Selena was up and ready to start her day. Today the plans of how to redeem demons would be shared and her ideas presented to Charlie and Alastor. She wasn't too excited about seeing the smug deer bastard, but now they were business partners. She would merely give ideas and help redeem the demons. She dressed in her usual comfortable yet pleasant looking clothes and began to make her way to the kitchen. Once she reached the doors, she stopped and took in a deep breath to keep her anger at bay. She walked through.
Alastor had begun cooking. "Need any help today?" Selena's voice caused the deer demon's large ears to twitch.
"Of course, my dear! Any slicing and dicing will be welcome!" He turned away from her and snapped. His microphone began playing music a tad bit louder. He was humming, she noted. She grabbed a cutting board and knife and began her assigned chore on the kitchen island. "I look forward to hearing what thoughts you've put into the redemption plan and into the hotel, mon cherie!"
"Mmm." She acknowledged. She was fearful her tongue would run on its own and give him a lashing. Or maybe cause her fists to sing on their own. She sliced and diced with precision. She had been using a blade for as long as she can remember.
Alastor noticed her silence and for some reason found himself angry. But at himself! How preposterous! "So my dear, I must say I'm excited that you'll be here full-time and more than just an extra hand!" He was being truthful. He knew she was still angry with him for last night, but he would be himself regardless of where he was or who he was with.
A hum was her only response. She had the fruits organized, the cutting board and knife in the sink, and began cleaning the island. "May I ask, my dear, how do you slice so quickly?! You've been here naught but five minutes. You do it every time!" He was hoping he hadn't broken the friendship that he had formed with her.
"The priesthood put me in the kitchen and the laundry services until I was sworn in. I then had to devote myself to my studies. Eventually, I was forced to become a battle priestess. I had to have some way to defend myself less the enemy broke through and my magic was weakened. So I trained. I've been using knives, swords and other weapons for so long." She looked at him for a moment. Then continued to clean the area around her. She looked as if she had more she wanted to say, but she kept her mouth shut.
"I see! My! I've used knives all my life and unlife, but I don't think I'm that quick!" He flipped the omelet in the skillet and started humming again. His need for gab momentarily satisfied.
Selena had finished cleaning. "Is that all you require of me, Alastor?" She looked at him. He felt a pang at the use of the more formal language. She didn't even do that when they first met.
"No, dear." He shook her head. He had hoped she would linger on one of the bar stools near the island, but when he heard the kitchen doors close, he had his hopes shattered. 'Oh well.' He chanted to himself. He chanted it until the pain numbed and the smile on his face could sit at ease.
Breakfast carried its usual shenanigans between Angel, Husk, and Alastor. Charlie and Vaggie spoke a bit, but Vaggie's not-a-morning-person persona shone through more than usual. Niffty had finished and began cleaning as soon as she could. Selena left as soon as she had finished and went to look around until she heard everyone was finished. She cleaned up a few pieces of trash left over from the night before. She heard Alastor tell Husk and Angel to do the dishes, but he threatened them that if they broke a single dish he'd break them. The three knew partners made their way to Charlie's office.
Once inside, Charlie sat at her desk, Alastor leaned against the wall, and Selena chose the chair. "Soooo, whatcha got planned, Auntie?!" Charlie's face was beaming.
"Well, let's start with how to increase business. Considering that the three of us are music lovers, and the ballroom is only used for events: how about we make it a club of sorts? Like singers and deejays come? Have Husker bartend? And an open dance floor with a few booths or tables on the side?"
"I love it!" Charlie jumped out of her chair.
"As much as I love this idea, you two, how are we going to get customers?" Alastor seemed to be the voice of reason. His staticky voice hangs in the air. "And when will we be open? We can't have a club running all the time with supposed hotel guests sleeping."
"I've already thought of that. Firstly, we'd be open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. 9pm-3am. I can soundblock the ballroom from the hotel. Secondly, you have a secret singer in your midst. We just have them perform and reveal their identity. It'll flock a lot of people on our first day, and we can hand out flyers with our new redemption plan promoted. This is Hell and demons love to party. Promotion is expected. And we can go 50% off drinks for our opening day. That should attract some attention." Selena was proud of the plan she concocted. Alastor's fears were hers until she realized what she could do to help.
"Okay, Auntie, but who's our secret singer?" Charlie seemed excited but was trying to keep it down for the meeting.
"Ever heard of The Zephyrian Chaos?" Selena was grinning ear to ear. Charlie nodded an adamant yes. Alastor just stood there. "It's me!" He was dumbfounded. He loved listening to the Zephyrian Chaos when she aired on the radio. Her voice was entrancing, and he finally met her! The only singer in Hell who never sought recognition. "I can sing enough songs to kick us off then we can bring in a deejay for the last half."
"But don't you want your privacy? That's what they told everyone when your fans begged to see you." Charlie was now worried.
"Darling Charlie, I will sacrifice all I can to make this happen. Besides, what's privacy compared to Neana's dream? I was once a celebrity in my world. I didn't care for the attention, but it put me in a position to gain followers and worship full heartedly. It'll be similar here." Selena shrugged. She had clasped her niece's hand during the conversation and gave her a kind but determined look.
"Well, my dear! I say let's do it!" Alastor seemed excited now.
"Mmm. Let's give it two weeks. And spread the word today. It gives us enough time to prepare and work on other things as well as enough to spread the word." Selena gave a quick nod as she retracted her hands from Charlie. "Now my second proposition before we get to the redeeming." Her eyes narrowed at Alastor.
"Oh?" Alastor seemed interested. There was only one agenda for the time being that he was aware about.
"This is directed at Charlie. And pertains to you. So listen up, Alastor. Alastor's shenanigans such as the cannibalizing, the killing, and the using of people end as soon as he enters the hotel. You can kill if a guest or intruder intends to kill or sexually assault someone within the hotel premises. Your very presence, Alastor, deters guests. If you kill guests, no one will come here to be redeemed. And that ruins Charlie's dream and my goal so I can't have that, do we understand, Alastor?" She punctuated his name as if he was a villain!
He hesitated to agree, but she was oh so entertaining! If he said no, he would be asked to leave. She wasn't asking him to stop being himself! Nay! Just asking him to restrain his darker side for the streets. It was doable, right?
"Al, I have to agree with her on this one. Will you please?" Charlie looked at him with her big innocent eyes. They pleaded with him.
"I will. I promise. Except to protect the guest. In cases of physical assault, what should I do?" He had felt that he was going to cave as soon as Selena was done with her proposal, but Charlie's eyes pleaded with him. Since when had he gone soft? Everyone who begged for their life died! And yet here he was, guaranteeing to tame himself within the hotel.
"I'd say that depends. Charlie should have the call. Or I could step in." She thought aloud.
"I'd say that's fair. After all, some physical disputes must be settled between the two parties." Alastor rubbed his chin in thought.
Charlie clapped her hands together. "I think that's settled!" She was practically jumping up and down in her seat. "Now onto redemption!" She pointed in the air like a knight on a steed.
Selena chuckled to herself. With a snap, her fifteen six inch binders fell onto Charlie's desk. The pile hid Charlie from view so Selena stood up. "This is a plan for every sin and combinational contingency I could think of! I spent six straight months working on this!" She stood beside the pile with pride. Alastor's and Charlie's mouths were agape at what had just been summoned. Alastor quickly put on his signature smirk, but Charlie was still in amazement. "Now I'm sure we'll run into ones I didn't think of, but we can come up with a plan on the spot. Now these are general guidelines. Each person is different so sometimes a different approach is needed than what is suggested. We'll do a lot of improvising, but this should give us some direction. Oh! I forgot!" Selena snapped again. A folder fell on top of the binder pile. "It's the index to this mess. Should be a binder number and page number listed by every sin." Charlie began to mouth a 'wow'; however, Selena noted the overwhelmed look on the young girl's face. "Now. Now, Charlie. There's no need to get overwhelmed. I did this to cut down your stress levels. That and I like having physical organization." Her comment seemed to snap Charlie out of her reverie. "Oh! I just had a thought about the club: what if we did a survey for those who enter over the type of music we play?! On second thought: that could go terribly wrong." Her ears flattened at her realization. It pulled some pity strings in Alastor's cold heart.
"Nonsense, my dear! Splendid idea! Instead of the day of, I'll start a poll on the radio for a week. The number one choice will be Thursday and so on and so forth! We can remove genre's until they've all been finished!" Alastor gave her a quick pat on the back. She moved away from him though.
She cleared her throat, "Well, that concludes my business for the day. Anything else we need to discuss?" She didn't seem too happy about his approaching her.
"One thing! How will we sort this out? As in, who does what?" Charlie spoke up for the first time in a while.
"Great question, my charming demon belle!" Alastor seemed very enthusiastic. "Leave advertising and polls to me! Selena can handle the music and the band! And you, my lovely princess, can decorate and prepare the ballroom!" Alastor's eyes were bright. Selena couldn't tell if it was from excitement or if it was the room's lighting.
Selena and Charlie agreed eagerly.