•Y/N: Your Name
•E/C: Eye Color
•W/F: Worst Fear (preferably something physical, like a giant spider or a clown)
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Author's POV:
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The roar of cheers turned deafening the closer the human and demon got to the arena. Y/N was hesitant to walk past the entry door as Cain held it open for her, but she had come this far. She pressed onwards, but her pace was slow, so the demon set a hand on her shoulder, pushing lightly to have her match his stride. He could feel her shaking through the contact, and the fragrance of fear stung his nostrils, emanating from her soul. Her feet were dragging, too afraid to see what might lie ahead of her, but they kept moving. They find themselves on a balcony overlooking the entire stadium, standing above the massive crowd of demons filling the thousands upon thousands of seats.
Above, the arena is covered by a glass, dome ceiling while dead center lies a very deep and very wide pit surrounded by a black, metal railing. Within it, a gate lifts to reveal a muscular man covered in a plethora of scars and an all too familiar chain around his neck. Her throat tightened, and instinctively, she brought a hand to her neck to rub it. In unison, the demons in the stands stomp their feet at a steady beat that made Y/N's heart pound louder as her adrenaline rose, and out from the shadows of the pit emerges a tall man dressed in armor covering everything from the neck down, aside from his back, which faces her.
That side of him is protected by a dark grey shell covered in thick, black spikes, and lower down, a massive scorpion tail curled behind him. The only other things she could make out were his dark helmet shaped with classic devil horns and a large, double-faced ax with red blades held within his clawed hands. Raising his weapon high, the crowd rewards him with an almost deafening roar of excitement as he turns himself around to view them all. Donning a look of surprise, Y/N leans over the red, balcony wall a bit, stricken by those four familiar eyes, though they did not look into hers.
"Phil?" She mutters out, astonished by the intricate metal work on his armor, yet also unsettled for unknown reasons. Perhaps, it was because of the atmosphere or the fact that she didn't know what to expect out of this. Could've been both for all she knew. Unbeknownst to her, Cain's lips curled into a smirk as he turns his gaze towards the duo in the pit. The servant's chains were removed as a booming voice rang from the speakers in the building.
"With the pre-show entertainment out of the way, let us greet our first challenger of the evening! Welcome, Demetri Addams, to The War Zone!" The audience roars out again, sending Y/N's heart thumping in her throat. "Poor, old Demetri landed himself in Hell for getting revenge on a murderer who tragically killed his little babe~ Oh, how sad!" The announcer chuckles darkly, sounding a little too cheery and sarcastic in his tone.
"And my, oh my, was it brutal when he fulfilled his desires by killing the son of a bitch! Strung him up for the whole block to see, but such an act of 'heroism' ain't allowed in the Heavens, now, is it?" The crowd erupts with laughter, causing the man in the pit to tighten his fists at the ridicule. "So, what'll the judgement be, my king?" All fell silent as every eye turned towards the armored demon standing across from the man. For a moment, nothing happened as he stared down his prey, but then, he rose his clawed hand into the air before clenching his fist swiftly. "Double death it is!"
E/C eyes watched in disbelief as Phil charged towards the man without a second of hesitation, swiping his ax in path of the human's head. The man quickly ducks before racing towards the dirt wall of the pit, earning an amused, borderline deranged, laugh from his enemy. Phil stands by and watches as Demetri attempts to scale it, adding tension and build up, before making his next move. Six shadow-like arms protrude from his sides, wriggling about wildly as they shot across to grab the climber. The thin claws grasped what they could, wrapping around the man's legs, shoulder, waist and outstretched arm before ripping him back down.
A loud cry burst from his lips as pain shot through his back from the landing, while Mephistopheles raised his ax above his stomach before bringing it down with excessive force. Another scream breaks through the air as blood pooled from the body, spurting from his midsection and mouth. Trembling in fear, Y/N immediately backed away, at a loss for breath and too weak to stand. A hand steadied her at her back, and she jumped, hands flying to her mouth, as tears glazed her eyes. Cain pulled away after she steadied herself, but she didn't pay him any mind.
Her attention was solely focused on the shadow hands throwing the carcass upwards into the air, splattering the audience with crimson as they shot through the chest and tore it to shreds. The flesh and organs were tossed to the crowd as though they were free prizes. All of it was devoured by them, like a crowd of hungry sharks. It was sickening, and through it all, the king's laugh cut like a knife. It wasn't a sound she had ever heard from him before. It sent shock through her core and filled her with dread.
'What is this?' Bile filled her throat as she gagged. Y/N struggled to swallow it, and even still, she kept her hand over her mouth for good measure. Her ears were ringing, head light and body heavy, but she couldn't tear her eyes away. As soon as the body was gone, Phil spoke over the joyous cheers of the crowd.
"Send in the next one!" And so, another servant is unchained and brought into The War Zone. The announcer reads off their sins, but they did not reach the human woman's ears. How could that have been the same man standing at her side? It was like she was looking at someone entirely different, someone unhinged and savage. Unlike the announcer, someone's words were able to cut through the white noise coursing through her brain.
"You see now, mädchen? Judging by that look you have, you had no idea what he is truly like. Listen when I tell you that this is only the tip of the iceberg. The man before you has slaughtered millions and beyond without remorse and has destroyed the lives of many, both living and dead. His cruelty knows no bounds. Hell, his whole career is centered around tormenting others. One cannot list all the wretched things he has done in his lifetime." Cain could not hold back a grin as his vibrant green and orange eyes glittered with glee at the expression on her face. She was so horrified, so stunned, and yet she shook her head in denial. Her heart weighed heavy at all the information spoken to her. It didn't sound like him, not at all, and yet, the proof before her eyes was irrefutable.
"N- No..." Her voice came out low as she recalled every pleasant thing he had done for her, the many times he had saved and comforted her. Phil is a kind man... but, then, she remembered his spurts of anger— The look on his face that seemed as though he was ready to tear someone's head off. She had seen that expression on him many times but had brushed it off because in those instances he had a right to be angry. The fights he had over her, she never witnessed just how gruesome they may have been— Against his brother, those men that assaulted her, that pink-haired bitch that ruined her store... What happened to all those people? What had he done? All she could hear from them were their pain-filled screams but her eyes had been covered in every instance. It was right in front of her always.
"No?" The demon quirks a brow at her and grins a touch wider. "Silly girl, don't tell me you're so blind. Just look at him down there." He points below urging her to continue watching and against her better judgement she did. Through E/C optics, she witnessed sadistic grins upon Phil's lips as he sliced off the head of a man. She wanted to puke. "He loves this." Y/N flinched at the touch of a hand on her shoulder, though Cain was gentle, but she didn't pull away.
"Blood bath! Blood bath! Blood bath!" Cheers the crowd in unison, making her quake as the king laughed loudly and grasped the hair of the decapitated man with his fist. The head was raised above his mouth and rained down blood like a shower onto his lips. His tongue stuck out to collect the crimson rivers before he called out again.
"Give me the next one!" He tosses the head aside without a care before wiping his lips... The lips he had used to kiss her. The vomit climbed her throat, causing her to stumble back and hunch over. She covered her mouth as she heaved, concentrating on keeping it in as Cain kneeled beside her. The woman's chin was forced up and her breath was caught when she peered into his eyes. The catlike pupils moved, expanding and contracting hypnotically as he spoke.
"Do you really want to have a monster like that around you, Y/N? Could you live knowing the man you're with is capable of all these thing, that he regularly performs such atrocities. That is the truth I wanted to show you. This is the secret he's kept hidden from you." Y/ N didn't know what to say or how to react. Her heart was torn in half.
She loves him, she cares for him more than anything. She gave up her whole life and future for him, but she didn't know about any of this. She knew demons were made to torture, but she never had to witness it before. She didn't realize the depths of it, didn't realize the sort of things such a kind man was capable of doing. He had been so sweet to her, she was blind to all the things he had done to others.
It was all too much; she wanted to explode, to hide away and forget it all. She should've never come. A softness invaded Cain's eyes as she began to cry and stutter out incomplete words of uncertainty, though he was aware of what her reaction would be when he decided to come to her room and take her here. In the end, he realized he truly would be doing her a favor. "Run, Y/N. Run away while you still can." His smile never fled as her body reacted immediately to his words. Picking herself up, she shoves past him and runs, leaving him to chuckle deeply to himself in satisfaction while looking down at the battlefield. "Try getting yourself out of this one, your majesty."
With knitted brows, Phil picks up his head, giving the air a light sniff. He swore he just picked up on a familiar scent, and it certainly wasn't coming from the puddle of blood at his feet. He ignores the sound of the cheers as his expression turns serious. Wine... Fine wine. That scent was unmistakable, but it couldn't be... Could it? Fear took over him, widening all four of his eyes, for he knew,
He knew she must have seen him.
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Your POV:
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'What am I doing? I'm running! I shouldn't be running! It's dangerous out here by myself.' Cain isn't behind me. I don't have to turn around to know that much, but my feet wouldn't stop. I just want to get out of here. I want to be able to think clearly, but I can't. My heart is pounding so hard, it feels like it's going to rip through my chest. I beg it to slow down as I wipe my eyes of the blinding tears.
I can't see anything. It's all blurry, dark and bright. I don't even know where I'm going. Is the exit even this way? I can't think! I yelp and fall back when I crash into a body, but it felt unusual, wet and goopy. Cringing, I wipe the black slime off my face as I caught my breath and looked up fearfully at the demon I ran into. They are a tall, ghastly figure composed of a black, tar-like substance with a thick set of ram horns curled atop their skeletal head. They grin at me with a maw of needlelike teeth, and I could feel all my organs sink at the sight of them.
It gives a distorted chuckle as I begin to crawl away and tilts its head sharply with a loud snap. It's liquid bubbles and shifts, growing and shrinking in different places until it formed the shape and colors of a W/F. If I wasn't terrified before, I certainly am now. Of all things it could've changed into. I'm fucking terrified of those things! A piercing scream left my lips as I scrambled back faster only for my arms to go numb and send me back down. I can't move! I'm frozen stiff. All of this, all of this is too much! Why now? Why when I'm alone?
I can't breathe!
Please, someone, help me!
Cain, Phil, I don't care! Just come save me!
I'm going to die.
My eyes rolled back into my skull as my body broke out into a collection of spasms. No air reached my lungs as I clawed at my throat pathetically with semi-limp hands, my vision reduced with black dots closing in from the corners of my sight.
Move, damn it!
I don't want to die like this!
It hurts so bad!
I couldn't keep fighting, not for long. The monster hasn't even reach me yet. My body was rapidly shutting down, and no doubt my face had turned blue from lack of air. I couldn't even feel the tears that fell down my cheeks or the burning of vomit rising from my throat. I would likely choke on that next. In my last moments of consciousness, I saw a red blade slice through the beast's neck, severing it from the bone and sending it's body toppling to the ground.
Then, a figure stood over me, but all I could see was a silhouette and four black eyes staring down at me with an indescribable look.