"Hypoglycemia?"
Alastor collapsed suddenly whilst talking to her father, Lucifer. Now, he was back in the hospital room, unconscious.
The doctors were able to treat him quickly, and were now talking to the hotel staff about the situation.
Lucifer and Vaggie conversed amongst each other while the rest of them, Angel Dust, Husk and Niffty, remained silent as Charlie talked to one of the doctors.
"So, with the current state of him, how long do you think it would take for him to wake up?" Charlie asked.
"Possibly around a few hours at least, or a few days at most." the doctor said.
"I see."
As they weren't able to visit himjustyet, the gangwere forcedto leave the area.
The hotel staff quickly went back to their respective jobs while Charlie sent Lucifer to the front of the hotel.
"I wasn't expecting him to pass out." Lucifer said as they arrived at the lobby.
"Yeah, but I think that you knocked some sense into him." Charlie said.
"You heard it?"
"It's easy to hear through the doors." Charlie remarked.
"I see." Lucifer mumbled.
Soon enough, Lucifer's chauffeur arrived and he quickly entered the vehicle giving her one last nod and wave before he shut the door and disappeared in a flash.
Charlie kept smiling as she entered back into the hotel. But the smile faded the moment she was out of view.
Once she managed to reach her office, she heaved a huge sigh of relief.
By some miracle, Alastor was quickly discharged from the hospital just a day after going into a catatonic state.
Vaggie and Charlie made the decision to confront the deer demon once he was at least out of healing.
But Alastor wasn't having it.
It wasn't that he didn't want to meet them. It was more that he straight up disappeared from everyone.
However, it was apparent that the Radio Demon didn't leave the vicinity of the establishment. Witnesses had confirmed that he did not leave by the numerous doorways within the hotel.
So, the couple had to find him.
They tried to find him in his suite but it was vacant say for the luggage. They then tried to find him in all of the hotel amendities such as the dining hall and even the bar.
"Where is he?" Vaggie said out loud as the two walked around the one of upper floors of the hotel.
"If we have to guess, where would the last place Alastor would be?" Charlie said.
"Is there a basement in this hotel?" Vaggie questioned.
"Well, yes. Though it's locked shut." Charlie said.
Then, Charlie stopped dead in her tracks. Vaggie came to a halt following this and took notice of her girlfriend's pale face.
"Charlie, what is it?" Vaggie stated.
"The roof." Charlie spilled out.
Vaggie's eyes went wide and without hesitation, both of them sprinted for the nearest staircase. They tried to be as fast as they could as they scaled the stairs hastily.
The hotel had at least 30 floors and they were about third-quarters of the way to the top.While it was easier to use the elevator, waiting for it would be tedious and there was no way to head to the roof with the elevator.
The roof is about as bland as you think it was. Traces of the ventilation and air conditioning systems and the hotel's neon sign on the far end.Some of the hotel workers that were up here for maintenance could see the height of the building if they dared to look down.
Once the couple were on the roof, quite tired from their sprint, they finally saw Alastor.
He was wearing quite jarring attire for a change. A hoodie and a pair of jet black slacks weren't the usual dress code for the dapper demon, but he was wearing it. Alongside that, he was wearing a pair of sneakers. If it weren't for the fact that the deer ear-like hair tufts, Alastor looked like the average teenager.
He stood at the edge of the hotel that had the sign brandished in front. The deer peered down the buildingin betweenthe sign and the technical walls.
"Al!" Charlie shouted.
Alastor turned to look at them and their hearts dropped.
His face was almost recognizable with the unending no presence of the trademark smile, those piercing red eyes and the absence of his monocle.
The deer demon remained still as the coupleslowlyinched their way to him, but they didn't move any closer.
"Alastor?" Vaggie said.
"Why?"
Alastor said that single word without any kind of radio filter and without any kind of enthusiasm.
"Al..." Charlie began.
"Why do you want me?" Alastor said once more.
Alastor stepped back a bit, getting precariously closer to the edge of the building.Charlie and Vaggie almost leapt at that moment, but stopped once Alastor heaved a hesistant sigh.
"Alastor. I want you to come to me." Charlie askedpolitely.
Vaggie turned to her and shook her head, signifying that what she wanted wasn't going to work in her favor. Charlie took notice and quickly dropped the idea she had.
The deer demon suddenly dropped forward and slammed down on to the concrete. He was clutching his head before he let go as the couple lept a bit due to the fall.
They remained cautious as Charlie and Vaggie approached Alastor laying face down and the one thing they did notice was that there was a deer tail sticking out from the bottom of Alastor's shirt.
"Alastor?" Charlie said as she and Vaggie sat on either side of Alastor.
The Radio Demon remained still but his head was facing to the side that Charlie was on. He didn't want to say anything or at least what he had said.
The princess knew that Alastor was genuinely sorry for what he did to Charlie as evidenced by his talk with Lucifer. But he didn't have the courage to say it to her.
It was obvious that Alastor didn't want to face Vaggie especially since she was usually the one that would be angry towards him if he even touched her.
"Al, I know that you're sorry." Vaggie said, "And I forgive you, in a way."
Alastor turned his head to her, though gave no response of sorts other than a blank facial expression.
"Me too." Charlie stated, "I'll always forgive you since what happened."
The deer had turned to face Charlie and he gave the faint sense of enthusiasm to her.
"See? I know you're sorry, but if this happens again,justtell us what you're feeling. Talk to us."
Alastor finally smirked but itwas lost instantly when he suddenly yelped and jolted a bit forward.
Charlie looked over at Vaggie who was tugging at the deer's demon tail.
"Vaggie!" Charlie hissed.
"Sorry, I'mjustcurious." Vaggie said coyly before tugging Alastor's tail again. Alastor yelped once more, though somehow cutely.
"Vaggie, stop!" Charlie hissed again.
Vaggie did stop,quickly letting go of Alastor's tail.
"Sorry, Al."
Alastor gave a whine (of sorts) in response. He rolled over facing up and sat up, which made the couple turned to his direction.
The deer demon held his head with his hand and turned stiff.
"I'm sorry." Alastor said, now with a radio filter.
"We get it." the couple said at the same time.
Once Alastor seemed to have calmed down, they remained there staring across the city skyline.The view was beautiful, but Charlie and Vaggie noticed that the deer demon kept observing around the city.
"Let's go." Alastor saidsuddenly.
The Radio Demon stood up and quickly walked to the door back down. The couple followed suit, though completely unsure why he was going back.
And he disappeared again once they reached the staircase.
Alastor was in a strange place mentally.
He was now a bit tolerable towards the hotel staff since they have now forgiven him for his actions.Everything was going alright for him and he could pick himself up from his fall,figuratively and literally.
The doctors suggested that he take care of himself by hopefully eating and not dying from sugar crashes.
However, there was this nagging question at the back of his head which was of his personal background.
Alastor didn't truly knew himself other than his enjoyments and his looks. For some strange reasons, he wanted to know more about himself.
Alongside that, he also felt the same way about his strange musician friend, Idosing.
He had spent quite a lot of time listening to the musician's entire discography within his personal possession. Sure, he enjoyed it but he was now tolerable towards it instead of being impressed.
Idosing was interesting but Alastor couldn't get past the hooks and melodies if he tried to understand the dictionary-in-a-blender lyrics. He didn't get anything from the music.
Despite this, he wanted to know more.
Everything about this seemed to stem from the musician.Just after he discovered Idosing's albums, he was suddenly attacked.This was just the beginning of the downhill spiral that was Alastor's mental breakdown.
Whatever it was, he wanted answers. But the question was, should he look for them?
As he laid down on his suite bed, he wasn't sure if he wanted to continue to mope around for sympathy. Alastor needed to do something that could help him.
The Radio Demon was unsure where he could go to other than ask for help. But this situation was something completely different than anything he had ever done.
But he knew that it was necessary in a sense. He hasn't been able to think straight about what he should do, but if this is where he was deciding what was best for him..
Alastor groaned as he tried to find a comfortable position in bed before settling onjustbeing sprawled across its length.
He sighed the moment he managed to get comfortable. His eyes were getting heavy and soon enough, he was out cold.
And unfortunately, this nap will lead to a dream.
Alastor found himself in his Radio Tower.It was obvious that it was a more recent arrangement of the workspace and a calendarwas placedon his desk saying that it was 2008.
His past self was reading a few pieces of paper with a blank expression on his face. It was most likely script drafts for some radio segments.
"I don't think these would work for me." past-Al mumbled.
"You alright?" Idosing suddenly shouted.
"I'm fine!" Alastor shouted back, "Just unsure on these scripts."
The zebra demon popped out of the kitchen with a book clutched in betweenhis hands. He walked over to the Radio Demon and glanced at the papers in the deer's hands.
"The cooking stuff would work for you." Idosing said.
"Do you think Hell would like old New Orleans recipes?" Alastor said.
"Well, just use meat from the bodies of lesser demons. That would make it more interesting."
Alastor perked up at that statement.He did cooking for as long as he could remember but only started broadcasting cooking New Orleans cuisines with the insides of a demon recently.He couldn't exactly pinpoint when he started it but if Idosing was the one who suggested it then he was surprised.
"Thanks." past-Alastor stated.
Alastor looked at Idosing and took notice of the book he was reading.
"What kind of book are you reading?" Alastor said a bit dejectedly.
"Dante's Divine Comedy." Idosing said bluntly.
"What?"
"An old Italian story about a guy's ascension to heaven through hell and purgatory."
Past-Alastor was silent about this, even present-Al was unsure on how to react.
He never read this book but if Idosing had planssimilar tothis story, it would've been strange especially this was pre-Hotel days.
"Do you ever wonder if there is a border to Hell?"
Alastor turned to Idosing, who remained intent on the book he was reading.
"No...,so why are you asking?" Alastor stated.
"Theoretically, if according to my readings, Hell might have a border that separates heaven and hell. Some say it's Purgatory, some say it's Limbo."
"Do you want to go there?" Alastor murmured.
Idosing gave no response.Alastor wasn't so sure on how he managed to remember this memory but if this was the answer he needed, he was willing to take it.
Alastor was completely shocked as Idosing turned the pages of the book. He wasn't sure if trying to find the very edge of Hell was the best decision for him. But it seemed to call to him.
"What the-?" Idosing mumbled.
Present-Al turned to find his past self hugging Idosing while remaining sitted on his chair.
"Alright, alright, ace of spades." Idosing said.
The dream faded to black as Alastor began to awaken.
It was night and dark, but after stretching and crawling out of bed, he managed to get the lights in his room on.
Alastor was completely unsure on how to think about his recent dream.It somehow gave him the information he needed completely coincidentally, and the deer demon felt a bit relieved.
He made the decision tojustmake a cup of coffee for himself.
With the fortunate hotel food and dishes already available, he was able to make a cup pretty quickly.
Hepracticallyinhaled the scalding bitter beverage, the moment it was ready within the cup. Sure, it burned his throat and tongue but it was how he preferred it.
He finished it as quickly as he made it almost like a shot of liquor. Alastor gave a satisfied sigh as he looked at a picture that was on the hotel desk.
Walking over for a closer look, he realized it was one of the pictures of the staff together every year or so. They took them annuallyand usually went well with each of them smiling happily.
This onewas taken two years after the hotel began operation and where they had the most employees.He could recognise some employees who were quite good at their jobs before making the decision tobe rehabillated.
Alastor looked at the past self of him, smilingcenthusiastically. It looked so long ago, especially with recent events.
He looked at the rest of the gang, who were smiling along side him other than Husk who remained his grumpy self.
Alastor was beginning to doubt if he could go on his personal journey without notifying his friends. If he were to inform them about it, they would most likely not allow him because of his state of mind.Even if they allowed him, some of them would follow him and some would stay at the hotel which would be high risk for them and the hotel.
Do I go, alone?
The problem was that it was most suitable solution for what he wanted to do. He couldn't think of any other way of going at it.
But at the cost of leaving his friends?
Alastor placed the cup in his hands on the desk andtrulyobserve the picture. He didn't want to hurt the feelings of the hotel staff because of him going away.
He sat down on his bed and clutched his head, trying to think of how he could handle this situation. But he knew that it was the best decision for him.
"Whatever it takes." Alastor said to himself as he stood up and faced the room window,
"Whatever it damn takes."
