That Which Posseses You: That Which You Must

 Title: That Which Possesses You (The Darkest Seduction)
Rating: PG (this chapter)
Warnings: Mentions of sex nothing explicit
Summary: Possessed by the Demon of Lust Fai must bed a new partner each night in order to survive but when he happens upon a young man with the ability to allow him to feed without doing this his interest flares. Torn between preserving Kurogane's human life and his emotions he leaves to spare them both but finds that protecting those you care for isn't always as easy as it seems and can't always be reached through self-sacrifice.
While Fai and Kurogane deal with their own personal issues they are unaware of the responsibility they will have to take on with the coming of the new Reaper and their relationship is tested under he strain of unforeseen responsibility and circumstance.
Notes: The fic is mostly pre-written and will be updated twice a week unless it reaches a point where I no longer have stuff ready to post. The first chapter is rather short and cuts at a odd place but I had to do that or it would be to long, so I apologize. Set AU. Thisis my first time writing fantasy since third grade so I'm sorry if it's horrible

~o~

 

Cold air whipped around him as Fai walked through the small village he had found himself in. Around him stood thatched roof houses and structures no more than two stories high and while most were dark with drawn wooden widows to ward off the dangers of the night and the present wind there was one illuminated building. A tavern, as it was, sat at the far end of the cobble-stoned town square directly behind a circular based water fountain. And this was his destination.

As he approached he could hear the patrons inside talking, drinking, dancing – overall having an enjoyable evening. He pushed the door open with the confidence of a man who knew exactly what to do and how he was going to do it. A bell chimed overhead and most people sparred him a glance, but to these he paid no heed for it was the people whose stares lingered that would fulfill his purpose. He looked up and took in the faces of those around him as his hood dropped from his head. To reveal his blond hair. He smiled warmly at no particular person and walked to the far end of the wooden plank lined bar and took a seat.

Three people had continued to stare to stare at him when he walked in and chance willing one would approach him he was much to worn to pursue them himself, but if it came to it he would. Now that he was in a warm place he began to get comfortable first removing his flawlessly white hooded cloak with blue designs and setting it on the counter and then his black gloves yanking each individual finger before extracting his hand. He turned his left palm over and rubbed the marking gentle with his fingers. It had grown large that day, larger than usual, but it hadn't been his fault that the Soul Prowler had taken so long to find and kill. According to his mark the sun would rise in roughly four hours, in that time he needed to bed, and he could already feel himself becoming weak. Male or female didn't matter it was Essence that counted, the life force behind the person.

Fai sighed, adjusted his flowing white shirt, and smoothed the billowing black fabric of his pants that fed into his knee high similarly black boots, each tied with a perfect bow. The fashion of the day was loose fitting, light clothing, not that he minded for it gave him the ability to move freely while battling Soul Prowlers and he could more easily hide his weapons, when he hadn't left them with his horse. It seemed to him that he might actually have to physically hunt his prey this evening. Normally his own Essence was strong enough to attract somebody immediately. It was like a unseen force just reached out and chose the most compatible bedmate for the night based purely off of the Lust in the victim, and after some time the two of them would leave, mostly unnoticed, and he would do what he needed to survive: extract their Essence.

Essence and Soul – the two driving forces behind his existence. In this world there were many magical beings but in Fai's mind there were only two that mattered: Essence Snatchers and Soul Prowlers. The later of which he hunted and the first of which he was. Essence Snatchers were the tame form of Soul Prowlers and any Snatcher was capable of becoming a Prowler. Snatchers had to absorb the Essence of humans in order to live. Essence and Soul worked in harmony to create a person's being. Soul was what a person was at the core remaining the same and Essence was the driving force behind the Soul constantly changing with the person and their life. At the core a person could be kind and caring but if surrounded by misfortune they could be driven to do questionable things.

Essence Snatchers were, or at least at one point had been, humans willingly possessed by Demons. The Demon lived within it's host keeping them forever young and giving them unimaginable beauty, grace, and elegance; it came at a price of course. The Demon fed off of it's host Essence to fuel it's existence within the mortal realm constantly draining the driving and protective force surrounding the Soul. If the host were unable to replenish their Essence by sunrise their Soul would be left vulnerable and eaten by the Demon within them and in that moment they would cease to exist.

Existence and death are similar and separate. When a person dies their Soul is no longer of this world but still alive even if it can no longer maintain it's attachment to it's vessel, the Body. However, if the Soul is absorbed it is obliterated and turned into raw energy for the Demon that absorbed it and if enough Souls were absorbed the Demon had the potential to destroy the delicate balance of the spirit world and the mortal world. Most notably Demons would be able to exist without a host in the mortal world. Therefore when a Essence Snatcher failed to refill their Essence for the Demon within them their Soul became unprotected and the first that it would take and absorb thus their existence would cease. The Demon would continue to search for Souls until it had become strong enough to exist without it's host and take on it's true form. And this was why Fai had to bed a new partner each night, because he had the fortune and misfortune of being possessed by the Demon Lust. His Soul would remain protected and he could do his own part in keeping the oblivious humans safe by taking a new person to bed each night to drain them.

Fai never took more than he needed, always operating and the lowest level of energy he could. He would never say he regretted becoming this way he had saved his brother even if he had become basically immortal with no hope of salvation. Now, two hundred years later, he was sent out on missions to destroy the various Snatchers that became Prowlers when needed, his brother was dead of natural causes, and he would forever remain at the preserved age of twenty-two. As previously stated, normally his Essence was strong enough to attract the individuals needed to sustain him but he was much to weak now and thus his Essence was depleted and not nearly as magnetic.

He pushed himself off of his seat thinking, “Might as well use this beauty for something,” and made his merry way over to one of the people whose stares had lingered when he first walked in. Even in his weakened state he could read person's Essence even if he could hardly transmit his own and of the people he had targeted he settled for a plump redhead, her Essence was filled with enough Lust that he could drain it without completely devouring it. Human's who had their Essence completely drained became the living dead – a Body with a Soul but no desire and they became unresponsive to the world. Even if the human wasn't fully drained the effects were rather devastating. Aspects about the person would change and normally the victim, as Fai thought them, became lost because even if they didn't remember what had transpired they were acutely aware that something was missing from them. Some went insane, others became depressed, and the then there were the lucky few who with incredibly strong Essence would continue their lives with nothing more than feeling like something was forever missing. This woman was one of the later, and though he took comfort in that it did nothing to relieve his guilt.

The redhead's bosom stood taught being supported by a brown leather corset under which she wore a blue flowing top that ruffled at her wrists and was tucked into a pair of skintight red pants. Fai tapped her on the shoulder, “Good evening milady,” he said smoothly.

She turned from her companions, her red curls were held back from her face with a tightly done bandana. Her smile was radiant, and her cheeks flushed from drinking and laughing carelessly. Silently Fai wondered if he was about to take that smile from the world. “Milady?” she scoffed loudly in a distinctly Irish accent. “I haven't been addressed as 'Milady' in all mi' life! Call me Francis, short for Francesca.”

Fai gave her a slight smile, “I apologize for the rudeness of other people up until this point, Francis, for a woman as lovely as you should always be addressed in the highest regard until otherwise told.”

The young woman smiled to herself before giving him a once over, “And what shall I call you, handsome?”

“Please call me Fai. Forgive me for not stating so earlier,” he took her hand and planted a kiss atop it. “Tell me Francis, do you know a lodge close by that is still accepting customers?”

She smiled and titled her face down while keeping her gaze on the blond man, “Ay, but lodging isn't cheap and neither is a bedmate. If you catch mi' drift.”

Fai hummed, “A lady as lovely as yourself?”

She smiled wickedly, “Lucky for you I come free to the right person.”

“What qualification does this person need, love?”

Francis stepped closer to him and interlaced her fingers behind his neck, “Tonight the right person need only golden hair and amber eyes.” She planted her mouth firmly to his and Fai engaged sucking at her rosy bottom lip as his eyes slid close, not from pleasure exactly but habit.

From the group behind Francis came numerous cat calls in similar accents, “Oi, Francis, get a room why doncha?”

She turned sharply and planted her hands on her hips, “I was plannin' on it Brutus! Now if you'll excuse me I have business to be attendin' to.” She grabbed her cloak and took Fai's hand as they headed towards the exit.

“Just a moment,” Fai interrupted their departure, “I forgot my cloak. I'll meet you outside.” He took her hand in both of his and kissed it for a second time that evening.

She kissed him chastely, “Hurry back.”

He bowed deeply as he backed away, “Will do.” Once she had left he stood upright and walked uncaringly over to his cloak which he slipped on quickly before pulling the hood up and grabbed his gloves in one hand and rushing towards the door. Unexpectedly, though, he collided with with a solid mass that sent him tumbling backwards. Irony would have it that he could fight and slay Soul Prowlers but could be sent flying when he walked into a simple human. Fai braced himself for impact with the dirty wooden floor but his decent was halted by two hands grasping his forearms.

“Tch. Watch where you're going idiot,” a deep voice chided lightly.

Fai looked up, the hood of his cloak falling away from him as he caught the coal eyes of the large stranger. The feeling of being weightless was instantaneous and it felt like the two of them had been removed from the world. The man's eyes dilated slightly as they began to glow a bright gold and though he couldn't confirm it Fai was sure his were mimicking the other's. A beam of light extended from the pupils of the stranger and met with a beam of light from Fai's own eyes and there was an explosion of warmth between them.

As quickly as it had began the moment had passed and they were back in the tavern though based on the way the man was looking at him he guessed that whoever was holding him had never left. “Hey are you okay?”

Fai gathered his senses about him, “I'm fine. Thank you for catching me.” He smiled brilliantly and brought his hands to he man's biceps (which he noted were huge) to support himself and the man catching his cue adjusted his position so Fai could find his footing.

The stranger rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands and looked back to Fai with confusion.

The blond felt incredible like his Essence had been fully replenished – no it couldn't be. He glanced at his hand and sure enough his marking had disappeared. The marking never full disappeared because he only replenished the minimum amount he needed to make it through the next day. But here was proof that he had absorbed Essence right in front of him and he had done it without even having sex. This went against everything he knew about his existence. He knew that in order to absorb Essence the supplier had to be filled with excess of the sin his Demon craved and this man was not filled with enough Lust to taint his Essence.

“Weren't your eyes amber?” The rough voice brought Fai back from his thoughts.

Fai instinctively reach up and touched beneath his eye “My eyes?”

“Yeah I thought when you first looked up they were amber they're blue now.”

“Blue?” It suddenly clicked with Fai his eyes became amber when his Essence was extremely low but became their natural blue when it was strong. “Oh! Blue! Yes my eyes are blue. It must have been the light or something,” he trailed off. “Um, what's your name?”

The darker raised an eyebrow, “Kurogane. Are you sure you're okay? You seem a bit strange.”

“Oh yes! I'm fine. More than fine actually,” Fai rushed being so animated with his hands that Kurogane took a step back.

Kurogane rubbed the back of his neck, “If you say so. Anyway I think you're girlfriend is waiting for you.” He pointed behind Fai.

The blond whipped around to see Francis calling him over with her finger. “Oh, she's not my girlfriend she's-”

“You know this is of no concern to me. I have business here. Now if you'll excuse me,” Kurogane pushed past him and went to the bar and started a conversation that sent the bartender to the back room. Fai stared on only to stop when, simultaneously, a hand was placed on his shoulder and the coal-eyed man looked up to glare warningly at him.

“Friend of yours, love?” Francis ventured. Her hand traveled from his shoulder up the nape of his neck and tangled itself in his hair.

Fai was confused to say the least. For two hundred years he had been use to people being unwaveringly attracted to him and yet this man had simply walked away from him. The even greater mystery was how he had been able to replenish his Essence. For the first time he had been denied and he found himself irrevocably attracted to this man for reasons he was scouring his brain to find. It had been a century and a half since he had actually been attracted to anyone physically or otherwise. Sex and his condition had taken away his ability to be anything but objective about it and the people he slept with.

He removed Francis' hand from his hair gently and turned still grasping it. “Francis, you'll have to forgive me. It seems something urgent has come up and I must leave. Perhaps another time.” While he had her he might as well try to secure a second opportunity he still had to absorb tomorrow as well.

“Ay, I wish I could agree but, alas, me and mi' crew,” she threw a thumb in the direction of her counterparts, “be headin' out at first light.”

“I find myself in a similar position. Well then this is farewell until we meet again.” He kissed her hand and departed as swiftly as he had come.

Fai had been waiting on the roof of the tavern for close to twenty minutes and regardless of the need he felt to talk to Kurogane he was becoming impatient. Just then the door opened and the familiar bell chimed. Light found it's way into the square for a moment before being sucked away by a closing door and the person who had emerged with the light stepped into the square.

All to quickly he became unsure of himself. What exactly was he supposed to do now? How was he supposed to approach the situation? He couldn't feasibly walk up to the taller and explain that he was possessed by a Demon of Lust, fed off the Essence of innocent humans and was about to do so when he walked in and somehow filled him with Essence, and now he was unexplainable drawn to him. Logic told him not to do that so instead he crouched further down on the roof to silently watch Kurogane walk away a bag now slung over his shoulder.