Happiness to spare

Kind of in a meh mood today and no other prompt could inspire me. Maybe all my inspiration and energy went into my digital art earlier

[WP] The demon lord doesn't hunger for souls, but to steal good memories…

“Sire, the new heroes of this era has arrived” The lesser demon came rushing to the throne room where a rather uninterested demon lord sat atop his high throne

“Just let them come in. It’s been some… 20 years since my last meal and we’ll need more workers soon” A soft hum reverberated from him as he toyed with the pen in his hold

“I’ll make sure no other demons would be around the castle to reduce casualties” 

With a small nod from the demon lord, the lesser demon was gone in a snap.

“It’s that time again, huh” 

He stood from his throne and walked to the center of the room where he was prepared to meet the said hero the town has supposedly trained. In a matter of minutes, a young man, no older than 18, maybe? Was the one to greet him as the doors flew open

“Alright demon lord! I’m here to slay you and free my people from the sacrifices you ask for!” The hero all but shouted as he lunged forward at incredible speed, ready to pierce the demon lord with his blade. The only problem was… The demon lord’s skin was far stronger than any blade. He was far too powerful for any item imbued with magic as well. 

“They were all such horrible sacrifices though. I could barely get any nourishment from them” He said matter of factly as he watched the blade that should have pierced him, shatter before their very eyes “What has your village been doing to you people?” He heaved out a deep sigh and grabbed the hero by the collar, raising him high off the ground before throwing him to one side of the room. 

The young man hit the wall with a loud thud and a scream of pain as soon as his back hit the bricked wall. 

“You need to understand, little boy… I just want happy memories. I could have released your sacrifices after. I never ate them. Yet your little town was so strange. The first ones I returned… They ended up dead or they returned to me gravely injured. 

I accepted them here. Some of those sacrifices eventually took refuge here. The price to pay? Happy memories.” 

The hero looked at the man that still stood tall before him

“Then why did you keep asking for sacrifices?” The hero coughed out his last few words as he attempted to come to a stand

“I didn’t. I wanted them to stop. Your people have all become mentally ill. They are all miserable. Including you, oh great hero.” 

Again, the hero was raised by the collar of his shirt before he was tossed aside again. This time, into the hands of the lesser demon that came 

“Take him back to his village so he sees what I meant. Hopefully I’ve said enough” 

---

And so the young hero found himself at the entrance of his town when he came to. Instead of being greeted with the cheers that he had become so accustomed to hearing, he was instead looked down upon. The shattered blade in his possession was enough to speak for him. 

Since his arrival, the entire town seemed to act differently towards him. Nothing felt the same. When he tried asking people, they would scurry away. Of course, he had no friends he could go to. He was trained from a young age to be the chosen one. Chosen ones never had time for friends was what all his masters told him. 

Never had the young hero ever felt this empty and abandoned. 

After a few days, he stopped trying. By the end of that week, he shut himself inside his own home. And by a month’s time, he feared leaving his own home due to not being able to stomach the gazes that now meet him even when he would just walk down the street. 

After some time, the demon lord finally decided to make a reappearance in the hero’s life

“I hope you understand now why your sacrifices wanted to return to where I am.” 

A pair of soulless eyes met the demon lord who had opted to sit at the foot of the hero’s bed

“Hey… why do you want happy memories so much?” The boy wasn’t fazed with the close proximity of the demon, if anything, he welcomed him. 

“We demons…. We are born from hatred. Negative emotions, suffering, chaos, everything disastrous, just name it. Happiness… is..” The demon stopped for a while, not sure how to proceed since no other human ever asked the question before

“Happiness is what?” The boy leaned closer to the demon

“It’s like… a nourishment for us? Or should an addictive substance be a better term? I suppose you wouldn’t know happiness either when you’ve never experienced it, have you?” 

The boy simply shrugged then slumped back in his bed, not really sure how he would answer the questions that remained afloat in his head. 

“Would you like to make a little bargain with me, young hero?” 

Again, he could only shrug. He was already unsure of many things and a bargain wasn’t really something that would apeace his mind

“Would you like to escape this town to experience happiness? But once you near your death bed, you must return to me and let me feed off your happiness” 

The hero perked up at the idea. Simply escaping that forsaken town was something that already piqued his interest because none was ever allowed beyond the town walls

The demon chuckled and patted the boy’s shoulder lightly “I take it you’d like that.”

“Why don’t you go out and try to be happy instead?” 

The demon somewhat deflated in his seat and glanced at the boy with somber, almost empty orbs “Things born from madness can never be happy. It’s not something we can ever directly experience. We can only bring suffering in our wake.” 

Those last few words made the boy stand from his bed and take out a bag which he filled with what little belongings he owned.

“I will accept your bargain, demon lord”

With that, the demon lord stood from the bed and whisked the both of them to a forest that separated their town and the next one

“Take this little creature” In the snap of the demon’s finger, an owl perched itself atop the boy’s shoulder. “This will take you back to me when the time comes.. And will guide you around if needed. Be off. I shall await your return someday.