Chapter 45: The Graveyard (Extermination, Part 4)
10 Hours Before The Extermination Ends
Indigo's feet dragged her deeper in the badlands. Her hunger didn't help her newfound instability. She stiffened when she reached a place she had only seen once.
Becoming nothing… is the ultimate punishment.
Alastor's words haunted her.
She missed him.
"Hey, bitch!"
Indigo didn't look at the vermin that somehow decided to follow her all the way from the Wrath Sector.
"Dang, you really are suicidal!" The kinkajou dragged Angel's purse over its shoulder. "You suddenly decided to go to this dump? It's like dropping off a pig in a knife shop!"
Indigo's eyes twitched. She chuckled, unhinged. "I'm going crazy… That makes so much sense! I probably drank Habushu again! This WHOLEEEE day was AAAALLL in my head! And you're a fragment of my imagination!"
The kinkajou used the purse to slap Indigo on the face. Pain and environment confirmed that she wasn't in a drunk stupor.
"I really would have preferred being drunk…"
"And I'd rather not be, like, a flea-infested kinkajou, yet here I am!" The critter scratched its ear furiously.
Indigo rolled her eyes. Blinking, she activated her vision. It felt relieving, seeing the Wrath Sector emitting its orange essence. Nothing like the barren wasteland of Fafnir City… and Bael's domain.
Your humble life clouds the envy you truly crave.
Remembering Bael's words made her stomach growl.
"God, I need envy… FAST!" Indigo dropped on her knees, clutching her stomach. Her eyes twitched again.
"Well, since you're, like, NOT in a wasteland anymore, can't you just find food here?" The kinkajou asked.
Indigo scowled at it.
"Plants don't exactly grow here. It's the holy graveyard."
"Like, duh." The kinkajou looked at the holy graveyard. Indigo squinted at the place. White blurs covered the weapons, but she could faintly see colorful sins in skeletons. There was an unusual mass of envy further ahead.
"I can't… I can't eat hearts of…"
"Do demon hearts, like, not decompose over thousands of years?" The kinkajou walked ahead. "You scared of skeletons?"
"No! I just… Why would I get food in a junkyard of weapons that could kill me?"
"Like the one you got?"
Indigo defensively touched her head, her fingers feeling the sickle's handle.
"Well, we're both hungry. Dibs on ribs."
Indigo hesitated.
Bones weren't the same as hearts, right?
She sincerely hoped this was a drunken hallucination because she was following the bloody beast into the graveyard.
Her feelings became mixed upon entry. The piled, discarded weapons were big enough to match the height of cars crushed onto one another to make thirty-feet-tall piles. However, as she walked in circles around the piles, Indigo felt as if the holy weapon piles were no different than Alastor's knife collection. She turned, occasionally. There were moments when she thought she had heard whisper-like choirs. Indented skulls were placed around on the ground to border the paths from the piles. As if to look at them was to remind Indigo that crossing lines could lead her to join the skulls.
Indigo pulled out her sickle. Staring for a long time…
"Did I forget something?" She asked her reflection.
"Are you vain or something?" The kinkajou's snark got her attention. "Can't ya think about your looks, like, after you live?"
"OK, why do you talk like a stereotypical valley person?" Indigo waved her arms. "It's annoying."
"I can switch to ongoing Western euphemism, if that's less annoying."
Indigo preferred the annoying valley tone.
The kinkajou scurried in bolt speed when they reached the true graveyard of skeletons. Indigo nearly freaked out when her foot accidentally stepped on a skeleton desperately clawing its way out. Her vision made her see rainbow skeletons.
Red ribs of pride.
Orange humerus of wrath.
Yellow scapula of gluttony.
Green sternum of greed.
Blue coccyx of lust.
Pink tibia of sloth.
Purple spines of envy.
The same-colored bones for all the bones.
"Very… specific. The bones have the same sins."
"It's the graveyard from the first Extermination, bitch. People back then were, like, not very mixed in sins and virtues. It was easier times… from what the grandpa vultures tell their babies before they, like, try to eat me." The kinkajou gnawed on a spine.
"Easier times? TV shows cleaner elephant graveyard's than this." Indigo inspected a skeleton tied to the stake. She looked around. The whisper-like choirs she had thought to hear were now mixed with screams. Looking down at the ground, she saw fossilized skeletons.
Indigo tried to imagine it. Thousands of demons being slaughtered, tossed unceremoniously into the badlands. Spending the next thousands of years as discarded fossils while the future generations of victims died, their sinful essences empowering Hell.
A shadow casted itself over her. The pile of discarded weapons before her had a mountain's height. Something was buried in that pile.
Something very big.
Something that nearly made her drool…
The weapons were piled up to bury something, and whatever it was, it gave her vision a LAKE OF ENVY!
"Hey, bitch!" The kinkajou threw a skull at Indigo's head. "You gonna eat or not?"
"I am! I think I found the buffet!"
"In THAT? That thing's been here longest, like, from what I heard! You're gonna spend the last hours of your shit life digging your way through a thousand years' worth of angel garbage? Just scavenge like a normal person!"
Indigo looked at the kinkajou. Several spines were being dragged by its small arms.
"I'm not sure about this… I was told about what eating a heart would do to me. Liver's not the same, but I'm not risking it. What if bones are no different?" She rubbed her hand. "And wouldn't eating bones make me… a cannibal?"
"Scavenging ain't cannibalism unless it's the same species. And those people have been fossils for a LONG TIME! Back then, cannibalism was natural!" The kinkajou broke off a couple vertebrae. Indigo sat down to look at the cervical vertebrae the critter had ripped off from the spines. "You gonna starve yourself? Because I'm eating."
Indigo bit her lip.
"Well, maybe just once…"
Two fingers picked up the smallest vertebrae she could find. Looking at it, the fossilized marrow had the biggest amount of envy in the already envious bone.
Scared, but desperate, Indigo flicked the vertebrae into her mouth. The bone itself tasted like nothing, probably due to the fossilization, but the marrow… The marrow! It was basically like chewing on a treat just to find the better tasting custard filling! Indigo smiled a bit and swallowed.
"So? You turning evil or we good?" The kinkajou asked.
Indigo felt herself. "Well… I still FEEL like myself… And I don't think I'm turning evil. Do I look different?"
"Well, ya still got one head… so there's no drugs in da bones!" The kinkajou pushed a pile of broken vertebrae towards Indigo.
Both vermin started wolfing down on the bones.
In her appetite, Indigo didn't feel her own bones stretching.
9 Hours And 45 Minutes Before The Extermination Ends
Charlie was probably having the best Extermination Day in her life. The Angels had kept their word. The patrons were surprisingly getting along well with their heavenly counterparts. Charlie hoped to speak to the one who had initiated the Mistletoe Truce, but somehow the angel had managed to engage with Husk in the longest conversation he'd ever been in without drinking more than three bottle. The cat demon had actually closed the bar so the two could walk around the garden. Husk stopped drinking all together and the two were exchanging stories and laughing by the fountain.
"I might be hallucinating. How often do we see Husk smile?" Vaggie chuckled. The two women headed to the closed bar. Nifty, Queenie and Jinx were casually talking to two Exterminators. Both had their helmets off, revealing themselves to be women.
"Hey! Miss Charlie! Miss Vaggie!" Nifty waved. "Come meet Yuri and Katherine! Yuri's grandma was in the same camp as me! Katherine was in the Civil War!"
"I was a nurse back then," the red pastel-colored Katherine corrected.
"Hi! I'm Charlie!" Charlie extended her hand, but the angels quickly bowed their heads before her.
"We were just talking about how they got to Heaven and got their jobs." Jinx gave glasses of tap water to Charlie and Vaggie.
"Oh."
"And Yuri was just saying that she died while fighting this guy who was trying to kill kids in the school she was teaching! It was earlier this year!" Nifty squealed.
Yuri slightly backed away from Nifty.
"So… How's the redemption program going?" Katherine asked Charlie.
"Well, many demons recently signed up, as you can see!" Charlie smiled. "And seeing you today might inspire more!"
"So… nobody yet?"
Charlie lowered her head.
"What Kitty means, in her too blunt approach," Yuri glared at her colleague, "is that achieving goals can still take some time. You're persevering, and you have more demons trusting you."
Charlie's smile widened.
"So you think demons can be redeemed?" Vaggie asked.
Yuri and Katherine hesitated.
"It's not…"
"It's possible…"
"We're not saying it can't be done."
"We have no clue. The supposed First Redeemed Sinner is our boss and he's an ass!" Katherine slouched against the bar. "So if redemption's possible, he probably ruined it!"
"OK. Enough about redemption. More serious stuff!" Queenie raised her hand. "Be real with me, girls. Can you have sex in heaven?"
"Yeah… with your partner." Katherine said.
"Really? You guys do the whole 'sex outside of marriage is evil' shit?"
"That and also we can't get married in Heaven."
The demons tilted their heads.
"Excuse me?" Vaggie asked.
"I said the same thing when I found out." Yuri shook her head. "Along with marriage sex, they believe in the whole 'till death do you part.' If you have a boyfriend when you're alive but you're dead and go to Heaven, celibacy forever. If you're married but you died, you can't remarry in Heaven; you basically have to wait for your partner to join you."
"Unless he remarries to some bitch, something happens, he ends up in Hell… You still can't remarry. But if you divorced while alive, you can remarry!" Katherine scoffed.
Queenie got up and scooped Jinx in her arms. "Come on, we're getting hitched."
"What? After two weeks? Queenie!" The flustered imp exclaimed. The succubus just kept walking, giving Charlie and Vaggie the opportunity to sit next to the angels.
"Heaven-born angels also can't have sex unless they found the one angel they went to be exclusively paired with for all eternity. And we human-born angels can't have kids either!" Yuri whined.
"Sterile like us?" Vaggie asked.
"What? No! It's like, you were already created and expected to breed while alive, so why breed in paradise? But we do get to create pet souls…"
Charlie's eyes twinkled. "Puppy dog kisses!"
"What? No!" Katherine fidgeted her fingers. "We literally mold pet souls to drift around shops when humans go purchasing pets or in alleys when they find strays! Basically what causes humans to fall in love with animals that match their personalities! And if not pets, it's molding the weird stuff that goes on in kids' heads."
"Cotton candy dreams!"
"Better! Ponies, Barbies, cooties, bunnies, tooth fairies, and bringing back an A+ to gain their parents' love!" Yuri said sarcastically.
A beam of light flashed into the garden. All the Sacrificers tensed.
"OH MY GOSH, WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Yuri dropped on her knees. "I KILLED TODAY, I SWEAR!"
The light cleared, revealing a Sacrificer. If the expression on her helmet wasn't bad enough, the actual gritted teeth revealed after she took off her helmet were.
"Oh, it's just Primrose! I was worried that it was Adam!" Yuri sighed in relief.
"ANY SACRIFICER WHO HASN'T BEEN PURGING IN THE PAST TWO HOURS, GET BACK TO WORK! ADAM AND LUTE ARE COMING!" Prim howled, scaring enough angels to grab their equipment and fly off.
"Wait!" Charlie cried out.
"ANYONE WHO DOES NOT WANT ADAM OR LUTE TO SKIN THEM, GET BACK INSIDE! NOW!"
Vaggie didn't hesitate once. She quickly directed the patrons back inside. Only Queenie and Jinx were crazy enough to sneak and hide under the steps' crawlspace. Husk wasn't drunk, so he dared to stick around when Ximena got up.
"Prim?" The orange pastel angel asked the blue-and-gold pastel one. "What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? What did I MEAN?" Prim was nearly pulling her hair out by the time Vaggie came back out with her spear. "Ximena, what did YOU do?"
"Uh… Well…"
"Adrian reported to them that Sacrificers were ignoring their duties to communicate with demons! Granted, I respect the Mistletoe Truce, but NOW? NOW, they think something's really up because you killed no one today!"
Ximena lowered her wings.
"I already sacrificed 333 days to perform community service at a charity I don't like, and it blew up on my face because of Adam! Are you going to have me waste my remaining 331 days to get you grace, only for Adam to tell me to 'suck it', and watch you fall? You couldn't kill, like, 40 demons? It's not even 3 o'clock yet, and you'd usually have a body count of 600 by now!"
Ximena's halo flickered. "I'm sorry, Prim…"
Husk spread his wing, shielding Ximena from Prim.
"Husk, no!" Vaggie warned.
"Eh, this bitch can fuck herself!" Husk scoffed at Prim. "At least Loud Pipes started this whole truce thing. Charlie's actually gotten to see angels and demons not trying to off one another."
Primrose took a sharp inhale.
"OK. I get you're supporting your princess' cause." Prim rubbed her temples. "But, let me say this as easy as I can. Adam. Don't Like. Any. Demon. Adam don't like any demon. Adam a bitch. Adam not care about truce. Adam can and WILL hurt your princess. ADAM can have Ximena fall, she ends up here, and she can get killed next year. ME. NOT. WANT. MY. COLLEAGUE. TO. FALL."
"Prim, relax. We can still cover it." Katherine flew in. "Yuri and I can head off with Ximena, we go kill randos, and… Now that I'm saying this out loud, I realize it won't work."
Ximena pushed Husker on the ground.
Just in time to dodge the three holy arrows that hit the ground. Demons and angels looked up.
Adam and Lute were flying above the garden. Sergeant Adrian had his holy crossbow pointed at the demons. He loaded another arrow into his crossbow and pointed at Vaggie next.
Charlie sent a fireball at Adrian, burning his arrow. He was still fast enough to dodge it.
"What are you doing? You nearly attacked the Princess of Hell!" Prim exclaimed. Yuri and Katherine quickly pulled out their weapons.
"I was targeting the vermin with our rightful property."
Vaggie growled.
Ximena helped Husk up.
"Ximena!" Adam called out in a singsong tune. He snapped his fingers. Spears flew at Husk's direction, but he managed to dodge them. "I noticed you've been too busy to do your job. Too busy talking with cats? You can literally make one of your own in Heaven!"
Pulling out a holy sword, Ximena sliced some spears in half. "I'm respecting the Mistletoe Truce! What's your excuse?"
"Let me think. My career!" With a wave of his hand, Adam summoned a luminous light to slap Ximena through the fence. The angel tumbled and rolled onto the ground. Husk flew after her, dodging Adrian's arrows. He barely dodged Charlie's fireball, creating a burnt mark on his helmet.
"Leave the spoiled brat. Her toys are the targets…" Adam sneered at the building. "And one vermin of my choice from that blasphemous place."
His spear blocked Charlie's pitchfork.
"You. Won't put. A single foot in there." Charlie hissed at Adam.
"Oh, shaddup!" Adam engaged his ex's worthless offspring into a duel. Holy spear versus hellish pitchfork.
Adrian flew after Vaggie. Yuri swirled her chainsticks, extending the holy chain to wrap around the crossbow. She managed to flung Adrian down the street. Katherine swung her ax at Lute, who held it back with her spear.
"SPECIAL DELIVERY!"
A naval mine was tossed down from the rooftop. Choosing to avoid crushing over losing to Katherine, Lute held up the black globe like Atlas holding the sky. Both angels' gasped when they heard the ticking.
"QUEENIE AND JINX TO THE RESCUE!" The imp hooted, clutching onto his girlfriend as she flew down. Giving Lute the middle finger, they pushed Katherine out of the way.
Husk shieled Ximena.
The mine exploded. A geyser of lamb's blood fell on the lieutenant. Her screams distracted Adam, giving room for Charlie to kick him in the groin. Both Jinx and Queenie pulled out umbrellas, shielding Katherine just in case. Lute writhed and clawed at her helmet. The pain Ximena had experienced on her knuckles, Lute was experiencing it all over. She felt like burning from within.
"Woo! Thank you, rando from inside, or whatever your name is!" Jinx gave a rock-on sign. "The maniac left these babies filled with lamb's blood on the roof!"
"That's my guy!" Queenie picked up her boyfriend, sharing a quick Eskimo kiss.
"You… You both protected me? From lamb's blood?" Katherine confusingly looked at them.
"Well, duh! Once you drink with someone, you become pals!" Queenie shrugged. "Usually."
Katherine's halo brightened.
"This is ridiculous!" Charlie held her pitchfork. "You're thick-headed, Adam! If demons like these brave two are willing to risk saving an angel they befriended one another, it means that exterminations are unnecessary! Killing innocents isn't worth it! You may be the First Redeemed Sinner, but you never believed anyone but you could achieve it! In a way, Heaven and Hell are no different! Our systems are corrupt, but they can be fixed! Overpopulation can be fixed if demons really find the good in them and angels give them the chance!"
Despite Lute's agonizing refusal, Prim helped Lute up. "Commander Adam! Lieutenant Lute is in critical condition! She needs medical assistance in Heaven!"
"SHE CAN GET HER FIRST AID WHEN WE'RE DONE!"
8 Hours Before The Extermination Ends
Indigo felt like she and the annoying kinkajou were getting lost in the graveyard. Eating the vertebrae had given her energy and the idea to just find Rosie's mansion and hide there. Locating the estate would be easier once they got out of the graveyard and onto the road where Alastor had driven.
But after two hours, it became evident they were walking in circles.
Indigo slumped on the ground.
"Giving up?" The kinkajou asked.
"Taking a break before I panic," Indigo calmly answered. Something landed on her lap. The kinkajou had decided to also take a break, and the teen's lap was its choice. Indigo rolled her eyes. "'Stability and chaos are your only options to determine your fate.' Ugh! Fuck Bael! I don't even know if Angel's OK, I'm lost in a place full of stuff that can kill me, and I have you as the only thing I talk with to avoid insanity!" She stretched her arms, noticing they got… thinner. "I'm really delirious now…"
"Maybe mumble how your life sucks. That helps fight the disturbia." The kinkajou yawned. "Or talk about how nothing makes sense."
"Wouldn't that just make me insane?"
"Everything is insane, bitch. Hell is finit."
Indigo frowned. "Don't you mean 'finite'? Because 'finit' means 'finished'."
"Both." The kinkajou licked its front paw. Screams still echoed in Hell. "Hell is finite and will soon end."
"What makes you say that?"
"Isn't that the way it works? You dry up an ocean, it can't feed the lands around it, so the lands dry up. Apparently, once the Sun explodes on Earth, Earth will die. When Earth dies, so do humans. Hell has limits, so the angels, like, keep coming to kill them all. And then, Hell will cease to function without humans. And Heaven will crumble without Hell and the humans." The kinkajou sat up. "I, like, just had the weirdest epiphany. What if everything isn't black and white? In the end, good and bad are nothing but chaos? Chaos with too many labels?"
"You think that's what Bael meant? I'm chaotic? But he said chaos and stability are my only options. When is chaos stable?"
"When you, like, don't keep the night away from the day? I dunno. Eternal days or eternal nights don't sound fun. But, like, without either of them, humans don't get to see sunsets, sunrises, or shit. Even here, the sky gets lighter and darker." The kinkajou pointed at Heaven's astral body. "From here, Heaven looks like mozzarella. Ya think that they, like, look down and we're a dried up cranberry."
"I'm pretty sure we're underground."
"So, are we moles?"
Indigo snorted. "You actually said something funny…"
Indigo checked her hair.
"Ya got fleas?" The kinkajou jumped off her. "Cause, like, I gotta warned. I ain't clean."
"No." Indigo felt the miscellaneous items she had hidden in her locks. She didn't feel one small wing flutter. "Usually my emotions manifest as butterflies. I've been crying so much today, yet I didn't get a single caterpillar egg out of me. I digest envy, but why aren't the other sins secreting? I'm really emotional now, and all I ate today are spines… And they were yummy!"
"Ooh, does eating envy give you superpowers?"
"I don't know!"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU DON'T KNOW?"
Indigo was taken back by the creature's sudden shout.
"Is that all you fucking do? Like, whine about your sappy teen butterflies? I can't believe I've been stalking a loser! I've been EATING with a loser!"
"Excuse me?" Indigo got up. "I am NOT a loser!"
The kinkajou scoffed and trotted away. "Please! Vermin like me has seen landscapes changed by people of power! Gifted demons like you don't exactly fall from Earth every day! You basically rose with powers that surpass the merest sinner, yet you waste it on being emotional? You realize the fucking Radio Demon came to Hell, talented, and pulverized Overlords that dominated for centuries!"
Indigo's cheeks burned.
"And Velvet! VELVETTE! I don't use social media like you humanoids, but I've seen enough billboards!"
"I don't care about her."
"Well, you could! Youngest Overlord of them all, prides herself on being the most envied girl of them all! What took her years, you could easily do it in a couple weeks! Maybe even a day!"
Your humble life clouds the envy you truly crave.
The envy Indigo craved?
Indigo gasped.
The envy she digested… wasn't the same as the envy she WANTED.
Her father's love.
Her former fans' admiration.
Humans liking her.
Vaggie nearly envying her accomplishments.
The Von Eldritch squirming.
Stella Goetia's wrathful envy as the other Goetia preferred Indigo over her.
Her hatred towards Addison.
Her bloodlust back at Bootleg Borough.
The spines she ate.
The thousands of envious hearts she could eat.
THE ENVIOUS HEART OF VELVETTE. SHE WANTED IT.
Her indigo locks turned iris. Small horns ripped through her skull.
The cambion gave an earth-shattering kick to the ground.
Purple-growing cracks emerged.
7 Hours And 45 Minutes Before Extermination Ends
The battle outside the Hazbin Hotel was still happening when the earth shook. The usually red soil now had purple cracks spreading. Streets were breaking in half. Demons started to run out of the buildings in fright, even those shielded by lamb's blood.
The Exterminators were too confused by the sudden earthquake to either hunt for more demons or continue the brawl.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Vaggie shouted.
A building started to fall nearby. Many angels flew as far away as they could, but some…
Ximena, Primrose, Yuri, and Katherine screamed. Adrian dropped his crossbow in horror.
"LORD ADAM!" Adrian shouted. "Hundreds of Sacrificers are dying!"
A boulder fell from the sky. The glowing forcefield around the hotel caused it to bounce off.
"EVERYONE INSIDE THE HOTEL!" Charlie led them in, excluding a lethally wounded Lute and a stubborn Adam.
"The vermin you sheltered caused this, Charlotte," Adam hissed. "One reminder for your doing is all the punishment you need."
That was the last thing Adam said before taking flight and using Adrian's crossbow to strike Jinx.
Queenie sobbed hysterically and Adam was gone.
7 Hours And 30 Minutes Before Extermination Ends
Lucifer was the first to hear the earthquake. He drew the curtains, getting a view of the horror outside from his office.
Purple cracks were spreading on the ground's soil. Hundreds of buildings were collapsing. The Exterminators themselves were terrified, opting to either hide or flee back to Heaven.
"Luci…"
The Devil turned.
Lilith's strong expression was now a terrified one.
On his desk, the rainbow set of phones was erupting in ringing. The Devil left them all on voicemail.
"Lucifer! Something's happening! The volcanos are being destroyed by an earthquake in my Ring!"
"Luci? It's Bee! Gluttony's sky is leaking! My subjects are being evacuated to my place!"
"Lucy, ya ****! What the shit is goin' on? Is this yer doing because of Loo Loo Land? Because I'm losing profitable areas and it ain't a fucking amusing!"
"Lucifer, this is Asmodeus. I don't know what's going on, but it's raining rubble and dirt in my ring."
"MY floating islands are falling!"
Lucifer's fists tightened.
Whatever was going on in the Pride Ring was affecting the other rings of Hell.
Well, five of them.
Lucifer stared at the one phone that didn't ring once. He then looked back at the purple cracks on the ground.
Yellow flowers were starting to sprout over the spots overwhelmed with purple.
The one terrestrial flower that grew in the Envy Ring.
"Leviathan," Lucifer hissed. "What are you up to?"
7 Hours And 20 Minutes Before Extermination Ends
Leviathan's snoring created bubbles that scared the biggest sea monsters. In his sleep, the Great Underdweller smiled under his mask.
"She's using her powers… Good girl."
7 Hours And 5 Minutes Before Extermination Ends
Alastor kept summoning black tendrils to shield him and Angel. The spider demon often struck down boulders with his baseball bat.
"This is crazy! What kind of earthquake is this?" He crushed a falling rock before it could hit Alastor.
"I'm unsure. Hell's unnatural disasters are unpredictable. Have you ever heard of Wrath's Volcanic Eruptions back in 1980? The eruptions were so strong, the orange lava erupted through the barrier and into the Pride Ring! More nutrients in the Wrath Sector's soil, but many neighboring towns were burned. Why, some say it was a leading factor for a volcanic eruption on Earth in the same month!"
"Was it when Mount St. Helens blew up?" Angel rolled his eyes. "Val had me star in a movie inspired by it…"
The earthquake suddenly ceased. The earth stopped rumbling. Nothing else fell from the sky.
Alastor checked his pocket watch. "40 minutes. Ten times longer than the usual shake on Earth. 20 minutes less than the usual hellish shake." Alastor lifted Angel Dust in his arms and pounced in the air. The Pride Ring was severely damaged. Angels fled for Heaven. Buildings had fallen down. Purple cracks coated the ring like a marble cake soaked in food coloring. The only untouched parts were the ring's mountainous borders, the distant Hazbin Hotel, the royals' palaces, and the glowing buildings of the Envy Sector's sole city. What remained of Fafnir City was a lake of purple ooze. Purple smoke stained the ring's clouds. The atmosphere looked poisonous.
"Alastor."
"Yes."
"This… doesn't look right."
Alastor couldn't agree more.
Beneath them, a recognizable Exterminator flew towards the holy graveyard. Alastor frowned.
Adam would usually notice him on the spot. Insult his heritage. Heck, offer to let Alastor go if he turned in the disposable vermin.
Fortunately, Angel Dust pulled out some binoculars from his fluff. He spied on Adam flying onward. The usually sterile grounds of the holy graveyard were now blooming with yellow flowers. A small figure was collapsed on a floral field surrounded by weapons.
And Adam was flying right towards it.
"Holy shit, it's Indigo! And Adam's flying right at her!"
Alastor snapped his fingers. The two were now in the graveyard. They ran towards the spot where Indigo had collapsed in the flowers.
"Indy!" Angel Dust shook her. The butterfly demoness didn't wake up, but she snored deeply. Alastor felt her forehead and stomach. No fever. No grumbling. While stroking her hair, Angel Dust inadvertently exposed a new feature of the teenager. "Aw, she's got little horns!" He cooed.
"Antennas, but yes, she's adorable."
Angel Dust lifted her up. Her unconscious face nuzzled against his fluff.
"Rosie's home isn't too far from here, and I know where she hides a spare key. We can take refuge there."
"Won't she get mad?"
"It won't be the first time I've done it on such a day, cher."
Angel Dust chuckled.
A white explosion came from the other side.
"HURRY UP, MAN!"
Alastor snapped his fingers and the two demons teleported away with Indigo.
Fortunate to not have collided with the current battle between the First Redeemed Sinner and the First Murderer.