~~~~~~~~~Third Person POV~~~~~~~~~

Her head felt fuzzy as she began to regain consciousness. Her body felt heavy, and it was a struggle to move.

There was the heat of the sun on her skin, along with a soft breeze, and the sound of trees moving gently. There was also something around her, something that kept her arms from leaving her side.

"Huh..?"

Once her eyes finally opened, she grew confused. Iris was tied up against a tree with a rope in the middle of the woods. She immediately began to struggle, fear quickly growing inside her.

What the heck was going on?!

"Ah, you're awake!" A new voice spoke.

She quickly scanned around, unable to see anyone. "W- who's there?!"

That's when a tiny creature dropped down from a tree. It was maybe only one foot tall, but still had a strangely human anatomy, with a very long beard and a very pointy hat. "We've been waiting for some time now!"

"What the- who are you?! Why am I here?!"

"Charlie's the name, and you are here for our wedding!!"

"WHAT?!?"

"You see, us gnomes of the forest have been looking for a new queen for the longest time, and you are quiet a beautiful choice, so we have chosen you as our queen!"

"Heck no, I refuse!! Let me go!!"

"No can do, you've already been chosen to marry all of us!"

"All of you?!"

As the words left her mouth, thousands of other little gnomes started surrounding the main gnome, all staring at her. It was uncomfortable, to say the least, and it only made her struggle even more.

The main gnome, Charlie, turned to the others behind him. "Alright, folks, time to get everything ready for the ceremony!"

She had struggled so much that the ropes had started to burn her skin, making her flinch as the pain emanated from her arms and up.

Tears were already forming in her eyes, and hope was quickly leaving her mind..

That is, until a certain voice knocked her away from her thoughts.

"Wow, I'm only gone for a few hours and you've already found yourself a husband?" Her eyes widened as she heard the tiny demon now sitting on her shoulder. "You sure move fast."

"Wha- where were you all this time?!"

"Oh now you want me around. Humans can be so rude."

"Bill, I need you to get me out of here, now!"

"No can do, you said I couldn't use my magic." He crossed his arms, looking away.

A growl escaped her lips, looking over as the gnomes started to gather around. "Okay, fine!! You can use magic, just help me!!"

Iris felt a chill go down her spine as the demon's eyes flickered to black for a second, a wide smile growing on his face before floating forward and turning to a normal human size. "Well, if you insist.."

He took his top hat off, tilting it upside down so the gap faced up. His eyes were as dark as the deepest night, his teeth razor sharp and a sickening smile stayed plastered on his face, a cold aura surrounding him. From the inside of his hat appeared several black tentacle-like beings, and his voice had grown so much more distorted.

"W̴͔̟̮̰̘̐͆̐̓̑̾̅͌̎͂̉̍͘ͅh̴̛͖̭̞̺̃̍͑̇̎͊̅̏͊͋́͘̕o̷̤̬̱͉̫̬̖̤̱̫͗ ̸͉̞̗̋̊̈́͌̀͆͗͊̅̔̂̉ẁ̴̢̡̼͔̫͇͙͓̼̺̥̼̈̈́͑̔͗̈́̊͛̀͆͗͐̀͜a̶̧͙̠̜̤̫̻͕͖̰̹͇̞͍͗̓̾̀̂̄͆́̌̑n̷̡̡͖̝̩͇͍͕͚͉̼̄ţ̸̛̛̖̲̦̹̮̳̬̯̥̲̀̿́s̵̪̤̝̪̪̿̽͐͆̿̆̈́̅̆͝ ̸̡̛̼͉̮͇̙̠̃̍̈́͑͛́̈̔͆̎͝͝ͅţ̴̺̫͕̞͈̙̹̻́͊̒͂̇̈͆̚͠o̸̹̔͆̈́̇̈́̆̒̈́͆̿̑͘͠͝ ̸̟͇̟̪̘̲̫̾̒̌̒̍̐̾̌̃̉͘ş̶̨̡̱͈̖̭̯̄ͅe̷̙͍͔̝͗̈́͌̽e̵̩̻̩̗͍̬͈͓̬͒̎̈́̆͌̉̓̈́͊͘͘͝ ̸̦͔̳̜͙̜͕̹̖̮̓͐́̅͊̽̋͌̾̍ạ̸͗̋̍͊̃̚ͅ ̸̢̘̼̟̗͇̩̣̩̗̃̈́͗̕m̷̬͖̣̯̖͎̜͍̐͆̓̄͜ȧ̴̛͙͇̔̀̃̆̀͝g̷̜̳̜̻͈̠̥̣͙̮̖̰̤̳͌́i̴̫͈͍͔̻̭̤̤͇̩̱̓͘c̸̹̰̋̃͆͊͂̇̈̇̋̀͌ ̷̡͕͙͓͙̤̜̑̋̈́͆̓̋̿͂̈̇͝t̷͖̜̟̱̽̈́̓̋̆̾̇̈́̈͝r̶̢̛͓̟̥̰̣̭̱̘̪̂̊̉̀̇̾̃̒̈͒͘ḯ̷̯̙͙͍̥̺͚͇̲̙̥̪̾̏̌̔͋͗́͆c̷͚̅̆̈́̌̽̎̀̚k̸̥̟͇̩̼̬͎̥̦̪̣̲̈́̏̈́͊ͅ~̴̧̨̮͈͉̺̫̞̣̲̖͊̀̈́̽͑͐̒͂͘.̴̛̩̫͔̳̯̃̀̔̀͐̾͑͌͘͝.̶̗̘̯̍ͅ?̶̢̘̩̜̬͔̝̱̝̯͔̬͈̈́̇͐͗͌̓̊̊̌͘ͅ"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She had forced her eyes closed during the whole scene, afraid of what she would see if she dared take a peek.

The scent of blood lingered around, but it wasn't anything heavy, and the screams were more of terror rather than agony.

"You can open your eyes now."

The demon's voice was normal once again, and she did as told. There were only a few drops of blood around, but no sign of the gnomes anywhere, only Bill.

He then floated to the back of the tree, easily untangling the rope that kept her bound to it. "There ya go, kid."

Rubbing her bleeding wrists, she looked around. "What.. what did you do..?"

"I just gave them a good scare." He snapped his fingers, healing her wrists before putting his hat back on. "I figured you'd yell at me more if I hurt then in any way."

In a way, he was right. Yes, they did kidnap her, but she still tried her best to keep her 'no violence' rule.

Still, she didn't dare to move, she was too afraid..

Bill sensed it in her, his cocky grin morphing into something more of worry, but he hid it well. Soon enough, he let out a sigh, gently picking her up in his arms. "C'mon, let's take you home."

Her cheeks grew a little pink at the action. "H-hey! What are you doing?"

"I just said, taking you home."

Before she could protest, they both appeared back in her bedroom, and he gently placed her on her bed. There was a vacant look in her eyes, terror still filled them, and that was to be expected.

The demon crossed his legs, floating in midair as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I always forget humans have such fragile minds. You should rest."

"... y-yeah, okay.." Having no argument in her, she leaned back on her bed, her back facing him. "... thank you.."

"Hm?"

"Thank you, Bill... for saving me..."

"... Don't mention it."

She was asleep in only a matter of minutes, leaving Bill alone in the room with his thoughts. After making sure she couldn't hear him, her floated over to the window and looked up at the sky.

A certain patch had opened up, like a tiny red dot that had been painted in the sky.

The sight of it brought a smirk to Bill's face, a chuckle escaping his lips.

"Soon.."

Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!

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