text: (WP) Everybody Wants to Rule the World She didn’t remember much about being human, but she remembered love, or at least, the echo of it. That warmth that climbed into an almost unbearable heat, that all encompassing desire that resulted from a smile from the other person. But to even think of it was like trying to remember a dream after you awoke; there were a few key details, but it was so blurry that she didn’t like to think of it. It had been centuries since she’d been human, and anyway, what was humanity in comparison to godlike power? Now, she was uncontrolled, accountable to only herself. She’d crushed civilizations like dust in her fingers, collapsed societies with a flick of a wrist. But these memories, distant as they were, were a reminder: Though she wasn’t human anymore, she wasn’t unstoppable. Not completely. There was a way to control her, and invoke her power, but she would be damned all over again if she was going to let anyone control her for anything. She was a demon, true, but she still had free will. Many had tried to seduce her, claim her, but none had come close. Until now, when a man and woman stood in the chamber in which she’d died, reading an incantation that was older than time, compelling her essence into their plane of existence. As strong as she was, she could not ignore such a summons: Dissolving into glittering, navy smoke, she found herself trapped within a bright red circle, its corners etched with shining demonic runes. The pair outside of it exchanged bright smiles, manic in their victory. “I told you it would work! Her Dark Unholiness, The Demoness Who Shatters Worlds, Temperance! We summon you here!” How ironic was it, that her name was fucking *Temperance* and she was one of the universe’s most powerful forces of evil? It was beyond ironic; it was pathetic. If she ever found the unlucky demon who’d unearthed her human name, she would disembowel them and use their guts as garters. Taking a lithe human form with dark skin, long black curls, and scarlet eyes, the color of rage and blood, she tilted her head to the side, studying the pair who’d dared brave her presence. “What do you humans want? I’m not immune to flattery, of course, but you must know you cannot hope to control me.” “That’s not what the book said,” A woman’s voice broke through the haze of smoke, calm and more than a little arrogant. “The book said that there was a way to control you.” Temperance said nothing, keeping her face impassive. This wouldn’t be the first time a couple of reckless, curious humans found the book that detailed her birth, powers, and weakness. But she wasn’t about to give them the answers. They should’ve thought of that before demanding she come here. “The book said,” The woman continued, smiling wickedly, “that we had to make you fall in love to control you.” Where was the harm in letting them try? No one had ever succeeded before.