#malyce

Though Vual had grabbed Malyce by his very muscle fibers and puppeteered him, every nerve in his body was still his own. The kicks and swings and slices still made contact with him, and set his body on fire. This was Hell, and this was his penance. His mind writhed as he struggled to break free from his prison. Vual had his soul, and now he can never be free. 

Was this the price of power? Of fame? Something so pathetic... All Malyce wanted, all Marion wanted, was someone to see him and truly understand him. He thought for a long time that fame was the answer to his loneliness. If millions of people adored him, then that means at least one person out there in the sea of souls loved him. Truly loved him. 

But fame wasn't love. It wasn't even close. He never felt so happy he could run laps around a camp because of fans. He never cried because seeing fans fall in love and find happiness. Adoring viewers never warmed his heart and made him feel like he was home. That was love, and even if he never sees them again, Marion Faustino loved the counselors of Camp Blue Lake. Each and every one of them. 

[♫♫♫]

With every attack to his body, Malyce's soul grew stronger. The twitch of a fingertip was the start, but then he could feel his body react to his own mind. His own thoughts became his own actions, and eventually, his voice became his own again. 

"We're fucking done here, you conniving, cruel, manipulative, and shallow son of a BITCH!" 

Malyce cries out, reaching clawed hands into his inky black face. He grabs hold of something, and begins to wrestle it from him. 

"I love everyone here, including Abbie! Fucking sue me!" 

Vual grunts in frustration at the rebellion, sending jabbing pain all throughout his body. Not only physical, but psychological. Years of rejection, pain, abuse, and neglect all relive themselves in the matter of seconds as Malyce screams in pain. 

"My body is not yours to control! My soul is not yours to own! No one here is ever going with you! When I leave this place..." 

The world seemed to distort around Malyce as his fingers dig deep into his own face, improbably so. He finds the one he once called master. The Duke that called him a genius, and a prodigy. For a long time, Vual was one of the few who made Malyce feel like his hard work paid off. Now he realizes it was all a Demon's trick. But Malyce won't be so easily tricked anymore. A gloved hand leaves Malyce's body, pulling the black ink with it. 

"... I'm taking everyone with me!" 

Malyce slams down the figure to the ground, howling in pain from severing his entire being from the demon. The ink begins to melt away as the true form takes shape.

"And that includes Abbie, you fuck!" 

The demon duke stands from where he had been ejected, and you’re able to see your true enemy for the first time. A great, towering figure with the body of a man but the head of a camel stands before you all as he brushes the dirt off of his suit. His expression is that of immense displeasure, and a sneer grows on his face. If you didn’t know better, you would even say that there might be…fear?

“Traitorous thing! I give you all you have ever longed for, and you treat me this way!? You would leave Abigail for the likes of these humans?!”

A scoff.

“Very well, then, slithering, treacherous thing. You shall meet your end in the same manner that the other ilk will.”

The man(?) turns to face you all, fury etched cleanly on his face. Like a loyal dog, Eve rushes to his side, crouching down low and baring her teeth as her wings flare out behind her. His hand raises and points towards you, counselors. Though you have fought hard, it appears this may be the end.

[♫♫♫]

Watching the verdict roll in made Malyce turn his head downwards. The idea that everyone decided to leave was the right idea, but he can’t help but feel pain for Abbie. All she’s ever believed was that she was saving lonely souls. People who needed help, companionship, and love could finally be loved by her. 

To reject Eden is to reject Abbie’s love, and he knows it breaks her heart. He stands up from the swinging bench, following her as she walks closer to the others. His eyes were wide with worry, and sympathy to his friends. He wants them to leave more than anyone else here, but he also doesn’t want Abbie to be in pain. 

It wasn’t until Vual entered the scene and crept his saccharine words into her ears that he felt true fear. He spoke to Abbie in a way not unfamiliar to Malyce, himself. When he was faced with doubts and fears, Abbie reassured him of the “truth”, and comforted him. He saw it from an outsider’s perspective, blind to how convincing Vual’s words are to his friend. How can he stop this? How does he stop this..? 

“ABBIE, STOP!" 

Her body shifts and changes, and it’s clear to Malyce that she’s being manipulated by the demon that supposedly "loves” her. His body fills with fire as he watches her fall to Vual’s temptation. Her eyes don’t show even a shred of her humanity any longer. How dare the demon that claims to love her convince her to do something so horrible? To kill her own friends? People who love her? His fear is stamped out like a finished cigarette as he moves to stand before Vual. 

“How… DARE you! How dare you stand there and order your thrall to hurt these innocent people!”

Though not all of them are as innocent as one would believe, Malyce has faith otherwise. His eyes glowed green as he stared up at the demon only months before he was shaking the hand of eagerly. His voice was rough with pain, but he held himself together. 

“I am tired of hurting people! I am done with allowing this game to continue! These people fought long and hard to stand against you, and I should’ve followed their example a long ass time ago!”

A golden clawed finger jerks up to point at Vual, Malyce’s tears becoming steam as the heat in his heart radiates off of him. 

“I never owned these lives! They were never mine to take, and they aren’t yours, either! Tell Abbie to stand down! We are going to find another solution. I’m no longer going to play along. I don’t want our contract, and I’m going to do everything to break it. I will do everything in my power to help Niko and Max set these souls free. They deserve their freedom, and you deserve nothing!" 

The hungering one no longer desires the everything he once promised himself he deserved. He lowers his hand, eyes darting to the others, then to Abbie’s new horrific form. 

"Abbie! Abbie, snap out of it… We don’t have to fight anyone. No one has to die here, please! Please, we can’t be monsters…" 

Back to the others.

"Mercy, please! We don’t have to fucking fight! I’m going to figure something out!”

His heart trembled with uncertainty as he struggled to find a way to end this without Abbie hurting anyone, and no one hurting her in return.  

As the questions die down and the town square is left quiet save for the gentle humming of the thrall in the tree, Abbie smiles.

“All done? Yippee!! Well, I guess we can wrap that up, then, huh? Yaaaaayyy!! I hope you all had fun in the last trial! So, so sad that it’s all over now! Maybe you guys’ll have some sort of murder mystery game later on down the line to relive the fun times, ehehe! Buuuut that’s all for now. I’ll be honest, I didn’t reaaaaaally think too hard about what happens now…”

She trails off with a pout on her lips, puffing out her cheeks as she contemplates a fitting end to the final round of this game that she, Malyce, and Vual have put together for you all. There’s no point in voting for a culprit or anything like that…

Oh!

“I know!”

Clapping her hands together, she lets out an excited squeal as the ground in the center of the square begins to melt into a puddle of goo that slowly rises into a dish-ish shape. A small roof is formed over it, and you’re left with…a wishing well.

“It would be sad to not end everything off the way it’s always wrapped up, right? So, so, so!!! Even though I’m soooo sure of your answers, we can do this! Just write down on a piece of paper ‘stay’ or ‘leave’! Voting stay means you all get to be with me and Mal in Eden for forever! Yippee!! Yay!! Yahoo!! I’ll even let Max and Niko stay, too! ‘Cuz it wouldn’t be fun without everyone, right? 

Voting to leave meanssssss, uhhh, you leave. You go out into the big, yucky, nasty, mean world that hasn’t even done anything except crush you and your spirits for however many years you’ve been alive. You’ll suffer for the rest of your lives out there. You all know that. So, I know you’ll all make the right decisions.”

Malyce had to double take at Abbie’s offer. ‘Get to be with me and Mal’ sounded so foreign to him. Was he even going to be allowed in her Eden? Did he even want to be? He furrowed his brows, looking disappointed up at her. 

“Abbie… You can’t just ask people that. We know what they’re going to say. They get to ask us anything. I think that’s only fair.”

He looks around the town square, deflating. With a hand, droplets of black inky goo pour upwards through the town squares bricks, shifting into a set of stairs for Abbie to descend when she’s ready to leave her perch. His other hand stays extended for her to grasp.

“… I don’t think you’re going to enjoy the answer you get, Abbie." 

But even though she laughed and played like nothing bothered her, Malyce knew she was hurting, deep down. He should humor her, as their worlds were about to be set aflame once again.

Heading down the stairs he made for her, she takes his hand in her own once she reaches the bottom, swinging it back and forth as the steps melt and reform into a swing. It attaches itself to the lowest bough of the tree, and she tugs him along to sit next to her. Once seated, she curls next to him and rests her head on his shoulder, tugging him close with her wing.

Abbie felt unlike herself. Whatever Vual does to make her happy breaks Malyce's heart. He hears the others' words echo throughout the town square softer and kinder, breaking his heart further. This isn't about him, though, it's about Abbie. He reaches out again, stepping closer to the tree, begging in his mind for her to just look at him. To see what he's been aching over.

Their talks about morality. Malyce questioning whether sacrifice was worth it.

Malyce's tears over failing to stop the killing game. Time and time again.

Abbie would comfort him every time, even though his words were blasphemous according to Vual.

His head turns to Kaede when he hears him speak, and his eyes fill with his own tears. How could a man so troubled be so kind..? He was forced to kill because of Malyce, and yet, he found a strength incomparable to any sort of magic a demon or warlock could wield. And his words about how the others shaped him... That's exactly how he felt. He opens his mouth to respond, but remembers those words were for Abbie, and Abbie alone, and he shuts his mouth again.

He turns back to the tree, digging golden claws into the bark. He closes his eyes and relives the visions Abbie granted them. Such a saddening life... Part of him wonders if he would've found the demon in a different way, had not for his misguided ambition.

"Abbie."

His voice was soft, and quiet. Magic traces his hand as he reaches up for her, now closer. A warmth that he wants to give his friend. He may be unforgivable in his eyes, but Abbie isn't.

"About Vual... You never did tell me much about your relationship... What is he to you? And you to him? What does he provide?"

He hesitates for a moment, his eyes pleading up at her.

Malyce couldn't stop himself from cowering, far away from everyone. His heart had shattered. All he wanted was to redeem himself. To fight back against Vual and save them, but he knew what he was destined to be. He knew what his life meant. He sobbed silently to himself as his world crashed around him again as they began to look for Abbie.

He knew how this game was played, and he knew they'd find her. All he can hope is that they're kinder to her. He was the monster that deserved to die. He awaited their knives to plunge into his back. Would Warrick denounce their friendship next? Would Eri realize the truth and turn her back on him? His heartbreak couldn't push him to help with the trial, and maybe part of him felt the guilt become too much. He couldn't help them find Abbie. He couldn't betray her again.

He sees the red lights illuminate the town square and finally pushes himself up to his feet, eyes wide with fear. There she is, in a beautiful yet horrific form he's seen before. She showed it to him when he first feared losing his humanity. What was so bad about demons? Demons are evil... aren't they?

Do you think she's evil, Malyce?

♪♪♪

Images pass in his mind, like watercolor spilling on a canvas. An art crafted from patience and care, something Malyce came into this without. He remembers seeing her emerge from darkness, soft smile on her sunkissed face. She spoke in such a whimsical way; Malyce, who was trying too hard to be strong and tough found it embarrassing. Weren't demon thralls supposed to be badass and dark? Why did she hug him so eagerly? Why was her love given to him so readily, when he knew he didn't deserve it?

Abbie's mind always swam with beautiful images. The world was a cold and dark place, but that's why she embraced her own world. She could make anything, appease anyone, she gave everything to Malyce's contract. Why did she call him her best friend? They barely got along!

That wasn't the case for long. She snuck into his heart, with hugs perfectly warm, and words so encouraging... Malyce wanted to love himself, and Abbie reassured him she'd love him until he found enough love for himself, and for eternity after. He never thought he deserved fame, or fortune, or power, but her words gave him reassurance. He would get what he deserves, all they have to do is finish this. All they have to do is push through, and Malyce's gentle heart can rest. She on the other hand, was familiar with loss. She had faced it time and time again, and yet, she still opened her arms to loving him.

As Malyce's will to push forward withered away, Abbie only came closer. She had that way, of worming into you and finding a snug little place to whisper kindness into your heart. But she was hurting, too. She told him not to get attached, and she too had fallen for them. The only difference was she is kinder. She's softer, and she's far more deserving of the world than Malyce is. The images in his mind continue to pass through, getting lower and lower in saturation, muddled by the red lights that halo around Abbie's crown before him.

They danced, and sang, and spoke about worlds so far different. They were always so different, and yet so similar. Malyce lived a life overshadowed by people he thought loved him, and she lost all she loved to darkness and flames. He burned bridges and she did all she could to avoid a spark that could ignite everything she held so closely onto. All she had was loving. She was oh so loving. Even when Malyce felt Max was going to kill him in a horrible display of violence, she shushed his fears, and pulled him close.

Wings he became familiar with wrapped around him as he sobbed openly. He didn't want to die, no matter how many times he told himself he should. He didn't want to be a monster. He wanted to be human. Flawed, but willing to risk everything to stop it. And even as he spoke such traitorous words, Abbie's arms never faltered.

Malyce rose to his feet, tears still streaming down his face, pain evident in his expression. She laughed and played and welcomed everyone to her paradise, but this wasn't the Abbie he knew. This wasn't the woman he had come to love like a sister he should've had. He staggers closer, reaching up towards her as if he could reach her across the void that had been placed between them.

"Abbie... Abbie please stop playing, we need to be serious..."

Fingers curled as he continued to sob.

"We don't have to do this, anymore..."

He doesn't know what's going on. He doesn't know why she grins so confidently in the faces of her friends. This isn't the Abbie he loves.

Malyce watches the ground, his heart heavy. He feels himself sinking into the ground, his heart breaking. How else was he going to make this up to the people he’s hurt? He doesn’t want to be hunted for sport… He doesn’t want to be murdered! He doesn’t want to suffer, even if he knows it’s what he deserves. Nora speaks up again, and he hangs his head. He’s losing his energy, but he wants to answer however he can.

“What else is even left to try? How do we fix this?”

“I… I want to hope that once all the cards are on the table, which I mean everyone has been revealed, we can work together to end this. Once and for all. Without being restricted by the rules of the killing game, I hope that… maybe we can break down the barriers that contain you all here. We can get everyone back home. Maybe… Niko, my colleague, Max and I can figure this out. Find a loophole I couldn’t maneuver alone.”

He felt a spark of hope at the idea. Maybe it could happen, who knows? There’s another demon here and an ancient earth being! Speaking of ancient earth beings, Max speaks up. His heart rate rockets again as his anxiety bleeds from his chest. When he reassures Malyce that he’s human, he feels that anxiety melt away, only to be replaced by a different anxiety. He won’t hurt him, but that also means he won’t stop the others. He nods shakily before lowering his gaze once again.

“Thank you, Max… For not tearing me limb from limb… I just want a chance to make things right before I die… Please. I am in no position to ask for this, I know…”

His soul shatters when he hears Yua speak. He knew it was coming. He knew it was always going to happen, but that doesn’t make it hurt less.

“I can’t date a big, murder guy. Who’s killed a bunch of people.”

“Yua, I’m sorry… I…”

Everything breaks his heart all over again as Yua continues. He can't even find his footing as he loses the last strand of hope he had. 

“Why didn’t you just do this to your siblings?”

“... I wanted them to see me finally be successful… They’ve hurt me, emotionally, physically, mentally. They’ve tortured me my whole life! I… I wanted them to see me finally do something worthwhile.”

Everything topples over as he continues to sob.

“Can we like… pull them out of the faucet?”

“I… I don’t know… I want to. I want to so badly! I don’t want them to stay dead!! I don’t want them to be dead! I’m so sorry!”

Malyce gets out of his chair and starts circling around it, hyperventilating.

“You have to personally escort me out of here.”

“Okay. Okay, I will, whatever you want… I didn’t do this stupid costume shit on purpose! I didn’t want a– a… Cringe ass reveal! I didn’t want dramatics! I don’t want any of this!”

He looks at Yua, shoulders shaking from his sobs.

“I wanted to say something… But I couldn’t… You don’t know how badly I want you all to go home.”

Saya makes a good point. A really good point, actually. Would executing him in some gruesome fashion free them from this place..? He thinks over every word. She deserves the best answer he can provide.

"So would killing you accomplish anything? Would it get us out of this situation?”

"I... don't think so... if I'm not around, my colleague would continue things in my stead, I'm sure... And then Vual, who knows? Killing me would just make you feel better."

He looks up at her with tired eyes.

"I want to do anything I can. Everything I can to try and atone for what I've done... if that means you killing me... I'll do it. I can't say how sorry I am otherwise."

Part of him felt like he deserved it, too. Well, most of him did. That's why when Eri approaches him, he winces, afraid of a punch. To get kicked around like she did when they first met. Back then, he thought he was a bad person who deserved to get hurt. The only difference is he knows he is, now. But the punch never comes. The venom doesn't spill, and he's left with two slaps on the back of his head. He looks up at her, tears filling his eyes again. He couldn't even face this with dignity, but how can he?

"It wasn't one movie... It was a lifetime of success... But I don't want that anymore. I'd give it up if I had to... And face it, Eri... even if I get out of here alive by some miracle... life would just be me looking over my shoulder for anyone who wants to rightfully murder me. I'm already dead inside, my body's just waiting to catch up."

He winces as he wipes his eyes with the back of his glove, scratching at himself with the obnoxious gemstone on the back. Eri's words always rang so true to him, but she was wasting energy.

"But even if you’re a little freak, like hell you’re gonna waste all the time and energy we put into being your friend by just giving up, got it?"

"How can you say these things...? I betrayed you. I lied to you. It doesn't matter how much I thought I could change! It doesn't matter if I had some epiphany, o-or came to love my friends, or finally felt like people saw me, Eri, it doesn't matter! What I did in the past-- who I am and always will be, already sealed my fate! People like me don't get happy endings! We don't get to change our fates, and we don't get redemption! We don't deserve it!"

He tries glaring up at her with teary eyes and quivering lips.

"If you live to see tomorrow, what will you do?"

"... I don't like being evil. I don't like... being selfish, a-and mean... I don't want to be the person I used to be. I just want to be kind. I want to be a good person, someone who deserves to have people who care about me, and want me around. Good people are drawn to good people... I just want to be that."

He knows how deep the sinkhole of depression is. Laying in bed for days, little food, little water. Barely pushing yourself up to do basic tasks. He knows if he survives this that he'll never get out of that bed again, but maybe Eri deserves a better answer.

"I just want to be with you guys."

That last sentence is barely above a whisper, probably only heard by those standing closest to him. It's an affront to them to even suggest he deserves to be in their presence, but he can't help it. He loves them so much. People who made him feel loved, understood, and enjoyed. They sang songs with him, and cooked meals. Played and trained and fought and made up. Countless times he was accepted for being a messy being because he was trying to change. How dare he think he ever deserved that.

Niko speaks, and he feels selfish all over again. How does he even defend himself when this is how he's painted? His shoulders tremble, and he attempts to look at Niko, but can't bring himself to look him in the eyes.

"So, when did you start feeling bad, huh?"

"I had spent so long pretending to be Malyce, the Dark One... Malyce can do anything because he doesn't care. It's... not like I just started caring because I befriended people... But... they changed me. I realized that I didn't have to force myself to be a monster. I could be myself. Or, what I thought was myself. I know it seems shallow, and stupid, but... I really never had the heart to kill people. Being eager about the artistry of it all felt easier to handle... I realized too late that I never wanted it."

"So what are you supposed to be right now, exactly? Thralls are fucked-up little demons, but you aren’t a thrall yet, so are you 100% human?"

"I... I think I'm human. I want to be human. I-I don't want to be a thrall! I don't want wings and horns, or immortality! When I arranged everything with Vual, he was very pleased with me... I felt like someone finally appreciated me. He called me intelligent, creative... a prodigy. Hungering thing, son of man, or something like that. The more he complimented me, the more I fed into what he wanted. I wanted him to be proud of me. In the contract, when this was completed, I was to become his thrall..."

He shakes his head.

"I don't want it. Ever. I... just want to be human, if I still count as one."

Malyce continued to feel that sinking feeling, especially as others began to speak of his own rebellion. A shoddy, poorly thought out rebellion. How can you tug on your chains when you put them on, yourself? How selfish is he? To want his cake and eat it too, now that he found what he had craved for here in the bloodbath of his own design. Jacky-Bobby speaks up, and Malyce looks into his eyes, sure that the moment he's given a chance... Malyce's life will be over. He is a witch to him, after all.

At least he can answer what he can until then.

"You can’t renounce your gift and walk away relatively unscathed, can you? Do you have any ideas for what might happen to you, in the wake of this?"

"I.... I don't know."

Malyce hesitates.

"It's not like there was some clause about me not wanting to be his thrall for eternity... I don't know what's going to happen when this is over. But... all I know is that whatever happens, I deserve it."

Then Jacky-Bobby brings up another point that breaks Malyce's heart to just think about. Why did he have to ask that?

"You said to Yua that this will probably be the last time you see each other. Elaborate on that."

"I... I mean... I thought that was obvious."

His soul shatters as his shoulders sag, thinking what he's been thinking about this entire time. His voice trembles as he waves his clawed hands back and forth around the circle.

"You're going to kill me. Whether it's... Max tearing me to shreds like he promised, or you with some... crossbow, o-or Kyousuke might just take me behind the bakery and end it there!"

He puts a hand to his eyes to stop his tears as he mumbles.

"I know this is my end, no matter how anyone parses it... And I can't do anything to change that."

At least Max thinks there was some sort of redemption in Malyce. He can cling to that question and answer it however he can.

"What exactly did you try to do? What else did you offer him?”

"I was given an audience with Vual... I told him that I didn't want to do this anymore. I never had the heart for it. He told me that's not how contracts work, so I tried giving him... alternatives. I-I tried saying that.. if I don't leave the camp, or die, maybe that would count as me never getting my end of the bargain! He didn't accept that. I tried offering the souls of my siblings in exchange! Hell, I tried offering Hollywood executives in exchange!! He told me they were going to Hell, anyway. Their souls were not equal. I tried finding loopholes in the contract, o-or trading it with someone more deserving than any of you... but he didn't approve. I'm sorry."

He looks back up at Kyousuke, furrowing his brows with a heavy sigh.

"How d'you even talk to your Demon Dad, anyway?"

"He and I.. erm.... He......."

Malyce doesn't remember much physically what happens. He knows he always finishes their conversations on the floor. He rubs his forehead as he thinks it over.