2 The Sins

'Mr. Morningstar? Is he mistaking me for someone?'. Even if he is, it's advantageous to me, so I'll ignore it.

"Where am I right now? Hell?" I look at the fat demon with my usual plain expression as I analyze my surroundings.

A few expressions pass his face, surprise, relief, and then happiness.

"Ah, I see, your memory did not return. Yes, Mr. Morningstar, one of them at least. There is a vast number of Hell's from many religions. You are the most powerful Devil and King of 7 of the hells," he says, a big smile on his wicked red face.

My eyebrows furrow, "My memories have yet to return? I am a human from birth or at least close to that."

He nods, "Yes, Mr. Morningstar, you are correct. When you and I were tossed from heaven, we were given these ghastly appearances as devils. You loathed the disgusting red skin and giant size, thought it too ugly. So you sent yourself into reincarnation to gain a human form, knowing you would return here upon death."

I ponder on what he says. "That does indeed sound like me; I would rather be dead than ugly… And what is your name and relation to me?"

He bows his head. "My name is Beezlebub; I was a General in your army when you led your rebellion against that loathsome 'One Above All.' Now I am the head of the Hell Lords, a table of Devils you rule."

I nod. I get what is happening here… as long as this fat pig with bat wings isn't lying. "Before I 'threw myself into reincarnation,' did I have emotions?"

His smile goes away, "Yes and no. You had your emotion stripped from you by 'That Being' and are required to earn them back by punishing sinners," he looks upset as he speaks.

"I have killed several evil people since being born. Does that not count?"

He laughs a bit. "Yes, but it is not nearly enough. You sent yourself into reincarnation 2000 years ago, so you'll need to do a small purge to regain any feeling. Of course, you can always punish incredibly evil people, which would equal a great number. I remember less than a hundred years ago there was a man named Hitler, had you punished him, you may have gotten a single emotion back in just one sentence."

I immediately think of Fisk as he is talking. "As you said, I am this 'Morningstar,' so I must have some amount of power, right?"

He nods his head as he explains, "Indeed, you are incredibly powerful with just your body alone. Once you regain your full strength killing the so-called 'Gods' will be nothing to you. As for your powers, you can do anything an archangel can do but better."

"The everyday things are Flight, Teleportation, Regeneration, Strength, Godly Durability, Hearing Prayers, and Holy Light. For us, however, it's Hellfire and not Holy Light. As for your personal, you have the power of every Sin; when we were cast out, you awoke with the power of Pride."

"However, later on, you stole... usurped the other six powers deeming their wielders unworthy. You also dabbled in infernal magic, but I don't know much about it."

"Last but not least, the power all demons and devils have, Contracts… Contracts allow us to take a soul or other compensation while keeping on good terms with that 'God.' It also gives us the power to grant wishes we wouldn't normally be able to do without it. For example, with a contract, you could raise the dead despite not having the ability to; just having the power behind it is sufficient," he takes a deep breath after finishing his long-winded speech.

My eyebrows raise, all of it sounds pretty good; if I could, I would be happy now… I think. After hearing, I can control Hellfire, I bring up my hand and close my eyes, thinking of a raging fire in my hands. When I open them, a five-foot flame of crimson fire is spewing out of my hand, but I feel no heat.

I nodded my head, satisfied, closing my hand; the fire disappeared. I should be able to fly efficiently, and Teleportation is something I would probably have to get used to.

"Now, what is the power for each sin?" I ask, still as calm as ever.

He sighs, "Each Sin has an awakened ability that you kept private, so I don't know all of it. But what I do know is the basics, is that fine?"

I shrug, "Sure."

"Pride is to control someone through your voice, pretty simple. Giving commands can essentially affect a person's physical actions, their mind is still their own. Envy is a perfect transformation into any being you wish. Greed forces people to speak their deepest desire and even forces them to act on it; it's used through eye contact."

"Gluttony lets you steal an ability from an enemy for some time. Sloth allows you to slow time in the area around you. And lastly, Wrath… it surrounds you in an aura of power, you and your allies become more powerful while your enemies lose their will to fight."

"You left out Lust…." I say, brows still raised at the abilities I have.

If his skin wasn't red, I'm sure I would see him blush, "I-I wouldn't know, you never talk about your… affairs. The most I know is you are a very… proficient lover." His head is tilted down further as he speaks.

I nod since I already have this 'ability,' so to speak. "Is there a book that records those that die?"

He looks confused at my question. "Yes, it is in your palace, the receptionist keeps the book of the dead."

I nod. "Let's go. Then I have something I need to check."

He nods and walks up to me, offering his hand. When I reach out and touch his red hand, we disappear from where we are standing. Teleportation seems like an excellent ability…

We reappear in a large open room entirely made of marble; in front of us is a desk with a beautiful half-naked demon sitting behind it. She had blue skin with bat wings; she had a sleek face with plump purple lips that matched her long hair. Her breasts filled out the black and gold-laced strapless shirt she was wearing. I nod my head internally. 'Around a 32DD… nice'.

When she saw us appear, she jumped up with an angry look on her face. She is about to speak until she sees me and her face goes pale.

She bows her head quickly. "Lord Morningstar, it is great to see you again," she sounds scared.

Beezlebub waves his hand, "Sorry to scare you, Megaera, Mr. Morningstar is back and has something he would like to check in the book of the dead."

'Megaera? That's not Christian… Greek, I believe?' I wonder to myself.

She quickly sits back down at the marble desk and opens the large book sitting on it, "Whose name and what planet do you want to search for Lord Morningstar?"

"Anthony Edward Stark from Earth" I speak slowly to make sure she hears.

She nods and starts flipping through the book. After only a few seconds, she stopped on a page and started skimming through it.

"Ah, Found it… He is not dead yet; the fates will not take him for a while yet," she said, finally smiling.

I nod. 'Good, I would be mad to lose my only friend so far.'

"Thank you for the information; by any chance, are you greek?" I ask, genuinely curious.

Before she can answer, Beezlebub answers for her, "Yes, Mr. Morningstar, one of the Hells you conquered when you fell was the Greek hell. Hades is one of the members of the Hell Lords; he is lord of the 3rd Layer."

"All right, since I'm not dead, how do I get back to my body on earth?" I say, a bit eager to get back and finish my session with Candy and Rose.

"Just like Teleportation, think of where you want to go and manipulate the power in your body to bring you there. In this case, it would be your body on earth. It's fine for you to do as you please even as the King of Hell since each layer of hell is regulated by the Hell Lord who overlooks it." He says matter of factly.

I nod and turn towards Megaera with a charming smile, "I'll be seeing you later; perhaps we can speak more in private about your pantheon. It would be a pleasure to learn more about the famous Furies." I say while looking her up and down, causing her blue skin to tint purple.

I gave a final nod and smile to Beezlebub and Megaera before disappearing from where I was standing.