Sins Loom: The Unwilling Weaver

Looking up from the paper in his hands, Ed found himself standing out front of a large, exposed brick building. Two pillars stood tall on either side of the stairs leading up to the entrance, holding up a roof that was embellished with intellectual figures from all across the world.

This should be it. Ed climbed up the stairs and entered through the large open archway. He found himself immediately immersed in a quiet serenity that felt almost unnatural. Stepping back out through the archway, he heard the hustle and bustle of the city. People chatting, cars driving past, and the sounds of unending destruction happening off in the distance. But when he stepped back inside, that was all gone.

There’s something weird about this entrance. Ed stopped for a moment to study the archway. Just like the roof outside, he found it to be covered in several decorative reliefs, but he was unable to figure out how the designs had anything to do with what was happening.

“Hello, how may I help you today? Is there anything you’re looking for today?” A harsh, nasally voice called out to Ed.

Turning his head, Ed saw a large slug like figure taking up all the space behind the desk. The slug donned a suit jacket and had a pair of glasses stuck directly to its face.

“Ugh, yeah. Do you have any computer’s around?” Ed asked.

“Down that hallway, along the wall.” They said, waving their flabby arm to the left, scattering mucus across the desk.

“Thanks.” Ed quickly made his way down the hallway and sat down at the first empty computer he could find. Turning it on, he found that it ran fairly similarly to modern computers. Oh, thank God. I’m glad Hell keeps up with modern times.

Accessing the internet, he stopped for a moment to think about what he should do first. I’m in desperate need of cash right now... But I’m also interested in finding out more about who Lord Superbia is. Hmmm.

Ed ultimately decided he would leave the job search for later and chose to learn more about the ruler of Pride City. Typing Lord Superbia into the search bar, his screen was immediately flooded with thousands of websites he could click on. Where do I even start? Skimming through the titles, he found everything from current news to fan clubs. I just want to find out something about him. I don’t even know what he looks like.

Ed switched over to the images, and only looked at it for a second before hurriedly closing out of the tab. Why is there so much fan art? And why is it all so disturbing? Ed took a moment to try and wipe everything from his mind before retyping Lord Superbia into the search engine. This time, I’m just going to look for a biography. Maybe Wikipedia exists, that would be helpful.

Thankfully, Ed managed to quickly find a Wiki page that wasn’t filled with smut. That could’ve gone easier, but at least I’ve found something useful. Let’s see what I can find... One of the first things Ed focused on was a picture of Lord Superbia.

In the photo stood a tall man in a tightly fitting black suit with red trimming. The man had flawlessly smooth, pale skin, and a face so perfect that it made Ed pause. His brown hair was slicked back to perfection.

Okay. Now I understand the fan art.

His blue eyes shone with an arrogant demeanour, as if the entire world was beneath him. Four sleek, angelic wings splayed out behind him, adding to his otherworldly charm.

After memorising what he looked like, Ed started reading the introduction. “Lord Superbia is the sin of pride, is the ruler of the Pride circle, and the leader of the seven deadly sins. He rules over Hell, and is the strongest person to ever exist in Hell, never having lost a single fight... He has two children. The eldest son, Alphaeus, and his daughter, Elaine... Lord Superbia is known to be in a heated rivalry with Lady Acedia, as he doesn’t appreciate her sloppiness...”

Ed scrolled through the page, finding out as much as he could about Lord Superbia, at least that was from what was known to the public. All in all, he seems like a fairly good ruler. Yes, he’s arrogant, but he’s not incompetent. He’s done his job well and has kept everyone in line. I feel like things would be a lot more chaotic and destructive if it wasn’t for him. At least the fights are constrained and have rules.

After taking a brief glance at photos of Alphaeus and Elaine, and remembering what they looked like, he searched up the other seven deadly sins, starting with Lady Acedia.

In the photo was an incredibly short woman dressed in an oversized hoodie that hid most of her body. She had dark circles under her eyes and looked perpetually tired. The most striking thing about her appearance was that she was entirely in black and white.

“Lady Acedia is the sin of sloth, and the ruler of the Sloth circle. She spends most of her time asleep, as does her subjects. Because of this, any cities or settlements in the Sloth circle are often incredibly dilapidated, and are overrun with nature... She often wakes up to Lord Superbia yelling at her, but she doesn’t know why...”

Okay, so Acedia is basically the opposite of Superbia, I can see why he wouldn’t like her. They have very opposing attitudes. That’s two down, who else do I have to go through? Scanning through their pages, Ed found links to the remaining five people. Luxuria, Gula, Avaritia, Ira, and Invidia... Guess I’ll check out Luxuria next.

This time, there were two photos placed side by side. What’s going on?

In the first photo was an incredibly handsome man, and in the second was an equally beautiful woman. Both shared very similar features and looked as if they could be related. The man had short blond hair styled in a messy bob, while the woman had long, wavy blonde hair that went to the floor, with pink streaks running throughout.

They both looked fairly similar to the photos of succubi that Ed had seen before. They both had the succubi's long horns and demonic wings, but instead of the burning red skin, they had a soft velvety lilac.

Both were wearing a crop top and a pair of booty shorts, leaving most of their seductive body visible for all to see. They were both toned, with six-pack washboard abs and a strong physique, while also being curvy in all the right places. They oozed seduction and sex appeal, flaunting their bodies with an unmatched confidence and grace.

Curious to figure out what was going on, Ed turned his attention to the introduction. “Luxuria is the sin of lust, and the ruler of the Lust circle. They have the ability to change forms to suit the desires of them and their partners... They are the owner and main star of the largest strip club and brothel in Lust City. They are also the spokesperson of numerous fashion brands and sex toys... They are best friends with Gula, and can often be found at one of her parties...”

A shapeshifter, that explains the photos. I won’t even try to look them up. If half of the photos of Superbia were smut, then who knows just how much porn I’m going to see. Let’s do Gula next.

In the photo was a young woman who looked like she had walked directly out of a bad acid trip. Her long rainbow hair fell to the floor in two wild pigtails. Everything about her popped out of the screen. From the bright makeup to the rainbow bralette and microskirt that left little to the imagination, and even the towering thigh high boots, she looked like she was had just stepped out of a rave.

Amongst all the bright spots that popped out of the screen, Ed almost missed that her torso was glowing and translucent. Her body was filled with a viscous and bubbly amber liquid. She could be seen knocking back an entire barrel of beer.

Wow, that’s a lot to take in. Ed took a moment to rest his eyes before hopping into the introduction. “Lady Gula is the sin of gluttony, and the ruler of the Gluttony circle. She is constantly partying and making sure that everyone is having a good time. She is an all-around performer and entertainer and always makes sure that everyone is living their best life... She is a caring soul, and is highly attentive to other people’s emotions and knows when they’re having fun, or being self-destructive... She makes her own highly sought-after alcohol... She is best friends with Luxuria...”

About what I expected from her. I feel like Zara would like to hang out with her. Looking at the time, Ed saw that it was already twelve o’clock. I’ve only got three left, let’s make this quick. Lord Avaritia...

On the screen was a shark like man wearing a black fedora and a pinstripe suit. He had a sinister toothy grin, and his eyes were so green they practically glowed with greed.

“Lord Avaritia is the sin of greed, and the ruler of the Greed circle. He runs the largest companies in all of Hell and has businesses in every industry imaginable... He is a highly intelligent businessman who manages the companies of the other sins... He gets along well with Lord Superbia, and is in a loving and committed relationship with Lady Invidia...”

I didn’t expect that. So two of the sins are in a relationship. This makes me curious about the dynamics between all of them. They must have a lot of history together. Let’s see what’s going on with Lady Invidia...

This photo was the most ordinary of the bunch. She looked like a completely normal human being. Her brown hair was tied back neatly into a bun, matching with her stylish business pantsuit. She didn’t look anything like the other sins. She didn’t have any features that made her stand out. Her strongest feature was her large, pointed nose, but even that was within the realms of normalcy for a human.

“Lady Invidia is the sin of envy, and the ruler of the Envy circle. She is always up to date on the latest trends, and helps her husband run his many businesses... She is in a loving and committed relationship with Lord Avaritia...”

One more to go. Lord Ira is the last.

In the photo stood a large molten rock monster. His body was made of a black, igneous rock, and had a vaguely humanoid shape. Bright blue lava flowed underneath the surface, only barely visible through thin cracks in the outer shell. His head was a bright blue flame, that carried the rough features of a face.

“Lord Ira is the sin of wrath, and the ruler of the Wrath circle. He lives to fight, and can be found locked in constant battle, either out in the wild against dangerous beasts, or in the arena that takes up the vast majority of Wrath City... On the rare occasion he is not fighting, he dedicates himself to teaching others how to fight, and crafts weapons and armour to keep them alive...”

Ugh. Standing up, Ed stretched out his stiff back and rubbed his eyes. That was a lot of information, but I got through it in the end. Now I’ve got to try and find myself a job. Ed quickly searched for available jobs and found that there was a job agency nearby. Looks like that’s where I’m going next.