1: Phantasia Celeste
“Well, this is a surprise,” said the demon, her mouth unable to hold back a grotesque smile, “What is Thetis’s excuse of a ‘princess’ doing here?”
Phantasia winced from the pain as Cecaelia’s poison prickled through her body. The tighter the tentacle grasped, the more that negative energy seeped through her spirit, tearing it apart. Cecaelia was slowly slobbering her way over, purring with glee.
“You…monster…” gasped Phantasia.
“Better a monster than one of you weaklings,” she spat back, “There’s no place in the world for faeries anymore.”
As the former faerie’s hideously contorted face rose up to meet her own, and Phantasia tried to avert her eyes from the blabbering skin and rotting teeth, there was a flash of something behind the shifting dregs of hair. Phantasia’s eyes widened in surprise, as her joy numbed the darkness bleeding into her. In that moment, Cecaelia’s tentacle whipped out and dropped her to the floor, catching the surprise attacker at the last instant.
Dionysus hung, struggling with a black tentacle wrapped tightly around his neck.
“Clever,” said Cecaelia, sneering, “If it wasn’t for your little ‘princess’ here, I would’ve been dead by now. I’ll thank her with a quick death after I’ve dealt with both of you,”
Her other tentacle lashed out and plucked Prince Freyr out of the air, his attempt at invisibility faltering before the demon’s vision. She held her two trophies high, and smirked down at Phantasia.
“Dionysus and Freyr, the most gifted of you all. Now tell me there is a place for faeries in these dark days!” She looked back at Dionysus, her face cracking open like a rotting oyster as she smiled, “My dear Prince, try not to reincarnate anymore,”
Dionysus gasped, his hand tugging weakly at Cecaelia’s grasp. Her dark energy burst to life across his body. Phantasia tried to scream, but the sudden eruption of negative energy numbed every sense she had.
Then the pain subsided. Cecaelia’s face had dropped. Standing in front of her, with his hand buried into her flesh, was Prince Freyr.
There was a moment’s silence, then a screeching wind shredded through the demon’s body. Dionysus was released from her grasp and fell, caught by the agile Freyr and carried away from the bloody mass of tearing flesh. As her material shell fell to pieces, her ethereal, faerie form emerged as if from a rotten cocoon. Though no longer a blob of slobbering meat, but a beautiful faerie, her eyes contained the same calculated malice. Before she could move, though, the wounded Prince Inari struck out. Without a physical body to protect her, and still stunned from Freyr’s attack, Cecaelia was powerless to prevent herself melting away into nothingness.
Phantasia leapt over to where Freyr was nursing Dionysus, and soon the other faeries were crowding round. She was waiting for the illusion to end. Any moment now, Freyr would show everyone why his illusionary skills were so renowned!
“You should get going before they arrive,” said Dionysus. He forced a smile, the lingering corruption of the human world showing through, “Death Faeries aren’t the most sociable of types, after all,”
