So 1p Nordic please! I'm gonna be content with anything you came up with lov
//So this is super vague which means I can work with it and tbh I wanna write something spoopy so here we go. Kinda structured like a fairy tale, 100% an au.
Long ago in a faraway land lived a great nation. In the palace of the king who ruled over the land a great trouble was stirring. The king was not exactly considered wise, much of the country’s affairs were more often than not dealt with by his advisor; a young but talented man by the name of Lucas. He helped rule the land wisely and was to credit for the country’s current prosperity. However, a jealous member of the court had recently spread rumors that Lucas was in fact a witch. The king trusted that Lucas was not a witch, however the people did not. Lucas made the mistake of choosing that year to raise taxes. As bad luck would have it, that year’s harvest was an awful failure. The more unfortunate starved in the streets while the king and nobility continued to eat heartily of the food taxed out of the hands and mouths of the poor.
Seeing this great misfortune as an opportunity to gain status and force Lucas out of his position of power, more and more nobles perpetuated this rumor; claiming to have seen strange lights from wishing his chambers and cursed mutterings beneath his breath. At the urging of the jealous nobles the people took hold of this rumor of witchcraft and blamed Lucas for all their misfortunes, claiming that he had cursed them all. A great mob stormed the castle and called for his blood. With a heavy heart, the king turned Lucas over to the mob. They mob tied his hands to a horse and dragged him down the streets before tying him to a pole in the public square and giving him to the flame.
Now, Lucas was in fact a witch; just not one of malicious intent. He had great powers at his disposal and did what he could to secure the fortune of the country. At the mobs fury and hatred a great resentment rose within him, and with his dying breath he cursed the city and all who lived there, saying “May the last honest soul set this cursed nation to flame.”
Not long after this incident a youth came to the age of one newly on the cusp of adulthood but not yet truly possessing the wisdom of age. They were not particularly well off, however they managed a comfortable life working at their family’s business: a book shop. During the famin the family had suffered greatly, and so the youth did what the could to earn them and their family more money. From a young age they had been taught to be clever, honest, wise, and skilled. They were not particularly strong or quick, as most bookmakers were not. They possessed the strength to bind books and work the printing press for short periods of time. Truly, their main strength laid in their mind, and so they were often hired to transcribe for the powerful and solve puzzles for the dim.
After the year the famin struck things got worse and worse. Droughts become common, a plague swept the streets and picked off the young, old and sick. Food remained scarce and the bookkeeper and their family could not afford to stay in buissnes. The family was cast out on the streets and there was not a full stomach to be found among them. However the youth was clever. It was a simple thing to find scraps of metal in the streets. Nails, wire, bits and pieces that were no longer useful. The youth figured out how to make things; small puzzles, toys and strange contraptions that boggled the mind. The youth could not manage to sell them often, but when they could they made enough to feed their family for a week, and that was good enough for them. They began showing off their contraptions in the streets, and solving the puzzles for show.
Eventually, the youth made something of a name for themselves as one who can solve any puzzle put before them with dizzying speed. People would come in great crowds to see the mystifying puppets puzzles and toys that the youth had made. They began to sell more and more, until they even managed to sell a few to the nobility. The youth managed to rent a place for their family to stay and set up a shop making toys puzzles and contraptions for the upper crust.
In the next year the plagues famin and droughts failed to cease, and the king called in his advisors as he always did to try and figure out how to solve the problem. That day a chair moved of it’s own accord to the place of the right hand of the king. The council sat silent in shock as the ghostly apparition of Lucas appeared, smug and very much alive looking despite the smoke curling round their body.
“Lucas, you’re alive! My friend!” The king rejoiced but was only met with an icy stare.
“Not friend of mine has cast me into the hands of death.” He replied icily. “You’re a fool to give up the only person holding this kingdom together, and now it will fall apart.”
“You would curse us all?” The king spoke, bewildered.
“I would, and I did.” Lucas replied, looking across the table of council members, eyes of ice digging into those who betrayed him.
“There must be a way! You must find forgiveness! You must know there was nothing we could have done to fix that situation!” The king cried. “Would you condem an old friend and a whole kingdom for an act of self preservation?”
Lucas seemed to pause a bit before smiling wickedly. “I suppose I could” the council seemed to let out a sigh of relief. “I have a puzzle for you. How do you kill a man who can not be killed?”
The king sputtered in disbelief. “I... I do not know.”
“If you do not know in five days time, this city rot and so shall you.” With that Lucas disappeared into the air.
“Find me someone who can solve that puzzle.” The king growled in frustration.
As luck would have it, the king’s advisers and wisest men could not solve the puzzle even after two full days of mulling it over, and so they searched for one who may be able to and came upun the youth. Upun the promise of much gold should they solve the puzzle the youth agreed to come to the palace and solve the puzzle. They brought the youth into a room filled with books of ancient literature and observation tools. They told them that any resources in the palace were to be theirs, and then gave them the puzzle. The youth asked to be left alone to think and quickly got to work.
With their clever mind, it took little more than two hours for them to get close to the solution. Not a moment after they managed to write down their idea, Lucas appeared looming over their shoulder.
“A clever one, arnt we?” Lucas spoke casually. The youth jumped in their seat, falling back and looking at Lucas in shock.
“Who are you? I asked to be left alone to think for this project-” You youth protested in surprise. They paused for a moment as they processed the smoke curling around him. The youth yelped and scrambled away, picking up a candle stick in defense. “What are you?”
Lucas laughed. “You’re common right? You don’t remember the man they dragged through the streets and burned before this whole plague mess started?”
“You should be dead!” The youth announced in shock.
“And yet here I stand. Although I must say I can’t claim I am entirely alive.” Lucas gestured broadly with his arms. “The candle stick is unnecessary, if I wanted to kill you I wouldn’t do it by physical means.”
The youth swallowed down their nervousness. “Regardless, I prefer to keep it on me.”
Lucas rolled his eyes in response. “You common folk and your violence.” He sighed in disappointment.
“What do you want?” The youth glared in frustration.
“You were assigned to solve my puzzle, yes?” Lucas spoke. The youth nodded. “Well, I’m here to ask that you don’t solve it. You see, it’s really in my- and your best interest not to solve the puzzle.”
“And why would that be?” The youth questioned. “Would you have me and my family die for your revenge?”
Lucas looked over the youth, eyes predatory. “I can promise that in the city’s demise, you and your family will not come to harm.”
“I don’t believe you.” The youth glared.
“Fine.” Lucas stood up and made his way closer. The youth backed up. “I plan to come to power once the king falls. This city will be ripe for a fresh start. There will be a new social order, perhaps even with you in a position of power.”
“Me?” The youth spoke in shock.
“Yes you.” Lucas sighed in irritation. “Clearly with how far you’ve gotten you’re clever. More so than the king. You’d be more competent than most people in this palace.”
“And how can I be sure you won’t off me in the future like our dear king?” The youth spoke suspiciously.
“We sign a blood contract.” Lucas spoke simply. He snapped his fingers and light curled within his hand and took the shape of a scroll. Unraveling it the youth could see the agreement. “Should you not utter the answer to my riddle within the next three days, I promise no harm shall come to you, and you will have a place at my side in this new era.” Lucas read aloud.
“And you are bound to uphold this?” The youth questioned.
“It functions as a blood oath and a curse. Should either party not hold up their side of the agreement they will die.” Lucas explained.
“Okay then.” The youth agreed. Lucas smiled victoriously as they signed it.
“I shall see you in three days time.” Lucas promised.
Three days passed quickly, the king becoming more and more desperate for the answer. When the youth proclaimed they could not solve it the king brought in others to help. None of them ever got close. As the final hour struck, the king collapsed into a fit of rage. The youth managed to avoid his attacks, but others didn’t. The clock struck its final moment and it’s chiming spelled death for the city. Lucas appeared in a cloud of smoke and reached out his hand to the youth, who smiled and took it gladly. The two watched as suddenly the city was consumed by flames. As the city turned to ashes the youth turned to Lucas.
“What now?”
“Now, my dear pet.” Lucas chimed. “You belong to me.” Light suddenly curled around the youth’s neck and they let out a cry, suddenly unable to move. “You shall spend infinity at my side. You won’t want for anything, don’t worry. Such a bright little mind will not go to waste.” Lucas tugged at the collar of light and the youth moved forward involuntarily, no longer possessing control of their body. “You shall serve me, and I will build us a city to rule.” Lucas grinned and stepped back into the palace, the youth following but a few steps behind him.