The Deal Maker

The Accidental Meeting

As Nimue sat in their room reading a book about summoning demons. They hummed softly to the gothic music playing in the background, turning the page they wince as they accidentally cut their finger on the page.

"Damn it." they mutter bringing the finger to their lips, sticking the slightly bloody finger into their mouth. As they continue to read, they come across a poem under a strange symbol that read

'A drop of blood upon a symbol,

Calls him forth, quick and nimble,

It summons forth the demon's might,

From infernal depths he shall arise,

With flaming eyes and twisted guise,

With just a drop, you make your pact,

And face the consequences of your dark act.'

Nimue stared at it a moment before turning their attention to their still bloody finger. Shrugging they take their finger and places it in the middle of the symbol, remove it and wait.

When nothing happens, they rolls their eyes at their stupidity and watches the blood dry before closing the book and heading to the kitchen to make dinner.

After shutting the door the book starts to glow and flies open to the page with the symbol, before falling to the floor. Soon a shadow rises from the book and forming into a tall man in red with a painful looking neverending smile.

He looks around, brows furrowing he looks down to the book picking it up and examined the dried blood. He scans the room again before fading into the shadows and finding the one who summoned him in the kitchen and observes them for a moment in confusion.

As they prep dinner, their feels as though they're being watched. Looking around casually and walks over to their speaker to turn on some music. Turning back they see the book they were reading earlier on the counter and freeze, their eyes narrow. Slowly walking towards the book they reaches it, opening it to the page they smeared the blood on.

Confused, they look around again more carefully, looking for something but not knowing what. The demon continues to observe them as they mutter to themself, trying to calm down and convince themselves it isn't real.

He finally decides to show himself and steps out of the shadow slowly. They turn to him staring at him before turning away and speaking.

"Well I finally lost it. Never really had all of it but there's no doubt I've lost my mind." they cackle wildly returning to the food one the stove. The demon c***s his head to the side before speaking.

"I assure you, you haven't lost your mind, dear." he says slowly. They turn around and raise an eyebrow.

"Yeah right, don't even try it mister." they sass, turning back around to the food ignoring him. He pauses for a moment before speaking again.

"I assure you, I'm quite real. The name's Alastor, darling, pleasure to be meeting you, and you are?" he introduces eccentricly bowing down and kissing the back of their hand. They stare for a moment before shrugging and rolling with it.

"Nimue, they/them, and the pleasure is all mine" They match his energy, bowing back eccentricly. His brow furrows slightly before his smile widens as they raise from their slight bow and turn back to the the food dumping a bunch of spices into the pot, stirring it in.

"So my dear what is it that you wish for?" Alastor asks leaning over their shoulder to look at the food in the pot. They move away from him slightly and turns to look at him puzzled.

"What do you mean by that?" They question suspiciously, narrowing their eyes at him. He stands straight and twirls his microphone staff.

"Well my dear you summoned a demon to make a deal with, and here I am." he bows deeply, his sinister grin widening. Nimue stands there puzzled, before bursting out laughing and turning back to the food

"Oh f*****g hell, I didn't know I could be so creative yet so cliché as the same time." They say to no one in particular, wiping fake tears from their eyes. Alastor's brow furrow slightly at the outburst, not used to this reaction.

"You still believe this is a figment of your imagination." He askes tilting his head to the side.

"If you mean a hallucination from a lost, deranged mind? Then yes, yes I do." They explain in a matter of fact tone, chuckling to themselves. Alastor chuckes as well before turning back to the food.

"What are you making?" he inquired tilting his head at the familiar smell.

"Gumbo. It's my mama's secret recipe, it should be done in about an hour do you want some?" they wondered aloud, stiring in the final ingredients and turning the heat down so it can simmer.

"Well I can't say no to that! Why I haven't had gumbo since I died!" he exclaims in excitement, following them into the next room. They offer him a seat and he takes it sitting elegantly in the offered seat.

"So how does this work?" They ask , sitting upside-down across I'm the arm chair across from Alastor. He tilts his head furrowing his brows in confusion.

"How does what work, dear?" he questions, his head still tilted in confusion.

"This whole "lets make a deal" s**t. How does this work?" they clarify tilting their head as well.

"Well I give you something and you give me something in return like your- may I ask why you're sitting like that?" he asks abruptly causing them to cackle loudly.

"Because why not!" they exclaim with unhinged glee, kicking their feet in the air, reminding Alastor of a excited child.

"I have another question?" Alastor asks curious about this young person.

"Hit me" they state bluntly waiting for his question.

"Why on earth would I hit you?" He asks, slightly offended. Nimue laughs again.

"No no! It's a figure of speech it means ask the question." They laugh some more and Alastor nods interested

"What... Are you a man... or a lady?" he asks cautiously. There is a long silence and then Nimue starts laughing hysterically, sitting up right before falling on the floor. Alastor peers down at the laughing figure finding their laugh slightly contagious. After a few minutes they finally calm down and answer.

"Neither, but if I was a girl I would not be a lady. I'm non-binary, meaning I don't identify with the binary of 'male or female' it makes me uncomfortable." They explain happily, still laying on the floor.

"That's possible?" Alastor asks confused as he crosses his legs, watch Nimue curiously as they continue to lay on the floor limply.

"Well duh, I mean there are like, thousands of people who don't want me to exist, but yeah." Nimue says as they lay out on the floor, stretching like a cat, their crop top riding up on their stomach slightly. "So, I can ask for anything and you can give it to me?" They ask lightly as they look up at him, their unhinged behavior unlike anything Alastor has seen in all his years alive and dead.

"Well yes, of course you would have to give me something in return, like your soul." He explains, trying to stay on task instead of getting distracted by this interesting individual.

"Ah, sorry man, I sold my soul when I was a kid- no wait, I got it back... didn't I? Yeah, yeah I did nevermind." They laugh and stand up suddenly, walking into the kitchen to stir the gumbo before coming back with a energy drink and chugging half of it as the collapse sideways on their armchair. Alastor stares at them bewildered for a long moment before shaking his head slightly.

"Well then, what is it you desire, my dear?" He asks lowly, his smile taking a twisted edge as he watches Nimue, his gaze sharp and intense. Nimue goes quiet for a while, staring at nothing for a long moment until they speak.

"Power. Like a magic kind of thing. Maybe as powerful as you? I want to be able to make every terrible person in this world who has hurt or taken advantage of others weaker then them pay with their lives in the most painful, horrific way possible." Nimue murmurs darkly, any hint of the playful persona they had a moment ago gone and replaced by a being filled with rage and an urge for vengeance.

Alastor's brows rise in suprise at the sudden change in demeanor before his sinister smile widens to the point where it looks painful.

"That can be arranged, my dear. Your soul for power equal to my own. Although I must warn you you will not be quite as powerful as I am now. The more you kill, the stronger you'll get, you can also make deals for others souls to get stronger. We can always go into more details later. So... do we have a deal." Alastor explains simply, standing up and holding his hand out for Nimue to shake. Nimue stares at his hand for a long moment, debating with themselves internally before shrugging and standing aswell.

"f**k it, it's a deal." They say and shake his hand firmly, a rush of green light swirling around them both as they seal the deal.

"Wonderful darling! Now, if you need anything just call my name and I'll be here as soon as possible." He says sweetly, releasing Nimue's hand and sitting back down.

"Cool, I'll keep that in mind." They say as they leave the room to check on the gumbo again. Alastor watches the enigmatic individual leave the room, his mind racing with thoughts of how entertaining it will be to watch them. He sits back in his chair pleased by his new entertainment.