#great devil Caron | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

archangelmacaron · 11 months ago

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YES, I HAVE UPDATED! It's been almost a full year, which is wild. I had accidentally deleted the entire ending I had drafted out, which really put a damper on wanting to finish this. But I got over it, and we should be on track to complete this soon enough! HOWEVER, since it HAS been so long, I have created a summary so you don't have to re-read everything (unless you'd like to!) Spoilers under cut!

19 year old college student Noel Cerquetti is starting her first year at Lhaplus College of the Arts… again.

The semester is coming to a close, and all first year music students are competing for not just the best grade in finals, but the position of pianist at the city’s yearly devil cleansing ceremony. Noel is certain she’s going to win when she realizes that her finals recording has been switched with another student. When she goes to complain to Dean Burrows, she’s instead told to withdraw from the music program entirely by Monday, or be expelled and blacklisted.

Noel decides to drink her woes away for the night. Unfortunately, Jillian has a date, so she heads back to the apartment they share with the volatile artist Spica alone. Spica warns Noel about her art project on the floor before going to her boyfriend’s for the night. Noel thinks nothing of the painted red runic circle as she sips vodka on the couch until, just before midnight, Spica’s stereo clicks on at max volume. Stumbling to get the remote to silence it, something falls off the end table and shatters—and Noel is no longer alone.

The Great Devil Caron has appeared, and is not too pleased at the first ever accidental summoning. He tells Noel he’ll let the insult slide if she’s also able to give him a reason to be there. Noel is too wary to make a demonic contract, but she explains the issue she’s having to him. When she stands up to fetch evidence of Spica’s set-up, she falls and lands directly on him—and he realizes that she doesn’t have legs.

Noel explains that she was hit by a drunk driver the previous year and ended up losing both legs. Caron immediately suspects that the accident is linked to what Noel is currently going through. He points out that Spica was almost certainly expecting that he would kill her, and thus Noel’s life is currently in danger once more. He offers to protect her and work with her to solve the mystery, but Jillian’s homecoming interrupts the discussion.

Noel wakes up the next day to Caron sitting in her bed, reading her diary. He smugly informs her that she agreed to a contract while black out drunk after having more wine with Jillian. Noel has the strange impression that he’s lying, but decides to take him at face value and work with him to find out who wants her dead, and why.

They hide in the attic in hopes of convincing Spica that she might have been successful after all. While there, they discover old yearbooks that show a pattern of dying students all in the first year piano class who had been predicted to be the next ceremonial pianist. Noel suspects that the ceremony itself is the key, and agrees to take Caron to the college library that night to search for more information.

They head over in the unusual, bitter cold at nightfall. Caron goes to break in the building when Noel is caught by her friend Fugo Dressel, who is helping his brother Oscar out by taking a security shift. Caron knocks him out and is prepared to leave him there, but Noel begs him not to, so he carries him into the library as well.

The pair is searching for a key to the basement archives when Fugo wakes up and attacks, revealing that he’s a demon who has made a devil’s contract. He warns Noel that devils always lie and that she’s in danger—but provides a great deal of that danger himself by angrily hurling fire around the room. Oscar Dressel appears and brings an end to the fight, sending Noel and Caron to meet up with them at his house later as he prepares to hide the cause of the fires.

While waiting for the brothers to return, Noel and Caron talk. Noel realizes he was injured trying to put out the fires because she’d said she didn’t want to cause any destruction. She’s confused as to why he would do that for her, and he’s confused as to why she starts crying over it. Through this discussion, they begin to understand each other a bit better. Jillian’s phone call interrupts them, and Noel tells her where they are without thinking. Jillian declares that she’s heading over as Caron groans at more people getting involved.

The Dressel brothers arrive on a short break in their now extended security shift. Noel explains what’s going on. Oscar tells her that the books they were looking for aren’t even in the library anymore, but had been taken to the performance hall. Fugo is less calm about the situation, and asks Noel if she actually remembers making a contract with Caron. She admits that she doesn’t, but before she can ask him what he means, he and Oscar need to return to work.

While waiting for Jillian to arrive next, Caron admits that he is lying to Noel, but won’t explain what or why just yet. Despite this, he asks her to trust him. She says that she can’t just yet, but that she will choose to believe in him.

Jillian arrives, and Noel begins to explain what’s happening once more. Upon hearing that Noel is involved with a devil, Jillian begins to have a panic attack, which worsens when Caron appears. She faints after taking medication, and they carry her to the guest room upstairs. Noel is exhausted and knows Caron must be as well, but there’s only one guest room left. She suggests they share it, and he agrees.

While preparing for bed, Caron offers Noel his shirt to sleep in. At that moment, she realizes that she is extremely attracted to him, and that’s at least part of why she feels strangely around him. While in bed, without her prosthetic legs, she admits out loud that clearly, she does trust him. He thanks her, and after a sly comment, she realizes that he’s flirting with her. She confesses to flirting back, and the two laugh and begin to cuddle. As she falls asleep, Noel realizes she’s very happy to be with him, even though the relationship is moving so quickly.

Jillian awakens the next morning and learns that Fugo also wants to get Caron away from Noel. They decide to work together, and plan to go to the Performance Hall to find a book on devil exorcism. Jillian goes to speak to Noel and walks in on her wearing only Caron’s shirt. After an awkward conversation, Jillian leaves, and Noel heads back to bed for a little more sleep while Caron does research on her smartphone.

Jillian and Fugo head through an unusual morning fog to the Performance Hall, which is empty and in the midst of a power outage. Fugo takes a brief moment to confront Jillian about her devotion to Noel, telling her that she needs to live her own life. At first, Jillian is angry, but she starts to realize that he really cares about her as a friend and wants her to be happy. They easily find the devil tomes from the library, but Jillian realizes that she won’t be able to read any of them—they’re all written in infernal script. Fugo leaves her there to meet up with Oscar briefly and return the campus keys he’s stolen. Jillian is distracted by a strange blue and white book, but before she can touch it, Dean Burrows appears.

The Dean calmly explains to Jillian that Noel is lying to her, and that the story of an accidental summoning is nonsense. He tells her that Noel is in great danger from Caron, but that he considers it his duty as Dean to help save Noel. Jillian is convinced, and sends text messages to Noel asking her to take a certain path to the Performance Hall. Once done, Dean Burrows takes her phone and smugly admits that he’s lied about everything. He tells Jillian he needs her to perform a ceremony for him that night, and that he’s taking Noel as a hostage to be sure she behaves before he locks her in the room.

Jillian panics again, but this time faints from hyperventilating rather than her medication. She has a strange dream of resting on a large man’s lap as he strokes her hair and reassures her that her mistakes are not insurmountable. When she wakes up, the door has mysteriously opened and Fugo is there. She tells him of Burrow’s plan to attack Noel, and they hurry out to try and find her before it’s too late.

Noel and Caron are heading to the Performance Hall when Noel is grazed by a bullet and Caron is injured. They manage to mislead their attacker, and end up in the Performance Hall as a sudden thunderstorm hits. Without thinking, Noel kisses Caron. He heals Noel, but as payment, he bites her, leaving an affectionate mark. They hear piano playing upstairs, and head to the ballroom where they meet with Professor Becker.

Professor Becker explains to Noel that Caron was responsible for her accident. He had made a contract with the driver that made him unable to make his own choices, and Professor Becker had ordered him to hit Noel with his car. Noel denies Professor Becker’s reading of the situation and scolds her for using Caron’s devil’s morals to dodge her own responsibility in the man’s death. Professor Becker then explains her own contract with Caron that had removed her emotions, but Noel is still able to declare that she trusts Caron regardless of what he’s done in his past. The professor goes on to explain that the pair don’t even have a contract, and that Caron has been using her to find the tomes with his summoning circle inside. He confesses that it’s true, but denies her allegations that he is planning on destroying and discarding Noel. Noel once again makes the choice to trust him.

Spica appears with a mind controlled Ribelio and an electric weapon that is able to knock Caron out. They take Noel’s phone, and Professor Becker leaves, telling Spica to do whatever she wants with them as long as Noel stays alive. Spica tortures them for a while, and admits to Noel that she’s jealous of her because she doesn’t understand who she is or where she came from. She continues to shock Caron, and orders Ribelio to tear out Noel’s eye. At her second order, to pull off an arm, Ribelio is able to break the mind control briefly, and while Spica is dealing with him, Caron moves to cover Noel with his own body. He apologizes for not being able to get them out of the situation, and she tells him that she loves him. He says he doesn’t understand why, everything is moving so quickly, but she is everything to him.

Jillian and Fugo arrive back at the Performance Hall due to another sudden, intense storm. They’re able to charge Fugo’s phone at a battery stand. He has received a message from Noel’s phone. They’re both immediately suspicious, and when they hear a loud crash, Fugo heads to investigate while telling Jillian to call Oscar as soon as the phone has enough battery.

Fugo arrives in the ballroom and is quickly attacked by Ribelio and Spica. His opinion on Caron flips completely as he realizes he’s using his own badly hurt body to protect Noel. Jillian appears and is able to hit Spica with Fugo’s phone. Oscar appears, knocking Ribelio out, and orders Jillian, Noel and Caron escape.

The trio head to the local hotel, which is in the off-season, and set up in an empty room on the top floor. Jillian and Caron argue over him needing a price to heal Noel, and she suggests he take it from her, instead. Caron refuses, stating that Jillian belongs to someone else, and asks her if she’s aware of who stands behind her. Unsure what he means, Jillian leaves to get supplies.

Caron heals Noel, but is unable to save her eye. He tells her that she can pay in installments, and hints that he’d like her to kiss him again. She scolds him that it’s unfair as she wanted to do that anyway. They’re able to discuss Caron’s reasons for searching for the tomes to find a new kind of person to summon him instead of the same boring requests. He admits what actually happened their first night together, and how her first offhand comment of “I need help” and wariness to make an actual contract, followed by a later drunken ‘thank you,’ showed that she wasn’t like his usual contractors—exactly what he was looking for. They bond for a bit before taking a romantic bath together.

Meanwhile, Oscar and Fugo interview a now-conscious Ribelio. He explains how he came to be under Spica’s mind control, and that the woman isn’t a devil, but isn’t quite human, either, having strange powers and growing up to an adult in a terrifyingly short amount of time. He informs them that Spica and Burrows have some kind of relationship, and that he’s the reason they’re now both college students, but that he has no idea what they have planned.

Jillian is engaged in some serious self loathing during her supply run in the cold rain, finally admitting to herself that Caron really does love Noel, and that her feelings towards her will never be requited. She’s drowning in misery when the mysterious stranger from her dream appears again, gently chiding her to warm up. She obediently gets coffee and hands him some as well, which he drinks, revealing that he truly is there and is not a dream. He begins to escort her back to the hotel as she asks him questions, and unexpectedly says his name; revealing him as the Eternal Devil Caesar, who says he is there to save her life as Head Security Officer Jino and others approach.

At the hotel, Noel has a vivid nightmare that she has committed a devil summoning, and her limbs are ripped off. She realizes that in her dream, Caron was the one to do it, and decides not to tell him the details as he comforts her. The Dressel brothers have arrived. Oscar discusses the strange weather and points out that his radio is no longer working, but Fugo interrupts, pointing out that Jillian has now been gone for three hours. At that moment, there’s a knock, and they open the door to reveal Jillian and Caesar.

Jillian helps Noel get dressed as she quickly explains how she ran into Caesar, and how, despite him being a devil who knows far more than he should, she’s completely unafraid of him. They join everyone in the main room and begin to discuss what has happened so far.

Caesar explains what he knows of Dean Burrow’s plans. He tells them that Jillian and Noel are being targeted specifically because of an innate talent they have that gives their piano playing the power to summon or cleanse devils. He offers Noel sheet music that can expel all devils in Lhaplus, which she adamantly refuses, and says that she won’t lose Caron again. Everyone is confused by her phrasing, but when she tries to deny it as having simply misspoke, Caesar explains that it is not the case, and that Noel is beginning to remember things that she should not.

He tells them that this is not their first meeting, and that, in another world, Noel had summoned Caron when tricked into a contract, and that Caron had removed her limbs as payment. Noel begins to flash back to her nightmare, and starts to have a panic attack as she loses feeling in her hands. Caesar is able to stop her panic attack as he had for Jillian and continues to explain their first meeting. Noel had been seeking vengeance on Burrows in that world, and to stop her, Jillian had summoned Caesar. He explains how curious he had found Jillian’s choice to give up her five senses to save Noel, and how strong Noel and Caron, who had been the one to mutilate her, had become together. He tells them he had abandoned his contract with Jillian because of that, and should have been destroyed for it.

Instead, Caesar found himself wandering from world to world, always observing Jillian. In one world, Jillian called out his name as she was dying, despite having no reason to know of him in it. He is unexpectedly moved by her death, and decides to begin interfering in the next worlds to prevent it. He explains that he is not all powerful, and that in using too much power at times, he’s almost been destroyed. He warns Noel, who casually wonders aloud what a peaceful life with Caron would look like, to stop, because she is in danger of causing her mind to overload with memories that aren’t truly hers. Fugo interrupts, and that’s where chapter 36 begins!

#fanfic

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