Chapter Text
You know it’s not going to be a good day when you wake up with a splitting headache and a crick in your neck. You know it’ll be even worse when you hear the voices of strange men and open your eyes to find yourself in a place you didn’t go to sleep in. A quick scan of the room told me that I was in some sort of courtroom with several men sitting in front of me like a judge and jury. My first instinct was to scream but a tall, dark-skin man stood up from the judge’s seat and boomed, “Welcome to the Devildom, Sawyer Romero.”
His grin quickly turned apologetic when he noticed my shock and panic.
“My sincerest apologies. This must be quite the shock for a human such as yourself. But, have no fear. We are here to answer any questions and concerns you may have and will gladly accommodate any needs you have.”
My attention snapped to one of the other men as he whispered to the others in a language I couldn’t understand. The one who whispered gave me a sultry smile and wink when he noticed my staring. I couldn’t help but recoil back a little because WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!
I couldn’t quite place it but there was a nagging feeling that they weren’t completely human.
“Is everything alright, Sawyer?” the supposed leader of the group asked, tone coated in concern.
No. Nothing was alright. I’m in a strange place with strange men staring me. Oh, let’s not forget the fact they know my damned name without me telling them. I quickly seized the armrests of the chair I was in, getting my feet under me so I could make a quick getaway if they attacked.
Tentatively I asked, “Who are you people?” The leader looked surprised a moment before chuckling.
“Yes, I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Diavolo. I am the ruler of all demons, and, someday soon, I will be crowned king of the Devildom. You are in a place called the Royal Academy of Diavolo, though most call it RAD. We are currently inside the assembly hall. This is where we, the student council, hold meetings and other such related business.”
Even with his earnest tone, I didn’t believe him. I was kidnapped and taken to some rich private school place in a God-only-knows-where place called ‘Devildom’? My face scrunched up in suspicion as I slowly stood up, getting ready to run. “Right. Sounds fun and all, but why am I here exactly? Need some outsider to fulfill a psychotic fantasy of yours, or something like that?”
A black-haired man shot up out of his seat with a disgusted expression, “How dare you insult Lord Diavolo in such a manner. Humans like you should- “
“Lucifer, please. Calm down. They have every right to be confused,” he turned to address me, “Sawyer, I assure you that you are perfectly safe here.”
“Excuse me, but I beg to differ.” Yeah, I’m definitely in danger now. Saying ‘fuck it’, I dashed towards the giant double doors behind me. I made it to the hallways when a heavy weight caused me to topple over. Acting on pure instinct, I lashed out. Kicking and screaming, I wiggled out from under the weight before strong arms wrapped around me, pinning my arms. I whip my head around to see where I needed to aim a head-butt.
“Stop squirming or I’ll eat you.” That got me to completely freeze. The carrot-head easily lifted me up and casually threw me over his broad shoulder. He went back inside the courtroom, shutting the doors with a light nudge of his foot.
I’m so, so, so fucked. As I prayed for my family’s protection in my last moments, I was unceremoniously dumped back in my chair. The big guy stood next to me, leaning on the back of the chair. I briefly took in his appearance: orange hair, GIANT, muscular, indigo eyes, and saliva at the corners of his mouth. He stared back at me with an intense hunger. His comment earlier about eating me came to mind. I fully believe he could and would.
Diavolo stole my attention, “I’m so sorry for everything. This must be really confusing to you but running off will likely get you killed. Even if you have magic or other means of protecting yourself.”
Magic? Did I get fucking teleported into a magical alternate dimension like one of my younger brother’s shows? Sweet fuck, why me?
“Fine,” I finally said, breaking a long silence, “Let’s get this shit sorted. First question is, where am I? You already explained us being in a school. which city and country are we in?”
Diavolo looked extremely confused as he said, “We are in Devildom.”
“Alright. Where is Devildom?”
“Everywhere?”
“Chale,” I mumbled, “Where on this sweet Earth is Devildom? Are we still in America, or did you take me to a different country like Texas or something?”
“Ah, I see the confusion here. We are no longer in your realm.”
“What?” His satisfied smile was not helping my anxiety.
“If I remember correctly, you humans call Devildom Hell. Or at least that is the most referred to name.”
“I’m in Hell?”
The man excitedly nodded. I just distantly stared at nothing. I knew I would end up in Hell, but this wasn’t what I was expecting. Wasn’t I supposed to be burning or something as the weight of my sins tortured me until Judgement Day?
“Prove it.”
Everyone looks at me with confusion.
“You said this is Hell. Prove it then.”
When the words finally register, Diavolo just smiled and gestured to the giant next to me. “Beelzebub, if you don’t mind, would you transform for our guest?”
Focusing my attention, I witnessed the giant boy morph. His messy school uniform turned into a black shirt with white flame-like prints with a black leather jacket, accented with gold studs and buckles. A pair of black horns sprouted from the sides of his head and curved forward then up. Two black incest wings also grew out of his back and started to buzz with life. The most noticeable thing about his transformation was the sudden oppressive air of starvation. Both my mind and body filled with an unsatisfiable craving for something, anything. I could feel my stomach and intestines start to eat themselves to quench my hunger. Falling off the chair, I curled into myself, trying to will away the hunger.
In less than an instant, the hunger was gone. I tried to pull myself together as Diavolo explained, “I believe you are now convinced?” The most I could do to respond was feebly nod as my body was still violently shaking. A giant, warm hand gently gripped my shoulder which granted me a focus point to still my body. When I stopped shaking, I noticed it was the giant’s hand who caused the starvation that was on my shoulder. A stern expression was still etched on his face, unchanged since he recaptured me. I couldn’t stop the fear and shock from showing on my face as I looked towards Diavolo for answers.
That stupid, polite smile was on his face when he elaborated, “As you have guessed, the demon next to you is Beelzebub, the Avatar of Gluttony. The rest of the men here are the avatars of the other seven deadly sins. This is Lucifer,” he pointed to the ravenette from before, “He is the Avatar of Pride and my right-hand man… in more ways than one.”
Okay so they’re clearly fucking each other. Totally needed that information.
Lucifer cleared his throat and said, “My name is Lucifer Morningstar. I am the eldest of my brothers here. I will be making sure your stay here in Devildom and at RAD are comfortable and successful in helping Diavolo’s plans.”
“And what kind of plans would those be exactly?” I couldn’t keep the fear and sarcasm out of my tone. Lucifer again looked at me with mild annoyance.
“Lord Diavolo’s plans are to unite the three realms of demons, angels, and humans. He has created RAD for the express purpose of uniting the three by letting other members of different realms immerse themselves in the culture of the realm they are in. For instance, you and another exchange student are here from the human realm while two angels are here from the Celestial Realm. You four exchange students will spend a year at RAD learning about demon culture and then hopefully going back to your homes with a better understanding of everyone else. We of course have also sent our own students to the human and Celestial Realms.”
Wait, what?
“So, I’m just a gerbil in your social experiment?”
“Of course, all of your needs will be provided for. We have prepared a safe place for you to live in that will accommodate your usually way of living,” Diavolo interjected.
Lucifer continued, “You will be expected to attend RAD and do tasks that will help you understand demon culture better. After one year, you will write a paper about your time in the exchange program and Devildom.”
“You expect me to do what now?”
“Everything has already been arranged here and in the human realm. Now then, seeing as you are now a human among demons, we have prepared someone to look after you during your stay. That someone is my brother, Mammon, the Avatar of Greed.”
Lucifer handed me a cell phone device called a D.D.D. I called this Mammon at Lucifer request because I don’t want to know if it’s possible to die twice. Over the phone, I could instantly tell Mammon was arrogant and self-absorbed, but clearly followed authority. Honestly, I would have preferred Lucifer solely based on his supposed authority, but clearly my opinions didn’t matter.
Lucifer introduced me to his brothers that were present. They were all just as self-absorbed as Mammon and Lucifer. I expect that I’ll maybe live to the end of the week.... if I get lucky.