Short Stories

Fifty-Three: Luminate

To say the Devil was tired would be a massive understatement. She had been working ever since Lucifer whisked her down to Hell, and her workload had only increased since then. As the Devil sent another sinner down to who knows what level anymore, she slammed her head against the marble desk, creating another web of cracks on the abused desk. The Devil was reaching the end of the line. Her black eyes were starting to go hazy from exhaustion and her usual black and silky hair was brittle and thin. Her clothes also hadn't been cleaned in centuries. The red leather jacket she sported with dark-colored shorts and red mesh gloves were caked in dried blood, and her tank top and bra underneath were soaked with years of sweat. Her feet were also covered in cuts and callouses, probably from the lack of shoes. And, her pale skin felt dried up and dirty, as the Devil just relaxed for the first time in centuries. Now that she thought about it, the Devil probably looked and smelled like old rotten cheese.

At least her office stayed relatively clean. Actually... now that the Devil was looking around her office for the first time, it looked more like a messy murder scene. There were a pile of dead bodies in one corner of the room, dried up blood and pieces of internal organs strewn about the walls and floors. Her desk was close to breaking, but at least the Sinner Book still looked nice, somewhat. Her office walls had cracks and chunks missing from killing those bodies with her favorite killing weapon. Now that she thought about it, her pipe looked rusty, the gold covering dented and broken. The only clean thing she could think of in this room was the nice pair of red and black noise-cancelling headphones around her neck. A mysterious present with no note. The Devil really needed a break, maybe she could just dump her work on Satan and take a long vacation. That boy needs a reality check after all. He hadn't worked a single day in his life since he had fallen. Yeah, the Devil would make Satan work, and she would just chill out for once. Her thoughts were knocked out her though when she heard a quiet knock at the door.

Well, that's something new. Usually, sinners barge in demanding why they're in hell, saying I'm a Christian. Or, most commonly, she has to go and search for them and drag them back bleeding and bawling. At least the last option was fun, but the Devil's never-ending thirst for pain is not the point of this paragraph. The feeble knocking on the door is the subject of this paragraph. The Devil squinted her black eyes at the door and rose from her chair. She put her hand on her desk and leaped over the black desk, landing with a loud crunch. She probably landed on a bone. Again. As the Devil made her way towards the door, she felt a weak energy emanating from behind the grandiose doors. A demon.

Why was there a demon at her office? She didn't have time for another one of Satan's jokes. It was only yesterday when one of Satan's Dukes played a joke on her that she ended up losing control and crushed his body into smithereens. Lucifer was NOT happy about that. The amount of interviews and damage control he had to go through was astronomical. The Devil was going to give that stupid Satan an earful and then dump all her work on him. Make him suffer for once. Growling, the Devil summoned her gold pipe and whipped opened the door. The door bounced against the wall and slammed right into the Devil's side as she stepped forward. Flurries of curses flew from her mouth as she clutched the side of her face, unintentionally hitting herself with her weapon as she cupped her face.

"A-ah, I'm sorry. Are you okay?" A quivering voice asked. It was similar to a weed trembling on a windy day. A weed that the Devil was surely going to pluck after that embarrassing show. She looked up, ready to rip their head off as her hands sharpened into claws, when she was faltered. This wasn't one of Satan's lackeys. In fact, the demon didn't even look like a demon. It looked...alive and human. No red or black eyes. No damning tattoos. Not even the revealing costumes demons Lucifer made Demon Lords and below wear. It was a strange sight to see a brown-eyed, clean skin, covered up demon. Well, the Devil supposed, the demon was still wearing shorts.

In fact, everything about this demon was strange. Tanned, smooth skin without a single ranking tattoo (or at least one she could see). Short, black, and fluffy hair that was neatly combed. Light brown eyes that were big and soft instead of beady of sharp. And, a long-sleeved black jacket with a black and gold cloth headband around her neck instead of her head. A gray-colored pair of shorts and black-colored flats.

"Um, hello, I see you've taken a liking to the headphones I sent you yesterday." The demon breathed out. This demon brought her the headphones? Well, now this raises the question of how did she get the headphones.

"How did you get these? Lower demons are usually not allowed to leave their hell circle with accessories." The Devil pointed at the set of headphones around her neck as she stared down the strange demon in front of her.

"Oh! Um, Master Lucifer decided you needed an assistant after yesterday's fiasco, and, um, he chose me."

"..."

"He, uh, also, uh, gave me this ring!" The demon raised their hand, a glittering gold ring shaped like an ox's skull with a black stone smack dab in the middle of the forehead brought to the Devil's attention, "it allows me access to your office and anywhere else I might need to go, including Earth. Master Lucifer also allowed me to, um, allowed me to pick my clothing if I'm going to be recognized as your assistant. And, he also let me keep my human appearance, but I can switch to my demon appearance if you want me to! And, I also, um-"

"Why are you my assistant." There was a long silence from the demon after that.

"I...can't remember. Master Lucifer took away my memories so that if I go to the human world, I won't look for remnants of my past. I can only remember how I died."

"...What's your name."

"Oh! Um, Luminate! But, I think I was called Lumi in the past."

"What're your pronouns."

"...What?"

"I may like punishing sinners, but Lucifer obviously chose you to be my assistant for a reason. I don't disrespect my equals. Usually."

"Um, they/them." Luminate stuttered out. The blank face and expression scared Luminate; they were near pissing themselves, and they were really trying to not cry.

"Alright, come on in, Lumi." The Devil walked into her office, not really passing a second glance at Luminate. Luminate almost retched at the smell in the office, but they managed to give a weak smile as they looked around the room. Oh, a pile of bodies. Luminate wasn't so smiley while looking at the bloody pile.

"First order of business. Call me Mis. Devil."

"Alright, Miss. Devil."

"Second order of business," the Devil let out an embarrassed sigh as she looked around the room, "help me fix my office."