Jaeyong One Shots

A Devil In Me

Summary: Born as Eros, the god of love, Taeyong came to understand how powerful the act of love could be. But soon he realizes there's more to it than meets the eye when his primal nature urges to break free.

This was a submission for jaeyongficfest2022 with the theme of fantasy/scifi

It was exciting to take part in this fic fest and write one of my drafts that I've been meaning to get out.

Song rec: Funeral by Meg Myers

Mature content ahead

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Tipping over the edge of darkness, and free falling into the arms of danger and corruption, not many are willing to relinquish their morals and willingly embrace the darkness. But for others, it's second nature, a subtle itch or an uncontrollable urge deeply rooted in their systems. After all, we were all born from chaos in the very beginning.

The chariot rattles and sways as it continues on the uneven terrain of marbled, parched soil. Drawn from its front by two obsidian Aravani horses, each with silver laurels around its forehead, steel breastplates with the cosmos insignia, designating the realm in which they originated from draped around its neck and a luscious mane of blue flame dancing despite the lifeless, smog thickened air.

They've journeyed through the meadows several miles without a single sign of life in sight. While following the path along the Styx River, they come across a group of departed souls, no more than a handful, marching towards a dock. They amble clumsily along the riverbank; ankles shackled from one to the next. From a distance, Charon could be seen at the front of the ferry, his wooden staff held upright in his right hand as he guides the vessel to a gentle stop at the dock.

Gazing as they moved by, he saw the soul at the front of the line offering a coin to the being before the shackles at their feet melted away, allowing them entry onto the vessel. The same process continued until there were two left, both of which did not have a coin in hand. The ferryman drew the gate shut and lifted his staff for the boat to disembark. The souls stared lifelessly as the ferry began to float away. He continued to stare until one of the souls turned their head in his direction.

"Stare ahead, my love, lest you join them in their suffering for eternity." Taeyong hears his mother say, snatching his attention away and heeded her words, just before the soul looked at him. He's heard of the stories. Souls who came with no payment were forced to wander endlessly for one hundred years, re-living their life's regrets and sorrows over and over, until they were permitted to cross the river. Legend has it, that if you locked eyes with one of them, they would latch on to your soul and bind you to them forever. He shudders at the thought.

Many of those souls are people who were morally corrupt to begin with. For mortals, their excuse is that they're human and that they are susceptible to these brief moments of chaos. Since they were born as the product of sin and deceit, they merely spend a lifetime suppressing those dark primordial desires within themselves. But deep down we all have hidden desires itching to be set free. Be it the desire to destroy, or to corrupt. However, they all fail to realize that the most dangerous desire of all, is to love and want to be loved. Because love makes us giddy. It can also make us breakdown. And it certainly, can make us do crazy things.

He has witnessed it firsthand. After all, he's the root cause of it all. Born as Eros, the god of love, Taeyong came to understand how powerful the act of love could be. How nations could crumble, leading to the death of many for it's name's sake.

The journey comes to a close when they spot the dark, imposing castle peeping through the surrounding fog, encased within a swathe of trees. It grows in size as they continue to approach it, and soon they enter through the large kingdom gates. Coming up to several other empty chariots stationed ahead. The horses slow their gallop and come to a standstill behind the other chariots, and Taeyong and his mother step out onto the sulfuric earth.