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The wind rustled the tree branches above the human’s head. Hidden among the roots and trunk of the tree they cowered in fear at every sound the forest made. The exchange student had fled for their life after a curse befell the House of Lamentation. This curse had left the brothers trapped in their demon forms and driven by their demonic instincts. Such instincts were a death sentence for a human.
Lucifer and Asmo had blocked the front entrance preventing flight to Purgatory Hall. Levi had managed to grab the human’s D.D.D. and smash it into an unusable state. A fight between the brothers over possession of the human was the only reason they were able to escape to the forest. Now they sat, huddled in the hollow of a tree, praying to whatever being would listen that the demons they cared so deeply for would not find them.
A crunch of leaves sounded nearby. Their hand flew up to cover their mouth as they hoped the spell they had cast to disperse their scent had worked. Satan had taught them so many survival spells to protect themselves in this realm, little did either of them know that they would need to use them to protect themself from him.
Voices in the distance were shouting their name. Clinging tightly to themselves they drew their legs in closer trying to become as small as possible. The voices drew closer and they could hear them shouting at each other now. Their only hope was that animosity would be enough to distract them until this curse wore off.
“Where is that stupid human?” A pebble crashed into the tree they were hiding in as Mammon complained.
“They can’t have run far on those pretty little legs. Come on, we need to find them before everyone else. I don’t want them spoiled before I get my hands on them.” The human shivered at whatever Asmo meant by that comment.
“Just remember our deal! I get their soul. You can have whatever’s left.”
Tears started gathering in their eyes. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing. The demons they cared so much about were hunting them down for their soul, or worse. They held back a sob as they listened to the two move away from their hiding spot.
Time was meaningless now, they had no idea how long they had remained hiding. Tears slowly rolled down their cheeks and jaw. This was a nightmare, one they couldn’t wake up from. The forest was silent besides the occasional rustling of the leaves above them. Maybe they could leave, find their way to Purgatory Hall, and get help from Solomon and the angels. Or would the Prince’s castle be closer?
Suddenly they heard their name as if it was whispered on the wind. They didn’t move but glanced out through the hole of the tree they had climbed in. Nothing was moving outside the tree, but they felt an uneasiness settle over them. Something was close, something menacing.
Their name was whispered again. “I know you’re nearby. Everything is ok now. We just want to find you to make sure you are safe.” It was the voice of Satan. They almost listened to that voice moving just the slightest before their mind took over.
“Remember he’s a demon, remember they are running on instincts, he will manipulate you to get what he wants, and right now he wants you and your soul.”
Footsteps crunching through the leaves approached the tree. “Tch. I see I’ve taught you well, my pet. Unfortunately, not well enough to protect yourself from me.”
Satan’s face suddenly appeared in the opening of the hollow. The human instinctively shuffled back against the tree to get away from him as much as possible. A deep frown crossed Satan’s features as he took in their actions. “It deeply hurts me that you would not trust your instructor. I would never hurt you without cause.” His voice was ice cold, there was no emotion behind his words. The curse still had hold of him and now they were also in its clutches.
“Come out of there.” Satan stepped back to allow enough room for them to leave their hiding place. When the human made no move to follow his instruction a low growl sounded from his lips. “If you come out now I’ll be gentle.”
The human hesitated but eventually did as asked hoping that he was telling the truth and that following instruction would save them some pain. They carefully climbed out of the hollow to stand directly in front of Satan. A devious smile spread across his face moments before he lunged at them grabbing them by the throat and slamming their body against the tree. Their entire body blossomed in pain and their eyesight went a bit hazy. “Gentle,” they strained out.
A sinister chuckle left the demon. “This is gentle. I’m very angry with you. All you had to do was come to my room and I would have protected you from my idiot brothers. But you made me chase you down, like some lowly predator chasing its prey.”
He forcefully tossed them to the ground next to the tree. A loud crack sounded as their body collided with the hard dirt. A shriek of pain disturbed the mostly silent woods around them. Satan immediately jumped on top of them covering their mouth. “Shh. You don't want to alert my brothers, do you? That would end up in another brutal fight and I don’t really want to have to hurt my brothers.”
The human whimpered quietly in pain now cradling their arm. Satan looked down at the limb and clicked his tongue. “This won’t do. We can’t have you getting hurt.” He took their arm and chanted a healing spell over it. The broken bone corrected itself and healed back together in a matter of seconds. “I always forget how fragile you humans are.”
Satan lifted the human by their shoulder to stand next to him. “Now if you follow me quietly I will keep you safe from my brothers.”
“Where are we going?”
“Someplace where they won’t find you.” Satan turned and started walking further into the forest. The human stood still for a moment contemplating running in the opposite direction. “You can try to run of course,” Satan said coldly while still walking away. “I’d be more than happy to show you how a demon hunts.” A shiver ran down their spine at those words and the human stumbled after the demon.
The two had only been walking a short time when Satan suddenly halted his movement. “Damn, they found us faster than I thought.” Suddenly a murder of crows swooped down from the sky heading directly for Satan. They jumped back to avoid the onslaught. The birds pecked and scratched at the demon who was now growling and swinging his own claws back.
The human’s flight response kicked in and they took off in a random direction. Hoping the birds would keep Satan engaged long enough for them to get plenty of distance. Their hope was quickly dashed when they heard a loud roar-like sound and birds squawking in apparent pain. They whispered a quick spell to increase their movement speed and dashed through the forest as fast as they could.
The loud thudding of footfalls and a low growl were the only warning that the human had before they were tackled to the ground. Nothing broke in the fall this time but the wind was knocked out of them and they started gasping in a desperate attempt to refill their lungs.
“I’ve been gentle with you and you have disobeyed me. You will not slip my grasp again.” His voice was different, more raspy and much deeper. The sound of it increased the human's terror to extremes they had never experienced. The demon's tail wrapped itself around the human’s neck. They continued to gasp for air as the weight of the demon pressed down on them.
“I think a little nap would do you some good, you’ve been using up so much energy today.” Satan’s tail started to squeeze their throat, blocking the passage of air completely. The human started to struggle as best they could to remove the tail, but it was no use.
Satan slowly turned them over as their will to struggle faded. Their struggling completely stopped as they stared into the green glowing eyes of the beast above them. Gone was the humanoid form, instead a lizard-like face looked down at them. Scales covered every inch of him. It was truly terrifying to lay eyes on an Avatar in their true form. But the human’s eyes soon closed as they slipped into unconsciousness.
“You’re mine now. Forever.”