Pity the Priest; hc_bingo
Title: Pity the Priest
Fandom: Rune Factory (4)
Prompt: First Transformation
Medium: Fic
Wordcount: 1114
Rating: PG
Warnings: Referenced vore, forced transformation.
Summary: Leon is rescued from the Sarcophagus. Physically, at least.
AN: Dialogue between Leon and the player character is based off their dialogue to each other in game. Everything else is not based completely off the game's dialogue. Also, title sorta taken from the song "Pity the Child" (by that, I mean I remember that was a song from Chess.)
He awoke in a white field, the Earthmate staring at him. It was refreshing to be himself and not a monster, but it was disconcerting. He pushed himself up, even if he rather stay laying down than forcing himself up.
The floor beneath his feet felt unstable, and it took everything in him not to waver as he stood his ground in front of this Earthmate.
“Who…?” he started to ask.
“I am…an Earthmate, Leon,” she responded. She still had a smile on her face despite wanting to cry. “Leon. Will you tell Venti about what’s to happen here?”
She then started to talk about how she got to know the people and how she’s sorry that she’ll never get to see them again. “And thank you…for being my friend,” she ended. “It was fun.”
“You-”
And then he found himself standing in front of Ventuswill. She looked surprised to see him standing in front of her.
She looked bigger and older than the last time he saw her. She also looked a bit more haggard, as if she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Unlike the younger Ventuswill, who would sit all regal and proper as the villagers worshipped her, this Ventuswill seemed a bit less formal with the current villagers.
This wasn’t the Ventuswill that he sacrificed himself for, but he preferred her like this.
It was nice seeing that his sacrifice, of becoming Sarcophagus, had paid off. Ventuswill seemed well, even if an unmeasurable amount of time had passed since the Earthmate had performed the spell on him.
Leon didn’t like thinking about the time of being Sarcophagus.
He could remember facing the monster, seeing it in its hideously powerful glory for the first time. It had eyed him for a second before its coffin opened. Even then, Leon knew that this monster was going to trap him inside.
Wrappings shot out and wrapped itself around his arms and legs. He could’ve struggled then, but it was futile. Even if he did succeed in freeing himself, there was nowhere to run or hide. He accepted his fate and watched as he was slowly dragged closer and closer to the coffin that would hold him for as long as Ventuswill needed him.
He was consumed by it, and then he was becoming a part of it. He lost himself to the monster, being consumed completely by it. He couldn’t be anything but that monster that wrapped itself around him.
He became the monster, lending his own power to it. The Sarcophagus wasn’t able to use magic until Leon was devoured by it. It leeched him of his magical prowess, and then it stopped. The monster managed to learn enough from leeching from Leon to use magic without needing Leon’s knowledge or unconscious input.
Leon had fought against becoming the monster for so long, but it was bleak and dark and cramped, and he gave in. He allowed himself to be the monster, to aid it in its fight against the Earthmate, only to lose.
He owed her for breaking the spell that had him trapped by the Sarcophagus. She rescued him from the oppressing darkness, and Leon had no plans of ever becoming a monster, even if it was to save Ventuswill. He might be selfish, not wanting to be a monster even if it meant saving his close friend, but he didn’t think his mind would be able to handle becoming another monster.
“Where’s Frey?” Ventuswill asked.
He relayed the words of Frey-he presumed that she was the Earthmate that sent him back-and Ventuswill looked hurt and furious as he finished. She seemed to favor Frey over the other villagers, and she took off.
Leon watched her leave her post, and he waited for her to return with Frey. He wanted to get to know her. She seemed interesting, and she would be fun to tease for a bit. Although there were other villagers he could get a rise out of.
He made friends with all the villagers easily enough, and he liked a few of them. Kiel hung off his words-even the most ridiculous lies he made up were passed around by Kiel. Doug was loud and became louder when he mentioned that. Forte was easily flustered by his words. And Frey, she reacted to everything he said.
She had the natural curiosity to snoop around his things-trying to see if he was writing a love letter, for example-and she also would flush and glare at him for teasing her. Frey was the most amusing of the villagers. He could see why Ventuswill adored her the most of the villagers.
Frey, flushed and avoiding his eyes, confessed to him one day that she really liked him. He paused and told her that he needed a day to think about how he would phrase his response to her. She agreed to meet him at the square the next day, and he knew that he had to let her down.
Leon had told himself he wouldn’t marry. He had his promise to childhood friend, and he also couldn’t let her see him at night when he dealt with being Sarcophagus. He didn’t like showing weakness and often used his eccentric attitude as a shield.
The next day, she accepted everything he told her, and so he had no choice but to accept her as his lover. She smiled widely at him, and he couldn’t help but smile back. She was too adorable for her own good.
He would then force her to tell him that she loved him, loving the way her cheeks would turn scarlet as she said those words to him. He would get her to feed him her food when they went on dates to Porcoline’s Kitchen. She would sometimes get him back by doing something cute. Leon would blush as she held his hand or kiss his cheek. Frey was just too adorable for words, and he felt something in his chest for her.
But more importantly for him, Frey made him forget. She made him forget about the oppressing darkness. She made him forget about the time he lost. She made it easier to forget about his past and look to the future.
There was a small part of Leon that looked at his actions and saw a man avoiding the nightmares and the deprecating thoughts of being the Sarcophagus, but it was easier to ignore that and to continue annoying the townspeople than to examine everything that was wrong with him becoming that monster and the horrific fears he had due to being kept in it.