Wings of Hell

by Emersonian

Ines Coeurdor is a uniquely good girl. However, when her father was supposed to tell her a secret on her sixteenth birthday, she gets murdered. Reborn in Hell as Indigo Caligo, an owl butterfly demon, she deals with panicked anxieties as she finds shelter in the Hazbin Hotel, where she meets demons acting as second family while she tries to understand why she's in Hell with no sin.

48. The Bloody Countess

Chapter 48: The Bloody Countess

[ Weird Recap]

Previously, on WINGS OF HELL! You followed the misadventures of Ines Coeurdor. She died on her birthday, cue the tearjerking emojis! To hide the vulnerable self, she called herself Indigo Caligo!

SOOO MAAAANYY people don't like Indigo! Mammon's nephew and his serpentine boyfriend tried to kill her yesterday, Bael dropped her into a river of fire, and Velvette hated her at first sight! So much hatred!

SCAARRRY part ever, our fanfic's unfortunate protagonist and the canon main cast have no idea of that the bitchy cutie is actually the granddaughter of Leviathan, the Sin of Envy! That's right, her demon mom intentionally fucked up her human daddy so Indigo could be some kinda apocalypse maiden that will cause Leviathan to go all Thanos and rebuild the three realms into an Empire of Envy! And he ate ALL his grandkids, so there's only Indigo AND her half-twin! So weird, she and August are twins from the same mother but different parents! How crazy is that?

Meanwhile, the canon cast has been up to some CRAAAZY shit. Charlie saw two demons go to Heaven, Vaggie owes so many apologies, Nifty simped for Indigo's Frankenstein scorpion Scrunchy, Husk drank a lot, Fat Nuggets was cute, and while ALL THIS IRRELEVANT NONSENSE WAS HAPPENING, a lot of maybes are leading Alastor and Angel Dust closer to one another. Good thing pairing an asexual Overlord and a gay pornstar only happens in fanfics, right? How will the obsessive Vox handle such competition? This is why you should never pine for your own rivals, people!

Clock is ticking, people? Will Charlie send more demons to Heaven? Will Leviathan's plan succeed? Will Indigo find out why she's in Hell and who her family really is? Will Cain ever come out clean? Will Stolas' emo daughter with so many issues finally confess her feelings for Indigo? Will Stolas and Blitz ever patch things up? And most importantly, can we imagine Bryce Tankthrust going through this recap?

Find out NOW!

The next day, just around 11am

It would an understatement to say that Hell was heavily messed up right now.

The recent Extermination had the biggest casualties in history, and the angels barely killed anyone. An earthquake did. Buildings had collapsed onto one another. Shops fell in sinkholes. The Ars Goetia came out of their secured palaces to find Runesville in ruins. Wrath lost too many volcanoes, and Satan got overwhelmed by imp farmers begging for help. Bee-Lzebub was worried about her ring's resources, but she was prioritizing the emergency aid her people needed. So much cash had fallen into the cracks, people were desperately looting banks in Greed. Like Bee, Asmodeus had prioritized his people's safety, but the chain reaction from the rings above had made it rain boulders, destroying several properties and shops. Sloth's floating islands succumbed to gravity, forests were destroyed, and the Baphomet demons working at the hospitals were piled with patients. The Isles of Envy suffered as well, but not enough for Leviathan to care.

Devouring another victim's heart, Leviathan focused more on the current drama happening in the Pride Ring, courtesy of his second favorite in-law.

In the Pride Ring, at the press conference

The cameras quickly turned on the moment Lizzie Von Ouroboros, wife of the Grand Duchess Oizys Ornithoptera Von Ouroboros, climbed up the stage.

Like her brother-in-law Cain, Lizzie was a sinner who ascended to the immortality of a Deadly Sin. Though historians and the church would say otherwise (for obvious reasons), Lizzie was once a cruel countess reviled as a vampire for torturing innocent virgin peasants, killing them, and bathing in their blood to achieve eternal youth. Her sadism and bloodthirsty antics had attracted the most sadistic of Leviathan's daughters.

The cameras flashed while the white-scaled demoness strutted her way to the stage. Her red ponytail of living leeches terrified the demon welcoming her to the podium. Her strapless dress was made of her signature terrifying fabric: darkest purple with a living pattern of dripping blood. Her black wrist ruffled gloves exposed the red, black, and purple dragon tattoos coiling her arms.

"Lady Lizzie! Lady Lizzie!"

"Lady Lizzie!"

"Lady Lizzie!"

Lizzie held her hand out, silencing the reporters.

"Insignificant journalists from the lowest classes…" She began… and leaned against the podium. "Ask away! It's no biggie!"

"Lady Lizzie, what are your thoughts on the recent Extermination?"

"Lady Lizzie, how badly would you describe the current status of the sin polls?"

"Lady Lizzie, some are suspecting yor father-in-law to be responsible for the earthquake!"

"Lady Lizzie, what are your thoughts on your thoughts on the Velvetok videos validating evidence that two demons were successfully rehabilitated by the daughter of Leviathan's rival?"

"Lady Lizzie, what is your nephew doing right now for N.V?"

"People, people, people." Lizzie gestured the journalists to quiet down. "Lazíts! Chillax!" She gave a big smile, revealing her crimson fangs. "I understand your concerns and mistrusts, but I must be biased in my statement. We all just suffered unrealistically high damages. It's not just affecting the Deadly Sins and their families. No, no!" She gestured to everyone present in the room. "It affects everyone in Hell, from the legszegényebb imp to the leggazdagabb Goetia. It affects you, your neighbor, the whore you slept two nights ago, and the Overlords who own you!"

Lizzie clasped her hands, pouting a bit. "The fear demons have for Leviathan is understandable. Second after Lucifer to be most feared. Feasting on the envy he can find… But when you think about it, how could Leviathan possibly be responsible? -66% on the sin polls right now? The data right now is based on quantity, not quality! He's starving right now! How long until the other rings retaliate, because of something that happened in THIS ring?

"I don't blame Lucifer. I blame all of Hell!" Lizzie stopped smiling. Gripping too hard on the podium started showing some cracks. "I blame the low ranks that think they can satisfy sin polls in numbers! Last time I checked, the Great Wall of China wasn't made out of cheap rocks! It took the finest, purest granite and marble to craft it, allowing it to survive for centuries!

"I personally believe that if Hell wasn't weakened by such cheap blasphemy, more demons would have survived that earthquake! And the easier morsels demons become, the less Heaven fears us! Improve your sins in quality rather than quality, and we will all strengthen Hell!"

Many reporters in the audience clapped.

"Lady Lizzie!" A reporter called out. "The Overlords are generally the main influences for sin polls in the Pride Ring. How would you describe their involvement in the crisis?"

"Középszeru." Lizzie checked her nails. "Average. Disappointing. If I were to point fingers, and I totally will, it will be the Vees!"

Meanwhile, in the Vees' shared HQ

Valentino and Velvette were in Vox's core room, watching the press conference. Velvette gripped tightly on her phone.

"When Vox and Velvette became Overlords, Lucifer permitted them to work with my family on managing the envy sin polls, reassuring both Leviathan's hunger AND Lucifer's superiority! And what did we get? Redundant marketing, pornos with actors barely worth the jealousy, shitty Barbie dolls as the next fashion trend? And Valentino's infestation issue, freezing his business? They might be among the fairly newer Overlords, catching up with the latest trends of human depravity, but I've seen old-timers do a better job!"

At the press conference

"Lady Lizzie!" Another reporter got a turn. "What are your thoughts on the Hazbin Hotel?"

Meanwhile, at the Hazbin Hotel

Many patrons were surrounding the television in the parlor to watch the press conference while the staff members and the newest additions chose to observe from Charlie's office.

"How the fuck did they get a video?" Vaggie gestured to the screen. Somehow, somebody had their Hellphone on livestream yesterday, and just HAPPENED to be outside when the angels had flown away from the Hazbin Hotel with the now-angelic Queenie and Jinx. The video had gained 666K views (shares included). The press had even managed to acquire the redeemed ones' original profile pics, so thanks to some fucking rando, EVERYONE in Hell knew that an imp and a succubus, lowest in the hierarchy, had beaten sinners in the Princess of Hell's goal.

"Props for Charlotte, but I'll pay attention to her charity when we get our sin polls back on track!" Lizzie dismissively brushed it off. "Since we are subject matter of family failures…" Lizzie inhaled. "I have tragic news…" She sniffed. "Because of the sin polls… And he got hungry… LEVIATHAN ATE ALL OUR CHILDREN!" Lizzie cried on camera, her mascara leaking. The crowd gasped. "All the children I bred with my wife… And Nemesis' kids… And Phthonus'… Our failure as a realm made Leviathan eat his own descendants! That means that, by technicality, or shit… Because the bitch was hiding in Envy-Carlo during the Extermination, INVIDIA'S WEAK SON IS GONNA BE HIS HEIR!"

Lizzie was crying hysterically on camera. Static switched it to 666 News.

"And there you have it, people!" Katie Killjoy told the audience. "Leviathan went all cannibal on his own grandbabies, and now his only heir is a nerdy bitch with no social life! Coming up next, Lucifer and the Deadly Sins are planning to meet up at the Lust Embassy in the Lust Sector to figure out what the shit they will do next! We don't give a fuck about the Hazbin Hotel right now, because a Hellborn immigrating to Heaven is not the same as human souls 'fixing themselves'. Now for the weather!"

Husk switched the screen off.

"And I thought the C.H.E.R.U.B ad was tacky…" Katherine said.

Charlie shrank in her seat.

"Hun, it's gonna be alright." Vaggie held Charlie close to her.

"But… with everything…"

"What happens with the sin polls isn't your problem to worry about. Everyone in Hell saw the video. So sinners will want to come…"

"But what if they're right? Katherine and Ximena sacrificed their holy nature for them… It's not the same as demons working to redeem themselves…"

"Either that or Queenie would have committed suicide to be with Jinx," Katherine pointed out. "Right, Ximena?"

By the window, Ximena was hugging herself. Her eyes looked out to a thousand yards. Her shuddering sounded like hissing.

"Xi?"

"HUH?" Ximena exclaimed.

"It's only been half a day. Why are you like this?"

"My life is flashing before my eyes, but instead of the good things about it, I only see the shit!" Ximena suddenly screamed. "HOW ARE YOU THIS CALM?"

"Xi, I don't even know why I'm a bluebird demon, I was a redhead when I died!" Katherine showed her feathers. "At least yours makes sense, you were Mexican… Oh, shit… I'm being racist."

"NOOOOO!" Ximena snarked. "A Union nurse like you?"

"OK!" Charlie clasped her hands, a binder slamming right onto her desk. "We only have until the end of the year before the next Extermination, so we have to work NOW! And Kat, Xi, it would mean SO MUCH if you could help us! Coach sinners, you know?"

"Of course we will." Katherine opened the binder. "After all, we've lived in Heaven for… WHAT AM I LOOKING AT?" The ex-angel flipped through the pages. "Crackhead vs sweet kid scenario? Get-to-know-one-another songs? Trust exercises? SHOW AND TELL?" Katherine slammed the binder shut. "Are you kidding me?"

"That bad?" Charlie nervously asked.

"Charlie, you're trying to redeem sinners! Not a bunch of kindergarteners who are destined for juvie because they skipped naptime!"

"AAAW! Now I miss the kindergarteners in Heaven!" Ximena whined.

"Yeah, no!" Katherine pulled up a chair. "No, we are going to figure a proper plan, BASED on your patrons' actual problems! If you want to rehabilitate them, being condescending is not going to work! Also, these are heavy clichés! The human souls who ascended are in Heaven because they didn't ask to go there! Putting others before themselves, seeing Earth for how gray it is! The aggressive paperwork! Do you have any idea how behind schedule the system is, because the systems of good and bad are so complex! NOTHING IS THE SAME ANYMORE!"

…

Valentino hadn't wasted a moment.

Once midnight had struck, he immediately ordered his employees to come to the studio. He wanted his profits. He wanted people to remember his status.

His star whore got out of the dressing room.

Vox and Velvette saw his toothy grin.

"Guess Angel satisfied the Prince of Greed, huh?" Vox guessed.

"Yes, and we made plenty of recoveries!" Valentino happily counted bills. The actors took their positions. Angel Dust took off his robe, laying down on the bed.

"ALRIGHT! LET'S GET THIS SHIT STARTED! ACTION!"

The studio darkened. Angel Dust did his most dramatic, faking being asleep while having a wet dream. A canine porn actor headed towards the bed…

"BOOOOORRRRRIIINNNNG!"

"Cut!" Valentino screamed, bolting from his chair. "Which bitch interrupted? WHICH ONE OF YOU MOTHERFUCKERS NEEDS A SESSION?"

The lights turned towards the shadow that had spoken. The Three Overlords gasped in fright.

When the year was ending, the Vees had been accosted by Mammon's nephew. Now, one of Leviathan's daughters-in-law was appearing in their turf. On Valentino's sector. And it was the same royal dame who had badmouthed Vox and Velvette.

"Lady Lizzie!" Velvette exclaimed. "We… Welcome…"

"Not interested!" Lizzie gave Velvette the middle finger. The employees tried to make themselves scarce as she strutted towards them. Her eyes looked around the set. "Really? Pink silk curtains? Polyester pillows?" She lifted the cape the canine porn actor was wearing over his nude self. "And WHAT is this tacky heart pattern?"

"Well…"

"Velvette, I'm disappointed!" Lizzie tutted. "I told you! Bleeding hearts are the enviest heart shapes, and those who see someone wearing it will have their hearts bleeding with envy? Why didn't you take my advice?"

"Our set designers are among the finest in Hell," Valentino said. "I can fire them!"

"And I suppose you'll fire all your kurvák?"

Valentino didn't know how to respond.

"Hungarian for 'whores'," Vox helped.

"Oh! Well, your Majesty! Most of my whores are brand new, so they need extra touches." Valentino gestured to Angel Dust, who was still on the bed. "Though I'm sure you'll find my Angelcakes to be…"

"Average." Lizzie checked her nails.

Angel Dust was a bit offended.

"AVERAGE?" Valentino's eye twitched. "MY BEST MONEYMAKER?"

"Hey, great for your contributions for the Greed polls, but my business is Envy." Lizzie shrugged, sticking her tongue out. "And I'm not saying this because I'm married to a woman, but I've seen better envy from succubi dancing at Ozzie's. A bunch of demons died." She sighed dreamily. "The carnage provoked by envy… So unless your porn can convince me that demons would literally kill out of envy whenever they see an actor or a client fucking your moneymaker, I'm not interested in you, Valentino. 'What isn't envied or envious is useless.' Family motto, you know?"

Lizzie strutted her way to the door.

"Vox, I got nothing to say to you." Lizzie smirked on her shoulder. "Except, you know, answer my nephew's phone calls and all. I don't really give a shit about him, but because he's now Leviathan's ONLY heir… Yeah, just do whatever August wants. He's less weepy than Charlotte."

"Yes, Milady!" Vox bowed.

"Oh, and Velvette?"

Lizzie's leech hair extended, morphing into a monstrous snake that trapped the female Overlord in its coils. Struggling to fight, Velvette whimpered as the sentient hair showed off its seven layers of teeth.

"'What isn't envied or envious is useless.' Lose the envy of everyone in Hell, and you will be replaced! I can easily poach out a more qualified girl! Megért?"

"Y… Yes! Yes, Lady Lizzie!"

Lizzie's hair dropped Velvette mercilessly. Vox and Valentino helped her up.

"Viszlát szukák!" Lizzie cheerfully flipped the bird at the Overlords. She slammed the door behind her, crushing the wall in the process. She was gone by the time the dust cleared.

Velvette hyperventilated. Vox walked her out.

Out of instinct, expecting the worst, Angel Dust lied down and opened himself out.

Later in the day

His whole body ached by the time he left the studio. At least Valentino had been honest about receiving a few bills from…

Angel Dust gritted his teeth.

Why did the shitty royals have to be involved with Val this week?

Lizzie Von Ouroboros calling him an average whore to Val's face.

Addison…

Angel Dust hated Mammon's nephew more than Leviathan's daughter-in-law. Charlie's behavior was refreshing…

Angel Dust counted his bills. 40 souls. Enough to get more food for Fat Nuggets, but not much for Indigo… What could he even get her today of all days? He'd been left out of a loop for a whole month about her condition…

He could remember Alastor holding his hands before the spider left for work. He wasn't smiling when he suggested that they spoke of it after Angel Dust returned from work.

Angel Dust and Alastor had woken up to find she locked herself in her room.

As he got closer to the Cannibal Colony, he tightened his coat. The locals looked at him in distaste but minded their business. Angel Dust paid no mind to it. At least the cannibals were more civilized than his clients. Many were picking up yesterday's corpses, dropping them in carts, and pushing them to the nearest meat shop. Chimney sweeps scrubbed out puffs of soot. Some watched the daughters of Carmilla Carmina, another Overlord, collect discarded angelic weapons.

How did Angel not notice Indigo had a holy weapon?

How could his sweet girl turn into a monster?

He passed a bakery. An employee was starting to hang some green, yellow, and purple wall decorations on the window displays. Another came out to place a sign by the outdoor table.

Mardi Gras Period Sales

Vegan pastries, traditional beignets, and our King's Cake.

Options of New Orleans' style or classic frangipane.

Rated on N.V as the enviest King's Cake in all of Cannibal Colony!

Catering services available until March!

Angel Dust looked at the sign. Then at his money.

…

Indigo mercilessly devoured the frangipane.

Angel Dust couldn't tell if it was to chow down her trauma or because she needed to eat…

"You spent your first earnings on her…" Alastor shook his head. "Angel, why? I said we'd talk about this!"

"We will. After she's done…"

Indigo shoved the last slice down her throat, coughing out some pieces.

"Indy! Not so fast!" Angel grabbed the plate when she tried picking off the crumbs. "You'll get a stomach ache! Fuck, Al, is this how it is every day?"

"Skipping a day's worth of meals will aggravate her hunger." Alastor shook his head. "She attacks when she is starving for envy. An envious heart becomes an easy target…"

"And you realized this when?" Angel Dust crossed his arms.

"Potentially? When she nearly strangled your brother. Officially? Yesterday, when faced before four demons, she targeted Mimzy…"
"I can't believe you didn't tell me! Her safety was the main thing we could agree on, and you didn't tell me that she has an eating disorder?"

"Sin-devouring is no disorder, Angel. It is no longer permitted among demons other than the sins' families. She could be killed just for having it."

"Still, you could have told me!"

"My existence is a mistake."

Indigo's trembling voice caught their attention.

Her grip on the table made the wood crack. Her eyes were widened by her trauma.

"Ines?" Alastor approached her.

"My existence is a mistake…" That mantra was having her block them. "My existence is a mistake… My existence is a mistake…"

"She's losing it!" Angel realized. "Al! Raise your static! NOW!"

Alastor's eyes shifted into radio dials switching to the maximum volume. Static scratches echoed violently throughout the tower and broadcasted throughout Hell. Bystanders covered their ears in agony while anything with a glass surface broke.

The static didn't do that much for Envy's ocean, and Leviathan relaxed in his nap.

Back in the tower, Angel's theory was proven correct. Indigo was covering her ears, distracting her from her spiraling, and fell on the floor. "IT'S TOO LOUD! TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF!"

Alastor ceased the audio carnage. Angel unplugged his ear, revealing a pair of pink noise-cancelling earbuds.

"Look, your reaction is understandable. I get it, OK?" Angel Dust lifted Indigo back on her feet. "But you're not a mistake."

"You don't get it!" Indigo pulled away from him.

"I know! But neither do you!" He grabbed her by the shoulders. "Ya know how many Exterminations I've been through? Or Alastor? We've dealt with this nearly 100 fucking times! I mean, Hell was insane during MY first one! Ya have any idea what Hell looked like just after World War II?"

"The stock market crash of 1929," Alastor added.

"But I wasn't there!" Indigo lashed out, her blue eyes reddening from her sobbing. "I wasn't there for demons to act like I'm their new favorite to target! I wasn't there for someone to become bait because of me!" She pointed at herself in hatred. "You wouldn't have left if you didn't have to worry about me! You wouldn't have been used as bait! You and Alastor wouldn't have to find me while everyone was dying! I nearly killed you guys, Angel! Because of my stupid craving I never asked to have! I'd lose it if I attacked someone else, but I'd rather die if I killed you guys even by accident!"

"Indy…"

The telephone rang.

"I'll deal with this up in my tower." Alastor teleported away.

Angel cupped his upper hands-on Indigo's cheeks. "Listen… Yesterday was horrible. It'll scar ya. But…" He wiped the tear off Indigo's eyes. "You going just to save me? If I never knew ya, I'd call you crazy! But you were so brave… You didn't think once about yourself, and I've met a lot of narcissists! Your… diet is strange, but… You're still the sweetie we met a month ago. OK, you got a little crazy… But you're still you! And when you went all psycho, yesterday? Ya heard us, and YOU fought back!" He chuckled. "Sei coraggiosa, piccola farfalla."

Indigo started to smile a bit.

"But you are SO GROUNDED!" Angel Dust shook her. "NEVER scare me like that again! And don't touch another holy weapon without telling us!"

"OK…"

He sighed and let her go. "I'm just as confused as ya are, but we'll figure this situation out. OK? No more going behind our backs."

"OK…" Indigo nervously rubbed her hands. "Angel?"

"Yes?"

"Is it…" Indigo hesitated. "Is it bad if I'm not ready to go back to the hotel?"

Up in the radio tower

"Why, that's remarkable news!"

Alastor did find it to be remarkable news.

Charlie had just called, urgently asking when they'd return to the Hazbin Hotel. Apparently, during the Extermination, two demons had been reformed and guided to Heaven. The princess sounded over the moon.

"Angel Dust and I will come by tomorrow unless work summons him. Indigo? Our young fellow had quite a shaking experience."

He wouldn't dare say to Charlie that he'd basically failed. Ines had been outside.

The Exterminators had hunted her specifically.

She nearly killed Mimzy.

A whole day of physical and mental suffering because she had to save Angel when Alastor couldn't.

"We thought it might be best if Indigo stayed a bit longer. The poor dear is still shaken by her ordeal. Yes. I will share to them your greetings. Stay well, Charlie!"

Alastor hung up the phone.

Stay well? STAY WELL?

At this rate, the Goetia would be pulling Ines away from them if Paimon found out about yesterday. Alastor lived to be entertained by other demons' misery, but such a loss would be worse than boredom. And from Charlie's words, what happened at the hotel yesterday was broadcasted on the electronic media. The hotel could be swamped, and that blasted scorpion had made his mistress an icon! Mammon's nephew had clearly targeted her…

Then again, there is ONE thing he could try. Fortunately, he had in his station the book he'd been reading frequently at the hotel.

Pressing his hands together, Alastor emitted a signal. His tower sent it specifically to one building in the Pride Ring's Gluttony Sector. His mouth formed his usual, confident grin. The building he was connecting with was the only one in Hell to receive his message.

Alastor waited a while after the transmission was sent.

It took a minute for the telephone to ring.

"Salutations! This is the Radio Demon! How may I entertain you?"

"By not wasting her time. She'll meet with you tomorrow afternoon after she's done."