I'm back, baby!
Better than ever.
I hope that the Pokémon story is coming some time though, because I really want to write that--
Anyway!
I thirst, you thirst, we all thirst for Mephiles.
And I can't blame any of us lmao.
I know he's not the most popular character, but goddamn, I'm going to write anyway.
I adore him.
FORGOT TO MENTION.
MEPHILES INITIALLY HAS A MOUTH IN THIS BECAUSE.
Let's be real.
If you saw some person without a mouth, you'd be freaked the fuck out lmao--
This first chapter is also a bit longer, because I just... I don't know hahaha.
But I hope you enjoy!
Anyway, onwards we go!
Thank you for reading 💖
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Life had never been particularly kind to you.
Sure, your parents tried their hardest to give you everything they could, but the fact was still you had little to no money.
Sure, you could eat every day.
... Usually.
And you had a decent childhood, even though your parents were gone for most of the time, working.
You learned at an early age to take care of yourself.
Cooking, cleaning, mending ripped clothes, and even sewing new clothes when you had the means to do so.
Your parents clearly felt guilty about bringing you into the world when they could barely pay for themselves, and despised leaving you alone so often.
You'd overheard them once, considering putting you up for adoption, to give you a chance at a better life, but they just... couldn't do it.
You were much too precious to them.
They were being selfish, but you were relieved for that.
You loved your parents.
They tried their best to give you a decent upbringing, and they'd succeeded.
You studied as much as you could, in the hopes you could give them something back, in the form of a good paying job.
You dreamt of getting them out of that neighbourhood, out of debt, and into a glamorous life.
But... it was difficult.
You landed a job as a barista, and it helped pay the bills for sure, but it wasn't really what you'd envisioned.
Still, you served everyone with a smile, even when they definitely didn't deserve it.
Entitled customers who thought the world owed them something, that they were God's gift, or maybe they just had a bad day and wanted to take it out on some minimum wage worker.
Or perhaps all three.
Those were the worst.
You'd had someone throw coffee on you, and thankfully it wasn't hot, but it still sucked.
You just smiled and apologised, hoping it'd make them leave faster.
God, you hated the stench of coffee, though...
Having had one too many complaints today, you went home in a sour mood.
You were lucky no one threw their drink at you, but you were often tempted to take their drink, throw it at them and quit on the spot.
But you desperately needed the money.
You just had to deal with it.
Crashing on your bed, you groaned into the pillow.
If only there was a way to get to the top somehow... but the top tended to stomp on those less fortunate, to keep them there.
Forever.
Born poor, live poor, die poor, while the rich only got richer.
Ugh... eat the rich.
Working yet another day, you had a smile on your lips, despite the fact you desperately wanted to scowl.
Another rude customer who believed the world owed them something.
Sigh...
If only you could go to college or something... then you could get a degree, and have a better chance at a job.
But you needed to work.
And college was expensive.
Hell, even if you could pay for it, you'd have to be admitted.
That didn't scare you as much, given your extremely good grades when you were in school, but it wasn't a guarantee that you'd get in.
Probably because of your background.
Ugh...
Eat the rich.
A woman entered the coffee shop, a cat from the looks of it, wearing a rather snazzy suit, and you were honest to God worried she'd be entitled and rude.
Much to your surprise, she smiled at you.
"Good morning. A cappuccino, please." Oh wow.
A good morning and a please?
Unheard of.
"And who is it for?" You asked with a smile.
"Joanne. That's J-o-a-n-n-e." You nodded, still keeping your smile on your lips, and spoke.
She handed you... way too much money, and you immediately put the numbers into the cash register, before handing her back the change.
She accepted it, though didn't seat herself.
Rather, she waited for you to finish.
Whatever.
You began the process of brewing her drink, and being so used to it, you finished it in a timely manner.
Though, you really did despise the smell of coffee...
Finishing up, you wrote her name on the cup, and handed it over to her, your smile never fading.
"You're quite pretty, you know." She said, leaning over the counter.
"Huh?" You asked, wondering if you'd heard correctly.
"What are you doing working in a place like this?" Oh, uh...
"Well, uh... I don't have much choice, I guess." You replied, shrugging slightly.
Reaching into her breast pocket, the woman pulled out a business card, which she slid over the counter.
"My number and address. Someone as pretty as you shouldn't work here." You accepted it, though hesitantly so, and read it for a moment.
A modelling firm? Huh...
You'd never considered yourself pretty enough to be a model.
Maybe you could give them a call?
Just to ask.
"Oh, uhm... thank you! Have a lovely day!" You said, still holding the card.
You should have done your research.
But the idea of earning more money was just too tempting.
And look at you now.
"No, I'm leaving." You said, your voice trembling.
A large man stopped you from going anywhere, and threw you towards a set with a greenscreen.
A bed was placed in the middle of it.
This was clearly a shoot for some shady porn magazine.
You knew people did this sort of thing online, and props to them for having the confidence to earn money selling pictures of their own body and whatnot, but they did it of their own volition. They earned their own money.
You wouldn't.
The ones taking the pictures would take a huge cut, and leave you with barely anything.
"I'm not doing it!" You protested, but to no avail.
"You came here, so you're doing it." Said Joanne, obviously enjoying the scene unfolding before her.
People like her... they took advantage of the less fortunate.
Promised them fortune and happiness, to only shove them into situations such as this.
You despised them.
"Undress and make this easy for all of us." Oh hell no.
You weren't going down without a fight.
With a surprising amount of strength, you kneed one of the guys right where it counted, and he keeled over, in great pain, but you didn't care.
You made a run for it, and you thanked your lucky stars the door to the set hadn't been locked, someone likely forgetting to do so, and you just ran.
You weren't sure where you were going, nor did you care.
You just had to get away.
Thankfully, you made it safely home, though took a few days off work after that.
You were too afraid to go back there.
You refused to talk about it to anyone, simply shutting yourself inside of your room.
But you eventually had to go back.
The money wouldn't earn itself.
The day went on as it normally would, with no sign of Joanne or her goons, much to your relief.
"Hey, did you hear?" Usually, you'd ignore all conversations going on around you, but today was slow, so out of boredom, you listened.
"There's a new bookstore that opened. They apparently deal with all kinds of occult stuff. Like... y'know, curses." Oh?
You didn't particularly believe in all that.
"And I hear you can even make a deal with a real life demon." Hm...
Demons, huh.
Again, you didn't really believe in all that.
Still, it did intrigue you.
Even if you didn't believe, you could still be fascinated, right?
"Oh really?" Asked the other, sounding somewhat interested.
You tuned out of the conversation from then on.
On your break, you searched up the supposed new bookstore in the city, and almost immediately, you found it.
There was a single picture of it, and it looked... pretty normal.
'The Lore Keeper'.
You shrugged.
May as well.
Maybe they had something interesting.
You were hesitant to exit the coffee shop, but you couldn't stay there forever.
Thankfully, it was still light out and people were around, making you feel far safer than if you were alone.
With your phone in hand, you followed its directions to the bookstore.
For some reason, you expected it to be located somewhere really shady, but much to your surprise, it was quite central.
Not smack-dab in the middle, but not in the middle of nowhere either.
Putting your phone into your pocket, you entered.
It was... a bookstore.
Nothing seemed out of place.
No one was even tending the till.
Huh.
You glanced around the shelves, until you found what you were looking for.
'Spells and curses'.
To think they'd make it that obvious, haha.
But you'd really like to curse that damn Joanne...
Curse of her table legs being uneven.
That she needs to sneeze, but never can do it.
That she always hits a red light.
Just something inconvenient, you know?
Flipping through a random book, you failed to notice the man walking up to you, causing you to jump when he spoke.
"Looking for something specific, my dear?" You nearly dropped the book, but managed to keep it in your hands.
"Oh my g- you scared me." You sighed, putting the book back on its shelf.
He chuckled, seemingly amused with you, and tilted his head somewhat.
"I'm just curious, that's all. I don't believe in anything." The man, whom you assumed to be an employee, smiled and appeared to reach for you.
But he wasn't reaching for you.
Rather, the book right behind you.
"I wouldn't dismiss it just yet, my dear. You haven't tried it, have you?" You examined him.
A hedgehog from the looks of it, and quite tall.
His colouration seemed... desaturated, somehow.
But his eyes... they were the most striking shade of green you'd ever seen.
"N-no... I haven't." Appearing satisfied, he handed you a book.
It... well, you couldn't read the title.
It was in some... strange language.
Spider tongue.
Gibberish.
You'd never seen those characters before.
"I, uh... I don't understand this." The man paused for a moment, before he booped your nose, which just confused you even more.
"Look again." He said with that dark voice of his, as if he wanted to tempt you to do... well, something bad, that was for sure.
But you did as told, and upon looking down, you saw the letters had changed... to English.
"Wh- but-" You stuttered, much to his amusement.
'Summoning a Demon', it said.
"Are you interested?" He asked, watching you with half lidded eyes.
"Ah, I, er... I just came by to look. I didn't bring any money." You lied.
You did bring money, you just... didn't have enough to pay.
"Tell you what." He said, earning your attention.
"Take the book home and try it out." Try it out?
You stared at the book for a moment, wondering if you should take this guy up on his offer.
Like... what's the worst that could happen?
Demons didn't exist.
"How do you know I'll return it?" You asked, to which he just smiled wider.
"I don't. So don't disappoint me." ... Okaaaay...
"Uh... thank you."
As you left the bookstore, he waved to you, and even with your back to him, you felt his eyes on you.
You'd be lying if you said he wasn't... pretty attractive.
But relationships weren't on your mind.
You had too much on your plate as is.
A boyfriend wasn't realistic right now.
You never even got his name!
Regardless, you returned home with the book in your hands.
Once your parents had gone to bed, you... began.
It was weird.
Some sort of ritual, you supposed.
You had to draw a specific symbol on the floor, and add blood.
You despised blood, but... your curiosity got the better of you.
You imagined Joanne inconvenienced by various things, her 'business' shut down, and if possible, money for your parents.
As for yourself... you didn't really want much.
You wondered if that was fine.
Making a small cut on your thumb, you placed it in the middle of the circle, and then... nothing.
Just... nothing.
Even as you waited, nothing happened.
You sighed.
Waste of time.
Quickly cleaning up, you washed and disinfected your cut, wrapped a band-aid around it, and went to bed, a part of you disappointed.
You returned to that bookstore, seeing the man who'd lent you the book leaning over the counter, reading.
"Oh, I see you tried it." He said, smiling.
"Yeah. I don't know why. I don't believe in it anyway. Nonsense, all of it." You placed the book down before him, and he tilted his head, amused.
"I wouldn't say that, my dear." You sighed.
It'd have been nice to actually get some fortune in life...
With your hands on the book, the man placed his hands atop yours.
"... Wait, how do you know I tried it?" You asked, wanting to take your hands back, but found yourself unable to.
Slowly, he removed your left glove, and pressed a kiss to your bandaged thumb, grinning as he did, revealing a large fang.
"Because I'm the one you made the deal with, dear." Wh-... What?
"My name is Mephiles. Mephiles the Dark. I'll be your Demon for the foreseeable future."