Chapter Twenty-Four

"Evan!" Charlie said as he struggled to sit up.

"You should stay lying down for a while. You've been significantly weakened." A man with a reedy voice said calmly.

"I'll go fetch your father." The man said, heading out of the room.

"Evan… Why did you think you could fight Satan on your own?" Charlie asked.

"How long have I been unconscious?" Evan asked.
"A week. Even someone such as I would have struggled against Satan, especially if I tried to go it alone. I'm proud of you for your effort, but it was foolish of you to try to go against him alone." Lucifer said, walking in.

"I think you should move back into Nessus. I'll permit you to bring your partner with you. But it's clear to me that your years away have had a negative impact on your fighting skills." Lucifer said.

"Father… I appreciate your interest in my safety. But I'm not ready to move back home. I have a life with Skara. She's pregnant with my children. She's apparently not welcome in your palace. You were ready to strip her of her powers, which would have killed her. So no. I'm not willing to come back." Evan said calmly. Lucifer was silent for a long moment. A dangerous look filled his eyes. Charlie backed away.
"Dad… Come on… Evan has survived all this time just fine." Charlie said.

"Yes, he has. Because he's never come across anyone of significant power. Even Alastor, the Radio Demon would stand no chance against him. His power, while impressive even by Overlord standards is paltry compared even to that of the Goetia Family." Lucifer said. Rumor had it that Stolas had been given permission to kill both Stella and Andrealphus for their offense of attempting to have him assassinated. In fact, it was further rumored that the current Lord, Paimon had a powerful vendetta against Stella's family.

Not because he loved his son so much, but because it was an offense against the whole family that Stella treated Stolas so disrespectfully, especially for such a long time. Regardless of what Stolas had done, and what he had done had been shameful, falling in love with and cheating on his noble wife with an Imp. But regardless of what he had done, Stella had been far out of line to attempt to have him and furthermore, Octavia assassinated.

-0-

Soon, Alastor, Angel Niffty, Husk, Cherri, Vaggie, Pen, Stand, Hawk, Maddie, Mary, Maxine and Zaelwyn came in to see Evan.

"My friend… I am surprised that you even survived against a being as powerful as Satan!" Alastor exclaimed, shaking his hand vigorously.

"Well… I probably wouldn't have survived if Father hadn't come along. Between the two of us… We beat him… Though I suspect that neither would have been able to alone." Evan said.

Alastor chuckled.
"Yes. That would have been an interesting situation. Charlie would have become the new ruler of Hell. And what then would have happened? Would she have changed the rules of Hell? Would Hell have fallen apart? Would she have outlawed the annual cleansing and allowed Sinners to manifest in other circles of Hell? Would she have had the power to do that? Certainly, while Ms. Magne is not as powerful as His Majesty, she is quite powerful in her own right.

"Gifted with both angelic and demonic power, though her demonic essence seems to have developed more prominently." Alastor said. He was rambling a bit.
"Al… I appreciate your input, but now's not the best time." Charlie said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Of course, of course, my dear." Alastor said.

"If I can aid you in any way in healing, please tell me." Alastor said to Evan.

"I appreciate it. But my healing is much faster even than the average Demon's." Evan said. Satan's damage to him slowed his healing a bit. But over time, he would start healing normally again. He was already bored just lying in bed.

Suddenly, Skara rushed in, growling at everyone else as she sat down next to Evan.

"Evanthos… Why did you just go and fight Lucifer like that? You almost died." Skara protested.

"I had to. Angel would have been killed if I hadn't."
"Screw him! He's just some piece of gutter trash! You're the prince of Hell! You're more important than him!" Skara exclaimed.

"Wow. I feel so loved." Angel said cynically.

"You may be a reformed whore, but a whore will never completely get the cum out of their fur!" Skara growled.

"You wanna go, bitch!" Angel exclaimed, pulling out a gun.

"Hey! Hey! Whoah! Whoa! Whoa!" Charlie exclaimed, standing between the two of them.

"Let's not turn this into a death match." She said.
"I think we can all get along. I know tensions are running high. Skara, Evan will be alright. He has the best medical care Hell has to offer. Angel, Skara is just upset. She wouldn't be saying those things if she was in the right state of mind." Charlie said, trying to settle everyone down.

Skara took a deep breath.
"Okay… Yeah… Sorry…" Skara said. Angel put his gun away.
"Yeah, Ah'm sorry too." He said. He wasn't really sorry. He just knew that was what Charlie wanted to hear.

"Excuse me. Abaddon and Apollyon wanted to see their mothers." Selene said. One of the Nessian Hellhounds had been babysitting Lyon and Abby.

"Mommy! Mama!" Abby exclaimed, hugging Charlie and Vaggie.
"Hey, sweetie. Abby, Lyon. You here to see your uncle?" Charlie asked. Abby nodded, going over to Evan.

"Uncle Evan? What happened? How did you get hurt?" Lyon asked.

"Oh, I was in a battle with Satan." Lyon said.

"I'm okay. I'll recover quickly." Evan said. Lyon nodded.

"Are we gonna be as powerful as you someday?" Lyon asked. Evan smiled.
"It's possible. Your grandfather did some powerful alchemy on you to bring out both sides of your heritage." Evan said.

"So it's possible, even likely that you'll be very powerful when you grow up." Evan said.

"Really?" Abby asked excitedly.
"What powers do you have?" Lyon asked. Of the two of them, Abby was much more excitable. Lyon was much calmer. The alchemical ritual had caused them to age to about the age of 7 or 8 physically much faster. Vaggie and Charlie weren't sure when the accelerated aging would stop. But for now, they were aging quickly.

"Well, my powers mostly center around Fire and Blood." Evan said.
"I have Holy and Unholy Fire. Like you, I'm a Nephalem. An Angel/Demon hybrid. My fire is almost as hot as the sun and allows me to forge Angelic and Demonic weaponry. I heal faster than the average Demon. I have both Celestial and Infernal Alchemy as well as Corrupt Alchemy."
"Whoa! Is there any power you don't have?" Lyon asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, most of my powers center around fire, blood and alchemy. Outside of those abilities, my powers aren't that diverse." Evan said. They were powerful, so he could easily overwhelm almost any enemy.

"What if we don't have the same powers as you?" Lyon asked.
"Well… It's possible your powers will be more attuned to your grandmother's powers. Lilith's powers are mostly biological in nature. She has Biological Manipulation and Shapeshifting. One or both of you could take after her more in terms of powers." Evan said.

"Really? Biological Manipulation? Are we talking like Alex Mercer from Prototype?" Lyon asked excitedly. He was showing his childish side.
"Well… To a degree… I'm not very familiar with that game. But I've heard others say that it's a good game, horror themed, right?" Evan asked. Lyon nodded.
"Well… It's possible your abilities will be similar to mother's powers. We won't know until you start manifesting your powers. Sometimes, it takes as long as 10-12 years to really start manifesting." Evan said.

"In fact, Charlie didn't really start manifesting her abilities until she was 13. She was a late bloomer." Evan chuckled.

"But it's possible that you'll develop them any day now too." Evan said.
"Cool!" Abby said eagerly. Evan was sure that she would be testing out her powers every day until they started to manifest.

-0-

Weeks had passed. Evan had healed. The Hotel was doing better. Despite Angel's slip up, the Hotel was starting to get new guests. Several new guests had come, both young and old. Demons who had been in Hell for a long time and Demons who had just recently come to Hell and didn't want to stay any longer than necessary. Things were shaping up for Charlie, and while no Demons had left Hell, the word was spreading that the Hotel could genuinely improve your life if you were willing to be on your best behavior. Several new members had signed on.

While they were skeptical about whether they would ever get to Heaven, most of them considered the Hotel to be a better place than their own apartments or the street. Charlie had scheduled a new open house and it had gone much better the second time than it had the first. Angel was on much better behavior and while he and Charlie were still a bit tense, they were getting along better, largely thanks to Alastor's advice that Sinners would relapse. They would make mistakes. The best thing Charlie could do for them was to try to help them move forward, not dwell on their past mistakes, no matter how severe.

The End