FSE

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Three heroes made their way to a tall castle that rose through the center of a forest, piercing through the canopy of trees and reaching out to the heavens. The King had sent them here to deal with a growing problem that threatened the stability of his kingdom. A dark lord had made their claim and had begun amassing both power and minions. Soon, the kingdom would fall but the three heroes with the blessing of the King would surely be able to defeat the dark lord. At the door, the three heroes braced themselves. Woz was a tanuki prince from another land and a master of puppets with greyish-blue fur and various stitches here and there wreathed in a cloak of deep blue. Accompanying the prince was a puppet by the name of Gallant, a feline knight with patchwork similar to their master and the same deep cyan eyes swimming in black. Next of the heroes was Yua; a grey-furred canine monk from the wilds who had given herself to a higher purpose in order to. Her bright rose eyes were focused on the top of the castle instead of the gates before them. Last but not least was the smallest of the heroes. A shrine witch bat with orange fur who went by the name of Aria with a paintbrush out andprepared to call upon a powerful summon. Together, these three joined forces in order to save the kingdom, or at the very least, stop the dark lord from becoming too much of a burden on the King's assets. It was the stalwart monk who placed her paws on the large doors to push them, hinges creaking as the frame parted for her to welcome the heroes to their destiny.

Darkness refused to let the sunlight in as the three heroes made their way inside. Aria was the first to speak up, "Say, are we sure that this is the right place?"

Woz snorted, "Why wouldn't it be the right place? It's practically shrouded in an evil aura and I don't see any other massive castles in the middle of forests."

"There is no need to be rude master." Came Gallant's voice in a hush.

"I think it's a fair question." Yua hummed, "I mean, we know that this is the right place but we don't know much about the dark lord or anything. We haven't even run into their minions yet. Speaking of which, how does the dark lord look anyway?"

The bat answered without pause, "I heard that they were kind of hot."

Both Yua and Woz coughed before Woz hissed, "Is that really appropriate to say of our enemy?"

Aria huffed, "Whatever! I'm just repeating what I heard from one of the knights back at home and I was going to tell you what they looked like after that but you interrupted so guess we'll know them when we see them!"

Again, Gallant's words came quickly, "Perhaps we shouldn't be arguing about this in the dark and perhaps Woz or Aria could cast light?"

No one in the party spoke until Yua muttered, "I don't think either of them know how that spell works."

"No!" Squeaked the bat, "I know how it works! All we have to do is find a brazier or something and put fire in it, right?"

Woz grumbled, "I don't think casting fire is the same as casting light."

A deep sigh came from Gallant, "May the souls of this earth grant me patience."

"You're religious?" Came Aria

The doors shut behind them and Gallant breathed out, "Yes."

A few words were about to escape the prince's mouth in question about the fact that they didn't know that their own puppet was religious but they held those back as a presence collectively crawled up the heroes' spines. Flames burst into life at the sides revealing a long entrance hall leading to velvet stairs that climbed and twisted to upper floors leading deeper into the castle. At the top of the steps, a figure appeared with arms outstretched and a fang-filled grin cutting across their expression. It was a white fox wearing a tailcoat, hands ears and tail touched with inky abyss that seemed to spread further down their fur before receding again.

As the newcomer began descending the steps, they spoke aloud, "Welcome! Champions of this kingdom. No doubt you are tired from traveling all this way from the royal capital but I hope that the shade my castle provides can offer a bit of succor. Shall I ask for a drink? Or perhaps you all are hungry?"

Aria rubbed her chin, "You know, I could use a drink..."

Woz grabbed the small bat by the head and brought her up, pointing her toward the newcomer, "Focus! Is that the dark lord?"

The bat blinked and smiled, "Yup! Exactly like the knights described them, although, I don't see huge bat wings on them like a demon."

All three heroes assembled together, standing in a line with their weapons drawn and their stances strong. Gallant stood before Woz holding a thin sword ready to pierce evil while Aria began calling a summon. Woz threw an arm to the side and called aloud, "We'll rest after we're done defeating you for the good of the realm!"

With a chuckle, the dark lord brought a hand to their chin, the other resting beneath their elbow while they tilted their head, "Come now, no introductions? I like the poses and the dynamism you're showing but you should really announce yourselves a little bit better. We should make this fun after all."

The first to speak up was Woz, taking a step forward while calling aloud, "If you must know, I am Woz! Prince and puppet maker. Gallant and I will make sure you never dream of rising up again!"

Yua came next with a growl, "And I am Yua. Too long have I stayed in the dark of the wilds, now I am here to quell the evil I felt rising in this land!"

Light shimmered above Aria as the creature she was summoning began to slip through to this dimension while she breathed out, "And I am Aria, sacred witch tasked with aiding the heroes in their task! You shall--"

A spear of jet black flew through the air and impaled the shimmering light, scattering to dust and particles, all three heroes and even Gallant freezing in place with their expressions widening while the dark lord sighed, digits pointed toward them, "Right. I can't have you calling something that might make a mess in the castle. Regardless, I enjoyed those little calls of yours. Now then." The dark lord breathed in and embraced the air before them before bringing their arms back out again, sharpened wings appearing behind them made of ink, "I am the dark lord Wel and I seek to end your King's foolish reign. Now, I give you this one chance. Yield and I will spare you as I have so many others. Yield and I will give you a home among the darkness! Otherwise, prepare to fall."

Those final words were accompanied by a gust of wind that sent the heroes back a step, forcing them to brace against the power. Yua was the first to charge forward, either out of bravery or from terror forcing her hand. She snarled and leaped up the stairs, fist blurring as it struck the air. Wel moved to the side and raised a brow, smiling as Yua brought a leg up aimed at the fox's face. They caught her by the ankle and dragged her up so they were face to face, the fox winking and waiting for the flush on her cheeks before they turned and threw her. Woz blinked and jumped in place to catch Yua while Aria had her brush pointed upward calling another summon. Wel frowned at that and gripped the air, hands made of ink appearing from beneath Aria to interrupt her summoning causing her to squeak and flail. Gallant had used this opportunity to dash up the stairs and swing his sword in a wide arch, catching the dark lord's cheek before he thrust. The dark lord only smirked, weaving and leaning in to grab the puppet by the neck and lift him high, squeezing hard enough that the sword came clattering to the steps.

"So these are the heroes sent against me? How irresponsible. You weren't even told of my powers and whatever you heard of me seems to be gained from rumors! How utterly foolish." Laughed Wel

Woz had their hands held together beneath their cloak preparing a spell, calling the energy they felt in the room into their digits before bringing them out and releasing it all at once. What should have happened was a great bolt of lightning should have shot out from their hands and pierced the dark lord but instead, all of the energy exploded right in front of them sending the puppet on their rear right next to Aria who was still contending with ink hands.

Again, Yua managed to get up the stairs but Wel had not been unaware of her absence. They turned to her and tossed Gallant at her, Yua avoiding the puppet while uttering a quiet apology before leaping in the air. Her leg drove through the air where their head had been but she wasn't done. She landed and brought her shoulder into their body, backing away just enough to give her enough room to bring her fist into the dark lord's ribs but they caught her blow. She yanked away and snarled, aiming another punch at Wel's gut but that too was caught. Both of her fists were squeezed tight enough to hurt and she was brought up so she was face to face with Wel.

The fox smiled and tilted their head while humming, "How about you use this ferocity for me and I can show you how to quell the true evils of this land?"

Before Yua could answer, the fox planted a peck on her snout causing her cheeks to flare pink visible even beneath the fur. As she tried to chew out a response to that sudden affront, Wel let go of her fists and took a step back. Yua blinked and for a moment froze in place before she realized that she was free and prepared to attack again. A fist of ink from the air interrupted her approach sending her flying into Gallant who was charging up the stairs. Down they tumbled next to Woz and Aria who were hurt and grounded. They each were still breathing but none in a condition to continue the fight.

"Is that it? Is that all? None of you even tried to show me some teamwork! Did they even train any of you?" Came the dark lord's taunts.

Woz managed to stand while coughing, "Bastard. You think that you'll be able to toy with us so easily? Well, don't count on it!"

Hands came from the ground to seize all of them, yanking them back down to the floor if they tried to stand while Gallant grunted, "Turns out, the dark lord there might be able to count on being able to toy with us that easily."

The prince struggled for a few moments before stopping, panting, "Shut up Gallant and help me out here."

"I can do nothing, I am afraid to say. The dark lord here is too powerful for me."

When neither Yua nor Aria said anything, Woz cursed, "Fine! Fine then...We lost! What more do you want from us? Just finish it and get it over with you bastard!"

Wel chuckled, "If I wanted to kill you then I would have aimed for the summoner instead of what she was calling the first time. I do not seek to end life, after all, I seek to dominate it."

The inky hands grasping Woz brought them up and forward until they were kneeling in front of Wel who had descended the steps. They looked up with a frown but were turned around while strong claws grasped their head, "Puppet. I'll free you but only because I want to see you breed the cute dog there. You have that capability, right?"

Gallant scoffed, "I will do--"

Words stopped with a cold chill down all of their spines as they watched the fox bring a claw up to Woz's neck, slowly digging it in until the first droplets began to appear, "Now you see, I understand that you, in particular, are tied to this fading soul, so if you want to remain tied to this fading soul then you will do what I ask. Besides, she seems amicable to attention. Just give her a kiss here or there and she'll love it. Why, she was even loving it when I gave her a little kiss."

Yua barked aloud, "It's not my fault! It's just not something I'm used to, shut up!"

The hands made of ink removed themselves from Gallant's body and almost immediately, the puppet began to strip. At the same time, Yua's body was put into place, her clothes tugged and torn off by the hands restraining her. Woz and Aria's eyes growing wide as they watched their companion kneel between Yua's legs and place his healthy length atop of her crotch. A sudden warmth struck through each of them, a chuckle and a whisper at the back of their mind telling them to drink in the pleasure and enjoy every second of depravity.

Wel's voice came from all around, the party's minds touched by the softness, "Dear heroes. Here you are with so much to hide but in my grasp, I can see it all. Loyal Gallant. Strong of heart and body, created by the fair prince but even his body has needs, right? Ignore them with all of his might in the hopes that he will remain pure and not need to sully his companions with such thoughts and hungers but even he can't resist a touch."

"Shut up!" Hissed Gallant.

But the fox continued, "Sweet Yua cannot help but feel excited at any touch. She has always wanted more affection but isn't quite sure how to get that attention. Even if she asks it feels shameful...So here we are, don't be ashamed little pup." When all she did was look away, Wel continued on, "And just the same, Woz isn't quite sure how to express their desires. It wouldn't be princely, wouldn't be right if they showed interest, if they hungered and went beyond their station to garner affection and love. What would others say? Besides...What if something is misunderstood? I understand sweetie, so just relax." Woz tried to say something but the claws at their neck kept them trembling and quiet as their mind was unraveled, "And Aria, so stressed, so burdened and yet you are only what the shrine wishes of you. Perhaps you would enjoy showing them a different side of you or at least, indulging in something strange and unknown."

Aria huffed aloud, "Stop worming around in my head! Whatever you're saying is false!"

"Then why is it that you feel such loneliness staring at the end of your journey? Was it not nice, departing from home?" Wel's voice came at their ear. Both of Aria's ears flickered downward and her energy seemed to fade while her thoughts began to turn and turn to the fox's tune, just like every other hero, "Now...Let yourselves indulge. Let yourselves give in to what you desire. Lust, love, and celebrate the masks coming off."

There was a general mood among the heroes that held onto the hope that what Wel was saying was a falsehood but that mood was betrayed by their thoughts curling around with the subtle touch of the fox's magic working its way deeper into their cores but the dark lord didn't have to do much. Soon enough, Gallant grabbed Yua's leg in earnest and thrust it apart himself, growling as he grabbed hold of his shaft and pushed it against her heat. Yua in-kind tore from the ink as if it hadn't even been holding her and grasped his shoulders bringing him down into a kiss, a firm one that seemed to surprise even Gallant at first before he dipped into it and plunged into her. Yua took what she wanted and Gallant accepted his body's desires, pounding into the monk without regard for the other's who were watching. There were no hands pushing them and even the dark lord's influence was a quiet whisper now.

"What have you done to them!?" Woz called out while squirming.

Wel chuckled, "What have I done to them? I offered them a chance to let loose and open up and there they are. Experiencing each other for the first time. You want the same thing as well, right? Your puppet is a piece of yourself after all, even if you don't think of him as such."

Woz's cheeks burned and they looked down while muttering, "Shut up."

Suddenly, a small chuckle came from Aria, a sound so chilling that even Wel turned to look at her while Gallant and Yua continued grinding away, "I...I can't believe it had to happen like this. Why wasn't it ever enough? I tried so hard to make them happy but here I am, here I am being toyed with and I bet they don't even give a damn. No one in the kingdom cares. Not even the King. Be a perfect little shrine witch and commune with the spirits? Become one with the world and accept my role at the top of the pedestal when I can't even walk right according to them? No!" Aria's chuckling turned to a curse, "You're right! I don't want to go back, I hated that the journey was going to come to an end! I couldn't even hold onto the creatures I was summoning when you broke my spells." She then sucked in a breath and smile, a curved knife from ear to ear, "So just do whatever you want."

While Wel smiled, Woz's mouth was agape, their body trembling as they muttered, "This can't be what is happening, right? We're heroes, right?"

A moan sent a shiver down Woz's spine, Yua's claws digging through the back of Gallant who responded in kind by biting her shoulder and while Woz's attention was held, Wel muttered, "What are you heroes for? Do you believe in what your King has been doing? Has he truly given you all the support you need? You're not even from this land and yet you're taking all this responsibility. Who forced it on you? And why do you keep the weights on your shoulder?"

Every word was another thin dagger running up their spine and to their cheek as it tore and plucked at the truth as if tugging at the seams of their stitched form. Woz answered more weakly than they meant to, voice in a near hush, "I do this because no one else will, because the King of this land is an ally to my nation."

"But wouldn't it benefit your people and the people of this kingdom if the King simply didn't exist? If there was a different ruler or set of rulers? After all, I doubt a hero of any kind serves only the royalty."

As they opened their mouth to say anything at all, Wel let go of them and trotted toward Aria. Woz had a chance to strike the dark lord in the back, to end this once and for all but they found that their limbs were heavier than usual. Wel's words made them feel every little weight they had been trying to ignore from their own family, from the King of this land, and more. The warmth of Yua's moans, the warmth of her sighs, and the sound of Gallant grunting could be considered more pleasant than their own thoughts but it was a hypnotic hymn that drew their thoughts further and further away from completing their mission. With shaking digits, Woz reached up to touch their own head and wondered if they had been poisoned, if they had been addled somehow. It would make sense that they wouldn't be able to think like that but even then, giving in to such sensations would be more pleasant than drowning in the weight of a fruitless responsibility.

Wel stopped by Aria and crouched down to place a hand on her head, "See, Woz. I don't want to ruin the world. I don't even want to kill anyone. What I want is simple. Remove the mask from this world, make this kingdom, in particular, a place for the people rather than for the King and his friends. I am considered a dark lord because peaceful methods of making things better have failed time and time again. So I am a dark lord and I cherish that role."

Aria seemed to calm a little at the touch, her wings folded and her body trembling as she spoke, "Impossible. A better life, a better kingdom. Impossible. This is all we have."

From nearby, Gallant chimed in with a grunt, "Impossible. There is no better way. There never has been and never will."

Even Yua after gulping in a breath managed to speak, "I can't even imagine a different kingdom, a different place."

And in the end, Woz nodded slowly while muttering, "This is all I know. Even back home it is similar."

The dark lord turned and grasped the air, braziers on the walls burning bright, "Then we make something new! Too long have I spent in the dark smiling and hoping for a better tomorrow after being told time and time again that I should not worry, that my suffering means little to nothing aside. If somehow the King is divine then I reject what is divine, I reject the common law and if I am chaos incarnate then so be it!"

Aria sniffed, "What if you fail?"

A chuckle came from Wel as they prodded the bat's cheek, "Then someone else will get tired enough to rise up and at least my seeds will have spread. Either way, I can't wait anymore. I'm tired of so much my little heroes and ready to burst at the seams. To love and seek intimacy is some sort of sin, to want more in life is to be selfish while those far above our station dine without a concern where their next meal is going to come from or whether or not they will die from some malady. Look at yourselves! Seek inside of yourselves without my influence, without my spell, and see that what I have done is nothing more than rioted the emotions that already exist within you!"

The heroes paused, Woz reaching to touch their heart as they found the sickness within them growing despite the touch of the fox's influence nowhere near them. How many times had they pushed down their feelings in order to be the perfect little prince, how many times had they denied themselves something because it would mean shirking their responsibility even for a second? Those beneath their station were considered expendable and even Woz was considered expendable as they had been seen as too weak-willed. It felt like they were only ever being a pretender prince, nothing more than a puppet similar to the ones they made.

Yua shrunk and placed her head to Gallant's chest. She had forgotten that she had indulged in her desires so readily. It was frightening to even think about showing herself like this to people outside of the other heroes but even asking for attention seemed like some great taboo. More than that, she had put herself in the wilds because she could not understand, could not relate to a people who wished to lock her emotions, to make her nothing more than a dancing fool.

At the same time, Gallant looked down at Yua and wondered how long would it have taken for him to say something? He was always quiet about how he was feeling because a doll was not supposed to have emotions, not supposed to have hungers. Even the King had insulted him, had made light of his existence so why should he so fervently serve that? Woz had given him free will, had they not?

Cold crept over Aria as she dared to allow herself to hope for a moment that she might be able to leave the shrine. The shrine itself was an existence that still followed her here. They sought to give care to all who needed it so long as the rules were followed and as a daughter of the shrine she was expected to not only follow the rules, but excel. Anything else, anything else would be an improvement.

The heroes remained quiet for a few minutes before Yua sniffed, "Not sure I really like how the King treats women."

Gallant muttered aloud, "I heard him and his court don't even put a single copper in the treasury despite making so much off of their businesses."

Aria nodded, "And overall the religious fanaticism can make it a bit hard to advance the medical field in a magical and physical sense."

Woz looked at them all before crossing their arms, "It isn't as if he was going to send anyone for us if we didn't come back either."

Wel watched the heroes with a grin, arms open as they asked, "So? Shall we work together?"

The heroes looked at the dark lord for a few seconds before rising. Each of them inclined their heads one after the other until a new pact had been sealed. Thus, the kingdom would eventually fall to the dark lord and the people were much better for it. Through darkness, a beacon of hope shone bright full of anger, desperation, and above all else, a desire to see a better future. The heroes returned as their own people rather than tools and puppets of the crown. Next came Woz's home.