Chapter 21: The Deadly Kids

Indigo was grateful for once to have Scrunchy as a sentient bodyguard. The Princess of Sloth didn't even need to say a word as poppy pollen flew out of her coat. The scorpion demon had taken initiative, transforming from a brooch to a gas mask to protect Indigo. The pollens flew everywhere around the mall, landing on demons' skins. Everyone, including Indigo's friends, coughed, froze, and suddenly started sleeping. Indigo failed to wake up Octavia by shaking her. The pollen finally disappeared, but everyone was still sleeping.

"Wow, you're good!" Sahara Wishazel said. "Mind blown! I can't believe you actually detected my drugged smoothies AND you have a bodyguard posing as an accessory!"

"What is wrong with you?" Indigo exclaimed through the mask. "You gave me crappy food! I didn't even know you drugged it!"

"Girl, when are free samples NEVER drugged?" Sahara laughed. "I give drugged free samples while I'm bored. You wouldn't believe how demons easily fall prey to Heavy Huckleberry. Makes them high for hours!"

"And your poppies?"

"Poppies are my dad's favorites. You think it's a coincidence they used a field of poppies to knock out Dorothy on her way to see the wizard?" Sahara straightened her jacket. "But you? You're cool. It's awesome that a demon teen stood up to me." Sahara held out her hand. "Sahara Wishazel. Princess of the Ring of Sloth. Daughter of Belphegor himself and the sorceress Circe."

Indigo just stared at her, unfazed.

"What? Not impressed?" Sahara asked.

"I met the Princess of Hell, two Overlords, three Ars Goetia, Hell's biggest pornstar, and the two lousiest TV news anchormen I've ever met since I died." Indigo shrugged. "Honestly, I'd be more impressed if it started raining zeppelins."

Sahara just laughed. Indigo remained stiff when the pink demoness put her arm over the former's shoulders. "You're fun!" Sahara grinned. "Only cool demons get to meet the D.A.S in person. One of my buddies has his family's fine dining in the mall's penthouse. Let's go for join them for a tiny chat and then you can resume your day at the mall. And don't worry. Once the pollen gets removed, the victims forget that I was even in here. It will be like they never saw an imp distributing free samples!"

Indigo didn't like it. It was too obvious. Being pulled away from her incapacitated friends by the descendant of one of the sins' embodiments. If they were thinking of dealing with her… She swore to herself she wouldn't succumb to a contract.

We play them, Scrunchy's voice echoed in her head.

Why am I suddenly hearing you?

Not the right time to ask that. Boss, you're right to be cautious. She's not the only one. I'm pretty sure there are two other young deadly sins waiting upstairs. If you don't accept, Wishazel can use her pollen to intoxicate everyone… lethally. However, they have a weakness.

How can you possibly know their weakness?

Trust me. Their sole weakness is that they don't know you. Try to think. How would Alastor and Angel Dust handle it?

How would Alastor and Angel Dust do it?

Really easy.

For one thing, Angel Dust was crazy prepared. If he and Indigo had one thing in common, it was odd hammerspace to hide weapons in.

So, Sahara didn't expect Indigo to pull her grandfather's sickle and point it at her nose. The blade glowed its holy light in Indigo's grasp. (What? She wasn't going to go unharmed!)

And finally, Alastor never showed weakness.

At Indigo's nod, Scrunchy materialized to his usual form. And Indigo stared at Sahara, a big smile on her face.

"So… about that lunch?"

Minutes later

Sahara was still laughing.

Apparently, Indigo's response had humored her to keep laughing as she led Indigo and Scrunchy to the janitor's closet. She still laughed as she pushed aside a bunch of brooms to dial in a number and scan her handprint. She still laughed when doors opened and they stepped inside a green elevator with yellow trimmings. Indigo did her best to keep smiling.

"This is really the coolest thing to happen to me today! First, you spill my smoothies on me, and now you threaten me with a holy weapon while smiling! And it's a holy sickle! That is so insane, it's the best day of my week!" Sahara finally stopped laughing and sighed. "Wow, the guys are gonna find you fun as well!"

"Thank you for your kind words, Princess." Scrunchy tipped his hat. "Forgive my mistress. Indigo Caligo is new to the world of demon supremacy, but she's a fast learner! She doesn't know how to express her gratitude for your flattery, for she's a commoner compared to you! You have great tastes in looney sinners!"

Indigo wished she could scream. Scrunchy sounded like a con artist auditioning for the role of Puss In Boots. Yet for some reason, Sahara bought in on Scrunchy's words.

"I know, right! Caligo is NOTHING compared to nearly all the teens in Hell! I distribute those drugged samples to see if there is someone smart enough to see through it! Being surrounded by sycophants is fun, but it's more fun when you have proper playmates!" Sahara nodded.

"You wish my mistress to be your playmate? Impossible!" Scrunchy feigned to gasp. "She's not even an Overlord and you wish to waste time on her!"

"Who cares? Overlords are dumb! They think they can fuck with anyone with deals! Deals-with-the-devil is SO last century!"

Indigo tilted her head. "Don't you revel in demonic contracts? It gives you power."

"It gives you power." Sahara poked Indigo on the nose. "I'm a Deadly Sin. I don't need deals to increase my power whereas my born powers, well, let me do just about anything. If I snapped my fingers, I could easily convince all the demons in the Sloth District to give me all their drugs, and in return, I give them anything they could want, and since they barely lift their pinkies, their sloth boosts our polls." Sahara straightened her jacket and her pink eyes briefly glowed. "Besides, Overlords are just a bunch of Lucifer's replaceable toys who keep the sinners and Hellborns of the Pride Ring in check through the basic temptations of human culture. All it takes is a small mistake of catastrophic results… and Lucifer can remove the title of the Overlord. And then all that's left of the demoted demon is dishonor as they must restart from scratch. Some people forget the real dynasties that hold the true power. You know Princess Charlie, right? You claimed to. Do you realize that if she had the right spine, she could just FORCE demons to join her hotel? She could have FORCED all the demons to agree with her project. Don't get me wrong. I get why she does it, OK? My mom had sex with Odysseus and he was ALL about doing the right thing. But I can't respect the project of a Deadly Sin without a spine. YOU aren't a Deadly Sin, yet you have a spine. So I respect ya."

"Your respect is unusual." Indigo shrugged.

The elevator door opened. Indigo gasped when she saw the mall's penthouse.

She immediately recognized the floor. The floor itself was the stained-glass dome of King Midas and the penthouse seemed to be as big as the Hazbin Hotel's lobby. The walls were painted green, trimmed with golden thorns, and filled with monochrome portraits of what could only be Hell's greediest elites. The ceiling was held up by golden statues, as if they were Atlas carrying the weight of the world. A wall-sized window of red glass revealed Pentagram City. Nearly all the furniture, ornaments, and the gold chandelier of thorn beads looked ludicrously luxurious.

And Indigo didn't even see this part of the mall from the outside when she and her friends first arrived. If anything, it probably meant that illusionary defenses made the penthouse invisible… and the customers probably had no idea that while they were shopping, a Deadly Sin was probably lounging over their heads.

"Sahara! There ya are!"

Just by the window stood a large, circular table coated with a green tablecloth and decorated with a golden candelabra. While one seat was empty, two weren't. Each was occupied by a male teenager. The first one seemed smaller, had ashy platinum blonde hair, pale skin, ivy green eyes, and a three-toned green attire consisting of a sweater, harem pants, and knee-high boots. His green-tipped platinum fennec tail was long enough to wrap over his shoulders like a fluffy boa. The second seemed like a Hellhound, but he had more of a jackal-form than Loona's wolf form. All he wore was a large black shirt with red ripped tips, though it looked like he wore black shorts underneath. Constantly fidgeting, his red irises glowing with orange hues, he seemed the most cartoony.

"Guys! I brought a new playmate!" Sahara slightly pushed Indigo towards the table. "Caligo and her slave Scrunchy! Caligo, these are my BFFs! Damian Iblis and Addison. Son of Satan and nephew of Mammon respectively!"

"Really? A new playmate?" Damian hovered off his seat and around the girls. "We haven't had one in such a long time! I was getting bored!"

Addison snapped his fingers, summoning some sort of jester demon waiter. He whispered something to the latter, and five seconds later, the jester ran back in with extra cups and silverware. Sahara dragged Indigo, forcing her to sit next to her. Damian floated back to his seat, facing Sahara while Indigo faced Addison. Despite keeping up a smile, Indigo felt the fearful butterflies in her stomach.

She was literally about to have lunch with the youngest relatives of the rulers of Wrath, Greed, and Sloth. And unlike Charlie, they could kill her.

Jester demon waiters came in, pushing golden carts loaded with tea kettles, charcuterie platters, tapas, fried calamari, and foie gras. Indigo immediately detected some envy in a couple tea kettles and foie gras.

"Relax, Caligo. We ain't cannibals, if that's what you're wondering." Sahara presented a small platter of foie gras before her. "Try it. Foie gras from Sloth's crows are really divine."

Indigo kept an eye on the others. Damian and Addison had their eyes locked on her while their hands filled up their plates and cups. Damian helped himself to black tea and charcuterie. Addison had herbal tea with fried calamari. Sahara just had a few tapas on her plates. The jester demons kept a very long distance from the royalties they were serving.

And the foie gras Sahara was giving glowed with envy.

Indigo wanted to resist… But all she heard were the echoes of a hive craving envy.

Without hesitation, she took the foie gras. The three Hellborns stared at her. Her fork took off a piece of the meat. Sahara was jumping on her seat. The foie gras went into her mouth. Damian was wagging his tail excitedly. Indigo swallowed. Addison just stared.

Indigo's smile widened… genuinely. The foie gras was good, but the envy was exquisite. She was lost in a trance, not realizing that as she was enjoying the flavors, the trio quickly ducked under the table. Scrunchy faked not noticing him, using their confidence to extend his ear from his body to listen in on them.

"Another sin-devourer! No wonder she threw my smoothie! Good thing your waiters are trained to serve sin-eaters, Addison!" Sahara squealed.

"OOH, this will be fun! We could have another sin-eater join our club!" Damian clapped his hands.

"Hold it, you two. If she's a sin-eater, how come I didn't see her coming?" Addison asked.

"Your power only works if you touch people, Addi. That's how it works." Damian pointed out.

"When I checked Sahara's dream, I saw an Ars Goetia. The Ars Goetia was supposed to be in the mall while Sahara went frolicking around drugging demons. This girl wasn't in the dream. I don't read dreams incorrectly… So what's she doing here?"

"I told you! I invited her because she's our new playmate!" Sahara protested.

"I get THAT. I don't get why your dream didn't predict her presence… or that she was a sin-eater. Why'd you even give her foie gras? It's the only appetizer made with envious ingredients."

"Oh, that! I thought it would be funny. When I was in the elevator, I thought it was funny that she's the first commoner I saw to be a butterfly. The only other ones I've seen are Leviathan's brood."

Scrunchy's teeth gritted. He'd have to break his boss out of her trance so they could dispose of the three brats.

"But I could be wrong…" Sahara's confession shocked Scrunchy. "We know what really hides behind those masked bitches. I doubt she's related to them. Besides, she's clearly just some sinner who fell to Hell as an envy sin-devourer. A newbie. Trust me, if she were a predator like Leviathan's brood, she'd have the same thing as them and hide it behind a mask."

"That's a problem." Addison groaned. "You guys know Lucifer is against sin-devourers. It's not the same thing as us. The Deadly Sins, excluding Lucifer and his family, are all sin-devourers. We're the only ones Lucifer permits the existence. But sinners? Sinners who are sin-devourers? Especially if they feed on envy?"

"Since when do we turn in public enemies?" Damian scoffed. "As long as we don't make it public, we keep her around as a playmate. Just because Lucifer lets us do whatever we want as long as we spread out sins doesn't mean he picks our playmates. Let's just have our lunch with her. Figure her out. Convince her to join our games. Another sin-devourer is better as an ally."

"And if she becomes an enemy?"

"Then what Lucifer does to us isn't our problem. We act like we never met her."

Scrunchy brought his ear back to his head when the trio sat right back to their seats. Indigo was out of her trance and the royals were acting like they didn't just sneak under a table like kids plotting in a sitcom.

"For potential murderers, you provide great foie gras," Indigo commented.

"Murderers? Us? NEVER!" Damian chuckled. "Just because I kill, what, 66 demons every six weeks by accident, that doesn't mean I go around poisoning my guest's foods!"

"You come up with great compliments and jokes, Caligo! Care for some tea?" Sahara quickly poured hot tea in Indigo's cup.

Indigo should resist, but denying would cause suspicions. Besides, the tea Sahara was offering had envy. So, she accepted.

"So, Cali!" Damian gouged down a whole lot of tea. "Tell us about ya! What brings ya to these parts?"

Another thing Indigo picked up on is that Alastor always played the vague card when demons got nosey. "You tell me. I'm not exactly dismembered."

Sahara spat her tea in laughter. "Dismembered! LOL!"

Damian wasn't even fazed by Indigo's response. He kept casually talking as if nothing was wrong. "You come to the Midas Mall often?"

"I don't exactly have the golden touch."

Sahara laughed again. Addison said nothing as he bit down his calamari in silence.

"What'd you die of to get in Hell?"

"Definitely not your lousy sense of humor."

Damian froze… and joined Sahara in loud laughter.

"Holy shit, you really are a riot! Addison, isn't she funny?"

Addison said nothing. All that happened next was him standing on his seat. His tail unwrapped himself from his shoulders and slithered towards Indigo. She felt the furry tip tapping her forehead. A strange tingling sensation went over her brain for five seconds. The tail pulled away. Addison looked angry. Angry enough to get on the ground and deal with his anger by having his tail knock over an upcoming cart filled with main courses, including a giant pig roast platter.

"Dude, hogs from my ring are expensive!" Damian glowed angrily. "Damn it, Addi! I know you have issues and it's your family's turf, but come on!"

Indigo stared at the fallen pig roast. She lost her smile. She was unnerved by the burned appearance of the poor hog. It… It looked too much like an older, fatter, and desaturated Fat Nuggets.

Angel Dust trusted her enough. Fat Nuggets spent time with her frequently since she first got to Hell. Feeding, caring, and playing with the butterfly demoness. Even occasionally eating her butterflies. Even though he wasn't hers, Fat Nuggets was the closest thing Indigo ever got to experience as a pet.

Seeing a whole hog lying dead on a platter only to be discarded like garbage due to a prince's tantrum? She now understood why her father never let her try or even see the lechon asado served at her cousin's quinceanera. The sight could have traumatized her.

"Why…" Addison's tail agitated with his fury. "Why…"

"Addison?" Sahara got up from her chair.

Addison rapidly stormed at Indigo, clenching the sides of her chair. She did her best not to flinch and keep smiling. Scrunchy put himself between the two.

"Why can't I see your dreams?" Addison growled.

Indigo and Indigo tilted their heads. "Huh?"

Sahara pulled out a poppy and held it in front of Addison's nose. A single loose pollen was enough to calm Addison down. He let go of her chair.

"I am truly sorry, Caligo." Sahara helped Addison back to his chair. "Addison's very sensitive for a dorimurida."

"A what?" Indigo asked.

"A dorimurida. A dream reader." Damian quickly checked Addison's forehead. "Physical contact allows a dorimurida to read others' dreams."

"Why? It sounds like psychological torture."

"It is… for the dorimurida."

Indigo stared at Sahara. "You're the Princess of Sloth. Wouldn't dream reading be more of YOUR forte?"

All the three sins just groaned. Sahara rolled her eyes. "If I had a head for all the times people asked me that…"

"The Greed Ring…" Addison muttered, properly sitting on his chair, "births dorimurida… to peak in dreams… See what the victims' dreams tells them about their true selves. Their ambitions. Their hopes. Their dreams. Their fatal flaws. When they find the sin in question, they manipulate the victim into indulging on that sin… Harvesting the sin so that the victim will empower the sin in life… Before bringing the completed harvest in death. All the dorimurida in the Greed Ring are Bandersnatch demons…"

"Except this awesome guy!" Damian gleefully pointed at Addison. "Mammon's sibling married one of Joseph's descendants! He's completely different from the other Hellborn dorimurida, because as Mammon's nephew and a descendant of the Biblical dream king himself, Addi here can literally predict the future while reading dreams!"

"And when I can't read the dreams of someone… EVEN if I touched them… It's a problem." Addison leaned over, fingers clasped together. "So…" He glared venomously at Indigo. "Why can't I read your dreams, Caligo? Why are you a problem?"

Scrunchy's laughter echoed in the penthouse.

"My boss? My boss having dreams? PRICELESS!" Scrunchy banged on the table. Embarrassment started to fill Indigo and butterflies were staring to fly out of her head while he kept laughing. "No wonder your power is so useless! My boss has no dreams, no ambitions, and no whatever! She doesn't even know why the fuck she landed here! You think you can predict the future when she has none!"

Indigo didn't even dare to look up at the three sins. They were probably going to laugh at her… Maybe Scrunchy thought that by playing the servant humiliating the master, the three sins would get bored and kick her out. Hopefully, they'd re-awaken her friends. And then she could spend the next traumatizing weeks pretending it never happened…

The three sins didn't have the same idea.

"Question, little scorpion," Damian hissed. "You know how hierarchy works, right?"

"And you're a servant." Sahara nodded.

"So know your place," Addison's eyes glowed. "We invited your master, not you."

Scrunchy calmly nodded and sat down, crossed legs, as if he were meditating rather than being reprimanded by upperclass elitists. Addison waved his hands and his servants cleared away the food. Crazy prepared as they were, they came with backup entrées. Fortunately, it was just some beef stroganoff, spicy dumplings, and pea soup.

"Forgive us. We're not used to seeing… demons who are soft to the souls they own." Addison's cold words sent shivers down Indigo's spine. He really was the coldest out of the trio. And they said money never buys warmth and happiness. He only touched the cold pea soup. "And I'm sorry if your 'lack of dreams' made it impossible for me to read you."

"It's nothing." Indigo straightened herself. Damian was distracted by the last butterflies flying around.

"Bugs fly out of your hair? That's fun! Do they carry plagues?" He eagerly asked.

"What? No. Butterflies just fly out of me based on my emotions."

Damian's eyes glowed and beamed. "That's gotta be pretty. Would you create a hurricane of bugs if you were having a blast at a party? They'd probably think the Pride Ring had another ring's sky during one of our raves."

That was it. The moment somebody got interested in her powers. If anything, the only smart thing Vaggie ever taught her was to not make a deal with the devil. Even Indigo was cautious when she was with Alastor. She got up and curtsied.

"I'm terribly sorry for inconveniencing you, but I'm a weak demon. I'd be of no use to you and I'm afraid I have nothing to gain from you. I thank you for the invitation and apologize for wasting your time…" Indigo got up and motioned Scrunchy to follow her.

Sahara and Damian teleported themselves, blocking Indigo and Scrunchy on their way to the elevator.

"Come on! You just got here!" Damian whined.

"At least stay for dessert!" Sahara grabbed Indigo's arm, tugging it hard. Out of instinct, Indigo pulled out her sickle.

"Ooh! Shiny!" Damian whistled at the sickle's holy glow.

"Careful! That thing could kill any of us!" Addison warned.

"Hold on, Addi!" Damian tried to reach for the sickle. "You think we can play a game of dismembering the guest?" In the chaos, no one noticed the elevator doors' ding.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Indigo hissed. "Scrunchy!"

"I can't touch these three, boss." Scrunchy pointed behind Damian and Sahara. "I don't know about him."

Damian and Sahara's faces paled at the person standing behind them. Sahara immediately let go of Indigo, leaving her shocked as well at the giant who stood before them. How'd he even fit in the elevator? He towered Octavia's dad!

The tall demon might as well have stolen Dwayne Johnson's muscles and hidden them underneath his black blouse and amethyst trousers. His bare arms were coated with scars. Scars that showed the insides of his flesh, blood, and bones. His facial features were rough and angular, the curly brownish red hair of his hair and beard well-groomed but sweaty. His brown eyes seemed human yet they threw warning glares. Burned on his forehead was a circle with seven daggers pointing at the center, creating a distorted sun. His feet were soaked with blood, saltwater, and mud. Wrapped around his waist was a belt with an amethyst scorpion clasp.

Scrunchy immediately bowed on the ground, as well as Addison's jester demons. Something about the man really scared them.

"So, this is where you were." The demon crossed his arms. "You realize my son was expecting you three for a meeting? I doubt that his grandfather would like to know that Satan, Mammon, and Belphegor couldn't send proper representatives."

"We… didn't want to go." Damian gulped. He quickly dragged his friends into a frightened hug.

"Why? August was very eager to share the data he got from the Ars Goetia for his inventions."

August? An image of the prince from Rosie's dinner party appeared in Indigo's mind until she petrified.

Miércoles, is he… No way!

"We… don't exactly like your son! Nothing personal, Lord Cain!" Addison whimpered.

"He's… well… Not exactly like us." Sahara added.

"Of course. Three brats lazing around. Good thing Lucifer and Leviathan have reliable heirs," Cain walked over and leaned over the three. "Either go to the meeting or go home." Cain tapped the mark on his forehead. "And nothing funny. Those who strike me suffer my pain times seven. Try your little spells on me and you drive yourself to insanity. And I bet Charlotte will have less bad publicity than you. And undo what you did to the shoppers, Wishazel."

"Y… Yes… Sir…"

Indigo almost pitied Sahara's crying state until Cain looked at her. She gulped.

"What are you going to do with me?" Indigo asked.

Cain put his hand on her head. She didn't dare to say how much she disliked people touching her hair. Cain could kill her. Yet he didn't. He just ruffled it and motioned towards the elevator.

"I'm personally taking you and your friends back home."

Minutes later

The teens were scared shitless while sitting in the passenger seats of Cain's car.

Sahara had removed the effects of her poppies. Octavia, Loona, and Kyle didn't remember that Indigo had hit the disguised Princess of Sloth with a smoothie. All they understood was that they dozed off and suddenly, one of the Grand Dukes of Envy was driving them back to the Hazbin Hotel with Octavia's limousine in tow.

Cain was driving his own minivan. Amethyst colored exterior and black leather seats on the inside. Nazar amulets were dangling from the ceiling. His license was encoded 1MURDERER, clashing with the neon green and pink bumper sticker of MY VEGAN DAD IS THE BEST! His front mirror had a dangling framed picture of a tiny childish drawing of what Indigo could only imagine being Cain with August. His dashboard's glove compartment was covered with stickers.

The teens were mortified about being driven around by the first murderer who probably happened to be Hell's greatest dad.

"Anyone got preferences for the radio?" Cain casually asked. Nobody dared to move a muscle. Even Loona didn't dare to touch her phone. "No one? Guess I'll put my fave." He turned on the radio, hitting one of those illegal channels broadcasting human songs. 'Old Town Road' by Lil Nas X began playing on the speakers. "That's a fun song! You know, my son liked it so much when he first heard, he was singing it in the shower for weeks!"

Indigo nervously rubbed the brooch form of Scrunchy. He had transformed back into a jewel pinned to her shirt when Cain brought her back to her friends. This was too much! Car rides with Alastor were at least comfortable! Right now, they were literally riding in the minivan of freaking Cain, hashtag the first murderer, hashtag August's vegan dad who made his minivan look like a hippie family's den!

They got into the neighborhood. Only thirteen more streets away and Indigo could see the Hazbin Hotel from her seat. She did her best to look indifferent. She didn't want the first murderer to kill her for flooding his minivan with her butterflies.

At the upcoming red light, Cain held up his left hand by the door window. Out of the blue, he caught a bullet that pierced through the window. He didn't flinch. When he opened his hand, the bullet dropped, leaving his palm to be stained with blood and small burns. Outside, a demon started screaming in agony. Indigo looked over Cain. The passengers were exposed to a rather ghastly sight. The demon that had shot at the minivan was suffering from seven bullet-sized holes all over his body. Blood overflowed and flames erupted. The demon collapsed on the ground, suffering from internal bleeding and explosive spores. His fellow gangsters ran away on the spot.

"Could you please look for bandages in the glove compartment?" Cain kept driving, unfazed by the bullet wound. Indigo stiffly searched through the glove compartment. Batons, daggers, a first-aid emergency kit, and too many pictures of August Aglais filled the compartment. Indigo quickly pulled out a bandage and gave it to him. "Thank you."

"Uh… You… You're OK?" Indigo hesitated to ask.

"'Whoever kills Cain shall suffer sevenfold vengeance'." Cain quoted the Bible and quickly covered his wound with the bandage. He pointed at the mark on his forehead. "This mark? It was a little different when I was on Earth. In Hell, it's supposed to remind demons that bad things happen. As you saw, the gangster suffered seven times my pain. In other words, he got seven bullet holes all over his body without any gun being triggered."

"I guess… that explains why you didn't ask us to give up any weapons." Indigo was relieved he didn't confiscate her sickle, which was safely hidden in her hair.

Cain just shrugged. He finally pulled in an alley and stopped. The Hazbin Hotel was only three streets away. "Alright. Final stop. Hopefully you kids learned to not do anymore playdates on the Deadly Sins' turfs. I'd stick to the thrift stores and clubs all sinners run in the Pride District. We good?"

The teens weakly nodded. Can unlocked the doors except Indigo's. Loona and Kyle made a run for it, but Octavia slowed down when she realized Cain was holding back Indigo.

"It's very quick." Cain briefly stared at Octavia before using a button on the dashboard to close the door.

Indigo didn't want to make it very quick. She wanted to get out of the minivan. She had enough of The Three Deadly Kids, she didn't need to be killed by the first murderer.

"You have some nice friends. And the Hazbin Hotel staff are generous hosts." Cain clasped his hands together. "I'm not amazingly terrifying enough to walk to the doors and tell them you got into trouble with the elites." He looked at her. "What were you thinking? Do you even know that for Damian, Addison, and Sahara, an entertaining playmate gets killed by accident while a useful playmate gets corrupted and molded to act like them? It's like the Caterpillar Room from TOY STORY 3." Cain shuddered.

Indigo took a deep breath. "I…"

Cain held his hand up, giving her the shushing finger gesture. "Didn't mean it? It was an accident? You were trying to be a good girl like you promised?"

Indigo wanted to disappear. The way he stared at her, so calm and so angry, scared her.

"You need to wake up and fast. You're in Hell. There's no room for accidents or 'I didn't mean it'. You're still thinking like a little girl who doesn't have anyone to protect her from strangers and if she makes one mistake, she can just talk about it to the school shrink and fucking move on. In Hell, an accident could lead to no tomorrow." Cain pointed at the hotel. "You either stay cooped up in the hotel like a caged bird until you rehabilitate or you learn to be prepared whenever you're outside."

Indigo gulped. "And… if I do all that… but I still don't get rehabilitated?"

Cain sighed. Something about him seemed to soften. "Well… if that doesn't work… Try looking into adoption associations. Sinners fall to Hell sterile, punished to never give birth. You might make two demons happy as their kid…"

Indigo was confused. "A… Adoption?"

"You're what, sixteen? It's never too late." Cain looked back at her. "Although I'm guessing there's already some people at the hotel for that…"

Indigo heard the passenger door unlock. Cain had pushed the button… purposely unlocking it.

"You really need to work on your weapon maneuvers. Pointing a weapon at a deadly sin? Big points on the bravery, I applaud that… but you're really naïve if you think people will take you seriously. Threatening the upper crust could lead you to disintegration, but on the streets, a five-year-old Hellborn can easily butcher a gang of perverts with safety scissors."

Indigo's eye twitched. That guy sure knew how to make insults educational. Along with being the first murderer, he must have also been the first person to stink at pep talks. Indigo just nodded and stepped out of the car.

"Stay safe, Ines."

Indigo's body turned to stone.

She looked behind her, but the door was closed and Cain drove off, his minivan disappearing. Octavia and the others rushed towards her.

"Indigo…" Octavia sighed.

"Hey?" Loona asked. "Are you OK?"

Indigo's eyes were blank. All she could do was shake her head. So far, only the Hazbin Hotel staff knew her real name. And right now, she knew that was knowledge the first murderer had.

Octavia turned to Loona. "Loona, I'll have my chauffeur drive you and Kyle back home. I'll teleport myself back to my dad's… After I make sure Indigo gets back safe."

Really later

Loona and Kyle were driven away by Octavia's chauffeur. With the horrible expression the butterfly demoness had on her face, Octavia didn't think she could handle swarming at her at the front entrance. Therefore, they used a portal to go from the alley right into Indigo's room. Rather than crying her heart out, Indigo decided to distract herself by washing her newly purchased clothes in her bathtub. Knowing Nifty could do something insane to her clothes, Indigo had decided to do her own laundry. Octavia gladly used her powers to dry up the clothes rapidly. As they folded and left the butterflies to put away the goods, Indigo found herself telling Octavia everything that had happened at the mall and afterwards, from Sahara's drugged smoothies to Cain calling Indigo by her real name.

Scrunchy was in his brooch form, resting on her nightstand. He didn't transform back yet. He didn't even transform back when, out of the blue, Indigo finally cracked.

"A sin-devourer?"

"Yeah…" Indigo lowered her head. "I'm really sorry. I promised Alastor and Rosie I wouldn't tell anyone… But I'm getting hungrier. I almost attacked the Von Eldritch… and the mall…" Indigo covered her face just as the butterflies took away the last folded T-shirt. "I'm sorry…"

"Sorry for what? Doing something stupid to protect your friends?" Octavia took a lotus-position as she sat on the bed. "Look. No one would blame you for thinking you could stand up against one of the Deadly Sins. Nearly all demons think they can take on anyone… And, it's kinda brave of you… I couldn't have done it."

Indigo gave her a questioning look. Octavia gave her a proper answer. "I'm an Ars Goetia. Just beneath the Seven Deadly Sins. Demonic nobility outranks everyone, but the Deadly Sins outrank all the nobility. Asmodeus himself is an Ars Goetia, but he's still the king of the Lust Ring. Anyone who's beneath his Ars Goetia and rank can't stand up against him. Those above him can't because he's a Deadly Sin and superior to them by hierarchy. The only Ars Goetia the Sins and Lucifer's family will consider as an equal is Bael. Long story short, I wouldn't have been able to deal with Damian, Addison, and Sahara. Besides their ranks, they're more powerful than me. You had bigger guts than me."

Indigo nodded. That wasn't why she had apologized, but she appreciated the words.

"As for the sin-devourer thing, that was kind of obvious."

Indigo almost fell off the bed at the flat response. Octavia caught her.

"What do you mean, 'kind of obvious'?" Indigo exclaimed. "How was I obvious?"

Octavia took Indigo's right hand and showed off the blue nail polish Indigo had gotten during their spa time at the mall. "Out of all the shades of blue I've seen you pull off, this gaudy blue doesn't work on you. Not gaudy commodore blue, which would have made sense, but fucking pottery gaudy blue. That and I saw how you shopped. Loona thought you were a germ snob or something, but when you selected and tried out some outfits causing the customers to get envious at you… And you came back alive from lunch with the D.A.S…" Octavia put Indigo's hand down. "You're lucky you didn't run into Charlie's dad. He would have killed you on the spot. Unless they're part of the Seven Deadly Sins families, sin-devourers among the sinners are to be executed on the spot."

Indigo gulped. "Why?"

Octavia straightened herself in her seating position. "My dad told me how back in the older days, when everything was black-or-white and vices were everywhere, pagan communities and the early monotheist found humans who could literally eat sins out of the dead. To cleanse them before being judged. The Aztecs had a whole sin-eating tradition for their purification goddess Tlazolteotl. The sin-eaters had a strong stomachs and morale. They couldn't be corrupted by the sins they ate… but they could accidentally corrupt those around them with the sins they ate."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. Sin isn't just something that goes away like how meat dissolves through your digestive system. Sin is literally an essence. If you eat it, it radiates out of you. It doesn't give you the aura of a sinful person, but people seeing you with that aura makes them reveal their own sin. In your case, you can eat envy, but you can't feel envy. Others around you will." Octavia looked towards the window. "Sin-eaters usually go to Heaven for fulfilling their missions to assist humans in purifications, but nobody really understands why the occasional ones come here. And it becomes a problem because, well…"

"Sin-eaters try to purge sins on Earth… They're surrounded by daily sins to purge in Hell…" Indigo concluded. "They go crazy… like I did with the Von Eldritch… My god, if anyone really knew… Vaggie was right, I'm technically addicted! How long can I resist trying to eat the envy out of an actual demon?"

"Well… if you tried attacking an Overlord… you're doomed. My dad said there was a case when an Overlord got killed by a sin-devourer in the 1890s… Consuming the sin of an Overlord… Especially if it's the sin the devourer fancies the most… You could be overwhelmed to death if you ever tried to eat the envy of the most envious Overlord. Execution would feel like a mercy kill."

Indigo tilted her head. "You seem to know a lot…"

"Yeah… You're not exactly the first sinner I met to be a sin-devourer… and still alive. She's a…"

Octavia was interrupted by the sounds of heavy pots clanging. It was loud enough for the sounds to echo from the kitchen. Indigo made a run out of her room, followed by Octavia. The girls ran down the stairs until they reached the kitchen door.

"MISTER ALASTOR, I SWEAR ON VAGGIE'S ANNOYING PERSONALITY THAT YOU'D BETTER NOT BEING TRYING TO COOK FAT NUGGETS AGAIN!" Indigo kicked the door open.

The kitchen was in a horrible mess, the kind that would make Nifty lose her mind. Pots were thrown everywhere, pasta water was spilled on the tiles, cooking knives stuck on the walls, and the kitchen was coated with thrown pasta, meat, and tomato marinara sauce. It was like a movie food fight shot.

Alastor and Angel Dust were frozen in place. Behind a trash can, Fat Nuggets hid until he spotted the girls and ran to hide behind their legs. Indigo and Octavia nearly lost their eyeballs. The porn star and the Overlord were duking it out again. Alastor had Angel Dust pinned over the counter, hands trying to strangle Angel Dust. The spider demon himself tried kicking Alastor.

It didn't exactly help that Alastor's coat was torn on the ground, Angel Dust's shirt was unbuttoned and his legs were in a weird folded position on Alastor's abdomen area. As they remained frozen, the adult demons realized the situation they were in.

"You must be joking…" Octavia grumbled.

"Uh… Indigo! How was the mall?" Angel Dust chuckled nervously.

Ironically, Indigo threw up on Fat Nuggets.