Lemoncello (REQUEST)

The Duality of Nature

Requested by: @sscreamer7

The duality of nature is reflected in the duality of experience and innocence. Innocence in the dewy leaves as morning sunlight hits after a night of cold misery. Experience is reflected in the despair of a mother bird as a hawk rips her chicks from their nest. Like the hawk, the spider observes these actions with impassion. For one can only identify and appreciate the duality of nature if they have emotions themselves. For the spider, nature is amoral, imperfect and unimportant, so too is it for the hawk. Because the predator concerns itself not with decadent concepts like beauty or gore. They do not feel sadism or masochism. But he does feel boredom.

For decades, he's been stuck on the same web, in the same forest in a natural world he cannot appreciate. He thought setting up beside a manor house would lead all the rich fucks here to make their wishes, but they have no reason to come to the forest. Even if they did, they don't have anything to wish for. They get anything they want, including young boys.

Young boys who create rumours.

They talk of fairies and magic and wishes. And sooner or later, one of them will fall into his web searching for a miracle.

*

The boy has made a strange request. A request the demon is unable to fulfil. He requested that the demon become his butler and follow his every order to help him find the one who killed his brother. However, a demon cannot only follow the spoken desire but the unspoken desire in the heart of their contractors. For this human, their wish is-

Love me.

Things have changed since the last time the demon left this forest, which was several thousand years ago if he estimates correctly. The buildings are bigger. The clothes come in a multitude of colours. The language is different, although easily improvised, but the biggest difference comes in the social codes.

For one thing, he is no longer a servant. He is a 'butler' which is somehow different from a servant - a butler dresses like a rich man while serving a richer man who dresses less smartly and more colourfully. Social gatherings have become horrifically formal affairs and after five minutes, the demon who's Master infuriatingly have the name 'Claude', has been angered to the point of losing his self-control.

"Apologies Master, may I be excused from the party?" Claude bows before the child, who sits at the table surrounded by Old-money rivals, Lords and possible customers of his land or resources.

Alois glares up at him, a look that promises untold pain to the demons strained human form. His human form is frustratingly weak to pain. Claude fears this request will be denied. "Very well, Claude. But return post-haste!"

Claude retreats to his room upstairs, closing his eyes, relieved by the darkness. If he stayed down there for one more second, well... he'd have had a hell of a time getting the stains out of that rug.

He's smelled a demon all day. Not close, a few miles away at least, and on the move - travelling. The demon seems to be with a human, their own contract holder. Claude makes the executive decision to leave the party and pursue the demon for his master's safety. He'll be punished, but then forgiven. He always gets forgiven.

Using his top speed, it takes mere seconds for him to catch up with the other demon. The stench emanates from a coach trundling down the country road. Claude becomes the spider once again and clambers up the side of the coach, creeping into the window. Aghast, the demon inside the coach is decorated as a butler as well! A coincidence that unnerves the spider. What unnerves him further is the other's glowing red eyes fixated upon him.

"We have an intruder in our coach, Master," the demon informs the child sitting opposite his human form. "Shall I dispose of him?"

"Find out what he wants first," the child replies, bored as he flicks through a London-based newspaper.

"Very well, Master," he turns to the carriage that appears empty to human eyes. Please reveal yourself, if you would,"

At the end of the carriage, the spider manifests into Claude. Both the child and demon butler were taken aback for a moment, not having expected to see another demon reduced to such a degrading form.

"My good sir, my name is Claude Faustus," He places a hand on his heart and bows. Sincerely, but there's a hint of rage behind his words. "I am the butler to the Trancy house,"

"Trancy," The child questions, remembering something in his most recent letter from the Queen: the dog and the spider.

"I haven't heard of you. You can't be that important,"

"I believe they're an old-money family, Master," Sebastian explains with only a tinge of arrogance.

Claude sifts. Something spreads across is skin, a sense of trepidation. His golden eyes flash red, making the child flinch, almost as if he didn't believe Claude was a demon until now.

"Apologies, my Master is calling," his eyes meet Sebastian's, which remain their deep brown, just a subtle hint of red shining through. "I invite you back to the manor house. Master will be fascinated by you both,"

With that, the spider scuttles out the window, disappearing into the wind.

"Well, Master?" Sebastian crosses his legs elegantly once again.

Through gritted teeth, the child orders his driver. "Change of plans. Turn around. We set a coarse for Trancy manor,"