Chapter 22: The Crone
40 minutes before the last chapter ended
Charlie and Vagatha had gone out for a last minute date night. Husk and Nifty were minding their own business around the hotel. Alastor was going through some paperwork. Very displeasing paperwork. Hotel finances, bills, and worst part, a letter from Lucifer.
Hi, Alastor. How's it going? Is my little apple pie doing well? No sinner besides the porn star has signed up as a patron, am I right?
I know you've been funding her hotel. I always admired your sadistic sense of entertainment and I appreciate that you haven't harmed my heir, but I must warn you in advance. Lilith and I are confident that Charlotte will come to her senses and shut down the hotel. We're thinking that she'll make that discovery by the new year's first full moon. If she hasn't rehabilitated anyone into Heaven, then she'll give up. She'll close the Hazbin Hotel, banish away the staff, and the sole patron will return to his rightful owner.
Speaking of rightful owner, I wanted to bring up with you a delicate subject matter that I'm sharing with you, Rosie, and some other Overlords. It has come to my attention that Valentino has had difficulties with property vandalism and casualties including clients and slaves. He and his associates also got into some recent trouble with Asmodeus during recruitment. I managed to bail them, but after discussing with Asmodeus, it's clear that Valentino is losing his grip on his empire. The Overlord Protocols clearly states that if an overlord gradually loses control or creates a disturbance for their designated sin polls, I can strip them of their Overlord title and powers and leave all their territories, properties, wealth, slaves, and weapons up to auction. Valentino has been given a warning, and if he messes up, the Overlords can fight over his possessions.
I'm sharing this with my most trusted Overlords, but I primarily share this with you in case you might be interested in purchasing Valentino's prized property. After all, seeing him around in the hotel for nearly a year… You might make a good meal out of him.
Also, a piece of information for you and Rosie, since you both hate the Three Vs: should Valentino be removed of his Overlord title, a position would be left empty. If you and Rosie have a recommendation, I will gladly evaluate the recommendations and power levels. We might have a new Overlord.
See you around, chap!
Lucifer Morningstar
Alastor groaned. He opened one of his desk's drawers, pulled out a book he'd been privately reading, and hid the letter in the last page he left off. Just as he closed the drawer, the telephone rang.
"Alastor the Radio Demon, at your service!" He greeted. "The radio tower is currently off-air. How may we entertain you?"
"Alastor, my friend!" Alastor's smile softened when he heard Rosie's voice. "Did you receive a letter from the King? Those pathetic idiots of the triumvirate might experience a bankruptcy. I find it a great opportunity to mold your protégée into becoming an Overlord… if we concoct something to bring down Valentino."
"Knowing you, you have an idea in mind." Alastor drank his coffee.
"Indeed. The most renown patron of the silly hotel."
Alastor spit his coffee in shock. His shadow went to clean the mess.
"The spider is the first merchandise to go should Valentino lose his title. The Overlords would fight their throats off to gain the most prized prostitute in all of Hell. However, if the merchandise were to be disposed beforehand, Valentino would quickly lose his credibility."
Alastor found himself grasping on his seat's armrest very tightly. "You think… we should kill Angel Dust?"
"Kill him, serve him for the next potluck at the colony, or throw him to the exterminators. Whichever works best." Alastor said nothing for a minute. That's when from the other line, Rosie realized that Alastor had just spoken to her without the radio static. "Do you disagree with me, Alastor?" Rosie patiently asked. "What is the matter?"
"Rosie, do not get me wrong. I am thrilled at the possibility of damaging the Three V's power grasp and replace Valentino and Indigo… but not at the expense of Angel Dust's life. He…" Alastor took a deep breath. "He is valuable to the princess' eyes. If I kill her patron, she could retaliate for harming one of her protected souls within her property… And though there's nothing legal… He's the closest to a caregiver Indigo has."
Deep down, that wasn't the full reason. He didn't want to talk about his non-existent feelings for the effeminate follow. The last thing he even needed was for his ally, friend, and mentor to realize he was interested in another Overlord's property in a non-materialistic way. However, the reason surrounding Indigo was sincere. Out of all the members of the staff, Angel Dust was the one Indigo went directly to, even more than Alastor himself. The Radio Demon still couldn't understand why the spider did it, but the latter took great responsibility in caring for the butterfly. The child had lost her biological father by dying young. Was Alastor ready to make her lose her equivalent of a surrogate parental figure in Hell?
"I see…" Rosie sounded pensive. "Let's wait until the extermination has passed to discuss it further. Wish Indigo my greetings and that I look forward to her next visit."
"Of course. Have a pleasant day." Alastor didn't exactly feel better after hanging up the phone. Seeing that his coffee had gotten cold, he figured that he'd roast himself another pitcher and made his way to the kitchen. A delicious fragrance and the tantalizing perfume of flesh welcomed him. He opened the kitchen door and found Angel Dust preparing ingredients for cooking. The spider was chopping up meat and even gave a small piece to his porcine pet.
On a regular day, Alastor would have reprimanded him for disrespecting his culinary suspension, but changed his mind when he smelled the flesh and blood coming from the meat.
Deer meat.
Alastor licked his cannibal teeth.
Angel Dust noticed him. "What's up, Al?"
"Choosing alternatives to meat?" Alastor stopped his licking. "Excellent choice. What led you to decide to choose deer meat?"
"Thought I'd try a little change in my spaghetti and meatballs for dinner tonight. Besides, with Charlie and Vaggie out for dinner, they can't be bossy on my choice of meat. And for some reason, I don't know, the idea of chopping up a dead deer was really… an entertaining idea."
Angel Dust tossed aside the cut fat and started shaping the meat into balls. Blood soaked his pink fingers. The perfume of fresh flesh increased as he beat up the balls and placed them on a pan. The spider washed his hands, the blood giving his pink fingers the hues of disemboweled human flesh.
Angel Dust didn't notice Alastor's mute gulp. He didn't notice the deer demon biting his lips at the sight of his blood-coated fingers ripping apart deer flesh.
The spider demon probably thought that he'd make fun of the Radio Demon by using deer meat for meatballs. He couldn't imagine… the odd temptation growing in the deer demon. Red staining bright colors…
When Angel Dust wasn't being a horny demon taking advantage of the hotel's free services or doting on Indigo…
Alastor couldn't deny it to himself, but Angel Dust's deadliest side… his mafia heritage… his capacity to kill… The reminder that a spider still had poison… Had Angel Dust been a cannibal like him, would they have shared a meal together?
Alastor shook himself to reality. My feelings are non-existent. I have non-existent feelings. I, Alastor the Radio Demon, have non-existent feelings. I have non-existent feelings for Valentino's property.
"I applaud your choice. Though I fancy venison, I am delighted to try out deer flesh in your cuisine."
Angel Dust chuckled as he filled a pot and put it to boil. "You? Interested in trying out MY cooking? Who are you and what have you done with the strawberry pimp?"
"Must you always come up with that silly nickname?" Alastor sat down on one of the counter stools.
"What do ya want me to say?" Angel Dust sprinkled salt over the water. "You're the second Overlord I know with an obsession for red. You're strawberry and, well, my boss goes for vermillion."
Alastor rested his hand under his chin. "So I've heard…" He tapped his fingers together. The tapping synchronized with the clock ticking on the wall.
Angel Dust ripped open a package of pasta. "I wasn't comparing ya to Valentino. Don't get me wrong."
"I don't!" Why did Alastor exclaim that?
The spider demon paused his cooking. "Al? Is everything OK?"
"Just peachy, my dear! Although, I do have a microscopic question to ask. It is… a bit difficult to ask…"
"Reconsidering my offer to suck your dick?" Angel Dust smirked.
"Ah! No!" Alastor inhaled and clasped his hands together. He exhaled and lost his radio static.
"Angel Dust… what is the price to pay if I were to purchase your contract from Valentino?"
It happened so quickly. It was a miracle that Alastor was fast enough to dodge the pot of boiling water, leaving it to clang and spill on the floor. He glared at Angel Dust. The spider demon glared back in fury.
"What… the actual HELL… IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Alastor exclaimed, still not talking with his radio static.
Angel Dust unleashed his hidden third pair of arms. Soon enough, Alastor started do dodge all the pots that the spider threw at him. Angel Dust didn't even scream, yell, or shout Italian insults at Alastor. He didn't even make puns or sex remarks as he then threw the very ingredients he was using for his recipe.
"Angel Dust! I've had enough of your childish an…"
The blades flew so quickly. He didn't even realize how fast Angel Dust had thrown cooking knives at him, pinning him on the wall. Alastor's eyes widened. All the knives had hit his jacket, pinning him to the wall without even touching his flesh. However, the blades had been pinned close enough. A single move and Alastor felt a blade near his rib.
He felt stupid. Just how many times had he forgotten that along with being Hell's most desired whore, Angel Dust was still a child from Hell's most notorious family. In life and afterlife, Angel Dust was and still is a mobster. He had effectively pinned Alastor to the wall as if the Radio Demon had been a fly trapped by arrows with no injuries and no broken wings.
Alastor pulled himself away, effectively ripping his coat off in the process. He and Angel Dust started punching each other. Alastor finally had him pinned on the counter.
"MISTER ALASTOR, I SWEAR ON VAGGIE'S ANNOYING PERSONALITY THAT YOU'D BETTER NOT BE TRYING TO COOK FAT NUGGETS AGAIN!"
When did Indigo come back with her Ars Goetia friend? Alastor had no idea. But when the girls saw their state and that of the kitchen, the two adult demons realized in horror that their fight could be easily mistaken as a violent sex scene.
And it was too much for the young butterfly that she threw up. On Angel Dust's porcine pet.
Even THAT was not entertaining.
40 minutes AFTER the last chapter ended
Carman and Queenie had come as soon as they had received the phone call. After a LONG bath and prolonged vomiting, Indigo was resting in bed. Octavia used her portal magic to have her family's imp butler bring over a fish congee in a silver dish. Angel Dust was busy cleaning Fat Nuggets while Octavia and Scrunchy kept an eye on Indigo. Vaggie and Charlie were still out, Nifty was cleaning the kitchen, and Husk was still laughing as he poured drinks for Alastor and the two succubi.
"Can't believe I have to deal with shit like this and it ain't even 6:06pm!" Queenie tossed an ice pack at Alastor. He easily caught it and put it on the black eye he received from Angel Dust's punch.
"Eh, I had nothing better to do." Carman shrugged. "The recent HELLA-NOVELA episode wasn't even worth clocking out early."
"The show's been going down since Season 4." Queenie grumbled. She then pointed at Alastor in accusation. "I usually don't have beef with your shady business and I find it funny whenever you and the porn actor brawl, but tonight was NOT a good time!"
"I do not wish to know," Alastor said.
"Well, you'll never know! You people interrupted my phone call with Jinx!"
"Shut… up!" Carman grinned. Her knees barely touched her stool as she leaned over the bar. Her tail agitated in curiosity. "You and the delivery imp? No way!"
Queenie didn't smile, but her blush was visible. "It was just a small talk…"
"SURE. How many phone calls since yesterday?"
"Two."
"That's it? How long?"
"Five minutes." Carman gave Queenie a frowning expression. "What? He called me to ask what I wanted for lunch. I didn't have enough cash on me, so I said I'd like anything, and he brought me like six boxes of pizza since he had no idea what pizza flavor I like."
"Did he get pepperoni?"
"Two. But the other four were good."
"Yeah… I say keep it going, and if he's another bitch, you push him out to the Exterminators. That's what I did with the last bitch that tried to screw me."
The two succubi looked at the two startled male sinners. "You people are morons!" Queenie grumbled and drank her whole booze in one gulp. "Just because we're succubi doesn't mean we're sex addicts!"
"I had nothing to do with this." Husk drank his Malbec.
"Right…" Carman straightened the straps of the vest she was wearing. "So? What happened between you and the spider? Another fake marital tiff or did you try to fuck him off the clock?"
"I'd advise you to change your dialect." Alastor patted his black eye with the ice pack, earning a stinging sensation. "Angel Dust threw a tantrum about my curiosity on how to claim his contract from Valentino…"
The exasperated groans from the two succubi interrupted him. Queenie shook her head while Carman slumped her head on the bar and gripped her hair. Husk just kept drinking.
"No…" Queenie groaned. "Just… No…"
"Dude, that's like… No…" Carman raised her arms in the air. "You just… Don't…"
"Wait, why are we even bothering? You know nothing…"
Alastor put down the ice pack. "Are you saying… You are familiar with the details of Angel Dust's contract."
"Hey, Sour Puss! Your boss HAS done slave marketing with other Overlords, right?" Queenie asked Husk.
Husk just laughed his head off. "Alastor's maternal grandparents were freed slaves! Ya think he'd do something like that?"
"I thought he owned your soul?" Carman pointed out.
"I own his soul, not his body. Unless I need him for something, he's free to do whatever he wants. I'm a believer in contractors, not laborers," Alastor corrected. "I never purchased other Overlords' properties besides convenient turfs or the auctioned remains of a deceased Overlord's empire. I thought that by purchasing Angel Dust's contract… It would be beneficial for his rehabilitation… And a juicier way to be entertained by his failure."
Queenie flicked his nose with her tail. "You're a dumbass! Your sense of independence blinds you from the obvious! You're in Hell! Overlords accumulate powers and build empires because their contracts increase their stocks in employees, slaves, and representatives! Their servants aren't just man force, they are literally the public image of their empires! Losing such figures needs MAJOR compensation for the Overlords so their reputations don't cost much!"
"The rules of slave handling is the same for both Overlords and Ars Goetia." Carman searched through the bar until she found a piece of paper and pen and started jotting stuff down. "Each slave has designated worth tiers based on the services they provide. In Valentino's business, all the porn stars' tiers include HOME, the fees for basic prostituting, STAGE, the fees for performances on stage, and VIP, the fees for the elites' house calls, like when they want hookers for bachelor parties or BDSM shit, or whatever. Each tier's fees is different depending on the porn star and Valentino can constantly change the fees depending on the current state of business.
"Right now, Angel Dust's tier fees are common knowledge: $660 for HOME, $666000 for STAGE, and $666000000 for VIP."
Husk spit out his drink. Even Alastor was stunned. Carman kept going. "If somebody wanted to purchase Angel Dust's contract from Valentino, they'd have to multiply each tier fee by the amount of years Angel Dust has worked for Valentino, multiply the new numbers by the annual average of customers he gets per tier, and then add it all up. Angel Dust's worked for Valentino for nearly 40 years, and if we pretend that he has 100 customers every year for each tier… Can you afford 2,666,642,6400,000 souls?"
That caused Alastor to break the glass he was holding. "That number doesn't even exist!"
"Obviously!" Carman put the paper on the bar. "It should be obvious from the beginning!"
"Angel Dust is THE IMAGE of Porn Studios," Queenie agreed. "90% of all the movies star him as the main actor. The other porn actors leading a movie can't screen without having him for a small cameo. Nearly all the lust in Hell acquired for the polls are acquired by succubi and incubi and whatever shenanigans Asmodeus and Belphegor come up with in aphrodisiacs, but Angel Dust is the cause for the lust sin polls to rise among the sinners. They collect his merch and Valentino makes profits just for the year-long waitlist of HOME services. Even if the potential clients die, Valentino still gets their advance payment. If somebody wanted to buy the property that makes him one of the wealthiest Overlords in Hell, he'd make the potential obstacle suffer."
"I don't know what you were thinking, but for the all-powerful Radio Demon, you dodged a bullet." Carman crumbled up the piece of paper and threw it into the chimney. The paper dissolved into ashes. "Do you realize the shit you'd put yourself through?"
"You'd be paying up your whole fortune." Queenie joined in.
"You'd have to sell your turfs to get cash."
"You'd have to give up all your possessions."
"You could lose your Overlord title."
"And in the end, because you still owed him money just to pay for the contract, you'd find your only option to degrade yourself and work for Valentino… And you'd be in worse trouble, because your own salary goes directly to him!" Queenie sighed. "I knew an incubi who used to work for Valentino. Died during the 2018 extermination. The crappy conditions that moth puts his employees in… He told me that Valentino selling his contracts is so impossible, it traumatized his servants to hopelessness… Angel Dust is prone to violent panic attacks…" She sighed again. "Face it, Radio Demon… Whatever you were thinking, give up on it. It would take a miracle…"
"If you're that desperate… well, you know the tier fees…" Carman nodded. "660 souls for private services."
Alastor got up and stormed off.
By the time Octavia left the hotel around 9pm, Charlie and Vaggie had returned from their date.
Angel Dust had trashed his room…
And on Sunday, the radio broadcasted the deaths of 660 perverts in Pentagram City.
Monday morning
Indigo felt better, but still gross enough that she needed soup for breakfast. After hearing that she got sick, Vaggie had enough decency to cook up some butternut squash soup for the butterfly.
"So… you threw up when you saw Angel Dust and Alastor… together?" Charlie asked Indigo.
"I have no idea, OK?" Indigo mindlessly swirled her spoon in her soup. "I just… I'm not used to it… I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF I JUST WITNESSED THEM HAVING SEX IN THE KITCHEN! WHO THE FUCK HAS SEX IN THE KITCHEN?"
Vaggie and Charlie did their best to hide their guilty looks. At this rate, Vaggie crossed off any possibility of Indigo being a possible creep or psychopath. If she threw up just because she almost thought Angel Dust and Alastor…
"Yeah, when I think of it out loud… I see why you'd be grossed out…" Vaggie admitted.
"It's Alastor, Vaggie. He's Angel's total opposite and he's opposed to sexual activities," Charlie pointed out.
"Asexuals do occasionally have sex," Vaggie pointed back.
"BUT WHY IN THE KITCHEN?" Indigo kept freaking out. "I didn't need to see that!"
"Indigo, they didn't have sex. Why are you still freaking out?"
"Because I don't know what I saw! If they weren't having sex, then were they trying to eat one another? I heard insects eat their own mates, was Angel Dust trying to eat Alastor?" Indigo gasped. "Is Angel Dust becoming a cannibal?"
Vaggie pinched her nose in exasperation. "Dios ayúdame…" (God, help me…)
Indigo grabbed Vaggie by the collar of the new red shirt she ordered and shook her. Butterflies exploded out of her hair like a hurricane. "Dieu n'est pas là, espèce de folle! T'as pas compris ce que je viens de dire pendant les treize dernières minutes? Ils ont fait quoi dans la cuisine, hein? Je vais devenir cinglée!" Indigo shouted. (God is not there, you crazy woman! Didn't you understand what I just said for the last thirteen minutes? What did they do in the kitchen, huh? I'm going crazy!)
"Whoa, Indigo! Easy!" Charlie got up. "You just switched dialects! You usually speak Spanish when you're angry…"
"I'M AN AMERICAN OF FRENCH-COLOMBIAN ANCESTRY! DAMN IT!" Indigo ran out of the dining room. She slammed the door shut… only to reopen it and pick up her soup bowl. Indigo awkwardly admitted: "I'm actually gonna eat this outside. I don't want to waste this…" She left the dining room again, this time with the soup bowl and with a calmer attitude.
Vaggie nervously looked at Charlie. "Uh, hun, what's Plan B for her with we can't rehabilitate? I… don't think she can survive on the streets out there."
"I did have a plan B that I talked about with Angel Dust… but only if you're open to it."
Later
For an overly paranoid demoness with a nasty habit of breaking into suspects' bedrooms, Vaggie made some seriously good soup.
Oddly enough, Indigo found comfort by sitting on the thick branches of the dead apple tree in front of the hotel. The renovated garden behind the hotel was like the Eden's garden of Hell. As Indigo ate her soup, she looked at the barren field that rested between the front entrance and the street.
Note to self, talk to Miss Charlie about redoing the front… And maybe adding some sort of parking space…
The lousiest coughing interrupted her thoughts.
"Is anyone there?" A hoarse voice called out. Some sort of lump of cloth was walking up the snake-shaped lane of the hotel.
"Coming!" Indigo quickly finished her soup and jumped off the tree. She ran down the lane to catch up the demoness. She halted in her tracks.
That demoness was probably the oldest, most revolting imp she had yet to see. Really small and barely reaching the level of Indigo's stomach. She constantly bended down and held her thin, bony arms like a zombie. Twelve different layers of purple, blue, black, and white cloths, all ripped and dirty, coated her in clumps. Her gloves were ripped and barely stuck on her wrinkled skin. Plastic trash was used as dangling jewelry. Her black horns were crooked, like a hornless stag got the wrong antlers glued on him by an unprofessional taxidermist. The scariest had to be her face. Besides the obvious creepiness in old age, the veins going from her eyes down her chest were very visible with the most saturated purple hue. Like somebody filled them with purple blood… Or painted fresh purple blood over her face.
Indigo wasn't going to lie to herself, but the imp looked like the Skesis from the Dark Crystal franchise. Except Skesis weren't as terrifying as whales.
"Uh… Hi?" Indigo scrunched her nose. The demoness smelled awful. Even Kyle Ketamine smelled better, and he was homeless! Did that woman come out of the Bog of Eternal Stench?
"Is…" The demoness let out another horrible cough.
"Wait. Why don't I bring you in?" Indigo took hold of one of the slimy hands. She started pulling her up the path.
"Aren't you a darling?" The crone smile, revealing her four remaining teeth. "Not a lot of demons bother to help old flesh bags like myself… unless they thought they'd be rewarded. Are you helping me because you're hoping that I'll give you candy?"
"Uh… no. Besides, it's not safe to accept stuff from strangers." Indigo shook her head. "What are you doing all by yourself?"
"Well… I was wondering… if perhaps, this hotel…"
The demoness suddenly got electrocuted when they reached the front door. Indigo felt nothing, but she was startled by the crone nearly getting a stroke and being catapulted ten feet away. Indigo ran after her.
"Are you alright?" Indigo helped her back up. "What happened?"
"Goodness… The security here is severe…"
Indigo looked back at the hotel. It looked as it usually is… That's when she noticed the garden's fence. The mistletoe growing on the wires.
The white berries had their holy auras on for five minutes, causing the beautiful lights to fade away.
Indigo felt like her eyes were about to roll off her head. THAT was something she clearly hadn't anticipated.
Honestly, just how often did it happen when she forgot? The words of her grandparents' clandestine letter. The holy golden sickle she now carried within the hammerspace of her hair.
Her grand-père was superstitious enough to use mistletoe to ward off evil. With an Exorcist grandfather and a holy sickle in her possession, the mistletoe Indigo had grown for the garden was automatically holly. And with the plant growing on the fence… That forcefield wasn't there before.
As if on cue, some swallowtails flew out with a bowl of butternut squash soup and a bottle of water. They must have understood that their creator wanted to feed the crone.
Indigo led the crone as far as possible until they reached the fence. She helped her sit down on the dead soil. The butterflies placed the goods before the crone.
"Such beauties…" The crone smiled at the butterflies. "I love butterflies."
"Me too," Indigo nodded.
"It's a bit obvious. Unless you happen to be a moth pretending to be a butterfly!" The crone laughed in between her slurps as she ate her soup.
"I… guess?" Indigo looked back at the hotel. "I'm really sorry… I would have preferred to have you sit down on a chair in the warmth…"
"Bah! Naïve kindness is anywhere! I would have been embarrassed to step inside THAT building!" The crone used her spoon to point at the hotel.
Indigo grimaced. That scratched any theory she might have had about the crone being a possible demon.
"Besides the project being stupid, I find nothing worth going in other than begging for food! There's nothing envious about the hotel!"
Indigo froze in shock. "E… Envious?"
"I'm really sorry… I'm from the Envy Ring. I don't really come to the Pride Ring that often. To see… buildings that don't emit envy… It's really strange, because all the buildings in the Envy Ring are, well, envious." The crone ditched the spoon and brought the bowl to her lips. Indigo watched her drink her soup from the bowl. The old imp let out a satisfied burp, butternut squash soup dripping out of her mouth. Indigo cringed. And she thought Husk looked gross when overly drunk.
"Back home, they build houses so that anyone who looks at them fuck their own dignities!" The crone rudely threw the bowl on the ground. "'Oh Satan, this house is amazing! I'm so envious!'"
"Well… doesn't the Envy Ring specialize in luxury items?" Indigo cautiously asked. "The same thing might apply for architecture…"
The crone tilted her head at Indigo. "You haven't been in Hell long, dearie, have you?"
Indigo hesitated, but gave in and nodded.
"Oh, you pathetic thing!" The crone laughed, causing Indigo to back away by an inch. "Good luck surviving your first Extermination! You won't be able to stay cooped up in your room, even with the doors locked and windows boarded! You'll die as soon as the exterminators come!"
Indigo felt a sting within her. She took a deep breath and got up. "I may be new… but I think I'll be careful as long as I stay in the hotel…"
"Fancy place like this only repels what's outside. It doesn't restrain what's inside." The crone's wicked grin revealed her teeth. "The Radio Demon is a contributor here, right? Did you know that he strolls outside on exterminations?"
That fact, Indigo didn't know.
Alastor… walked out during exterminations?
"That's… No." Indigo shook her head and crossed her arms. "He's a sadist and an Overlord, but he wouldn't…"
"Risk his hide?" The crone drank from the pitcher until every drop was gone. She then smashed it against the fence. "He'd risk his fucking hide. Surely the others told you that he broadcasts the screams of those the Exterminators killed… Sharing the names so that the listeners can know if any loved ones have died…" The crone leaned in. "Part of his job… Part of his sinful nature… Fun fact, dearie, demons aren't permitted to retaliate against angels during Exterminations… He's the one demon among the upper crust besides Lucifer's family that the Exterminators can't exterminate… Why is that? Why would the executioners spare the monster with the power to broadcast throughout Hell the final screams of all the victims in the Pride Ring? Why do demons need to be reminded, that in the end, they are here for the ultimate punishment that is the final death?"
Indigo's body trembled. Her quivering finger pointed at the street. She struggled to not cry, but the agitating cloud of butterflies over her head. "You need to leave…"
The crone shrugged and got up. "Well, you're probably right. A dearie who does everything she's told and gives a stranger food can't possibly resist going out during exterminations… unless you could feast on the final envious glares of the corpses… as they wonder before they die for the ultimate time… 'Why do you get to live… and I don't?"
"LEAVE!"
Indigo's finger suddenly released a purple-colored blast with orange bolts. The crone easily dodged it. The blast disintegrated a part of the fence… and bombed three buildings across the street from the hotel.
Indigo looked at the results… Her eyes were filled with horror. She collapsed on the ground.
The crone chuckled. "Not really much envy on those buildings either… You did a good job, culling the unnecessary… That's why they don't send a lot of Exterminators to the other Rings… Because unlike Lucifer, they get rid of those that don't fit their ring's principles… In the Envy Ring, only the envious and envied get to live…"
Flames separated Indigo from the psychotic hag. She couldn't look up, but she felt Vaggie holding her close and pointing a holy spear at the crone's direction. She could see Charlie's shadow on the ground and the lights of the flames surrounding her. Her hair was flying despite the lack of wind and she had horns. Charlie was in her full demon form.
"I DO NOT ALLOW ANYONE TORMENTING MY PATRONS!" Charlie declared in a furious voice belonging to a whole army. "EXPULSE YOURSELF FROM MY PROPERTY! I AM STILL THE PRINCESS OF HELL AND I CAN END YOU!"
"Alright, alright! I'm leaving! I had my fun! Tootles, dearie!" The crone mockingly waved at Indigo and left the hotel. Charlie waited until the crone had disappeared into the neighborhood to revert to her default mode and summon the flames away. Vaggie helped the troubled Indigo sit up. Charlie rushed to them.
"Indigo… Are you OK?" Charlie asked.
Indigo couldn't speak. In her tears, she shook her head.
Meanwhile
The crone smirked to herself. The more she walked in the streets, the more the hotel disappeared. She finally went towards the dead end of an alley.
A protographium marcellus, or a zebra swallowtail, flew down from the red sky. Before it reached the ground, purple smoke grew from it. As it cleared, a demon appeared. An average-built man whose cape coat resembled folded butterfly wings and covered his purple military uniform. His black gloves matched his black leather boots with diamond soles. His horns-resembling-axolotl gills formed an oval shape over his head. Stained glass shards dangled from his horns as if to create the illusion of a broken mirror. His black hair was shaved and his face was covered by a theatrical heart-shaped mask.
"Your costumes are a classic, my love," he said.
The crone smiled and pulled her horns. As if she were taking off a wig, the crone's disguise came off, revealing a beautiful demoness as tall as the butterfly demon before her. Her rags were now a beautiful purple Venetian carnival dress. Her dark red hair was tied up with several hair clips made of broken mirror shards. Her dog tail stuck out of her dress and intertwined with his fish-like tail. Her green makeup burned on her skin, revealing that her makeup was truly venom.
"Always the charmer, Phthonus." The humanoid Hellhound hugged her husband, the Grand Duke of Jealousy.
Leviathan's firstborn son and his wife.
The literal Evil Queen.
"I saw." Phthonus chuckled. "No wonder Father wanted your skills. You have a talent in breaking things that challenge you, Lucille."
Lucille nuzzled against her husband's shoulder. "It's fun. Breaking young girls with poisoned trinkets is so 1937. Morally breaking them is better. I still can't believe your sister gave birth to THAT!"
"Yes, well, Father is invested in those weakling twins of Invidia. He really wants the bastard to develop her powers before the eclipse… And you did a beautiful job sowing the seeds of insecurity in that hybrid filth. Slowly corrupting her to start sinning and caving into her sin-devouring nature… In corruption, you truly are the fairest of them all."
Lucille sighed and hugged her husband tighter. "Phthonus… It's still sad that the Great Underdweller doesn't favor our children as much as he favors that filth I had to deal with. I've seen cockroaches more resilient than her!"
"I understand, love. But petty familial envy is what caused Invidia to put a damper on Father's plans." Phthonus held his wife's hands. "When his plan succeeds, he will have a new empire of envy. Our individual dominions will spread. My siblings and I will no longer have to reign on mere islands in the Envy Ring. You and I could reign on our own Ring of Jealousy and give our children all the provinces they could have to torment!"
"How romantic!" Lucille swooned. "We are such great parents!"
"Indeed. It will all be worth it… even if it means dealing with Leviathan's goal of making Ines Coeurdor the ruler of Hell."