏i̴l͝ ̸any͘ par͏t o͝f y͟ơu̶r e҉ǹd̸,̵ ýour li͝f̕e̛ ͘b̕eļon͡gs ͟t͠ó ̶m͘e."
The little muscles tensed sharply, one arm still curled around her torso. After the first minute passed, Alcor wondered if that would be what finally tipped this child's surreal composure.
The knife dropped limply back to her side, a sign of defeat if ever Alcor saw one. Hmm, decide that's too much of a risk for you? He glanced at her aura. Dark blue? The calm color hit his pride like cold water. That's not right... I just offered to take your life! Fear. FE̴A҉R̶! Impulsively, he washed the emotion over her in a wave.
The flash of sickly yellow sparked through blue, matching the rest of the mortals before him.
Better. The top hat bobbed in satisfaction.
"Hehehehe,"
The sugary voice rang out through the manic laughter. The sudden, overwhelming emotion had concluded whatever internal debate prolonged her hesitation.
She gripped the knife with white knuckles. "Then let's raise the stakes!" Navy warring with tawny, her voice crashed like thunder through the room. "Instead of my life, my soul is yours if I lose."
"Hehe."
"But, if I give you the items listed and kill all five men here, the benefits will be tied to this soul, not this life, and all my reincarnations shall reap the rewards." The voice seemed to scramble to re-coat itself in sugar at the end as blue once again overtook yellow.
Alcor seemed taken aback by the child's foresight. What are they teaching kids nowadays?! He passingly wondered what life the child had before this cult had kidnapped and killed her.
He narrowed his golden eyes. No, that wasn't quite right.
He floated over to the child's blood stained side. Her eyes never broke off their glare at the cultists; but, her body tensed under his scrutiny. Tiny though the child was, the cult hadn't maimed her nearly as much as he'd hoped - err, expected. The demon sighed, almost disappointed. Just a stab wound on her side. The child, despite her admittedly impressive knowledge of demons, would have passed out from the shock. You probably should have checked closer whether she was breathing before losing your temper like that, some small, far less interesting part of himself chastised. He promptly shot it down. He briefly wondered if this malnourished, wounded child could really take five grown men. She's barely able to move her limbs properly!
He looked to her eyes, determinedly staring down the man in front. The demon recognized the look of one not to be underestimated. A look he knew very well from seeing it lifetime after lifetime, though now it seemed like eons since he'd last encountered it. "V͘e̵ry͟ w̨ell̵, k͏id. Y͏o͠u g̡o̵t you̷r͜s͏elf ̡a̡ w̢age͠r."
The child paused a long second. Then, finally, turned to face the demon. "And you won't interfere with the task." Her voice still overly light, her eyes hard and pained.
"D͚͎͓̘̼̭͉̫E̸͍̟͘A͉̤͡͠L̶̰͙͎͉͠.̷̼͇̳̠͇͇̰̪͞"
Shakily, the girl pulled her bloodied right hand from her wound and held it out to the demon. None of her intestines fell to the ground.
Their hands clasped. Blue flames ignited around them, mimicked by the candles as they flared high and died.
She smiled wide as she turned from the creature in black. The statues of her would-be murderers before her, "Freezing them is interfering." Sweet and cold like that one frozen cow milk thing he once enjoyed. Why did math equations pop in his head?
As the cultists found they could move once again, Alcor watched as the girl's calm blue lost out to the fearful yellow he knew so well. Most froze up when fear overtook them. Part of him wondered if she'd do the same.
"Besides." Her voice dropped to a cutting growl as she crouched, fluidly poised for the attack, "It's no fun if they can't fight back."
Alcor bared his fangs in a Cheshire grin at the child's sharp change from surprisingly collected deal-maker to something more bestial and combative in nature.
He leaned back.
Propped his feet up on thin air.
And broke out the popcorn.