A Sacrifice's Beloved Salvation

I was thrilled to be this year’s sacrifice. The villagers were all too happy for a willing maiden. Every year to prevent the volcano above from erupting and enveloping everyone in a blanket of scalding lava, the villagers presented a virgin to the influential Oni to devour. That Oni was my hero. 

Clad in a silk, white yukata, I lathered myself with rose water, at the center of  the ceremonious hut. Freshly plucked lilies cloaked the lingering scent of dried blood. Cinnamon marked my skin, tanned from working endless hours in the fields. Lavender candles surrounded the ritualistic circle.

I poured the chocolate sauce, watery from wine, onto my head. It dribbled down, like muddy rain. Oni-sama had a sweet tooth. Despite being a thousand year old entity, Oni-sama had Her cute points. 

I hummed a little tune as I fiddled  with my carrot earrings. The  carrots were carved into hearts and a green stem was used to tie the tops to my ears. 

The chocolate sauce was sticky on my skin, but I didn’t mind. I tucked my knees into my chest, as I dropped honey onto my feet. The sugary syrup covered my tiny toes, and puddled on the ground like yellow, translucent slime. 

Restlessly, I slapped my honey-coated feet on the floorboards. 

When will She come? 

I waited almost my whole life for this. 

Then the candles were blown out. Night wind kissed my goose-bump riddled skin as the massive doors were pushed by a pair of crimson arms. A grin stretched my face. She was even more breath-taking in person. 

Warts speckled her crimson skin. White hair, bushy tendrils, cascaded down her bulky back, covered by a kimono of bone. Shark fangs, almost as sharp as her glass-like horns, jutted out of her mouth. Two pairs of ochre lizard eyes blinked down at me. 

“Hi there, Oni-sama! I’ve been waiting for you!” I chirped. 

She sized me up and stepped back a bit. 

“You have?” She arched her fuzzy brows. 

Her voice was like the scratching of a chalk-board. Beautiful. Or maybe it seemed beautiful because of how much I loved Her. Love was blind and deaf, afterall….I was always a too romantic for my good as my step-mother had politely put it. 

I nodded with all the excitement of a puppy about to get a belly rub. 

“Well this is different from usual, I must say,” She tapped her with a black talon.

“Well I’m not a usual girl,” I just giggled  

 I was always the odd one in my village! Filth and the occult had appealed to me rather than cause fright.  Most maidens would be howling their lungs out or pleading for mercy. But not me. Never me. 

Then I opened my arms for her. Come Hither. 

She skeptically walked to me, like a guest uncertain they entered the right house. 

“Why are you so..enthusiastic?” She hesitantly sat down cross-legged across from me. 

For a Demon, she sure had a lot of human mannerisms. 

I laughed for a bit, “Do you remember when you drowned that couple in Minori Lake ten years ago?” 

She bit her crusty lips, “Yes…” 

I still remember that fateful day. A distressed  housewife had dashed to me while I was sowing seeds, and wept that my parents had been drowned by Oni-sama. I collapsed on my aching feet and began to cry, cry more than I ever had in my entire life. That day, I didn’t sob from despair or hopelessness. No, it was utter relief. 

“Well they were parents...Everyday, they would treat me like a mule, pull my hair and make me work on the fields, from dawn to dusk...I cried so much. I..I was so lonely and everyone ignored me...But you drowned them and my life became so happy. The priest's family took me in and they treated me like their own daughter...You gave me the most content years of my life...You saved me...And I just want to return the favour,” I said. 

Her eyes widened at that. A 

“But I didn’t do it for you…”She replied, “They were vandalizing my territory.” 

“So what? Even if it wasn’t your intention, that doesn’t change the fact that you saved me.” 

I crawled onto her inviting lap and cradled her face. Her breath was putrid and pungent, like fish left to rot in the sun for two weeks. 

“I just want to give my saviour a delightful feast for helping me...That isn’t too much to ask, right?” I purred.

For a while she just stared as I stroked her shiny fangs. 

Then she extracted my hand and laughed. Her harsh cackle, demonic thunder, bounced the walls, and curled up my spine in joy. I was pleasing her. I was the source of that additive laugh. 

“You know what? You’re insane- I like that in a human,” She stroked my hair, with all the affection of a puppy, “I want to keep you around.” 

She twisted and wiggled her upper right hand and started to chant. I observed her as she summoned a weapon. A broad blade, a thin wedge of metal, used for beheading fish in the market, appeared.The steel glistened under the moonlight. 

“Help, prepare my human meals for me, alright?”She handed me the weapon, “Help me hunt for humans.” 

I blinked at the offer then wrapped my arms over her thick neck . This was even better than what I expected! 

“It would be my pleasure Oni-sama!” 

Now we can be together forever! 

With a smile, She kissed my neck and bit into it. I simply flinched as her venom entered my  bloodstream, filling me with ancient power. Then she removed herself and revealed a black, flower markings pressed to my collarbone. I touched my marking, more Holy and eternal than any wedding vow. 

“This will keep other demons off of you, if they dare come for you,” She shrugged and circled her work. 

I simply rubbed against her palm. 

“Don’t worry Oni-sama, I won’t let them come near me...They’ll regret it, even if they try.” 

She chuckled at that, “You really are one interesting human. Are you ready to spend an eternity with me girl?” 

“I was born ready,” I nodded. 

With a warm smile, she  carried me in her arms, as if I weighed less than a feather. I curled up against her, content tears streaming down my cheeks. 

I expected to be Dead and in her stomach, but now here I was, spending a Eternity helping her prepare  her meals.