Fantasy 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛'𝑠 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑒

[Sign]

A Story Tale

[Year 1800]

Every hundred years, it was said in the legends that the King would give birth to a daughter with red hair.
Her hair was drenched in the mother's blood and was cursed to become a sacrifice for the underworld so that it would appease this curse from coming sooner than expected.

The Princess's red hair was drenched in blood-soaked in red, absorbing all of the power and health of the mother's and was proven that because of the child, the mother that carried her for 9 months would die soon after.

The Princess of the Kingdom soon locked up in a tower away just like Rapunzel, hoping that one day, her Prince charming will save the day.
Everyone detested this Princess.

They say that her red hair was the reason why the Queen died. It was said that she looked "different" than others because no one had that hair color.
The tiny little window that lit in the bedroom of the Princess was the only light that she saw.

The King remarried and never turned back to look for his daughter, believing that on the 18th birthday, they will drown her as a sacrifice to the underworld.
The Princess sat in the lonely bedroom chambers for eighteen years, humiliated for her red hair. Death waited for her as time continued to count down.
She hated it all. Her hair, her family, her home.

Ready to be embraced by the only thing that waited for her called Death, her sacrifice was appeased by the people, cheering for another hundred years to come.
Thrown off of the lake of the underworld, the Princess could only wish to see the face of her mother at least once.
"At least once, I wish to see her."

-----------

Eyes open wide awake at the sight of a strange, yet beautiful man that stood in front of the Princess.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. It is the demon's bride."

Little did the Princess know that in the underworld, humankind with red hair was known to be one of the most desired foods for longevity.
They were often called the "the holy fruit"

But in the hands of the demon lord, he pronounced her his bride at the sight of saving her at the lake of the dead where he found her.
"As a bride and little servant of the demon lord, this human being will bring immense prosperity to the whole clan."

But with more than other leaders who want to be her suitors or predator, the Princess will have to learn how to survive outside of the comforts of her own world.

[Day/Night]​

Weather
C L E A R​

Starting Point
Estella has been officially "drowned" by her own people but little did they know that she was being transported into the underworld by Naoshige. Interested in her red hair and the legends that were made in the underworld about immorality, Naoshige awaits her with his minion at the "pond" near his Palace for her grand entrance. Naoshige had just recently officially announced the engagement with Estella (after hearing about a sacrifice being made at the pond) with his own people as some roared with happiness and others with disappointment.

coded by weldherwings.

 

[Sei Shonagon]

Estella Danaeios
​

On the last day of July, the hours were grudgingly long and the seconds couldn't come quick enough for vermillion eyes counting memories in sunspots on prison walls. Memories of spinning in circles across the stone floor, pretending to be a ballerina, memories of setting sail with her sheets on an imaginary sea, memories- memories of being anywhere else but there; draining from the walls and her cheeks in youthful burgundy kisses until all that remained was a blank slate and night. In its stead comes the shadows, filling the creases of her skin and coating her edges in round arches of calmness. The sound of the key turning around in her door and the guards shuffling forward into view with the handcuffs seemingly no different from any other day.

"It's time." There's no hostility in the men's voices, only vacant stares and perhaps something like a little frown etched in between the ridges of eyebrows as she looks up from her lap. As age had shaped her into the woman perched on the bedside today, crimson hair spilling over unblemished shoulders; it had also touched the men before her. Rendering once familiar faces with pronounced lines and a blueish filter of lethargy over them. Folding the last piece on the wing, she wonders if they too feel like there's something that's changed. Something else than the obvious difference in height since she had first arrived there; noting while standing up that she now measured up to their shoulders from a time when she had barely reached their knees.

If they did, they didn't tell her. But the darkness and the silence of the tower had never felt as comforting as it did when she glances back at her bed, harsh wooden slats never to dig into her back again, bookshelf to dust into oblivion with all its worn spines and titles scraping off the edges as they would never be read again, and the table; with its stories of carved figures never to tell another story to the muse of the hourglass' running sand.

The hourglass, she repeats and looks down on her final creation sitting like a statue in her palms. Beautiful but inanimate as she places it on the golden lid to the hourglass. Much so to the averting eyes of the guards as they finally cuff her and lead her out. Perhaps because they know that nothing of this will remain at the end of the day, in contrast to her final wish of "take care of this place for me" to the paper bird.

Perhaps she knows this too, as her lips curl half-heartedly at the notion while they walk downstairs.

On the last day of July, the hours were horrifyingly short and the seconds rushed for vermillion eyes counting her future in the flurry of the milky way's passing stars; head hanging out the window of the carriage under a silent mutual understanding between guard and prisoner. That this moment, where her red locks whip feel into nerves rubbed away by the chill of night and breathes life into cheeks, is but a short-lived escape that disappears in the blink of an eye when the swaying light of torches appear in the distance. The men sit her down and when the carriage ambles to a halt it is to the muffled chanting of the crowd. The word 'demon' hitting her in full force once the door opens and the guards escort her out.

To the prisoner, the bellowing voices and flickering faces are but a distant rumble, however, as she passes them by. Soft grass tickling naked feet soon replaced by cold stone as cave archways swallow her flaring silhouette whole from the glares. Instead, the feline eyes narrow into a squint when white robes blink into view. Glazed gaze searching them through as the most bejeweled one marches to podium. The head-priest clears his throat, "We have gathered here today to pass judgment on the Queen's killer and the firstborn Princess Estella Danaeios-" he declares and drones on about something like 'fate' and 'curse'- jaded words that fall on deaf ears as she turns to stare holes into her feet.

So he won't even attend the Princess' sentencing, the realisation tastes oddly sour and swallowing it back down becomes a struggle of keeping the laughter down. Some crackle of exasperated snorts escaping nonetheless through closed jaws as she questions whether it could actually be called a realisation or not- as if she didn't know all along that this was how it would turn out. They prod her forward and slumping forward over cliff lake edge she comes face to face with her reflection. One that is puzzlingly different in its projected expression.

It is then, balancing on the crumbling edge of the cliff edge leading to the bottomless cave lake below, that, it becomes clear that this isn't just any day. That the screwed up grimace looking back at her in crinkled eyes and trembling pursed lips isn't the grin she's imagining and that it hits her- the pang too loud to dismiss but a little bit too late as they push her off the cliff:

At least once, I wish I could've seen you mom.
idontwanttodie

​

The darkness takes her away anyway, shadows closing in with ferocious trepidation until it rips into her drowning lungs in full-blown panic then involuntarily sleep. Somewhere along the way to hitting the bottom of the abyss, she wakes up, however. Handcuffs mysteriously absent from her wrists as the adrenaline kicks in and she begins to fervently grasp at the water above until the surface warps and breaks.

Notes: might hecc around an come back later with a code to make it pretty
thoughts are in cursive
testing out semi-present tense? lol i can change it if ya want me. ashsh i just hope i posted in right thread Sign

 

[Sign]

Takano Naoshige.

"What do you think about this? I stole it from the human world a couple of years back." Naoshige lit a big smirk on his face, proudly holding up an antique porcelain vase to his right-handed man, Aiyashi Yoshino. Yoshino gave him an odd expression, lifting one of his eyebrows and lifted a smile to one side of his face, one that says, "are you serious?!" The vase was about the size of Naoshige's upper body, so for him to just casually carry it up with one arm wrapped around the vase was pretty impressive. It had a beautiful bright red coloring on the vase with a design of a dragon wrapping up all around the vase no matter at what angle you look at it. The dragon was painted gold and while it may look kind of bland from afar, with the right amount of lighting, the golden dragon would shine from the source of light.

"Are you serious? What do those humans do with that?" Yoshino couldn't believe that there were such things as those. A bit different from their world since they didn't have such antique things like that, it was a strange piece of an object for the demons.
"I guess all they do is look at it. They don't even do anything about it and usually just set it aside in their home." Naoshige had a big grin on his face, his eyebrows lifting up. Proudly, the male placed the vase back down next to his chair, only to hear scrambling footsteps coming from a distance. The large door opened, revealing a minion of his dressed in an all-blue yukata---it was one of his servants. He was merely just a servant but was ordered to be the "eyes" of his to monitor their pond with the arrival of the human being.

Despite living in the underworld, Naoshige here and there would often wander in the human world to gain any information about their times. Indeed, what he would was vastly important news, one that would grant him prosperity. It was a win-win situation for the male, as he heard from the humans that the King had given birth to a "cursed" child with red hair. It was then that he ordered the servant to be on watch with the arrival of the human. Often in their world, the sounds of bells ringing in the pond would mean the arrival of a human being. Every time that Naoshige had been there, it often meant a birth of a new demon child ringing from afar instead of the pond.

Those that drowned in the pond in the human world were often reborn as a demon baby in his world. Of course-- they didn't arrive at the pond, instead, the ringing of the bells meant the birth of the demon child somewhere else. Either a home of a demon couple or somewhere else. But this was vastly different. The expression of the servant's eyes was quite worried, his eyes widened when he made contact with the Demon lord.

"M-My Lord Takano, I-I think 'she' has arrived!" The servant cried out, immediately bowing to Naoshige. His voice stuttered with fear, trembling with fear. It was far normal that some of these demons have never seen a human being since most of them never gone there before, so it was normal that this servant was afraid. "R-Red hair flowing in the water..."

Immediately after hearing the two words of the servant, he fixed his gaze on Yoshino as the two nodded their heads in acknowledgment, hurrying down the halls of the Palace and outside to their courtyard where the pond resided...

"Do you think that she'll be the one?" Yoshino was skeptical about the servant's statement since the cherry blossom trees were starting to fall down. "He could have mistaken the cherry blossoms or the lotus flowers that float on the pond." He added, crossing his arms together, walking together with the Demon lord.
"I don't think he would sound so afraid if so. It seems like he looked afraid. Coming from a servant who has never seen a human being, they would be afraid to hell to see something like that in the water." Naoshige stated as he hastened his walking speed to hurry to the pond.

Upon arrival, the two sat there, waiting. Naoshige decided to lay a blanket down in front of the pond, sitting with his legs crossed as he took a sip of tea made from the human world, awaiting the human's arrival. Naoshige still kept his human side to himself, to remind himself that he had softened to become someone with consciousness compared to how he was back then before he went to the trial into the human world.


Yoshino stood next to the Demon Lord, standing guard next to Naoshige in case that someone attacks him, or worse, some other creature of their kind. Naoshige calmly awaited, spotting the red hair that gradually raised from the water. With confirmation that the girl's red hair and was a female based on her appearance, Naoshige smirked at the sight of the female in front of him at the pond.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. The Demon's bride has arrived." Yoshino stated, his arms still crossed as he turned to look at Naoshige and then clapped for Naoshige, "Congratulations."
"The Demon Lord presents himself to the human lady," Naoshige stated, holding a cup of tea to give to the female.

And so, they called him "Nao" in the human world because he kidnapped those children and drowned them.
All Naoshige did was watch it happen, with no choice but to let it happen because of their fate. Despite their drowning, they were reborn as a demon child in the underworld. . . . .

Location: Pond
Sei Shonagon

coded by weldherwings.