It had to work. 

IT HAD TO WORK.

After four years this HAD to work.

He was a frail teen, timid, malnourished, and quiet. The room was dark and cold, the only warmth from the sigil lit by candles under the moonlight. The pale light was all he had to read the black book.

The warning read, "Any souls whose bodies perish in the underworld will be damned the same as a sinner."

He didn't care, he thought he would end up there anyways. He gripped his knife, cut open his palm, and bled into the sigil.

A girl with pink hair awoke to see a light a few houses down bursting from…

"Sunny what the fuck did you do?" She ponders have asleep as she grabs her bat…

Hell was… well… hot. Hotter than Sunny expected but he came prepared with some bottled water. First step was to get past the front desk. Sunny approaches the demon, a humanoid with white hair and glasses, "You die or visiting?" She asks with an annoyed tone.

"Getting…" Sunny replies his voice shaking, "Someone…"

A demon. A real demon. He isn't sure what to do is she going to eat him? Rip his stomach open? He's terrified, holding back tears.

She notices this and assures the child, "I'm nor gonna eat you kiddo. You're young to be here and if you're not dead you should just go."

Sunny shakes his head. He states sternly, "I belong here. I need to find Mari."

Pandemonica had her reasons for being in Hell. She had done some things she wasn't proud of, but that didn't mean she was a monster. This poor kid was so scared and filled with guilt. She asks him, "I can look at the records. You got any coffee though? I'm parched."

Sunny nods handing her one of the many beverages he brought, an iced coffee. She chugs it and comments jokingly, "Ahhh. That's better. Man I wish I could break someone's fingers like this glass bottle."

Sunny takes this as a genuine threat as the bottle shatters on the ground and starts to cry from fear. 

Pandemonica notices this and approaches the child assuring, "Hey hey easy. I'm not going to hurt you. I know I'm a demon and all buy kiddo I have like… free will… I just used it poorly in life."

She looks into the child's eyes and sees fear. Genuine fear. She looks at the knife in his hand, shaking.

Sunny is AFRAID.

"You wanna find Mari right?" Pandemonica I inquires, knowing this kid has suffered a lot and, maybe cause of compassion or guilt of scaring him, deciding to help, "I can't find a Mari who died in the last few years. We can go ask Lucifer, she'll know. Come on, tell me about this Mari…"

Sunny nods in agreement, Pandemonica taking him by the hand, like a mother leading their frightened son, and continuing deeper into Hell…

"So she hung herself?" Pandemonica inquires helping Sunny shove a boulder out of the way.

Sunny nods, but feels he's forgetting SOMETHING.

"Not all suicides come here," Pandemonica explains, "But if she let you behind like this… maybe she did. I don't know."

Pandemonica sips a second coffee as she elaborates, "We'll just have to ask Lucifer."

As their footsteps echo across the red crags, Sunny hears something behind them. A low growl. He readies his blade, prepared for a fight. He is confused, and assumes that Pandemonica is some sort of exception, a less bad demon.

Sunny spots three pairs of white ears behind a rock on a higher up cliff. Dog ears. Pandemonica realizes that Sunny is turning the blade not towards his enemy, but to himself. Her eyes go wide with shock. That knife isn't for self defense…

It's to make his demise less painful.

"Easy easy!" Pandemonica speaks with a soft tone to soothe the child. She turns towards the trio above and goes, "Cerberus, come on, you're scaring the kid!"

"Is he alive?" The first asks, revealing herself from behind the rock, a demon woman in a black suit with red sleeves, white hair and dog ears.

"Oh he's a cute kid!" An identical demon adds.

"But he doesn't seem to belong!" A third copy exclaims.

The trio all rush Sunny, playfully looking over him. "Is he a human?"

"He doesn't look dead to me."

"Hey kiddo why are you here? You should go home."

"He's looking for his sister," Pandemonica explains.

"Why would she be here?" The first asks.

"Was she mean?"

"We can be your sisters, Earth would better than this hellhole. If she a abusive you deserve better so-"

Sunny slashes at Cerberus in a rage. How DARE she imply Mari was anything less than the best sister in the world.

"That's enough give me the knife!" Pandemonica orders.

Sunny steps back, glaring at the trio of demons.

"They didn't know she killed herself," Pandemonica explains, "That's nor their fault!"

Hesitantly, Sunny complies and gives her the knife.

"Oh she killed herself?" The first asks.

"She may not be here then."

"Hey if you're leaving anyways can we come? We would like to return to Earth but we need a human."

Sunny nods, seeing no harm in it.

Pandemonica states sternly, "Just don't get us into any trouble Cerberus."

"Oh," the trio reply in synch, "We won't!"

One of the doggish demons pat Sunny on the head, "This kid is clearly troubled we don't wanna hurt him! Besides he's our ticket out of here!"

The group carries on, the air begins to smell thick with smoke. A voice speaks from an unseen location, "Been a while since I've seen a human."

A cloud of smoke appears from the demon's maw filled with sharp teeth. She takes a long drag on her cigarette, before flicking it aside to adjust her red flannel shirt. Her earrings reflect the light of the hellfire as she inquires, "So what's with the kid?"

"He's looking for his sister," Cerberus exclaims, "You wanna help?"

The demon looks at the kid, weighing her options. His eyes don't hold any malice, she lights a cigarette, inhaling as she ponders. She doesn't see why, but doesn't see why not. She decides to ask the kid a bit about himself, "You got yourself a girl back home?"

"Haven't left home in…" Sunny counts up on his fingers, losing count and answering awkwardly, "Since… Mari died."

The demon smiles, slightly softer, "Little timid isn't he?" She laughs to hide her worry for the kid. He's very thin, tired. She thinks of herself when she was alive. She…

Had some issues with anxiety which led her to becoming as she is now.

She sees herself in a way and shrugs, knowing she can't let him burn as she does now, "I'll tag along. Come on kiddo. Let's go."

The group continues on until they reach a massive black palace, skeletal guards block their path, glaring at the top of the obsidian staircase. 

"Reason for visit?" One asks coldly.

"Looking for Mari," Sunny retorts timidly.

"You have no business here human," the guard replies, "Leave."

"But we need to speak to Lucifer!" Cerberus exclaims in three voices at once.

Pandemonica senses danger, and stands in front of Sunny as the guard cracks his knuckles. "Leave. Now."

"Hey," A voice states with a laid back confidence, "They're with me."

A cane taps on the stairs, a demon with a black jacket and a red suit approaches, shades, white slicked back hair completes the confidence that she exudes, "Some kid looking for his sis? I'm literally named JUSTICE, I'm not gonna leave that be."

The guard sighs but concedes. Massive black obsidian doors open, purple flames on bazaars made of gold, revealing a sly grin, with sadistically hisses "So… A human? And you've all abandoned your posts? Have you forgotten I am queen of Hell? There better be a damn good reason you're helping this kid…"

The voice demands with a growl, "Or I'll make sure he stays in Hell…"

The girl with pink hair climbs through the window to see a purple portal.

"What the fuck…" she mutters to herseld. What the actual Hell did Sunny do? 

Like how one wishes to touch lava when seeing pictures of it, she feels compelled to touch the portal. The tips of her fingers touch it, causing it to flare up and pull her in. She screams, "Sunny! Sunny! It's Aubrey! Help! Hel-"

And she too is sent to hell...