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bananacoffeedonut · 4 months

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Stories of the Stars (Starshipping Collection) #12

Title: Monster on the Hill

Prompt - Fantasy AU - Rumour has it that on the outskirts of the town, lay an abandoned run down house that was home to a monstrous creature. No one went near it. All except Yusei. (Song for writing: Monster - EXO)

Rating: T

Written by Mayasha-Chan

Warning - Swearing

For centuries now, the rumours of the old, abandoned mansion that resided on the outskirts of the town had only grown more distorted and frightening.

Endless whispers of an evil, grotesque creature that had once terrorised the town, until one night when the townsfolk fought back against the Beast and sent it fleeing to that decrepit building.

Some say that the Beast was once a man of great wealth and fortune, who had been inflicted with a wicked curse. Trapping him as a deformed and hideous monster for all eternity.

Others claimed that the house was haunted by a demon that loved to feed on the flesh and souls of little children. That one seemed to be the favourite for parents. Always using the so called “legend” to keep kids away from the rotten old place, and for the most part it worked.

On all except for one.

“Come on Yusei! Let’s go already, we’re not supposed to be here!”

Yusei ignored his foster brother and continued walking down the dirt pathway that led to Kraven Manor, his foster brothers Jack and Crow following behind reluctantly.

“I hate to say this, but Jack’s right Yusei. Martha strictly told us that we were never allowed to go near this place.” Crow shouted, feeling oddly confused by Yusei’s behaviour. While he was never one for following the rules, Yusei was always the obedient one, always doing the right thing.

Jack nodded in agreement with Crow, “She will be furious if she finds out we even came this far-”

A loud howl resonated through the night air, causing two of the young to freeze in their tracks. While the other carried on, as if the noise had never happened.

Crow shivered and rubbed his arms in a feeble attempt to generate some warmth, “Seriously, Yusei! Why did you even want to come to a creepy ass place like this anyway?!”

Yusei sighed and looked back at them with a blank expression “I want to prove to everyone that the legend is wrong.”

Jack gaped at Yusei, his eyes turning almost comically large.

“THAT’S what this is about?! You want to risk your life just to see if there’s a stupid demon there? You know that it’s just a silly story! Demons don’t really exist!” He knew of Yusei’s obsession with the legend, it had been clear to see the moment Martha had told them all the tale. Jack never believed it from the start. He knew it was the adults way of scaring them away from the abandoned building. But Yusei, on the other hand, had only become more fascinated by the stories. The likes of which Jack could never quite understand. What was so interesting and a creepy, old house in the woods?

Yusei rolled his eyes and turned back down the path. He knew they wouldn’t understand why he wanted to there. No one would really. But ever since Martha told them the legend of Yuki Manor and the monster that lived there, he’d felt a strong urge to go there and prove them wrong.

He didn’t believe that the creature was evil, or that it would eat his flesh and suck on his bones as one Nanny had put it. He just knew that deep down they were lonely. The adults may call it a demon or a monster, but they were just terrified of what they didn’t know.

All it wanted was a friend, and Yusei was willing to be that friend.

“You guys don’t have to follow me. You can go back if you want” He replied.

Crow groaned and ran up beside Yusei to try and get his attention “What if there really is some demon or killer monster up there, that wants to eat us as soon as we walk through that door! What’s your plan then?! It’s not like anyone is going to miss three orphaned 10 year olds!” He was starting to get annoyed by Yusei’s lack of care about how dangerous this idea of his really was. That along with the eerie fog that seems to have suddenly rolled in was making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Every instinct within him was telling him to get away from this place right now.

Yusei glared at Crow and increased his speed “Don’t call them that. We don’t know what this spirit is like until we’ve met them, and you can’t judge someone by their looks.” He turned his attention back to the path only to have them widen in surprise.

Slowly materialising from the mist was the building Yusei had been searching for. The stories hadn’t lied about it’s appearance either. With a moldy, rotten wooden frame, missing roof tiles, and cracked windows, it was a miracle the house was still standing.

Not feeling deterred in the slightest, Yusei bravely walked up the front steps of the porch, his every step causing the wood to groan in protest.

Unlike Yusei, Crow and Jack hadn’t moved since the house seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“Yusei… Seriously, we should leave. S-Something doesn’t feel right about this place.” Crow stuttered, feeling his previous panic return tenfold. He looked down at the thick mist and jumped backwards in alarm. A hand. The mist had just taken the form of a hand, and tried to grab him! The orange haired boy turned to Jack and saw the same unease and terror that he was feeling.

Unaware of his friends’ growing fear, Yusei gently knocked on the front door, and was only mildly surprised to hear the noise echo around him.

Then, before Yusei could even blink, the door cracked open just wide enough for a dark smog to envelope the child and pull him into the house, slamming the door behind him.

~ ○ ~

With a groan, Yusei opened his eyes and clutched his head. The whole room was spinning in his vision, and the rather sudden onset of dizziness was not helping him at all. After a few shakes of his head, the young boy rubbed his head and unconsciously let his eyes roam his surroundings.

Much like it’s exterior, the interior bore a striking resemblance to that of a haunted house. Splintered, broken floorboards creaked under the sheer weight of the house alone. Brushing his hand along the floor, Yusei noted how the years of dirt and dust were practically caked to the surface. Laying in the centre of the room was a large rug, where many pieces of what he assumed, at one point or another, rich furniture. From love seats to coffee tables to the master chair, each of these Victorian pieces now only appeared dull and worn.

But what truly caught Yusei’s eye, was the strangely shaped dark form that appeared to be nestling on the cobweb coated chandelier. Squinting did not make the shape any clearer in his vision, the darkness serving to hide most of the mysterious creature’s features shrouded in the shadows. But this didn’t deter the raven haired boy whatsoever. In fact, it only fueled his curiosity.

However, he need not have to wait for the answer. As the pale light of the full moonlight flowed through the window; the gentle stream casting away the shadows that hid the the object of his curiosity was revealed.

And what an extraordinary creature it was. On first glance it’s face appeared almost human - with smooth pale skin and shaggy brown locks hair. But upon further inspection, it was anything but. Portruding over it’s rosey bottom lip, were two jagged fangs - sharp to the tip like daggers. Body hunched over the edge of the chandelier, triangular shaped scales created a trail all the way down his spine from his the base of it’s neck, and all the way along a large sweeping tail. The tail was truly remarkable, with a rock hard serrated end that could crash through a brick wall like it was nothing - reminding Yusei vividly of the one’s possessed by dragons in fairytale stories. Razor-sharp talon like claws that could rip into flesh as if it was paper, extended from unnaturally long fingers. While not abnormally long or short this creature’s body seemed to stretch gracefully despite being in cased in a dark leathery scales. On top of that, Yusei was amazed to see two large bat-like wings folded on it’s back that twitched every few seconds.

But ultimately, nothing captivated Yusei more than it’s eyes. Like liquid pools of gold, they burned with an unbridled anger that could make any mere mortal cower under it’s heated gaze. But, mixed in those furious pools of amber was a sadness and loneliness that made Yusei’s heart clench painfully.

They truly were hypnotic.

And they were staring right back at him.

“What’s this? A little mouse has wandered into my den?” The demonic creature purred, it’s voice almost caressing his ears with each word. With the an almost - albeit unusual - grace, the creature jumped down from it’s perch. Licking it’s lips, Yusei remained rooted to the spot as golden eyes suddenly drew closer and closer until, before he knew it, they were all he could see.

“Tell me ‘Little Mouse’, why I shouldn’t just rip you apart. Limb from limb. Then feast on your bloody flesh.” It snarled, glowing golden orbs promising a painful death should his explanation be tedious or a lie.

Mustering up all his courage, Yusei took a deep breath — never once breaking eye contact – and told it the truth.

“I came to see you. I want to be your friend.”

The creature’s sneer faltered, instead taking on a baffled look. It was clear to see that his response had left the creature confused. But as quickly as it, appeared it vanished.

“You lie!"

Yusei gasped as strong talons wrapped around his neck, gripping so tightly that he instinctively grabbed them with his own feeble hands.

"You’re just like the rest of those foolish mortals. You came to see the freak show hiding on top of the hill, and once you saw the monster of the legend… You’d kill me. Kill me. Then take my body back down with you to that miserable town. Like a hunter with a trophy. Or the gallant – fucking – knight who slayed the mighty dragon…”

“No… Please I-!”

“You’re just like those men of old. Arrogant. Selfish beings. That would cast out a child and mercilessly hunt him down just because they fear what they don’t understand!!!”

Breathing heavily, Yusei felt the creatures grip loosen in his neck until it disappeared entirely. Agile enough to stay on his feet, Yusei brushed his hand over the already fading mark on his neck and gazed at the creature.

The poor thing had seemed to lose all it’s energy - all it’s anger. Arms dangling by it’s side and head hung low. It didn’t take a genius to see how much pain this creature had suffered. It made Yusei want to weep for it.

But more than that, Yusei wanted to help.

With calculated steps, the young boy closed the distance between him and the so called 'Monster of Legend’.

I want to help.

“But… You’re not a monster.”

He placed his two tiny hands on the creature’s surprisingly soft cheeks. He felt the dampness from its tears wet his palms. It wasn’t right for this beautiful creature to be sad.

His touch caused two golden eyes to gaze back at his own deep blue ones. Those eyes held such sadness, such pain. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t right at all!

“You’re not a monster, or a beast. You’re nothing like those cruel words that those old people threw at you. You are more like… A beautiful Dragon!” Yusei nodded his head at the idea and smiled, “Yeah! You have soft skin, big wings and pretty gold eyes.”

“I know it might not mean much, but, I don’t think you’re like the monster they described in the book at all. You’re not vicious or cruel. You’re just lonely. A lonely, lost spirit with no one to turn to. Martha once told me that when someone is as lonely as you are, what they really need is a friend. That’s exactly what I want to be. I want to be your friend.”

The creature gazed at him in wonder. Such innocence, purity. Nothing like those cruel people who had chased him out of the village just because he was different - They feared his power and his ability to be in touch with the Old Ways. He… He wasn’t sure why but he saw that same aura in this boy. It felt like there was… a connection between them.

“D-Do you… really mean that?”

Yusei nodded, “Please, wouldn’t you let me be your friend?”

As if by magic, those simple words stopped the creature’s tears and tiny smile graced his features. “I think I would like that very much.”

Yusei’s smile grew brighter at the creature’s response. He offered it a warm smile and removed his hands from its face, then offered one to it.

“My name is Yusei Fudo. What’s yours?”

The creature tilted its head in thought, “I believe I once was called… Judai. Yes, I believe my name was Judai Yuki.”

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