What do you understand by Hell?
Difficulty? Suffering? Horror? Despair? Or maybe a combination of all above, which varies a lot depending on who you ask it?
Is it a field of eternally burning fields where the souls of the damned shall burn until the end of times? An endless meadow with hills and mountains made of metal thorns and endless rivers of blood? A landscape that seems to have come out of a nightmare, filled with the endless screams of the lost souls that end up in this place of damnation and punishment which shall never stop until the day time itself comes to an end?
Well, if you think any of the above, then you probably read a lot of fuckers like Dante and other guys who make too much of a drama out of those topics. Also, you would probably be shocked to arrive in Hell and find out how similar it is to Earth.
Of course, it has a sky that is eternally in shades of red, and a moon with a pentagram in it. However, other than that, it might not be much different from what one would expect. And we are talking only about the top of the rings, the ring of Pride. The place where the Sinners stayed.
It had cities like the ones you found on Earth, with buildings, apartments, roads, and all other things that you could expect. It could not look different from places like New York, Los Angeles or Miami. It was a working city with people living their everyday lives while trying to survive the best way they can.
By people, we are talking about the demons that were the souls of the damned that ended up in there after a lifetime of sin and excesses. Or after a single bad week that ruined their otherwise perfect little lives which would have otherwise led them to the "other place".
Those souls, once arriving, take appearances that, most of the time, can hardly be associated with the one they had while alive. Those new appearances often reflect their sins and how they lived, being a true reflection of who they are inside, and of what they have become. You had all kinds of creatures walking down the streets, from semi-humanoid beings with weird hair and skin, to big monsters with long and distorted limbs, long horns coming out of their heads and gaping maws that looked like they could swallow a human being whole if they opened it wide enough.
Those were Sinners for you, and Pride was crawling with them. Oh, and an important detail that you should know was that nearly all of them were absolute jerks.
I mean, come on! We are talking about corrupted souls here! Thieves, drug dealers, kidnappers, gangbangers, rapists, wife-beaters, corrupt politicians, scammers, bullies and everything else that could be found of worst on human society went to nowhere other than Hell, and in there they became Sinners, which filled the Pride ring. It would not be far-fetched to call it "humanity's trashcan", the place where all the garbage you could find on Earth would inevitably end up.
And don't get yourself fooled by the stories of kindness and good in people, Hell got tons of new souls every single day, all of them falling out of the sky recently turned into new demons, who would see themselves in a new environment very different from what they were used, but to which they would have no choice but to adapt, once that was the only place they could be now and from which they could not escape.
And everyone was used to this. Which was why, unless this motherfucker ended up landing right on top of them, no one gave any fuck when a new guy literally fell out of the sky.
Like that guy who fell out of the sky so fast it would surprise no one he would have broken a few bones if he was alive. Demons, however, were far more resilient than that. They knew the guy was fine as he landed from the sky right into a trashcan, causing the whole thing to bounce off the ground and causing the lids to fall and close.
They didn't give any attention as the sod who fell into it started to squirm inside, letting out grunts and complaints as he squirmed inside of the trashcan, until he finally managed to open the lid and take a deep breath of fresh air. Or, as fresh as air could be in a place like Hell.
"Man, that stinks!" The guy said as he reached out and managed to pull himself out of the trashcan and into the sidewalk. No one gave him any attention, they only continued walking, with only one or two of them giving this new guy a look as they continued their way, but ultimately not giving him any attention.
Just another newcomer.
Meanwhile, the guy got up from the ground, resting his back on the trashcan he just crawled out of as he steadied himself on his long, bird-like legs. He took one of his hands, which had long and curved claws, like talons, to his head, a groan escaping from his curved beak as he massaged his head covered in feathers.
He opened his eyes, both of a deep yellow color with black pupils, as he looked all down on himself, seeing that his red pants and indigo jacket were a bit dusty. He walked a little, a bit unsteady on his legs, and stopped at a store and looked at his reflection, checking himself on it before looking around, seeing where he was.
He saw himself in the middle of a city.
This... this was Hell?
It was... not what he had been expecting.
However, he looked around to see more things. He saw a bunch of demons beating up a smaller one, while the crowd around cheered for them to "beat up that sissy". He saw a bunch of guys on a corner, injecting something on their veins and moaning as they did so, and a demon with long horns like that of a gazelle stopped by them and asked if he could have some as well. He even looked in a corner and saw two demons, and they were... oh, lord have mercy!
The bird-man turned his head way, feeling as his features were heating up with embarrassment and mortification as those demons were doing something like THAT on the middle of a busy street. And they were being pretty loud while doing it.
"HEY!" Said a demon with whom the bird-man bumped as he turned away from the indecent scene. "Watch where you are going, chicken!" Said the demon, who looked like a great monstrous tiger with saber-teeth protruding out of his mouth and four hors sprouting from his head.
"What, you want to fight?" The tiger asked, before the bird-man could even say something. "Oh, you want to fight, right!? Fine by me, come at me, you fucker!"
The tiger was soon circling around him. The bird-man followed the feline-looking demon with his eyes, while a literal crowd of demons formed around them in just a few seconds, all of them cheering "Fight! Fight! Fight!" and all seeming like they were aching to see some blood being spilled.
"Oh, I'm gonna pluck all of your feathers and cook you, you chicken!" The tiger said, growling at the bird-man as he unsheathed his claws. "I'm eat you with my special Hell-pepper sauce, you funny-looking turkey! I'm gonna make chicken nuggets out of you!"
With a roar, the tiger pounced on the bird-man, who only glared at him. Then, he swung his fist so fast that most demons around hardly even understood what just happened. The next thing they knew was that the tiger demon was laying on the ground, unconscious and with a huge bump on the side of his head where the bird-man had punched him.
"I am an EAGLE, you moron!" The bird-man said to him, before looking around, looking at all demons looking at him with either shocked or disappointed looks, as if they were not expecting the fight to end so quickly.
"Do you want some too!?" The eagle-man said, and the crowd dispersed as fast as it first formed, leaving the newcomer alone with the tiger demon. The eagle-man looked at him for a while, anger clear on his eyes as he clenched his fist. It was obvious that he wanted to hurt that demon who had tried to attack him.
However, he instead only turned around, pulling the hood of his jacket over his head until only his beak was visible, and walked away while putting his hands on his pockets.
Welcome to Hell... He thought to himself as he walked forward, all the while cursing his luck for landing him in a place like that.
"Thank you for your help!" The woman with long blonde hair and white skin told to the vendor of the store as she made her way out of there. As she did, she turned to look at the person who was in front of her. This man with a fancy red suit had a huge smile on his face and a pair of deer ears on his head, and he spoke, his voice sounding like it was coming from an old radio:
"So, is this all we need, my dear Charlotte?"
"Yeah, it is all." She said, as she started pushing the cart, which was full of constructions materials. "This should be enough to rebuild the damaged part of the hotel. It did cost a part of our savings, thought."
"Well, we can compensate by adding an extra charge to our patrons, ain't that right?" The deer-man said as he walked by the side of the white-skinned blonde lady. "I'm sure they would not mind if we charged 200% more this month."
"We wouldn't need it if it wasn't for you, Alastor!" Charlie said to the deer-man, who could only smile back at her.
"You sound angry, my dear."
"I am angry!" Charlie said to the radio-voiced demon walking by her side as she continued to push the cart across the street as they made their way back to the hotel. "It was your fault that the hotel got damaged and we lost the funding money!"
"What, mine?" Alastor said, with a hint of hurt on his electronic voice. "My dear Charlotte, I was just trying to help your idea succeed. It was not my fault if it, like the previous ones, ended up being a flop."
"The petting zoo was a great idea!" Charlie shot back, glaring at the Radio Demon. "You see it all the time! It is proved that animal-based therapy can help people recover from traumas and overcome personal difficulties! You saw how everyone was liking the whole thing on the first two days... well, save for that weird guy who was opening his pants while petting one of the kittens... anyways, the idea was going to work if you had not meddled with it!"
"I asked you if I could make a personal collaboration to the petting zoo." Alastor said to Charlie. "I told you I had the idea of adding a few sea-faring creatures to the petting zoo, and you did tell me it was a splendid idea."
"I thought you were talking about otters, or baby seals, or those mini penguins!" Charlie told him, exasperated. "I had no idea you were talking about adult walruses! Let alone that they would be in heat!"
"In my defense, I had no way of knowing this time of the year was the walrus' mating season." Alastor said to Charlie. "So, you cannot pin all of the blame for this flop on me."
Charlie had a few more words to say back to the Radio Demon. However, she found out that talking to him was only making her more stressed out.
"Let's just go back to the hotel." Charlie said as she continued to push the cart, and Alastor was right by her side, in silence. She just hoped that they could go back to the hotel without any other incident.
But, as it was her luck...
"Welly, well, well. Won't you look at that?" Said a voice, as not only one, but five figures walked on the way of the two people as they walked down the street. Charlie and Alastor both were surprised, as the five Sinners got on their way, standing in there with arms crossed or on their waists. One of them had a HUGE baseball-bat, nearly a log, resting on his big shoulder. And, on the center, was a demon with a triangular, nearly pyramidal head, three curved horns and a pair of red eyes glaring at them, wearing motorcyclist clothes and chains around his neck and waist.
"If it isn't the princess and the radio-head. Exactly the two fuckers I have been looking for since yesterday." The pyramid-head demon said as he glared at the two of them.
"Oh... hi." Charlie said, looking at him. "Donno, right?"
"Give me my money!" Donno demanded of them. "They money you motherfuckers convinced me to lend you for that stupid petting zoo shit!"
"Oh... well, you see..." Charlie said, trying to find a good way to say this, but Alastor seemed to beat her to it.
"We used the money to buy the equipment we needed to fix the hotel, so the other patrons don't start leaving because it seems the place is going to collapse. Though luck, my friend."
Charlie felt like facepalming as Alastor said that without any care. Meanwhile, Donno and his friends were no happy for hearing that.
"You promised me there would be a return for my money!" The demon said, his horns starting to glow. "'Four-fold investment return', was what you said! Until now the only return I got to have was seeing one of those walruses humping a sofa!"
As he said that, Alastor started laughing. Oh, that was such a funny scene. Who knew that walruses in heat could be so entertaining... Charlie, on her end, was still trying to salvage the situation.
"Look, there were unexpected developments." The Princess of Hell said, casting a glance to the still-laughing demon by her side. "Caused by someone's lack of better judgement and common sense, but, I assure you that this is just a minor setback. We can still turn it around. I have a new idea, and I'm sure this one will pan out... I hope..."
"Oh, yeah?" Donno said, "Well, if you want me to put more money into it, forget it. I want the money I invested back."
"Well, I'm am sure you can get the money back, if given time." Charlie said, trying to be reasonable. "But, I do have an offer that you might find interesting..."
Donno and the others listened, as a figure with a hoodie was making its way to them, and who also heard what they were talking about.
"As an apology for your monetary loss, you and your friends will be granted free stay on the Happy Hotel for the foreseeable future!" Charlie said, sounding excited as she spoke that. "And you will all get free therapy and rehabilitation sessions so you can get over your vices and sins and get redeemed so you can go to Heaven!"
The person in the hood perked at he heard that.
"Wait, what?"
Donno, on his end, said:
"Who gives a fuck about going to Heaven!? I want money!"
"If you stop to think about it, going to heaven by earning your redemption is worth far more than any money, don't you agree?" Charlie tried to reason, but Donno seemed not interested in any of that. In fact, he looked like he was getting angry, as his eyes were starting to glow red just as his horns.
"Okay, I guess that's enough talking for now." Alastor said, as he started urging Charlie to move forward. They moved past the five demons while pushing the stroller, with Alastor looking over his shoulder and saying:
"Good luck with your next investment, my friend."
And with that, the two of them were ready to continue their way. However, Donno was not done with the two of them yet.
"I. Want." He growled, his pyramid head opening as it revealed a mouth filled with sharp teeth. "MY MONEY!"
He lunged right at Charlie. He didn't even care if she was the princess of Hell, and if hurting her meant incurring the wrath of Lucifer himself. He wanted his money, or he wanted her head, either was good for him, and it seemed that he was going for the latter, as his mouth was wide enough to take her whole head in one go.
However, that was when the one who was watching acted.
He charged forward out of pure instinct. He charged forward with a speed one would not assume that his taloned feet, he jumped in the air and delivered a kick right on the side of the pyramid-headed demon. He kicked so hard that the bastard was sent flying like a rocket across the street and destroyed a store on the other side.
The other four demons stepped back, while Alastor and Charlie looked back in shock, taking a moment to realize what had happened, and then the guy who kicked Donno straightened up, causing his hoodie to fall back and reveal his eagle features.
"Only cowards attack someone from the back." The eagle-man said. The four demons looked at him with surprise, before they charged at him.
The first one to reach him was the bigger one, the one with the log baseball-bat. He swung the weapon at the eagle-man, only for the bird to swing his arm in direction to him. One swipe of his claws, and the log was tear apart, its top half falling on the ground a few feet away, leaving the demon to look at the part left of it on his hand in shock.
However, he didn't look at it for long, as the bird-man then swung his other hand, curled in a fist, right into his stomach, sending him flying back several yards until he collided with a car that was parked on the sidewalk, crushing the vehicle and startling its owner.
The other three demons all looked at the bird-man. He called then to battle with a gesture with two fingers. The demons seemed ready to take on the challenge, as all of them pulled out blades, which ranged from a switch knife to a literal samurai sword.
The eagle was ready for combat, but that was when things got weird.
The air seemed to get darker, as tendrils of pure blackness started to sprout from the ground and from the nearby wall. This surprised the demons, as well as the eagle-man, who looked at the tendrils as he backed away, thinking this could be a trick of them. However, he soon realized that this was not the case, as one of the two people who he just saved was walking forward.
And this person exuded far more danger than the three other demons possibly could.
"So, you try to kill my business partner as soon as she gives you her back, don't you?" Alastor said, his mouth not moving, and his voice sounding even more distorted as he approached them with a wide, unmoving smile, and eyes that seemed to have turned into glass. Mystic symbols were floating on the air around him. "Well, that's pretty underhanded of you, my friends. Perhaps I should teach you not to try and bite a lady's head. A lesson to all of you from the Radio Demon himself..."
The eagle felt his feathers standing on end like the fur of a cat, his muscles tensing as he got ready to fight by pure instinct. However, the so called "Radio Demon" was not focused on him, as he walked past the bird-man, his attention focused on the three demons, who realized, too late, the mistake they had made.
They didn't had time to run before Alastor attacked.
"Oh, my lord!" The eagle-man turned his head away, queasy and shocked by the sudden gruesome display before him. The wails of pain of the demons were proving to be hard to ignore, as the Radio Demon had his way with them.
"Uhh, excuse me?" Said a soft voice, and it caused the eagle to look, and see that now the woman was talking to him.
"So, you saved my life, right?" Charlie said, "Well, thanks for that."
"You're welcome?" The bird-man said, before he flinched as he heard a drawn-out wail of one of the demons that Alastor was punishing.
"Oh, lord have mercy..." The eagle said, and Charlie took sympathy to him.
"Yeah, it is disturbing, I know." Charlie said, "But, you get used to it, eventually."
"Used to it? He is murdering people!"
"Well, yeah... this kind of happens every day around here." Charlie said, sounding as if she was explaining an embarrassing fact. "But, don't worry too much. You see, those guys are Sinners. When a Sinner gets killed, unless it is by an angelic weapon, they respawn after a while. They will be fine... But, considering what Alastor is doing, they might be traumatized..." She admitted, as she looked over the bird's shoulder, and then became quite queasy herself.
The bird nodded.
"Yeah... this..." He said, looking down. "This is Hell..."
Charlie looked at him.
"Just arrived?" She asked, and the eagle could only nod.
"Less than thirty minutes ago, actually." He confirmed, looking at the woman. "Still can't believe I'm here..."
"Yeah, a lot of people don't." Charlie said, looking away and not sure of what else to say.
They remained in silence for around a minute, before the screams and gurgles of the demons stopped, as Alastor was done with them. He adjusted his tie and suit and walked back to Charlie with his cane, leaving behind a gruesome mess that would last until those demons he just murdered regenerated and came back to life.
"So, I guess some thanks are in order, right?" Alastor said, moving forward as he put his hand in direction to the eagle. This bird immediately jumped back, getting in a combat position as if he was ready to fight for his life.
"Hey, no need to be so tense, my feathery friend." Alastor said to the bird. "I have no wish to harm a person who just saved my business partner from, quite literally, losing her head."
The bird relaxed, but only slightly, as he looked at the two of them.
"Anyways, my name is Alastor." Said the Radio Demon. "This is Charlotte. And who do we have the honor of speaking with?"
"I am..." The eagle was saying, but he stopped as he looked at the two of them and looked away. They shared a look as they saw how awkward and weary the bird suddenly became.
"Oh, embarrassing name?" Alastor asked, and then he approached the bird, putting a hand around his shoulder before the avian could notice what was going on.
"Well, then you are in luck, my friend! Well, not as much luck since you are in Hell..." Alastor said, as he pulled the bird closer, leaving him surprised. "The point is, you can choose a new name for yourself if you want to! It can be anything you want! Think of it as your new baptism! The perfect way to start your new life!"
"Wait, what?" The eagle said, "I don't want a new name! I like my name!" He freed himself from the grasp of the Radio Demon, moving away from him.
"Oh, then you can keep it." Alastor said, looking at the bird with a friendly smile. "You don't even need to tell us. But, you need at least to get a nickname, so we know what to call you, right?"
Alastor looked at him expectantly, and so did Charlie. The eagle-man looked at the two of them, before saying:
"Zee... you can call me Zee."
"Oh. Okay then, Zee." Charlie said, "Again, thank you for saving me. I very much appreciate it."
She sounded sincere, and Zee looked back at her and nodded.
"You're welcome, I guess... anyways, I better get going." He turned around and pulled his hoodie over his head again. "I need to see if I can find some bridge to sleep under..."
Charlie watched as he walked away and, in true Charlie fashion, he made an offer for him:
"You can come to our hotel!"
"What?" Zee said, turning around to look at Charlie, who them explained to him and she and Alastor were the co-owners of a hotel, and that, for saving them, he would be allowed to stay for free until he could get either a job to pay for a room or another place to stay.
"He is going to be there?" Zee asked, pointing at Alastor. He still seemed weary of him, after witnessing just how vicious he could be. Charlie, however, reassured him that Alastor was harmless most of the time, and that there would be no danger for him while he was their guest.
"Let me do this as a way of thanking you." Charlie said, "Please..." She offered him her hand, and Zee looked at it, before looking at Charlie.
In her face, he found more kindness and honesty than he ever imagined he could come to find in Hell, of all places.
Slowly, he took her hand, accepting her offer.
"Better than sleeping under a bridge, I suppose..." He said, as Charlie beamed with happiness, and she soon was walking back to the Happy Hotel, feeling elated that, even though the last attempt at helping demons find redemption had not panned out as she wanted, she was able to come back with a new resident for her hotel, a new demon whom she would give her all to help.
Little did she knew that bringing Zee to her hotel would radically change her life and that of many other people...