Chapter Text
Pip’s pov
Pip was used to going on lone hunting trips. He was well versed and very skilled in bow hunting. Today his father has sent him out to bring home a deer, preferably a buck. This hunt was bound to be the same as any other, cold and miserable.
It’s not that he hated hunting, he just knew his family didn’t have any need for more food right now.
He had already been walking for about an hour and a half before he saw any sign of deer. Unfortunately the few tracks he could see were old. Likely by a day or two. He persisted on while humming halfheartedly. That was until he heard stirring from behind him. Pip slowed turned around and aimed his bow to where he thought the noise had come from.
Nothing. Not a peep.
He lingered for a minute before lowering his bow and looking around. Probably just a squirrel. He figured. Without giving it another thought he went back to walking.
A few minutes had gone by since the supposed squirrel and everything settled back into near silence. But again, he heard something. Something closer. Something higher. Pip didn’t know if he should turn around. What if it was just a bird or another squirrel? He really didn’t want to waste any time. After few seconds of debating himself he turned to look around.
Once more he was met with nothing but silence, a dreadful silence. He knew all too well of the dangerous animal in this part of the forest. That and the silly folklore about supernatural beings which he paid no mind to. After all they were just stories used to scare children into behaving.
Right?
He decided to break the silence with a simple call out. “Hello?… Is someone there?”
And just like before it was quiet, aside from the wind blowing through the trees and birds chirping of course. Pip was starting to get antsy, he lifted his bow back up and aimed directly in front of him.
Then all of a sudden the rustling started again, this time it was getting closer. He couldn’t make out where it was coming from and muttered something to himself. “…Come on, do something…” He wondered if it was in his head. Was he just being paranoid?
“I can’t do anything with that thing around your neck”The stranger’s voice held a level of disdain in their voice.
Pip’s eyes widened with anxiety as he shifted to look around in a frantic manner. “Who said that!? Reveal yourself!” He wasn’t sure what was happening or who this was but he knew they might cause trouble for him. “I’m armed..” he didn’t sound as confident as he had hoped. In fact he felt as though he sounded rather weak.
“Take it off.” The person ignored his threat. Clearly they don’t see Pip as a someone to be taken seriously.
“E-excuse me?”
Pip was fairly confused, what on earth is this person even asking? He had yet to see their face but he knew for a fact he didn’t recognize their voice. “Your cross” the mystery person said in a matter of fact way.
“No.” What kind of request is this? Why would they want him to take his cross off!?
“….stop hiding” he glances at a few bushes and trees.
“I will if you take it off.” Pip lowered his bow but kept a very tight grip on it. “Why?” Honestly he was starting to get annoyed. Why on earth was this person being stubborn about a necklace of all things? There was a short quietness that followed Pip’s question.
“….Can you just take the cross off.”
It was clear the other person was getting irritated as well. “I can tell you once you do it.” Pip wondered if he should just give in to the odd request.
“If I take it off will I be able to meet you?” He was hesitant to ask but this little curiosity had to be satisfied.
“Sure”
The voice returned to a calm state, quickly having a much more relaxed tone. “Alright” Phillip reached for his cross and held it. He lifted his necklace over his head and took it off in a single motion. “…. And you?” He stuffed it into his pocket.
“Keep it off your person” The person didn’t give him a proper response but kept their level head.
Again what could this possibly be for? Why was this person so determined about such a specific thing? Why would it matter whether or not he wore his cross?
Regardless of his confusion his did as told, he pulled his cross necklace out of his pocket and gently set it on a leaf. The other person let out a scoff and went silent for a moment.
Then all of a sudden a shadow changed on a tree. It morphed and swirled before becoming something akin to black smoke.
The longer Pip stared and questioned this strange occurrence the more it took a human shape. Until it was a human shape. Before he even realized, there sat in a tree was a boy who seemed to be Pip’s age with black hair, unnaturally red eyes, and a tail. Pip simply just stared.
He was nothing if not horrified.
“..w-what..?” It was barely audible but all he could muster out. He felt foolish for saying something so stupid but he was practically dripping in fear.
The dark haired boy on the other hand, looked unfazed. As if appearing out of smoke was normal for him. Maybe it was. WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! Pip simply couldn’t understand what his situation was. Was he in danger? What could possibly be the cause of any of this?? Is this just a strange dream? He had to be hallucinating! There’s no way this is real!…Right? Right?
Pip gathered his thoughts to the best of his abilities and forced himself to talk. “What.. what was that?”
“Magic” Pip would have thought that to be a joke if not for the other boy’s stoic voice.
“Haha..” He still let out a small laugh incase it was a joke. The stranger didn’t react to that with words but rather by jumping out of the tree he was in. He took a few steps in Pip’s direction but kept a fair distance away.
Once Pip could actually look at him he noticed three things. One, was that he was wearing strange clothing, definitely not warm enough for it being the beginning of winter. Second, he seemed to have horns. They were hard to see as they were small and easily blended into his hair, but he could still tell they were there. The third and worst observation was that he was quite attractive. Pip really hated how quickly he noticed this. He wasn’t even sure the thing standing in front of him was human and there he is admiring him.
He felt a little embarrassed honestly, he knew he was staring and he figured it’d be best if he stopped. So he did just that, instead of the boy he looked at his cross. Immediately remembering his curiosity. He went straight back to look at the other person(?). “Why did I need to take my cross off?” It felt a little easier to ask questions when he could see and not just hear the person he was asking. The boy tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows. “I’m a demon. Can’t you fucking tell?” He was obviously irritated at Pip’s question. It really shouldn’t have been a surprise to Pip but it was. “Oh…”
Of course he is. What a dumb question
“Oh! Oh no” Pip processed what was just said, he’s speaking to a demon. Again he became anxiety ridden and scared. Which must have been obvious because just a second later the demon spoke in a much calmer manner. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not that kind of demon” The feeling of relief pushed his nerves away only slightly after hearing this.
“Right… then why were you following me?” He didn’t want to aggravate the other boy so he tried to speak in a gentle tone of voice. The boy shrugged and simply stated, “because I was board”.
Great, he had a demon follow him around for god knows how long. What would his father say? What would his mother think? What would the repercussions of something out of his control like this be..? Pip really didn’t want to think about it.
He instead opted for asking another question. “Aren’t demons supposed to be, well, in hell?” He hoped that wasn’t a rude question.
“I prefer the mortal plane,” then he must have thought it was the perfect time to stretch. Because he did so in the middle of his sentence. “More interesting shit to do here” Pip was only growing more curious. Now he wanted to know about this demon. What’s so good about earth that you’d leave your home for it?
Pip was cut off from thinking before he could ask any questions by the sight of wings. During the five seconds Pip took to zone out and wonder the demon had sprouted two sleek black wings. Pip was in what he could only call awe, he didn’t even try to hide his staring.
“oh, wow..” He spoke very softly and quietly. truthfully he hoped the other to not have heard him.
But he did. He absolutely did. Because he stared right back at Pip with wide eyes and a surprised expression. In fact If Pip didn’t know any better he’d say the demon was blushing slightly. But there’s no way that’s what was happening.Pip quickly ignored that possibility and started to say a rushed sort of apology.
“I-I I’m sorry!- I just- I didn’t mean to- I didn’t mean to say that! I was just surprised” The demon said nothing, he just stood still and kept his eyes on Pip. Which didn’t help at all the wave of embarrassment that had washed over Pip.
He felt ridiculous, what had his attention more thoroughly though was definitely the demon’s reaction. Was he upset? Happy? Nervous?Just as embarrassed as Pip? He really couldn’t tell.
Pip couldn’t help but notice the demon step on his own tail as it moved around
“No it’s fine..” The demons sounded a bit passive almost. Or as if he wasn’t sure that’s what he wanted to say. Either way Pip needed to get his mind off of this so far odd encounter. So he decided to do what he does when board. Though this time he wasn’t board, more like overwhelmed.
“Would you mind if I, drew you?” Pip blurted out before he could even think about stopping himself.
“You want to draw me..?” He didn’t sound confused, no, he sounded a bit excited.
“If you wouldn’t mind. I’ve just never.. seen someone like you..” He tried his best to say it carefully as to not accidentally offend him. Without saying anything the demonic boy snapped his fingers thus making a blank journal and pencil appear floating mid air in front of Pip.
“Oh, convenient” Pip was amused by the gesture and grabbed the objects out of the air but he would be lying if he said it didn’t scare him just a bit.
After what felt like an hour Pip lifted his head to look at the black haired boy. “You can move” no less than a second later the demon was repositioned while floating.
“Finally, felt like ages” He moved over to where Pip was sitting and looked at the book. “Jesus-! You didn’t say you’re were like fucking Rachel Ruysch!” Pip appreciated the compliment. He smiled and chuckled softly.
“It’s a skill I’ve been learning for a while but I’m nowhere near to Rachel Ruysch..” The boy hovering over him continued to look at the drawing with thinly vailed amazement. “…” Pip adjusted his cloak as a cold wind rushed past him. Which reminded him of what he was doing before all of this. He had to go home soon, without a deer. He knew his family would be fine but he still worried.
“I should get going..”
He was a little disappointed. He didn’t want to go. He still had many questions to ask. What if he never got to talk to to this demon ever again? The possibility made him sadder than he realized but he knew he did have to leave. And if they never speak again? Then he’ll just have to live with those unanswered questions.
“What’s your name?” The demon had once again interrupted his thoughts.
“Phillip, but Pip is what most people call me” He responded after a second. The other boy had moved to be standing next to him. Pip stood up and offered the demon the book and pencil back. “Keep it.” He waved his hand slightly. “Damien.”
Hm. What an interesting name. Not one Pip had ever heard before. He liked it.
“Damien, not exactly what I’d expect from a demon” Pip desperately wanted to come off as more friendly in hopes that maybe if he plays his cards right he’ll be able to talk with Damien again. Damien looked a little bit confused for a second before swishing his tail around. It reminded Pip of a cat actually.
“Only the fallen angels have ridicules names”
“Fallen angels are real?!”
Pip quickly regretted almost shouting that. He saw Damien twitch when he did so. Said boy gave Pip a moment to settle before saying anything.
“Yeah- like my dad, he’s a fallen angel- the fallen angel, and the others that followed him and were cast into hell. Whereas someone like I, am hell born. Most of hell’s inhabitants are hell born. We typically have more human names”
Pip was only growing more curious with each word, he deeply wanted to know everything about hell all of a sudden. He needed to know. But he couldn’t stay and talk all day despite how he really did want to. Then he thought about what Damien said, the fallen angel
He was in the presence of Satan’s son.
It struck him like lightning- he didn’t know how to feel! On one hand he should be scared, but on the other hand this was unimaginable! He had been talking with the son of the dark prince for nearly two hours! He was stupidly excited regarding that fact.
How could he go home now?! He couldn’t contain himself, he really, really needed to know more. So he decided he would know more. He would stay out for another hour and just learn about this new topic, despite his brain screaming at him to go back home.
“Dude are you fucking alive?”
That snapped him out of it. He blinked a few times and focused his vision to find Damien leaning forward and waving his hand in front of Pip’s face. Pip was a little entertained by it, he thought it was rather strange. He shook his head and gestured for Damien to put his hand down. He did. Quickly and without hesitation.
“Yes- yes I was just a little lost in thought is all..” Damien rolled his eyes and summed Pip’s bow into his hand. He then proceeded to hand it to Pip.
“You said you have to go right?”
Pip worried this was Damien telling him to go but his tone of voice made him think otherwise, he sounded disappointed, just as disappointed as Pip had felt a minute ago.
“Right- uhm, I’m sure I don’t have to go.. actually if you don’t mind I’d like to ask a few questions about hell..?”
Damien’s eyes seemed to light up with more life in them. His expression didn’t change but his demeanor absolutely did. “Yeah, I don’t mind at all” phew, that was a relief for Pip. He thought about what questions he should ask before deciding on one he thought was good. “What’s Hell like? Like on an environmental level?”
“Have you ever seen a volcano?”
“No but I’ve seen a picture” Pip shook his head. “Good enough, so there’s a lot of volcanos there. Most of the natural water is hot enough to kill on impact. That is if it’s not simply replaced with lava. Uhhm.. there are multiple different biomes like earth but it’s nothing like it here. It’s almost like, in a really big cave? Like a cave so big it’s its own planet. We have forests and things like that. That’s kinda all I can think of” He pointed his fingers and made vague gestures as he talked about his home, Pip was trying to imagine it all as Damien was talking but he figured it looked nothing like how he thought.
“What about types of demons? are there multiple types or just one?”
“No there’s multiple kinds of demons along with a hierarchy, at the top is my father-fallen angel, right below that is me, and under that are the other fallen angels. Then under that are all the other hell born. Which there are only a few types of. Imps, who are more like animals- succubi, demons who tempt humans, and just- demons. I don’t know why but they don’t have a name.”
God how fascinating this was. Pip felt as if everything else had melted away, not a care in the world. Just Him, Damien, and a whole new world of incredible information.
“I hope you don’t mind me asking- but what are you?”
Damien began to float and loosely tuck his legs underneath himself. Once he found a comfortable sitting position he went back to Pip’s question. “Technically I’m only half demon. I was born from a human mother, so I don’t fit in the any of the categories of demons.” Pip felt as though he could relate to that. Not in the exact same way of course but he understood how it felt.
“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to pry” He didn’t want to bring any bad emotions to the surface so instead he asked another, hopefully more light question. “What is demon culture like? Do you have a culture in the same way different groups of humans do?”
“We do. It’s pretty influenced by this American and British culture though, like it’s oddly similar. Aside from what we take from humans- fightings a pretty big thing. Fighting is how many handles disagreements, it can be a bonding thing, or it’s like a stress reliever. Jack of all trades is what you’d call it I guess… Relationships and dynamics are weirdly important, Demons are unyieldingly loyal to those they like. Along with being horrifically affectionate. Blood lines aren’t necessarily important but they are well respected, so…”
Pip lost track of what Damien was saying. He was getting distracted.
He stared at Damien as he continued to talk somewhat passionately about demons but heard none of it. He just kept his eyes on Damien. He felt as if he was all too aware of every movement he made, the way his tone shifted depending on what he was talking about, how his facial expressions changed. He couldn’t stop noticing things.
He felt awe, he felt warm, he felt so many things at once, and all for someone he met just today. He already knew what was starting to happen, he knew very well. Pip could hear his own heartbeat. His hands felt warmer as he continued to look at Damien, who was now leaning back and looking away while rambling.
oh heavens no
This wasn’t something he could have. No, never. He doesn’t get to. He knew that. For a multitude of reasons. His expression slowly fell from one of intrigue to of sadness. Unfortunately for Pip Damien saw it. And he reacted. “You good…?” He put both feet on the ground and looked at Pip with a cautious expression
“….I-I’m fine. Just a bit tired I guess, please, continue” He didn’t want Damien to stop talking, even if he wasn’t registering it all he still wanted to hear it. “Then go home and to sleep” Damien said as if it was the most obvious thing on the planet.
Pip scoffed, not to show any negative emotion but because he wished it was that easy. “I can’t do that” He smiled at Damien.
“Why not?” It was a real question, Damien wanted to know what was actually stopping him from just resting halfway through the day. “Well I can’t just sleep whenever I feel like it, I have to work”
“You’re supposed to be working right now. Clearly that’s not a real issue”
Damien saw right through him. He did make a good point, but Pip wasn’t tired, not truly anyway. He signed, not to sure of what to do. “I just can’t.” He left it at that and didn’t elaborate. Damien rolled his eyes again and looked around. He seemed like he was in deep thought for only a moment. “Sleep out here if your that exhausted”
That certainly wasn’t what Pip expected him to say
“What? Out here? I’m not that tired” he wasn’t sure how to feel about the idea. Sure he’d slept outside before on longer hunting trips but he had supplies with him during those times. He was starting to actually worry this stupid small lie would derail this entire conversation, in fact it already had.
“…If it’s me you’re worried about you have my word that I won’t do anything”
Pip was a little taken aback by the statement. He wasn’t afraid of Damien despite the fact he thought he should. He simply wasn’t. “No no, that’s not exactly what I’m bothered by.” Though the idea of having someone near him while he slept was very unusual for him. “It’s not hard to push through” That didn’t stop Damien from looking at him strangely. “Go home, sleep”
“I cant” This was getting on his nerves.
“Nobody’s gonna bother you, just do it.” Damien was now smiling, it was small but clear. He seemed very confident in what he said. Pip on the other hand, had decided to given up on trying to move past this.
“…fine” He walked over to his cross and put it in his pocket. Then, he turned to Damien. “This was nice, I appreciate you willing to be my muse”
Damien once again stepped on his own tail.
“Mhm, anytime” He nodded and quickly melted into his own shadow. An impressive trick Pip thought, he decided to go home without a catch and see what his mother might need from him.
Only two hours later did he step foot into his room for the first time since he left it prior that morning. As he walked over to his desk to hang his bow and quiver did he see something new. A two books and a pencil. Odd, those definitely weren’t there last he checked. Perhaps his father finally noticed his interest in drawing? The closer he looked at them the more details on them he saw. The books had his name engraved into them and golden flames attached to the spine. Then he realized who they were from.
Damien.