Love in a cold, dark, world. (STASIS)

Eating the Sand

Greed. The fourth layer of hell.

Where those who fell into the endless abyss of want go for eternal damnation. With endless seas of sand, underneath a scorching sun. Making no place safe for those living in this layer.

Therefore, Y/n is making sandcastles, in said skin-burning and flesh-scorching sands.

"Y/n. What the fuck are you doing?" Minos asked, fanning himself with one of Beels many sunhats with his one arm.

"Making sandcastles." Y/n said.

The sandcastle was several feet high, with a small town around it.

Then, a short curvy woman with white horns and curly hair. Wearing a sundress and sunhat peers over the platform. "Honey, you're gonna burn you're legs if you stay there. Get out of the sand please"

"Awwww. Cmon Luther, lets go." Y/n wined, standing up as the skin on his legs mended themselves. He jumped back onto the platform and they started walking again.

They made it to the end of the platform outside, standing in a red pool they made their way over too the gateway to continue their journey... but he'll had other plans.

From the sky a beam of rainbow light soared down, striking the floor infront of them. In the water, was a greater husk, it was a soldier. But it wasn't normal, it's body was covered in a radiant rainbow glow and it's aura was more intense. Y/n slowly moved into a readying stance. But before he could finish, the soldier blitzed infront of him, faster than any other husk Y/n had seen before. He wasn't expecting it, so when the barrel of it's arm cannon was in his face Beel stepped in and struck it down. She wiped the blood off her hands with a handkerchief and turned to Y/n, "are you okay dear? You were prepared for it to attack, but it managed to get right up to you. What's wrong?"

"Did you not see it? Couldn't you feel it? It was different, it's body was surrounded by a rainbow glow and it felt stronger. I wasn't prepared for it to be so fast" Y/n said, his body was still tensed up, it was clear that it shook him. 'Are they evolving?' He questioned, 'or is it that they get stronger as we go deeper?'

But he didn't have any time to ponder, because Minos already had a leading hypothesis.

"It's strange indeed that it would just suddenly appear out of nowhere, and be much more powerful than the others. But, if I were to guess, it could be that he'll is making all the husks stronger to combat you"

Y/n just deadpanned at the thought of hell being alive.

"So, you're saying hell is alive?"

"No, I'm saying that hell is making it harder to progress."

"But you're also saying that it's alive, which is ridiculous"

"......"

Minos turns to beel with as much disbelief his hole face could give him.

"Was he this stupid when you found him?"

"Yes, but I thought he picked up a few books I had in the Abyss"

Beel turned to Y/n, confused slightly

"I only had enough time to read the divine comedy" Y/n stated bluntly.

"That explains it" Minos said, covering his face with his one arm. He then faced Y/n to explain the sentience of hell.

Well... he tried to, atleast.

"Hell is a sentient force that lives on and thrives on the punishment of sinners. It's sole purpose is to torture for its own entertainment" Y/n stared at Minos for a moment, then spoke. "So, who created hell?" Minos looked back at Y/n. "The only person I could reasonably believe created such a being, is God himself."

"God huh...." Y/n thought for a moment "how do you think God would feel about me dating a demon?"

Beel looked at Y/n as they walked through the building held in the sky above the sand.

"God has been gone for a very long time now, the whole reason Minos and Gabreil fought was because he tried to revolutionize the lust layer shortly after God's dissapearance"

Upon hearing Gabriel's name, Minos clenches his fist.

"Ugh. Please do not remind me of that angelic dog."

With the explanation out of the way, Y/n and the gang traversed the various rooms of the stilted platforms. Once they made their way out, they came across a wondrous sight, they saw a large pyramid in the distance with massive humanoid creatures slowly crawling up the sides of the tall structure. They were carrying large Boulder like rocks in their hands.

Y/n became infatuated with them, like they were a part of him that he needed to let go.

He never noticed that Beel was calling his name from the other side of the area. "Y/n! Honey what ate you still doing over there!? Get over here!" As soon as he heard those words he immediately jumped across the wide gap and landed right in between the two. "Sorry about that" he said, nonchalantly "Got distracted" that feeling he has about the creatures lying deeper within Greed only grew as they finished off the area and began to go deeper down.

Minos, had a small idea about what might be going on in Y/n's head.

"Y/n.... you were staring at the insurrectionists, weren't you?"

Y/n looked at him perplexed as he blew apart a virtue. "The what?"

Minos punched a hole through a cerberus. "The Sisyphean Insurrectionists. Those were the creatures you saw endlessly climbing the pyramid."

Y/n thought about it for a bit, and before he knew it the battle was over and they were able to move on to the next level.

".....Sisyphean... why does that sound... so right, when it rolls off my tounge?"

They hopped down to the next level and Y/n remained deep in thought, while being held by Beel while they fell.

Somewhere, Y/n knew, that whatever came for them when they got to Sisyphus' holding cage...

Would hurt.