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saffitaffi · 2 months

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FAIRYTALE - TALE OF THE SINGING YOUNG MAN AND THE DEMON:

Excerpt - “The demon embraced the young man, comforting him. “Fear not, I will not take your flesh and blood. I ask only for your heart.””

(Full story under the cut)

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, a young man was singing while picking berries in the woods. A bunch of troublemaking demons were passing by and fell upon the young man, throwing him in a deep dark dungeon. Having nothing else to do, the young man would sing to pass the time, so the rats and the bugs and the horrible things that crawled in the darkness would come by every day to hear him sing. They would bring him food so he did not starve, as the demons only brought water to pour on his head so they could point and laugh. The darkness of the dungeon began to make him sick, but one day, a powerful demon from the realm of faerie heard of the singing prisoner, and out of curiosity came to visit him.

“What will you give me in return for food and shelter?” The demon asked.

“I will give you a smile and a song.” The young man replied. He smiled so brightly it lit up the whole room, and sung a song so moving it broke the demon's heart.

And so, the young man lived with the demon of faerie, becoming one of its attendants. He would sing for the demon whenever the demon wanted. In return, the demon gave him fine foods to eat and wine to drink, and a soft bed to rest his head. As time passed, the young man started to miss his friends and family so deeply he could only sing of grief and loneliness. His songs brought down the mood of everyone who listened to them. Eventually, the demon asked what would make the young man stop singing so sadly. The young man responded that it would make him happy if he could talk to his loved ones using the demons magical mirror.

“What will you give me in return for using the magical mirror?” The demon asked.

“I will give you an embrace, as though you were my dearest friend.” The young man replied. He embraced the demon as though he cared about it more than anything in the world, and the demon could not deny him.

The demon gave the young man his magical mirror and the young man used it to speak with his family and friends, telling them of the demon and his life, assuring them of his safety. The young man was happy for a time, but the demon grew jealous of the time he spent speaking to those he loved, and stole the mirror away while the young man was sleeping. The young man woke up and despaired when he could not find the mirror, but continued to sing happy songs as though nothing was wrong. Inside he longed to talk with his friends and family, even if it were only one more time. He begged the demon to let him return to his hometown for a single day.

“What will you give me in return for letting you return to the realm of mortals for a day?” The demon asked.

“I will give you a kiss as passionate as one of my songs.” The young man replied. He kissed the demon like he would kiss a lover, and departed with the demons blessing.

When he returned there was much rejoicing and celebration, for some had thought he had died at the hands of the demons who had first taken him. His friends and family did not want him to return to the demon's abode in the realm of faerie, but he chided them, for if he did not return the demon would not grant mercy for his betrayal. At the end of the day he returned to his life with the demon, serving it as though nothing had happened. He sang more beautifully than before, attracting the attention of the first demon's younger brother. The younger brother of the demon wanted to take the young man for his own, finding great pleasure in his songs. The demon allowed it temporarily, but did not tell the young man that it would be only for a little while. The demon's younger brother wasn’t nearly as kind as the demon, and would beat and even kill his servants regularly. Fearing for his life, the young man asked the demon to save him from its younger brother.

“What will you give me in return for saving you?” The demon asked.

The young man wept. “I have nothing left to give you. I have given you my smiles and my songs, my hugs and kisses. I have only myself left.”

The demon embraced the young man, comforting him. “Fear not, I will not take your flesh and blood. I ask only for your heart.”

“Very well.” Sighed the young man. “My heart is better than myself to lose.”

And so the demon took the young mans heart and kept it in a beautiful black box, returning him to his hometown. For a time, all was well. The young man moved back in with his family, and felt safer than ever, for his heart was protected in the beautiful black box. The demon began to miss the young man, however, and parties felt dull without his beautiful voice. The demon distracted itself with the finest foods and the most beautiful of consorts, but even the best singers in the kingdom did not satisfy as the young man could. The demon would sometimes spy on the young man using the magical mirror, watching and hoping for his return, knowing that he would never be able to live as he had before.

Without his heart, the young man began to feel strange. He was finally free, but although he laughed and cried and made merry like all his kin, he could not truly love any who courted him. After all, his heart was taken already. He considered returning to the demon, but feared that if he did, he would be whisked away forever to the faerie realm. Having already given up his heart, (and a heart is the one of the most valuable things to a demon of faerie,) nothing else he could offer would now compare.

Years passed, and he stayed as youthful as the day he had first entered the demons court. Without his heart, his once great kindness eroded into frustration. His songs, though beautiful, lost a certain, unexplainable quality. In his attempts to love, he broke the hearts of many, leaving a trail of jealous lovers in his wake. Whispers went abroad, of a heartless man who would stay forever young, who had traded his heart for eternal youth.

In his travels to find a cure for his heartlessness, he sang as he walked in the forest, attracting the attention of a princess. Enamored with his beauty and eloquence, she offered him a place in her court. In hopes that she could help him find a cure, he accepted, but could not love her in return. He made secret deals with other nobles, plotting schemes to find someone who could help him regain his heart. All the while, he whispered sweet words to the princess, of love and passion. Once she found out of his treachery, she grew angry with his heartless songs and words, and cast him out, warning him never to return. He was only able to steal a scattering of her gems and jewels by clever tricks and thievery, and sold most to buy a new horse and tack so that he could continue his travels. The only thing he kept was a ruby heart on a golden chain that she had given him on their first night together.

He again traveled far and wide, seeking a cure. Love potions, brews of passion, even seeking to replace what he had lost with the heart of another - for at this point, he had crossed the line from heartless to cruel.

Rumors traveled across the land, even more so than before, of his bewitching songs that would allow him to break any heart. He became a legend, a bogey, a sirenic creature that did not stop at the light of day. After many years of travel, singing, and losing friend after friend to the aging he had so avoided, he returned to his hometown. None of his close family remained that he had given his heart to see, only their aging children, and their children's children, who had only heard of him through myths and legends. Having nothing left, he decided to return to the cause of his torment.

Getting to the land of faerie was not so easy as it had been the first time. As he looked for a gateway to the other world, it so avoided him. Faerie circles scattered on his arrival, doors between worlds closing at his approach. Not even the creatures of the mystical deep desired to drag him in. Demons only pointed and laughed, even as he threw himself at their feet. In desperation, he sought the help of a witch, who had heard of his cruelty.

“If you desire my help to cross to the other side,” she said, gazing upon his now wretched form, still as youthful as ever, “you must give me your voice.”

“My voice?” Asked the ever young man, his voice cracking in despair. “It is all that I have left. You cannot have it.”

“Then you will never reach the land of faerie.” She responded. “For without a sacrifice, no creature can go to the land of faerie- at least not without an invitation.”

In the shattered remains of his pride, he first denied the witch of her demand, but found that her words were true. And so, he gave up his voice.

He quickly found a way into the faerie realm once more. Voiceless, he traversed the strange landscape with heartless determination. He traversed fields of clocks, pools filled with daydreams, and eventually came upon the powerful demons abode. Knowing those at the door would turn him away, he wordlessly bribed a servant with his last possession - the ruby heart necklace, and came to the demon who had caused this all to happen. He laid himself at the demon's feet, unable to speak or sing as he once had.

The demon knew of what had happened to him because of the magical mirror, and so embraced him as someone who had been gone too long.

“What will you give me in return for your heart?” The demon asked.

The young man could not respond, but his tears were words enough. And so the demon returned the young man’s heart.

Now that it was no longer in the safety of the beautiful black box, the heart was vulnerable. The young man realized in horror what he had done, and his heart, having shriveled from years of disuse, could not handle the awful truth.

Horrified by his actions, his heartbreaks, and the atrocities he had committed, the man- no longer young - collapsed into the demons arms. He opened his mouth, but could not sing as he once had. As his lungs filled with naught but flowers and moss, his heart sang with the sorrow of his cruelty.

His heart sang so loud and so strong that all of the land, both faerie and common, wept with sorrow. The clouds rained for forty days and forty nights, mountains shaking, rivers bloating, and all was misery. Not a soul alive could resist the desolation of his melody, not the witch, nor the demon, nor the gods themselves upon their lofty heights. All cried, and all sorrowed, like with like, unlike with unlike.

In the end, nothing remained of the old man, save for his heart, which the demon kept safe in a beautiful black box. It is said that when the rains come, and the floods rise, it is the demon of faerie, looking with longing at the young man's heart whom he stole, wishing to hear his mournful song one more time.

If this reaches like 500 notes I’ll make it into a comic lol

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