The Lust Ring.
What do I have to say about it? In Lust, if you wanna make it you have to be good at a few things; sex, stripping, escort, pole dancing, more sex and sex. I was never really good with that kind of thing. I mean when I practice in a mirror I'll be okay. But when it came to the real deal I would blurt out embarrassing things like, 'DO YOU WANNA PUT YOUR MOUTH ON MY MOUTH!'. I knew that I had no future if I stayed in Lust.
Which was what brought me to Pentagram City in the Pride Ring. But who was I kidding? It didn't matter if I was the most highly educated demon in hell. I would still be seen as a bottom feeding imp.
Speaking of which, that's me. My name is Aaron. I know it isn't the kind of name that you'd associate with a demon. You'll probably think that I would have a big fancy name like… Beelzebub or Zul.
Anyway, here I am. Eighteen years old and I was on my own. My dad's okay but he knew that if I stayed in the Lust ring I would have no future. Since I was now on my own the best I could do was take what I could get. And that's what I did.
At first I worked at a theme park called Loo Loo land in Greed. And I gotta say it was not as glamorous as the commercials and brochures said it was. The rides, food and entertainment were about as what you'd expect from a place that's a shameless spinoff of Lulu World (which is better and cheaper than Loo Loo Land). Needless to say I didn't stick around long.
I worked as a farm hand for a while in the Wrath Ring. It was a decent job. I loved working outside, I enjoyed working with the animals and I had a sense of accomplishment knowing that I lent a hand in providing food for the other rings. Only problem I had was the hazardous environment. When a flaming twister wiped out half the farm hands I put in my notice immediately.
Which is what brought me to Pride. I called in a few favors and I managed to wrangle myself a decent living space.
It wasn't terrible but it was less shity than my other options but they at least allowed pets. Which allowed me to house my little fluffy demon corgi boi. He may seem like a creature that may tear your face off and eat both your eyes and soul but he's a real sweet pup. That's what people tend to think when he has the head of a dog skull and a pentagram on his forehead.
But what was I gonna do with my life? It's not like my answer was just gonna fall from the sky. And to my surprise… it did. Well not out of the sky but in the wind that blew a flier right in my face. I got it off to get a look at it. It was poorly spelled and had terrible grammar. But I managed to decipher that it said that an assassination company called Immediate Murder Professionals or I.M.P for short was offering job interviews.
This was it. My calling. I had enough weapons knowledge to apply for this business. Plus it said on the flier that it was run by imps like me. So it was a sure shot that I'd be recommended for the job.
I went to the address on the flier and it led me to a part of town called Imp City. A district of Pentagram City that was mostly populated by hell born imps such as myself. I went up to the floor that was written on the flier and went up to the door that said I.M.P on the front.
I opened the door to the office and there was a large table in the middle of the room with three chairs on each side and one chair at each end. And on the other side of the table where I was was a large white board with handwritten charts and writing that said, 'FIX THIS SHIT!' in big letters.
I went to the receptionist's desk and there was a small white sign that said 'out to lunch, so fuck off'. Judging from the sign it looked like whoever worked the front desk was a piece of work. Then again most people down here are always a piece of work.
I took a seat near who I assumed was the boss's office and I put in my earbuds to listen to some music. When the song Root of All Evil finished up an imp peeked out of the office.
"Hey kid!" I heard him yell. I looked at him and he gestured to me to take out my earbuds. When I did as he told me he said, "What do you want kid?"
"Sorry I saw one of your fliers and I'm here to apply for your company." I told him.
He quickly inspects me and says, "Okay come in take a seat." I made my way in his office.
It was dimly lit with the only sources of light being from the cracks in the shades. There was also a lemon tree in the corner that had a small sign that said 'no whores' written on it. Across from me was the boss imp seated at his desk that normal things that you'd put on a desk such as a tape dispenser and a stapler. It also had a picture from that said '#1 bitch' with the word 'boss' scrawled on. It also had a stack of papers with a pentagram paperweight on top. And from the look of the horse figurines, horse posters and hand drawn horse pictures on the wall he seemed to have an interest in horses.
I took a seat across from him and he asked, "You got a name kid?"
"Yes I do. My name is Aaron."
He writes that down on his clipboard. "Okay Aaron, where're you from?"
"I was born and raised in Lust." I replied.
When he said that he was in disbelief. "You're from Lust?" He went into a full laughing fit. "Sorry I just have a hard time believing that. You kinda look like you're the biggest virgin in hell."
"I may be from Lust but I was never cut out for stripping or pole dancing."
He giggled and said, "I understand. Now, what are your references?"
"Well I worked in Loo Loo Land for a bit in Greed. I didn't stay long due to poor work conditions. And I worked as a farm hand in Wrath. It was okay. I just felt that the flaming twisters that constantly tear up the land was a hazard to my health."
When he was done taking notes he asked, "Alright. Last question, have you got any experience with weapons?"
"I do know my way around a revolver and a knife. But I do fancy shotguns and sniper rifles."
This caught his attention. "Oh a sniper huh? I respect that." When he went over his notes he made his decision on my employment status. "As far as I know… your hired kid."
"Really? Thank you so much." I told him as I shook his hand.
"No big deal, youngster. I'm Blitzø, the o is silent."
"What o?"
"Aww thanks kid. Now come in first thing tomorrow and we'll see what you're made of."
I ran back home and got back to my dog. As he looked at me with his usual happy panting face I picked him up and said, "Guess what Fester…. Daddy got the job! I have a chance to prove myself tomorrow that I got what it takes to be an asset to the I.M.P team." I set down Fester. "But I don't inspect you to understand… because you're a dog."
The next day I came into the I.M.P office bright, early and well rested. I was to the brim with excitement. I couldn't wait to start working. Blitzø came up to me and asked if I was ready to meet the others. I kept saying yes over and over again until he told me to calm down.
"Love your energy but save it until the assignment okay?" Blitzø tells me.
"Right, sorry. I'm excited." I replied. "I just wanna say thanks again for giving me a chance. Both me and my dog Fester really appreciate it."
When he heard that I have a dog he said, "Aw you got a dog? Got any pictures?"
I brought up my phone and showed him the pictures of my fluffy boi Fester. "Here he is. He's a demon corgi. He's almost eight months old so he's still a baby."
He cleared his throat and said, "Kay this way Aaron." He led me to the main office and all my future coworkers were there waiting for us.
The other male imp had white freckles on his cheeks. He had white pointy hair leading up to his curvy black and white striped horns. He had a long red thin tail with a quadrilateral barb at the end, as well as lanky digitigrade legs ending in what appears to be cloven red hooves, almost like my legs. Except for my hooves being black instead of red. He had a navy-black coat with red buttons and white cuffs, black pants, a white shirt that had a black turtleneck, a large red bow-tie, and fingerless gloves. Making him look like he might have been in the theater business like a composer.
The female imp was short with a long demonic tail and white markings. She had long black eyelashes that extended beyond the sides of her hair. She had on black lipstick, a simple black choker, a cold-shoulder black crop top with gold buttons where the straps at the top meet the torso piece, torn black pants, fingerless black gloves, and black footwear that does not cover her hoof-like toes.
And there was a female hellhound girl. She had a dog-like muzzle with sharp and pointy teeth and a dark grey nose, red sclera with white irises, white fur with grey patches on her shoulders, a big bushy tail and voluminous grey hair swept to the side to reveal her ear. She is far taller than her coworkers making her easily the tallest. Her outfit was made up of what you'd see a normal goth girl wear, a black choker that had white spikes. Her grey crop top had strings shaped like a star to resemble an inverted pentagram to hold it up. She also wore fingerless gloves and shorts with a crescent moon cut on the right side. She also wears black toeless stockings and was barefoot, due to her digitigrade stance. She had a piercing on her right eyebrow and two piercings in her left ear - in addition, her right ear is torn.
"Guys, I want you to meet our newest employee!" Blitz pushed me forward. "This is Aaron."
"Sup." I greeted.
"Aaron, this Moxxie and Millie." The lady imp waved at me with a smile as she clung to the male imp that I assumed was her husband from the way he was blushing. "And this is my daughter Loona."
"Only on paper!" She reminded him.
"Now be sure he feels welcome and doesn't get killed; we can't afford to hire another replacement. Like what happened with the last one."
When Loona got a look at my horns she was in amazement. I don't normally toot my own horn but my horns are an impressive sight. They resemble moose antlers so they grow to the sides instead of upwards or downwards. And they have three points instead of one.
"Woah. Bet you tore up your mom's clap trap when you came out with these bad boys." She said as she inspected the sharpness of my horns.
"Actually, no." I started to relay the story about my horn display. "My horns were just itty bitty stubs. When I was little you'd have to part my hair to look at 'em. It was like that all throughout middle school. When I got to hell school they just grew like creeper vines. If I don't file down these guy's every now and again I wouldn't even fit through the doorway."
Millie came up to me and said, "Aw aren't you just a little cutie."
"Thank you miss. I sure hope to prove myself here at IMP." I told her.
"You will. For now just practice on your shooting." Blitzø tells. "Moxxie set him up."
Moxxie handed me a revolver and a hunting knife. "Try not to shoot yourself in the foot." He tells me as I holstered the gun and sheathed the knife.
We spent most of the day sorting through paperwork and training me up until we got an assignment. When I stabbed the training dummy in the face and decapitated it Millie said, "Nice one, Aarie."
"Please don't destroy all our practice targets." Moxxie tells me as he put the he'd back on and stitched it together. "You already destroyed more targets today than Millie does in a year."
"Sorry Moxxie. I'm just eager to get out in the field and do this for real." I tell him.
"Aaron it's not just about stabbing people." Moxxie reminded me.
"Right. It's about shooting people too."
"That's true."
"And strangling people. And Poisoning, electrocuting, smashing peoples heads open like pumpkins—"
"Okay okay I get it." Moxxie stopped me.
"I just want to prove myself. I wanna get some blood on my hands!"
When I made another successful direct hit Blitzø came out of his office. "Well it looks like you'll get to prove yourself today, greenhorns. Cause we've got a client that needs us to kill his old dickhead supervisor that caused his death."
When he said that I was a little confused. "Wait. We're going after a human? In the living world?"
"You bet it kid."
"I mean I'm all for it. But it's just… he's up there, we're down here."
"Oh, we have friends in high places that give us… special accommodations." Blitzø brings out a navy blue book with gold reflective pages separated by a dark burgundy ribbon, and it has golden borders with a large red gem on the spine. The front cover is emblazoned with a moon encircling the Goetic seal. I immediately knew what that was.
"Woah. That's a grimoire. They're only accessible to those of demon royalty. How'd you manage to get your hands on something like this?"
"Let's just say that I have a certain affair in order with the Goetia demon Stolas."
When he said that I was completely amazed. "You know the Goetia demon Stolas?! The astronomical demon that taught humans witchcraft?"
"The same one."
"But… how?!"
"The prince is the boss's boyfriend ." Millie tells me.
"Millie, I'm not above hitting a female in front of a kid." Blitzø warned.
"So you and the Goetia demon prince have a thing?" I asked.
"Well… yes we do. But he's not like, you know- W- We're y- We're not, like... We're not doing it... We w- What's betw- it was supposed to be a one time fuck you see."
I took note that he didn't say no.
As Millie drew a pentagram on the wall Blitzø opened the book and the pentagram started to glow red. When a burst of flames came from the drawing of the pentagram, a portal had opened to the living world. Not only was I hired to be an assassin but I was going to see the living world for myself.
When it was my turn to step through the portal I was a little nervous about it. But when Millie and Blitzø assured me I took my first steps into the living world. I had to say it was… overwhelming. I had never imagined that I would be seeing the living world with my own eyes. It was all so much to take in. The living world was far more lush with wildlife than hell. Only things I've ever seen grown in hell are crops such as corn, potatoes, tomatoes and pumpkins, dead trees and roses that would wilt the minute you'd plucked them.
Humans were obviously very carefree and never had to worry about the streets exploding every ten seconds or getting stabbed the minute you let your guard down to steal your wallet. They also had numerous things that we didn't have too often in hell like ice cream, an organized economic system and not having shitty dead people walk all over them.
As a large metal object soared high above us in the sky I swear it was practically peering into heaven. I knew what they were called but I couldn't remember. It was right on the tip of my tongue but I couldn't recall what it was.
"Say, what do humans call those giant metal birds?" I asked Moxxie.
"Planes." He tells me. "I believe humans use them to travel to other countries."
"Fascinating." I hummed to myself.
When I realized that there were sparkling dots in that dark bluish black thing above us. Normally in hell I would only see a large pentagram above us in the sky. And their moon was completely blank. There wasn't a pentagram on it.
"What are those sparkling things up there?"
"Easy, their angels that are blowing up thousands of miles away from here." Blitzø tells me
"They're called stars, sir." Millie corrects him.
"My explanation is better."
"I don't know, I like the word stars better." I tell Blitzø.
"Whatever. I still like calling them exploding angels."
Then something else catches my eye. A circular yellow thing that was attached to a large stick. From the leaves on the stick and the alluring scent it was some kind of flower. "What kind of flower is this?"
"Sunflower." Moxxie calls out.
Then my attention was on a human that had some kind of object on his face. "What are those little mirrors that man is wearing on his nose?
"Glasses." Millie tells me.
I saw that a red light was being cast over us. I looked up at the source and there was a device that illuminated a red light. When it suddenly changed to green I was in awe. I never seen anything like that in hell.
"What's that thing?"
"Traffic light." Moxxie shouted.
"The green means haul ass. When it turns yellow it means speed up. Red means stop but to me it's optional." Blitzø tells me.
As I caught up with the trio I said, "Sorry if I'm asking a lot of questions. It's just I've never been on the surface before."
"Just like a puppy, everything is a first." Blitzø jokes. We set up our stakeout across from the target's workplace. When Blitzø was done setting up the sniper piece he said, "This should be in the bag. Say new blood, you want this one?"
"Me?!" I said with happiness.
"Yeah this should be an easy kill." He gave me the sniper rifle. "Go get 'em kid. He's that guy shouting at that employee." I looked through the scope and I saw a human with round rimmed glasses shouting at a teenager. From the title on his name tag there was no doubt he was the target.
I licked the end of my finger to check the wind speed and the direction it was blowing. I adjusted myself and aligned the shot for the target.
When I was about to take the shot I said, "I hope you have your wallet. Cause the rent where we come from gets paid in advance" I pulled the trigger and the bullet hit right on his forehead. That human went down like a puppet with its strings cut.
As the humans scattered with fright to get away from the danger, Moxxie and Millie cheered me for my accomplishment and Blitzø was smiling with joy.
Blitzø ruffled my hair and said, "Nice job Aaron. For your first field mission you did okay." He turned to Moxxie and Millie. "Didn't I tell you this kid'll make a good addition to our family? Now let's go home and have a little celebration for not only a job well done but our rookie making his first kill."
After Blitzø called Loona to bring us home we ordered a cake that was written the dick is dead in icing and bought us all dinner. As we all downed our Hell Dash Millie, Moxxie and Blitzø were all praising me on my first kill. I had to say, no other job I had never made me feel like this. I think I finally found the thing I was good at, killing people. After the party I said my good nights and went home.
As I laid down in my bed with Fester I knew I was gonna like it at IMP.