#fanfic

King Zarik IV, Lord of All Demons, Emperor of Cunning, stared down at the report his spymaster had handed him, reading it over once more to make sure he apprehended every detail correctly.

“The king of demons shall return, and attempt to sacrifice the princess of elves to return to his full power. In her moment of need, a hero with a blade that shines as the sun will appear, to slay the demon king and take her hand in marriage. And you are certain these are the exact words of the prophecy?”

“Quite certain, my Lord. I visited the scrying pool personally as soon as my Watchers informed me.”

“And these elven sages, the Order of the Crystal Tower? Their prophecies are inevitable, once spoken?”

“To the best of the elves’ knowledge, yes, they are, my Lord. I have examined what records I was able to acquire, and every prophecy they have issued for the past three thousand years appears to have been fulfilled precisely to the letter.”

King Zarik ran a weary hand through his gray hair, and sighed deeply. “I’ve had enough trouble reining in the expansionist faction as things stand, and now this. I have infrastructure to oversee, trade deals to broker, a kingdom to administer. I have no need for the ancient power of my forebears, and no time for personally carrying out assassination attempts against elven royalty on the far end of the continent, let alone dying in the process.”

“Indeed, my Lord.”

“And yet, I am seemingly bound by fate itself to do exactly that. There must be –”

[Also on AO3]

My eyes stare unfocused out at the endless road and the starless night, and I realize that I would rather be anywhere else, anywhere at all, except here in this goddamn car. I hate the throb of the engine, I hate the smell of sex and gasoline, I hate the song playing on the radio, I hate the flashing of the streetlights racing past, I hate the rushing wind in my hair, I hate the feeling of Kazuya’s arm around my shoulders as he speaks, soft and smooth in that way he does, saying something I haven’t really been paying attention to.

“… It’ll be easy. The two of us together, there’s nothing we can’t do.” He’s leaned in close now, his other hand resting on my thigh, but I don’t feel anything at all. “All we have to do is win, and everything we ever wanted, it’ll all be ours.” He’s grinning, but it just looks hollow in this godawful flickering sodium light. “Just trust me…” I’m so tired. Tired and carsick.

From the driver’s seat, the man in the fancy white jacket finally speaks. “I now reveal the end of –”

“Stop the car.”

He chuckles, deep and rich. It makes my head hurt. “No need to worry, we’ve almost reached our destination. Now –”

Without really thinking about it, my hand finds my breast pocket and pulls out Kyoko’s switchblade, the one I haven’t let go of since the day she died. I’m already reaching around the seat, holding it at his throat. “I said, stop the fucking car.”