Volume 3: "Bluebirds Live In Vain"

(Helluva Boss, Hazbin Hotel and all related characters are copyrighted by Vivenne Medrano and their respective owners. All original characters created by me.)

Note from the Author: As this story was written while the Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss franchises were still somewhat in their infancy, it attempts to follow the rules and canon that had been established at the time it was written. In the future, parts of this story may no longer make sense to the canon as it is later set. Please keep this in mind when reading this in the future.

Also, be advised that the following contains content not suitable for children (it IS based on an adult show, after all). Expect lots of foul language, gruesome violence, and plot elements that are unwholesome at best.

Enjoy!

-Adonisus


Rainstorms tend to be pretty brutal in the First Circle...well, at least by Sinner standards.

Pentagram City is always active, in the same way that an involuntary spasm is technically 'active'. Whatever season, event, or condition the city was in, it's inhabitants swarmed it's streets and alleyways. Sinner and hellborn, all crammed together in an enormous and over-saturated concrete wilderness.

And at this moment, as the streets of the city's West Side steamed over with hot rain, a lone cloaked figure silently trudged his way through the damp throng.

He is hunched over...not because he is a hunchback, but from habit. His eyes give a dull glow in the evening dark, lighting his small nose and muzzle. These are the only things his cloak reveals, which is tightly wrapped around his form.

He hears many things during his journey: Angry Sinners whose path he's crossed, prostitutes offering their services, hawkers offering drugs and food, and loud televisions and speakers blaring at full volume.

But he does not react to any of them. They simply blend into the dull thrum of the rain bouncing off of his cloak.

He crosses the street and arrives at his destination: a tall and haphazard building, seemingly put together by an architect from the school of 'Child's Building Block's' style of architecture.

He walks underneath the awning. For the moment, he is dry.

From his cloak emerges an arm, green and ragged. It has long fingers with prickly, jagged claws.

It holds a sickle, which still features dried spots of blood. He turns it to the blunt end.

He uses it to knock on the front door.

Slowly, the door creaks open. A plume of red smoke oozes out of it. Through the door peeks a lone, glowing eye.

The traveler speaks in dull, tired monotone:

"I seek the daughter of the Morning Star."

The singular eye in the door blinks, silently contemplating these words…before the doors fling open. The bright lights of the lobby illuminate the traveler.

"Oh, yeah mean Charlie!", the eye said, now revealed to be on a small, red-haired Sinner's frame. "Come on in!"


Over in Imp City, a different sound was searing it's way through the packed and crowded streets…

"Ffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuccccckkkkkkkk!"

It came out of a lone bathroom in a high-rise apartment building, specifically from one of the top floor suites. Outside of the bathroom door, two Imps are waiting with their arms crossed, one showing concern and another showing very little sympathy.

"You can do it, comrade Lucius!", Fyewackett said. "I believe in you!"

Viola stood next to him, sipping at a cup of iced coffee.

This wasn't the reason they had come here, of course. This had happened rather abruptly, when Lucius suddenly started to feel some minor pain in his abdomen and had ran into the bathroom.

He was trying to pass something through his system...and not in the usual fashion.

"Lu, what did Doctor Killinger tell you yesterday?"

"Goddamn fucking Aaaaagggh!"

"No, Lu. You heard what I asked. You know what he said. Tell me."

A pathetic whimper came from the bathroom.

"Say it, Lu."

More whimpers wavered out of the door...before a male Imp's voice finally answered.

"...That I need to drink more fluids or I'm going to have kidney stones."

"That's right. Now...what haven't you been doing?"

A pained hiss was heard before he answered. "...Drinking more fluids?"

She took another gulp of her iced coffee. "Right. And now what are you dealing with?"

"...A kidney stone?"

"Or stones. So you have no-one else to blame but yourself. Now are you going to stop whining and pass that thing or are we going to have to squeeze it out for you?"

She was answered by several pained gasps and a scream of 'Oh, Satan spare me!'

A dull, flat voice spoke from across the room.

"There's grapefruit in the fridge, if it helps…"

Both Fyewackett and Viola turned to see the real reason why they were here.

In a far corner of the apartment, curled up against the wall and shadowed by the dull glow of the noon-day sun, was the sallow and sullened Chay Ong. Her eyes looked glazed over, staring out of the window and across the skyline.

"Oh!", Fye exclaimed. "You're awake….when did that happen?"

Chay's eyes briefly scanned over to the Imps, before shooting back to the window. "Around the point Lucius started screaming oaths to Satan. Is something wrong?"


ploop

Poor Lucius cried literal tears of joy.

"Oh Satan, it's over…"

The Imp was nearly doubled over with gasping sobs. The horrendous, gut-wrenching pain that had torn through his urinary tract was finally subsiding. For the last hour, he had been bent over the toilet, his hands gripping the tank and his naked groin dangling over the Imp-level bowl, tears streaming down his face as a solid piece of calcified mineral had ground and sliced it's way through his urethra.

Yes, Dr. Killinger had warned him about it previously. He had been told that he needed to start drinking more water or he was in for a very bad weekend.

But Pride goeth before the fall...and excessive drinking goeth before the urinary tract infection, as the Imp was now finding out first hand.

His white hair was caked in sweat, sticking to his forehead and sliding down his face in rivulets.

He took the towel on the rack and whiped down his flush and sweaty face. He took a few deep breaths.

The pain was over now.

His comrade….no, his friend needed him.

He hopped up on the stool and turned on the sink, splashing his face with the cool water. He started humming the tune of L'Internationale, taking extra care to wash his hands.

He was just shutting off the faucet as a strange, yellow glow began to slowly open up behind him, widening into a ring-shaped portal.

"The fuck?", he began to say...before the portal left him speechless with fear.

...Or rather, who had stepped through the portal.


Viola looked over at Fyewackett, who silently nodded his head. Viola took a deep breath and slowly walked over to Chay.

She really hadn't been awake when the Imps entered her apartment. In truth, they hadn't seen much of her over the last few weeks. After the Loo Loo Land job, she had seemingly withdrawn at an alarming rate.

The change happened very quickly…

Chay had always been irritable and moody for as long as they had known her. She was sarcastic, quick to anger, and had issues with keeping her emotions in check. But over the last couple of months, she had seemingly gotten onto a psychological roller coaster that she couldn't get off of. After the successful Pentagram City job, she seemed content, even happy. Why shouldn't she have been? The job had been a real financial windfall for her and for the Imp Liberation Front, getting her this fancy apartment AND brand new facilities and supplies for the organization. She'd even gotten a huge chunk of change from the Royal Treasury.

But now?

Now, she had stopped answering their calls. She had withdrawn into her apartment, and hadn't been seen in days.

It was like she had been on some massive high...and had crashed hard.

Viola sat down next to her friend. She laid her hands on Chay's shoulder.

"Chay, hon? We're just worried about you. You...You're not well."

"Tell me something I don't know…", Chay grumbled in response.

"Is it what I think it is?", Viola asked? "You've always managed to keep it in check. What happened?"

"I don't fucking know!"

Chay nearly screamed as she grabbed the windowsill and pulled herself to her feet. Her hair was in terrible shape, sticky and greasy. She wasn't wearing any clothes, just her underwear…

...and in the glow of the noon-day sun, Viola and Fyewackett could make something else out: Chay's hands and arms were covered in bite marks.

"I don't know, Viola, OK? Maybe I got complacent. Maybe I let it grow out of control when I was high on the money. Maybe…maybe it was being near that fucking Hotel. I just…"

Chay collapsed onto the floor, sobbing loudly.

"I just...I just don't think I can go back to it again. I need help, Viola!"

Viola was speechless., completely at a loss for what to do.

A meek voice called from the bathroom.

"Um...Chay? You think you could come in here for a moment?"

"Not in the fucking mood here, Lu!", Chay growled from the carpet.

"I understand that, Chay, but this is a situation that really requires your assistance."

Viola raised an eyebrow. "You trying to show off your piss rock, Lu?"

Fyewackett's eyes widened as he gagged. "Ew! Ew ew ew!"

"Chay? Just come in here please?", Lu called back.

A shuffling sound was heard as Chay slowly climbed back to her feet. She sniffed and whipped her eyes.

"I swear to fucking Satan if you're trying to show off your…"

Chay irritably flung open her bathroom door…

…and nearly walked face first into the Radio Demon.

"Miss Ong! A pleasure to meet you at last!", a static-filter voice greeted.

CHAPTER ONE END