Sin-Eater - Chapter 60: Innervation (Patreon)

In aid of the defense of the throne-room, Canta lunges out of the line of guardsmen and latches onto the black mass lurching their way, sinking his teeth into the first demon of many.

Everything goes white.

“I want a puppy!” yells Emanuela, crossing her arms and glaring up at her mother who looks back down towards her, shaking her head.

“One day, my sweet,” promises the woman, grabbing her hand. “When we have the money. I promise,” says the black-haired woman, pulling the girl off towards their home.

“But I want it now!”

Everything goes white.

Canta blinks, looking around himself at the confessional. “Huh? …Excuse me?” he asks, receiving no response as is tradition. “Was… was that it?”

Turning his head, he looks at the stringy blob in front of himself. Emaneula.

“Hey,” says Canta.

“Hey,” says Emanuela. “Uh, awkward. I think I got a little carried away there.” She rubs her head. “Demons, huh? Yeesh.”

“Yeah, you think?” asks Canta, crossing his arms.

“Am I going to hell?” asks Emanuela, taking shape as a ‘human’. Though Canta can’t help but notice the blob attached down to her feet. It looks oddly like a puppy.

Canta eyes the ‘person’ up and down. “Are you evil?”

“I don’t think so. I guess that was kind of an embarrassing memory,” says the entity. “I was a real brat. But my mom and I got along great after I grew up,” she shrugs, her body setting alight and starting to burn. She picks the puppy up, moving it away from the fire.

He stares at the flames for a second. “So why did you become a demon?”

She shrugs. “Dunno. I was dead and then I wasn’t,” explains Emanuela. “And I was like… really grouchy?”

“Huh…” says Canta, rubbing his head. He shrugs. “Whatever. Okay, see you on the other side,” he says, snapping his fingers impatiently. “Greed.”

[Sin of Greed] : Correct

- No consequences

[Punishment] DAMNATION

Emanuela vanishes into a puff of shattered vapor, the last thing she does before exploding is picking up the small, ashy, string-puppy.

[Sin removed]

The sinner will be returned once more to the well of souls.

{You are what you eat}

[No abilities to be gained]{Failure}

He opens his eyes, feeling Alleluia moving him back, watching as the body of the black-entity that was the demon lies there and melts into goo. “Are you okay, honey?” she asks. Canta burps, striking his chest with his fist a couple of times.

“I’m good,” he says and she sets him down. “You know?” he asks the bishop. “The whole system is fucked. People are being damned for the most inconsequential shit.”

“Yeah,” says that bishop. “That could be,” his piston shoots out to the side and he grabs a demon approaching from the right, having slipped past the line of guardsmen. “Here.” Canta takes his shot and lunges at the captive creature, biting it where its neck might have once been.

Everything goes white.

“You just don’t understand me!” says Philippe, tossing his long hair to the side, that he had spent five minutes brushing. His mother rolls her eyes, continuing her sewing.

“Yes, yes, Philippe,” smiles the woman. “It is just a phase, you will grow out of it. Believe me,” says the lady who is busy sewing something.

“It’s not a phase! It’s who I am!” argues Philippe, rolling his eyes now. Long hair might not be the style here, but he loves his long hair. It’s what defines him, what makes him stand apart from the others.

Stopping by a mirror, he looks at himself once and nods in approval at the face with the beautiful hair he sees staring back his way.

Everything goes white.

Canta taps his foot impatiently against the ground. “The hair? Really?” he asks, looking around. Though he isn’t even sure why he bothers asking any questions at all anymore. It just helps him feel better, he supposes. Shaking his head he looks at the entity that takes shape. As he approaches, long, loose strings flow out from its head as if it were a glorious mane of hair.

“Cool hair,” says Canta.

Phillipe plants his feet on the ground and then looks at him, laughing, before tousling his ‘hair’. “This?” he asks. “It’s weird that I have it, really,” says Philippe. “I didn’t have long-hair for the last fifty years of my life,” he explains. “Cut it off one summer and never looked back.”

“So it was just a phase?” asks Canta, watching as it starts to set on fire.

“Apparently,” says Phillipe.

Canta sighs. “Vanity.”

[Sin of Vanity] : Correct

- No consequences

[Punishment] DAMNATION

Phillipe dissipates. Canta consumes the powder that remains as it floats towards him, coughing and spluttering as he does so. It feels like he has a hair stuck in his throat.

[Sin removed]

The sinner will be returned once more to the well of souls.

{You are what you eat}

[No abilities to be gained]{Failure}

“You fucking useless fucks!” yells Canta first thing as he wakes up. “None of you have any abilities!” he shouts at the demons. “You’re all just schmucks!”

“Are you okay, honey-cakes?” asks Alleluia, stepping on a demon that had come from the other side.

Canta looks at the bishop. “What the hell is wrong with the system? People are getting damned for not wanting a haircut!”

The bishop shrugs. “I don’t make the rules, sin-eater. I just preach them.”

“Yeah!” barks Canta, pointing towards the onslaught which they’re slowly starting to lose. “To literal demons!”

Bishop Zacaries Montero shrugs. “They were great listeners.”

Canta yells in frustration, lunging at the demon that Alleluia had trapped.

Everything goes white.

They’ve reached the top of the hill after a long slog. She would have made it twice as fast without her brother, but then it wouldn’t have been worth climbing to begin with. “One day, I’m going to be the best healer there ever was!” says Jorona, looking at her brother. “You wait until we grow up!” she exclaims. “I’m going to make you better!” she promises.

He nods, not being able to speak from an injury he had received. She smiles at him.

Everything goes white.

A decade and then some years have passed. Jorona holds her hands over her brother’s chest. Their mother sits by the bedside. The plant-filled room fills with a vivid, green light that leaks from her hands as she casts the spell which she had spent her entire training period as a druid learning.

The magic dissipates and she stares at her brother who opens his mouth, letting out a scratchy word. “Jo…ro…na…” he utters, saying the first syllables in years. Their mother and Jorona break into tears, grabbing each other.

“You did it, Jorona!” praises her mother.  Jorona and her brother grab each other’s hands and she winks at him.

“Of course! I’m the best healer there ever was,” she smiles, relieving the same expression from him in return.

Everything goes white.

Canta stands there with crossed arms, staring at the ball of light before himself. Jorona. He doesn’t even bother talking to the universe this time. Instead he walks towards her. The ball begins to unravel, taking the shape of an odd, human’ish, tree-like entity that is made up of the soul-strings.

“How’s it going?” asks Canta.

“Pretty good,” says Jorona. “Sorry about the whole demon thing. I uh… I think I got carried away.”

He lifts his arms, shrugging, and then simply lets them fall back down to his side without saying anything else to her.

“Pride,” he says, looking up towards the ‘sky’.

[Sin of Pride] : Correct

- No consequences

[Punishment] DAMNATION

Jorona explodes into an oddly fragrant cloud of energy that Canta inhales.

[Sin removed]

The sinner will be returned once more to the well of souls.

{You are what you eat}

[Forest Cure]{Plant}{Success}

Canta opens his eyes. “Fucking finally, yes!” he pumps his fist. Jorona really is the best. He looks around, the situation doesn’t look great.

“Canta?” asks Alleluia. “Should we run away?”

“That’d be a real dick move,” says the bishop. Canta looks at her and then at him, considering their options for a moment.

Canta shakes his head. “We’re putting an end to this demon bull-shit once and for all!” he exclaims with twitching eyes as he rushes out into the fray, diving past palatinos Salvador, as he lunges at the next demon that he sees.