It Is You I Have Loved

Chapter 1

Note: This is a slight crossover with Helluva Boss and instead of the characters being demons they will either be human or mythical creatures told from lore around the world. Mostly in continents such as North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Once upon a time a lovely princess was born in a kingdom far far away. But she had an enchantment upon her of a fearful sort which could only be broken by love's first kiss.

Her father the king was so desperate to conceal her predicament that he gave the order to lock the princess away in a castle where she would be guarded by a terrible creature known as a moth adze. Her mother the queen was heartbroken by this decision but the king convinced her that it was in their daughter's best interest and to find comfort with the knowledge that in time many brave knights would try to free her from this dreadful prison and from the wretched spell that plagued the child.

The young princess would be sent away to the moth's keep once she reached a certain age and she would wait in the highest room of the tallest tower for her true love and true love's first kiss.

"Mother what's true love's first kiss?" A curious voice asked which interrupted the story.

In a small house located somewhere in a forest, a female wendigo called Marie was ready a bedtime story to her seven year old son Alastor.

"True love's first kiss is when you kiss your true love for the first time." Marie told the wendigo boy. "It's a very powerful thing you know. Probably the most powerful thing in the world."

"How can a kiss be powerful? That's sounds like wacky nonsense."

"You'll understand when you get older dear."

"I don't think so." He replied doubtfully.  "But anyway, what happened to the princess?"

"Well the story says that when she's old enough she'll be locked in a tower and wait for her true love to come rescue her."

"Why?"

"Because he's the only one who can break the enchantment."

"What enchantment?"

"I don't know. It doesn't say."

"Who's her true love?"

"According to the book, a handsome prince."

"Typical." He said rolling his eyes.

"What is?"

"That the hero is a prince. Why is it that the hero in these stories are always a prince? why is it never a wendigo like us?"

"Well Alastor it's because from the human's view point we can never be the heroes. To them we can only be the monsters that the heroes slay."

"Why?"

"It's complicated. For one thing we're not what most people would call classically beautiful."

"You mean they think we're ugly?"

"Sort of. But I think the main reason they're not fond of us is because of something our kind did years ago. Something that's very terrible and not easy to forget."

"What did we do?"

"Well technically we didn't do it. But our ancestors did."

"What did they do?"

"I'll tell you when you're mature enough to handle it. They did a very awful thing Alastor and because of that other creatures especially humans can't help but be afraid of us. Even hates us."

"But we didn't do anything. I think. Did we?"

"No. No we've never done anyone any harm like they've done."

"So why hates us if we didn't do anything? I mean that sounds kind of stupid don't you think?"

"Again it's very complicated." She sighed. "We'll talk about it some other time. For now just get some sleep."

"Alright Mother."

She pulled the covers of his bed over him and kissed his forehead.

"Goodnight Alastor. I love you."

"I love you too Mother."

What Marie was talking about was the fact that in the beginning wendigos were a dangerous species that had been known to hunt and devour human flesh. But much like their choice of prey, the wendigos evolved with the passage of time and learned to be more civilized. Very few still lived on a cannibalistic diet yet unfortunately they were still considered a subject of fear and/or disgust by others. They were always being targeted by angry and scared villagers who wanted to wipe out their entire species.

Poor Marie's husband had sacrificed himself to hold off an angry mob that went after them so she could escape with Alastor when he was a baby. She had fled to some place private in the forest that was full of resources such as fresh water, fertile soil, and plenty of animals to hunt. She thought that it would be the perfect place to raise her son without fear of being persecuted. she loved and cared for him all by herself and did her best to shield him from the world's cruelties.

But try as she might, no mother could shield her child from the cruelty of life forever and little Alastor saw it first hand a month later when they were once again targeted by a mob. They had the two of them trapped in their house with torches that they were going to use to burn it down.

"Monsters!" They shouted.

"Demons!"

"Cannibals!"

"You think we'll let the likes of you continue to butcher us and our children!"

"Burn them! Burn them and send them back to hell where they belong!"

"Please!" Marie had pleaded with them. "Please don't do this! Neither me nor my son have ever consumed human flesh! We mean you no harm! We just want to be left alone!"

But her desperate pleas were to be ignored by the ignorant fools. They barred all the doors and sealed the windows from the outside. Marie tried to break down the doors and the windows but she just wasn't strong enough. The only escape left was a hole in the broom closet wall that the villagers had forgotten about. It was much too small for Marie to fit into but Alastor could squeeze his way through.

"Alastor see if you can get through this hole." She told her son.

"What about you?" He asked her.

"I'll be right behind you." She lied. "Now go."

Alastor got on his hands and knees, crawling through the hole. It took some squeezing and squirming, and his mother had to give him a few pushes but he eventually made it out.

"I made it!" He said relieved. "Okay Mother now you go!"

But she could only get on her knees and give him a sad look from the other side of the hole.

"What's the matter? Why aren't you following me?"

"I can't. I'm too big." She answered tearfully. "Alastor you need to run! Run as far away from here as possible!"

"But I can't leave you."

"You have to! It's your only chance! Once you get far enough try to find some secluded place in the woods, build a home there, and hide. Stay in the dark! Don't go near humans! They'll only try to harm you!"

"But Mother-"

"I love you Alastor and no matter how much people try to hurt you, don't ever let anyone take away your smile." She blew him a parting kiss. "Now go! Run! Hurry! Before they realized that you've escaped!"

With tears in his eyes Alastor reluctantly ran away, leaving his beloved mother to burn to death in their home. Once he ran far out of sight from the mob he broke down and began to cry. He cried and cried. It was tragic what had happened to him that night and what was even more tragic was this only marked the beginning of Alastor's miserable new life.