Chapter Text
The kingdom of Delka was not the best place to be. Granted, it was not the worst either, and as its princess, you actually had it better than most. In fact, since you had given up on your father ever acknowledging you as something more than a decoration to be used as a bargaining argument in political negotiations, you had even achieved some relative peace of mind.
Had you been anything else than the only child of the royal couple, you would have probably joined your uncle Kyros in Dressrosa. The warrior had forfeited all claim to the throne when you were three, and exiled himself to the neighbouring kingdom that your parents looked at with thinly veiled disdain. But as crown princess, your hopes to escape an arranged marriage were about as high as your chances to fly if you jumped from your balcony.
Your only saving grace so far had been your father's relentless desire to stay on the throne, and the fact that his position as ruler would be weakened if he married you off to a decent party. As such, the longer you remained unmarried – and under strict surveillance to ensure your so-called royal purity remained untouched – the longer your father was assured to stay in power. Win-win, as far as you were concerned.
"Such a waste of money," the maid doing your hair mumbled under her breath.
While it was highly improper for her to criticise a royal event, especially in front of a member of the royal family, you privately agreed with her. The Halloween Ball was a show of luxury and extravaganza at a time where people should prepare for winter, but your father insisted on having it every year nonetheless.
You were wearing a crimson and black gown, with seams of gold sewn into various portions of the dress to make it look even more luxurious. Black gloves up to your elbows and jewellery consisting exclusively of gold and rubies completed your look, and when you stood up to look at yourself in the mirror, you barely refrained a bittersweet smile at the result.
Your reflection could only make you think of a pretty ornament for a royal party. Something shiny to show off, look at, inspect, assess, judge, anything but think of as an actual human being with a personality. Not for the first time, you wondered if you could get away with only sending a portrait of yourself instead of going. The result would certainly be similar, and the scandal might even be amusing enough to keep you entertained for a while. It would not be worth the punishment, though.
So you made your way to the ball, your heels clicking on the marbled floor of the palace, and waited to be announced.
"Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Y/N !"
You made your entrance at the top of the stairs, curtsied with all the grace you had been taught to convey your respect to the king and queen, and made your way inside under the hundreds of judgemental whispers and looks.
You picked a flute from a tray with a discreet nod of thanks to the waiter, and brought it to your lips with a practiced expression of fake amusement and real detachment to the world around you. Despite your poised attitude and apparent composure, however, you could not wait for the party to be over.
As a first group of nobles approached you, however, the ballroom doors slammed open and a powerful bust of wind extinguished all the artistically displayed candles. Before anyone could do more than gasp, the entire room was plunged into darkness, with the silver rays of the full moon flowing through the windows as the only source of light.
Countless soldiers in heavy armor and brandishing swords or spears ran inside, until every window and door was guarded with no hope of escape.
"Greetings, worthless nobles of… Diamante, what's this kingdom's name, again ? Oh nevermind, it's not like it matters anyway."
The man who had talked was tall, very tall. With your eyes quickly acclimating to the moonlight, and since you were not far from the entrance, you could discern short blond hair, a thin mask hiding his eyes, and a massive pink feathercoat. But mostly, it was the smile on his face that had your blood run cold at the very sight of him. You had seen enough bloodthirsty smiles in your life to recognise one when you saw it, and this man's delighted yet threatening expression promised two things.
Violence.
And how much he would enjoy it.
"How DARE you-" the king stood up from the throne, clearly incensed by the interruption.
He had not even made a full step when his head fell on the ground, cut clean off by an invisible force. There was a second of absolute silence in the ballroom, then someone screamed in horror.
You could only stay frozen in place, your eyes glued to the grotesque sight of your father's crowned head stumbling on the white marble of the floor, dripping blood as it rolled and ultimately stopped, glassy open eyes fixing the ceiling. You felt both completely numb and shocked to death at the same time. Your entire body felt like it had been turned to stone, and you were completely unable to make so much as a single movement or sound.
"Don't interrupt me," the blond man said as he wiggled his fingers. "Now, as I said, greetings ! I bring good news, this kingdom is mine now, you won't have to endure this useless and incompetent fool anymore. Feel free to applause," he added with a huge smile that somehow felt even more dangerous.
Weak claps echoed in the room, until more joined in. Soon enough, close to every person in attendance applauded the man who had just beheaded a king with the kind of magic only a contract with a demon could grant.
You finally managed to detach your gaze from your father's head, and sent a horrified look to your mother, who was still prostrated on her own throne and staring in shock at the king's beheaded body.
The intruder raised a hand, silencing the room immediately, and started walking through the ballroom. There was an eclectic group of people walking behind him, who were blabbering about how big the castle was, asking their leader about their new place to live, and calling him Doffy.
"Please don't kill me," the queen begged as she joined her hands under her chin, all dignity abandoned as she pleaded for her life with tears in her eyes.
"Me ? Killing such a beautiful queen ? What could possibly make you think I would do such a thing, fufufufufu," the man chuckled, though it contained no warmth.
"Neh, neh, Doffy, you said we had to kill them all !" one of the men behind him stated right as your mother had started to lower her hands and show hope in her face.
"Oh, silly me, I had forgotten that little detail ! Thank you for reminding me, Trebol," the man laughed at your mother's crestfallen expression.
"Ple-"
Her head was cut so fast it actually jumped into the crowd, provoking shrieks and a mass movement among the nobles to avoid it.
You slapped a hand on your mouth to avoid screaming, your mind unable to process this second shock right after the first.
"Well," the blond man said as he carelessly pushed the body aside and sat on the king's throne, "I think that settles it. Now bring me the princess. And before you think of hiding her, I'll kill one person in this room every minute she fails to appear before me."
Everyone around you turned to you with scared expressions, and you knew instantly what would happen next. A royal court was a cutthroat and little more than every man for himself on the best of days, and in these circumstances ? You would become dog's food in less than a minute.
A weird part of your brain rationalised that a quick and clean beheading was actually a rather painless way to die, so there was at least that to be reassured about. You put your hand away from your mouth, took a deep breath and squared your shoulders. Since you were going to die tonight, you might as well do it with the elegance befitting your station.
You raised your chin, plastered a composed expression on your face to hide your resignation to your fate and hopefully keep the fear at bay, then walked confidently through the crowd to appear on the main alley.
"Almost a minu… my my my, would you look at that," the blond man said with a lecherous grin when he noticed you. "You are princess Y/N, my dear ?"
"I am," you confirmed shortly, and considered it a small miracle your voice did not shake as you spoke. "May I ask for the name of my parents' murderer ?" you added in a flash of bravery – or insanity, at that point you were not sure there was a visible distinction between the two.
"Fufufufufufu ! What a daring little bird. My name is Donquixote Doflamingo, though for everyone here, it's your Majesty now."
You clenched your jaw as you recognised the name of an old royal bloodline who had fallen into disgrace at least six generations ago. Still, as everyone in the ballroom bowed to that Doflamingo, you refused to do the same. You may be as terrified of him as you had been of spiders when you were a child, especially with the pulsing thrum of demonic power under the moonlight, but you were determined to leave this world with some sort of pride.
"Now I must say, I wasn't expecting you to look so… ravishing," the man continued as he licked his lips. "And if the rumours are true, you have yet to be touched by a man, correct ?"
A feeling of dread curled into your chest. If your options were limited to death or belonging to that man, you would choose death a hundred times over.
"I fail to see the point of your question," you replied instead, avoiding the subject altogether without technically being impolite.
"Smart little bird," Doflamingo hummed like he was pleased, then tapped his chin knowingly. "Smart, ravishing, untouched… yes, you are far too precious to just be killed, it would be an absolute waste."
"What are you going to do with her, Doffy ?" one of his men asked.
The smirk stretching the man's lips was nothing short of dreadful.
"Vergo, draw a pentacle. I want you to make a new contract with Kaido for me."
-o-oOo-o-
An hour later, your wrists were bound in front of you, your gloves the only protection between your skin and the sturdy rope. The man named Vergo was done with his work, and in the process of dragging you in the middle of a pentacle covered in intricate runes and symbols you had never seen in your life. Some runes had been drawn with charcoal, over ingraved in the marble floor, and all looked positively terrifying.
"Stop struggling," the tall man with black hair and a teaspoon stuck on his cheek told you sternly.
You tried to resist, but all you managed to do was step on your dress and slip on the fabric, which unbalanced you for a second. The man used it to throw you in the inner circle, and before you could stand up or get out, he had jumped back and pronounced a word in a language you did not recognise.
Gold light immediately burst from the lines of the pentacle to the ceiling, effectively trapping you inside.
"Let me out !" you shouted desperately, and tried to free your wrists at least.
"Not happening, little bird," Doflamingo sing-sang, his pink silhouette tainted gold from the magic barrier separating you from him. "You're a prime offering for a Demon Emperor, now. Be good to him and he might even keep you alive for a little while."
And on those haunting words, he left the room with a laugh.
You looked around you in the vain hope of an escape or even some help, but all the nobles had been thrown out of the ballroom during the preparation for the ritual that would summon one of the four Demon Emperors to the Human World. All that was left now was you, a dozen of guards making sure no one would get in or out, the man named Vergo, and a glowing pentacle trapping you like a birdcage.
The man started his invocation and the gold light soon turned more vibrant. It was almost humming with powers beyond your comprehension, and you truly started to panic, royal etiquette be damned. You did not know what kind of fate was destined to those offered to demons, but you could hazard a guess and you would sacrifice almost anything to avoid it.
The chanting started to get louder, and the walls trembled as the gold emanating from the pentacle took another shade. However, the colour strangely seemed to flicker between purple and crimson for several minutes, as if two powers were in conflict.
Then at the last word of the incantation, the crimson seemed to prevail and there was a burst of energy throwing you against the inner wall of the pentacle. The physical shock dazed you, and you had to blink and breathe deeply a couple times before you could finally see what had happened.
Or rather, who had appeared.
Taller than a regular human, a pair of black bat wings in his back, an equally black tail ending in a spike, two horns nested among deep crimson hair, piercing eyes who could either be black or brown in the dark red light of the summoning circle, black shirt and pants with a crimson sash around his waist, the demon was exuding power and raising a dubious eyebrow at his surroundings.
"Been a while since someone wanted to speak to me," he ultimately stated and stretched, which was when you noticed the three parallel scars over his left eye.
That kind of injury could only mean the creature in front of you was a warrior. And a dangerously strong one if he had survived that kind of attack.
"You are not the Demon Emperor I summoned," Vergo said, and though his tone was as flat as it had been so far, you could discern some confusion in his voice.
"Should've checked your runes before starting, you wrote Demon Emperor of the Est. I had to take it out with Kaido to decide whether the West or East would answer the call," the demon shrugged, his wings moving with him as he put his hands in the pockets of his pants. "Anyway, what do yo- well, hello there," he interrupted himself as he noticed you.
You gulped in fear, realising what had happened in a flash. When you had slipped on your dress, the fabric must have erased a portion of the charcoal runes, thus changing the entire ritual. Which meant this terrifying and powerful being you were trapped with while your hands were bound was not the demon they had tried to summon. Though you knew it was futile, you still tried to push yourself further away from him.
The demon looked at you, then seemed to inhale deeply, and a wide smile stretched his lips. Strangely, it felt more appreciative and less psychopathic than the one Doflamingo had directed at you earlier.
"You really are the whole package, darling," the Demon Emperor smiled knowingly.
You had no idea whether to be flattered or offended by his comment, but before you could decide on a response, the man outside the circle seemed to make his own decision.
"You have accepted princess Y/N as a valuable offering, the deal will therefore happen."
At his words, the demon's gaze teared away from you and turned to Vergo, and he seemed a bit more annoyed than he had been when he was assessing you.
"You have accepted the call, and manifested your acceptance of the offering," Vergo repeated. "My Master, Donquixote Doflamingo, will receive in exchange the power of a hundred men and complete control of this kingdom."
"Yeah, I don't think so. I don't make deals with tyrants, they leave a bad taste in my mouth," the Demon Emperor replied casually, and put a hand – by the stars, there were claws on his fingers – on the barrier to test its strength.
"You cannot leave until you make a deal," Vergo countered. "Such is the immuable law between the Demon Realm and the Human World."
A slight frown marred the forehead of the creature who was apparently trapped inside the pentacle with you, and his carefree expression darkened. You could not tell how much time you had before his annoyance would turn into full-blow anger, but you knew a demon of his calibre would not spare your life in his attempt to break free.
An insane idea suddenly flashed in your mind, and your next breath caught in your throat. It was completely crazy, but the more you thought about it, the more it looked like your only way out of this hellish situation. You stood up and took a step closer to the creature sharing the center of the pentacle with you.
"Demon Emperor of the East," you called with as clear a voice as you could, immediately gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "I offer you a deal. The lives of the men in this room, in exchange for your protection."
The demon's eyes went wide, then a grin took place on his face and he started laughing wildly, head thrown back and hands clutching his midriff as his wings flapped and his tail batted against the barrier.
"NO !" Vergo shouted, with the most emotion you had heard so far. "You cannot do such a thing !"
"Actually, she can," the Demon Emperor stated as he recovered from his hilarity, and came closer to you.
He brought a clawed hand near your wrists, and in one sharp movement, the rope snapped, thus freeing your gloved hands. Then his knuckles went under your chin and tilted your head upward, until your eyes were caught in his gaze.
"Their lives for my protection, mmh ?" he whispered as his eyes glanced briefly down to your lips, and despite his demonic appearance, something hot flickered in your belly at the sudden hunger in his eyes. "Even if you have to seal that deal with a kiss ?"
"Yes," you replied breathlessly.
Giving your first kiss to a demon was not something you had ever planned to do, but if it meant you would survive the night and said demon would protect you against Doflamingo and his men, well. Beggars could not be choosers, and as far as otherworldy creatures went, you supposed this one was rather handsome.
You blinked and wondered where that last thought had come from.
"Then we have a deal, princess," he murmured as he lowered his head in your direction.
You closed your eyes and tilted your head to the side right before his lips touched yours. The instant they did, however, you felt both a burst of magic run through your veins and something powerful take a hold of you. The contact was soft and kinder than you had thought a demon warrior capable of as he explored your lips gently, but when he ran his tongue over your lower lips and you gasped, the Emperor took it as an invitation and his tongue dived into your mouth greedily. You moaned at the intimate and sensual invasion, even put your hands on his chest and around his neck to bring him closer to you. He took complete control of the kiss, and you could only moan and whine as desire ran through you, a fire igniting at the way he expertly explored your mouth and exploited all the sensitive parts he could find.
When the need for air began to be too great to keep going, he slowly retreated, and you were left a panting mess plastered against his surprisingly warm body. You were completely out of breath, and your cheeks were aflame with both desire and shame to have enjoyed such a forbidden act so much.
Meanwhile, the Demon Emperor chuckled, and even traced your bottom lip with his thumb while being mindful of his claw. When you looked up, you could see a deep satisfaction in his eyes, and sparkles of gold among the darkness of his pupils. You tried to step away from him, but his other hand kept you firmly against him as he lowered his head to murmur a few words in your ear.
"Close your eyes, princess."
You did as you were told, and felt a wave of magic surge from him, quickly followed by screams of pain, then absolute silence.
"Now for the protection part," the demon hummed, and you could hear the grin in his voice.
There was a flash of light so intense that you felt it despite your closed eyes, a disorienting sensation, and then you felt the ground and air be different from those of the palace.
"You can look now."
You cautiously opened your eyes.
At first, all you could see was the black shirt of the Demon Emperor, which was now turning to white and appeared to only be half-buttoned, so you quickly adverted your gaze. And then, you finally managed to truly see the place you were in.
The nightsky was similar to the one above your castle, but the constellations were completely different. The ground was made of red dirt and flat grey stones, there was a beach and a vast body of water that may even be a sea in walking distance on your left, and a huge castle, way bigger than the one you had grown in, on your right.
Dread filled you in a heartbeat as you realised what such a different landscape had to mean.
"You brought me to your castle ?" you asked weakly, your legs trembling under the terrifying possibility.
"No place safer than my own home for my contractee," he replied in a deep rumble behind you.
You felt close to tears when you realised your own words had condemned you to exile in the worst possible way, instead of saving you and your people from the monsters who had taken your kingdom by force after murdering your parents.
While you remained unable to say a word, and barely able to contain tears of despair at bay, clawed hands softly caressed your arms until they reached your hands, and grabbed your fingers.
"Welcome to the Demon Realm, princess Y/N," the Emperor you were now bonded to by a contract whispered in your ear, a faint stubble grazing your skin. "You can call me Shanks."