Chapter One: "A Niffty Little One"
The Golden State of California hosted a melting pot of different cultures, cuisines and languages from around the world. The Great Depression of the 1930s hit families and businesses hard. Many people were out of jobs, some lived in the streets or in debilitated shacks close together. Mexican, European and Asian immigrants were often seen in camps, doing what they could to survive and live through the days. Men, women and sometimes children would help out in the fields and harvest wheat and food. It wasn't uncommon to hear guitar playing or balls being kicked around or a few songs carried out in the desert air in an attempt to lift spirits up.
To make matters worse, a terrible drought spread through the nation in 1930. Crops died from lack of water and harvests failed across farms in the U.S. Thousands went hungry as farms and homes were lost. The former prosperous economic growth and glory of the Roaring Twenties was reduced to memory.
The 1940s would bring about World War 2, more women in the workforce and the internment of thousands of people with Japanese ancestry. For as diverse as California was, racism, sexism and discrimination were still commonplace everywhere.
In the vibrant city of Los Angeles, California, a nifty little girl was born. Her name was Nerissa, born March 22nd, 1929. She was born to her parents: Hiroto and Akemi Nifuti. Her mother, Akemi was from Japan and arrived to Hawaii. Having only met her husband through sent pictures as a picture bride, she and Hiroto got married on the docks of Hawaii. She was disappointed to hear that Hiroto was older and didn't have any luxury cars or clothes. Nevertheless, it was an escape from her family duties back in her home country, so she moved and married him. After working on the plantations for a while, the couple decided to move to California, where they lived in a rural area. Their small house was made of wood that was painted red and white.
Close by their house was a field of wheat, soybeans and tomatoes growing on vines. Or at least, that's how it should've looked during a good harvest. However, the drought had done a number on the family's crops. The beans were small and dried up, the tomatoes hardly growing at all. The family had to be careful about not spending too much money…they made some of it selling their crops at a local farmer's market. Thankfully, their jobs allowed them to keep a house and not go broke. Other families weren't as lucky.
Niffty's father was a farmer and newspaper editor and her mother worked at a sewing factory. Since Niffty's parents were often busy with work, they hired a sitter to take care of her. The sitter was white with brown hair and green eyes, in her early 30s. She would often wear pink dresses with white polka dots on it, her mousey brown hair tied back. Although Michelle Marie Ann was Caucasian, she treated Niffty like she was her own daughter. She watched Niffty crawl, babble, and slowly take her first steps.
"Yay, nice job!" she said in a cooing tone as Niffty took her first steps across the floor before landing in a heap in her lap.
Michelle looked over at Akemi and Hiroto. "She's a fast learner," Michelle remarked. Both parents were pleased. Hiroto then went out to water what was left of the crops, while Akemi sat in a large room to get a head start on some dresses and hats.
Niffty started crying again and Michelle rocked her gently in her lap. Michelle let out a soft sigh and carried her to a bedroom to change her diaper.
Whenever Akemi had time to spend with Niffty, she taught her the Japanese language and etiquette.
Niffty started learning when she was a couple years old. Her mother would sing her songs and tell her stories. The little girl loved every minute of it. Niffty's father would smile passively at them, before returning to work or have some drinks.
Niffty would later learn to write several Japanese characters as well, at least at home or when writing letters to distant family members.
"Hai. Yes," Akemi said, with a nod of her head. Niffty copied the motion. "iie. No." She shook her head, more of a frown on her face, before Niffty copied her.
"Onegai shimasu? What's that?"
Niffty answered. "Please?"
"Very good," Akemi said.
Of course, Niffty had to learn several things the hard way.
"Nerissa! iie!" Akemi scolded when a four year old Niffty had arrived into the house wearing dirty shoes. She pointed back outside and Niffty slumped back out to take her shoes off.
"Nerissa," called her father. "I need your help digging up some dirt out here." Niffty raced out and grabbed a small shovel. She helped her father dig holes and seek out fresh dirt to try and plant seeds.
At dinner time, the family had sushi, onigiri rice balls and grilled chicken skewers called yakitori. Niffty was struggling with holding chopsticks. Hiroto had to chuckle as Niffty's sushi kept slipping from in between the wooden utensils. Niffty reached to pick it up but Akemi stopped her with a glare. Niffty kept her little hand extended, the two members locked in a sort of stare down. Niffty tried using the chop sticks in one hand before both utensils rolled off the table and clattered to the floor. Niffty grabbed the sushi and popped it into her mouth with a giggle. Akemi sighed and slapped her hand to her forehead. Hiroti rolled his eyes and helped himself to more food.
"Nerissa, dear you still have much to learn," her mother said as Niffty bent down to pick up the sticks.
Akemi also showed Niffty the very important duties of cleaning the house and sewing clothing. "I work at a sewing factory," she said. "And more than likely, you're gonna work in a similar job if not the same. Watch closely."
Niffty watched in curiosity as Akemi sat down and worked both a sewing machine and used her own hands. She weaved string of different colors through loops as she moved the sewing needles around in her hands. Niffty practiced on her own, sewing together a hole in a small cotton cap to start with. She fumbled several times but slowly got used to it. Several weeks later, she had made her first scarf.
"Quite impressive," Akemi praised.
Niffty had poked at her fingers several times, but they eventually toughened up. Muscle memory took over in her fingers for many of the tasks she did. The more she performed them, the easier it felt…and the faster she did them. Sewing on buttons, bows and decorations was Niffty's favorite part. It wasn't long before she frequently helped out her mother with sewing and cleaning the house. It became an expectation for years afterward.
"Scrub harder, Nerissa," Akemi said as Niffty learned how to wash dishes. "You need to really get the stains off around the bottom rim of the pot. Like this." She grabbed a sponge and moved it rapidly up and down and in circles. Niffty laughed as she got her hands soapy and wet. On occasion, Akemi would playfully splash her with water. They would have a quick water fight with loud giggles before returning to work.
Cleaning chimneys was Niffty's least favorite hobby. But it was one her father insisted she do. "You'll eventually need to learn it if you ever get a somewhat decent job," he reminded her. Women were working more, but opportunities were still very limited for them.
Using thick dusters and other supplies, she could easily fit into the small space. She hated how dirty she got from the soot and ash. Niffty felt like Cinderella much of the time, from the hard cleaning work she did, to fantasizing about going to a ball and meeting a prince. Imagining herself as a beautiful princess helped pass the time. The water in the wooden wash bin would be black by the time Niffty was done washing herself off. She would scrub her skin for half an hour, trying to get the grime off as much as possible.
Niffty soon she got some exciting news at age six: she was going to school for the first time. She was soon dropped off at Wellis Elementary, a yellow brick building. While at school, Niffty excelled at literature, home economics, art, reading, writing and history. She was also a fast runner in gym class as well. Math and science were subjects she struggled with.
Nifty would spend hours reading the books in the classrooms. She would often be seen eagerly raising her hand to tell the answer. She had to learn to slow down on whatever activity she did…many of the classmates couldn't keep up with her!
"Shorty Jap! Shorty Jap!" jeered a bunch of mean older kids who shoved Niffty to the floor on her way to music. Niffty cried out, tears flowing down her cheeks. A nearby teacher arrived and took her to the nurse's office.
"Just a bruise on your knee but it should heal up in no time," the nurse said as Niffty wiped her tears away.
"Why are they so mean?" she sobbed. "What did I do?"
"Those kids are mean to all the newcomers," the nurse said. "They tend to pick on the little kids in particular."
"But I'm not that little," Niffty said. "I just turned seven!"
"Sorry, I thought you were four."
Niffty lowered her face, black bangs obscuring her forehead. Her face flushed in embarrassment. Her dress was white, her leggings tight and shoes were shiny and black. Her hair was short and black, her eyes dark brown and slanted. Her skin was a light brownish or as some bullies would mock, "yellow." Indeed, Niffty was one of the shortest people in her class. There were rumors about her having a growth stunt, but Niffty had developed physically and mentally at a fast rate. Indeed, she was smarter than many kids her age.
"Don't let them get to you," the nurse said. "Now hurry on back to class."
Fortunately, singing and playing instruments helped Niffty forget about the incident. "I'm gonna be a singer when I grow up!" she declared much to the bemusement of her classmates.
Niffty got home to see Michelle Marie Ann smiling warmly at her, wearing a fluffy lavender dress with a purple bow around her waist. Niffty remembered to leave her shoes outside.
"How was school?" she asked.
"It was fine," she replied in a monotone.
"Only fine? You were so enthusiastic about it earlier."
"Mean kids were mean to me."
"How so? What did they do?"
"They said I was a shorty Jap and shoved me to the ground."
A horrific look crossed Michelle's face. "I'm so sorry, Nerissa," she said.
Her parents shared concerned looks in the distance. Sooner or later, their daughter would have to learn the hard truth about who she was and about the society they lived in.
"It's okay," Niffty said. "I still got to learn new things and do the entire alphabet in English!"
"How wonderful!" Michelle smiled. Niffty was always optimistic, ever the imaginative one. Whenever things got down, Niffty would always see the silver lining in everything.
"What did the kids mean when they said that stuff?"
Michelle sighed, trying to put words together. "Let's just say that many people don't like others who are different."
Before Niffty could ask further, Michelle said," I have a surprise for you, sweetie."
She dug into her dress pocket and pulled out a stuffed animal. Niffty beamed and took the figure and hugged it to her chest. It was a stuffed pink poodle decorated with white polka dots.
"Do you like it?"
"Oh I do I do I do!" Niffty squealed. The two of them shared a warm hug.
After dusting a bookshelf, vacuuming the rugs and polishing several appliances, Niffty soon got ready for bed. Michelle tucked her into bed. Hiroto was passed out on the couch and Akemi was up in her room finishing up outfits to sell.
"Can you read me a story?" Niffty asked.
"Of course my dear," Michelle answered. "Which one?"
Niffty pointed to an orange picture book. "That's one of my favorites."
Michelle picked it up and read the title. "Princess Hachikazuki."
Niffty cuddled up in her sitter's lap as Michelle began. It was like she was transported to another world.
In the story, Lord and Lady Sanetaka prayed to the bodhisattva of mercy to give them an heir. The beautiful princess was born. The mother became sick and before she passed away, she placed a bowl on the princess's head. The princess threw herself in a river when people laughed at her but soon, a prince fell in love with her. Although her rival stepsisters tried to separate them, Hachikazuki's bowl came off of her head, allowing her to win a ladies contest. The couple happily married and the princess was reunited with her father.
"Oh I just love happy endings!" Niffty beamed as Michelle closed the book.
A year later, Michelle told her a story that seemed to stay with her. It would be the last story the sitter ever told.
"Read me a story, please?" Niffty asked.
"But it's your bed time, Nerissa," she said. "You're getting old for this, according to your parents."
"Please? Please? Please?" the little girl pleaded with shining eyes.
Michelle gave in with a smile. She knew Niffty would always be a child at heart. "Alright, but just one."
She cleared her throat.
"Once upon a time in a vast kingdom, there lived a beautiful blonde haired princess. She lived in a palace with her father and mother, the king and queen. While she was there, she was taught how to sing, play the violin, dance and how to rule with a firm hand. The king and queen loved to perform for their subjects. They would host grand balls for the nobility and invite the well-off to join the fun. There were jesters, jugglers, and an array of delicious food for them to enjoy. All in all the princess was very happy, surrounded by the music."
"But as she got older, she learned more about the land she was in. Her father had enforced strict rules on his subjects, and for good reason. Although the peasants, knights, shop owners and caretakers worked hard, they also fought a lot. It wasn't uncommon for farmers to fight over crops, or fellow knights to raid churches and villages. Disease also spread rapidly."
"One day, the princess saw a horrific sight. Soldiers from a rival kingdom arrived and mercilessly slaughtered the citizens! The knights in armor were no match for the guns. After the damage had been done, those who remained had to dispose of the dead and start over, always in fear that they would come again."
"Father," cried the princess. "How could you let this happen?!"
"My army is no match for the soldier's guns," he replied. "They invade and kill my people for the sake of it. But there is nothing that can be done. Perhaps the troublesome workers deserved their fate."
"Mother!" the princess cried. "Can't you do something as well? Those poor people suffer every day out there!"
But the queen was busy deciding which dress to wear for the next performance.
The princess tried to talk to the people around her, offering to help in any way she could. Many of them laughed and mocked her.
"A secluded princess trying to help us out?" they asked. "Who does she think she is? She doesn't know anything at all."
Fortunately, the princess befriended a woman warrior to help her out. The woman could live off the land and use any kind of weapon, but she had a bad temper at times. The princess had an idea.
"What if I run a refuge place to help travelers and my people get along? If not that, then at least, the poor would have a place to stay." Her warrior friend agreed to help, provided she not get too optimistic about the iffy plan. The king and queen used some of their money to build the building by the trading route, just so they could focus on their own hobbies. They, too, didn't agree with her ideas. The princess was saddened by her ignorant parents.
One traveler soon arrived, a man who smoked, drank and often ran around nude. He slept with women and men alike. He was a reckless fighter as well, and had almost died fighting off rival knights on the battlefield. The princess happily welcomed him in, but the warrior wasn't as pleased. It was slow going, but it was a start.
Now, the king had many lords and men in his inner circle. One of them was a man who lived in the woods and hunted deer. He often wore a dark cloak and carried a staff with a deer skull on it. But he was also a devious trickster. He was feared throughout the land because of his great skill in dark sorcery. Many people had fallen prey to his curses, poor and wealthy alike…he loved making deals.
When the sorcerer saw that the princess was opening the place of refuge, he decided to check it out. He already had a plan to get to know the members of the royal family…having a secret grudge against them. Before he did, he gathered two people to his side. One of them was a strong muscular fighter…and the best gambler in town.
"Your skills in gambling and fighting are second to none," the sorcerer said, soon gathering up lies. "I could use a strong hand like you. Those horrible soldiers killed my wife and children and I'm worried that I'll be next."
"I'm not helping you," the gambler scoffed as he drank more booze and drinks. "Why didn't you use your magic?"
"The soldiers weren't affected by it and now…I'm left with nothing..."
"But if you work for me, I'll give you more drinks and money. Plus if you're looking for a nicer place to stay, the princess has a refuge center not too far from here."
Reluctantly, the gambler shook the sorcerer's hand and followed him.
Later, the sorcerer spotted a maid who was cleaning chimneys and caring for a bunch of children.
"You look like you're pretty busy," the sorcerer said. "Cleaning the same dirty place all the time sounds boring."
"It is," the maid said. "And lonely. There are no handsome men around either."
The sorcerer then spoke in a smooth seductive tone. "It doesn't have to be this way. Why, if you help me out, I'll provide you with a clean house and introduce you to the most handsome of men in the kingdom. I'll be your first friend if you wish."
The maid eagerly shook his hand, and the trio went off to the hotel. Once they arrived, the princess welcomed them in with open arms.
"I'd love to help out with your place, your majesty," the sorcerer said with an elegant bow. "Trying to make people better…that's near impossible, but hey, it's worth a shot."
The sorcerer charmed the princess with dances and magic tricks. With a snap of his fingers, the place was repaired and clean. She soon became attracted to him. The man even made a splendid dinner for everyone to enjoy.
"He's untrustworthy," the warrior woman warned the princess. "I'm your best friend but please be careful."
"Don't worry," the princess said. "I can take care of myself." She hoped that her plan would work…and hoped she could prove herself worthy to her parents.
Then, on the next fateful day…"
"Nerissa!" called Akemi from down the hall. "It's time to go to sleep!"
"She's right," Michelle said as she closed the book in a heart stopping snap.
"Awww, Michelle! Mother! You can't stop there! We were getting to the good part!"
"Maybe another time," said Michelle as she tucked Niffty into bed. "Good night, dear." Michelle's footsteps grew fainter as she left the room.
Nifty stared at the starry sky and the full moon though her window. "Maybe my dreams will come true someday," she sang softly to herself with a smile and a look of longing.
"A dream is a wish, my heart makes
When I'm fast asleep.
In dreams, I will lose my heartaches
Whatever I wish for, I keep
"Have faith in dreams and someday
My rainbow will come smiling through
No matter how my heart is grieving
If I keep on believing
The dream that I wish will come true."
Niffty yawned after she finished the song and settled into sleep.
Yellow Peril: Chinese workers arrive to U.S. mid 19th century, restricted to railroads and mines. Anti-Chinese groups worked to pass laws to limit Asian American equality with whites. Like Irish, Italians, Chinese and Japanese were viewed as threats to "racial purity" and a source of economic competition.
1886-1924 peak: People immigrating from Japan to find work to survive. Many arrived on Hawaiian Islands, moving to the West Coast. Immigrants selecting brides from their immigrant countries via a matchmaker who paired them only using pictures and family recommendations. Some women choose to be picture brides to escape familial duties and seek economic growth. Some came to Hawaii because it was a trend. Picture brides immigrated to the U.S. to be with husbands. Men would often pose in pictures with cars and items they did not own.
Nakodo: go between/match maker who looks at status, age, wealth of bride
Pucture brides had to go through immigration inspections. They would meet their soon to be husbands and attend a wedding ceremony on the docks.
Reality: older grooms living in racially segregated plantations
Plantation workers, many Japanese women. Irrigated and weeded the fields, stripped cane of dry leaves, or cut seed cane. Women were also expected to take care of the house, cooking, cleaning, sewing and raising children. Many women moved to Honolulu to start their own businesses.
Values instilled to children included filial piety, obligation to community and authority, reciprocal obligation, importance of hard work, frugality, drive for success (seiko).
Some married husbands were abusive or alcoholic or tried to sell women into brothels but many wives stayed for their children. Wives who eloped could be sent back to Japan.
No passports to picture brides in 1920.
Naturalization Act of 1870: revoking citizenship to Chinese Americans
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: stopped immigration from China
Japanese workers recruited, triggering a rapid increase in population.
Immigration Act of 1924: banned Japanese and Chinese from entering U.S.
Japantowns (Nihonmachi) in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle etc. community groups organized charity events and set up shops separate from whites, Japanese language schools.
Pearl Harbor attack 1941: led the United States into World War 2. Americans, French, England, unified to fight against Germany, Japan and Italy.
Kamikaze suicide bombings, Pearl Harbor, Baatan Death March, American POWs killed by Imperial Japanese forces
"Jap hunting licenses" Japanese forced to move away and close their businesses.
Stereotype of Japanese and schools as loyal to the emperor of Japan, promoting racial superiority and violent fighting skills.
1942: Japanese incarcerated in camps "War Relocation Camps" western U.S, 1942-1946 "one blood drop rule"
Jan 1942: immigrants required to have certificates and IDs on them
Unfavorable reports of Japanese action noticed by the U.S. government, (Pearl Harbor, Invasion of China 1931).
Thin barracks with little room for privacy, barbed wire fences and guards.
(shikata ga nai) "It cannot be helped." School lessons only taught in Englsih. Dust storms, cramped living conditions. There was baseball, bands and recreation.
Internment ends 1945/1946
Japanese businesses, homes and places of worship were destroyed with vandalism, gunshots and explosives. Some people were shot in the camps while others died from lack of medical care.
Niffty lives her life as a Japanese American woman and teenager in the 1950s. She is little, with short black hair and pale skin. She is born in the 1920s…on March 22 (VA birthdate), 1929 (Year of the Snake)! Being the same age as Vaggie when she died at age 22, Niffty died in 1951. She is a human named Nerissa Nifuti (after the maid. Her last name is Niffty in Japanese).
March 22 1929: Niffty's birth in Los Angeles, California, as Nerissa Nifuti. (Capital city based on New Orleans, New York and Las Vegas populous cities of the former homelands of the other characters)
1930: age 1
1931: age 2
1932: age 3
1933: age 4
1934: age 5
1935: age 6
Niffty briefly lives with her parents in a rural area. Picture bride mother who arrived from Japan and to Hawaii and worked on a plantation, older alcoholic father who lived in Hawaii.
1930s: Niffty learns to walk and talk and speak Japanese and English. She always removes her shoes whenever she enters her home and other buildings. She is fast in almost everything, crawling early, babbling early, very talkative and quick on her feet. Niffty is a fast learner as well, often ahead of her class. Niffty learns best by working with her hands. Niffty develops her love of reading and writing.
At some point, Niffty's father becomes abusive to both of them but Niffty's mother has to stay to uphold her family honor.
1936: age 7 Niffty starts school. Niffty is often chided for talking so fast and not being passive
Niffty is bullied in Weill school for her heritage and short height. Niffty excels at literature, running, music, singing, arts and crafts, reading and writing, but not at math, sports, science or history.
1937: age 8 With being a good housewife instilled in her at an early age, Niffty begins to clean and cook and sew early on, while also looking for the perfect husband in the future.
1938: age 9
1939: age 10 World War 2 begins
Niffty reads mangas and starts writing her own stories while maintaining a clean house for her family. They also have a black poodle named Michelle.
1940: age 11
1941: age 12
1942: age 13
1942: Year of Death. Niffty and her parents are sent to an internment camp. Manzanar Relocation Center. Niffty's father is shot for trying to escape and her mother dies of an illness at an infirmary. The walls are thin and barracks are overcrowded.
1943: age 14
1944: age 15 Niffty is often surrounded by the stench of death. She eats like an animal and longs to be free.
1945: age 16
Niffty's father is shot for trying to escape and her mother falls ill and dies in a makeshift infirmary. Niffty remains in the camp until 1945, finishing schooling and joining the band. Niffty has to live with several other families and children in cramped spaces. The lessons were only taught in English. Niffty falls in love with several boys. Niffty meets one nice one but he eventually leaves with his family, leaving Niffty behind.
Niffty returns to her home town with nothing to return to. She finds Japanese businesses, homes and places of worship destroyed with vandalism, gunshots and explosives.
By sheer luck, she is able to live and work for an upper class white family as a maid, cook and a person who sews their clothes. The mother is racist toward her but not the father nor the older sister, who tolerate her.
1946: age 17 Niffty is visited by Alastor through a radio. He offers her mangas, appreciation for her work and a new "perfect" boyfriend/husband, plus a radio. She agrees to help him out later on, but she gets more than what she bargained for.
1947: age 18 Niffty gets married to her boyfriend but still works for the family.
1948: age 19 Niffty's husband starts hitting on Niffty's white adoptive sister. Niffty's adoptive parents make her do even more work since she is so good at it. Niffty's fanfictions are read by others and starts attracting horny older men.
1949: age 20
1950: age 21 Niffty's husband beats and violates her, though Niffty still remains in love with him. She lets him violate her, feeling more and more broken and helpless. One part lasted three hours, leaving her feeling sticky and disgusting.
Niffty asks the radio for advice and it influences her to do evil things. Jealous of her adoptive sister's beauty and attention to her husband, Niffty kills her and cleans up the mess, serving her flesh in meat pies to neighbors.
During one evening on the streets, a horrified Niffty glances at a man violating a corpse of a woman and stabs him to death. She darts away before she can be caught.
1951: age 22 The trauma Niffty faces catches up and she snaps. Niffty kills her husband as he tried to rape and stab her and sets his house on fire. At the same time, she cries over the loss of him. She writes about it in a journal, which is discovered by the mother. This draws attention to the police, the father had called them earlier.
Niffty gets cornered by police inside her home. One of them is a relative of her husband. Niffty tries to run but gets shot three times in the thigh. Before anyone could do anything, the officer picks her up and tosses her into a burning fireplace, where she dies.
1951: Niffty arrives in Hell, lost and overwhelmed. One demon, a black spider named Rhapso hires her to work at a clothing Emporium. Niffty is beaten and chided for every little mistake she makes, every loose thread, driving her toward perfection like in life. Niffty also has to clean her boss's room and cook meals. Out of sheer spite, Niffty steals and wears an elegant dress made of black swan feathers, sizing it down to fit her small body. Her boss threatens to roast her in the furnace but as she is immune to fire says "Let's say you're in deep hot water, brat."
Niffty is thrown into the burning lake as punishment. Niffty plunges to the bottom of the lake, unable to breach the surface as sinners sink to the bottom instead of floating like in regular water. Though Niffty can survive in hot places, the heat and pressure becomes uncomfortable. There are also fiery underwater monsters to avoid. Niffty often has nightmares of her boyfriend sending her into an icy lake to drown, or watching her parents suffer at the internment camp. There is no way for her to interact with the world, make friends and no one to fall in love with. She dreaded having to be forcefully pulled from the surface by her boss and be forced to work more long shifts.
Until one demon is alerted by her presence…
After having signed the contract on Earth, Niffty's presence is sensed by Alastor's shadow. The shadow reaches in and picks up Niffty, the little demon gasping for breath. Then, she meets Alastor. Alastor reminds Niffty of the deal she had made in the living world and invites her to shake his hand to seal it. Niffty is eager to do so, already enamored by the Radio Demon's charm.
Niffty's boss comes back and demands Niffty go back to work, but Alastor says he would take Niffty instead. Niffty sets her boss and store on fire for revenge, entertaining Alastor. Niffty calls herself Niffty.
Niffty soon works for Alastor, making his meals, cleaning his cabin-like lair underground (Deer's Den) (plus his above ground smaller radio studio cabin), sewing voodoo dolls and tailoring his suits. She also is handy in fighting as she is immune to fire, speedy, skillful with her hands and can fit into small places. In exchange, Alastor gives her a place to stay, money, some journals and clothing for her hobbies, plus voodoo creatures for her to eat and play with.
Niffty is soon summoned from the fireplace and gets to work cleaning the hotel rooms and helping make meals for the hotel residents. Niffty writes erotic fanfiction and sews in her spare time. Along with Husk, Niffty protects Alastor and helps kill his enemies.
Niffty starts an Instagram account under the name babyfeatherduster. She is seen posing at Alastor's feet, hanging out with Husk and trying to take Alastor's picture. People mistake her for a child, even though she is in her 20s.
Niffty's true intentions would eventually be revealed. Niffty seeks to be doted on by lots of men, and she lives in a fantasy world of her own. And she'll use any means necessary to make the world of Hell her own. (she might manipulate men into sleeping with her). Niffty shares traits with Charlie from Always Sunny. Niffty loves erotic stuff and that includes fanfictions, pictures and maybe spying on nude men. She has pica, eating stuff like spiders and fabric. Although Niffty likes to get lost in fantasy and romance, she may be the most socially aware member of the group. She can also manipulate people and knows about Hell's racist/class driven system. Her delusions of authority and emotions hide a sense of insecurity. Like Charlie from Always Sunny, Niffty is good at sewing, cooking, singing and music.
Chapter One:
Chapter Two:
Chapter Three:
Chapter Four:
Chapter Five:
Chapter Six: