Wings of Hell

by Emersonian

Ines Coeurdor is a uniquely good girl. However, when her father was supposed to tell her a secret on her sixteenth birthday, she gets murdered. Reborn in Hell as Indigo Caligo, an owl butterfly demon, she deals with panicked anxieties as she finds shelter in the Hazbin Hotel, where she meets demons acting as second family while she tries to understand why she's in Hell with no sin.

17. The Business Dinner

Chapter 17: The Business Dinner

Rosie really had an obsession for Art Nouveau décor, from her emporium's office to the 'casual' dining room she guided her guests to.

Indigo sat between Alastor and the rather nice Mimzy while the Von Eldritch sat across from them. Rosie and August Aglais sat on the other ends.

It was really insane, in her perspective. First, August was the youngest grandson of Leviathan. A geeky butterfly demon and tech nerd was the grandson of the most monstrous whale in all her phobia. Secondly, he was the son of Cain! Cain!

School and the bookstore did nothing to prevent the obvious inclusion of Biblical stories in education. It was part of the middle school history curriculum. It popped by very often when Mr. Coeurdor put out Jewish culture books on the window displays at any holiday. And of course, the story of Cain and Abel was the key to the secret library of envy and referenced in that annoying song two chapters ago.

The first sons that the first man and woman had given life to following their expulsion. A hardworking laborer and a kind-hearted shepherd. The youngest one generally favored by his family and God himself for his livestock-based sacrifice. EVERYONE knew that the envious Cain had murdered his brother and was condemned to walk the Earth as a fugitive. A fugitive bearing a mark warning any attacker that the pain they attack on him will reflect back at them with seven times the force.

And from what was learned just today, Leviathan supposedly tricked Cain. Convinced him to indulge in the envy. Leviathan had claimed the first act of envy as his own.

Thinking about it both increased Indigo's fears… and made her feel terrible for August Aglais.

"I hope y'all brought your appetites!" Mimzy giddily piped up as imps brought silver dishes to the table. "Regular delicacies AND cannibal delights! They're distinguished based on the specific plate designs… What is that?"

Trixie, the imp accompanying August Aglais, pulled out some dishes in amethyst plates and put them on the table. Indigo sensed the envy radiating from the ingredients. She noticed that unlike the other imps she'd met so far, Trixie had a dorsal fin on her back and her tail's tip was fashioned like that of a fish. Probably a quirk from the Envy Ring?

"Cain Adamson figured that there wouldn't be any vegan alternatives, so he had some dishes brought up!" Trixie beamed. "Kelp noodle soup, mashed rutabaga, almond milk pudding, tofu pasta puttanesca, and peach juice. Oh, and he ordered a specialty just for the Von Eldritch!"

Trixie pulled out a plate before the Von Eldritch and revealed the content. Fried calamari.

Indigo held back a laugh. Alastor nodded to her, agreeing silently that he saw entertainment. Frederick Von Eldritch growled and stood up to confront Trixie.

"Why, you undecadent piece of trash…"

"This all looks amazing, Trixie. Since the Von Eldritch won't have any, I would be interested in trying out the fried calamari," Indigo said. The imp grinned, ran away from the Von Eldritch patriarch, and immediately served Indigo. Taking a page from her book, Alastor also took some fried calamari. The imp servants started serving food on the personal plates. Alastor made sure to single out the non-cannibal dishes for Indigo. She nodded in appreciation.

"It's a great delight to have associations join us for dinner," Rosie clasped her hands. "Let us begin the main focus of the dinner. Prince August Abel…"

"Just August Aglais, please…" The teen begged.

Rosie declined his request. "As most of you know, the prince is the current CEO of Leviathan's social networking service, NV. The King of Envy is always deciding on what are the current envious trends and what are the least envious. However, in the past few years, many are starting to doubt the embodiment of envy's…selective judgement on what's envious. Demons are randomly wasting on businesses, public spaces, and items that don't even seem envious at first glance." Rosie placed her hand on the table and started tapping against the counter. "The prince is here to discuss the possibility of adding an Envy Ring branch for my emporium, but my question is, how do I know this will not be a waste of my resources and another downfall for the sin polls?"

August gulped, either out of anxiety or from the tofu pasta puttanesca he was eating. He almost reminded Indigo of Miss Charlie, for some reason. Trixie closed the floral-printed curtains behind Rosie and pulled out an old slide projector. Seeing the device gave Indigo fond memories of her father hosting reading sessions for the local kindergarteners.

"Right." August wiped his mouth, straightened his glasses, and went to stand next to the projections as Trixie flipped the images. "We've experienced an undergoing decrease in the sin polls. While 15,000 humans die on a daily basis, thus 5,475,000 on a yearly basis, and usually close to a quarter of them die during exterminations and another quarter for making dumb deals, the quantity of the ongoing overpopulation doesn't justify that nearly three-quarters of said overpopulation is waning in quality. So, I'm going to ask, and I apologize, since I'm borrowing my upcoming vocabulary from my mother. What… is WRONG… with YOU OVERLORDS?"

Rosie, Alastor, and the Von Eldritch parents cringed at August's vocal rise. Mimzy kept eating to remain hidden. The teens sitting at the table dared to say nothing. Indigo's eyes widened when August's hair moved upward and glowed in reddish purple hues, creating a small, flaming silhouette of a Aglais io. She silently chuckled, thinking about how his temper reminded her of her anger-induced red admirals.

"I mean, I'm looking at what, exactly? The Overlords of Retail, Radio, and Consumerism? Basic indulgences for humans turned into eternal industrial empires in Hell!" August walked around the table, calming down as he took deep breaths and his red glow disappeared. "Let me re-explain how it goes. In exchange for you acquiring power, influence, wealth, followers, servants, territories, and reputations in the hierarchy, all Overlords have one TINY, yet SIMPLE thing to do! Ensure that the sins polls are high so that when demons get exterminated, their essences' sins get transferred to Rings, and we keep our existence… So, please explain to me… THIS!"

Just then, Trixie flipped an image, showing a rainbow-colored graph. Indigo noticed Alastor's smile tightening, but with those numbers, could you blame him?

Pride: 600%

Non-classified: 40%

Lust:10%

Wrath: 5%

Greed: 3%

Gluttony: 3%

Sloth: 3%

Envy: 2%

"Oh… The graph…" Frederick Von Eldritch chuckled.

"A great detail in economics, Your Highness…" Rosie tried to sugarcoat.

Indigo raised her hand. Alastor forced it back down.

"I have a question," Indigo said.

Alastor facepalmed himself.

"Sure, what ya wanna know?" August casually asked, easily switching from a snapping lecturer to a geeky teen.

"Well, minus the supernatural percentage, I'm not sure I understand the data that non-classified sin polls follow after pride, the leading sin AND sinners' designated ring," Indigo carefully said. "If what you're saying is true about the sinners arriving on a daily basis and the exterminated quarter whose sinful essences are used for the polls, are you suggesting that 547,500 of the exterminated sinners DON'T have sins or that their sins HAVEN'T been categorized among the main sins?"

"Good math skills, and you're right on both accounts. After all, sinners can be sent to Hell for the smallest things." August nodded in appreciation.

"From sucking tits as babes to jaywalking," Helsa snorted. "Basic schoolyard sins."

Basic schoolyard sins, huh? Indigo thought, tapping her fingers.

"What would Your Highness recommend to approach to increase the polls?" Rosie asked, drinking some blood-colored rosé in the process.

"Glad you asked!" Trixie piped in and slide projected pictures of two devices: one being a copy of the Sin Sensationator 13.0 resting on August's nose and… something that looked like a disinfectant wipe with rainbow DNA patterns on the fabric. "The prince came up with…"

"No one asked you!" Frederick snapped.

Alastor instinctively passed the fried calamari to Indigo. Indigo sighed in delight as she finished the seafood dish in front of the marine demons. "Delicious! You know what I like as much as fried calamari? Squid ink pasta!"

Bethesda and Frederick Von Eldritch squirmed in their chairs.

"Squid ink pasta? I think I know a few restaurants that serve 'em, darling!" Mimzy joined in. "They're really good when eaten hot!"

Seviathan Von Eldritch turned green on the cheeks.

"Have you ever tried Ikameshi, Miss Mimzy? I had it at a Japanese restaurant back on Earth. Rice-filled squid! Really delicious!" Indigo continued. "Or this Spanish dish for boiling octopus tentacles…" Indigo saw the Von Eldritch doing their best to not throw up. "I'm really sorry. I hope I wasn't being offensive."

"Not a problem. At least SOMEBODY has a sense of civilized decency." August glared at the Von Eldritch. "A delicate warning. I don't really give a damn of respecting elitism, otherwise the next time I see you mistreating Trixie… Well, let's just say you're not exactly on Leviathan's personal favorites list."

The family nodded silently.

"OK." August clasped his hands. "So, the main jewels of the discussion. The Sin Sensationator 13.0 and the Sin Proliferator 7.0." He adjusted the stones on his glasses, revealing the flashing rainbow hues on the lenses. "Devices that calculate the sin percentages within all things, inanimate and sentient."

"Why would you even build that?" Helsa rudely asked. "Isn't your whole family packed with sin-devourers?"

Indigo tensed in her seat.

"Just those born in it." August wiped his face. "In-laws non-included, and in a particular case, me. If you want to make fun of my disability, you may leave for another backwards business bullshit…"

"Oh, Helsa, don't be so backwards!" Bethesda Von Eldritch chuckled nervously before hissing at her daughter. "Bad for the rep…"

"August showed me how the glasses work just before dinner," Indigo spoke up. "They're very effective. He crafted sin-based calibers so that the adjustable stones can help you analyze object's equations to determine their sinful results."
"Did he?" Rosie curiously frowned as she bit down what looked like a piece of demon liver.

"I did," August agreed.

"The times you turn the stones reflect the rings of Hell's order," Indigo followed. "Just earlier, he showed me how it'd work with tea and I picked out the most convenient one based on the calculated results."

August gave her a thankful thumbs up. Indigo nodded.

"Indigo's right. The idea for the Sin Sensationator 13.0's primary use is for finding what's more convenient sin-wise depending on the situations. Suppose that you had customers at the Emporium, Rosie, and the Sensationator could tell you, based on the demon's compiled percentages, what they'd most likely be interested in purchasing. Imagine, Alastor, if the percentages could tell you what cravings demons had, and you could encourage them towards whichever restaurant or music would please them best. Imagine, Von Eldritch, if the percentages showed you what demons would most likely crave for… and Mammon's banking system flooded from the overspending demons did for their spending. Just because you knew what they'd love to buy? In other words, lead demons to what suits them best, the economy booms… and the sin polls expand."

"What about the Sin Proliferator 7.0?" Seviathan asked.

"It augments sinful values in inanimate objects." Out of nowhere, August pulled out a wipe box with Sin Proliferator 7.0 crudely written from it. Trixie snatched one of the bones from Alastor's plate just as the servants began clearing the dirty dishes to make room for the upcoming desserts. Trixie held up the dirty bone so that August to give it a good wipe. The imp rapidly tossed the bone onto the table. Everyone stared as the bone cracked, rainbow lights seeping through it. From her vision, Indigo could see the sins expanding while the bone stretched out more bones from its cracks. Shattering sounds echoed in the dining room as the dirty bone proliferated and ceased once its transformation into a roast pork was completed. Alastor, Rosie, and Mimzy grinned widely.

In Indigo's eyes, the proliferated gluttony from the pork had increased the demons' hunger.

"Even now as three of you are drooling, the Sin Sensationator is picking up your gluttony percentages' increase JUST from looking at the proliferation." August gave Trixie a hand gesture and she cleared away the slide show. "Questions?"

"Is this edible?" Mimzy asked. Just as she asked, Alastor had cut himself a slice and tried it.

"Great Satan! It is fantastic!"

"Your Highness, your inventions are truly revolutionary, but they will require more… private discussions," Rosie nodded.

"Thank you, Rosie." August sat down.

"Um… August?" Indigo asked. "Just out of curiosity… If you've invented devices to sense or increase sins, you hopefully haven't invented one for extracting sins, right?"

Alastor and Rosie glared at her. Either it was for not addressing the prince formally or because her question might be a dead giveaway to her nature.

"Hell no!" August scowled. "I mean, I had an initial prototype, but I shelved it under 'never gonna market it' after the first experiments went horribly wrong!"

"Uh, how horribly?" Indigo gulped.

"Regular inventive imagination that maybe shouldn't have become a reality," Trixie tried to dismiss nicely. "It happens."

"Yeah, 'it happens'. Remind me again, Trixie, how exactly 'it happens' when you think extracting unnecessary sins out of demons could be handy but it then becomes a complete morality screw?" August rolled his eyes. "I initially created it to remove the sins based near demons' livers. The sins that generally mean nothing to their sinful existences. It seemed like it worked at first… but either their primary sins overloaded their bodies into combustions… or worse…"

"HOW worse, August?" Indigo frowned.

He sighed. "At one point, I experimented on imps to see what would happen if I removed their primary sins and left a singular one in each of them. It backfired horribly…"

"Too prideful committed suicide, too wrathful and too gluttonous killed each other," Trixie said, "too greedy shred their own skin off when they didn't have anything else to hoard, too lustful orgasmed themselves to dehydration, too sloth are now buried alive, and too envious… don't get me started."

"Yeah, let's not go down that road again." August shook his head. "My grandfather can whistle whatever he wants out of his blowhole, but Hell can't survive without the coordination of ALL the sins."

The servants brought out the desserts: cherry jubilee with vanilla flavored whipped cream from the main host and raspberry vegan cheesecake from Trixie. For once, dessert was eaten with silence, though things were getting haywire in Indigo's brain.

Was this really how Hell was? The capitalist exploitation of others' sins just for survival of not just one demon, but an entire purgatory? And 40 percent of sinners were considered 'non-categorized'. If anything, it probably meant that sinners who committed a singular mistake in life or had no clue about their punishment were the ones most likely to come to the Hazbin Hotel.

And some of them could make good guests at the garden party.

Eventually, it was time to fetch their belongings and go. Rosie had her valets fetch the guests' vehicles as the party waited outside. Mimzy left ahead but warmly encouraged Alastor to bring Indigo over to her club in the future. The Overlords were discussing, the hideous siblings were arguing, and Indigo just sat by the fountain.

The Sin Sensationator 13.0 just appeared in front of her. Indigo looked up and saw August handing the glasses to her.

"A little thanks… for making the dinner less of a drag," he shrugged.

"You can't just give me the device you're trading with Overlords!" Indigo said.

"I got 13 duplicates back home just in case my cousins destroyed my stuff." August put the glasses in her hands and pulled out a foldable pair of round eyeglasses from his pocket. "Look on the bright side. You get the most stylish one."

"What, and you get Neil Patrick Harris pretending to be a fake lab assistant." Indigo chuckled and put the glasses in her purse… until she stopped.

Before she could ask anything, August shook his head. "No strings attached, Caligo. We don't do Faustian deals in my family."

"No deals in demonic royalty? Stop the presses." Indigo snickered and finally put her gift in her purse. "I think your inventions are really going to impact businesses. You should be proud."

"I guess." August sat down. "I honestly have no idea…"

No idea. August was too insecure about his project's potential than Charlie's overconfidence in the hotel's success. "Why wouldn't it work?"

"Increasing the sin polls is always a delicate matter. Even if my projects help the Overlords bring more for Hell's needed resources, I'm worried about the personal factors. The projects could be used to enlarge sin levels based on the Overlords' primary sins… and the polls have one strict rule. No sin exceeds pride."

"The Ring of the Devil."

"And if any sin other than Pride exceeds…"

"Lucifer would think that the other Deadly Sins are going to overthrow him."

August nodded. "Leviathan hates Lucifer. My grandfather is permanently confined to the Ring of Envy. Only his offspring can traverse through Hell for diplomatic. My parents, aunts, and uncles are responsible for diplomatic travels with other reigning royalties. My cousins deal with the Ars Goetia spread out over the Rings. Since I'm the CEO of Envy, I negotiate with Overlords."

"Wow…" Indigo lowered her head. "You miss home?"

"I just miss my Dad…" August nodded. "I wasn't crazy about leaving him, but he said that working at NV would keep me away from the stormy environment… ring-wise and home-wise. He comes over every weekend and plans on staying with me for Extermination Day."

Indigo opened her mouth to say something.

"And no, I don't really spend time with my mom." August shook his head.

Indigo fidgeted her fingers. "Mine walked out as soon as I was born. She never really impacted me when I was alive…" She sighed. "My dad's all alone on Earth…"

"I didn't mean to hit a nerve," August apologized sincerely.

"You didn't." Indigo patted him on the shoulder. August froze at the touch. "What?"

"Only my dad pats me like that. Like I don't have anything to prove." August smiled. "Thanks…"

Indigo chuckled. August ran a hand through his hair and pulled out a business card. "I'm guessing Alastor doesn't let you have a Hellphone..."

"I don't have one yet. Or a laptop… I really need to go shopping!" Indigo realized out loud.

"Well, I hope we can stay in touch... As friends, obviously. Not one of those deal-with-the-devil tricks. I'm going to be extremely busy for the weeks leading to Extermination Day, but if you're still around by the new year, I hope we can hang out a bit."

Indigo accepted his lilac-colored business card. His logo featured eyeglasses shaped out of an Aglais io.

August Aglais

Ithomia Castle

4118 Genesis Yard

Envy-Carlo, Pride Ring

(666)-29-2005

Indigo nodded and put the card in her purse. "I'll send a text once I gain access to my own devices," she promised.

August nodded. "Looking forward to it."

They stepped back from the fountain when the fountain's water suddenly began to bubble. The ground shook, the water exploded, and out of it emerged a hippocampi-drawn carriage.

Indigo gasped in awe at Hell's replica of the Gold State coach, only the carriage had amethyst and purple diamond sculptures of corals, butterflies, and sirens devouring sailors. The green-colored glass windows revealed the purple leather interior. But the truly marvelous sight was the two hippocampi pulling the carriage. They had the main body structure and black-and-white pigmentation of Noriker horses, but their 6-foot-long tails had the curl and trunk structure of seahorses. Their manes were lionfish fins, their mouths were filled with eel teeth spitting out lightning bolts every time they neighed, and their diamond horseshoes left glittery prints on the ground.

"OH MY GOSH, THEY'RE SO CUTE!" Mangrove skippers flew out of her hair. "THEY'RE SO CUTE!"

"I got our ride!" Trixie waved her hands from the coach seat. "And don't worry, boss! Katrina and Washi were fed!"

"You named your hippocampi after hurricanes… I'm gonna die! They're cute!" Indigo squealed. She went to caress one of them and it scratched the soil with its hoof when Indigo caressed her behind the ear.

Alastor quickly pulled Indigo away. "Majestic creatures indeed, but very toxic! You wouldn't want to go back home poisoned, would you?"

"Katrina and Washi wouldn't harm a demon… unless they're told to… Washi, no!" Just then, Washi, the hippocampi that Indigo had caressed, began to howl viciously at Seviathan Von Eldritch when the idiot thought he could pat it on the flank. Katrina reacted to the agitated Washi and howled at Seviathan. The demons took a step back when the hippocampi started breathing vapor and spitting acid. Trixie whipped the girls with her tail, calming them into submission. She then punished them with a spray bottle.

"Bad Katrina and Washi! No, no! You don't bite demons unless you're told to!" Trixie chided.

"Frederick, for Satan's sake!" Rosie exclaimed.

"Seviathan, come here!" Frederick pulled Seviathan away from the hippocampi.

"Are you insane?" Indigo got out of Alastor's hold and rushed to calm down Washi. The hippocampi calmed down a lot more at Indigo's caresses and stomped the ground happily again. Katrina gave its partner a small push, asking Indigo for the same affection. "Poor hippocampi. Did that meanie hurt you? You're OK now, right?"

"Thanks, Indigo. At least SOMEBODY respects Hell's steeds!" August glared at the Von Eldritch.

"My apologies, Your Highness…" August held out his hand to pause Frederick.

"We already don't like you. Touch MY HORSES again, and there will be an ugly problem THAT MIGHT cost your Overlord status!" The butterfly demon warned.

"Boss, can we go now?" Trixie asked. "We got some tapes of HELLA-NOVELA to catch up on!"

August stepped inside his carriage and let out a casual "Good night, everyone! Bye!" Once he was seated in, Trixie steered the hippocampi and the horses ran out of the place and onto the road. Alastor grabbed Indigo and the two went for the car while the Von Eldritch were too busy berating Seviathan.

The first 15 minutes on the road were very silent. Alastor said nothing, his smile frozen. Indigo tapped her fingers nervously against her knees. Did she screw up? Was Alastor giving up on her? Was he going to throw her out on the road, force her to survive on her own and tell everyone at the hotel that she was eaten?

Alastor opened the windows to release the butterflies that Indigo was creating from her stress. He then stopped the car in the middle of the empty freeway, the only light coming from the volcanic environment around them.

"You…" His radio static was gone. He was in his sincere mode. She was going to die…

"…made this the most entertaining last-minute business meeting I've ever attended this year!"

Indigo blinked in confusion as if Alastor had just spoken Portuguese to her. "What?"

"Truthfully, you were at your best! Oh, the way you made the Von Eldritch look like bigger fools! And the hippocampi! You're probably one of the few demons suicidal enough to approach them!" Alastor laughed. "I worried over nothing!"

Indigo sighed in relief. To think she thought Alastor was going to yell at her! As he ranted on about his entertainment, Indigo felt her eyes getting heavy.

"… and I never really liked the Von Eldritch!" Alastor stopped the vehicle once they reached the red light. Pentagram City was getting bigger in the horizon. "Quite frankly, I can see why Charlie let go of Seviathan. Could you imagine such a bag of slugs ruling Hell?" Alastor was surprised by the silent response. When he turned his head, he found that Indigo had fallen asleep. Rolling his eyes, he took of his coat and threw it over Indigo, covering her from the cold.

The green light came and Alastor drove forward. "Hell will be bound with surprises with you around."

Meanwhile

As Alastor drove the duo's merry way back to the hotel, they unknowingly passed a dark street.

Said street was always empty due to the residents going downtown for the clubs.

But tonight, two bull canine demons made the mistake of strolling through the street for their evening date. Shadowy figures accosted them, cornered them, and killed them.

The demons felt all but the envy being ripped out of them. When the envy sent their bodies into override, the skeletons broke the demons from the inside. Their blood sank into the ground, taking root.

From the withered corpses grew yellow flowers resembling a hybrid of a rose and a hyacinth. The new flowery patch caused the purple roots to deepen into the earth.

The masked silhouettes looked down at the flowery corpses. Small sprouts stuck out of the skulls. The pollen stood out on the petals like sunspots.

"Her Majesty's reign begins…"