You pant heavily as another monster that made the foolish mistake of standing in your way fell onto its back, unmoving and void of life. You fall on one knee, using your weapon as a brace, as you feel tons of water pour down from your forehead onto your face and in your eyes, nearly blinding you. You'd like nothing better to collapse right here and rest, but you quickly shake the thought from your head. You groan as you manage to stand up on your two legs again. You wipe the sweat from your face and continue your journey through the castle to the throne room. As you race speedily throughout the palace, dodging and evading monsters when you can, you think back to what led you to this point...
Two months ago...
You sighed as you stood outside the throne room of the palace. One of the guards rushed inside to tell the king and queen that you had arrived. You massaged your forehead in a vain attempt to repress the headache that was slowly starting to form. You were enjoying yourself immensely talking with Princess Francisca, one of the four princesses of the Lescatie royal family. You've known her since the two of you were children since your family lived with hers in the castle. Although she wasn't always allowed outside due to her sickly condition, it didn't bother you since you enjoyed being around her, regardless of the setting.
As the two of you got older, your relationship between the two of you deepened. Though you weren't close enough to be called lovers or anything, many rumors circulated that you and she were "together" in a sense. After you graduated Knight Academy, you were placed in charge of the princess, which suited you and her just fine. Although it always annoyed you when people talked about her behind her back, you were told to not let it bother you since there was little either of you could do. You knew that she was right, but deep down, you wish you could do something to show Francisca's worth.
One day, you received a special summons from the king and queen for some reason. Though some may have felt honored to receive such a thing, all it made you feel was irritated, as they were one of the many who dared to look down upon and treat Francisca as less than what she was, which upset you even more, since you'd think that out of all people, your parents would be the last people to turn on you. But instead, they put more effort into ignoring or criticizing Francisca, always saying that she should be more like her older sisters or something to that effect.
As you enter into the throne room, you kneel before the king and queen, though it's less out of respect and more out of trying to hide the scowl that you know is present on your face. You raise your head and listen to the king speak, though you tune out most of what is said. However, a look of shock appears on your face as you hear him put you in charge of a mission to remove some bandits that have been causing trouble in one of his villages on the outskirts of his territory.
Naturally, you protest, stating that your duty is to protect the princess, but the King refutes your statement, stating that your duty is to serve the crown and its country. You growl, wanting to complain more, but realize it will change little. You stand and walk out of the throne room, heading back to Francisca's room. Naturally, she is upset at the news as much as you are. You promise to return to her within a week's time. You spend the rest of the day together before you share a tender kiss as you set out the next day. You wave to her from her bedroom window, again promising to be back soon.
However, this would be one promise that you would fail to keep, as the so-called "bandits" you were sent to rout were nothing out of the sort. They were actually a group of rogue monsters, who easily held the advantage over you and your troops. Though you fought valiantly and bravely, you were quickly overwhelmed and found yourself between a rock and a hard place as there were monsters in front of you and the edge of a cliff behind you. As you contemplate jumping off into the river below or fighting to your death, the cliff decided to make the decision for you, as it finally gave way, taking you with it. Your last thought as you fall about several hundred feet into the ravine below is the thought of Francisca, and how you failed to keep your promise...
It feels like only a moment has passed when you finally open your eyes, only to close them again as you are blinded by a white light. You open and close them again as you get used to the glow of the sun shining down on you. You feel your lower body is completely wet, and look to see that everything below your waist is still submerged in water from the river. It seems you managed to wash up ashore after falling from the top of the cliff, though you have no idea where you are.
You struggle to stand, which proves difficult, as you are sure most of the bones in your legs and chest are completely torn, if not broken. With some effort, you manage to finally stand after a couple of minutes of trying. You manage to walk several feet into a shaded area on the beach before you collapse from exhaustion. You drag yourself to a tree and place your back against it, fatigued. You stare out in front of you and groan, frustrated. You've no idea where you are, or how much time has passed since you've been out. You resolve to quickly build your strength back up, and return back to the castle, and more importantly, Francisca.
Though the process was hard and long (taking at least five days of rejuvenation and patience), you finally feel well enough to walk again. Donning your armor and your weapon, which was fortunate enough to wash ashore with you, you begin your track back home. Luckily, with the aid of some travelers, you manage to find the route back home quicker than you thought. After they point you in the right direction, you smile as you find yourself in familiar territory, and realize that you are only a day's away from home.
After a short rest, you continue walking and have to stop yourself from jumping with joy as you see the outskirts of the castle. You can hardly wait to see Francisca again, though you know that the first course of action you must make is to report to the king and queen about the failed mission, which makes you groan. You put the thought out of your mind, and decide to focus on the positive. You smile once more as you finally reach the castle, though, for some strange reason, you can't help but feel that something about it is just, for lack of a better word, wrong...
- End Flashback*
As you near the throne room, you look and see that in every direction, many of the castle's residents are being raped and/or being passed around between monsters. You can't help but feel sorry for them, even though most of them you didn't know or you did know but didn't particularly care for. Your train of thought quickly ends as you easily dispatch two monsters that were acting as guards to the entrance of the throne room. You inhale, taking in a large gasp of air as you steel yourself for the dangers that lie within. Offering a quick prayer to whatever deity you worship, you burst through the doors and take in the sight that beholds you.
You look at the scene as it is exactly the same as the rest of the castle: complete and utter chaos. In every section of the room, in every corner, there are humans, monsters and everything in between, copulating with one another. You hear screams of pleasure and passion, some of fear and terror, and others completely indescribable. As you look around, trying to make sense of everything your eyes are seeing, you look and see a strange creature sitting on the throne. It is obviously a monster, as its entire body is made up of strange tentacles, a few of which are lying dormant at its side, while the rest are moving inside and out of the humans that are trapped within them. Your eyes grow big and wide as you recognize two of humans are Francisca's parents, the King and Queen!
Even though you know doing so is foolhardy and would amount to little more than suicide, you slowly but surely walk forward, your weapon in your hand, prepared to do battle with this strange life form. You try to avoid stepping or disturbing any of the couples in your path as you walk a straight line forward. You stop suddenly as the few tentacles that were lying still, suddenly sprout eyes and stare right at you!
"Who dares to disturb the Queen?" The creature asks, leaning forward into the light. Your eyes grow wide as the creature is obviously female, one who has been transformed. And you don't know why, but something about this woman strikes you as... familiar.
"Hmm?"
The creature leans forward more, staring at you before the eyes on her face, grow big and wide, as if she is shocked.
"M-m-my love?!" She exclaims. Your mouth falls open, as you stare at her confused. That was not what you were expecting this monstrosity to say. Before you can react, she rushes before you and cups your face with both her hands, allowing her to get a very good look at your face, and vice-versa. As you look at her, your eyes grow bigger than they were before, and your mouth falls open in shock, as you recognize this creature. But no, it couldn't possibly be...
...could it?
"F-F-Francisca?!" You exclaim, shocked beyond belief.
"Yes! It is me, Darling!" Francisca exclaims, bringing your face to her chest, hugging you tightly, as if afraid that you might disappear. You feel teardrops fall onto your cheek, and look up to see the Princess sobbing. So many thoughts and questions form in your mind, and you struggle to get many of them in order. After a while, she releases you and again looks at you, tears still in her eyes but with a smile on her face.
"F-Francisca..." You begin, trying to figure out exactly where to start. "W-what happened here? To the kingdom? To your p-parents? T-t-to you?"
"Yes, I suppose that all this does warrant an explanation, doesn't it?" She asks as she wipes the tears from her eyes. She clears her throat and sighs, as she begins her story.
"It was a week after my parents had ordered you to subdue the so-called "bandits". Francisca begins, rolling her eyes at the part about the bandits. You perk up at that, as you had been meeting to ask about that but it slipped your mind until now.
"It was a lie fabricated by my parents. They despised how close we were to one another, and sought to get rid of you by sending you to get killed."
She smiles and places a hand on the side of your face.
"They underestimated you, just as they had underestimated me. In fact, that's all everyone has done to me, underestimate me, think little of me. Everyone in the castle, even my older siblings. The only person who treated me with any measure of kindness or respect was you."
She continues smiling and removes her hand from your face, and walks toward the throne, her back to you.
"A few days later, I heard the news that everyone in your unit had been killed. My whole world went dark. You, the only source of light in my world had vanished, and I was left all alone."
"Francisca..."
"I cried for days after that. I didn't eat, I didn't sleep. All I did was stare out of the window of my bedroom, hoping that you would magically appear, like the prince out of the fairy tale books we used to read together."
Though her back is turned, you can see tears starting to form in her eyes again. You begin to approach, but she holds up her hand, signaling you to stop.
"I'm sorry..." She says, as quickly begins wiping away her tears again.
"Anyway, a day after that, I heard one of the knights and maids talking outside my bedroom. I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but apparently, they were speaking about my parents and some 'plan' they had made together, and how it worked. How the King and Queen had ordered some soldiers on a mission to rout some bandits, but they were actually lied to and being sent to their deaths. It didn't take much to know that they were talking about you. I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that my parents would do something so cruel and evil. But in my heart, I knew it was the truth."
She looks back at you, a serious expression on her face, which startles you since you've rarely seen such an expression on the Princess's face before.
"I was so angry, so upset. I wanted revenge. I hated my parents. I hated the frail body I was born with. I hated my life. I hated the entire world. But what I really hated was my own helplessness. There was nothing I could do, and that upset me even more. It had gotten so bad that I started thinking about suicide."
You gasp, shocked as you can't believe what she had just uttered. You're even more shocked by the fact that she said it so casually.
"But something strange happened many nights ago, on the eve of a full moon that somehow had transformed into a crimson red."
"A crimson red moon?" You repeat, confused. You can't recall the moon ever being red before. If you had, surely you would have kept a good hold of such a memory.
"A... visitor somehow appeared in my room."
"A visitor? Who?"
"It was... a demon." Francisca answered, turning back to face you.
"A demon?!" You exclaim.
"A succubus, to be more exact." She explains. "She... did things to me. Things that felt... odd, at first. But over time, they felt... good. And the better they felt, the more... powerful, I felt."
She moves toward you again, smiling, placing her hand back on your face.
"She awoke something in me that laid dormant for a long time. She told me that if I wanted friends, I could have friends. If I wanted power, I could have power. And if I wanted to take the throne from my parents, who tried to take away the one thing that I really love and care for in my life, then I could take it.
"And you see the results before you..." She says, showing you herself, which has completely transformed, which gives you mixed feelings.
"And now that you have returned to me..."
Your eyes grow wide as she forcefully kisses you on your lips, shocking you, as the frail, shy Francisca in the past could never have done such a thing before. She breaks free after a while, a blush on her happy face.
"...you shall rule alongside me. I'll never lose you again. You'll stay beside me forever, and I'll never let anyone, be they human, demon, monster, bandit, or whomever, take you from me ever again."
She kisses you again, and pushes onto the ground, placing herself on top of you.
"I've thought about this for a long time, my dear. I've pleasured almost all the humans and monsters in the castle, but I've never allowed any of them the pleasure of embracing me like you are. You are the only one that my love spot is reserved for. No one else. So..."
She again kisses you, rubbing on you, making her desire clear.
"...shall we become finally now become one together?"
What do you do?