Angel led the girls to his tree-house through the forest, Vaggie remaining skeptical while Charlie did her best to remain hopeful for their future. Considering what they had just run from, she was holding out hope that Angel's palace was an improvement from Ozzie's.

When they got there, they noticed a large portion of groups growing outside on the 'porch'. Charlie knelt down to investigate just what type of crops he had been growing.'Guess he wasn't lying about the crops…Though I wonder what he's been planting…'

One of the crops didn't look like anything she had seen before and she was curious to see what it was. Charlie had never seen plants growing out in the open before so she wasn't quite certain what she was looking at to be frank.

"Hey Angel?"

"Yeah?"

"Are those plants edible?"

"Edible?" Angel looked at what Charlie was pointing to before laughing,"Charles, Charles, babe, I think you must've misunderstood."

"What do you mean?"

"Not all plants here are meant to be food."

"Then what is it?"

"Drugs," Vaggie said flatly,"Some of the 'plants' he's been making are literal drugs," Vaggie knelt down and touched the plant, examining it thoroughly before saying,"Just as I thought. It's Marijuana…. And a lot of of it."

"Sounds like you're speaking of personal experience," Angel teased,"You jealous toots?"

"Of course I'm not jealous," She snapped,"Why would I be jealous of a man who's been doing nothing but being high as a kite all day? You're literally a junkie who's been living off of crops and the drugs in his yard, that's hardly anything to be jealous over…."

"Oooh harsh, I'm 'SO' offended," He said sarcastically, putting his fingers up in quotations,"Won't someone just save me from this severe judgement! I'm so hurt, I'm gonna cry!" He then started laughing,"HAHAHAHA! Learn to find some actual insults, lady. I've been called WAY worse than that!"

Vaggie scoffed, insulting Angel about his drug habits was like trying to mock him about being a whore. She doubted she was the first person to comment and disapprove of his habits and Angel clearly wasn't fazed by such insults.

"You are impossible…"

"Being a hard-ass is my specialty. Gonna have to get used to it cuz you're stuck with me now,bitch," He snickered.

Vaggie clenched her fist at the insult, wanting nothing more than to burn Angel Dust with her bare hands yet Charlie placed her hand on her shoulder and shook her head, mouthing the words,'Don't do it…'

She groaned before muttering,"Fine…I won't…"

Charlie heaved a sigh of relief before a thought came to her mind. She recalled Angel only stating he had been there for roughly a month, seeming to fall down into this world around the same time-frame as she and Vaggie did.

She was no expert on drugs or how marijuana was produced but she was under the impression it took months for it to grow on it's own.

"Hey, Angel?"

"Yeah Charlie?"

"How did you grow these so fast?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not trying to judge you or anything, but I'd think marijuana would take a bit more time to produce. How'd you grow these crops so quickly?" She asked, noting that the 'edible' fruits and vegetables in Angel's garden seem to be ripe and ready for the picking despite only being there for a short period of time.

He snickered,"Just something I'd like to call my special touch if you catch me drift…"

"Special touch?" Vaggie inquired, an eyebrow raised skeptically in his direction,"What type of special touch are you talking about? Doesn't sound very specific…"

"Why? Don't believe me?"

"Hard to believe something you can't see," She remarked.

"Why don't you show us?" Charlie asked,"If you show us how you grew the crops so quickly."

"Fine, since you two are so interested, I'll bite," Angel smirked,"Watch this…You're gonna love it…"

Angel knelt down to one of the marijuana plants that hadn't been growing as planned, withering slightly. Angel narrowed his eyes,'Now that won't do…' He reached towards the plant and touched it.

Charlie and Vaggie weren't certain what was happening at first but their jaws dropped when they saw the entire plant had sprouted, fully grown and ready to be used.

"Woah! He…he actually did it! Vaggie, are you seeing this?"

"Yeah…I am…" She mumbled, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Told you two I wasn't making it up. Like what you two see? I've got plenty to share, though if you want it in a more…conventional form, in my spare time I managed to craft this," He pulled out what appeared to be a cigarette made out of tree bark.

"How'd you do that?"

"Got a bit bored of burning the leaves to get high so I decided to make a portable version," He admitted,"Not as good as modern cigarettes but I did the best I could with the resources I had on me. Want one?" He asked, offering Charlie one of the possibly countless 'handmade' cigarettes he made.

Charlie flinched. She had never smoked before and honestly, she never felt the need to do so. Considering her body's reactions to fire, she had no interest in possibly damaging her insides if she truly was human.

"Uh…no. I…I don't smoke. Sorry…"

"Aw, your parents won't let you?" Angel teased, Vaggie gritting her teeth in response.

"Hey! Quit being a dick, asshole! Just because Charlie hasn't smoked before doesn't mean you should mock he-him for it," She said, correcting herself at the last second at Charlie's expression. She had almost forgotten about Charlie's little identity problem and that she was still posing as a boy so she nearly let that slip.

"Relax, I'm just messing around. What about you, Vaggie? You look like you could use a smoke with how wound up you are…."

"No thanks to you, asshole. And no, I'll pass. Tried smoking before and it's not my thing," She retorted.

"Eh your loss," He said,"Though…I could use a light now that I think about it. Gonna need to start a fire…"

"Uh actually," Charlie piped up,"That won't be necessary. I'm certain Vaggie can light it for you."

"She can? You sure about that, Charles?"

"Yeah, I saw her light fires before. Vaggie is like you, she can control fire just like you can control you don't believe me, let her show you. I'm sure she's willing to demonstrate, am I right, Vaggie?"

Vaggie grumbled,"Hon, I'd rather not-"

"Please Vaggie? Please?"

"Ugh…fine…" Vaggie summoned a tiny flame before lighting Angel's cigarette reluctantly, Angel's eyes widening with amazement at her powers.

"Damn Charles, you were right. She's a literal fire-starter! That's gonna save me loads of time, won't even have to start my own fires with her around." Angel then placed the cigarette in his mouth and blew some smoke in the air, Vaggie's nose wrinkling at the smell.

"Do you mind?" She asked.

"Uhh..no?"

"Well I do, quit blowing the smoke right in front of our faces! It's rude!"

"Quit being a drama queen, it's just a cigarette."

"I don't care, get that shit out of my face!"

"Ugh, fine," Angel mumbled,'Hot tempered bitch…'

'Fucking annoying jackass…' She thought to herself, giving the other former sinner a death glare.

"So…" Charlie said in an effort to cool the tension between the two elementals,"I take it that tree-house up there is where you live right?"

"Yup. Up there is my little home. Follow me, I'll show you inside," Angel hopped on the ladder on the tree and the girls followed after, Charlie stumbling a little as she climbed up the surface. The Princess was starting to curse her body's fragile nature and lack of resistance, desperately wishing her parents at least taught her how to climb ladders without getting the jitters."D-Dammit…"

"You OK Hun?" Vaggie asked, worried for her friend's well-being.

"Y-Yeah…I'm fine…" Charlie said as she reached the top, examining Angel's home from the outside. The place looked relatively worn down and when she placed her hand on one of the pieces of wood, she could feel the fibers were aged and creaky."How old is this place?"

"Wouldn't know," Angel admitted,"Only just got here a month ago. Likely over a century if I had to guess. Can't say how long but it's been like this since I got here." he then opened the door and showed the girls inside, the three stepping in to examine the home even more closely.

The inside of the tree-house was fairly homey and comfortable. It wasn't too big or anything but it was enough for a couple people to live inside if you didn't mind having to share your space. There was a bed with a few rugs and personal belongings(they doubted it belonged to Angel) with no windows, giving a view to the great outdoors.

"So…this is where you live? Looks kind of old but it does seem like it's been doing you well, hasn't it?" Charlie asked, taking a few steps around the living space, not used to such an old fashioned home.

"Yup, it ain't perfect but it's better than what I have at home. Not by much but it's something," He admitted.

"What do you mean, not by much? Weren't you Hell's top porn-star, Angel?"

"Uh yeah? What about it?"

"Shouldn't you have had a bigger living space?"

Angel paused before making a face, his expression turning bitter.. He probably would've had a bigger living space had Val not been hoarding all his earnings from him, a fact that made him riled up to an extent. When Charlie touched his shoulder he snapped out his haze and scowled,"Hey! Give a man a warning before you put your hands on me!"

"Oh sorry…do you not like being touched?"

"When I don't see it coming I don't," He grumbled,'And sometimes not even that…' Val didn't care whether he saw him or not, he just cared what he got from him. Whether Angel wanted it or not, it didn't really matter,he'd just take it either way…

Didn't help that the bastard squeezed pennies from him and made it impossible to manage an income. Everything in Hell was exmespive and Angel had to do sexual favors just to keep himself from getting evicted due to being behind on rent.

Charlie tensed, realizing she had entered a touchy subject,"You OK, Angel?"

"Yeah…just fine…" He mumbled,"Why? What's it to you?"

"She was just wondering," Vaggie hissed,"Don't be a dick."

"What can I say? You are what you eat…"

Vaggie groaned,'Fucking immature child…'

"So…is it just you here?" Charlie asked.

"Pretty much," Angel admitted,"Well for the most part that is…I ain't completely alone…"

Charlie cocked her head to the side in confusion,"You aren't? But I thought I was the first person you met…"

"Yeah, you are the first person I met but you ain't the first sentient being I've come across," To elaborate his point, he went to the bed and pulled out Wiggles,"This handsome little fella is named Wiggles."

"Aw, what a cutie! Where'd you find him?" Charlie gushed, eyes turning to stars at the sight of the adorable boar.

"Found him out in the woods. Not sure how long he's been out there but I think he's been alone a lot longer than we're aware of. He may not look it but he's over a century old…"

Vaggie blanked,"He can live that long!?"

"Well, the photos I've seen of him show that he can," Angel admitted,"He may look like a regular boar but he's anything but that…"

"How the hell has that pig not dirtied up the place?" Vaggie asked,"I'd think this entire place would be a pigsty by now…"

"Hey, give the guy some credit. He's clearly trained and even if he wasn't, I have my experience with pigs. Had one before I fell down and if need be, I'd take care of Wiggles and tend to his every need if he didn't know how to do something."

"You had a pig before? What was his name?"

"Fat Nuggets. Got him from a shelter. Probably would've been sent to slaughter if I hadn't picked him and he was the only pet I could afford so I decided to take him home. I didn't regret my decision and he made my life worth living until I fell down here…and now…I don't know what has happened to him…"

"You think he's alright?"

"I hope so. I'm just holding out hope that Cherri's taking care of him since I'm not there. Doubt he'd survive without someone taking care of him."

"I'm sure he's OK,"Charlie said,"I'm certain your friend is taking care of him…"

"If she is, it's probably because she thinks I'm dead. Poor girl probably thinks I died or something. That the Exterminators got me while I was out working."

"Working? That close to extermination? Isn't the dangerous?"

"Course it is. Not like Val cares about the safety of anyone other than himself. Doesn't help that Val doesn't like me taking breaks. He wants every hour possible spent making money. Bet if he could somehow got me out during Extermination without me getting killed he would've done so," He remarked lowly,"Fucker literally prioritized profits over everything. Swear he'd squeeze literally pennies if he could."

"So how'd you end up down here?"

"Well I just finished serving some ladies who paid my hefty fee when Val told me to come back to pocket the money. The girls 'conveniently' dropped me off at the most random part of Pride and I wasn't quite sure where they put me. I tried explaining this to Val but he didn't really care, just demanding I get on the nearest transport and to not be late. I found a relatively empty train and I couldn't see anyone inside. It was creepy as fuck honestly and I probably wouldn't have gone inside had I not wanted to get home but I did. And when I did, the train just took off and just kept going and going. I tried contacting Val but my phone didn't work and I accidentally fell asleep after a long period of time. Next thing I knew, I fell down here and that's that. Not really much else to it honestly…"

"Oh…I take it that you're happy that Valentino isn't here right now, right?"

"Course I am, I haven't been happier. Only downside is that the people I actually liked are no longer here with me and honestly…even with Wiggles, it does get kind of lonely here. Probably why I'm glad I met you, Charlie, because you were the first fucker I've seen since I fell down here."

"Oh thanks…"

"So what about you two? How'd you get down here?"

Charlie paused, uncertain how to explain the situation. She didn't want to tell him who she really was, especially since she had kept up the charade for so long. Still, she didn't want to lie to him…

"I…I ran away from home," She admitted.

"Bad family life?" Angel asked,"Trust me, I understand that. Family wasn't a fan of me being gay. Course I was a bit older when they found out and they put up with me until I died but I can't say I missed them too much when I hit the bucket. What'd your family do?"

"It wasn't as extreme…They just…didn't see eye to eye with me and my ideals and after a few…harsh words I felt I had to send the message that I was serious. So I packed my bags, convinced Vaggie to come with me and we took off. At least until we saw a Taxi and thought it'd just take us out of town and hopped in. I thought it a little suspicious, especially since I don't recall seeing the driver or if there was one but I was kind of desperate and just like you, we fell asleep and just…woke up here after falling from the sky. "

"So you just followed Charles, eh? No reason, no family driving you away?"

"I don't really have family down here," Vaggie admitted truthfully,"I wouldn't know if they were down here and even if one of my relatives did happen to fall down, they probably aren't the ones I'd want anything to do with."

"Fair, I ain't a fan of my family either. I knew they were down here but I never spoke to them. Didn't want to either. Most of them were assholes so it wasn't like I was missing out on much."

Me and Vaggie tried to find work and while we did, let's just say that we weren't fans and left not too long ago…"

She didn't want to mention the fire, it was better off that way and she doubted Vaggie would talk about it either.

"Eh, fair enough. Can't say I blame you, family problems are quite the pain. Honestly I would've ran while I was alive if I had the chance but I just don't really have the opportunity to do so. Gotta give you props on that one, Charles, I admire that sort of courage in a man."

'Yeah…man…' Charlie thought to herself before nodding nervously,"T-Thanks…You too…Say…Angel?"

"Yeah? Where are we gonna sleep? There's only one bed."

"No worries, you can sleep in my bed if you want. The bed is big enough for two of us…"

"Uh…" She blushed, stuttering slightly as she struggled to find an excuse out of the situation,""You sure about that? Wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable and-"

"Make ME uncomfortable? Charlie, Charlie, my man, I'm the last person you're gonna make uncomfortable. Trust me, there's nothing I haven't seen before.

Normally, Charlie would reject him…however, there was just one problem. Charlie was a bit of a pushover when it came to offering's and usually didn't have it in her to say no to people if they were being hospitable to her.

"But what about Vaggie? Where will she sleep?"

"I mean..the floor is free. I'm sure she'll manage…"

Charlie turned to Vaggie,"Are you comfortable with Vaggie? I can always sleep on the floor if you want. Maybe you and Angel can share and-"

"I'll take the floor," Vaggie assured,"As much as I don't like being on the floor, I'd rather not sleep near that asshole…"

"Don't worry toots, the feeling is mutual," Angel replied,"Well, you heard the lady, Charlie. Hop on in, the bed has plenty of room for us…"

Charlie rubbed her arm before laying down into the bed, Angel following after. Wiggles laid on the bed beside them and she smiled when he nuzzled her,'Aw…what a cutie…'

She tensed when she felt Angel pull her close to his body,"Night handsome…"

"Night…"

Moments like this were definitely making her reconsider her choice to disguise herself as a boy right now. Still…it was a bit late to turn back, best to live the lie for as long as she could. After all, she had bigger problems than that right now…far bigger problems..

Besides, the bed was at least comfortable and Angel was warm, so it wasn't all bad. Best to get some shut-eye while she still could and look on the bright side…

Vaggie rolled her eyes at the scene and scoffed,'Ugh…I'm way too tired for this bullshit…' She quickly turned over on her side to avoid looking at them, doing her best to make do with what she had. She didn't exactly have a blanket so she used the rug and curled up so that it would cover the majority of her body.

Husk groaned, working at the circus was becoming the biggest pain in the ass ever. Didn't help that Mammon had taken a liking to him and Fizz was being a massive dick about this, acting like a clingy jealous child if Husk got attention.

Not that Husk wanted it, as far as he was concerned Fizz could have it. He honestly would've preferred if Mammon left him alone but the greedy bastard just wouldn't leave him alone.

At the moment, Husk was inside his tent which had been expanded. Apparently Mammon was being 'generous' this time around and actually granted him a decent room instead of the shitty tent he had been living in earlier. It was a massive improvement though Husk wasn't all too excited, especially since he knew Fizz was going to be on his ass about his newly acquired home.

He reached for a bottle of wine. One of the few perks of being Mammon's new 'favorite' was that Mammon was giving him good quality wine. Normally Husk's earnings only got him cheap booze and Mammon was affording him the greatest he could find.

Guess even the embodiment of Greed enjoyed quality wine and wasn't going to be cheap about stuff he had in his own cabinet. Only bad thing was that Mammon was monitoring his alcohol consumption since he believed it would affect his performance and only gave him a small amount.

As he was drinking, he flinched when he heard the doors to his tent open and he turned around in his chair. His gaze became hostile at the sight of Fizz entering his tent as he quickly growled,"What do you want, clown?"

Fizz sent him a glare and despite his smile it was apparent the feeling of dislike was mutual. Husk saving his life clearly didn't matter, at least, compared to the possible idea that he might end up being replaced as Mammon's favorite.

He then tossed Husk a set of clothes and said,"Mammon wanted me to hand these to you."

If Husk had to guess, Mammon had forced Fizz to talk to him and hand the clothes over instead of coming over and handing it to Husk himself.

"Why? I've already got clothes…"

"I know, but Mammon doesn't like plain clothes and the ones you are wearing aren't going to cut it. All our outfits are what he approves of and he's finally found one that would suit you."

"Do I have to wear them?"

"You don't, but Mammon won't be happy and you won't like him when he's angry…"

Husk narrowed his eyes before staring at the clothes he had been handed and before sighing. He had no interest in getting Mammon's ire on him and ultimately decided to put them on,"Fine..I'll put these damn clothes on…"

Fizz scoffed,"Whatever. Just be sure to get them on. We have a show soon so be ready for it. I don't like those who hold me down so you better hurry it up…"

Husk rolled his eyes as Fizz left, removing the clothes he had been currently wearing and swapping them for the attire he had handed.

It was a dark brown, red and white suit with hints of gold. Suppose this was what Mammon had in mind for him, to look more 'regal' than he had before.

He sighed as he looked at himself in the mirror before adjusting his hair and shaving the few stubble on his face to abide by the dress-code that Mammon made them all follow. It wasn't what he wanted to do and he hardly felt like himself, however he knew he had no real choice in the matter. What Mammon said went and went against it would result in his privileges taking it all away or worse.

He put some hair dye on the gray parts of his hair and put on some gold eye-shadow over his eyes before taking his leave out of his tent.

When he got to the circus tent, he knew what he had to do. He got in and he saw Fizz waiting for him, a fake smile plastered on his face, hatred burning in his eyes.

Neither man liked each other…but it wasn't like they had a choice other than to work together. This was their routine and Mammon was intent on getting all the money he could out of them and if they had to be in the same acts, then so be it…

Husk then asked,"Ready?"

"What do you think? Course I'm ready…"

"What? I was just asking and-"

"Don't try and act like you care. We're only here for one reason and it's to impress the big man so do your damn job else I'll make you regret it, understand? Because if Mammon suspects you're slipping…I'll be sure to get rid of you for him without a second thought, you hear me?"

"Yeah…I hear you…"

Husk rolled his eyes before continuing on with the show, doing his best to ignore the cheers and hollers he heard from the crowd. All eyes were on him and he was far from pleased with the attention he had received, especially since out of the corner of his eye, he could see Mammon's wandering eyes focus on him and him alone.

The fucker was clearly seeing all the dollar signs he was making off of him and during the performance, Husk could see Fizz was watching and sending him glares at every opportunity for daring to steal 'his' spotlight. Fucker would no doubt kill him if Mammon hadn't needed Husk to bring in money and was taking every chance he had to give Husk death glares and even made taunting moves towards him.

'Already starting to regret joining this damn circus…' And no amount of beer he received would ever make him OK with that. Not as long as he lived…

Niffty cleaned up the palace with the other maids while Alastor was away. It had been over a month and she had become somewhat adjusted to the life they had been living by now. At least for the most part. For the most part, she had spent a lot of her time alone, something that she wasn't quite used to even while she was in Hell.

Usually she had Alastor to talk to but the job he was doing required him to be out at varying hours of the day, sometimes not coming back for days. She had been worried for him at first and to an extent she still was.

She recalled the first time Al came back from the job he was covered in blood and she had panicked and actually went as far as to check if he was injured. That moment, Al had stared back at her blankly before informing her that the blood on his outfit was not his.

By now, she had realized that nine times out of ten, if Al came back with blood on him, the vast majority of it was not his.

While she was relieved that Al was OK, she did have issues with him bringing blood in the house. The blood often seeped into the floorboards and were difficult to wash off.

"Dried blood is such a pain to get off…" She mumbled as she did her best to scrub the blood off of Alastor's clothes. It didn't help that they were green and were easy to see.

Didn't help that the blood had gotten on her clothes as well, it was why she had to replace it with a black kimono with red-white flowers imprinted in the design, even going as far as to add white flowers into her hair to keep up with the aesthetic, giving herself black lipstick and dark red eye shadow, allowing her hair to be free to save time getting ready in the morning.

As she was scrubbing, she heard the door unlock and Alastor came back,covered head to toe in blood, some of which dripped onto the carpet. She sighed,"Bringing blood into the house again, Al?"

"Sorry darling. Just another day's work…" He admitted.

"Regardless, you should probably not have as much blood on you. It's getting everywhere and it's fairly noticeable. You should at least make an effort to hide it."

"It's a bit difficult to hide it when you can't even see it," Al said simply. Normally Al never bothered to clean his suits all too often and blood usually blended in with his outfit.

This of course didn't work with Alastor's green attire that made the blood splotches stick out like a sore thumb. Wasn't like Al could clean off his clothes in a reliable manner, especially since he couldn't see the damn spots in his outfit in the first place.

"I know, Al. Your blindness is an inconvenience and it doesn't help that you can't see but something still needs to be done about it. Which is precisely why I took matters into my own hands and made you an outfit that would hide the splotches."

Niffty pulled out a mahogany and blood red uniform with gold in it and a set of 'boots' that had the bottoms cut out so that his feet would be able to feel the ground.

"I know you can't see them, but I made sure the outfit was your favorite color, red. It's a shame you can't physically see it but I tailored it to the best of my ability with some of the materials I was given from Satan…"

"He gave you materials?"

"I requested some to tailor a personal uniform for the two of us. Since he liked how well we did our jobs he granted permission to take some of the finer materials in the land to create this. Outfits like this would cost a lot of money but I basically got it free of charge and with my own design to it…Wanna try it?"

"Of course darling…"

Niffty helped Alastor put his clothes on, paying some respect and looking away to value Al's privacy(not that he would notice but still). When Al finished putting it on, he felt a sense of comfort.

"Like it?"

"It feels…nice…" He said,"Thanks, I appreciate that you spent your time making this for me…"

"It's alright, Al. It's the last I can do…" She then handed him some food and a drink,"I didn't know if you were hungry or not but I thought that you might want something…"

"I was feeling rather parched today so yes…I would…" Al sat down and began to slowly dig into the meal Niffty had made for him.

"How was your day, Al?"

"It was…alright," He said,"Striker and I…dealt with some nuisances, just like every other day. Satan apparently sends his minions to 'deal' with traitors and we've gotten rid of all of them."

"Have any of them hurt you?"

"Not in any major way. Most I get is a scratch or two. They never cause too much damage to me…"

"Do you like doing this job?"

Alastor shook his head, his eyes narrowed as he drank some tea before lowering the cup to say,"Not really. I don't particularly like serving under someone. I'd rather not do it if I could, but it's not like I have a choice. This is our source of income and it's keeping a roof over our head. It's the only thing making these acts of servitude worth it. What bout you?"

"I can't say I really like it either. I preferred when it was just the two of us honestly. The people at the castle are kind of…quiet. They don't really seem all too social, just look like they're there to do their jobs and that's all."

"It's not all too different for me either. Striker doesn't seem to like serving under Satan though I doubt he has much of a choice in the matter."

"How long do you think we'll have to keep doing this, Al?"

"It's not much of a choice. We have to do this for as long as we have to if we want to live."

It wasn't much of a choice anymore. They needed a roof over their heads and food and the only way to assure that...was to play by Satan's rules and do as he said...or else.

Al already had a feeling what 'or else' entailed given what he had done to those who crossed Satan and he couldn't say he was all too interested in sharing such a fate.

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Enigmus-228: Never met until. They simply never crossed paths.