#< it's the Genji dude nom de guerre

[agrumina]

About the Circle of Wrath

[Rewrote this because there some things I didn’t like + I changed some things in the worldbuilding]

(Trigger Warnings: gaslighting, overwork and its effect on the body (wounds are mentioned), toxic work environment, mention of psychological and physical abuse, very light gore, victim blaming.

This is the point of view of a character who has basically given up - but I have to point out this is a part of a backstory and it’s not his actual status -, so if you want a “it’s bad, but there’s stil a bit of hope/optimism” kind of work avoid this one.)

Click clack click clack.

That was the sound he often heard when he was still alive and working, and that was the sound he knew was going to accompany him for his eternity trapped in, for the little he had seen before getting a desk assigned, an infinite office somewhere in the Circle of Greed.

Click clack click clack.

Genji hasn’t accepted his afterlife is being forced to stay in front a computer, but he learned to deal with it: he has learned to not make anything distract him, to not divert his focus unless directly called; to ignore the other sinners’ moans of pain; to just deal with the ache in his arms, as well as the wounds all over his back and the burning of his eyes.

He also learned to control his shudders when he hear the steps of any “supervisor”, as he called them in his head - what he still hasn’t learned, aside the fact they mostly look like fellow sinners or demons with animal-like features, is how many they exactly are and if they take turns or if they all work at the same times but follows different routes -.

Click clack click clack.

“You’re lucky, you know.”

Click clack click clack.

As always, Genji doesn’t divert his gaze from his screen and tries to not think too much about the fact he now understands what once to him sounded like inhuman gibberish. He can only assume the owner of the voice is going back and forth, considering by the way the volume of the sound of the voice and steps vary.

It must be the otter-like demon he had mistaken for a kawauso the first time he caught a glance of him, the one who plague the place with a rotten fish stench and does nothing but rants as if everything annoyed him.

On one hand, Genji doesn’t mind him too much compared to the other demons: there are times some of his rants are funny, he doesn’t hit or disturb others just for the sake of it and it’s easy to not make him angry - all a sinner has to do is to not talk to him, and look busy.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t times where Genji just wishes the otter-like demon would just shut up and go somewhere else.

Click clack click clack.

“Have you ever been to the Circle of Wrath? The Styx? Ah, of course not, that was a stupid question,” he says with his usual high-pitched voice while sniffling at the end of every sentence.

Click clack click clack.

“Let me tell you, it’s not a fun place to be.”

Click clack click clack.

“You think you have it bad? Well, at least here you are protected. At least no one interrupts your work. At least here you’re making yourself useful.”

Click clack click clack.

“Sinners there are free to roam and do whatever they like. Anything. You could take any random sinner from there and then... well, only your imagination is a limit. Sounds great, right? Many agree. Some find it a stress-relieving place. It’s fun. Until you get targeted or you haven’t still reached a point where you’re feared enough that no one dares to attack you, that’s it. Even if you’re just passing, you need to be careful.”

Click clack click clack.

“Don’t let me even start with how newbies are treated there. If you only get beaten and then left somewhere to drown, you’re one of the luckiest. Nothing compared to what we do here.”

Click clack click clack.

“And if it gets too peaceful? My colleagues there have to stir up chaos again. You just have to accuse or hurt the right people, or promise something in exchange. Again, fun for those who are strong or furtive enough, not so much for everyone else.”

Click clack click clack.

“It’s like… what was the name of that surface movie? It was more than one, if I’m not mistaken. The Part? Purging? No, there was a The…”

Click clack click clack.

“The Purge?” a hoarse voice says.

Genji rolls his eyes. Everyone knows that, when the otter-like demon does his one-sided rants no one should reply unless they want to be insulted or, when he’s really in a bad mood, bitten and scratched. Perhaps it’s one of the new arrivals who still hasn’t learned how things work.

Contrary to all expectations, the otter makes an approving sound.

Click clack click clack

“The Purge, right! Well, imagine it, but there’s water and mud everywhere, instead of lasting just some hours it’s eternity and with way more stuff happening instead of only murder.”

Click clack click clack.

“And you all think you have it bad. And oh! Don’t make me start on the seventh circle! That too, it’s pretty nasty business…”

Click clack click clack.

Genji wants to beg ask him to stop talking; to tell him he doesn’t want to hear anything about other Circles and doesn’t care who has it best or who has it worst, to not complain as if the demon was the one being forced to sit down and deal with the ulcers caused by not being able to get up and his eyes burning more and more.

But, as he always does, he keeps his mouth shut: what would he gain if he dared to do as he actually wanted, aside from being yelled at and/or beaten? What would he gain when there’s nowhere to run? When the ones who rebel and/or “interact too much” with the others get heavily punished?

Click clack click clack.

All he can do is to endure it and try to tune out the otter’s rambling, now focusing on centaurs and hunted sinners.

Click clack click clack.