Chapter 32: Selene Vamp

June 22nd. I was in The Hazbin Hotel when Angel Dust's friend was here again.

"She's still painting?" Angel Dust wondered, "Sheesh, how much is she gonna paint on Voxtagram just for Vox to recognize her?"

"I don't know!" Cherri Bomb replied, "Shit's getting tough for her. Here, I'll go check on her again."

"Actually, leave her be. She's gone through a lot recently after her father's death. She never believed that it was Vox, but rather the electricity around us for whatever dumb reason she's bringing up."

"Alright, I guess we should. You hungry?"

"Yeah, let's go get something to eat."

They left. Does Cherri Bomb know about the artist Boris talked about a while ago? Maybe I should go talk to her whenever she's available.

I then went to work at Rosie's Emporium. Rosie and I had a chat together on Alastor. It appears she has a crush on him.

"He and I are middle aged, but I never got a chance to confess my feelings to him." Rosie said, "Hey, when you were human, have you ever had feelings for any girls?"

"...Not at all." I replied,

"Oh? Well, aren't you a tough young man? Someday, I'm sure the two of us will find love."

"Yeah…"

After work, I walked home.

"Hey little man." A familiar voice said to me,

I turned to see Cherri Bomb near an alleyway with her arms crossed, leaning near a wall.

"Hi." I said,

"Remember me?" She asked me,

"...Sugar Tits?"

Cherri Bomb laughed like a hyena.

"Oh my Satan!" She said, "Good one! No seriously, that was a good one!"

I sighed.

"Do you know anyone named Selene Vamp?" I asked,

Cherri Bomb stopped laughing.

"I surprisingly do." She replied, "She's that bat demon from Sloth who's also an artist I see on Voxtagram."

"I want to see her." I said,

"For?"

"...None of your business?"

Cherri Bomb smirked.

"Ain't you a smart ass." She said, "I like you, little man. Hey, I'll give you where she's at if you tell me at least. Come on, give me a reason."

"...A friend of mine wants to know…" I said,

"Who is it?"

"...Boris Alpha."

"Boris… Yeah, he and I don't see each other face to face. Alright, I'll tell ya."

"Can we chat later in return?"

"Oh sure! I always wanted new friends and not the boring ones like Selene or Boris. Same for Angel, he wants new friends too, ya know?"

"I can tell…"

I felt a strong connection with Cherri Bomb forming.

Fast forwarding to many months later. Bernie was still interrogating me.

"To think you would become friends with some of the most vile demons here in Pride." He said to me, "And on top of that, some of them has to be helping you boost your egos as Phantom Thieves."

I was silent.

"What do you have to say to that?" Bernie asked,

Back to the present moment. A voice spoke to me.

"I am thou... Thou art I…

Thou hast acquired a new vow…

It shall become the wings of rebellion

That breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Temperance Persona

I have obtained the winds of blessing that

shall lead to freedom and new power…"

I have formed a bond with Cherri Bomb. She's probably gonna be …explosive…

After Cherri Bomb gave me Selen's address. I thanked her and was on my way.

June 23rd. Me and my friends were walking to Selene's apartment.

"Are you sure that the anarchist gave you the right address?" Lars asked,

"She did." Boris replied, "I can tell this is it."

"But that cyclops girl is an anarchist!"

"Yeah? You and I are rebels."

"...Touche."

When we entered, we saw two paintings outside of her apartment home. They were… Incomplete.

"These paintings…" Boris said, "They're not finished… What happened to her?"

"She really is controlling herself like a puppet…" Cattleya said,

Boris then knocked on Selene's door.

"Go away!" A voice hollered inside the apartment, "I'm trying to paint!"

"Selene, it's Boris." Boris hollered, "Open up. We got company."

"Fine… It's open."

Boris opened the door. We walked inside to see a museum of unfinished art. It was kinda depressing to look at. In a room, we saw Selene Vamp herself, painting something while sitting on a stool.

"What do you guys want?" They asked us, "I'm busy slaving away at my passion."

"Now why would you want to do that to… Something with so much potential at?" Willow wonder,

Selene sighed as she stopped what she was doing and turned to face us.

"My mother is dead." She replied, "Same for my father afterwards…"

We were silent and heartbroken. Selene sighed.

"Being a Sloth demon, I always wanted to become an artist." They said, "I always wanted to impress my family and everyone around me that a Sloth demon can become a great artist… But that changed when my mother's life was taken away due to an accident…"

Selene then got off of her seat and got the unfinished painting out of the canvas.

"Then my father died two weeks ago." They continued, "Again, through an accident. Both of them died in Sloth while I'm stuck down here in Pride with nothing better to do."

We saw Selene hanging up the painting on a wall in her bedroom.

"You and I are on the same boat." Boris said, "Lost my parents and my boyfriend from those same accidents and I know who did it."

"Huh?" Selene wondered, "You do?"

"Yes. Overlord Vox."

Selene chuckled.

"I don't think he did it." They said, "I think the lightning from these wires are caused by some sort of magic in the air."

We were confused.

"You're joking." Lars said,

"No, it's just a feeling." Selene said, "Since you mentioned Vox… I also started a Voxtagram to hopefully get his recognition from my art, but no one was really impressed by it."

"...Wow." Cattleya said, "Just wow."

"So you're saying that Vox didn't kill them?" Willow wonder,

"Nope." Selene replied, "Maybe some magic did it."

I stepped forward and offered Selene a hand.

"Come with us." I said, "You'll believe us."

The rest were shocked.

"R-Ren, are you sure about this?" Willow wonder,

"I'm sure." I replied,

"What's going on?" Selene wonder,

"You'll find out." Cattleya said, "You got time to go outside?"

"Sure?"

"Come on. Ren will show you the way. He is our leader after all…"

"Leader? …Ok, I'll see what's going on here…"