Timeline: August 2008
Word Count - 4.5k
TW: Abuse, Violence, Religious Trauma, Attempted Murder, Death (Mentioned/Implied)
Fear was a dangerously powerful weapon. The darkest thoughts and feelings of a person could be brought out and acted upon out of fear, and although some used it wisely, to keep themselves and those they cared about out of harm's way, others used fear to twist and manipulate those around them for their own selfish benefits.
Easthaven, at a glance, didn't seem like the kind of town to be ruled by fear and manipulation. It was an idyllic little village surrounded by a valley of flowers, with thatch-roofed cottages, mossy cobblestone paths, and a river of crystal-clear water running through its centre. It was the perfect place to live, or so someone who'd never been there might think, but underneath the pretty houses and gardens lay a long running history of murder and bloodshed.
The villagers were superstitious. Not an inherently bad thing, per say, but they took their superstition to a level so extreme it was sickening just to hear about. From the moment they were old enough to understand, fear was relentlessly drilled into their minds, a fear of something many thought to be just a story or myth, but one they swore with their lives was as real as the stones they stood upon.
Demons, a supernatural race of hellish beings that had descended upon the Overworld under the guise of innocent mortals to plague its inhabitants with temptations of sin and chaos. In the villagers' eyes, anyone could be a demon, and therefore to eliminate any risk or doubt amongst themselves anyone displaying 'demonic behaviour' was to be eliminated too. It was a sickening tradition that had run for centuries, but in a cruel manner of irony, not a single person who had 'disappeared' over those hundreds of years had actually been a demon.
At least, not until about 17 years ago.
If there was one thing the villagers feared more than a demon, it was the idea of someone in their midst being possessed by a demon. Children were told stories of possession as cautionary tales, how the demon would take full control of the mortal's body and force them to commit horrific acts of violence and terror. Paintings in books would depict red-eyed humans with sharp-toothed, spine-chilling grins on their faces and bloody knives in their hands as the world around them burned in eternal hellfire.
Wels didn't like those books or stories. Hels hated them. After all, they were likely the only two people in the village with any idea of what a demonic possession was or how it worked, and the fact that nobody but Wels' parents had ever noticed Hels' existence was enough proof that the other adults didn't actually know what they were talking about.
Wels and Hels were friends. Even though Hels' possession of the human child had been accidental, the two had quickly come to terms with it and it hadn't taken long for either to adapt to things. Namely because Wels had only been a few months old when the possession occurred, and because Hels had discorporated just a few days prior and was severely in need of a body to keep himself alive. It was a strange circumstance, but they didn't mind sharing, as they were lucky enough to get along well, and neither minded having the extra company around either.
In fact, the only people who seemed to take issue with Hels were those who didn't actually know him. Namely Wels' mother, who saw the demon as a wretched beast destroying all that was good within an otherwise perfect child, and the village's cleric, who would have exorcised Hels a very long time ago if the process of doing so weren't lethal if performed imperfectly. Hels hated both of them too, and although Wels tried his best to create some neutral ground between the two parties, his efforts were typically in vain.
The two ended up resorting to other methods of keeping Hels out of trouble, which often resulted in Wels taking control of their body at all times to make it look as if Hels didn't exist. It was difficult, especially considering his control was often forced and exhausting for the two of them to keep up, but it was far better than the fate they'd face if the demon was caught.
However, today was particularly exhausting, as Wels had been forced into control for weeks by now and Hels was growing increasingly restless and uncomfortable with it. It didn't help that Wels was swinging a heavy training sword around on a hot August afternoon, adding to the strain on their physical body alongside their respective mental states, and that Hels hated everything about the Paladins' Guild and Wels' involuntary participation in their ranks.
Perhaps it had been some kind of desperate move by Wels' parents, in the hopes that becoming a holy warrior would finally cleanse their child of all evil or demonic intentions. Not that Wels harboured any evil or demonic intentions, but Hels had come to realise quite a long time ago that his parents rarely listened to him when he tried to say otherwise. They'd enrolled Wels in the Guild the moment he was old enough to qualify, and although he was now a very skilled swordsman, it did little to change his attitude towards Hels.
And, after 12 years of enduring their nonsense, Hels' attitude towards them hadn't changed either. Today was no exception, as even as Wels insisted he was fine and continued to spar with his partner, Hels could feel his frustration and exhaustion slowly coming to the surface. It was tempting, to say the least, to take over and end the sparring match for both Wels' sake and his own, but the training grounds were full of squires and parents watching every move on the field.
Wels was far too focused on what he was doing to talk or listen to Hels, which was likely for the better, as Hels was only getting increasingly exasperated with each passing moment. Wels' partner was playing dirty, making moves that were on the very cusp of being banned but somehow flew under the radar of the adults watching, and Wels as always was abiding by the rules and not defending himself.
Had Hels been in his position, the other child would have forfeited a long time ago. However, that scenario quickly became a reality when Wels' partner made a reckless swing at him that would have taken his arm off had there been no intervention. So, before Hels knew what he was doing and Wels could stop him from doing it, he had the kid in a chokehold and two adults were shouting as they tried to pull the two apart.
Hels was forcefully shoved out of control as Wels took over once more, his exasperation having become an amalgamation of guilt and terror as he was dragged to his feet. Muffled shouts of 'foul play' and 'disqualified' rang throughout the field, Wels barely able to focus on what was going on around him as he tried to recover from the nausea and confusion caused by two rapid changes in control.
He watched as his partner was dragged off the grounds to be checked for injuries, shouting and pointing at Wels the whole time as they screamed frenzied claims of his eyes turning red. Wels shuddered slightly, worried yet still glad that Hels had been taken out of control before his presence became too obvious and he risked getting caught.
"What happened?!"
Wels and Hels were brought back to attention by a harsh, livid voice snapping at them, and they looked up to see Wels' mother standing before them with a strong grip on their shoulders and a furious expression on her face. Wels faltered, and Hels considered apologising on his behalf, but Wels' mother hated him just as much as he hated her and trying to talk to her would only cause more conflict.
"I-I'm sorry." Wels eventually apologised, eyes fixated on the ground. "It was an accident, I'm sure he didn't mean to-"
"I don't care!" She interrupted, awfully hypocritical given that she was the one who had demanded an explanation from him in the first place. "If you don't keep that thing under control then you know what consequences will lie ahead of you."
"Leave him alone!" Hels retaliated, snapping back into control before Wels could calm him down. However, a swift and painful blow to the cheek stunned him just enough for Wels to take over again. Wels looked back up at his mother, her arm still raised as the briefest hint of fear flashed in her eyes, and his gaze quickly moved down to the ground again.
"I'm sorry." He apologised again. "We- uh... I'm going to go home now."
His mother didn't speak nor protest as Wels turned, ignoring the stares from his peers, and without a word to Hels he made his way out of the training grounds and down the long and winding path home. Hels was silent too, neither of them quite sure what to say, and it wasn't until Wels had climbed the stairs of their home and lay down on their bed that he finally spoke.
"I know you didn't mean it."
It was rare that Wels ever spoke out loud when talking to Hels, typically keeping their conversations within their shared mindspace where they couldn't be heard. That said, they were the only ones in the house, which allowed them the privacy they needed whilst talking. For a moment Hels didn't respond, too guilt-ridden to know what to say. Even though he wasn't in control, Hels could feel the pain of the bruise on their body's cheek, and couldn't help but feel as if he was the one who had caused it.
"I know you had good intentions." Wels continued, still speaking aloud. "But I don't want you putting yourself in danger in the name of trying to keep me safe. We've got to look after ourselves as well as each other, remember?"
"Technically speaking, it was for the body's welfare more than for yours." Hels admitted, his voice limited to the boundaries of their mindscape just as he himself was. "I think it would have been pretty bad for both of us if we lost an arm."
"You're not wrong." Wels replied, the mention of their body bringing another thought to mind. This time, his words were spoken just among the two of them instead of out loud. "You know, sorry if this is off topic... but have you ever thought about separating?"
"You mean exorcising me?" Hels' panicked voice came, evoking a small laugh from Wels.
"No, no, of course not. I mean if you had your own body and I had mine. Do you think you'd want that?"
"Well, if that's even possible, which I doubt it is... I'm not really sure. I'd get pretty lonely on my own, and I'd probably have to leave if I couldn't pretend to be you anymore."
"Maybe I'd leave with you then."
Hels fell silent, surprised. Nobody ever left or entered the village, and he wasn't sure if doing so was even possible. As much as he (and likely Wels too) would love to leave the wretched place behind, the only way out was death and that didn't sound much better than the prospect of staying. Wels had never suggested the idea of leaving before, but Hels had a feeling that the thought had been on his mind more than once before.
"Maybe..." Was all he said, and before either of them knew it, they'd both fallen asleep under the light of a golden afternoon.
"Wels, where are we going?"
The next morning had left no traces of the sunshine or clear skies that had made the prior day so beautiful. Ashy grey clouds covered the sky, and an uncomfortably cold breeze blew through the streets of the village as Wels and Hels were led through them by Wels' mother. She had spoken rarely all day and had been harsh and snappy whenever she did, simply insisting that Wels get up and come with her as soon as possible.
"I don't know." Wels admitted, looking around him to try and work out where it was they were being taken. Eventually his eyes landed on the town's centrepiece, an ornate building of stone and glass with tall double-doors and a symbol of gold hung above them; a knight's sword framed by a burning sun.
Hels noticed the temple at the same time as Wels did, and his sudden jolt of panic made both of them suddenly dig their heels into the ground. Wels' mother noticed this, and turned around with a glare on her face. Wels took a deep breath in an attempt to calm Hels down. "Hey, it's okay, don't worry..."
His mother turned to him, making little of an attempt to mask her blatant disgust. "How many times must I tell you? Don't talk to that thing, you'll only make matters worse by trying to communicate with it." She scolded, before turning around once more and dragging Wels and Hels behind her into the temple. It was empty, hauntingly empty, its statues of gods and martyrs looming high and ominous above all they surveyed.
As far as Wels was aware, there didn't tend to be gatherings at the temple this early in the morning, and even when there was, there were typically far more people in attendance than this. Instead, there was merely a single cleric standing at the end of the main room, a whole manner of strange looking items scattered on the table behind him. Wels' mother let go of them, holding her hand up to motion for them to stop. She walked over to the cleric, speaking to him in hushed tones that neither Wels nor Hels could make out.
"You okay?" Wels questioned, Hels' discomfort so strong that he could feel it too. This wasn't a new experience for either of them, as blessed ground had a tendency to make Hels (and therefore their body) uncomfortable, but this time was far worse than usual and Wels couldn't figure out why.
"Holy items." Hels replied irritably, Wels' gaze once again drawn to the collection of strange items. "Half of them are useless, the other half just give me a headache, but I can't help but wonder why the cleric even needs that many in the first place. I don't like this, Wels, something feels very wrong."
Wels didn't respond, as his mother and the cleric had finished their conversation and the cleric was now tentatively approaching the two of them. He initially went to hold out his hand, but quickly decided against it, instead giving them a forced smile. "Hello there, you- you must be Wels."
They hesitantly nodded, but didn't return the smile. The cleric turned back to Wels' mother. "Well, the child certainly seems normal... Has he been expecting any behavioural problems? Perhaps sudden mood swings or outbursts?"
Wels and Hels frowned, neither particularly liking the sound of the questions she was being asked. Hels had been right, something was definitely wrong here, and although neither of them wanted to be the first to say it, they both had a very good idea of what was happening and they didn't like the sound of that either.
While the two were both lost in thought, Wels' mother had whispered something in the cleric's ear, and his eyes went wide. "Ah... yes, I can see why that might be problematic. Well, rest assured madam, the gods will take mercy upon this poor child and his suffering shall cease by the time the sun sets today."
Wels waited for Hels to say something, their heart racing with panic as they were led into a small, dark room in the back of the temple, but the demon was frozen with fear and unable to do anything. They were sat down in a chair, and it wasn't until their hands were tied behind their back with a rope that either were able to properly react to the situation. "Wait, wait." Wels interrupted, attempting to pull their hands away but to no avail. "Isn't this a bit excessive for, uh...?"
He didn't finish his sentence, unsure what to call what exactly it was that the cleric was doing. The cleric looked up, shaking his head with a confident yet cautious expression. "Absolutely not, we don't want it to get out of control when it starts protesting."
"For what to get out of control?"
"The demon, of course. They don't take kindly to being exorcised."
"Exorcised?!" Wels blurted frantically, irises briefly flickering to a crimson red as Hels' own feelings of fear and anger came forth. The cleric stumbled backwards, startled by the sudden change, but Wels's mother was unfazed by any of it as Wels turned to her. "You didn't tell us about this! And- and you can't exorcise Hels, you could kill both of us!"
"The plan is to get rid of the demon only, and if everyone involved agrees to cooperate, nobody else should get hurt in the process." She replied, watching as the cleric stood up once more and brushed the dust from his robes. "Besides, an intervention has been long coming, Wels. What kind of mother would I be if I allowed you to suffer like this forever? And what kind of citizen would I be if I let a hellish creature of that nature live and hide among us for any longer?"
Once she had finished speaking, the cleric reached into the pocket of his robes, producing a tiny golden bell no bigger than his hand. Wels looked the cleric up and down, admittedly confused by what he was seeing. "What does the bell do...?"
"Its ringing reminds the demon of the sound of holy bells, therefore aggravating it and bringing it to the surface so it can be appropriately questioned and dealt with." The cleric explained, and unexpectedly, Hels started laughing to himself. Wels frowned, surprised by Hels' sudden change in mood despite the potentially deadly circumstances.
"Is that true?" He questioned, only making Hels laugh harder.
"No, not even close." He snickered. "I'm starting to think this guy doesn't actually know what he's doing, which means we now have two things that we can use to our advantage in this situation. Firstly, I doubt he's capable of performing an actual exorcism. Secondly, if we make him think he's exorcised me, he'll probably be gullible enough to believe us and let us go."
"And then?"
"Well, I wanna mess with these idiots a little bit first, but you said it best yourself; we'll leave. Together."
The cleric held the bell in front of their face, took a deep breath, and began vigorously shaking it with his eyes shut tightly in fear. True to Hels' word, it didn't aggravate him whatsoever, but the pure stupidity of it all made him start laughing once again. In fact, it made him laugh so hard that Wels was unexpectedly thrown out of control, ironically making the cleric's plan work after all.
Hels was startled by the switch, but didn't stop laughing, barely able to breathe as he almost fell backwards in the chair. The cleric gave a terrified shriek, likely due to their body's change in appearance triggered by the change in control. Once he'd calmed down, Hels opened his eyes, grinning amusedly at the two horrified adults in the room before him. Wels made no attempt to take back control, giving him free reign to cause as much chaos as he wished. This was going to be fun.
"Well, hello there."
"D-Demon!" The cleric stammered, his attempt at appearing stoic and unthreatened by Hels' presence entirely in vain. He discarded the bell, Hels watching patiently with the same grin still on his face as the cleric instead produced a pendant with the sun and sword symbol on it. "Begone fiend, and leave this innocent child to live a life of peace and-"
"You know that thing's not gonna do shit, right?" Hels interrupted, barely able to conceal his snickering. "But I can fake it if it'll make you shut up."
"Well- well..." The cleric faltered, Wels' mother glaring expectantly at him as she waited for him to respond. "I refuse to be subjected to your torment and lies any longer, fiend! From now on, you shall only speak to answer what I asked of you, do you understand?"
"Sure." Hels shrugged, rocking back and forth in the chair. "It's not like Wels and I have anything better to do today."
"Right..." The cleric responded, evidently surprised by Hels' seemingly spontaneous will to cooperate. His mistake, honestly, assuming this pathetic attempt at an exorcism would be anything but humiliating for him. "Well then, answer me demon, what are you?"
"Lactose intolerant."
"No, that's- that's not what I meant." The cleric interrupted, before taking a deep breath and sighing heavily. "Besides, I don't exactly see the point of asking a creature like you to reveal your hellish origins when we already know exactly what you are, so moving onto the next question, I want you to tell me exactly what foul intentions you wish to carry out within our world."
"Well, I can't lie, getting out of this room is a pretty big one at the moment." He admitted, shrugging once again. "But long term? I'd love to climb a mountain, ride a horse, visit another dimension, maybe meet a cute guy somewhere along the line-"
"Stop! Just- just stop, alright?" The cleric exclaimed exasperatedly, on the verge of tearing his own hair out with frustration. He turned to Wels' mother, eyes wide. "You never told me this demon had an attitude!"
"Like I said earlier, feel free to use more extreme methods if you see fit." She said, her voice calm yet her eyes burning with fury as she glared at Hels from across to the room. Hels simply grinned back innocently. "I'm not too worried about collateral damage as long as the demon is destroyed in the end."
Hels' grin faded quickly. "Collateral damage?" He repeated, anger creeping into his tone of voice as he came to realise exactly what it was she was talking about. "You mean... you mean you'd actually hurt Wels just to try and get rid of me?"
"I'm saying that if worst comes to worst, I'll eliminate a threat for the village's sake through any means necessary." She explained, unfazed by his livid tone as anger began making its way into hers too. "You're a danger to all of us, demon, and if the sacrifice of one life means saving dozens more than that is a sacrifice I will gladly make."
Wels had gone silent, but Hels could feel his horror and despair. Wels being so hurt and devastated by what his own mother had just said only made Hels more furious. "You'd kill your own child just to earn some god's favour?" He questioned, so livid that tears rose in his eyes and he began to tremble. "You're a monster, you're worse than any demon, and you're too blinded by your own dreams of being a hero."
"I've heard enough." Wels' mother decided, turning to the cleric. "You know what to do, get rid of this beast once and for all."
Hels had never truly believed that gods cared about mortals, not until that day. But it was in that very moment, something happened, something Hels could only describe as a miracle. First there was a low, ominous rumbling. Then there was a flash of light so bright it blinded Hels. Then, by the time he was able to see again, he was surrounded by fire and the temple was collapsing.
What had happened in the following moments was a messy blur of screaming and running. At some point, Hels found himself unable to persist any longer, and without a word, Wels had taken over. Hels could barely stay awake and focused, falling unconscious not long later and fading into the vast nothingness of their mindscape.
When he finally came back to consciousness, Hels could hear rain. Seeing through their body's eyes, Hels watched as Wels looked out across a valley illuminated by flashes of lightning. The town they'd been in seemingly seconds ago was nowhere to be seen, and he could feel their body shivering in the cold. He could feel Wels' desolation, as well as the bitter sting of tears rolling down their cheeks, but upon noticing Hels' return to consciousness Wels seemed to perk up a little.
"Hey."
"What happened...?"
"Lighting struck the temple... I don't think anybody else made it out."
Hels considered making a remark about how he hoped nobody else made it out, but remembered all that Wels had just gone through and how he likely wasn't ready to think about his mother's potential death in that way just yet.
"I don't really know whether to be upset or not." Wels admitted. "Maybe I would be if she hadn't said all those things about... well, about killing us, but I'm kind of in a weird grey area at the moment."
"I'm sorry, Wels." Hels sighed. "I'm sorry she said those things, I'm sorry she ever felt like your life was worth sacrificing just to get rid of me, and I'm sorry I ever dragged you into all of this in the first place."
"Are you kidding me?" Wels asked, laughing ever so slightly as he dried the tears from their face. "Hels, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me and you always will be. My mother made it clear how she truly felt about me, and now that I know what I do, my only regret is not leaving that place behind sooner."
"So... Where are we going to go now?"
"I might not know just yet, but I know we're going to go there together and never turn back." Wels promised, standing up and looking out across the valley once more. "You know... maybe this sounds stupid, but..."
"But?' Hels repeated.
"Remember that thing the cleric told my mother? Before we went into that room? 'The gods will take mercy upon this poor child and his suffering shall cease by the time the sun sets today'... I can't help but feel like it was true in the end, just maybe not in the way he expected it to be."
"So... you're saying that the lightning strike was a divine intervention?" Hels questioned, and Wels shrugged.
"Maybe it was. Besides, I doubt the gods ever wanted all of those innocent people to be killed in their name... Maybe the real monsters they wanted to eradicate were the ones who claimed to love and worship them. But I'm just thinking out loud, it was probably just a coincidence, and besides, I want to get out of here now."
"You and me both." Hels admitted, as Wels turned and began to wander along the muddy paths of the valley. "But you know, even if that was just a coincidence, it's still nice to think that someone out there would care about you and I even just a little bit."
"Someone does, I'm sure of it, we just haven't met them yet." Wels agreed. "Maybe that's where we're gonna go, to find that person."
"That sounds like a good plan."
Hey! Brief little author's note, I'd just like to mention that this is going to be the last update for 2-4 weeks as I'm going to be taking a break for my birthday and Christmas. Updates will resume in the new year, and until then I hope you have a happy holidays no matter what you choose to celebrate. Thank you for all of the support on this fic over the year <3
- Xan