Aphmau SMP + My Inner Demons Oneshots (Closed Requests for now)

Plot my Demise and see if I Care (Noi x Pierce(?) Hurt/Comfort)

A/N: this is an unfinished and unedited work I have that I made a while ago lol. Also I HAVE BEEN MEANING TO POST THIS HERE BUT I KEEP FORGETTING- Sorry yall 😔

Pierce's leg bounced lightly as he sank into the cheap couch within the apartment. It was 11:26 pm when Asch summoned them for a meeting, a few minutes after Ava went to bed herself. He rubbed the light exhaustion out of his eyes before focusing on the three other men sitting around him. Leif was idly toying with his sickles on the floor, Rhys was sitting beside Pierce on the couch, and Asch was sitting in the large chair across from them. Before the sudden meeting, all of them were told to keep quiet from a specific knight, for reasons they were still unaware about. Asch cleared his throat and straightened up in his seat, prompting the other knights to do the same as they focused on him.

"We have a very important discussion about someone in this apartment. Before we start, Rhys," Asch turned his head to face Rhys with a serious expression.

"Has Noi been properly distracted?" Asch questioned.

"Yes, Prince Asch," Rhys confirmed with a nod. "He is currently within the pocket realm, practicing his defense maneuvers."

"Perfect." Asch leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Now, we may begi-"

"Why the Hell does Noi need to be distracted? You haven't explained anything about this meeting's purpose," Leif interrupted while crossing his arms, aggravating Asch in the process.

"Don't interrupt me. I'm explaining right now. Understood, Leif?" Asch asked while gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes. Leif sighed before nodding and rested his back against the wall.

Asch took a deep breath before continuing. "Anyways, allow me to cut to the chase since some of us can't be patient. We need to discuss the usefulness of Noi, and whether or not he is an asset or a liability." Asch's words seemed to stun the room as everyone's breaths collectively stilled and their subconscious motions came to a halt.

Noi's usefulness was a subject that had been lightly touched on many times within the past amongst many other guards back on Daemos, but Prince Asch bringing it up made it all the more serious. Noi wasn't the strongest or smartest Daemos by any means, and that alone sparked a lot of discussion amongst people of lower position to him, mostly stating how ridiculous it was that someone like him surpassed them, all because of pity.

Rhys's hand slowly raised above his head, calling Asch's attention. "May I provide my insight on the situation?" Rhys's overly formal tone would have caused an eye roll and a snarky comment from Leif, but even he was shocked to silence.

"You may."

"As far as I've seen, you have worked with Noi for the past four years, attempting to mold him into a knight with honor and strength. Unfortunately, there's only so far you could go with him until he reaches a point of no improvement. Not to undermine your teaching, Prince Asch, but Noi simply hasn't and won't reach the expectation you set for him to reach." When Rhys finished speaking, he put his hand down and his shoulders slumped a slight bit, enough for Pierce to notice.

Pierce's brow furrowed as his eyes danced between Rhys and Asch, analyzing the unspoken words hidden between their own gazes and near silent breaths. Asch nodded with indifference before speaking "I understand. Leif, do you have an opinion on this?"

Leif muttered a singular "um" while shifting on the wooden floor, thinking up a response for the Prince. "Well, I don't disagree so much, but you have to admit, there's strength in numbers," Leif said in a voice slightly quieter than normal.

"Leif, you are well aware of how Noi is, you have seen it first hand. You know how he hesitates and how often that he has put us in vulnerable positions because of it," Rhys commented quite harshly. The topic of Noi's position was always something that got under his skin, so being able to state his mind wasn't something he was willing to pass up.

He almost seemed too eager as he continued, "I understand why you'd want to spare his position out of pity, however we are not a charity for lost boys, we are Asch's royal guards. And if one can't fit a certain standard, then such a position isn't worthy of them."

Leif's mouth opened and shut repeatedly until he surrendered his stance on the debate and lowered his head, unable to argue with Rhys's logic. Pierce, however, was very different. He turned himself to face Rhys before speaking with a subtle hint of near aggression. "You are well aware of what will become of him if he loses this ranking, right? Do you really think he's deserving of execution?"

That question made the tension within the living room multiply by ten. Four years ago, Noi was sent to be executed for his magic, due to his weakness. The royal family was steadily growing desperate and were starting to resort to using the weakest Daemos they had for magic supply. The young boy was to be hung beside a few other Daemos, though only he hadn't committed a war crime like the ones beside him. Asch was present that day due to the rule of the royal executioners needing consent before ending the life of someone. The execution went Daemos by Daemos before Noi's turn had inevitably arrived and then abruptly stopped by the prince himself.

Right then and there, Noi was knighted by Asch and the terms had been set by the king himself, either Noi proves himself worthy of knighthood, or he would be executed. If Noi was to be deemed unworthy, that would mean he would have to be killed. Pierce wasn't willing to allow that to happen, he didn't think Noi deserved such a punishment.

Pierce stood up from the couch before addressing Asch. "I know Noi isn't perfect, but he still has value to us her-" A single hiccup was enough to silence Pierce's testimony.

Everyone's head whipped around to see Noi trembling in front of the portal, his skin a pasty white and his cheeks tear-stained and continuing to spill. His shaky hand covered his mouth but slowly dropped to his side. "I under-underst-stand what you w-want from me," Noi could barely finish his sentence before erupting into a fit of sobs.

Leif stood up and tried to speak to Noi, but he quickly ran off back into the pocket dimension. Pierce spent no time going after him, abandoning the other guys in the apartment. It didn't take long for him to find Noi, the young man having cornered himself by a large pillar. He pointed his daggers outwards, as if he was ready to attack if provoked, however there was no sense of danger due to his sobbing, fearful face. "I'm not ready to die.." Noi weakly squeaked out.

Pierce quickly grabbed Noi and pulled him into a tight embrace. "I'm sorry. You're not going to die, Noi. I promise. And again, I'm sorry you had to hear any of that bull."

Noi's body started to frantically squirm and shift, but stopped once they realized Pierce wasn't strangling him to death. His arms hung limply at his sides as he dropped his daggers onto the tile, a light clanging noise sounding from them once they reached the floor. His body was still shaking tremendously and he couldn't bring himself to do anything but sob into Pierce's shoulder.

"Will I b-be okay?"

"Yes. I'll make sure of it."