Chapter 5: Women and Men, Soldiers and Outlaws, Fools and Corpses
Summary:
The two Adventures meet the rest of the Hazbin Crew. Also, a sneak peek into the Next Chapter, as they aren't the only ones to be transported to the Hazbin Universe.
Chapter Text
As the group entered the dining hall the two adventures couldn't help but stand in awe. The Dining room was as large as a tavern, at the center of the room was a large rectangular dinner table, with a white covering and multiple plates and silverware lining the table, expecting guests to use them. Round wooden tables spread across the room each with four black chairs cushioned with red velvet seats. The walls were painted a light red, imprinted with deep red flowers and white borders. At the far back of the room were metal stairs with black metal banisters covered in ivy, leading to an indoor balcony on the second floor. The floors were a waxed hardwood while the second floor had a deep crimson carpet floor. At the far left of the room was a stage for performances and songs, and on the right side of the room, a bar, underneath the indoor balcony. Pots and bowls housing plants hanged from the pillars holding up the second floor. But as the two adventures got closer, they noticed the bar had two strange creatures sitting at the booth. At the bar, stood a tall pink and white skinny demon. It had four arms, its left eye being a complete dark sclera with no pupil, and its entire body was covered in a white fur. It wore a white suit with pink stripes, a black and pink bow tie, a black choker, pink gloves, a black miniskirt, and long black thigh high heel boots. The other demon that was manning the bar was a cat-like humanoid, it's black fur and white underbelly made it looked like it was wearing a suit. It wore a black top hat and a red bowtie, but that wasn't the thing that set the two adventures off. It was the large red wings on its back, they were a beautiful set of red wings, covered in the symbols of hearts, clubs, diamonds, and spades. The two demons finally took notice to the group behind them and the pink demon began to walk towards them.
"Hey Girls! Back so soon? Ho! New Guests? Been a while since we had more company." To the two adventures surprise the voice of this demon was male! They assumed by the looks of the body that this demon was a female, but they were quickly proven wrong.
"Angel, Husk this is Reynauld and Dismas. Dismas, Reynauld this is Angel Dust our first client, and Husk our Bartender." Charlie Answered
Husk gave a small nod and returned to cleaning the glass cups and drinking the nearby beer.
Reynauld bowed "Pleasure to be of aquatints Mr. Angel." while Dismas waved "Nice to meet you, I guess."
Angel dust smirked "Man where you pick up these guys Charlie? From the Renaissance fair or did you go into a time machine that I didn't know about."
"Nope, these guys are new around Hell."
"Huh. Really? Say. Those are some nice weapons you got there."
"Oh, why thank you, they're old and not as good as they used to be, but they still get the job done."
"Well then. Could I help you clean them, I am a little bit of an expert when it comes to cleaning these Special weapons, for a price.
Reynauld was delighted by the demon's proposal. "That would be great! Thank you."
"Oh, my pleasure, your friend's gun down there looks a bit clogged, maybe I can help him release a bit of that stress." Angel was now pointing towards Dismas's belt, looking at the bird demon with intense flirty eyes.
At first, Dismas was confused by Angel's words, but he quickly figured out what Angel was implying and immediately scowled. "Ugh...I'm sorry but I think I'm going to have to pass. I prefer not to trust my gun to people I just meet. I'll clean it myself thank you."
Angel simply shrugged "Heh your loss then. What about you sweetheart wants me to fix that sword of yours."
Reynauld not noticing the innuendos replies "Not really, I would just prefer to clean it, it's covered in blood from my last confrontations. Do you have any oil perhaps?"
"Oh. I do. But do you want a private room for this?"
"No. Outside is fine. We can do it on the table."
"Oh, that's a bit dirty don't you think."
"I don't mind I can clean up after if there is a mess."
Charlie couldn't help but blush as the exchange between the two was continuing. While Vaggie was pinching her nose "Huff...Fricken Pendejo. How dense is your friend?"
Dismas was rubbing his neck "To be honest this happens all the time. No matter what tavern I bring him to, he will never understand innuendos unless it's explained to him."
"So how long do you think this exchange will last?"
"Um...2 maybe 3 minutes. Maybe-..."
Charlie noticed that Dismas was now looking back at the door they came from. Reynauld paused his conversation with Angel dust and began to stare at the door as well
"Dismas? Are you feeling okay?" Charlie asked
Dismas replied "No. I'm not. Somethings coming. Something...Evil...Reynauld?
"I'll take point, you get behind the tables and get ready to harry whatever it is with grapeshot's"
"Got it"
"Wait! Wait! What's going on?!"
To Charlie's surprise, she noticed something happen to the two adventurers. Strange symbols appear on top of the two newcomers' heads. They were a black crescent shape, with 5 sharp jagged spikes protruding downward towards their heads. The stress symbols of the darkest dungeon. The symbols only appeared for a few moments, but it was enough to notice them. Reynauld hands were on the hilt of his blade, while Dismas was gripping his flintlock and raised his short sword. Both looking at the doors as if something was about to break in. The room suddenly became still, quiet, as the door slowly opened, and the static entered the room.
A tall skinny grey demon stepped forth, with a long sharp sinister yellow smile. It wore a crimson suit and had a heavy cane. Its eyes were all different shades of red, its pupils, retinas all parts different shades of red. A monocle rested on one of its eyes. They were small antler-like protrusions coming out of the demon's scalp in between his hair that was shaped like ears of a deer or were they his actual ears? In any case, the demon stood in front of the door eyeing the new guest, Reynauld had already drawn his blade, and Dismas had flipped over a nearby table and taken cover. The same strange symbols appeared above their heads again. They did not move one inch. No one did, for the longest while. Charlie was stuttering trying her best to calm down the two from fighting. Vaggie was trying her best to not pull out her weapon and join the two. While Husk and Angel were placing bets.
Husk was finishing his whiskey bottle "Money is on Alastor, he would probably kill them in seconds."
"I don't know the Knight has a holy weapon and man is it strong! It feels powerful from over here."
But before a fight could break lose Niffty popped up in front of Alastor.
"Hi, Charlie! I finally got the rest to come...what did I miss?"
Niffty looked at Alastor and then at the two-armed newcomers, then back at Alastor and then back at the newcomers.
"OH! No, wait! Reynauld! Dismas! It's Okay! This is one of the guests. You don't have to fight this gentleman!"
Reynauld and Dismas heard Niffty's plea and lowered their weapons. They both looked at each other for a moment and nodded. Was this demon really, a resident of the hotel? The two looked at each other and gave a nod, Reynauld quickly moved Niffty behind him while Dismas was putting the table back up. Although both sheathed their weapons, both also decided to keep their hands on their weapons, just in case. Reynauld approached Alastor, cautious and determined.
In a deep and intimidating voice, Reynauld asked: "Who are you?"
The Radio Demon merely shifted his head to the right, as static began to fill the room, eyeballs teeth and tendrils of dark origins began to appear. All the images were static and unclear, the sight of such images unsettled them greatly. The Red Demon began to slowly walk towards the knight. The air suddenly turned heavy and humid. Reynaulds hands started to become clammy and cold. His skin shivering and sweating, chills throughout his entire body. As the radio demons head stood upright, he simply stared at the knight with his eyes. They weren't cold or uncaring eyes, they were like the eyes of a predator, not wild but yet not sane either. A mix of both fear and assurance came from those eerily eyes of his. Reynauld didn't know what to feel in this situation, the demon was threatening, but at the same time it didn't appear to be all that hostile, he didn't know how to describe what he was feeling. But then the demonic presence dropped, they were no more images of demons or teeth, just the smiling demon. Then the demon spoke.
"Oh ho ho ho ho! Where are my manners? Alastor! It is a pleasure to meet you. I see that you are getting acquainted with the rest of the guests, getting familiar with your surroundings. Haha! Sorry about the scare. I thought you might have been a few vagabonds looking a place to loiter."
The demon's voice was far from normal, it was both a blend of deep and high pitched at the same time. As if he had two voices that were speaking at the same time in synchronization, but just barely. There was some type of disturbance in a voice every time he spoke as if his body wasn't speaking at all it was just the receiving end of a message from something else. Whatever it was, it disturbed the two adventurers even more.
"Oh. Sorry. Did I offend you in a way, sir knight? I'm terribly sorry, but your armor made it seem as if you were a mercenary of a sort. You can never too careful down here you know."
His tone was the very essence of a demon, charming, but a hint of arrogance. Charismatic and calm, with a slight hint of aggression from behind the words he used. Clever and honest, but at the same time, a small bit deceit lingered from its tongue.
"None taken." Replied Dismas "Its kinda normal reaction for us, well there was no demonic energy during those times, but you get what we mean."
Reynauld glared daggers at the demon, although this demon showed no obvious signs of hostility towards them anymore, it felt like the demon was trying to make a point. "This is my home; you better not try anything here while I'm around" sort of feeling.
"Anyhow, sorry for the rough start, my new compatriots. I hope we can become friends, in due time."
The demon offered up his hand. Reynauld simply stared at it. The room was awkwardly silent again.
"Oh, dear. I forgot. The Handshake is a bit of a taboo for demons, isn't it? Don't you worry, if the handshake was made to solidify a deal, then it would have looked like this!"
Alastor's hands began to glow a nefarious bright green, spirits and symbols of unknown origin began to swirl around them. A vortex of wind blew about the room, Charlie and Vaggie were holding on to the table as Husk and Angel held onto the bar. Niffty was flung from the ground, only to be caught by Dismas as they both flew into a nearby support beam. Reynauld, however, stood his ground. The green vortex began to die down significantly, and all that was left was the smiling demon.
"Hmmm. Quite impressive. You're a very interesting fellow aren't you. Heh heh. This will be entertaining indeed. What was your name"
Reynauld cringed when those words were spoken. But the demon still offered up his hands. So, with a lot of hesitation, Reynauld shook the demon's hand.
"Reynauld. My name is Reynauld."
"Reynauld? Heh heh. The Crusader?"
"...Yes. What, the armor gave it away?"
"No. It's just your name seems familiar; I just can't put my finger on it."
With that Alastor began to walk towards the bar, Reynauld, and Dismas giving him the death glare. Charlie went towards the two to calm them down.
"Oh boy." Charlie huffed "Okay that was a bit of a rough start but, that was Alastor. He is one of our supporters and staff of the Hazbin hotel. He has helped so much in renovating the place, and he's one of our great chefs."
Dismas walked towards Reynauld and Charlie" Where did you find him?"
"Well actually, he found us. He came here after seeing our...last advertisement campaign and wanted to help."
"Let me guess out of the goodness of his heart."
"No. More of he found our struggling hotel to be entertaining and wanted to "stay and watch the show unfold." as he put it"
"Ah...well then."
As the conversation ended the rest of the Hotels residence started to file in. 5 people...demons entered the dining room. The first was a blue humanoid demon with fins on the sides of his head, with blue hair covered in bright lights and a single strand or antenna with a glowing orb on the end. It wore a large trench cloak and gloves made for a doctor or researcher and had large yellow goggles covering his eyes. The demon reminded them of a pelagic, but less intimidating and less likely wanting to kill them. The way he avoided eye contact and constantly looked around the room gave him a very anxious personality.
"Hi, Baxter! Did you blow up anything while we were out?"
The bluefish demon quickly locked eyes with Charlie, insulted by the mention of explosion "I'll have you know, that I didn't blow anything up thank you. Everything was contained and properly done today... acid might have melted the floor and a fire or two were started, but no explosions today."
Baxter then noticed the two new demons by Charlie's side.
"Ummmm. New bodyguards? Or are they security for the hotel? ...Or are we getting robbed."
"Huh? OH! Right! *Ahem* Baxter, this is Reynauld and Dismas. Reynauld, Dismas meet Baxter"
Reynauld bows while Dismas waves, "Hello, Professor Baxter." "Hey, Doc."
"Oh! Hello There. I-i Just Baxter is fine. I'm no professor or doctor. But thank you for calling that, it's been a while since-...wait how did you-
"We always had a friend that dressed up just like you. She was a field doctor, dressed wounds, help those with diseases, ...always tried giving us these experimental drugs that might've killed us."
"Huh. She sounds... charming."
"Baxter, these two are going to be living in the hotel, is there anything you want to say? Make a good impression?"
Baxter thought over it for a moment before coming to a quick answer.
"3 rules, 1, no touching anything in my lab, 2nd don't come into my room unless I say so, and rule number 3 don't disturb me while I work unless it is an emergency."
Charlie slapped her face in embarrassment. But as she looked back at the two adventures, she saw not anger but understanding.
"Okay, call us if you need help, we can do some heavy lifting if you need it. Just don't subject us to any weird experiments and we should be fine."
"Oh. Okay. I'll gladly take you up on that offer some time, and don't worry, I believe my current experiments won't be needing any live test subjects until the phase 9, I'm still at 2 at the moment. Need to recalibrate *Mumble* *Mumble* Oh! Right. *Ahem* It's was a pleasure to meet you two. Hope to be seeing you again sometime."
And with that Baxter sat down at the large rectangular table at the center of the room and began writing and reviewing his notes.
"Huh. Seems like a nice fellow."
"Wait until he creates some weird abomination and lets it run loose," Dismas said cynically.
"Oh, don't worry about that, they usually last about 5 minutes before destabilizing into puddles." Charlie grinned
The next 2 demon that appeared was a short and chubby grey humanoid demon. It was a female demon that wore a bright purple dress, violet gloves, a beaded necklace, and had a headband with a large purple feather. She was a blonde demon with pitch-black eyes and hot pink pupils. The way she walked was confident and poised, and her smile made her very welcoming. Then a small dog-like demon came, she was also female. She wore torn a leather vest and a pink undershirt with a skull in the middle, and she wore no pants. She wore a spiked collar and fingerless gloves. Her Fur was white with black spots all over, the fur of a dalmatian. She had a large white and pink ponytail with a curled bang the hungover one side of her face. She looked disinterested in the new group members and gave off a very delinquent or troublemaking vibe from her. The smaller demon spotted the two newcomers and began to walk towards them, dragging the dog demon with her.
"Hey, Charlie! Looks like you got us some new friends. Nice to meet you two, the names Mimzy, and this pretty lady here's Crymini.
The dog demon took one look at the demons two and huff, clearly disinterested in the new guests. Reynauld approached.
"Hello, Ms. Mimzy. The names Reynauld and this is my friend Dismas."
"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am."
"Oh. Polite demons. Where did you get these two sugar? It's as if it's there first day down here."
"It is their first day actually. We found them while we were out spreading advertisements."
"Wow. So, you two haven't even gone through the whole city yet?"
"Not really" Replied Dismas. "But we've seen enough to tell that this place is a lot better than out there."
"Well, I hope you have a pleasant stay you two. Crymini baby, want to say something."
"Huff. Hey."
"...Hey, I guess" Replied Dismas in the same tone.
"Huff I keep telling you, young lady, we need to work on your social skills."
"Why. They'll just leave like everyone else, take the free food and rent and then leave, nothing ever changes."
"Crymini! Young lady, you don't know who these people even are-"
"Exactly. We don't know who these bastards are! They might be just some random assholes that well just use us and then leave, cackling about how dumb we were. Well, I'm not that naive, and I'm as sure as all hell not falling for any of these guys tricks."
The Dalmation began to walk off in a huff, clearly not accepting the two very well. And sat down at the far end of the long table.
"Hoo. That girl. I'm so sorry hon, she gets that way every once in a while."
"It's okay, we understand," Reassured Reynauld "Don't worry about it. We know she means well."
"Wait. So, people just come to the hotel, sleep, get feed, and just leave!?" Questioned Dismas.
"Huff, unfortunately, yes," Charlie Answered. "They sneak off in the night or out the window and before we know it. They're gone."
"Ugh. Damn Bastards." Reynauld replied, "Don't worry, if any of those types try and do something like that, I'll be there to stop them."
"Heh. I'll keep an eye out as well." Said Dismas "Used to be a bouncer, know when to spot people that try shit like that, I'll be your eyes and ears."
Charlie and Mimzy couldn't help but smile at the two's kind gestures and both Proceeded to hug the two adventurers. At first, they were surprised at the small gesture, but they were happy that they were helping out.
"Thank you." Whispered Charlie.
"Heh. No trouble at all ma'am."
Mimzy left the group and began to walk towards Vaggie, which lead to the both of them going to Crymini and chewing her out for her rudeness.
The last two demons came in looking as if they got caught up in some sort of fight. A black and yellow snake demon and another Cyclops. The Snake demon was similar to a cobra, but unlike a Cobra it had multiple eyes across his belly and hood. He wore a grey and yellow suit and a large grey hat with a singular red eyeball and mouth. Although he had arms, he had no legs and slithered along the floor with a snake-like body. The cyclops wore nothing but a torn red off-shoulder crop top, a black bra, a reddish torn-up miniskirt, and black ripped leggings underneath. She had a pink boot on foot and only a pink sock on the other, along with one large fingerless glove on one of her arms. She had blonde hair, with pink and white accents, a ponytail, and her eyeball has a hot pink with a large white X instead of a pupil. She gave off a very destructive vibe from her. Both demons were covered in bandages.
"Cherry!? What happened!?" Charlie asked afraid of what might have happened and why Sir Pentious was in the hotel.
"Hey, Charlie! Sorry about the mess! Edgelord here wanted another fight, so I whooped his ass. But I kinda sent his ship into his secret base and now he's crashing here."
The snake demon grumbled. "Grrrr. I almost WON! But your firebombssss blew up most of my sssship! along with 90% of my Egg Boisssss! Do you know how long it takessss to remake all that you harlot!"
"Make your shit less-flammable then."
"IT'S MADE OF ssssSSSTEEL AND IRON!"
"Not the ballon part, dumbass."
"Argh...When my sssship isss rebuilt and my Egg Boisss respawn. You. Are. Dead."
"Bring it on, pretentious."
"IT'S SIR PENTIOUS! YOU VILE THUG!"
Reynauld and Dismas looked at each for a moment before walking towards the new demons. Cherry and Sir Pentious noticed the two new demons, and Charlie gladly introduced them.
"Cherry, Sir Pentious, this is Reynauld and Dismas. Reynauld, Dismas, meet Cherry Bomb and Sir Pentious, a few of the most infamous over bosses in hell."
"Hello." "Hey"
Cherry eyeballed the two with a curious look. "Whoa. We got two more edgelords for you to meet Pretentious."
"Oh. My-IT'SSS SSSSSIR PENTIOUSSSSSssss!...Huff. It'sss a pleasssure to meet you two I guesss."
"Now now, Sir Pentious, you know the rules when in my hotel."
"Mumble mumble" Sir Pentious Extends his hands towards the two newcomers.
Reynauld and Dismas Shook the two demon's hands and begun to question. "Over bosses? As in lords of the lands of a sort?"
Sir Pentious smiled; he was happy to hear people call him a lord. "*Ahem* Why Yes. I'm ssSir Pentiousss! The future ruler of hell! The sssmartest sssnake demon that is known to all demonkind asss the mossst Nobel and Glorious of all the overlordsss. The Conqueror and Invertor extraordinary. With my machinesss and my minionssss, I shall rule ALL OF HELL! MUW HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHAHA!
The two demons looked over to Cherry bomb and Charlie and saw no concern on their faces. By the looks of things, the demon in front of them appeared to be all talk and a very little bite.
Cherry simply scoffed. "Were not really the "Rulers" of the place, we just, you know. Run the place. We have our own turfs in the city, where we do our own shit and that's pretty much it."
"So, your crime lords," Dismas said with no hesitation.
"Pretty much."
"Why am I not surprised...Oh, wait. We're in hell."
"Pfft. Pleassse. I'm not sssome rancid crime lord." Sir Pentious spoke up "I'm far sssuperior then your average drugged up, alcoholic. I have sssome ssstandardsss, mind you. Even in hell, one must learn to keep a good head on to sssurvive and thrive here, and thankfully that isss what I have."
"And yet you're stuck with us," Cherry said joyfully
"Shut it. You."
And with that, the two began to walk towards the dining table. Arguing and poking fun at each other. After the introductions everyone was seated at the large rectangular table, waiting for lunch. The two adventures sat as far away from Alastor as possible, who was at the very edge of the table. On his right was Husk and on the Left Niffty. Baxter was seated next to Niffty and the two adventurers noticed as the two were having a conversation he began to be blush when speaking to her. Then they saw Sir Pentious who was sitting next to Baxter glaring at him with a very intense evil glare that was probably enough to make a hole through the floor. By the look on his face, it appeared Sir Pentious was, jealous almost. Next to him where Cherry bomb and Mimzy, who were busy talking to Crymini who was across from them. Angle dust sat next to Husk, attempting to flirt with him, to Husk's annoyance. Vaggie and Charlie with each other currently going over some of the important information about the hotel. From what the two have noticed, the demons of the hotel weren't completely evil. Alastor was definitely evil incarnate, but the rest of the group seem like they are nice people, for demons. The two sat across from each other, Reynauld sat next to the Crymini while Dismas sat next to Mimzy.
As they all sat down, the two mercenaries began asking questions. "So. What's Curry?" Dismas asked.
"It's sort of like a stew-well not, really a stew more of a gravy thing, maybe masala is that the right word for it, masala? Anyway, it's like a thick stew with potatoes, carrots, onion, beef, and a whole lot of spices mixed to make a great thick curry." Niffty answered
"Oh, you'll love it, honey. It's one of the many dishes I recommend, along with the cooked Salmon and Jambalaya." Mimzy added
"Hmm, I'll take your word for it. Thank you."
As the whole group sat down to eat, the two Goat-Bois Razzle and Dazzle appeared, along with a legion of small Egg looking demons appeared. They were carrying bowls of curry and rice along with several drinks the two had never seen before. As the egg demons placed the food onto the table, everyone began to eat. Until they noticed Reynauld...was praying.
After he was finished Reynauld looked around him realizing what he had done. "Oh...did I doom us all?"
Angel answered. "Yeah, the ceiling will collapse on us as multiple angles from heaven will come flying down and stab us in the balls and began to fuck our dead bodies.:
"Interesting," Dismas replied.
"Angel! I'm sorry Reynauld. There's nothing wrong with praying, you can do that down here and nothing bad will happen.
Crymini then asked in a harsh and mocking tone "Why did you even pray, think that god will come to pick you up and save you?"
Before Charlie and Vaggie could reprimand her, Reynauld replied.
"No." It was a loud, cold, and stern voice that Reynauld rarely used, It surprised Crymini.
"I don't deserve forgiveness."
Crymini was silent, she didn't really know how to respond. There was an awkward silence before Dismas broke it with a small bite of the meal in front of him.
"Huh. This Curry stuff is amazing! Reynauld eat your helping before I steal your bowl."
Reynauld looked back at the thick curry stew that was in front of him and took a bite of the Curry plate. It was delicious. A mix of all sorts of expensive spices and herbs, mixed greatly with the starchy root plants and savory beef. Before long Reynauld and Dismas began to shovel the food down there in one sitting. Alastor was pleased that two enjoyed his cooking, but they didn't need to know that he was the one who cooked the meal
As lunch began to wrap up, and the dishes were carried off by the egg demons, Angle dust then decided to ask "So...how did you guys end up here? I mean in hell, I can understand Mr. Dark and silent, he probably has some sort of edgy back story. But what about you Sir Knight? Shouldn't you be in heaven for your, courageous deeds?"
"Yeah like purge the heretics and Deus Vult shit. For the holy land! HAHA Ha!" Cherry piped in.
Reyanuld and Dismas both stared at each other for a few minutes unsure of what to say.
"It's Okay," Charlie spoke up "If it's something personal you don't have to say it.
Looking at each other again they both nodded and Dismas began to speak. "I rather not say, I just meet you lot after all. What about you Reynauld?"
All the demons stopped their conversations and eyed the Crusader. Reynauld answered "I will share, it will be a long story, so I will try my best not to trouble you all with the details. *Ahem*"
The demons began to listen to the knight's story. Charlie bringing up a note pad and ready to write down the crusader's tale. Reynauld then began to tell his story "I was conscripted to join the fight against the barbarians of the south. So, when the letter came to me, I answered the call. I bought a sword and went off to battle. For a while...I thought it was my purpose to fight, for god... for our country...for the right cause... now...I knew what I did wasn't right...The barbarians...didn't look like barbarians. Many of those people were savages but many were also like us. Different, but still human." Reynauld paused for a moment. "They were children...Elderly...sick... injured...young men...and pregnant women...my blade had killed several..."
There as a long pause in the story. All the demons just stared at Reynauld, a mix of curiosity, intrigue, disgust, anger but to his surprise sorrow and understanding.
"You were ordered to do it right?" To everyone's surprise, it was Husk that spoke up.
"Yes." Replied Reynauld.
"Then it wasn't completely your fault. You still killed them, but you had no choice, right?"
Reynauld thought about it for a few moments before answering. "30..."
Everyone stared in confusion for a moment "30 times during my campaigns it was ordered that we kill the inhabitants of towns and villages...I did not refuse, neither did I hesitate to do so."
Everyone didn't know what to really say, what could they have said? "I enjoyed killing them. Many had alters worship demons and dark gods of unspoken evils. Tombs and writings dedicated to these demonic gods. I thought I was doing a world a favor." Reynauld admitted " But many didn't have those alters...very few had them. A lot of times, it was filled with...families..."
The Crusader paused for a moment, noticing that he was scraping the table. "I remember... I remember it so clearly...I can't take back my actions. I could've spared people... but I didn't. If I could go back and prevent the slaughter of many innocent, I would have...but I can't. I made my choices."
The mood had changed dramatically over the table, what was once cheerful and happy, was now replaced with awkward silence, and disturbed glances. "I ... I can't atone enough for my sins in the living world. I had killed families and cultures. I had believed what I did was right. But when I look back at my past. I can't help but regret so much of my life. The poor choices and decisions I made... I even had a chance to go back, to leave it all behind."
Everyone began to lean in closer, Reynauld couldn't help but feel as if he was carrying boulders on his shoulders. Everyone seemed to give him a death glare as if to make him feel more ashamed of what he had done.
"I had a chance to leave the crusade early. I was injured, and they allowed me to leave early if wanted to, it was understandable. We were in friendly territory. My home town for god's sake...I could've gone home...To my wife...to my son..."
Everyone's eyes went wide. Everyone couldn't believe what he had just said. Alastor's however, his smile grew wider and wider as the story progressed.
"You...had a family?" Charlie asked Reynauld couldn't help but stare at Charlie. Tears had willed up in his eyes and began to leak out. The demons began to notice the streams of clear liquid drip from his shadowy face, they glistened. "Yes," he replied. "Yes."
"But I didn't go back. I couldn't...I didn't know why... but I just couldn't go back...my life was different...I was a warrior...I was a man of god...I was a crusader...I was a killer. I had made my choice...and I stayed until the crusade had ended. Then...I didn't know what to do with my life, no more wars, no more crusades, I had nowhere else to go. So, I went back... back home... but they were gone...there was no note, no sign of them anywhere. They had left... I abandoned them... they left...serves me right I guess."
Tears began to fall onto the table. The crusader didn't know it, but he was crying.
"I searched for them. Asking everybody, anybody where they went... I found them...my wife, my child...and another man. They had moved on...I...I...I was angry...I couldn't believe what I was seeing, but my wife and child had moved on...I was ...thinking about killing them...but when I saw there smiling faces...I left my home...they deserved to be happy. They deserved that life."
"With nowhere else to go, I became a mercenary... I got hired to fight at an estate and that is where I died. Heh. So if you need to know why I'm down here... I'm here, because of Genocide, and being a horrible spouse. If that's the reason why God had sent me here...I would not blame him...I had been a horrible man, a killer of thousands...and a horrible father...who left for his own selfish intentions and used his name to justify them...this is what I deserve. Hell."
Reynauld wiped the tears forming in his eyes, and waited to be bombarded by ridicule and insults. But as he looked around the table, he noticed that Charlie started to tear up as well. Vaggie had eyes of both disgust but also sadness in her eyes. Angel, Crymini, Baxter, Cherri Bomb, and Sir Pentious stood there confused about how they should respond. While Mimzy and Niffty got out of their seats and began to hug Reynauld, comforting him.
"It's okay Reynauld," Mimzy said in a calming tone "You knew what you did wrong and tried to fix it. That's admirable on its own."
"Yeah, and you didn't go crazy and tried to murder everybody... wait, no that sounded wrong."
Reynauld couldn't help but smile and chuckle at Nifftys little hiccup. "It is fine, you're not in the wrong like me."
"Hey. At least you tried to be a good father. I mean you did go looking for them and try to reconnect with them, that's better than my dad." Cherry said trying to comfort Reynauld. "My dad never came back, but at least you tried."
"And," Sir Pentious chimed in "What about before you left to fight, I'm pretty sure you were a good father figure for your child while you were still with him, correct?"
"Yeah!" Angle followed up. " I'm sure he'll remember you as a good guy. As a protector of the country. Slayer of Evil! Heh Heh! That's a good thing to be remembered for."
Before he knew it Reynauld had all the Hazbin crew around him comforting and trying their best to help him. He was surprised. "Why don't you hate me?"
Everyone was surprised by Reynaulds reaction. Reynauld was now full-on crying, tears dripped from his dark wispy face. "I've done some of the most horrible things in my life and yet you still try to comfort me... why?"
Dismas got up from his seat and walked towards the crying crusader, and then proceeded to knock Reynauld over the head. "Whack! OW!"
*Huff. * "Because why not?" Dismas replied "For me. It's because you're my friend."
Reynauld was confused at first, but Dismas followed up "What happened in the past happened. You can't take that back. What we can do now is learn and move on. I know what you did was horrible. But that isn't who you are right now. You're the best friend I meet on my journey. Without you, I could've died by so many things...I'm your friend Reynauld, let me...us help you.
Reynauld couldn't help but give a small smile at his old companion. Before long all the Hazbin crew was smiling and laughing. Crymini and Baxter weren't really laughing but gave a small smirk. Alastor was at the corner of the room seeing the group comforting the knight, smiling as the scene played out. That was when he noticed something. There as a bright flash of light from the windows, as the radio demon walked over to check what was going on, he saw three pillars of light shining from outside, and into the city. Before long, the flash of light began to radiate even brighter, with more pillars of light beaming from the sky and into the city. The Hazbin crew and the two adventures finally began to notice and ran towards the windows. The light then started to slowly fade away, leaving only a trail of smoke from where they came from.
"Well now! This will be very entertaining." Alastor said to himself.