A man walk down the crossroad late that night that when he ran into a beast in black. The beast spoke “Boy that’s a heavy load you have on your back, I can take care of your troubles and your worry woes, all you gotta is sign.” Man said “beast I do believe another devil beat you to it this time. I do wish I had something to give but ‘fraid I’m sold out. If you ain’t looking for the walking dead better find yourself another town. But if your still looking for my soul just wander down this road to a small house to the right. Cuz devil I’ve already lost my soul to devil with emerald eyes." -- Anon Guest
[AN - ISTG those are lyrics for something but a quick search can't find it. This has rhythm and meter... I can firkin hear Johnny Cash singing this.]
All the Tieflings were gone. So too were all those people who loved them anyway. This should have been a relief to the world because now they could tell the difference between a Fel fiend and someone who just happened to look a little bit like one. It should have been a relief for ordinary and decent folk, but one had become a statistical outlier. It wasn't his fault. He fell in love with a Tiefling Bard just before the miracle they were calling the Fel Exile.
She had eyes of emerald green, and skin the colour of royal robes. Hair the colour of a raven's wing that fell in luxurious curls. And her voice... he would never forget her voice. It didn't belong in a devil's throat. When Dan learned that all Tieflings and all unwanted peoples were sent away from decent folk by a concatenation of Wishes, he knew why she had gone. What he didn't understand was how he had been left out of the phrasing, "and those who love them." She was gone, and he was left sadder without her.
Dan sold everything he didn't need and stocked up for a long journey. He didn't care for a home without her in it. He didn't want his family telling him it was just infatuation and he would get over her. The first part of his quest was finding out where the devils and all who were like them had been sent. And it was on that journey that he met a genuine fiend.
He looked almost like a regular human. It was all in the eyes. Those of a supernatural nature could never disguise their eyes for long. There was a fire in them that could unnerve a more ordinary man. Love gave Dan courage enough to face the fiend. The horns were subtle, almost lost in those flyaway locks, and the skin was almost ashen in hue. The black he wore was more like the coals after a fire than anything alive. To look at him was to seek out where the embers might be lurking.
"Looks a heavy load you have, friend," said the fiend. "Troubles would make that seem double. I can lighten that load. Make all those cares just... disappear."
In the worlds of magic there are two rules. The first is Never mess with the Fae, and the second, and most important, is Never accept a Fel deal at face value. Dan was smarter than the average destiny-seeking fool and said, "My weight is my choice to carry it and my troubles won't be solved so easily."
"You can sign your woes away," of course the fiend had a contract ready, and a pointed quill made to write with blood. "Just your name on the bottom of the fine print. I can solve... everything."
"Can't sign away what's already given to someone else," said Dan. "My heart and soul belong to a different devil. Get lost."
"I could tell you where she is," wheedled the fiend. "Just sign. It's that simple."
"No. It's that complicated." Thrice offered and thrice refused, the fiend returned to his home and Dan continued on his path, on the harder journey. The more virtuous journey. For love.
It took him years. A year to find out where they went. Years to make his way there. Years more to find the part of the island chain where she'd settled. She was still a Bard and still had the voice of an angel. She still had skin the hue of royal robes and hair the colour of a raven's wing. Her gleaming emerald eyes looked upon him with evident confusion. She didn't know who he was. Not surprising for a Bard.
"I know," he said. "I didn't get a chance to introduce myself. You were rudely taken away in the middle of your set. I was going to ask you out."
"It's been nearly five years," she said.
"I know your stage name is Melody, but is that your real name? I wanted to know."
"So you disrupted your entire life for five years to come and try to introduce yourself?" She was sneering at the concept.
It was supposed to be romantic. He wanted it to be romantic. She was supposed to understand the grand gesture of it. "Well. I fell in love with you. What else was I supposed to do?"
"Okay. Yes, my actual name is Melody. Melody Strumm. Hi."
"I'm Dan Carpenter. I'm a Carpenter. I could build you anything you like, but it might take me a while to do musical instruments."
"I'm fine. Thanks. Now for the bad news. Love... is mutual. It shares. If you want to claim me as yours and keep me away from the world, that's not love, that's obsession. You want to believe you love me, but you heard -what- four songs? Four and a half? That's not falling in love with someone, that's developing an infatuation. If you actually spent the time to get to know me, you'd learn I'm a part-time arsehole. It's a reflex. I cuss, I spit, I fart, and I think making my bedmates smell my farts is peak comedy. Yes. Bedmates plural. I'm a Bard. Temporary companionship is part of the job. If you can't deal with any of that, then you're not in love."
"This is not infatuation and I can prove it," he said. "I spent five years tracking you down and coming to meet you. I risked my life coming here..."
"...and this is where you say I owe you something," she sighed. "I don't owe you anything. You chose to walk this path. I'm not your reward. I'm not a prize to be won. I'm a person who sings good. Everything else is a little bit deeper than your first impressions."
Wait. How did she know what he was going to say?
"I've heard it all before. Nobles tried to give up their realms. Men have left their wives and families. Rich men have spent their fortunes trying to woo me and it's always been the same. Sooner or later, it's You owe me like love is a fiscal exchange. It doesn't matter what you chose to do or spend. You don't actually love me, so I don't owe you anything. Not even one more second of my time." Melody returned to the schoolyard full of small Tieflings and sundry other reviled creatures, and picked up her lute.
She still had the voice of an angel, even when teaching very young children the alphabet song.
Dan spent the rest of his day listening to that voice, wondering how he had managed to give everything up for nothing.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / TsuneoMP]
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