Discrimination in Hell

Sylvia woke to a voice calling her name. It was a voice she recognized. She was reminded of the days when her dad would wake her up for school, before her family rotted from the inside out...

She put those thoughts out of her head and groggily sat up, "Umm... I'm awake don't call me anymore."

When she opened her eyes Black Lexicon was standing nearby. He held a small fluffy creature in his hand and squeezed it tight, causing it to explode into a puff of blue mist.

She looked beneath her at the bunny pillow which had blown up so much that three of her could easily sleep on it.

Her eyes widened as she looked up at Black Lexicon. He smiled faintly but for some reason she felt he seemed slightly disappointed, "Finally feel like waking up? If you sleep so defenselessly like that next time somebody might molest you."

Her mouth opened but then it closed. She didn't know how to respond. Finally she said. "Okay."

He made a "come hither" gesture with his free hand and ordered her, "Come down from there."

Somehow he was just a person that she couldn't disobey, so she climbed down from the giant pillow, slipping off the edge onto the floor with her back against the wall. There just wasn't that much room.

She looked at Black Lexicon who stood in the open doorway. The door had been pushed inward and forced the pillow back, making a space around him.

She forced her way over to his side and looked at her now huge bunny pillow somewhat regretfully. If it stayed this size didn't that mean she wouldn't be able to take it out? She plopped forward against the cloud-like softness, throwing her arms out on top of it and asked. "What will happen to my pillow?"

Black Lexicon let out a little laugh. "Of course you'll be bringing it with you. You think the people here want to take care of it? It's clearly a nuisance."

She turned her head to see if he was serious but she couldn't tell because as usual he had a faint, mocking smile on his face.

"How am I supposed to do that?" she asked cautiously.

He pointed at the giant pillow and his expression grew serious. "Just focus and absorb the excess dark energy inside it. It's something made when you descended after all, it's practically a part of you so you just need to have the will to change it."

Sylvia felt like she was being forced to clean up a mess she made by her parents. Thankfully Black Lexicon was not her father, though she might soon give in and call him uncle.

She stopped leaning on the pillow and placed her hand on it, closing her eyes in order to better focus. She remembered that black miasma outside the city, and the black bead she'd swallowed. She had to absorb that dark energy. She felt a stream of something cool entering her body, not like that disgusting bead it gave her a strange feeling but wasn't uncomfortable.

When she opened her eyes the rabbit pillow was back to it's usual size and floating at the tips of her fingers. It fell to the floor when she lost focus and she quickly picked it up, relieved.

Black Lexicon told her, "Remember, the things you made you can control. That includes anything you created as you descended like that pillow or your clothes. They'll never disappear unless you make them go away." After saying that he added gleefully, "Well, some unfortunate sinners may have a different experience though." He chuckled to himself.

She believed he was definitely thinking of something horrible.

A voice from behind him squashed Lexicon's good mood, "The accepted term is R-Types. They are no longer referred to as sinners."

Black Lexicon's gleeful expression faded and he glanced at the clerk behind him. "Should I rip you into a hundred pieces?" he asked in a low voice.

The clerk with the dull expression had no visible response, as if he was used to this level of threat. He only replied, "That is the new rule and this is an administrative building, we have to keep to it."

Black Lexicon stared at him deeply and then made a "hmph" noise before turning away and commenting. "I'm not an employee here so I don't need to hold myself to any standard. Just do your job and get her residence permit ready, I've already filled out everything right?"

The clerk merely nodded and left.

Sylvia moved closer to Black Lexicon and asked in a whisper after the clerk left the room. "Is it bad to call them as sinners?"

Black Lexicon let out a breath, "Heh, they are what they are. It's part of a new movement. Sort of a feeling like we're all humans who came to Hell and shouldn't discriminate."

He laughed coldly before continuing on, "In fact there are some so-called R-Types who merely didn't like to be placed below demons so they made this new division of O-Type and R-Type so they could feel better about themselves. The city lord and some others among the higher demons agreed with them so they'd shut up, it's not like they really care anyways. It's just a bunch of kids making noise as far as they're concerned. Their treatment doesn't really change, sinners will always be beneath us."

Sylvia could only nod and she understood that even in Hell there was discrimination. But if she thought about it, the R-Types would move on eventually and the demons would remain right? It seemed natural that the demons who remained would be the ones that ran things, if not they'd just be too pitiful.

She couldn't help asking, "Are the.. sinners and demons who arrived at the same time equal in strength?" She paused before choosing to say sinner instead of R-Type. She felt that Lexicon would prefer this type of wording in a private situation. She recalled that he and Codex didn't strictly adhere to the terms R-Type and O-Type and perhaps they weren't used to them.

Lexicon smiled faintly and teased, "Why? Are you worried those other newbies will bully you?"

She couldn't help but roll her eyes. "That not it! I'm just wondering."

He poked the bunny pillow in her arms playfully. "You had this thing since the beginning and already integrated it as part of your own ability to manipulate the dark energy. Those newbies are still settling down trying to make the dark energy obedient. Who do you think is stronger? Demons all have obsessions, that's what makes us strong and we just get stronger. We have a stronger mentality and we can devour the dark energy instead of it devouring us. Our advantage is overwhelming." He stood straight and developed an air of pride as he spoke, but then looked at her with a frown and added. "Your combat power is really abysmal though. In the words of you kids, 'it sucks'. You should absorb more energy."

Sylvia frowned at this sudden jab. She wanted to reply but the clerk returned. He carried a small scroll of paper which he offered to Sylvia. "Please activate your permit immediately. I need to serve as witness."

Sylvia took the scroll and was somewhat confused about what she was supposed to do with it. She felt that a stream of dark energy from her body was naturally drawn into it before she knew it and the paper dissolved and flowed onto the underside of her wrist where it formed into the shape of a black cross.

She had at first thought she had done something wrong maybe but the appearance of that mark made her think otherwise. She stared at it dumbly.

The clerk, with his dull monotone, told them, "Alright we're done, if you have no more business you can leave."

Sylvia was woken from her stupor by his voice and looked to Lexicon. She was getting used to following behind this guy.

Since there was nothing else to do in that place they finally left.