A Little Hazbin 2: Freezing Over Ch. 05
Once Charlie and Vaggie burst through the doors, they are met by the sight of Niffty using a hairdryer in an attempt to thaw out Lucifer from his icy prison.
"Dad!" Charlie rushes to her father and is relieved when his eyes turn to her. "What happened?"
"Scary blue guy was here," Niffty answers before looking at the hairdryer. "This might take a while."
"What about the others? My daughter? My mom?"
"I'm fine, Charlie," Lilith announces her presence while walking down the stairs with a slight noticeable limp.
"Mom!" the Princess runs up to hug her mother and the Queen Embraces her. "I'm so glad that you're alright."
"Thanks to Emily," she smiles. "She's an excellent caretaker. Even when injured herself."
"Where's Celest?" Charlie looks up in worry.
At that, the tall woman's face fell, catching Vaggie's attention.
"What happened to our daughter?" the Fallen Angel glares.
"Celest is alright," Lilith turns back to the stairs. "She's with Emily… and Alastor."
.oOo.
Celest remained at Alastor's bedside as he struggled with his condition.
The Child knew that the Radio Demon could handle a lot of things but seeing him with a piece of ice sticking out of his abdomen had her worried. What's scarier is that the ice from his wound is spreading.
"Are you comfortable, Alastor?" Emily asks while fluffing the pillow under his head. She had bandages around her head.
The Sinner snaps at the seraphim. "What do you think!?" he calms as his gaze turns to the little girl.
"I'm sure everything will be alright, Mr. Alastor," Celest tries to give her best smile.
"You are hopelessly naïve," he looks away from her. "Just like your mother."
They remained there in silence for a while until the Radio Demon spoke back up.
"There was a plan, you know," Alastor he confesses. "If done right, all of Hell could be part of my show. Originally, I was to use the favor from your mother, but I had to waste that. But then I figured, being the Godfather of Princess of Hell's daughter could come in handy. No point in any of that now."
"Mama thought so," Celest tells him truthfully, causing the Sinner to look back at her. "She knew that you were up to something. Even Mom had her suspicion. She wanted to believe that even you had some good in you. Mama always told be to be cautious around you," she the little girl smiles once again. "But I wanted to believe that some part of you is good as well."
Alastor blinks before laying his head back down. "Definitely just like your mother."
"Alastor!?" Charlie shouts. She and Vaggie are in the doorway with the Queen behind the two. Charlie runs up to grab the piece of ice. "Ah!" she screams and removes her hands.
"Charlie!" Vaggie grabs her hands and sees that they're frostbitten.
Emily sadly turns to them. "We already tried that," she reveals her own bandaged hands. "We even tried using gloves, blankets, any form of thick fabrics, but…" she turns to the corner where the mentioned fabric laid, cover in frost and some brittle and falling apart. "A touch alone is enough to freeze anything."
"Alastor," the Princess walks up to him. "I'm sorry."
The Sinner lets out a growl. "Never thought I'd be surrounded by people who would feel pity towards me."
Ever since they entered the room, Celest couldn't help but continually glance at her grandmother. The child then takes a deep breath before approaching the woman.
"Grandma?"
Lilith looks down at her granddaughter. "What is it, Celest?"
"I think, I think," she finds it hard to keep herself composed given the situation. "If Mr. Alastor is dying then I think he deserves to die free. Don't you think so?" That causes everyone to stare at the little girl.
Lilith raised her head, not allowing her face to reveal anything. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Grandma. I know that you own Mr. Alastor's soul," Celest looks at the woman's hand. "I can see you holding his chains. Right now."
Everyone turns to the Queen.
Charlie approaches her. "Mom?"
The tall woman looks at everyone around her and eventually relents. She raises her hand, and a chain manifests itself in her palm and leads to Alastor's neck.
"How?" Vaggie asks with a wide eye as she turns from the Sinner to the Queen. "When?"
"Alastor wanted more power," Lilith turns to the Radio Demon then back to Charlie. "And I was leaving but wanted to make sure my daughter had help if she needed it. Thought it was a fair trade," she faces Alastor again. "Didn't like the smug look he was giving me as we made the deal. So, I told him never to wipe that smile off his face."
"Wait!" Charlie turns to the Sinning Demon. "You mean you've been smiling against your will."
"Of course I am!" Alastor snaps. "Even as a demon who would be insane enough to keep up a smile like this!?" he gestures to his permanent grin. "Nor would anyone willingly put their life on the line for the likes of you!"
Celest worriedly approaches the dying demon before turning back to her grandmother. "Grandma? He's done so much for us against his will. This is the least we could do for Mr. Alastor."
Lilith looks between the child and the demon. She then sighs before taking the chains in her hands and snaping them apart, causing the rest of it to shatter away from Alastor's neck.
For the first time in years, Alastor's face had relaxed. It had honestly unnerved everyone seeing him so calm. The Sinner then sneers as his claws wraps around Celest's neck.
"Celest!?" everyone shouts but fears that doing anything would bring harm to the little girl.
"Let this be the last lesson that I part with you, my dear," his face softens while letting go. "Not every smile hides a friendly face."
The two mothers rush to their daughter to examine her to make sure she's alright. Lilith quickly glares at Alastor before approaching the mothers and daughter.
After a few moments of silence, the ice has nearly covered the radio demon completely, leaving only his face. Alastor then says. "Smile."
"Huh?" everyone turns to him.
"This is my last moments," he explains. "The last thing I want to see is a smile."
Everyone glanced at one another as they weren't entirely sure what to do. But with teary eyes, Celest gives her best smile. Soon, her mothers do the same before Emily managed a smile of her own. Even the Queen offered a small one.
The edges of Alastor's mouth turn up, giving a smile without the strain that he's used to. "I've forgotten how pleasant a true smile is." with that, the Demon is completely incased in ice.
Celest starts crying over and her mother's do the same as they embrace her while Emily in Lilith just remain there in silence.
Soon, Husk and Angel Dust arrive in the doorway. Husk with a bandaged running across his back where his wing used to be and Angel with a wrap around his chest focusing on where his missing arm should have been.
"I should be happy that f(bleep)er's gone," Husk says under his breath. "But why do I feel so bad?" he slams his claw against the wall.
"Husky?" Angel reaches for the cat demon, only for his hand to be slapped away.
"Not now, Spider!" Husk starts walking away. "I'm too sober for this."