Sinfully Beautiful

It’s been ten minutes and I have already seen more than I needed to. Hunger, pride, greed, lust, sloth, wrath…It is all there, on the streets of St. Crowly. This was the town Clouse lived in. These were the people that worshiped him. It made me sick to my stomach. He needed to be told by the Queen herself how heavenly he is.

“Hey, Mercy, look over there,” Luz, also known as the deadly sin Luzt/lust, tugged on my sleeve and pointed down the stone road we were traveling along. There, in clear daylight, was a man beating a little boy for a piece of bread.

“How can you keep such a cheerful attitude,” I asked Luz. He reminded me of a little human child with a new toy. It would have been entertaining if we were somewhere nicer. “I am ready to evaporate out of here and this was my idea.”

Luz stopped and turned so that I could see the twisted grin of his face. “Did you see the looks they were giving us? Mmm…It makes a lust demon crazy. I am already thinking about how many souls I can devour.”

I pushed him to the side and kept walking. That idiot. We were here to do something important. He shouldn’t be thinking about soul sucking at a time like this.

Even so, I was a little tempted. I mean, these people were so corrupted. I could make an easy meal of them. I haven’t been in the human world in so long. Maybe I needed to take Luz’s example and perk up.

“Excuse me, mister.” A young woman stepped in my path. She was short, with big blue eyes, had blonde hair, and was carrying a basket of daffodils. She was all smiles. “Would you like to buy a flower? My mother is sick and I need to get money for her treatment.”

“That’s nice, but…” I turned my pockets inside out to show her that I didn’t have anything.” I’m sorry.”

“How about you, mister,” she asked Luz.

He shrugged his shoulders, not even paying much attention to her. He didn’t like innocent girls. “I’ve go nothing either, kid.”

Her smile dissolved. “Then I hope you get torn apart by Jupiter.” She flipped us off and disappeared.

“Well, she was…nice,” I said but Luz was not listening. He was following that girl with his eyes. Oh, Lucifer. There he goes again.

“She was something,” Luz thought out loud.

I shook my head. “Something is right.”

“So, how are we going to find Clouse? This is a big town.” I placed both hands on opposite sides of his face and jerked his head up five degrees, where a large brick mansion stood.”Ohhhhh…”

“Idiot,” I muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Luz grabbed my hand and started running towards the manor, dragging my behind him. “Let’s get going!”

Two minutes later, we were standing in front of Clouse’s door.

I slapped Luz’s back and glared at him. “I don’t have the endurance of a lust demon, you idiot.”

Luz grinned deviously. “That’s such a shame. Clouse Lunare seems like the kind of guy who could go on for hours.”

I slapped him once more and turned to cover the blush creeping across my cheeks. “S-shut up!”

“Hey, if things don’t work out, can I improve your endurance,” Luz asked, his voice as sweet as sugar.

I quietly reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out a throwing knife. Without turning, I threw it at him. A startled yell sounded behind me. I hit him.

“No you didn’t,” Luz said, suddenly appearing on front of me.

Wait…if Luz was here then who…I whipped and around and, sure enough, Clouse Lunare was inspecting the knife where it hit the door, right next to his butler’s face.

“Woah, that was pretty close,” he said, turning his green eyes on me. “Are you a professional fighter or something?” I nearly melted and was about to answer but he continued speaking. “No, that is not possible. You’re way too skinny and seem to have no body strength. Is that kid your tag along? He seems like one of those followers. Not leading material. Anyways, what are you doing here? I am sure you did not make a wrong turn because this is the only house like thins in the whole town.” He pried the knife out of the door and threw it back at me.

I caught it with one and hand put it back in its resting place. “We have come here to speak to you. On behalf of the Queen. Luzt is a royal guard. I, Mercy, am the follower, Master Lunare.”

It was all a lie but it was made up to fool Clouse and calm down Luz, who was about to have a fit.

Clouse ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Lies won’t get you far, Mercy, but please come in. It will be dark soon and you aren’t from around here. Seeing as you do not have a daffodil in your hair, you must not have any money. Why don’t you stay for the night?”

My jaw dropped and so did Liz’s. He, somehow, knew we were lying and he still invited us in? This was dangerous. Anyone could take advantage of him! Gah! What if someone already has! I’ll kill him when I find out who it was!

I bowed my head. “Thank you very much, Master Lunare.”

“Stop with the ‘Master Lunare’ crap,” he said. “It’s stupid. King Clouse is fine.”

That boy…he was…wonderful! A human fit for a demon.

Luz nudged me. “This is where we are staying, right? I’ll be back then. I want a snack.” He took off without waiting for my answer.

“Is your lackey going to be back,” Clouse asked.

“Of course. He said he wanted to…buy a flower or something.”

“Ah, Rosaline caught him then,” he stated. “I hope you know her mother isn’t sick. She’s a whore and Rosaline uses that money to buy clothes. They make her seem like someone important when she is with her rich men.” He stopped, as if waiting for a response. I did not give him one. “Well, why don’t you come in? James, prepare two rooms and have May make some tea.”

“Yes, Sir,” the butler said and disappeared.

I walked to the door and was about to step in when Clouse slammed his hands against the door, trapping me by both sides. “Just so you know, I always carry a gun with me. Try something and I will blow your brains out.”

I took one of his smooth hands and kissed the back of it in a mocking gesture. “You better have a good eye…King Clouse. You see, I am one demon of a man.”