The Sin Hunter: Double or Nothing

The Horrible Convention

Kyleigh, or rather, Kaylign, as her Demon name is pronounced, loves manga. When she first moved to the Living World with her family, almost a full decade before things in Pride had become too inhospitable to live in, it was one of the first things she had been exposed to in the bustling city her parents had struggled to find time for. Eventually, they moved to the Western mountains outside of the crowded city, where their agricultural roots could flourish in new information and new plants.

Her mother had been a botanist and florist in Hell, while her father had left home and not returned for a very long while. Kaylign had given up hope of ever seeing him again, so she turned to different sources of media where she lived. Although her native, Wrathful tongue would sometimes slip out, she learned English and Chinese very quickly, adapting her own unique cocktail of diversity and blossoming in the rich, earthly soil. Kaylign grew fast, learning and studying a lot of Living People cultures in her free time.

When her mother passed away from a Living World disease called smallpox, a disease which, unfortunately, did not treat Hellborns well, Kaylign changed her name to Kyleigh and moved to the expansive West, where she found solace in the streets of the United Kingdom. Amazingly, bringing her unique blend of cultures and her knowledge of the United Kingdom from her studies in China had brought her a warm welcome in Southern Birmingham. Kyleigh felt starry eyed and fresh in a new world, with new people and new things to try.

She learned about tabletop games, weeklong campaigns of patrolling fantasy and horror worlds, at which she excelled in providing creatures from Hell itself as great monsters for the heroes to slay. She built up a great reputation as one of Birmingham's leading Forge World Champions, and she even attended some of the biggest tournaments and competitions in the United Kingdom, traveling often. For a Demon finding a strange new world, Kyleigh couldn't remember the last time she ever wanted to return to her roots in Hell.

And then one day, out of the blue and over a bowl of cereal in a hotel in France, Kyleigh received an invitation to give a speech to a tabletop tournament a few blocks from where she was staying. Dropping everything but her phone and her jacket, Kyleigh rushed to the convention as quickly as her disguised features would carry her. And when she stepped through the doorway into the glimmering hall filled with heroes, villains, cosplayers and legends in the media, Kyleigh knew exactly what she had to do.

For the first time since her very young childhood in China, Kyleigh entered a bathroom stall by the door, and emerged as a beautiful, alluring succubus named Kaylign. Her fresh Demoness horns glittered with black and white in a sea of magenta hair which draped over pale blue skin and a scaly texture on her arms with rolled up sleeves. When Kaylign walked through the convention now, she felt confident in her true identity, realizing that these were people who would accept her for who she was no matter what she looked like.

To the Living World, she was just another costume in a crowd. Kaylign posed for pictures, handed out and received some wonderful compliments for her "costume". After walking around for a bit, Kaylign was found and brought to the stage to give a speech about anything in particular. Something snappy and spicy to hype up the crowd. Kaylign thought long and hard against a beating heart and a sweltering jacket as she heard her name called, and the audience applauded. She entered from Stage Right, shook hands and embraced the speaker, then joined beside the rest. This was her speech:

"When I moved here from a very strange part of the world, I thought everything was going to be very different. I told myself it would take years to adapt, to figure out my place and start fresh from where I began. And granted, it took some time to figure out how to balance and kick off the training wheels, but I got there eventually. And when I did, I found one of my absolute most favorite things in the entire world: you guys and gals." Applause breaks the tension before Kaylign continues.

"Everybody told me that, when I lived further West, the people here have a tendency to be fake and phony. That nobody could ever really be a good person beyond what they want others to see on their screens. But seeing all of you here and now, unafraid to show who you really are, to just get together and hang out like we're all the same people, it's breathtaking. And I'm so deeply grateful that you all have been so welcoming. I couldn't ask to be part of a better crowd."

"It's amazing to me to welcome all of you to this year's convention. And I hope each and every one of you have the best time possible. Because I know the people next to and around you all share the same things in common, and they'll wanna go hang out with you. Thank you for having me here, it was a wonderful time." The applause following that scene was deafening, roaring, whistling and cheering to congratulate the champion of Dungeons and Dragons on their wonderful speech.

And when the crowd finally settled down, and the cheering grew quiet enough to hear the screams, it was too late for Kaylign as she collapsed to the stage, a burning red hole piercing her true form. In that moment, one of pure love and trust, humanity showed its ugliest colors, proving that it really does take much to stand against hate and anger, and even less to remove love and trust from the world.