Guillo1988, I was so fucking DAMN impressed by your ideas, your thought progress, your VISION! Like, that would be an epic continuation for this story. Though I can't say close it will be, nor I can spoil any of the fun, I can't wait to hear what you have to offer next!
Once again, I'd love to thank TamSongFanGirl for betareading this chapter. Enjoy! :)
The screams in the dark alley died down the moment Lute freed her sword from the torso of the Sinner. She watched as he slipped on the filthy wall (why does everything in Hell have to be filthy?!) clenching his chest to hold on his last breath, until giving in and falling face hard on a pool made by his own blood.
She clicks her tongue, unfazed from the insignificant display of weakness (what else should she expect?) and goes on her way.
Her interrogation method was hiding in dark alleys, attacking unsuspected passerbys (or Sinners hiding there, as well, but to do lines, drink liquor unbothered or engage in depraved sexual activities). She would pin them to the wall, ask about the address and kill them afterwards. If anyone made the mistake to ask her about the intentions, she would slaughter them earlier than anticipated.
What about the promise? She made that with some disgusting Overlords, if they truly expected her to keep it, they should have told her to do it with some holy and divine being.
And that's how she spent the majority of her day, until Hell's sun started to set and she had at last reached her destination. It was an open space, with only drying lofts of hung clothes dripping blood (either red or... gold, to her disgust) preventing the rays of Hell's red sun from fully illuminating it. The buildings were tall, with broken winds giving a bare glimpse of the equally nasty interior (mainly, Sinners in provocative positions, not caring if they exposed themselves to the outside world) and so rotten, that a mere touch would be enough to send them to collapse and send them into a domino-style rumble.
The pavements were covered in various grains of dust, some of which were floating in the air, while sinners' bodies were scattered all over. At first, Lute thought that they hadn't been picked yet by the Cannibals or by some other group that were responsible for the city's cleansing after an Extermination, but then she realized that they weren't victims targeted by Exorcists, rather Sinners on drugs.
The realization came when she spotted the few attending ones still standing and doing lines or ingraining needles to their sickly bodies.
Lute had to use every single strength within herself to prevent herself from vomiting. Her short stay in Hell had confirmed everything she already knew about Sinners• that they were vile and lost hopes and killing them was the perfect solution for their crime of existing.
She approached the nearest Sinner who also seemed to be the most conscious one (which didn't much, her neck was tilting forward in an extremely uncomfortable and painful angle and she was barely able to hold her eyes open, but that was the best thing she could find) and lifted her sword to her chin.
The Sinner didn't flinch. In fact, she didn't even seem to notice that.
Lute narrowed her eyes. "Where's 13 Imp, Azazel District?" She asked, essentially stating her presence.
The Sinned lifted her head, tilted to the side and stared at Lute. Her eyes were red, possibly a side effect from all these doses, and she wore a gas mask, to protect her mouth and nose. In fact, now that she was paying closer attention, almost everyone there wore a similar type of mask. "Right here, hun" she replied and pointed with her thumb at the rusty door behind her.
Said door belonged to a building so poor, so unremarkable, so insignificant from the rest of this area, that one wouldn't even fathom the idea of an Overlord using it as their Headquarters, let alone resigning it.
All that made Lute suspicious. "Is this the Headquarters of an Overlord, going by the name 'Valentino'?" She asked the filth again, never taking her sword away.
"No. The Vee's Headquarters are on the other side of the Pentagram City" she replied and pointed at a barely visible purple Tower with three 'V's in neon signs and a satellite dish.
"Fuck!" Lute cursed. She'd been tricked and played, as if she was but a rookie. She would return to Cannibal Town and try to track down that nerd-y slut that lied to her. After she had reunited with Viol, of course.
"So, what do you want there?" The Sinner asked, as if she hadn't noticed her annoyance. "Why am I asking? You're so pretty. Valentino would surely hire you as the protagonist for his next film" she glazed over her body, prompting Lute to cover herself with her functional wing, despite being fully clothed.
"Fuck you, you filthy faggot!" She hissed. "Can you actually tell me how to get there?"
"Or else?" The Sinner asked, eyeing the Angelic sword with a peculiar interest.
"I will fuckin' kill and spill your shit entrails all over the place" Lute said, anger burning hot enough to put Hell's already high temperature in shame.
"And what if I do tell you?" She raised an eyebrow.
"I'll make your death painless, though I don't promise anything" as she spoke, Lute noticed that she had trouble holding the handle of her weapon. She adjusted her grip and hoped the demon hadn't seen it.
"So I'll die either way, but in different ways, huh? Will you still spill my entrails for everyone to see, or you'll keep them inside my body?" She chuckled, and her eyes didn't seem as sleepy as she originally thought.
Lute's own eyelids felt heavier and heavier as each minute passed, though she couldn't understand why.
The Sinner rose and grabbed her by the wrist. Lute found herself unable to resist.
"I'm Milto" she said.
Lute blinked in confusion Did she just introduce herself to me? She thought. Did she have to introduce herself to her now? And why was it so hard to do even that?
"Come inside" the filth opened the door behind her. "You'll feel much better"
Lute shouldn't trust her. She was well aware of that. Which was why she didn't move. Which also prompted the demon to grab her again by the wrist and shove her inside.
Once she found herself away from the street, Lute realized she felt much better. The sleepiness and numbness fell away, as vitality and energy came rushing into her veins again. She hated to admit it, but the sinner was right• getting inside was all she needed for well-being.
Speaking of which, the interior itself wasn't that bad. Sure, the walls and the furniture were painted in that predictable red color that Lute had gotten tired of seeing everywhere this time that she had been in Hell, but it was surprisingly well-kept, clean and organized. The rooms, the halls and the openings were unexpectedly open and large, as if they were sheltering some sort of giant.
"The boss will see you soon" Milto stated and pulled out the gas mask.
Lute started to wonder if these little specks of dust (most likely, meth and other types of drugs) were the cause of the numbness earlier on. That would explain why almost every other passerby was found laying around or being on the verge of fainting, and why Milto was wearing a protection mask. Right now, there was something else that bothered her.
"Boss?" She asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, that's my boss' Headquarters!" Milto replied. "I thought you might wanna see her"
"But Valentino is the one I'm after," Lute reminded her and took a step back, a step that barely echoed on the carpeted floor.
"Oh, I know. It's just I thought that since you're after an Overlord, another Overlord might help you" Milto replied.
Lute noticed that the interior must have done some good for her as well, since her words came less disoriented and her gaze seemed more focused on her interlocutor.
So her Boss was an Overlord, huh? A rather intriguing piece of information. However...
"I already spoke to two and they weren't particularly helpful," Lute informed her.
"Depends on who you talked to. If these specific Overlords didn't like Valentino, then you couldn't expect much of them," she replied.
"They didn't tell me anything not because they didn't like him, but because..." Lute was about to explain, but she cut off herself mid-sentence. There was no way she was gonna reveal herself to a crack-addicted sinner, never mind the fact she could easily end her miserable afterlife with one swing of her sword. So she wasn't prepared when Milto finished the sentence for her...
"... they didn't want to hand him to the Head Exorcist, despite their feelings for him."
Lute stared at her agast. She didn't just hear what she heard, did she?
"What, in the nine rings of Hell makes you think I'm the Head Exorcist?" She hissed through gritted teeth. She wasn't just gonna confirm the suspicions of that denizen, not until the situation proved to be more severe than she originally estimated.
"It's not rocket science, you fucking cunt," Milto said with an amused upper brow. "You possess a halo, wings and you wear that shitty bloodstained Exorcist uniform"
So a Sinner proved smarter than what meets the eye. Big deal!
"Fine, you caught me," Lute said and raised her hands in the air, as if she was scared for her life - as if. "What are you gonna do now? Fall down to your knees and beg for your shitty life? Bitch, this is Hell, it fucking sucks, I'm doing you a favor by getting you out of that hellhole."
She raised her sword, a clear warning that she was about to strike and that she wouldn't miss. As such, she was appalled when she noticed the sinner not flinching an inch. Perhaps, she was indeed dumb.
"It's not nice to kill your savior, you know. If it wasn't for me, you'd been laying around for the whims of every sinner. You wouldn't want that, would you?" Milto reminded her serenely, as if a conversation between a predator and a prey was the most natural thing to happen before the prey's last moments. She closed her eyelids and licked her lips, not caring about what the Exorcist would think. "And you yourself are so pretty. I bet they would want to do some pretty nasty things with you once they lay their hands on your faint body."
Lute rolled her eyes disgusted. All faggots are the same. They hit on you, despite being clear enough that you have no interest in them.
Loud thuds shook the building, driving her out of her thoughts. The entire building groaned in agony, the walls shuddering violently as though it might splinter apart.
The furniture danced to the rhythm, their noise muffled under the thick carpets. Nothing fell, despite the shaking. A better look indicated that the shelves, the bookshelves and all sorts of fragile items were pinned strongly to the wall.
Did that kind of thing happen far too often? And most importantly, what exactly caused it? An earthquake? No way, something was off. The noise and shaking approximated them and suddenly, Lute could surmise the source. It was... footsteps!
Loud, thundering footsteps echoing from the depth of terrain. Her gaze turned from the floor to Milto, who had planted a relaxing expression on her face.
"That's my boss!" She explained and pointed at the floor, as if Lute was some sort of idiot who hadn't figured out yet the location. "She's back"
"She?!" Lute asked, hoping to gather more information about the expected threat.
"Yeah" Milto said, sticking her tongue out and making a rock gesture with her hand. "One of the baddest bitchies around. She knows her stuff."
The footsteps moved a little to the light. Lute couldn't help but follow them, in hopes of meeting their owners. They led to a gigantic room, empty from furniture and decorations, except for a ginormous hole in the middle of the floor. A nasty odor emerged from the depths, causing Lute to pinch her nose in order to prevent it from penetrating her nasal cavity. A closer look laid pipes, grayish waters flowing towards a direction carrying bones, flesh and trash along the currents. The sewage system?! Lute could never imagine Hell having some sort of technological advance besides rusting buildings, which collapsed every two days due to the constant turf wars.
Then, the being that caused those shuddering footsteps appeared and climbed up the hole, resting her eyes on Lute and her helper. The most prominent feature of her was her size. She was massive, towering everything, not just normal souls, but tables and chairs, in both height and mass. Her elongated snout sported two rows of sharp teeth, ready to devour anything in sight. Her eyes had a sickly green color, not unlike that of puke. Her brownish skin - showcasing her bad taste in fashion with a feathered jacket in neon green and pink undertones, possibly to accommodate her hideous hairstyle, a black tank top, sports and boots - was covered in scales and featured a long tail adorning green and pink feathers at the end.
There was no doubt that she was themed after dinosaurs. Lute wondered what kind of abominations this sinner must have committed to end up with these disgusting traits. She didn't resemble the casual denizen, small and frail and so easy to pierce their body, but she still was no match for the Head Exorcist! Right? She took a step backwards and put her hand on the handle of her sword. Just in case...
"Aw, Milto. I see you brought company with you" she greeted them, her voice deep and manly.
With a quick move, she headed to grab Lute. Lute avoided the clawing hand just in time and, with every single inch of her strength she shoved it down the dinosaur's palm. The edge shattered the moment it came in contact with the skin, leaving Lute baffled. The Overlord's palm was also covered in scales and it turned out they were durable enough to shield her, even from Heavenly weapons.
Lute had to attack a part of her body that wasn't protected by scales, like her eyes, nose or tail. She figured out the mistake far too late.
The dinosaur-like demon grabbed her with the other hand and pulled her up from the ground. The rapidity of the motion caused Lute to accidentally drop her sword, leaving her essentially defenseless against the demon. She could fit inside her palm, with only her head and her mechanical arm sticking out.
"Splendid, Ma'am! As always!" Milto clapped her hand.
Lute wished more than anything in the word to fly down, grab her sword and decapitate the annoyance. She couldn't and turned her gaze back to the dinosaur, awaiting her fate.
Much to her expectations, she didn't attack her immediately, nor tried to eat it.
Instead, she preferred to sit down and watch the angel's pathetic attempts to free herself, including hissing, screaming and punching with her free hand. As time passed, her moves became duller and duller. Despair was replaced by... fear? She was trembling, as myriad thoughts raced inside her head. What are they gonna do with me? Kill me? With my own sword as retribution? What will Viol think when she finds out I'm no longer alive? What will happen to her? Will she return to Heaven? Will they kill her as well?
Should she tell her that she had a daughter? Not in the slightest! Countless sinners had begged on their knees to spare them, claiming they had family and children to take care of, though they still ended up being slaughtered by Lute's sword nonetheless.
The demon leaned closer to inspect the Exorcist, giving her a great view of her giant fangs, sharp enough to tear flesh with one bite.
"What are we gonna do with her? Eat her?" Milto voiced her thoughts and displayed her own fangs.
Lute shut her eyes closed and whispered under her breath. I'm sorry, Viol
She poked one eye open, just to see the monster's reaction. She knew she should not do it. The very knowledge that she might witness that pejorative expression of it further embarrassed her and increased her tremor. But she did anyway.
She saw sharp teeth hanging from a fully open mouth and a disgusting green tongue hanging from one side, though Lute didn't know whether the color was natural or was the result of the Sinner's eating habits. Either way, the sight was ugly. She let out a weak whimper, hoping it didn't reach anyone's ears and... then, the Overlord burst into laughter. Her partner followed soon. She was rolling on the floor, with the hand holding Lute in the air, while the other hand was holding her stomach. She was rolling so hard, that Lute feared that she would hit her accidentally on the wall and she wasn't keen with the idea.
"You-you should have seen your face!" The Overlord said once she started to regain her composure. She wiped a tear streaming down her face and adjusted her grip. "Name's Zeezi," she introduced herself.
Lute didn't desire to introduce herself to... Zeezi. She put the most commanding frown she could muster and stared at her dismissively. It felt like the prior events, with her trembling in the Overlord's hand, had occurred a long time ago and were lost in time. Truth was, Lute was still scared as fuck, but she tried to put a bravado in hopes of wiping out those humiliating events. She had seen Adam doing it thousands of times and even though it wasn't always successful, Lute didn't have a better model. "You should already know who I am," she hissed. "Your little bitch over there got it right."
Zeezi rested her face on her palm. "Of course she got it right. Carmilla and Rosie warned us about your arrival. Bless their darned souls. We kinda expected you. You came late, but at the very least, you found the way."
Lute felt even more humiliated. A faint yellow color painted her pale face. How come she hadn't predicted that kind of strategy from the enemies? Was motherhood really turned her soft, as some Exorcists often teased her?
"If you do anything as to harm me, I warn you I have a whole army willing to avenge me," she growled, trying to sound as intimidating as she could, despite her opponent clearly having the upper hand.
"You've got something interesting right there," Zeezi ignored her and drew her finger closer to Lute's prosthetic arm. Lute yanked it away.
"I won't let you finish me so easily," she informed them.
"Finish you?" The demon chuckled again. "Why would I do that when I could use you for something much more fun?"
Milto let a disappointed sigh escape her lips.
Lute, meanwhile, blinked her eyes in confusion. "Wh-what...?" She dared to ask.
"You could be more of an assistance for me..."
"I am not sleeping with you!" Lute cut her short. "You have that Milto bitch over there for these vile acts"
"That's not what it looks like!" Milto protested, but her argument fell on deaf ears.
"Relax, bitch!" said Zeezi. "Satan, you're such an uptight cunt! No, what I want for you is to kill Valentino"
Lute was once again left flabbergasted.
"Yeah. You could do me a favor you know," Zeezi kept on. "Less of a competition afterwards. If I make the right moves, I may even get all of his soul contracts. Oh, I already feel the power!" She shivered as a demonstration.
Lute grimaced by that declaration. "You vile beings only care about power and how to get it, regardless of the means."
Zeezi shot her a threatening look that caused Lute to arch her back backwards. The demon was dangerously close for her own good. "Don't you dare act all high and mighty!" Zeezi hissed. "All you angel pricks are the same. You all go "We are in Heaven, so we can do as we want, regardless if our behavior is divine and compatible with our position. Let's kill Sinners now and then accuse them for doing the exact same thing as us, only we are the good guys here, so it's totally fine and shit!"". She moved the hand gripping Lute at a window and pointed outside. Despite the dust, the mold and dirt, the road was still recognizable. "You see this purple scaled cunt with the three arms?" She pointed to the Sinner in particular. "She lost the love of her life three years ago and she still hasn't moved on."
Lute scoffed. Why should she feel sad for that filth if she wasn't strong enough to forget it? Then, she recalled the day Adam died and she rushed to his side, yelling his name and begging him to stay with her. She was so vulnerable, so desperate at the thought of losing him, that she dropped her proud stoic demeanor and let herself cry while that traitor, Lucifer and Vaggie, encircled her and demanded her to go back home. She wasn't particularly proud of that, yet that specific memory replayed on her mind over and over again all these years, as some sort of punishment for her weakness.
"Someone is embarrassed about something?" The Overlord chuckled, noticing the change in Lute's expression.
"Fuck you!" Was all Lute could say. "That sinner is in Hell for a reason. Losing her boyfriend was another punishment she had to pay for every single sin she committed while alive!"
"Did you know her?" Zeezi asked. "Did she tell you about her mortal life or did you make assumptions?"
"Why should I talk to her?" Lute scoffed. "If she's in Hell, that means she is an awful person."
"And you think you're better. You and your bitches come down each year and kill us with no mercy. Isn't that a violation of the fifth commandment?"
"It's not a violation when it's against criminals and callous murderers," Lute retorted. "You should have behaved better if you wanted a place in Heaven. Just like we did!"
"Well, since you're insisting, you should learn the sinner over there was a righteous woman who was killed by a burglar who robbed the house where she lived with her family. She tried to save her parents and the only way to do so by shooting the fucker dead. Said fucker had a partner who shot her from behind, but that's not the point. Such a sweet nice generous lady, albeit extremely gullible, no offense. And she landed here. For a murder against a callous robber. Shouldn't that sin be excused because, as you said, the fifth commandment isn't violated when it's against awful persons, or that's a privilege only you angel cunts have?"
Lute didn't answer. She tried to change the subject. "What were you doing in the sewers? Is this the place where you have intercourse?" She mocked.
Zeezi didn't read the tone. "Sometimes. But most of the time it is for transaction contacts. It's a great place to expand my drug business empire without all the other Overlords meddling in my feet. In fact, that's where you are gonna go to reach your destination"
If the grimace on her face was a valid clue, Lute didn't like the idea of diving her feet into that polluted liquid, not with all the sinner feces and pees crawling on her damaged clothes and then entering her divine body via torn threads, but if the sewers promised a much easier route with no demons cutting her way, she was willing to accept the offer.
"Will you let me go now?" She asked.
"For Valentino, right?"
Lute nodded.
"Ma'am, don't you dare let her go!" Milto warned her boss.
"Shut the fuck up, Milto!" Zeezi hushed her and shot her the same threatening look she had bestowed earlier to Lute. Milto stiffened. She turned back to the Head Exorcist. "You didn't tell me, why are you targeting Valentino?"
Lute remained silent, trying to think of a good lie. "Heavenly orders," she said at last. "Can't say anything beyond that! Orders from the Superiors."
"Suuuure" Zeezi replied in a tone that heavily betrayed that she didn't believe a word she said, but chose to shrug it off. "Milto, go get the map," she ordered her subordinate.
"Yes, Ma'am" Milto said in an annoyed tone, showcasing her unwillingness to obey the command. Regardless, she saluted the boss, turned the other way around, disappeared in the hall and returned shortly after holding a stained piece of paper in one hand.
Lute wondered if they had carried it in the sewers with them on multiple occasions - which might explain the dirt - or if they hadn't used it for a long time and the stains were just mold from the disuse.
Milto fixed the map on the wall and Zeezi lowered her hand, so Lute could have a better view. The paper was marked in a dark red color, showing twisted routes and turns, not unlike an actual labyrinth, with the most glaring difference being the occasional crude drawings of what appeared to be sewage monsters, like dog-sized rats and alligators that spit fire.
"You go all left, until you bump into a yellow ladder. You'll instantly recognize it, it's a popular dating location for BDSM participants, so don't be surprised if you spot handcuffs or something similar-"
"Don't tell her that so quickly! We don't know for sure whether her virginal and saintly mind can take it" Zeezi laughed, as if Lute couldn't hear them.
Milto laughed alongside her boss. Lute deepened her frown, trying her hardest to ignore them. "Just give me the fucking directions!" She groaned.
Zeezie and Milto laughed even harder, enraging Lute even farther. God, what kind of sins had she committed to be forced to undergo all this?!
"Yeah, as I was saying" Milto restarted, once she calmed down. "Afterwards, you go all right..."
Lute's thoughts trailed off as Milto kept on talking and talking. She imagined Viol and their ultimate reunion. In what condition would she find her? Had that Valentino guy tortured her or did unspeakable things to her before she escaped his perverted jail?
"Got it?" Asked Milto, popping the cloud Lute had built.
"Got it! Now, let me go!" She demanded, glaring at Zeezi.
"Sure, whatever you want, sweetheart," The Overlord agreed, with a mischievous - one could even describe it as villainous - embellishing her scaled face. "But before you go, I want something from you."
With a simple motion, she yanked the halo. Lute didn't have time to react or even ask what use her halo was for her. She had thought of the pain that would overwhelm her if that ever happened to her, of the screaming inside her head, similar to a torn limb or a stamping wound. None came. Except from a peculiar feeling, like she had lost contact with the surroundings that were connected via her halo, despite the limited use.
Zeezi opened her arm and let the angel fall down the hole. Lute barely had time to take a hold of herself and sprang her wings, before hitting the cold pavement underneath. She tried not to think of the hellish germs that probably entered her holy body, and rather focused on the pain. Her whole being ached from the collision. The last thing she saw before the darkness fully engulfed her was Zeezi and Milto closing the hole, with Milto letting out a nasty laugh.
It was too late to realize that she shouldn't have trusted them.
Remember that tall dinosaur-like demon who appeared in the third episode in the Overlords' meeting? Yep, that's Zeezie. So yeah, I expanded her role and personality in my fic for reasons, mostly to put another obstacle in Lute's race to reunite with her daughter. Will she appear again in the future? I can't say.
Will you believe me if I told you I had such a hard time writing this chapter and I even thought of going in another hiatus, just because of that? Fortunately, I pushed myself to write the goddamn thing and... here we are now!
Have a lovely week and I'll see you soon! Bye!