Aria was barely aware of anything, at first, except for the debilitating, wracking pain as she felt someone put a cup to her lips. The liquid was warm and tasted like bitter herbs as something else she couldn't identify burned her throat, making her cough violently as she swallowed. She wondered if it was medicine, her mind groggy and slow as she felt her body shudder with nausea, fire, and ice, but she fought to keep it down.
She could feel someone pick her up and start carrying her, the smell of alcohol and fur surrounding her. The fire, ice, and pain made her delirious, leaving her feeling like she could be dreaming all this as she felt the warmth of the liquid she drank spread throughout her body. Aria sighed with relief, the nausea starting to die down as Aria rested against the warm, fluffy chest of whoever was carrying her, feeling relaxed and warm.
"I don't see why I have to fucking carry her!" the familiar, gruff voice of Husker complained, his grip tightening on Aria as Husker carried her with one arm supporting her legs, while the other supported her back as Aria was aware of a sense of movement.
"Husker, you're lucky I walked into the lobby when I did, my friend! The last time someone was foolish enough to litter right in front of Niffty, his hands were bloodied and missing a few digits from her using her own teeth as weapons! You could say he was caught red handed! Ahahahaha!" Alastor said with a laugh, making Aria groan at the pun as an invisible audience laughed. "Besides, my insistence that you carry Miss Aria was a much needed service on my part as well as the perfect excuse to keep you out of reach of a rather enraged Niffty!"
"I was fucking handling it just fine until you showed up," Husker said sulkily, but Aria heard Husker wince like something hurt him, making Aria groggily wonder what happened to him as she dared to peek with slitted eyes.
"My friend, she had you pinned down by one ear, you looked like she turned you into a pretzel, and did I distinctly hear you crying 'uncle' as she was slowly crushing your windpipe closed with her scrawny, little legs?" Alastor asked with amusement, a smug grin on his face as Aria heard Alastor's radio background make punching noises and the ding, ding, ding of a bell, making Husker growl in annoyance.
"Well, none of that would've happened if you fucking hadn't made your new mark so goddamn drunk!" Husker complained, his ego clearly bruised as he tried to pin his troubles on Alastor. "It's one thing to buy me with a wink and a bottle of cheap booze, but this broad looked like she'd drunk a whole bottle of the hard stuff and was suffering from fucking drug withdrawal! The fuck did you do to her, Alastor? Niffty kept going on and on about some bullshit story about how you romanced this broad in the library, and with a fucking deal no less!"
"Ah, poor Niffty!" Alastor sighed with mock wistfulness, his tone long-suffering as Aria heard the familiar sound of an elevator as Aria peeked, again, seeing Alastor standing in front of her before a very large, ornate elevator. "The poor girl just can't seem to accept that I have no interest in a romantic relationship! I can assure you, my friend, that, despite Niffty's obsession with romance, her story is mostly on par with the facts. Miss Aria did indeed accept a deal from me in the library earlier this evening and her current state is indeed connected to it. However, may I make it perfectly clear that I did not find the transaction at all romantic! I did, however, find it a wonderful source of entertainment for myself!"
Aria felt a rush of anger at Alastor's choice of words as she peeked at the elevator before her, its form far grander than the service elevator she'd used to get to the library. Gold doors with apple and snake designs dominated the front of the elevator, the doors sporting large, red apples with snakes slithering around the edges of the elevator doors. As Husker entered the interior of the elevator, Aria noticed that a maroon carpet lined the bottom of the elevator, while the golden elevator panel on the wall was mercifully free of any creepy, mysterious stains.
"So why the fuck didn't she just goddamn sleep this off in her room?" Husker groused, obviously not happy that Aria had made his life harder that night, making Aria feel a little guilty as she heard Alastor press the top most button, making the elevator smoothly close its doors as it quickly moved from floor to floor with barely a hint of movement.
"My most educated guess would be that the side-effects of our little deal caught up with Miss Aria far faster than she had expected!" Alastor pointed out, his carefree attitude about it grating on Aria's nerves as Aria heard 1930's elevator music start up in Alastor's background radio feed. "No need to worry, my friend! I'll make sure Miss Aria is taken care of while you dutifully man the front desk! You should even find a brand new bottle waiting for you back in the lobby for bringing Miss Aria back up to the library for me!"
"You're fucking right I deserve that bottle of booze!" Husker huffed loudly as the elevator let out a clear, bell sound devoid of agony, its beautiful apple and snake designed doors opening up to the library.
"Just place her on that long, sitting couch over there beside the fireplace over to your right, while I prepare for our guest!" Alastor said cheerfully as Aria felt Husker grunt in reply as Aria peeked, again, while Alastor's 1930's music abruptly ended.
Aria watched Alastor disappear around a bookshelf on her left as she noticed a very posh and grand fireplace all aglow on her right through a walkway between two, large, black bookshelves. The design of the fireplace was reminiscent of the one down in the lobby, although this one sported two snakes biting the other's tail that ringed the very large, circular fireplace. Their scales sported red and gold designs as the cream fireplace sported a carved apple tree with gold leaves over the mantelpiece, a golden snake slithering up its trunk with a large, red apple in its fangs. The apples in the tree design were also a bright, red color, giving the design an eye-catching allure to it, making Aria wonder if this was what Eve had felt when she was offered the forbidden fruit. The wine colored walls surrounding the fireplace could barely be seen before large, black bookshelves dominated Aria's view, their tentacle-carved shelves filled to the brim with books. Aria thought of perusing through a few books later, but then she thought better of it as the unpleasant experience back in the study suddenly popped into her head.
Husker more or less laid her gently on the couch, the design of it making her think of the one back in the lobby as she snapped her eyes shut before Husker saw her peeking. This one sported more tasteful, black, gold, and red in its coloring, with the cushions being red, the jagged accents that looked like teeth and legs a black color, with the back frame of the couch was trimmed with gold on its black, wooden frame. It only now occurred to Aria that both couches made her think it was eating her alive while lying on it, making her shudder as she wondered when she'd finally get used to the creepy decor.
"That booze better fucking be there, Alastor!" Husker warned gruffly as Aria heard Husker stomp away from her before the sound of the elevator doors closing reached her ears a moment later.
As Aria laid there quietly, all she could hear was the crackling of the fire in the fireplace. Daring to peek open her eyes, again, Aria slowly looked around. It looked like she was alone as she let out a sigh of relief, her body aching as she slowly sat up. She felt a whole lot better as whatever had been given to her seemed to have worked as she felt no nausea and the fire and ice had disappeared. The only thing that felt different was that she sensed a sort of weakness in her, but she wondered if it was just the aches and pains after...whatever had suddenly come over her.
Aria sighed as she remembered to turn off her Intention Force Field. It hadn't done its job very well as her mind went back to what Alastor had said to Husker about needing him to carry her. It had protected her from Alastor, but not in being moved to somewhere else as she sighed and rubbed her face tiredly.
As Aria looked behind her over the couch, she spied a dark opening between bookshelves behind her. It opened up to an uncomfortably familiar looking room as Aria recognized the piano in that gloomy section of the library. Aria couldn't see Alastor anywhere as the fire roared in the fireplace, its flickering the only source of light near her as she realized Alastor had turned off or snuffed out all other sources of light. Aria grew uneasy, despite that she could see in the dark, as she was left wondering where Alastor may be lurking.
Aria tried to get up and sneak away back to the service elevator before Alastor came back, but an odd, pulling sensation like a tether suddenly tugged on her right side, preventing her from moving. Aria looked over to her right to see what was stopping her from getting up, but all she saw was her shadow rippling and shifting on the couch from the flickering firelight. There was nothing there.
As Aria began to have a sinking feeling that The Radio Demon was somehow behind this, Alastor's shadow suddenly lunged out at her from the shadows! Aria screamed, backing away from it as far as she could before the tug of the invisible tether stopped her from going any further! Alastor's shadow maliciously grinned at her, its long shadow body stretching from the center of her own shadow! Aria realized with astonishment that Alastor's shadow was pinning her in place by using her own shadow as an anchor, preventing her from moving off the couch! Aria quickly lifted up her left hand as she filled it with angelic light, the steady hum of it filling her with a sense of assurance as she readied her aim and prepared to fire!
"I would appreciate it if you wouldn't destroy my shadow, Aria," Alastor stated firmly behind her, a gloved hand grabbing her wrist in warning for her to cease her actions. "I can assure you that I simply instructed my shadow to keep you from wandering off. I haven't forgotten the conditions of our deal and I would no doubt be grateful if you would kindly afford me the same level of respect."
Aria slowly looked up at Alastor, his face looking upside-down to her from this angle as his smile was wide, but his eyes were almost slits upon his face. The sound of creepy voices whispered in hushed voices around The Radio Demon, the volume rising as she sensed that she was walking a knife's edge. She felt deeply that she may have become dangerously close to offending Alastor's sense of fairness, making Aria swallow hard. She realized she'd better hold true to the same level of care she'd demanded of him in their deal as she slowly nodded at Alastor as she banished the angelic light from her hand.
"Good girl!" Alastor said as he let her go, the sound of whispers disappearing around him as he summoned his staff and stared into the fire, while Aria activated her Intention Force Field. "A little birdie told me you were feeling under the weather, my dear! When I found out, I rushed over to your side and made sure that Husker administered the medicine needed to stabilize your condition! Tell me, why didn't you seek my aid when you felt ill after our deal?"
"Wait, you're the one that made sure I got medicine?" Aria asked, surprised that he'd do that for her as she felt very confused by this new turn of events, but she shook her head as she just tried to focus on his last question. "Well, thank you for helping me, but I didn't tell you about how I felt because...well...I was afraid of what else you might do to me."
"What, pray tell, did you believe I would do?" Alastor asked, turning towards her as his smile looked darker than usual with how the firelight played with the natural shadows on his face.
"...I don't know," Aria almost whispered with unease, her legs curling up against her chest as she wrapped her arms around them, while she rested her head on her arms. "You scared me half to death when we made that deal! You hurt me on purpose, drank my blood, a-and I...I had to…"
Aria's arms gripped her legs tighter as she relived the memory, the horror of it making her unable to finish her sentence.
"You do realize you had other options, my dear," Alastor explained reasonably, a curious sense of confusion in his smiling voice as Alastor moved closer to her, making Aria flinch as she snapped her head up to look at him, afraid he'd try something else! "If you didn't want a deal that demanded blood, then why offer your life in exchange for my services?"
Aria didn't answer right away as she prayed in her heart, debating whether or not to tell Alastor what God had instructed her to do. The feeling she got from the Holy Ghost was that it would be unwise to tell Alastor that it was God who gave her the words to the deal. Somehow, it would be far worse for her if she told Alastor, so she was as honest as she could be.
"...I don't know," Aria answered hesitantly in frustration, her heart begging the Holy Ghost to guide her as she spoke. "What choice did I have, since the demands I put on you demanded a greater payment? What could I have offered you in return for your aid that wouldn't end with me serving you for all eternity?"
"Hmm," Alastor hummed thoughtfully with a closed smirk, rubbing his chin while pacing back and forth as the sound of his staff thudded occasionally against the ground. "Well, you could've always given up your sense of wonder! You could've chosen to give up your ability to love for all eternity! Wouldn't eternal servitude be a more generous offer than any of these, including your total and complete demise?"
"Are you kidding me!? All of those choices would've either left me alive knowing I could never be allowed to return to Heaven, or I'd be living my own, personal hell for all eternity!" Aria answered with horror and alarm, making her look at Alastor in outraged bewilderment! "I would rather die knowing I was true to the cause God gave me than watch myself become twisted and warped into something far worse than death because of you! I doubt you could understand that kind of conviction, but I know that I won't flinch when my time comes, I can promise you that!"
"I sure hope so! The last angel I tried to help proved to be a coward and a traitor!" Alastor said with a grin of dark amusement, completely unfazed by what Aria had said as he sat next to her, while Aria still stayed all huddled up on her side of the couch. "If that is indeed the case, and there is no alternative for you, then shouldn't you enjoy whatever time you have left? Perhaps we can start with that pesky force field you insist on hiding behind!"
"I'm good, thanks," Aria said stubbornly, a frown of distrust on her face as she scooted into the arm of the couch, almost hurting her back. "I think it's my turn to ask a question. Why did I suddenly become sick after our deal was made? It's really suspicious that you had a cure for my symptoms, especially with how quickly it worked!"
"Oh surely you can figure that one out for yourself, my dear!" Alastor insisted with a patient grin as he rolled his eyes at her as the sound of a timer ticked away between them. "Think about it. What needed to change about yourself for our deal to be complete?"
"What do you mean?" Aria asked in confusion, but Alastor merely smiled as he hummed a tune that seemed very familiar to Aria, but she couldn't quite remember what it was as the timer ticked away in the background.
Aria sat there with her arms around her legs, pondering what Alastor could mean. What had she needed to change, she thought, wracking her brain as she tried to find the answer? It wasn't her disguise, since she'd already revealed her true self before their deal. Silly things like changing her name, her mind, or her clothes came to mind as she ignored those distractions. What was it about the deal that insisted she needed to change something about herself?
Then it hit her as her mind went back to the wording of that deal! What was still a part of her when she was in Heaven, but was now something the deal demanded needed to be lost now that she was in Hell? As the epiphany sank in, all the color drained from Aria's face!
"Ah! There it is!" Alastor crowed with devilish delight as the sound of a bell rang through the library like the sound of an idea! "Speak up, my dear! I can tell you have the answer!"
"No…," Aria muttered, staring at The Radio Demon with a new sense of horror and disbelief. "There's no way! You can't have that kind of power! Only God Himself could do that!"
"Which is?" Alastor encouraged with a smirk, obviously relishing her horror as he gestured towards her with an elegant wave of his hand.
"...You took away my immortality," Aria said softly, a chill running down her spine as she watched Alastor's smile grow full with wicked satisfaction.
"Welcome to being able to die once more, my dear!" Alastor said with a dark laugh, his eyes glowing red as Aria realized Jesus Christ had been absolutely right about him!