What are the consequences of sin and a life lived in darkness? At first glance, the answer seems simple: you end up in Hell, and that is correct but that only serves you as a singular unit of sinner suffering the consequences of your mistakes. But what is the consequence of sin? Of real sin, of ages and ages of greed, Lust and... Well, you already know.
Madness, insanity, disturbance all concentrated in an nightmare that spreads its roots throughout hell. Hiding the true demonic nature in its notes of torment, A melody that echoes through the depths, carrying with it the weight of every evil ever committed. The sins of demons and sinners alike, who have come and continue to come, feeding something so diabolical that not even the sanest souls could hear it without succumbing to it's harmony.
So I ask again, what is the consequence of sin? Well, It's music. Because for some, Hell is not just torment-it's the grandest, most diabolical orchestra ever composed.
(Prologue) Welcome to Hell's Gate City.
The sky over the city was a strange mix between red contaminated by gray, not because of the lack of Hellish atmosphere but because of the soot from the factories in the sea of pride, whose pollution was carried through the rivers and canals that were once crystal clear and today carry the weight of the factories, And the air, in addition to pollution, also carried the sound of gears and industrial machinery that joined with the sounds of footsteps, conversations and boats blending in with the life on the city creating almost a hellish cacophony. Surprisingly, the air is tolerable, thanks to massive industrial filters. While they don't eliminate the pollution, they make the atmosphere breathable.
And in this City a boat bus crosses Avenue 17, a large canal that crosses the entire Metropolis, the boat was wide with large windows, Very well-kept red seats and an interior painted in white with several lamps on the ceiling, a astrange mix between steam technology because its engine was steam-powered and the latest modernities of hell. a television was also attached to the ceiling broadcasting A talk show alled saturday night sins.
In that boat, sitting Near the exit door, a demon slumped in his seat, head tilted back and mouth slightly open as he slept. A crow rested on his lap, the demon as wearing a custom-made suit with several signs of wear, leather shoes, unshaven beard, bottle-mouth glasses and with his mouth open, rocking softly, exposing his slightly sharp teeth.
"Kain... Kain... Kain..." The crow muttered quietly so as not to disturb the other passengers but Kain stirred, grumbling under his breath, but didn't quite wake. The bird clicked his beak in irritation, fluttering his wings impatiently. Then he had an idea, the crow flapped his wings and hopped onto the sleeping demon's shoulders, his claws gripped the fabric of Kain's Suit tightly, leaving even more marks of use on top of the others he had already done.
With a sharp peck to Kain's forehead, the crow finally got the reaction he wanted. Kain jolted awake, wincing and rubbing the sore spot. "Greasy! Why did you do that? Ouch..." he muttered, still half-asleep.
"To wake you up you idiot, there are only five minutes left to reach the district of Hellquiem and you are sleeping." Greasy replies crossing his wings with an annoyed huff.
"Okay, but you don't have to peck me, damn it. I was about to wake up." Kain said adjusting his glasses, streching his legs and rubbing his forehead.
Kain Longheart, now awake, begins to pay attention to the sounds of the environment. For him the world is a black canvas and every sound he heard painted his reality.
One particular noise caught his attention-the faint hum of the television commercial overhead.
"So you work at Sea of Pride?" The anchor of the advertisement asks, looking directly at the camera, with a overconfident smile plastered on his face "And are you tired of the effects of Hellitia on your blood ? Hahaha "He laughs. "Don't worry anymore my lower hellborn, with Hellimia, that nasty mineral will be flushed from your system-quickly and safely! No more hair loss, skin pigment changes and no more gut-wrenching abdominal pain!"
He laughs dramatically as the camera zooms in a bottle on a table the label is blue with the name 'Hellimia' written in white with the logo of a company called 'DMED' in the bottom corner of the label.
"It is serious, with one pill a day and Hellitia will no longer be able to take you down, but hey, you don't need to trust me even though I have a very pretty face hahahaha." He laughs more. "See the opinions from those who use and approve." He says excitedly then, the image of the advertisement changes to show several videos and reports of Demons working in the Sea of pride who use the medicine, praising the medication.
Greasy looks at the screen and then to the blind demon and says "Do you think they will ever find a solution for this? Without relying on pills?"
Kain picks up his cane and takes a deep breath before answering.
"If you don't want a generalized increase in fuel prices all over hell... Then no." He says, snuggling into the seat.
Greasy just sighs and hopped back into Kain's lap.
A few more minutes pass and a loud female voice announces over the intercom inside the boat bus.
"Attention passengers! Now arriving at the Hellquiem district, Please go to the exit door when the lights turn yellow, thank you for traveling with Hell's Gate Nautical Services , We hope you have a great day."
"Ok, Greasy we have things to do." Kain said, slowly getting up as Greasy hopped onto the blind demon's head.
The crow looks around and notices that the lighting on the boat has changed.
"To the exit door Kain." Greasy says excitedly.
"Sure, Sure, Sure."
Kain starts walking towards the door, Greasy helps him by pointing the right direction.
"Now go left." Greasy says as Kain walks his cane tapping on the floor.
The sound of the boat in the background, the gears in the distance, the conversations nearby, the cane hitting the ground and Greasy's wings - all these sounds shape Kain's perception but end up becoming a problem because how can a blind demon live in a city with so much noise?.
And after a few more steps Kain finds the exit but ends up bumping into the back of another demon at the door.
"Hey! Look where you're going, idiot!" The demon screams angrily, turning around.
A snake demon the same height as Kain, that is, around 6 foot tall, with a jacket and very dark skin, as well as dirt stains from pollution and large red eyes that almost jumped out of his face. A white blouse under the jacket.
"Oh, I'm sorry, it wasn't on purpose." Kain said, waving his hands.
"Liar, you did it on purpose." said the demon, getting more and more angry.
"No, no, look, I didn't see you there." Kain says defensively and Greasy just cawls confirming.
The demon then looks at the cane and then at Kain's glasses and comes to an unexpected conclusion.
"Wait... K-Kain Longheart!? Like the rhythm demon!" The demon screams in surprise at seeing the figure in front of him.
"In flesh and sin." Greasy says proudly, shaking his wings. Kain just sighs and says.
"Yeah...."
"Oh my Lucifer, I'm a fan I've been to some of your shows back in Pentagram City, You even autographed an album that I bought, I didn't expect to see you here specifically like.... This." The demon said, looking Kain up and down.
"Work kills you." Kain says, the doors then open and a female voice comes out of the intercom again.
"Doors open to all passengers, please disembark calmly thank you again for sailing with HGNS. We hope to see you again."
The Passengers begin to disembark, including Kain, via a sort of bridge that connects the boat's exit door with the river terminal docks.
"I saw that show you did at the Morningstar Theater, it was fucking awesome!" The fan exclaimed, his eyes shining with excitement as he walked alongside the blind demon.
Kain smiled remembering the heat of the moment, it was one of his best performances in Hell's Gate City.
"Yeah, it was fun, the energy was really cool." Kain kept walking until eventually exit the terminal the fan said goodbye and they both went their separate ways.
Kain then continued to walk through the Hellquiem district, his demonic crow guiding him by sound, indicating directions and giving him support. The atmosphere of this polluted city is weird, The Hell's industrial Gates Divided by polluted rivers and everything, it's hard to imagine that a place like this could thrive, but it did.
And the Hellquiem district is considered the richest in the city, at night the squares are filled with music and glamour after all the district is the furthest away from the sea of pride so the pollution is not so strong. During the day, an important commercial point in the city, with demons coming from everywhere in a disorderly manner, and their faces dirt in sin. Vendors selling cheap potions and medicine that promise to cure the ills of Toxic environment of the city which in some cases could even work but most likely you will get scammed, but contrary to popular imagination, Hell's Gate City is not a 'Poor' city, after all, being connected to the Sea of Pride gives it an unparalleled economic advantage over any other in the Ring, it is just polluted.
"My ears... This is too much noise, it's hard to know where to go like this." Kain muttered, as he walked his tapping on the floor making even more sound in the cacophony of the city.
"Relax Kain, we're almost at the record label." Greasy says trying to comfort the rhythm demon.
"Yeah, sure." The demon said rolling his eyes as he keep walking.
After a few minutes of walking, Kain and Greasy arrive at a building in the end of the street , in the middle of this street there was a canal where small rowing boats or public service boats passed by with demons coming and going across the bridges. As they continued walking the sound sometimes, of the footsteps and machines in the distance that practically blocked the view of the sun It was replaced by something more harmonious and dissonant from the atmosphere of the city, as he gets closer and closer the sound gets louder, until Kain stops in front of a building, not very tall with only 2 floors, a modest facade with posters on the walls of musicians, festivals and stickers on the windows advertising instruments or promoting artists, but the main thing is the huge sign shining in Neon changing colors every minute with the words 'Veildark Records'.
"Ready for another day of work Greasy?" Kain asks with a smirk.
"Definitely Kain! Caw!" Greasy says excitedly hopping several times on the musician's head.
Kain laughs lightly and takes off his glasses revealing his completely black eyes with audio visualizers like the ones you see on DJ tables.
Kain then approaches the door beneath the flickering neon sign. On the door another neon sign this time only in red. reading 'Composing your sin', for a moment Kain hesitated. A strange dissonance hummed in the air, as if something had been disturbed-quick but noticeable. He brushed it off, assuming it was just the noisy industrial metropolis playing tricks on his old ears again. With a sigh, he placed his hand on the doorknob and turned it, pushing the door open to another day in Hell.