"Kill me...kill me...kill me...kill me...kill me..." Gabriel repeated in a mutter, staring down at the Slayer's heels as the other continued to carry him on his shoulder.
Having left the Kadingr Sanctum the Slayer now just aimlessly wandered, effortlessly leaping to the various floating islands through what he presumed was Doom's sky. Unlike the former setting there was no one color that dominated the scenery, the only constant were the chains that kept it all together, shackled much like the soul he now travelled with. Though to anyone who may see this it could seem like he had so pity for the imprisoned archangel, they would be wrong beyond measure as this was his way of showing it. If he didn't care for the other's plight he would have killed or left him, allowing him to be recycled again and again in a never ending series of pointless attempts to kill him.
This way though still unpleasant for him gave him some kind of freedom, it wasn't much of course as no freedom was in this place, hence why you took what you could get. As for his endless plea for death this to the Slayer was like music, for after a lifetime of his eardrums being flooded with screams and gunfire, he was grateful to still have his hearing.
"You'll wear out your throat doing that..." He warned finally responding, as he didn't want the angel to give himself more pain.
"Kill me..." Gabriel said not relenting in his request.
"You do know they'd make it worse right?...Your failure demands further incentive to not repeat it...they'd add more machines to your body and eventually strip you of any control at all...at that point any words or screams you could make would be only to you in your soul...your mouth either unresponsive or perhaps forced shut as your jaw would be bolted..." He told him.
Hearing this for the first time in what he assumed had been hours the angel fell silent, for though he craved relief he knew the Slayer said only the truth.
"...Is there...nothing...you can do?..." He asked after a few minutes.
"What do you think I've been thinking about as I've been jumping around the place?..." The Slayer answered, "The problem is the moment your soul is no longer bound to your flesh, it much like a bullet from a gun will be out in the open...and when that happens the Dark One will have it in an instant..." He explained.
"So...I...am made to suffer..." Gabriel replied.
"Yeah...the only way we could free you is if we had something else to put your soul into...or somewhere safe to try anything...but as it stands you can't just send your soul into my suit...so we need to try and find something else..." He said.
"Somewhere safe...here?..." Gabriel questioned.
"You'd be surprised...there are actually a few places considered holy by these bastards...the very place we just were is one of them...they bury both enemy and champion there if they have proven themselves...or in my case if they've got no other options..." He explained.
"So...there...is...hope?..." Gabriel asked.
"Yeah...may not seem like it...but there is at the very least a chance we can save you..." He answered.
Once that was confirmed by the Slayer Gabriel could not help but weep, of course due to his current form all it could do to convey this was whimpers and choked gasps.
"Thank...you..." He said between the sounds.
"Thank me when I actually save you..." The Slayer responded as he leapt through the air. However as he landed on the next piece of land, a memory from his past appeared in his mind. "What's...wrong?..." Gabriel asked noticing he stopped.
"A long time ago...I had a friend here...and he managed to make his home safe..." He answered.
"A friend?...Here?..." Gabriel questioned finding that to be impossible.
"I know it sounds crazy...even for me...but without him I would still have been running around here in next to nothing...he was the only good demon to come from this place..." He explained as he accessed his charts, "To keep the Dark One from stopping him...helping me that is...he carved some sigils and runes holy in nature to ward them off...it constantly ate away at his flesh as a result but it did the trick..." He continued.
"How...did he keep...from dying?..." Gabriel inquired.
"The same way we're going to free you..." He responded as he got its location, "Heh...looks like its still intact...guess the Dark One forgot about it after I started adding his minions to the decor..." He joked as he turned to his right, "Hold on Gabriel...cause we're going to need to go all the way down for this..." He told him before jumping.
Falling towards the clouds below like a meteor descending from the stars, both men disappeared quickly heading to the true ground of this place.
"Another exhausting day done..." Charlie said with a sigh as she fell backwards, falling down into a chair with a very audible THUMP.
Though her days now were quite tiring, today was especially so as she and Vagatha had to deal with Stolas's ex wife. To be fair this was the most calm and orderly she had been to their knowledge, though that was the same as saying a sleepy tiger wasn't as scary as a hungry one. What that entailed precisely was that while she wasn't trying to kill anyone, she still was very "observant" about everything, which was the polite way of saying she was an uptight bitch.
Thankfully after they got her checked in, worked out which programs she would need to attend, and moved her to her room she settled down and stayed there for the rest of the day.
Unknown to her this was actually to the benefit of her health, as one more comment about how the hotel's interior decorator had to have been blind to allow this assault on her eyes, would have put owl on the menu for dinner tonight as Vagatha would've skewered her on her spear.
"I do NOT know how Stolas ended up with that woman." She admitted with crossed arms standing nearby, "I mean he's so pleasant and charming, at least when he's not being horny, and she's so...so...witch like..." She said struggling to find the best way to sum up her horridness.
"She's not that bad." Charlie replied as an amused smile came to her face, "Remember how you
and Angel used to be? You two never got along and now all of us meet up for a spa day when we can." She reminded.
"Of course I remember, it's not like it's been that long ya know." Vagatha replied as she walked over to relax with her, followed by her sitting down sideways in her girlfriend's lap, so her legs and head could lay atop the chair's arms.
"I know, but it does feel a lot longer cause of...well...ya know..." She replied as a frown adorned her features.
"Hey." Vagatha said to keep her attention, "Don't focus on that right now, focus on the fact that we are alone, with no more business for today, and that these kinds of moments are getting REALLY hard to come by." She told her.
Unable to keep herself from giggling at that, Charlie responded by giving her partner a kiss on the lips, which said partner returned happily. Sadly before the two women could get too into it the door to their shared office opened, and in came the absolute worst person possible.
"Oh my, having a little after work fun are we girls?" Alastor teased with a grin, not only interrupting their kiss but also sending Vagatha into a rage.
"WHAT THE FUCK ALASTOR?!" She shouted with widened eyes full of hate, "You DO know how to fucking knock right?!" She asked.
"Of course, but since I know you two have FAR more class and restraint than say Angel or Cherri, I don't need to worry about walking in on you two should you be doing something rather inappropriate for an office space!" He answered before looking over his shoulder, "See I told you they'd be in here!" He exclaimed.
Knowing exactly who he was talking to neither women were surprised when the faces of Nifty and Husk walked in.
"Oh good we've been looking everywhere for you guys!" Nifty exclaimed with a smile.
"I was sleeping when this asshole woke me up, so if you're gonna stab anyone you know where to aim." Husk said as he pointed to Alastor.
Apparently liking that idea Vagatha summoned her spear, ready to get up from Charlie's lap to begin the stabbing. Of course her girlfriend would keep this scene from turning into a blood bath, doing so by wrapping her arms around her and hugging her to keep her calm.
"So! Why were you guys looking for us?" She asked with a nervous smile, as she hoped this would be enough to keep Vagatha from lunging at him.
"Yeah, I'd like to know what was so important you had to involve me." Husk joined in.
"Simple, we all got a letter!" Alastor revealed as he pulled an envelope from his jacket's inner pocket.
A brief moment of silence fell over them as he said this, which ended when Husk tried to leave. "Where do you think you're going?" Alastor questioned as the other headed for the door.
"You woke me up for a letter, if you can't figure out why then that's your problem." He replied.
"Husk wait!" Nifty exclaimed as she grabbed onto his hand, "This is important! It's not a normal letter! Right Alastor?" She asked.
"Right you are my dear! This is a very peculiar letter indeed, it has no stamp, no return address, why it's quite possibly the most suspicious letter I've ever received!" He admitted.
"Let me see that." Vagatha requested causing him to hand it over, "...Huh...he's right...this is pretty weird..." She said as Charlie began to look it over too.
"See? I wasn't just messing with you for once Husker!" Alastor exclaimed.
"Whoopdie fucking doo. " He replied as he walked back over, "It's probably just some hate mail, ya know from the protestors? If you want I can go chuck it in the incinerator with the rest." He offered.
"No...this is different..." Vagatha told him. "How's that?" He asked clearly unconvinced.
"Well, all of the protestors are assholes, and they do not care if you know all of their names, hence why they always make sure to sign their letters when they send them, but this really does have nothing on it other than our names." She answered.
"...Alright, that's pretty fair..." He admitted after giving it some thought, "Still maybe one of them wised up? Or whatever's written in that thing's probably so fucking disgusting they didn't want us coming for'em." He explained.
"We've never gone after any of them...right?" Charlie asked directing that towards Alastor.
"I have not plucked so much as a single hair nor scale from anyone's person, despite being so tempted to on many occasions..." He answered with a devious smirk.
"Can we just open it already? The suspense is KILLING me!" Nifty exclaimed at her wit's end as she REALLY wanted to know what was in it.
Sharing her sentiment Vagatha, who still had her spear out, used its sharp tip to easily cut it open and remove the paper within. Upon doing so everyone watched her pull it out, unfold it, and see her expression become confused at what she was seeing.
"Um...it's just a number..." She said as she then showed it to everyone.
True to her word the only thing on the ENTIRE piece of paper was just the number "7", leaving them in a state of confusion just like hers.
"Does uh...that mean anything to anyone?..." Husk asked just wanting to be sure. "Besides the obvious, I don't think so." Alastor answered speaking on everyone's behalf. "This is really weird even by our circle's standards..." Vagatha commented.
"Maybe it's a clue?" Nifty suggested. "A clue to what?" Husk questioned.
"A mystery, or maybe a riddle." She replied.
"I know that." He told her while crossing his arms, "But what the fuck good does a clue do us if we don't even know what it's meant for? That's like giving someone a key to treasure yet they don't tell you where it is." He said.
"Anything coming to you hon?" Vagatha asked showing it again to Charlie.
"Hmm...not really..." She answered with a hum, doing her best to make sure this number didn't ring any bells for some reason.
"Well there's got to be a reason someone sent this to us, come on everyone we need to come up with some ideas!" Alastor commanded.
"What do you want us to do just become mind readers or something?" Husk asked.
"No, but just think of anything that a number could be applied to, anything at all." He answered. "And you really think that's gonna do anything?" Husk inquired.
"It's worth a shot I'd say, better than standing around twiddling our thumbs as we stare at a piece of paper." He replied.
"For once, he's actually got a point." Vagatha admitted. "Yeah let's do it!" Nifty chimed in.
"Ugh, I swear I NEVER want to see the kind of gears that turn in your heads..." Husk grumbled reluctantly agreeing to this nonsense.
For the next several minutes they all closed their eyes and thought really hard, thinking of as many different things as they possibly could to piece this puzzle together. They thought of street addresses though a single number made no sense, perhaps it referred to a day though without more details it could be many, or maybe it had something to do with a room in the hotel? No that couldn't be it, all of the rooms including the ground floor had at least three numbers attached to them, the only rooms in the entire building that this didn't apply to were-
"THE SPECIAL SPACES!" Nifty suddenly shouted aloud causing all of them to jump.
"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!" Husk shouted in response as he covered his ears, "DON'T FUCKING DO THAT WHEN YOU'RE RIGHT NEXT TO ME!" He scolded her.
"Sorry! But I think I know what the number is for! It's for one of the special spaces!" She exclaimed.
"And by special spaces you mean?..." Alastor questioned.
"The special rooms, you know the ones we use for the programs." She clarified.
"Oh she's right, those are the only rooms that have single digit numbers!" Charlie realized before a quizzical expression appeared on her face, "But that still doesn't make sense, all of the spaces are used exclusively for the meetings, so why would someone send us a number for one?" She asked.
"Only during the day though, after six the spaces are empty and can be reserved by anyone interested in holding an event here at the hotel!" Nifty answered.
However as she said that every pair of eyes slowly went to her, in turn making her feel nervous.
"Did...did I do something bad?" She asked a little scared by their reaction. "No...but you didn't tell us about any reservation." Vagatha answered.
"I didn't think I needed to, he said he cleared it up with you two." She replied causing their eyes to widen.
"Who is he?" Charlie asked.
.
.
.
"...And...done..." Lucifer said with a sigh of relief as he put down his pen.
Stretching out his arms as it had been an especially long day, he allowed himself to slump in his chair to ease the tension in his muscles. Letting his arms fall limply to his sides in addition, he began savoring the freedom from today's work load.
"I REALLY need to get a massage chair for my office..." He spoke with another sigh as he closed his eyes, "That or have a masseuse just standing there all day..." He added.
Sinking a little bit into his chair the devil was just about to fall asleep, having made himself so comfy his tired mind threatened to send him to slumber. Sadly he would remain conscious as his cellphone began to ring, causing him to groan before he took it out of his pocket.
"Hello?..." He asked with a light smack of his lips, REALLY getting into the fine leather of his furniture, "...Oh Charlie it's you...hm?...Is something wrong?...Then why do you need me to come to the hotel?...No, it's no trouble at all...yes I'll be there shortly...love you you too." He told her as their conversation came to an end.
Ending the call then putting the phone back in his pocket, he rose from his seat and stretched the rest of himself out.
"That was odd..." He said with a breath while limbering up, "She sounded nervous...I bet it has something to do with Alastor." He decided.
.
.
.
"Okay, he'll be here soon." Charlie told the others as she hung up the phone.
Having waited in silence for the call to be over, everyone including Vagatha who had gotten up from her lap stood nearby so they could listen to the conversation.
"I still can't believe your dad went behind our backs like this." Her girlfriend said with an angry expression.
"Not gonna lie thought it was Al the moment we got it, sorry bout that." Husk apologized looking to the deer demon.
"You had every right to assume so, even if we ignored my record this is still something I definitely would've done a few months ago." He replied.
"I just don't understand why he couldn't be up front with us about it, if he had just talked to us I'm sure we all could've convinced the others to be okay with this." Charlie said.
"Just to be sure, you didn't get anything mixed up or are remembering anything wrong right Nifty?" Vagatha asked wanting to be certain.
"Nope it's exactly how I said it, I was cleaning the lobby after our last batch of guests came in a few days ago, Husk was sleeping behind the counter because he was tired, that's when I heard the phone at the front desk start ringing, and since Husk had worked so hard I didn't want him to be disturbed so I hurried over, picked it up, and Lucifer was who was on the other end, that's when he called to make sure the room was reserved for tonight at ten, of course I didn't know what he was talking about so he told me that he spoke with you two about reserving the room, I figured you just forgot about it because you were busy with the new guests so I made the reservation for him." She answered explaining it in full detail.
"Thanks for that by the way." Husk said to her.
"No problem!" She replied with a smile which earned a small one from him in response.
"Nifty." Alastor spoke up earning everyone's attention, "You're certain this was a few days ago? Absolutely beyond a doubt certain?" He asked.
"Mhm, cross my heart!" She answered while making an X with her finger over her chest. "Hm, then the plot thickens..." He said.
"Mind sharing with the rest of us?" Vagatha asked.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Lucifer is innocent." He answered causing their eyes to widen.
"Wait what? How?" Charlie asked.
"Simple, I was WITH Lucifer at the same time, all day in fact." He answered. "What for?" Vagatha questioned.
"Six months ago the man nearly caved in my skull in under five punches, combine the distrust this caused and what was added onto it when I agreed to partake in the hotel's rehabilitation programs, after half a year with no incidents, no schemes, and nothing but glowing progress reports from both my counselors and Charlie herself, he invited me over to have lunch with him and Lilith, a lunch that extended to a very pleasant and time consuming period of conversation, which didn't end until it the sun was going down which is when I decided to return." He explained.
"He could've stepped away to make the phone call." Husk suggested.
"True, but he didn't." He assured as he put his hands behind his back, "And to my knowledge the guests didn't arrive until after I left, as the lobby was still in a pristine state and you were wide awake." He added.
"But I swear that it was Lucifer's voice I heard on the phone!" Nifty insisted.
"I'm not doubting you at all my dear, I trust the voice you heard was indeed Lucifer's, it just wasn't his vocal chords that were producing it." He replied.
"Alastor...you're not suggesting..." Charlie said slowly as it donned on her what he was implying.
"I'm afraid I am, it would seem that someone else in our group orchestrated this Slayer Support meeting, and to do so incognito they made the reservation with Nifty while speaking with Lucifer's voice, whether it was through magic or a device of some kind that is irrelevant, what's important is that someone we know is playing the role of a puppeteer, yet to my surprise as much as yours for once it isn't me." He told them.