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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss are all owned by Vivienne Medrano + numerous amazing independent animators, music-makers, and voice actors.

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Interlude - (Charlie I)

Up until this very point, Charlie's main doubt when it came to succeeding in her current goal of redeeming sinful souls was the reach her early attempts were going to have. She had expected this very issue, braced herself for the early backlash and… the Princess of Hell was no optimistic fool. Maybe a bit of that, but not entirely that. Not when she grew up in a tough environment for a few years. She got spared from the worst during her childhood due to her parents' protectiveness, but that didn't last for when she was old enough to want to feel more than just home and… be bold enough to endure the pains that come with that kind of exploration.

She wasn't a child, but she could help but see why others would expect her to be quite fragile when it came to some matters of self-esteem. Lucifer might have been a good father for many years, decades, centuries even, but he was still someone that had to put his foot down when it came to threats that could endanger not only his standing, but also Hell itself. In fact, her Hotel was technically a big threat to 'Realm Security'. Which was why the only reason it wasn't getting destroyed by the might of the army itself was because she was in charge of it. And why she lost her father's good bond due to it. Sometimes, we have to make sacrifices and… Charlie had no regrets about it. It was her life, it was her ambition and… this had to work. This felt like it would work. Even Vaggie, despite her own reluctance at first, was someone that believed it could work. And the heiress to Lucifer knew that this wasn't a subjective take on the matter driven by love rather than sensible logic. Her girlfriend might love her a lot, but she wasn't one that enabled her into something 'too stupid' if she knew Charlie was running at it. There was no doubt in that.

The new doubt that actually came from the mostly harmless and definitely exhilarating conversation with the sole human resident of Hell? Well, Charlie had to be honest and tip her hat at the fair points raised by Alan. The young man wasn't wrong when he said that the Church used a lot of propaganda to paint Hell as much worse than it was. Even before the overpopulation issue, there were many new locals that struggled to live with the idea that this place, the one place that Christianity had defined as the worst kind of setting to end up after dying, was actually not the one portrayed by Dante Alighieri. In a sense, it felt so off that a man like him would have written that far-fetched 'report' about Hell itself, but, then again, Lucifer admitted that God might or might not have had some influence on the final account. Despite despising the Popes and preferring those to remain spiritual leaders than outright leaders, Dante had still introduced himself as a believer of God and his Gospel, and so it felt natural to believe he had refuted the previous experience he had while visiting in Hell for what God told him to write about. So, while only sinners ended up in there, they weren't forced to any punishment for eternity, but rather they were divided to the many rings that best fit with their main sin. Pride was the 'neutral ground' in a sense since all sinners and demons could visit it as per Lucifer's own ruling. He was the king of Hell first before being the Prince of Pride, which made his hub of control much more 'lax' in rules and limitations and the first section of hell to get struck by the overpopulation crisis.

Still, while it was true that the Church enabled a propaganda that attacked Hell, there was also the high chance that they went to do the opposite to exalt Heaven itself. While she had nothing to prove this and Alan had argued it was an assumption at best and a simple thought at worst, Charlie knew from what her father told her of his former home that it could actually be true. Heaven wasn't perfect, but it had a higher quality of life compared to Hell as it was meant to be. But if Hell suffered from overpopulation, what if Heaven was in a similar situation if not a worse one? By all means, Heaven was smaller than Hell. Lucifer did his best to create his realm to be ten times bigger than his first home, claiming that the problem would have struck them first. He either was wrong or… perhaps it happened and the news never left the gilded walls of the higher realm. Despite all possible suppositions and factors, there was no real estimation that Heaven was a feasible destination where Sinners could actually find a closure too. Instead, Charlie slowly came to realize something that tied up to the session itself that made much more sense.

What if, for the time being, she tried to bring closure to these souls without throwing them in a completely uncharted environment? What if it was best to study Heaven some more before daring to do something as 'doing them a favor'?

The idea remained stuck in her mind for a while as she lied on her therapy couch, pondering some more about it as she enjoyed some free time alone as Vaggie was out to check on a few cleaning products that Niffty had asked them to buy so she could get some of the 'filth' in the hotel properly cleaned. It would seem like Alastor's touch couldn't exactly reach out to some of the more distant areas of the building, which made some sense since his 'restoration spell' couldn't do much against mold and other parasitical problems of the kind. A sigh left her lips as she realized that her phone was now buzzing actively, showing her that someone was trying to contact her. A glance at the screen of the device was enough to put her at ease that it wasn't her girlfriend having any trouble that required her help. Despite how strong and smart Vaggie was, that didn't mean Charlie was without worry whenever she was out and on her own. Still, a perplexed query appeared in her mind as she realized who was calling her.

A call from… mom?

She paused in her musings and picked up the call.

"Hi mom," The blonde muttered quietly, quickly meeting with a happy sigh.

"Charlie dear. How are you, sweetie?"

"I'm… fine. As usual."

"Aw, that bored? Already regretting playing therapist?"

"I-I'm not playing. I'm a professional," The princess argued, pouting at that tease as she knew her mother was just poking fun at her. "And I was just resting now, so I guess we can talk."

"Good. I wanted to ask you a couple of silly questions, nothing too serious," Lilith hummed from the other side of the call. "Do you remember when we discussed expanding the family? The little idea I had in mind to push your father to accept?"

"A little sibling for me? I think I've already told you it would be awesome, mom."

A little demon kid to cuddle, hug and spoil until he considered her the bestest big sister ever. That sounded like the greatest idea that her mother could have come up but… Charlie had yet to understand where that concept came from and why now after so long. Despite the unusual timing, that didn't mean the blonde was against it- in fact, she had been half-tempted to break radio silence with her father just to pester him to consider this notion.

"I know," The Queen admitted with a pleased chuckle. "But still, can you do mommy a favor and not harbor your daddy if he tries to get in the hotel to seek asylum?"

Barring entry to the King of Hell himself… within Pentagram City?

Even though it sounded insane and quite damaging for her current reputation to a small degree, Charlie knew that sacrifices had to be made… so she could get a baby sibling to hug nicely and play around with.

"I will do it, mom," The girl replied effortlessly, almost feeling no issue in approving that plan. Still, the conversation didn't last much around this very theme as she had her own questions to ask about to her mother. Some of which tied up to her newest subject of attention.

"Still, Why did you want me to specifically handle Alan? Sure, I sensed that he had a lot of magical potential deep within but-"

"You don't see why I wanted you on the case despite how many experienced and trustworthy magicians could have done that? Therapists even?" Lilith interrupted with a calm tone, mirthfulness partly replaced by seriousness. "I guess it also came to the fact that I still believe you need someone to talk to that isn't Vaggie."

"I'm fine with my girlfriend," Charlie replied almost automatically, causing her mother to sigh.

"And I would hope this relationship lasts because I really like Vagatha," The woman agreed with a positive tone. "But I was referring more to the fact you lost many friends due to your recent project, and I know that you are not a loner, my dear daughter."

The princess of hell paused, her lips twitching in a mix of discomfort and annoyance as her mother struck the issue that she had been ignoring for so long. She lost two friends to go for this and… Charlie wasn't planning to make any apologies. She still stood by the fact that they behaved horribly about that plan despite the fact she stuck with them when they were in the worst situations, giving them help when needed. She didn't ask anything in return, but she expected them to be her friends. A mistake that left her particularly clueless on what to do with friendship in general after she stopped considering them as such. She was a friend to the customers of the hotel but… she was also unwilling to open up with them since it felt too sudden and particularly creepy for them to bear if she went out too open about this.

But with… Alan? Opening up was meant to be a tactic to draw him into a comfortable position to be more honest about questions, and it also felt refreshing, turning the entire process more natural rather than too driven by the roles of therapist and customer. It also felt… pleasant to be honest and be met by honesty in return. There was so much that can be said by that enlightening discussion, and yet she felt that most of it was private stuff. Stuff that was meant for just her and Alan to know and keep about until both were fine to divulge any tidbits to others. Still, there was something that jumped up to Charlie's attention regarding this circumstance.

"Mom… did you just push a possible friend to me in the guise of a client?"

"Yes."

"Mom-"

"You need someone to talk to without it being a lover or someone you can't be genuine with. Alan is not a bad man and I know you two share many things in common."

And that was another truth. She didn't regret that concern despite how sudden and imposed it was and felt. Alan was a fine addition to her current burdens since he didn't give her any trouble and actually acted out as someone to talk about simple things that weren't about love, anything serious- stuff that she was just now starting to grasp to the fullest and facing the brunt of the overall difficulty behind this very task.

"I… I think I have to go now," The blonde still replied, noticing just now that soon her break was going to be over and she had to get back to make sure Vaggie and Alastor didn't try anything troublesome while she wasn't around.

A giggle from the other side. "I guess I can take too long from your work. Ah, my baby girl made herself a serious job after all."

"Mom!"

"Not sorry, dear~," Lilith rebuked childishly. "Still, see you soon, my sweet daughter."

The call ended and Charlie huffed in relief at being 'alone' once more.

Not 'alone alone', just… 'alone'. With her thoughts. To reorganize the messy thing that was her life right now.

...Wait, does this mean I actually need a therapist now?

AN

So, change of plan since I want to add more POVs now that there are more characters to take care about. The interludes are going to be one for every 5 chapters. Trying to add proper layers to the story to pack it up with more dimension just than rare different POVs and a primary focus on MC's view of things

P.S. In some of the websites I write in, I've begun writing a Ducktales 2017 story. Fluff is the main focus of it and it's currently available in FFN, AO3, Spacebattles and the snippets thread in QQ.

REVIEW Q&A!

Draken666: No because his sister is already keeping him.

KeyofSolomon M E : Maybe it will happen, maybe not.

Coldblue2015:
1) Can't say right now;
2) Maybe;
3) I can't say right now;
4) Positive Maybe;
5) I think the one that will meet his parents isn't in the list of the harem. It will be quite an eye-opening scene for the individual in question;
6) Kind of;

Guest (Chapter 24): Will use Yakuza 0/Kiwami as a reference for this: Regular Alan would use Kiryu's Brawler Style while Demon version would use Majima' Mad Dog Style.