The room was dark, as if it was cloaked in an immense shadow drawn from the underworld, like a liminal place between the darkest pits of heaven and the lightest pits of hell. After all, he wanted to be neutral, right in the middle of the spectrum of good and evil, like the Yin and Yang, somewhere in limbo, limbo felt like a paradise.
He wore his blanket. It was cozy; although it was of normal coziness, it felt heavenly, that's for sure. As he was lying, he was wondering about the untold, unguaranteed future yet to come. He thought to himself, what to do? Should he have read the Mahabharata or the tale of Hercules? After a lot of thinking, he couldn't decide; both felt right. Slowly the thoughts fell, and he slept.
When he opened his eyes, the darkness had turned into a twilight. As he glanced around, he saw, his own body lay still on the bed. He screamed as loud as he could, but no one could hear a ghost, could they?
He thought, "I died? In my sleep..." The man's vision starts shattering, like a mirror breaking after falling from great heights. He saw himself in a mirror for a second; he noticed himself, a distorted reflection, unrecognizable, or was it just recognizable, just not from his vision? Who knows.
He sees a new, unfamiliar place. "I never heard of a place like this... Maybe all the mythologies were wrong?" Said the Man. A voice echoed. It said, 'Zen Kaneshiro, twenty years of age. Let us review your life.' In an instant, memories were shown before him.
Memories of were every type, specifically the memories which were helpful making his personality, Some of them were of his childhood, where he helped a bullied kid into standing up for himself, Some of them were where he felt envious, some were when he fought his own bully, some of them were where he waited for something patiently
Some of them were him binge watching or playing games, some of them were of him working really hard, Some were of when he was watching porn on adult websites.
Memories after memories were shown, the end result: Neutral.
Zen is kicked out; he wonders, "Huh? Neutrality: No way I achieved my goal. This place must not be heaven but not hell. Happily, then, he continues while shouting,
"I'M A NOBODY! Anyways, I didn't even want the afterlife; I hoped there was nothing after death. Anyways, this city is weird. The atmosphere feels gluttonous; the large buildings look so cramped up; the land must have been consumed a lot by these buildings, that's for sure! There are also unhealthy amounts of restaurants. This nowhere is definitely a different place..." While his eyes were closed
He opens his eyes and realizes that he had been looking at a person. The man appeared to be a bit fat, but not so much; he was just a bit overweight, not the amount to worry about. He looked energetic and had white hair, had a hoodie, and some trousers.
He is briefly interrupted by the man. In a confused tone, he says, "Huh? What are you talking about? It's Gluttony Country Food City! It's not 'nowhere,'"
Zen says. "W-Who are you? "To the man, the man says in an energetic and calming tone,Devlin, just Devlin. And you are? ", Zen says his name. Zen Kaneshiro says that he just died. They said he is neutral, and he has nowhere to live.
Devlin, in an assuring voice, says, "Aw, no place in a place where a home is guaranteed. How about you live with me?! ", Zen thanks him and walks with him.
Zen asks, "So what is this...Place? ?"Devlin replies, "This is the Country of Gluttony. This is where sinners who committed gluttony come. This is the capital city, Food. I'm here because I ate unhealthy food all the time." Zen says, "So this must be in the layer of Limbo? ", Devlin nods his head while saying, Bingo!
And then he goes on to say,
"There are multiple places, 14 nations: Gluttony, for people whose consumption was too much.
Pride for those who thought themselves as superior.
Wrath for the people who fought and were violent.
Envy for those who weren't satisfied with their own accomplishments and wanted what others had.
Greed for selfish people who never gave anything.
Lust for horny people.
Sloth for people who were lazy.
Temperance for those who had self-control.
Humility for humble people.
Patience for patient people.
Kindness for kind people.
Charity for those who gave things to others.
Chastity for those who were loyal.
And diligence for those who were hard workers.
Then there comes the Chamber of Fate, the Heavens and the Hell, the Princes and God united. In this nation, this very city, Mr. Beelzebub rules. The prince of Gluttony."
A few days have passed, and Zen and Devlin have become roomies and best of friends. They are weebs who like anime. Their opinions also match.
One day Devlin asks, "You want a job? " "Sure," Zen says.
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They go outside; Zen complains about the hot weather, and Devlin nods his head and agrees. Zen and Devlin navigate their way to the job board. It has the information of which good jobs are available. Zen says, So what is the best job according to you?. Devlin says, "Probably anywhere you operate under Mr. Beelzebub directly... like Hunters or Envoy.
Zen asks their purpose; Devlin says, "The Hunters go deeper through hell to hunt down Demons. After all, only 72 are here in Limbo."
Zen says, "Out of millions? ", Devlin quietly nods his head. Zen then asks the purpose of Envoy’s; Devlin replies, "They explore Limbo's various cities for a specific task, Like recently here, the 1st rank of Diligence came here to catch people who aren't doing their punishments."
They see the job board; they see a job available for "Envoy" Devlin says, "Envoy, those pay two thousand karma each mission. It's a money cheat! You should take this one," Zen agrees and applies for a job as the Envoy.
One day later, his phone started buzzing. He had received a message; it was from an unknown number. It said, "We are looking forward to your application. Your interview will be held on the 26th." Zen thinks, "That's 2 days..."
Zen shouts, "Devlin! My interview is in 2 days!", Devlin replies "Let's get you a suit!"
They both go outside to the bustling city of Food, where Zen jokingly asks, "How did you even die? ", Devlin says, "I was a sailor. A deadly storm took our boat down. I drowned, so the sea is the thing that took me," Zen says "Welp, I died in my sleep." Devlin, confused, asks, "How in your sleep? ", Zen says that he doesn't know either
They exchanged some dialogues, conversation continued as they arrived at the factory outlet.
The air felt gluttonous, Too gluttonous for Zen and Devlin Zen says "I need a suit for an interview", The employee asks for measurements, Zen says he doesn't know, The employee takes the measurements and takes out a suit
Zen tried a blue suit, it fit his vibe, the fabric was warm and cozy, a red suit, it felt bold and commanding, the fabric was extremely nice, but the suit didn't look so good on Zen, a vine suit, it was elegant and formal, a black suit, a classic and dark green suit representing a nature loving man although he didn't really liked going outside
Zen tries all, but has his eyes, heart and brain for the first one, The blue suit which fits his vibe, it was his favourite I'd buy this one! Devlin. Devlin smirked, The vine one suited you more better whatever you want though
They purchased the suit, On their way they saw a statue, The statue was destroyed and had moss all over it, it felt ancient Zen froze, his breath catching in his throat. The air around the statue felt oppressive
A wave of nausea hit him, the sinister aura seeping into his very core, his legs buckled as his mind screamed, 'What is this... thing?' Devlin worried asks what happened, Zen says "Who was that man?", Devlin says "Concord, He was a spirit sent by God himself for a mission only he could do, unite heaven and hell, One by one, Concord managed to unite heaven and hell, He made the princes of hell be more peaceful, Although he united 72 demons, Those 72 were extremely strong or valueable, Concord created two beings Sin, the personification of Sins and Virtue, who was the personification of Virtues, Concord had gone corrupt, he tried to defeat god but failed, he was sent to reincarnation"
Zen vomits more and more, as if just seen the things he shouldn't have, Zen finally faints, Devlin had to carry him till the apartment They return to the Apartment, Zen wakes up, He tells that he felt some weird aura around the statue, a evil and corrupted aura, To Devlin the words felt no true but he believed anyways and then suggests Zen to take a nap After waking up, Zen says "Can't wait to get a job!", Devlin replies "Are you sure? It can get tiring, and you are also not well, I believe". The money is worth it, said Zen.
Two days have passed by; Zen goes to the building of Beelzebub. Zen sees a man. He was fat, double-chinned, had four small horns, had long-styled hair with a bad hairline, had a small hair clip looking like a fly, and was wearing a jet-black suit. Behind him was a wall made up of a cage containing all sorts of flies. Beelzebub says, "So, you must be Zen? ".
"I thought you looked like an insect...", he gets the reply "Well, I do, I change my appearance to better fit in , every prince did it except Lucifer" Should you maybe try to hide that a bit more like you know, you know look like your average stereotypical demon, no cap replied Zen.
Beelzebub replies that anything after that makes him extremely weak Zen quietly hands over the documents Beelzebub says "Hmm, A Mythologist, You must know about Heaven and Hell, I could tell when you said I looked like an insect, No one really did say that ever to me in like the past 5 decades.
You are new here as well so you have no work experience, You are physically strong, you are mentally strong also but emotionally very weak.
Moving on, you are an average height for a Japanese person. You were born on October 10th, 2004, making you twenty years and seven months old.
You come from a violent neighborhood; you never smoked or consumed alcohol. You haven't committed any major crimes, but you always have pirated movies and games.
Beelzebub, checking everything, says, I have checked everything on the documents. Well, you are neutral. That's an issue, though I would talk to the authorities regarding that, as the criteria says citizens of other nations can't apply to another nation, but you are nation less, being a citizen of nowhere. So will it be applied to you? Anyway, you are dismissed.
Beelzebub eats the documents. Zen, confused, says, "Uhhh..." Beelzebub, the Prince of Gluttony, just got a bit hungry, said Beelzebub, smiling.
Zen exits. Devlin says, "How'd it go? "Zen says, "Welp, I'm neutral, so my answer is delayed..." Devlin says, "Aww, you—we still have two jobless—"
Zen, confused, asks, "Two... jobless? "GOD DAMMIT, IT SLIPPED THROUGH MY MOUTH!" Says Devlin, Zen says how Devlin gets his money, "Loans" said Devlin Zen, conceded, taping Devlin's shoulder, says "Go apply, man, How much do you owe?" Devlin replies with "Around a million...", Zen confused says he can buy a mansion for that much, maybe a tenth but Devlin gets the point.
Devlin applies, gets in his own suit, a dull green, and starts the interview Devlin says "Im Devlin, I'm here for an interview Mr.Beelzebub!, I'm 21 physically, 22.75 chronological, DOB, September 19, 2003!, I was a sailor after I graduated! I want this job to pay my 1 million karma debt!"
Beelzebub checks the documents and says "Hmm, A sailor, You must know about a lot of exploring and driving in the seas, You are a citizen of here, You are a bit overweight but still healthy even tho you somehow ate unhealthy food all the time, that's pretty rare and have to be lucky, Crazy how Devlin is your name, who even names there child that?
You are pretty tall for an average person, You are physically, mentally and emotionally capable,
You are extremely caring, you have no work experience here but worked as a sailor for 3 years, you like gaming, watching shows, fiction, art, music and taking care of your pet when you were alive-"
Beelzebub is interrupted, Devlin asks him what happened to his pet, Beelzebub replies "Devlin, your pet, Nyan is currently in under the care of your mother", Devlin asks what happened to everyone, His reply "Your Mom and Dad have fallen depressed and there days are going tearfully, Your cat misses you and so does your grandma, your grandpa is currently in a coma, You are declared dead, the chase is still unknown the case is still going on"
Devlin starts crying, Too heavily.
Beelzebub: "You will see everyone one day, Your pet will be sent to you after it dies, your father will be in Kindness Country, Your mother will be in Charity City."
Devlin goes out tearfully.
Zen, concerned: "You alright?”
Devlin: "Everyone's life is a mess after I died, I wished I never died in that stormy night", Devlin hugs Zen, crying in his shoulder. Zen says congrats and they have a pizza party to cheer up Devlin.
At night, Beelzebub temporarily transforms himself to have his fly wings, Beelzebub then goes on his way to Pride Country to have a meeting Beelzebub while flying reaches up to a level where portals exist, He takes one of the portals and reaches Pride Country's King City
He flies down, walks for a bit while opening maps on his phone.
Beelzebub: “I can't never remember the location can I, after an hour of walking”
Beelzebub reaches a castle, A gray gothic castle, The castle of Lucifer.
Guard number one: "Who are you?"
Beelzebub changes into his original biblically accurate self, guard two opens the door, he changes back to his other self and enters the building Beelzebub checks the phone.
He checks Lucifer message saying In the ground floor, take the stairs near Valak's room, Then after reach towards the First room, then go towards Lilith's room, near it there is a stairway, then go to third floor straight, where you will meet Paimon's room, then go back to the second floor and reach your room, Instead of your room, you'd see the entrance towards the hallway of the meeting room.
Beelzebub says that he first has to go towards Valak, as he goes near the room, Valak was standing outside, He was a child, Beelzebub greets Valak saying they haven't meet in ages, Beelzebub pets Valak's dragons both head and goes near the stairway.
Beelzebub then reaches the first floor, And goes near Lilith's room, he could only see a bit of it, from inside it had a lot of feminist posters.
Beelzebub continues towards the third floor and goes near the stairway near Paimon's room, he ignores it and goes to the second floor towards his own room, from inside was a hall Beelzebub enters the meeting room and sees Lucifer waiting for him.
Lucifer had vine hair with gray eyes, he looked fabulous, wore a shirt, outside that, a jacket and after that a cloak he always wore, the cloak was all torn up but Lucifer would still wear it as if it was as fresh as new.
Lucifer: "So what is the issue?",
Beelzebub: “There is a neutral”
Lucifer: “what's the problem”
Beelzebub: "He applied for an Envoy, He qualifies, just that he is neutral, that's a problem"
Lucifer: “Maybe just don't give him the job? Problem solved! Beelzebub.”
Beelzebub: "The rule says, 'If someone belongs to a country, they can only apply for jobs in the country, not any other,' but the person is nation less; would that really apply to him?"
Lucifer: “In that case..., then goes on to snap his fingers, and his phone gets summoned.”
He types a message so all the other princes of hell can see it.
Lucifer: “Let's get this issue sorted out, shall we? Said Lucifer in the most evil tone he possibly could.”
Lucifer s
tands up, looks through the building, and takes off his cloak and hangs it.
Lucifer: “We could have an exorcism and make him die until he begs for mercy and chooses a side!”