At the Hazbin Hotel
Everyone looked at Charlie in disbelief. It's been weeks, and nothing they did worked. They tried calling in deals, making new deals, bargaining with everyone they knew. Nothing changed. And now, after Sukuna said a simple word, she woke up.
As Charlie looked around, tears started to gather in her eyes. She slowly got up from her bed, feeling a bit sluggish, but still managed to stand up. When she tried to take a step towards her friends, she stumbled and fell down. The first to run to her side was Vaggie. Of course she was the first. Charlie looked at her with tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry." she cried, but was quickly interrupted by a tight hug from her girlfriend.
"I thought I lost you. I'm sorry I didn't trust you enough." this time Vaggie apologized. "I shouldn't have kept it from you." she said.
Everyone took their turn hugging the Princess, they were all relieved that she woke up.
"So what exactly happened to you?" Husker asked her, after she managed to gather herself.
"I'm not sure myself. At first I was in some endless dark realm, I couldn't hear or see anything. Then this little box appeared, and through it I could see and hear you all when you were next to me." they looked at her confused, not understanding what she was saying. "I'm not sure what it is, but hearing your voices kept me sane in there." she said, gratitude in her voice.
"Take things easy for now, you were out for quite a while.." Vaggie said worried, as Charlie tried to stand up, but stumbled again.
"How long do we have until the Extermination?" Charlie asked. "I'm not sure how much time passed, for me it felt like a millenia." she wondered.
"We only have about a week." Angel said mournfully.
"Ohh...I see. Listen, I'm not expecting you all to fight. We need to evacuate the Hotel. Even if the angels destroy it, we can rebuild." she said confidently.
"That may be true.." Alastor started up, "But if they find the Hotel empty, they will just move on to the rest of Hell. And Adam may not be so forgiving to let you skip punishment." he finished, trying to come up with a plan.
"Adam? He's back in Heaven?" Charlie asked, confused.
"Back? What do you mean back?" Angel asked this time.
"Sukuna killed him during the meeting. Didn't he tell you?" the Princess told them.
"He didn't say anything, after the argument in your room, he vanished, and he just recently reappeared during an Overlord meeting. He didn't say where he was though." Alastor said, wondering what Sukuna's plan could be.
"Sukuna, are you here?" Charlie asked seemingly noone. No answer came. "Sukuna! Manifest!" again, nothing happened.
"What are you trying to do?" Husker asked her, looking at her weirdly.
"I'm trying to call him, but he's just ignoring me. He's never done that before. He said he couldn't because of the..." Charlie started, but turned silent suddenly.
"There was a rumor that Sukuna somehow managed to break free from your family.." Alastor wondered, surprised the rumors were true.
"Sukuna, I know you can hear me. Please. I need you." Charlie murmured, trying to reach out to him.
Somewhere in Hell
"It seems she woke up." Sukuna said, to which Zestial turned to him.
"She's calling for you already?" he asked.
"It seems. There is only one week left, she's desperate. I can't go yet. I still need more information." Sukuna answered. "I need to find out who or what they are sending. If things become dire, I'll just go Outside again. I know they can't follow me there." he thought out loud.
"Leave and let the rest of Hell get wiped out. How cowardly for the strongest Overlord..." Zestial joked.
"You know, you could join me in my realm too. I made Carmilla the same offer. Depending on how outnumbered they will be, she will accept." Sukuna smirked.
"I will consider it. Thank you." Zestial was truly greatful. Such an offer was not easily made, and he knew it.
"If you don't mind, I will go and investigate. As usual, I will give you and Carmilla some info for free. Consider it a gift." he winked at Zestial. "Don't die." he said, as he disappeared from the room.
2 days later, in the Hotel
"I can't believe you managed to convince all of Cannibal Town to fight with us!" Vaggie said.
"And you got Carmilla's help. We have the people, and the weapons. Now all we need, is..." She started, when she heard a voice echo through the main hall.
"Me." It was Sukuna. He finally joined them.
"Sure took your time, you bastard." Husker scuffed.
"Now we finnaly have a real chance!" Angel celebrated.
"Charlie. We need to talk." Sukuna said seriously.
"I know." she confirmed, and they went to one of the empty rooms.
After she closed the door, she stood in front of Sukuna, looking him directly in the eyes.
"Where have you been? I tried to call you. You said you can't ignore my call because of your deal with Mother." Charlie asked.
"That deal was over the minute you fell to the Dark." Sukuna said, which stunned Charlie.
"What do you mean?" she asked, with more force in her voice.
"The final condition of my deal with her was that if you decide to personally battle the angels, I will stop you, by any means necessary." he said in a low voice.
"But..She couldn't have..How could she know?" Charlie asked confused.
"She knows how Heaven works, she knows your father told you tales about redemption. The math isn't reall that hard." Sukuna joked.
"So will you help us? With the battle?" she asked, hopeful.
"That's why I'm here. This time it will not just be Exorcists. They will send something bigger. Maybe even an Ophanim." he said softly.
"But you're stronger now. You can handle it right?" her eyes glistened.
"One? Maybe. Multiple? Definitely not." he said mournfully. "But I will be here." he said.
"And that's enough for us." Charlie said happily.
Somewhere in Heaven
"Are you sure your Brat will not make it hard for us?" Lute asked.
"It shouldn't be a problem. I've got it handled." Lilith answered.
"I wonder..If everyone in hell dies, what makes you think we will not just get rid of you?" Lute asked with bloodlust gushing from her.
"Just because my daughter isn't going to fight, there are other powerful beings there. Do not underestimate Hell. Sukuna is there as well." Lilith smirked.
"The Erelim can handle him. As for the 'other powerful beings'...We'll see." she said in an evil smirk, and left.
In the Hotel
Sukuna was training Charlie for the war to come, but she was struggling. Sukuna was not a great teacher, even Alastor would have been better than him.
"I'm trying, but it burns my hand every time!" Charlie yelled in frustration.
"You're lacking the will to control it. Stay focused on your goal! You have the greatest potential of all the demons in Hell, use it." he reprimanded her.
"You keep saying that, but it's not that easy!" she said.
"Let's try a different way. What kept you together when you were in the Dark?" Sukuna asked her.
"It was your box." Charlie said unsure.
"That particular box was only a window between your body and soul. If you were truly lost, I couldn't have...'kicked it open' so to say, like I did." Sukuna explained. "This one however, is different. You must WANT to control it. Demand subservience." as he finished his explanation, Charlie seemed to realize something.
"I'm ready!" Charlie said confidently.
"Go on." he nodded.
"❖ OPEN." Charlie said, and a liquid flame appeared in her hands.
A/N: We're approaching the end of Season 1, I'm not sure how long I will take the story, but it will most likely include the fallout of the final battle - however it goes. Hehehe. As usual, please leave a review about what you think of the story so far, or if you have any ideas. Be sure to follow the story as well, it already has 40 followers, I wonder how high it can go. See you all in the next chapter.