Chapter 7: The Layout

Indigo was relieved that the butterflies didn't follow her with Octavia in the emporium. Though she didn't know what to tell Miss Rosie about the mutated insects that were cleaning up the gardening department.

It must be a teenage trend in Hell, trying to take shortcuts to avoid any crowds. But considering that Octavia had been stalked by reporters, she could understand that the avian demoness wanted them to zigzag around the departments, avoiding potential stares until they reached the main department of interest.

Taxidermy, Cursed Relics, and Fashionable Items for the Modern Dames! Warning! Improper attire will make you our next hors d'oeuvre.

Seriously, is this my life now? Indigo thought when she saw the sign.

The demon at the department's register immediately bowed before them, making Octavia pull down her beanie in embarrassment as they walked past him.

"Maybe you shouldn't wear your tiara in public if you don't want to be recognized," Indigo politely suggested.

"You think I should?" Octavia adjusted her fancy accessory. "It's the only fancy trinket I'm willing to wear… I don't really like the fancy stuff my mom has me wear."

"I can't imagine what that's like. I never knew my mother." Indigo sighed. "My dad must be all alone on Earth…"

"I'm sorry…" Indigo saw the sincere look in Octavia's quiet expression. "I… also get scared about possibly losing my dad. I… feel way closer with him than with my mom…"

They stopped to check out some shelves and clothing hangers. Indigo noticed the sapphire blue talismans hanging from the ceiling, creating a waterfall effect. She cringed a bit at the talismans' painted blue eyes blinking at her. Octavia pulled on one, releasing it and it transformed into a necklace on her palm.

"You think I can pull off a nazar?" Octavia asked.

"Nazar?"

"Ancient talisman to ward off the evil eye." Octavia spotted the price tag. "Hard pass. Pretty expensive." She held up the talisman and it floated upward, reattaching itself to the other nazar talismans.

Indigo tried to see what she could spot in the clothing section. Besides clothing fashioned from the Victorian era to the 1910s, most of the clothing was fashioned after Lolita trends. She curiously pulled out a dark blue dress with a ruffled petticoat, cuffed sleeves, and bowtie. 15 souls.

"How much was that nazar?" Indigo asked Octavia.

"Probably more than the therapy invoice Katie Killjoy's going to get after the way you traumatized her." Octavia tried out a silver ring with a blood moon gem on it. "Cursed relics are really expensive if they're legit. I usually like to check out the ones here because I can't find them at Stylish Occult. And I really like the taxidermy."

Indigo gulped. "T… taxidermy?"

"Yeah, they sell kits." Octavia pulled out a box from a shelf, some sort of kit to make your own taxidermy out of the animal body parts in it. "I don't kill animals. I like to study them… and make random stuff that doesn't exist."

Indigo sighed in relief. "Thank goodness! For five seconds, I thought you actually hunted for sport!"

Octavia chuckled. She held on to the ring, planning on purchasing it. "No… I like animals. Besides, haven't you, like, pinned butterflies before?"

"Not really." Indigo held on to the dress as she searched the skirts section, finding primarily knee-long skirts varying from ruffles, pinstripes, or floral-print laces. Though she settled for a few dark blue and black skirts with pinstripes or vine-print laces, she was beginning to get annoyed by the overly feminine aesthetics. And none of them had clothing fit for gardening. "But I've pinned beetles."

"Beetles?"

"Why not? Pinning butterflies just wasn't my thing. I also don't like moths."

Indigo saw Octavia failing to hide a quiet chuckle. "Butterflies and moths are part of the Lepidoptera order…"

"Careful," Indigo warned. "I can probably sense the butterflies in the pellets within your stomach."

The warning was more of a joke. Indigo stared at Octavia, expecting the avian demoness to get angry, or worse, eat her. Instead, Octavia blushed and giggled.

"That was such a bad joke, it's funny!" She laughed.

"Oh…" Indigo chuckled. For some reason, it was nice to see Octavia act that way despite knowing her for a few minutes.

They looked around the department together for the next half hour. Besides the dress and four skirts, Indigo also managed to find a black riding jacket, three red lace blouses, black laced high-top boots, and one purse with an Art Nouveau pattern of peacocks showing off their feathers.

All charged while leaving enough money for Indigo to return to Mister Alastor.

Still, it annoyed her that she couldn't find something more modern. She waited for Octavia as the latter purchased the blood moon ring, five of the taxidermy kits, and a book on animal worshipping. It was getting close to 11. Indigo made sure that Octavia left the emporium in ease. Octavia's black limousine with golden trimmings was parked by the curbs. Indigo shook her head at the sight of it.

"Dad wouldn't let me go around without it," Octavia admitted, embarrassed. "Says it's safer."

"You could have gone for a taxi. Or public transportation." Indigo accidentally blinked. The materials of the vehicle glowed purple. Carman hadn't joked when she said that the Envy Ring manufactured luxury items. The limousine just needed the Las Vegas sign to shout at all the commoners that only the elite could afford this car, driving them crazy.

Indigo spotted Alastor's own car being pulled out by the valet.

"I hope you make it home safe." Indigo held out her hand and shook Octavia's hand, feeling their feathery texture. "It was nice to meet you."

"Same!" A bit hurriedly, Octavia ran through her wallet and pulled out a small card. "I… I know this is maybe weird… but, do you think we could keep in touch? Or, you know…"

"Hang out without being stalked by reporters running away like wet chickens because of me?" Indigo sincerely joked, causing Octavia to laugh again. "That… would be nice. But I might have to borrow someone's phone at the hotel until I have enough cash to afford my own." Indigo accepted the card. "Plus, you know, if you think you need a break from your parents, you could stop by the hotel. Not to join the program, but… just to say hi?"

Octavia smiled. "Knowing my mother? I might show up on the weekend!" Octavia stepped inside the limo and looked one more time at Indigo. "Guess I'll be seeing you around, Indigo Caligo."
The limo left as soon as Octavia closed the door. Indigo looked down at the card the avian demoness had left her.

Octavia Goetia

36th Goetia Palace

1125-2019 Solomon Avenue

Runesville, Pride Ring

(666)-13-2002

"I guess you will…" Indigo put the card in her bags and went to Alastor's vehicle. The Radio Demon was already waiting for her inside and just gave a generous tip to the valet.

"Forgive Rosie for not coming to wish us goodbye, but she was running late for meetings," Alastor said as Indigo sat on the passenger seat. "She was very delighted to meet you, grateful for your swarm cleaning up after your mess in the gardening department and was generous to provide you with the temporary necessities for your sin devouring." He pointed at an Art Nouveau box resting in the backseat. "Prudence, my dear. Remember that you're illy advised to not share your… mandatory diet to the others at the hotel."

"Can I at least tell Angel Dust?" Indigo asked.

"You'd entrust a drug consumer with your necessities?" Indigo picked up the condescending tone in Alastor's question.

"Well, yes…" She frowned. "I mean, he's been really good to me since I got to the hotel. You're probably going to tell me that he's just doing it to get credit from Miss Charlie, but I don't think he would after your argument last night."

A static scratch came from him. "Eavesdropping is a poor quality for a young lady."

Indigo shrugged. "Well, it's pretty hard to ignore someone wearing high heels when he drags his hidden stash in the dumpster and gets into an argument with a demon emitting static… when my room is on the same floor as Angel Dust's… and you don't exactly have an indoor voice. I know about Debauchery Avenue."

She saw him close his mouth but retain his smile.

She took a deep breath and said: "It was you. I don't know what you did or what happened, but you helped Angel Dust on Debauchery Avenue. That's why Valentino was angry… and why you were with Angel Dust when you found me in the lobby. Angel Dust… sounded upset when you argued last night. It's not really my place to judge, but I think he had a positive perspective on you because you helped him. And you hurt his feelings last night."

Alastor just stared at her, before quietly saying: "Angel Dust is better off without my influence. He belongs to Valentino... not me." He shook his head and eagerly played some Louis Armstrong tunes. "Well, we're running late! Let us return to the hotel!"

Hours later

After eating leftovers from last night's jambalaya for lunch, sketching out numerous additional ideas for the hotel, and walking Fat Nuggets around the block, Indigo got ready for the anticipated visit of Shreveport. Swallowtails pulled a table and chairs outside to lay out her ideas, her draft, and a blueprint of the underground electrical and pipe network underneath the garden. Even though she had put out the vodka bottle she promised to Shreveport, Indigo also prepared hot coffee and cookies on the table. Fat Nuggets rolled around in the dirt and tried to eat another caterpillar.

"You're a silly piggy!" Indigo wiped the dirt off the creature's snout. It oinked and rubbed itself against her leg. Fat Nuggets seemed to like Indigo if she didn't squeeze him. She then saw the piglet staring sadly at the fountain picturing himself. Indigo thought he didn't like it until she noticed the tiny, regular (in Hell standards) spider crawling around it.

"You miss Angel Dust too, huh?" She scratched Fat Nuggets' ears.

The piglet tilted his head at her.

"I agree. Valentino sounds awful. And he had the nerve of saying that asexuality isn't real." She leaned in and gave him a rub on the belly. "I hope Angel Dust's OK…"

A loud honk and some beeping caught her attention. She then noticed two grey trucks and motorcycles pulling in. Indigo immediately recognized Shreveport stepping out of one truck and Carman on one of the motorcycles (her presence surprised Indigo), but the other three newcomers, she hadn't met before. The other truck driver pulling in with Shreveport was a grey-colored caiman demon with orange burn scars on his scales. Carman was accompanied by a mint haired succubus and a pale-skinned demoness whose black dreadlocks were tied up in a ponytail with purple columbine flowers.

Out of nowhere, Indigo's butterflies flew from the hotel to check out the visitors. As if they weren't sure if they were approaching friends or enemies.

"So cute!" The Columbine demoness fawned over the swallowtails that landed on the flowers in her hair.

"Carman, why the Hell are you here?" Shreveport asked.

"I brought over Queenie to check the place for a possible gift shop investment!" Carman motioned the mint haired succubus next to her. "And she knows this sinner, Mad Mats."

"Mad Mats?" Indigo walked up to them.

"I died of poisoning and was rather crazy. But my friends call me Martha. And no, I have nothing to do with the weird cannibal Martha who lives thirteen blocks from me." Mad Mats shook hands with Indigo. "This is so exciting! I never got to meet a pollinator among the other sinners! OK, there's a lot of bug demons out there, but they're either venomous or sex-crazy! I just had to come over when Queenie told me that she heard Carman tell her that a butterfly demoness was trying to build a garden right here in Hell!"

"Flower connoisseur?" Indigo smiled.

"Yep! I run a toxic flower shop on the South Side of the Pentagram! Not really fun, but customers really buy plants they can use for drugs, potions, aphrodisiacs, and, my obvious specialty, poisons! Since the 80s!" Mad Mats rushed to the table where Indigo had put the blueprints, materials, and plant seed packs. "These are the ideas for the garden? I FREAKIN LOVE IT! You even have sketch ideas for hanging baskets!"

"Uh… thanks?" Indigo cringed. The flower demoness was as hyped as Nifty on cleaning duty.

"And, you know her, how?" Shreveport skeptically asked Queenie as he lifted some shovels and his caiman buddy dragged a massive box full of pipes above his back.

"I know this guy who slept with an ecstasy crafter who slept with another who used to date this girl who briefly slept with Verosika Mayday who had this guy place an order on flowers for a private party and he died while sampling MM's flowers." Queenie rolled her eyes. "I broke into her apartment before the recent extermination, we chatted, and long story short, we're roommates. Like, we share we same apartment and have our own rooms."

"And… why did you break in her apartment again?" Shreveport frowned.

"I needed money to pay for the fucking parking fee." She pulled out a small notepad and pen. "Which way is the lobby? I need to evaluate before I can work on a gift shop pitch."

Indigo pointed at the stairs leading inside the hotel. The succubus made her way and stopped when she saw Fat Nuggets staring at her, a caterpillar in its mouth. She mumbled something about 'the pig being mascot material' and went inside the building.

"I brought my buddy, Capone." Shreveport motioned his caiman buddy. "He's a plumber. He's been handy for the waterworks of my projects."

"Hola, señorita…" Capone grumbled.

"Encantado de conocerlo, señor Capone. Agradezco tu llegada." Indigo nodded. Her sudden dialect change surprised him. (Nice to meet you, Mr. Capone. I appreciate your arrival.)

He put down his box of pipes, shocked by Indigo suddenly speaking Spanish. "¿Es usted hispana, señorita? ¿O eres una chica de Europa?" (Are you Hispanic, missy? Or are you a gal from Europe?)

"Ninguna. Mi abuela era colombo-estadounidense y mi abuelo era un inmigrante francés. Mi padre y yo somos de Estados Unidos, pero siempre hablamos los dos idiomas." (None. My grandmother was Colombian-American and my grandfather was a French immigrant. My father and I are from the United States, but we always spoke both languages.)

Capone eagerly shook her hand. "Soy panameño-estadounidense. Morí durante la erupción del Monte St-Helens. ¿Y usted?"

Indigo tensed a bit. It disturbed her on how the sinners before her had died: a hyperactive poisonous flower dead of poisoning and now, a plumber caiman whose burned marks were probably ugly souvenirs of his death at the hands of the American volcano. Indigo shook her head sadly.

"Let's not talk about death just yet. She just died a few days ago." Shreveport sympathetically patted Indigo. He put the shovels down by the table, took a sip of his vodka, and went through Indigo's drafts. He then started walking in circles around the dirt-only field. He stomped his tail against the surfaces, licked the surface of the fountain, and dug a bunch of holes.

"What's he doing?" Mad Mats ate a cookie.

"Shreveport exploring his genius," Capone spoke in English, revealing his thick accent. "He calls it 'connecting with his canvas'. Whatever bullshit that means." Capone air quoted.

Shreveport lifted himself up. Everyone stared at him.

"Spanish garden."

He grabbed a shovel and started tracing around the dirt patch. Indigo was shocked. Shreveport wasn't seeing this as a waste of time!

"A whole rectangular patch… We make a rectangular pond that goes from the stairs to three-quarters of the garden… Scratch that, we demolish the stairs and turn them into Spanish steps!" He ran to the stairs. "Capone! Think we can create the fountain to go down the steps…" To match his description, Shreveport ran down the stairs and, with inhuman strength, pulled the Fat Nuggets fountain to where he had sketched his fountain idea on the dirt. "…and we direct the water to the pond underneath this work of art?"

Capone checked the blueprints of the hotel's water network. "Well… with the right tweaks, cylindrical replacement, and adding sprinklers… I could redo the garden's water system by tomorrow morning…"

"You can't possibly work overnight!" Indigo exclaimed. "You'll be tired."

"I'm a caiman demon, señorita. I don't sleep." Capone rolled his eyes. "Besides, I have no clients currently, I can go for some exercise, and besides, I need the dinero before the upcoming extermination."

Indigo sighed. Mister Alastor was far too generous to offer to finance her project… and discuss with Miss Charlie on her salary. "I suppose that we can give a try… I'm not really comfortable with the idea of you working overnight…"

"Very thoughtful of you, señorita." Capone nodded in gratitude before going back to Shreveport. "The water system should be doable, amigo. What else?"

"We put the lotus in the pond." Shreveport kept exploring his canvas of dirt. "Forged fence…"

"I know a guy from Wrath who does metalwork!" Carman raised her hand.

"You think he can design the fence with vines and butterflies?"

"Totally!"

"Awesome!" Shreveport ran to outline where the fence would be. "Magnolias by the fence! Four on each side, we'll have a total of 12!" He pointed at the left and right. "Levitated terracotta arcades, really big! With a dining and dancing pavilions on the ground level and plants will be bloomed at the top of the arcades! We'll plant the alliums, azaleas, and speedwells!"

"If you're going to put a dining pavilion, maybe add hanging baskets!" Mad Mats exclaimed.

"Great idea! But the project leader will have to decide if she wants to keep the intended seven or if we can add some extras." Shreveport turned to Indigo. "Well…"

"What about the brooms and balms?" Indigo asked.

"You might be better off with keeping them on the ground." Mad Mats rushed to where Shreveport had sketched the pond and arcades. "Maybe you could have the balms planted around the pond... and the brooms could be potted and aligned with a pathway going around the pond…"

"Made of terracotta tiles in a mosaic pattern to creating a butterfly mosaic!" Shreveport high-fived Mad Mats. "Not bad!"

"The señorita still hasn't decided on a plant for the hanging baskets." Capone gestured his tail to Indigo. "Señorita?"

Indigo was processing things in her head. This seemed so fast! Two of these demons, she had only met this morning, the other two a few minutes ago, and they were getting engaged with her garden project. What was she doing correctly? What was she doing that just… made them participate, encouraged them to join in, and not treat it the way some of them had laughed of Miss Charlie's project? She looked at the building behind her, wondering all these things.

"I'm not sure… Ivy? Anemones? Anthuriums? Baby's breath? Canterbury Bells? White carnations? Purple hyacinths? Blue irises? Nettles? Pansies? Queen Anne's Lace? Snowdrops? Wisterias?" Indigo sadly said. "In the end, what's the eighth sin? The one you don't know you had and is the reason you're in Hell. I don't even know how I died… What kind of moron can decide what the eighth virtue is for a project meant to support this? And why am I so hopeful at finding out what I did wrong… when I don't even know what are the chances that Miss Charlie's methods will succeed? I'm just a kid, it's not like I know anything!"

Indigo managed to wipe away her tears, sending caterpillar eggs landing in the soil. Since she had her back turned, she had no way of knowing how the others were looking at her. Carman looked guilty while Shreveport, Capone, and Mad Mats probably looked guiltier than high school students who'd witnessed a classmate getting run over by a bus and regretted not helping the victim.

Carman quietly suggested that they took a five-minute break. At the same time, Queenie had returned. For some reason, she had returned with a pitcher of warm water, as if she had predicted that the coffee would go cold. They all just sat on the stairs, drinking coffee or eating cookies. Indigo anticipated that they start making fun of her. She was still mortified by the tape of Miss Charlie's fiasco at the news station. Who was crazy enough to think that a musical would bring reasoning to criminals?

Shreveport sat down next to Indigo and handed her a cup of coffee that she silently accepted.

He took a sip of his vodka bottle. "I… was born to a mixed couple. My old man was black and my ma was the daughter of some white German-American meat manufacturer. My grandpa didn't like the marriage… Even after I was born, he refused to my ma. Only my aunt was nice enough to send money to help her sister raise me…" Indigo looked at him. The others did the same as Shreveport continued. "I grew up in a small town near Shreveport… My folks raised me good, but nobody liked it. It was always questioning about why he'd marry a fucking white hoe, why'd she marry a black man, are they hiding money, why did we speak three languages. Nothing was good for them. The kids bullied me… In the end, my only friends were the gators in the bayou past our butchery… When I helped my parents after school, I'd feed the gators the bad meat no customer wanted. I got along better with them reptiles than fucking humans… Heck, I even got along with this 40-foot-long monster, he attacked this annoying white boy that bullied me as a teen…" Shreveport snorted. "I called the gator Freddy…

"Sounds like bullshit, but like any kid, I wanted to make it big… Besides helping my parents at the butchery, I really enjoyed making stuff with random trinkets and putting them around the dirt patch behind our house. Called it art. I basically wanted to be the next Frederick Law Olmsted, make it big in Shreveport. But hey, the Great War happened, and we got problems since we're part German. Our neighbors threw rocks at my ma and I every time we spoke the language. I just… got bitter and unleashed Freddy in people's homes… He killed 6 people, 2 of them got digested. They shot him… And in December 1918, my folks and I all caught the Spanish Flu… We…" Shreveport gulped. "We landed in Hell just in time for the Extermination of 1918."

Indigo gasped.

"I knew why I was in Hell." Shreveport didn't shed a single tear but his voice broke. "I had every reason of falling, but what about my parents? They did nothin' wrong… And I'm never gonna find out, since they were the best parents a kid could have, they threw me in a river when two damn Exorcists got close… While the currents flushed me into a sewage system, I witnessed my parents being erased… to save me… And like the fucking gator in the sewers I am, I cried…"

Indigo placed her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry…"

Shreveport just shrugged and drank his vodka. "Whatever. It was a century and 3 years ago…"

"Colorado." They looked at Mad Mats as she ate a cookie. "Really shitty. My love life was shit. Around that time, nearly everyone in Boulder was a fucking conspiracy theorist, thinking that any of their neighbors could be spies, what with the Cold War and all… Honestly, being a kid was fine, even if I couldn't even find a date for anything… With the grades I had, I wanted to be a doctor. Make medicine. My parents used to run a drug store. They were super supportive…"

"You told me that." Queenie raised her hand holding coffee. "Those bitches kicked you out before your high school graduation when you came out as bisexual."

"That's just disgusting!" Indigo exclaimed. "Why would they do that?"

"Kid, it was like 1978, everyone was a bitch to the LGBT community!" Mad Mats put her dreadlocks behind her shoulders. "Nobody was liberal! My cousin was the only decent person willing to let me crash in his shabby apartment for free while I waited tables. Unlike me, he stayed in the closet about his homosexuality because my uncle would have send him to a mental hospital or some shit!" She groaned. "Any time I tried to find a date, they run off when they find out about my interests… Bullshit media claiming that people like me carried diseases…"

"And you started poisoning your crappy dates with toxic plants until the girlfriend of your last two-timing date retaliated by spiking your milk with grounded columbine!" Queenie burped from the coffee. "The tragic irony! A floral date-slayer from Colorado, poisoned by the state flower and reincarnated in Hell as the flower!"

"Yeah, well, I killed the bitch when she came down, OK?" Mad Mats grumbled and crossed her arms. "Not my fault if she wasn't angry at her two-timing male slut!"

"I can't believe that happened to you…" Indigo said.

"Me? What about Capone?" Mad Mats pointed at the caiman demon as he wolfed down on cookies.

"Al Capone wannabe. Got stuck as escape driver in a minor gang in Seattle. Was driving for an out-of-state holiday when Mt. St-Helens erupted. Used to help my padre fix water pipes." Capone shrugged. "Caimans were the favorite animals of my madre. Resistant tykes despite being smaller than gators and crocodiles. My stupid scales cover the caiman tattoo I had done when my madre got shot. And why am I not an Al Capone wannabe in Hell? You're either an unpopular but safe nobody or you're a wannabe, laughed-at tryhard. You think I want to look like that moron Pentious? He just got his face blown up again last week."

"The dude's literally surrounded by talking eggs, what did you expect?" Shreveport sarcastically asked.

"Uh… scrambled eggs of failure?" Indigo wittily asked.

That caused the other demons to laugh so hard. Shreveport and Capone both stomped their tails against the steps, Carman nearly fell over, Mad Mats hugged her stomach, and Queenie spit her coffee.

"Scrambled eggs of failure! Now that's profitable!" Queenie laughed. "I can't even! Too much!"

Indigo chuckled and tucked a loose hair behind her cheek.

"My God, you're hilarious!" Mad Mats laughed.

Carman checked her wristwatch. "Eesh, we've been here a while. Thank God tomorrow is my day off. I'll be able to come by at 9."

Indigo blinked. Bad move on her part, as she had a visual of all the sins lurking in their hearts and livers. She felt her muscles tighten when she picked up the presence of envy in the hearts of Mad Mats and Capone and Queenie's liver. She blinked again to go revert to her usual vision and shook her head.

"Carman might be right. You all provided amazing insight." Indigo clasped her hands together. "And if I made you waste your time on this…"

Shreveport shut her up by waving his tail and tipping her nose with it. "I spent minutes brainstorming on what could be the craziest project in my life! You will not just cancel! I need to grab my equipment to properly dig up the place tomorrow!"

"I'd better start working on the pipes!" Capone tossed away the cookie he was eating and went to check the blueprints.

"I need to call that guy from Wrath on the fence!" Carman got up to make a phone call. "Also to ask him for his cousin's terracotta work!"

"I need to start gathering the mulch and pots to start growing those floral babies!" Mad Mats got up.

"And I'm sticking around..." Queenie drank her coffee. "Miss, you got a lot of things to go over."

An hour and a half later

Alastor caught up to Charlie just as the two were both making their respective ways to dinner.

"My dear Charlie! Might I have a word?" He called out.

"Oh! Hi, Al!" Charlie rubbed her temple, aching from all the paperwork she filled out. "How did it go at Rosie's Emporium? Did Indigo find out what she needed for the garden?"

"Indeed! And let me tell you, she is quite the motivator! As of now, she managed to convince not one, not two, but 5 demons among the commoners to join her gardening plan!"

"5?" Charlie's eyes beamed. "Are they interested in redemption?"

"Don't be absurd, but who knows?" Alastor laughed. "Our new gardener somehow inspired them to listen to her! Explaining the details of her design and providing decent propositions to have them interested! Why, just as I was going up to my tower, I overheard the volunteering sinners OPENING UP to her about their human pasts!"

"Wow! That's amazing!" Charlie exclaimed. "I can't believe she got demons interested! Can you imagine if she manages to bring more demons to the hotel? More chances of redemption!"

"Speaking of redemption, I fear something has come up." Naturally, Alastor hid the truth from Charlie about Indigo's encounter with Vox's pathetic entertainers and the only daughter of Stolas Goetia. "Charlie, my dear, my talk with Rosie has led me to realize that even if Indigo Caligo pursues the rehabilitation programs of our establishment, she may not be accepted in Heaven!"

"Why not?"

"Incomplete secondary education, my dear! If we are correct, our young associate said she passed away on her sixteenth birthday! No completion of secondary education, no diploma, therefore, harder to be accepted in Heaven! I doubt the angels will accept an adolescent soul who has yet to complete her studies!"

"I didn't realize that…" Charlie frowned. "Why didn't I think of that? I'm so stupid!"

"These things do take planning, Charlie, my dear!" Alastor patted her on the shoulder. "Rest assured, I volunteer my services to tutor her! Just the basics that all young ladies of fine bringing need to learn in Hell!"

"I don't know… We should talk about it with Indigo and maybe Vaggie…" Just when they reached the lobby, they were treated to Husker and Vaggie yelling at each other. The cat demon even threw a bottle at Vaggie. Indigo, in the meantime, was ignoring their fight and talking with a succubus over paperwork.

"Not bad on the paperwork to discuss the prohibited plebian behaviors from both client and employee." The succubus went through the papers.

"I think it's important that both parties meet equal terms," Indigo tapped her hand on the counter. "I mean, it's a matter of respecting boundaries. If a party says no, it's no. They got to respect the cancellation fee."

"And good pointer on the anti-soul-selling loophole." The succubus pointed at one paper. "Denying any policy violator or policy violated victim to enforce the soul surrendering upon the violating party. You realize the amount of bitches out there who lose their souls just by being in debt?"

"I'm a reasonable negotiator, not some cartoon kingpin." Indigo aligned the papers together. "Maybe move on to the predictions of Project Garden?"

"We're honestly going with that name?" The succubus got her result with Indigo tilting her head. "Noted. So based on the math you've provided for the design, the potential costs, and desired work hours for the contributors, added with the research I did on their work experience and the contacts Carman got, it's safe to calculate that the project should be done by next week and we can host the opening event by next weekend."

"An opening event? It sounds good, but it needs to be low-key. I think the mistake of announcing the hotel's goal in the first place on live television was immediate rejection from thousands of viewers. People will say anything just to avoid getting booed at by the other fifty people in the room." Indigo clasped her hands. "It needs to be a small event. 15 people minimum and 30 maximum. Invitation only to those who could truly live the experience. We don't say directly that we're doing this for the hotel's goal, but to encourage people to a multi-functional gathering. You know, sinners meeting other sinners from similar pasts, Hellborns getting some glimpse from human culture, discreet donations. All in an environment to encourage them to meet people similar to them in different ways, WHICH could lead to some signing up for redemption. If it doesn't lead to people signing up on the first day, it will guarantee some networking."

"I'm working for a genius." The succubus started typing on her phone.

"Charlie! Do something!" Vaggie exclaimed.

"What's going on?"

"Tight Eyepatch here is pissed that Indigo got some demons helping on the garden!" Husker snapped. "I started throwing bottles at her when she thought that Indigo was paying Queenie here with sex to work for her."

"It's called 'working for the potential'. You can tell that to the loser moth." Queenie flipped the bird at Vaggie. "And for the record, Vaggie, not every succubus in Hell is a fucking, cum-craving bitch! And I am SO above doing tribadism on a teenager who died 36 hours ago! I don't go around insulting you for how many tits you had to lick to be the princess' hotel manager!"

Vaggie was fuming, eager to punch the succubus. Alastor looked at Indigo Caligo's direction and finally noticed something he hadn't previously. Every single blinking the young demoness performed caused her eyes to shift coloring from her usual blue-and-black coloring to an entirely purple one. He was quite certain that was the shift in perspective the new gardener had when she could track envy for her appetite.

"There's no harm in getting more assistance from qualified workers. Please do apologize to Miss Queenie, Vagatha. You know how sensitive our young new arrival is."

Indigo shook her head as her eyes reverted to normal. Out of the two angry women, only Queenie dropped her anger when she saw Indigo's upset expression. "I'm really sorry, boss… Please forgive me."

"It's fine." Indigo collected her paperwork. "I think I had enough for today. Would you be alright coming by tomorrow?"

"Sure thing, boss." Queenie got up. "I'm going to go check on Capone's work. Want me to order anything for anyone not named Vaggie?"

Vaggie growled at Queenie.

"See if Capone would like anything. I'm still not happy about him pulling an all-nighter."

"I'll contemplate knocking his senses out with a frying pan." Queenie shrugged and made her way to the back. Vaggie began to say something but couldn't as Alastor went to check on Indigo.

"Very good leadership you demonstrated, Indigo," he praised. "I see you have the project well under control!"

"I guess…" Indigo sighed. "It's been a lot today. I think I'm going to call it a day…" She then noticed the eyeball clock on the lobby indicating that 7pm was approaching. "Angel Dust still isn't back?"

"His schedule can be unpredictable," Charlie said. Indigo put the paperwork on the bar counter and went to grab her jacket. Alastor tilted his head as she made for the front door. "Indigo, where are you going?" Charlie asked.

"I'm bringing Angel Dust back."

Husk scrambled on his feet and pulled her back. "Kid, do you have a fucking death sentence?"

"No."

"Then why the Hell do you plan on going through thirteen blocks to reach the fucking turf of Valentino?"

"I got to make sure Angel Dust comes back safe!" Indigo pulled away from him. "Besides, Miss Charlie said he had a 10pm curfew!"

"Valentino's… list of duties for Angel aren't quite flexible," Charlie hesitated. "He has him do shoots for films, perform at clubs, and serve clients. Very often, he has him come to the studios at the last minute… and Angel comes back as late as 5am. And goes back at 9am."

"It's admirable that you wish your fellow patron's return, but remember that you promised to stay clear of the Three Vs. Especially after that… incident when you first arrived." Alastor guided Indigo back inside the lobby. "We value your safety."

"What about Angel?"

The others said nothing.

Indigo groaned in exasperation. She put two fingers in her mouth and let out a sharp whistle. Somewhere in the hotel, Nifty screamed as a swarm of Lapis Locustia, the same species of butterflies from Rosie's Emporium, broke through doors and flew into the lobby. The demons watched the Hellborn species fly as a cloud before Indigo.

"Oh, it worked…" Indigo cleared her throat. "Could you please bring Angel Dust back to the hotel, please? He's at the Porn Studios."

The butterflies hissed. Their hissing sounded like a thousand mirrors breaking. Like a snake slithering to attack, they flew out the doors. The demons ran outside to watch the swarm of flesh-eating bugs fly into the red sky, towards Valentino's turf.