Here's Rosie
The demon’s head landed sloppily on the ground, the body slumping to the ground a second later, neck spurting oily blood. All around them, there was silence. Every eye fixed on the blade that had slain them.
Gwen lazily wiped it on her sleeve before sheathing it again and grinning at the crowd which had amassed, “Well? Anyone happen to know a Teddy Poole?”
They all looked away nervously, trying to avoid her sharp gaze as they muttered refusals and tried to walk away. One straggly arm stuck out from the crowd, raised as if they were in a classroom.
Gwen tilted her head, “Yeah?” She asked, a spotlight opening over the person speaking.
They were a bat-like demon, with ears almost as big as their face, which they used to cover their face when the light snapped on over them, squeaking in fright. Immediately, everyone around them gave them a wide berth.
“Well?” Gwen prompted, “You know him?”
The bat demon shook his head, looking terrified, “I don’t know the Poole boy. Sorry. I was just wondering, what happens to our souls?”
Gwen raised an eyebrow, “Souls? Why would I care?”
The bat demon wrung his hands anxiously, “W-well, Zeezi still isn’t back yet after you killed her, so the contracts should default over to you. A-are you planning to take over her position?”
Gwen looked at him slowly, trying to understand what was happening. Then, with much consideration, she asked, “Who’s Zeezi?”
Cecil leaned over to whisper into her ear, “The Overlord you threw into the whitespace. Pink and green furry woman? And before you ask, the contracts are what binds demon’s souls to Overlords and gives them power.”
“Power to do what?” She asked, because that was the only rational follow up to that.
Cecil shrugged vaguely, “Power… over things? I don’t know! I haven’t been here that much longer than you.”
Gwen had the feeling that the longer they spoke, the more scared their captive audience was getting over their inexperience. People were probably more intentional when overthrowing Overlords. Well, nothing she could do about that now, and she didn’t really feel like doing contract work of all things, so…
“Fuck it, you all get your souls back!” She announced, clapping her hands decisively.
The crowd was stunned silent, until the words settled in, and then the whispers began to buzz like a hornet’s nest. They didn’t believe her, obviously, but she was serious about this. She was going to free every single one of them from the horrors of… whatever this soul contract business was.
“As soon as I can figure out where the contracts are.” She amended, “Still working out the kinks here, folks. Looking around, getting a feel for things – Hey, maybe I haven’t mentioned this to you guys, have you heard of one Theodore Poole Junior?”
Sadly, despite the wary joy she had elicited from the crowd by promising them their freedom, no one came forward with Teddy’s location.
“You could ask around Cannibal Town!” A passerby in an old-timey vintage dress and bonnet suggested as she loaded the body of the demon she had just killed into a shopping cart, making sure to pick up the head as well.
Great! A lead!
“Thanks, ma’am!” She bowed theatrically, because that just seemed like the thing to do.
The woman laughed, “I should be thanking you! A slaughtering this clean? Oh, the liver pudding this will make. Let’s see Susan mock this.” She was still cackling under her breath as she walked away.
“We should follow her.” Gwen decided cheerily, “From a safe distance.”
Eyes followed them intently as they walked through the streets of Hell. Or, as Cecil corrected her, Pentagram City in the Pride Ring.
“This is a whole society, isn’t it?” Gwen noted, ducking a flaming tumbleweed of trash that went bounding down the street, “It’s a lot more… structured than I expected.”
“People will always insist on a pecking order, dead or alive.” Cecil agreed, tugging his hood over his face to avoid the onlookers. His floppy ears poked out from holes worn into the hood, and Gwen poked at them curiously, making him twitch in a shower of pixels.
“Could you stop that?” He asked.
“But they’re so cute!” Gwen defended, “What’s with the sparks? Do you have special powers like some of the other guys? Why does Hell come with anime powers, anyway?”
Cecil shrugged, “I’m going to keep repeating to you that I don’t know why any of this works as it does. But yeah, I have powers. I’m meant to be like… a technology-based demon, I think? But also unmistakably mammalian.”
Gwen snapped her fingers, “Electric mouse type!”
He laughed, “Yeah, sure. That. But the most I can do here is travel through electrical wires. And make pixel constructs. None of these powers carry over above ground.”
“Except the way you can haunt devices.”
“Yeah, except that.” He acknowledged, “Even compared to most Sinner demons, it’s not much. I’m small fry down here.”
Gwen stuck her tongue out at the idea, “Eugh. Well, good for you, now you have the big kid on the block backing you up. Where am I on this pecking order they’ve set up?”
Cecil shrugged, “No idea. You’re… a unique situation.”
Hah. You could say that again. Gwen wondered if when she died, she would be sent to the fictionalized afterlife, or if the real world would finally claim her once more. That was a distressing thought to have. Better commit to the no-afterlife atheism beliefs harder unless she wanted to own up to the shit she had done here.
They did not have much more time to talk, as the dingy skyscrapers began to clear in favor of older architecture, with the buildings being markedly shorter, and there being far less cold steel and glass.
No, this place was… friendly. Not just in building style, but in the community feeling.
There were people walking around. Things growing out of flowerbeds. Excitement and cheer and conversation bursting and bubbling in a way that no place else in hell – and very few places on Earth – had.
“Well!” Gwen grinned, “Let’s ask around, shall we?” Surely there would be someone around who would know where her brother was, if she just asked enough people, and toppled enough heads, someone was bound to let something slip.
To start off with, her eyes were drawn to the building in the very center of it all. A very charming two-story number, with the sign set up over the door announcing itself to be a ‘Rosie’s Emporium’. Gwen hadn’t gotten this far by disregarding what level designers clearly meant to be central locations. She made a beeline straight towards it.
The walk was cut short by a person in a vintage outfit rushing towards her, teeth bared and dripping eager saliva. She stepped to the side, herding him towards the panel border, warping it slightly so it was lying in the way of the attacker, who probably saw it as if a white gash had suddenly opened in front of his feet.
Predictably, he screamed, kicking out at the void to no avail. Gwen grabbed him by the scruff of his neck to keep him from falling.
“Whoops! Steady now, I don’t want to drop you.” She warned him, before yanking him back to solid ground, “That was probably a mistake you made, so I’m gonna let you off easy this time. But for future reference, we-” she pointed to her and Cecil, “-are not food. Got it?”
He gulped, black, pupil-less eyes radiating fear.
Gwen beamed at him and set the border back in its correct place, “Glad we can reach an understanding.”
And they continued to Rosie’s Emporium, with everyone else they crossed paths with nodding and smiling at her, not even trying to goad Cecil into a trap.
The bell above the door tinkled quaintly as Gwen flung it open. It was a nice store, a combination of a boutique and a butchery – in separate rooms. No dresses made of meat here. Immediately, a woman in a big hat and a mermaid-style dress walked up to them, giving them a smile that was all teeth.
“Why, hello! The young’un on the block. Didn’t realize you shared our interests!” She greeted, looking Gwen up and down appraisingly.
Gwen, for her part, stared at her blankly some more, “Who are you?”
Cecil made a sound that suggested he wanted to disembowel himself, “Gwen, Rosie’s an Overlord! Even higher up the ranks than that Zeezi one.”
“Ohhh!” Realization sparked in her, “Sorry.” She quickly apologized, tugging at her shirt collar, “It’s probably not a good look, coming out here after all that business with the fox girl. I swear I’m not going on a land-grabbing spree or whatever.”
“I think Zeezi was more of a dinosaur.” Rosie amended, “And I’m glad to hear that. It wouldn’t end well for you otherwise.”
That startled a laugh out of Gwen. Yeah, right.
“Hey, I have…” She jabbed open a rift in reality with her katana, and swung it around wildly, until the blade hooked onto something she had lying in there. Crowing victoriously, she pulled it out to show it speared on a disembodied pink arm with lime green stripes.
“Fresh as can be. As a peace offering?” She held it out to Rosie. Cannibalism was the theme here, right? This was the only thing she had thought to grab.
The woman considered it for a moment, and then graciously picked the morsel off the sword, “Well, I try to restrain myself from trying Overlords too much, but I can’t deny I have a weak spot for them.” She laughed, setting it to the side, “Now, if you aren’t trying to prove your worth, what are you looking for?”
Moment of truth. Gwen set her thoughts carefully, “I think I met one of your residents. They recommended I come ask you for information.”
“I’m glad they have such trust in me.” Rosie beamed, “Information for what?”
Deep breath.
“Do you know if there’s a kid wandering around called Teddy Poole?”
Rosie thought on it for a little while, before shaking her head regretfully, “Sorry, darling. No bells being rung.”
Gwen sighed in defeat, but then the Overlord kept on talking, “Maybe he changed it upon coming here? Sinners tend to do that. Try using other characteristics to identify him. Clothing choices, hobbies, skills. That sort of thing.”
“Okay!” She agreed, perking up just as quickly. The quest wasn’t over yet! She still had a chance!
“Thanks, Rosie!” She called, halfway out of the store.
“Aw, I can’t believe I missed her by a hair.” He lamented, swallowing a chunk of bright pink meat.
“She was such a charmer!” Rosie gushed, “Getting her under soul contract is a good idea. I think you two will get along quite nicely.”
“It’ll be entertaining for sure.” He laughed, his shadow following the motion behind him.
The girl had left ripples all over the city with her declaration that she intended to free all the souls contracted under Zeezi. He wondered what it was like, to have so much power welling inside you that you could afford to throw so much of it away.
He could use some of that. And she was probably just naive enough to hand it over.