The complete devastation on Charlie's face is something Cattaleya has to swallow as she tells the Princess she has changed her mind. That she would not be joining them in their visit to Heaven. "I uhm… Don't really know what to say, Catty. I thought you were on board and you would've been a great help honestly. Dad actually agreed but with the terms of you being there…"
"I am sure we can find another way of my points coming across without me being actually physically present. I can help you write your defense." Cattaleya offers instead but Charlie looks not that enthusiastic about it. Which she understands. Their arguments will lose strength without her being there to counter whatever they say.
"May I ask… Why did you change your mind? Did Alastor make you?"
Cattaleya sighs as she frowns. "Why do you all keep assuming Alastor makes me do things? Does Vaggie make you do things?"
Charlie's eyes widen before quickly shaking her head. "No, but-"
"What's the 'but'?" Cattaleya interrupts, actually feeling a form of irritation growing. "I love Alastor. And he loves me. Wouldn't you do anything you can for the one you love? He would have let me go, just like he did with Vox. But I am not going to push him through such anguish. I will not be the one that hurts him if I can prevent it. So I made the decision. I chose to take care of the one I love. Nothing, not even the saving of millions of souls, has priority over him. I will help you where I can to the limits I have set." She doesn't even wait for a reply, having made herself clear as glass, before she leaves the office.
Perhaps she has reacted a bit fierce, but when it comes to Alastor and their relationship she can't help but want to defend it like a lioness does her cub. It means too much to her. What they have is something precious she has never had before. And she will be damned if she lets others think vile about it in any way, shape or form. Speaking of the devil in question. He is casually leaning against the wall, pretending to find his cane very interesting.
"Eavesdropping?"
"No, just hovering in the halls till the moment I have you near me again. Counting the dreadful lonely seconds." He grins widely with a playful twinkle in his eyes.
Cattaleya rolls her eyes lovingly as she hooks her arm in his. "Dramatics."
"Dramatics? Truths! It is such a dull sullen time without you. In which I can only pout and whine about the loss of your magnetic presence which amuses me so." Again she rolls her eyes and smiles softly. Though it slowly drops as her mind wanders back to the conversation. "What is making your smile droop upside down? Dissatisfied with your decision?"
Immediately she shakes her head, not wanting him to think that for a fleeting moment. "Not at all. I stand fully behind my decision. I could never regret choosing you instead of anything else."
His heart skips a beat and his smile widens a tad, his voice lowers. "What has you troubled then?"
She grimaces a bit before asking a question in return. "Will people forever assume that every decision I make is something you forced me to decide?"
"Probably." Alastor answers in honesty, which has her pouting, which he does not like. "Darling, look at me. You may see an entirely different being, which in the beginning made me wonder if you are delusional or if you were missing some brain cells,-" His joke makes her let out a chuckle. "- but most, as they should, see me as the Radio Demon, which I am. My reputation known and feared for the way I not only kill, but manipulate as well. I pull strings, make sinners dance to my will to achieve whatever I want which is unknown to anyone who dares try figure out my intentions. So when they see you-" He comes to a stop in front of her, holding both her hands and giving her a fond smile. "- as pure and radiant as you are, with a sinner like me, no one can comprehend the thought of this being anything else but a deal, a scheme or a manipulation. Let them think whatever though. Don't let the musings of insignificant beings who mean nothing to us get to you. We know different."
Cattaleya squeezes his hands. "You are right. I shouldn't let it bother me. But it does bother me when those assumptions come from people who are actually closer to us… I think the only one who actually stands behind us without thinking anything more behind it is surprisingly Husker. Even Charlie, even if she claims to be happy for us, can't help but be suspicious and on guard in a way."
Alastor steps closer and wraps one arm around her waist, brushing a piece of hair out of her face. "They'll see in time." He gently kisses her, he feels her relax.
"Thank you."
"Anytime, Love. Now, smile! Your lips look awfully out of shape when you don't." Her laughter echoes through the halls.
Pages. Pages of writing. Full of arguments. Examples. Questions. Anything that might convince Heaven to reevaluate their ways. She pens them all down. And there is much. So much. The words flow out of her. It comes naturally. It comes from deep. A deep place of pain. Of sorrow. Of questions about the fairness of judgment. There is no need to make up stuff or make it worse as it is to shock them. The truth is already shocking enough. The truth of the worlds between black and white. The truth of what lies between that is not seen. She never thought herself to be a passionate person when it comes to justice, having accepted in her life that there is none. That there was no god. But there is. And this god is cruel when he claims to be kind. And her words challenge him. Challenge him to show if he had just been blinded by his own rules or vicious enough to turn his back.
Cattaleya sighs as she puts her pen down, her hand actually cramping a bit because of the force she had been holding it. Fifteen pages. She has fifteen pages already. She picks one up and looks at it, wondering where this all has come from. It almost feels therapeutic. To finally put thoughts to paper instead of fighting her way through random appearances of her feelings. As if a part of her still has not accepted the fact she is deemed a sinner… The words on the pages scream. She could scream them as well.
Her wings flex. They ache with the need to fly. To breathe.
"Alastor?" He looks up from his own papers. "Could you braid my hair? You actually do it better than me."
Alastor smiles widely before taking a seat behind her on his knees. Using his claws to brush the knots out of her hair and making a neat tight braid. "Going to fly?" He asks at which she nods slightly in reply. "Were you never fond of braids? Or did you just not wear them often?"
"I used to have short hair. Chin length at the longest with bangs. I am not really used to braiding it and you do a way better job than I would."
Alastor grins a bit at the compliment, happy to assist and be needed for such trivial things. "If the long hair bothers you I could easily cut it-" He holds her braid and she reacts immediately, jerking forward and pulling the hair out of his hand, cradling it as if he might suddenly take a scissor to it.
"N-No, I-" She looks back to see the slight surprise in his eyes. "I never liked my short hair. It was cut for… Convenient purposes. I kind of always envied girls with long hair so…" She mumbles out as she admits a slight bit of herself from the past.
In reply, Alastor leans forward and gives her cheek a kiss before playing with the end of her braid. "You look lovely with long hair."
Cattaleya does not allow the tears to form. Instead she kisses him before standing. "I won't be gone for long."
"Take your time." Though before she is gone he does add. "Stay around the Hotel!"
Her giggle follows her through the hall which has him smiling and sigh out in… Happiness. Yeah, he is genuinely happy. He is about to go back to his own work when his eyes land on the papers she had been writing. Focused and unbreakable out of her concentration. With a curious hum he decides he of course is allowed to read them through and he picks them up. As he reads, as each sentence and paragraph gets angier, more passionate, more pained, his grin slowly dwindles down. This is for Charlie to take with her to Heaven. Cattaleya's words. Cattaleya's thoughts. Her way of redeeming herself. Her past…
On one page, she paints a scene. A child, alone and starved on the streets that takes the hand of a man that offers it shelter. That child, with a knife on its throat, listens, obeys, sins to whatever ends the man asks from it. For food. For safety. For keeping its life. That child dies. And when it wakes up, it is again on the streets. This time, damned for afterlife. In Hell. Ready to take another hand of a sinner and make a deal for again the false promise of safety…
This is her. Her sorrow. Her torment. The things that make her afraid to fall asleep at night. Her way of processing it. She smiles. She says she is happy. That she wouldn't want to be anywhere else. He believes it. He truly does because he feels the truth. But… There is still that woman she had shown him. The one she hides but still holds. When she accepted going to Heaven, when she spoke about wanting to help a single soul who could be in her position, who did she truly want to help…
When she returns, he is at his own desk again. Her papers lay exactly how she had left them.
Lucifer did not cancel the meeting with Heaven, much to Charlie's relief, but he wasn't exactly happy with hearing Cattaleya had pulled out. Which she understands, but her decision was set and she was not going to change her mind. She did everything she could to support Charlie and give her enough material to present a strong case.
Everyone is standing in the lobby, ready to wave Charlie and Vaggie off, waiting for the portal to Heaven to open. Charlie holds the stack of papers close to her chest. "I will make sure this will be heard. It's… A lot. It will help so much. And thank you…" She breathes out, clearly still a bit taken back by everything Cattaleya had written down. Having felt the load of it as well.
Cattaleya smiles and nods. "You are welcome, Charlie. And you will do great. I have faith that you can do it. We'll be here, waiting anxiously to hear how it went." She takes a step back to stand back next to Alastor who has been uncharastically quiet. His lips set in a tight smile but there are wrinkles between his brows at times. His smile wobbling and twitching.
A woosh of air, before a golden portal appears. Bright white and clouds seen inside it. The doorway to Heaven. Cattaleya can't help but stare at it. It is real. Well, of course it is. Just like Hell. But it always still felt like such a far away ungraspable something. Heaven a word but not an image.
"Alright! Off we go! Fingers crossed!" Charlie says enthusiastically and waves but when the papers are snatched out of her grasp she gasps at the Radio Demon.
For a moment, because of the way he is clenching them, they think he might tear them apart but then he walks to Cattaleya and holds them out to her. "You should go." The whole room is stunned into absolute silence. His expression fights to stay composed. There is fear in his eyes. But also determination.
"Alas-"
"These are your words."
The way he looks at her. It clicks. "You read them…"
"They need to hear you. No one else can. Without you these are just words. Go." He pushes out through gritted teeth. He pushes the papers against her chest and she cradles them, before he lays his hand on the back of her head and pushes his forehead against hers. "Go heal. But come back. P-Please come back." His voice breaks as he breathes those words out for only her to hear.
Tears run down her face as she sobs, granted his permission that she didn't think she wanted. She wraps her arms around him and embraces him tightly. "Of course. Right away. I'll come back to you. I'll always come back to you." They kiss, pouring everything they feel in it. Their fears. Their gratitude. Their love. "Thank you." She mumbles against his lips.
He cradles her cheeks and peppers her face with kisses, wiping some tears away as well. "Now go. Before I can't let you anymore." She nods quickly with a wobble of her lip and gives him one final kiss before darting towards the portal.
Charlie, teary eyes as well, holds out her hand, and she takes it. Cattaleya takes a final look back, and locks eyes with a terrified but in a way proud Alastor. "I'll be back soon. I love you!"
He doesn't dare say them out loud with everyone around, especially as he is not sure his voice would be steady, but instead he puts his hand against his heart. He watches as his angel steps into Heaven, and the portal closes. The void left physically palpable.
Cattaleya stands frozen, staring at the place where the portal had been. She… Is in Heaven. He let her go. He let her go not because of her noble cause, but because he understood. He read the words and felt her. Go heal. She needs to take a deep breath to not burst out crying again and straightens her back before looking at Vaggie and Charlie, who had given her the time to gather herself. She shoots them a grin, eyes blazing, ready to fight. "Let's do this."
They walk to the gates, both Charlie and Cattaleya looking their eyes out because of the difference in color and air and overall lightness. Vaggie looks less impressed. A man with wings suddenly pops up. "Welcome to Heaven! Can I know your name?"
"Oh, hi! Charlie. Charlie Morningstar."
The man looks through his book and then laughs nervously. "That is strange you are not in it."
"My father arranged a meeting so try Lucifer. Lucifer Morningstar."
When the realization dawns the man sputters even more. Well, this is going splendidly already.
" , we can take it from here." From above, two angels descend, one that looks a bit older and a tinier one. They introduce themselves as the high Seraphims and while they are led in, the little one Emily happily chatting away and telling them how excited she is, Cattaleya is distracted by the wings. Wings exactly like hers. White hair like hers. Emily has bright blue eyes like hers… It makes her very uncomfortable in all honesty. Especially as apparently, Sera sees the resemblance as well. Cattaleya feels the scrutinizing gaze from the high seraphim quite often on her.
"May I ask you something?" Sera's smooth voice breaks through Emily's chattering as she comes to a stop and folds her hands in front of her in a regal sort of way.
"Of course!" Charlie chimes in.
"Not to you, Miss Morningstar, to your companion." Sera's eyes lock with Cattaleya's.
"Of course. What do you wish to know?"
Sera's eyes narrow slightly. "How did you manage to reform your appearance into that?"
Cattaleya is slightly taken back that Sera believes her to what, have shifted her appearance for whatever purpose? She didn't even know that was possible. If demons could have such powers. She had of course seen Alastor and Velvette change clothes with a snap but never full appearances to really change many characteristics. "I did nothing to change it. This is how I fell to Hell. Wings and all. There is nothing I changed to deceive."
Emily looks mostly curious but Sera frowns more. "I-It's true. Cattaleya has never looked different from this." Charlie defends.
Before Sera has the chance to say more, Cattaleya challenges. "Peculiar isn't it? That someone that looks so much like yourself has died on earth and fallen to Hell. A lovely topic for court which we will address."
"Can you fly with them as well?" Emily's more innocent question has Cattaleya smile instead of leer.
"I can. It took me a while but with daily practice I managed to get a hold of it."
"Oh! We should fly together! I can show you some amazing views if you want! Can we, Sera?" The girl is practically bouncing.
Cattaleya notices the pull on Sera's lips before she says. "Very well. We do still have time to spare."
Before the answer is fully given, Cattaleya is pulled a whiplash by Emily as she grabs her hand and shoots up into the sky. Cattaleya actually yelps in surprise and flaps her wings a bit in a panic to keep up with the girl.
When she is steady in the air, Cattaleya is able to take in the view. It is… Honestly very breathtaking. The clouds and air even feels softer as she glides through them. Emily shows and points out many things. Buildings. Animals. Forests. Rivers. But Cattaleya is barely listening. She just… Lets the experience in. The difference between Heaven and Hell so painfully clear. One would be truly able to rest here. All the more need for their words to be heard.
Prepared, nervous and ready to fight. The three residents of Hell walk into the courtroom. Many angels present and look down at them as they take their place behind their defense desk. Cattaleya does smile up at Emily who looks at her and gives a happy little wave. Her senses tense to high alert though when a male angel flies in, loudly yelling. "What up, baby? Saw that you went to my manager. Low blow, Karen."
Cattaleya raises an eyebrow as Charlie whispers to fill her in. "That is Adam. Like first man Adam. He leads the armies of the extermination." Immediately, her eyes narrow at the man, who grins widely in return and does a mocking wave with his fingers. "He is an A-hole~"
"I see."
Sera opens court. "We are gathered here today to determine whether or not a soul in Hell can be redeemed into the heavenly realm via means of this 'Hazbin Hotel'. Princess Morningstar?"
Charlie takes a deep breath and clears her throat. "Thank you, Seraphim. Webster's dictionary defines redemption as-"
Adam interjects immediately. "Objection, lame and unoriginal." Rude… But very true.
"Sustained. No further dictionary references please." Sera agrees.
"Right, ok, uh, uh… uhhmmmm…" Charlie shuffles through her multiple cards in pure panic. Cattaleya can't help but sweatdrop a bit as she sees all the cards are… Dictionary references. Hells, why?
"If you have actual evidence, then show it already." Adam barks impatiently. Again, rude but understandable.
"Cattaleya!" Charlie yells out of nerves, which has her wings flare in sudden short fright. "Cattaleya here has got some good points concerning redemption and judgment of souls."
"Judgment of souls? I thought we were hear to hear your hissy fit about bad souls doing goody stuff." Adam mocks.
"We are." Cattaleya finally speaks up, her voice a lot stronger than Charlie's. "But questions have been raised concerning if there is fair processing of souls at all. I have come to think that there are souls in Hell that are undeserving of the place." Lots of murmurs rise.
"That is a big allegation, saying there is a flaw in the system of judging whether a soul goes to Heaven or Hell." Sera says with her eyes narrowed.
"Yeah, babe. Just because you have feathers as well does not mean you know what in the holy hell your soul looks like and what it takes to come to Heaven." Adam's words fire her up.
"Oh really?" She purrs. Cattaleya's lips pull into something menacing, it has Adam's grin falter a bit as she starts walking forward to stand in the middle of the room. "Adam, first man to ever have lived. The stories on earth praise your virtues and ways of living. You certainly would know what a soul needs to do to earn their spot here in Heaven. Enlighten me. Tell me. As you seem so wise about it."
Adam looks completely unprepared by the question. "Uhmm… w-well… Uhh…"
"Is everything ok, Adam?" Sera asks with a frown.
"Give me a fucking minute, ok?" Adam mutters as he writes something down on a golden piece of paper before teleporting it into Cattaleya's hand.
"Act selfless, don't steal, stick it to the man…" Cattaleya is actually dumbstruck.
"Uh, yeah. Sure got me here, didn't it?" Adam laughs nervously. "Right, Sera?" he looks at her with big begging eyes to back him up.
"He was the first human soul in Heaven…"
Sera doesn't deny it. Doesn't correct him. Doesn't say a thing about the… Outrageous fucking list Cattaleya is staring at. This is… "Ridiculous…"
"Excuse me?" Adam barks.
"RIDICULOUS!" Cattaleya snarls with a growl as her nails dig into the paper. Everyone recoils a bit seeing the unfiltered rage in her glowing eyes. "Does any of you have any idea what life on earth is like?! Do you really think that these are the three fucking rules people think will get them into Heaven! Well, they don't. No one thinks about Heaven all the time. They think about the next day. How to feed their children. How to not drown in their sorrows!" Cattaleya takes a step back and runs a hand through her hair, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. "My apologies. The reaction was uncalled for. Though it comes out of a place of torment you can't imagine. I don't know if any of you have ever truly looked into someone's life after they arrived in Heaven… Well, I am sure you did. I am sure you saw happy families, big achievements, love, warmth, virtues. Seeing that you must think life on earth must be great. But seeing all that good made you blind to the bad. So let me tell you who I am." She clenches her fist. "My name is Cattaleya. The name given to me when I was three. When I had been kidnapped, sold or found. I don't remember. I don't remember my parents. I just remember the men who trained me in a fortress in the deep Japanese mountains. Trained to become an assassin. Trained to kill for their gains. I was four when they let me march on bare feet without food through the woods. I was five when they started whipping me. I was six when they started to cut my skin. I was thirteen when they ordered me to take the life of someone else. I got tormented, drowned, starved, abused my entire life. To learn how to obey. And I did. I obeyed them. I killed for them. Out of fear. Out of pure automatism as not obeying would have dire consequences. I coated my hands in blood over and over again. My skin stuck with my own blood as well. I was a child who had to make the choice to sin to survive. I was forced to become a sinner. And I got sent to Hell because of it. To suffer more. Where is the fair judgment in that? I never asked or wished to kill. What rule do you have for that? Why is a soul judged by action and not by circumstances that made a person act the way they did? Because if you look inside, take the actions away from me, out of me, I never wanted or would have done any of that. Why am I there?" She has to take a break as her voice begins to quiver.
The whole court falls quiet. Shocked into silence of the story revealed. Of the so called sinner that reveals her deeds. When she looks at Emily, the kind seraphim is actually crying. She looks back at Charlie who also has tears in her eyes but a smile on her face. She nods. And that gives her the strength to speak on.
"Me as an example may be a bit extreme but I think none of you truly understand what life as a human means. What we live through. How much we fight. You all see only the white, the pure good. But it is not a black and white world on earth. It is not as simple as to sin or not to sin. It is a rough existence of having to make choices based on given sometimes unturnable circumstances. A woman steals, you would deem it a sin, but what would you say if you knew she was a mother with a starving child to feed? A man abuses drugs and alcohol to forget the abuse dealt to him in his youth by family he had trusted. A wife kills her husband, snaps, after being beaten and sexually exploited for the hundredth time in their marriage. Those souls are down in Hell. How can these souls redeem themselves while in fact, if you pull circumstances àway there is nothing to be redeemed. Circumstances change a story. Change a life. An action does not define a soul. Should not define a soul. Because if it does, it is no wonder Hell is so overpopulated and you all here live in comfortable peace. And what purpose does Hell have anyway? To just let souls burn? To confront them with deeds done wrong and to let them feel that for eternity? They are still souls. Like the ones here they live, breath, learn. If Hell and Heaven are true then death is not the end of life but an extension of it. A time for sinners to perhaps reflect and learn. My circumstances to kill were stripped away after dying, granting me free will. I have not killed out of offensive, only once out of defense. I have not attacked. I have not stolen. I have not sinned. I have been sincere. I have been kind. I have protected. And I have found a new family and love to care for and cherish which I wholeheartedly do." She smiles at Charlie again with pure gratitude. "Tell me, do I still deserve to be there? Do I deserve to be exterminated by your so called holy hands?"
Again silence. But this time not out of awe. "Extermination?" Emily asks before looking at Sera, obviously confused. "What does she mean?" Sera's face is tight, hidden panic, obviously not happy about the revelation.
"What do you mean, what does she mean?" Charlie sounds just as confused but then anger takes over. "Don't you know that your angels come down once a year to kill us?! With him leading the way!" She points at Adam who just grins and shrugs.
"You go down there and kill those poor souls?! Sera-" Emily's smile falls, knowing it must have been her…. "- why?"
"I did it to protect us, Emily. Please, listen to me.-"
Seeing this as her chance, Cattaleya fuels the fire. "When I killed, I cried, while when Adam kills, your first man, your supposed to be pure soul, he laughs as he slaughters the souls in Hell. Looking black and white, which one defines a sinner more?"
"This questioning stops now." Sera narrows her eyes down at them, which Cattaleya returns with her own glare.
"Why? Because your sins are coming to light? How many souls have you knowingly forsaken, Sera?"
"Time for you to go home!" Adam announces loudly as he flies down and grins in an evil way that has Vaggie's stomach twisting. "Last chance, sugar tits. You will die or you can choose to return."
Charlie's eyes widen as she looks between Adam and Vaggie. Utterly confused. "What?"
"Adam no-"
"Oh nothing special, just that your favourite fuck is one of my girls. Best one of the force before she decided demon cunt is the way to go." He snaps his fingers and an orb appears, showing Vaggie, in extermination clothes. Carrying an angelic spear and wings. Charlie's world disappears from below her. Devastation does not even come close to what she feels as she collapses to her knees.
That is it. Her wings steel over, electing some gasps from the ones present.
"OH SHIT." Adam curses as he snaps his fingers and they are getting sucked into a portal. Cattaleya lodges her claw into the ground but the pull is too strong. "SUCK IT BITCHES. You better save the date cunts, 'cause we're coming to your hotel FIRST."
Charlie and Vaggie roll unceremoniously over the ground as they get launched into the lobby while Cattaleya slides to a stop on her feet. With a flap she propels herself forward, just a second too late as the portal closes. Fury floods her veins as the urge to break her way up to Heaven and claw at that grinning son of a-
Strong arms engulf her. Her whole body relaxes as she holds Alastor back in return, burying her face in his chest as she actually feels him shake. "It's okay. I am home. I am safe. And unharmed." Unharmed. Yes. But never this restless before. Never this ready for a fight. For a kill.
Agony. Pure sickening agony. He was chained at the bottom of a pit, screaming bloody murder to be released and freed of the pain. Ready to claw it out and make everyone suffer in the same way he is. Insanity. Pure insanity as he kept running scenarios through his head. Her staying in Heaven. Her being chained, forced to stay. Charlie returning with her head. It took him all he had to keep himself confined in his room. Shadows skittering with the same urge to maim around him.
Then he feels a shift. Feels her return. And not a blink later he has her in his arms. He felt like crying out in raw relief. Feeling her. Seeing her safe. His legs felt weak and he could throw up. But he keeps standing. Stays strong. While he wants to break down in her arms. Later. The time not now. As every resident listens to her. Cattaleya had to fill everyone in as Charlie had fled the second upon arrival with Vaggie hot on her tail. So she starts with that, Vaggie's… wings.
"Fucks man. To believe Vaggie held such a secret. An extermination angel. This is fucked up!"
"Charlie must be devassstated." Sir Pentious agrees with Angel.
"We shouldn't forget that Vaggie has done nothing to earn our mistrust now. Yes, she held secrets but she has done everything for Charlie and this Hotel. There is a reason why she is here and not with Adam." Cattaleya corrects them as she sits on Alastor's lap. His arms tight around her as he would not even let her get a sliver of distance between them. "It will be a rough patch for them but they need to figure it out by themselves. Give them their space." Everyone nods in agreement.
"And the meeting?" Husker asks, wondering eyes all on her. Big expectations.
Cattaleya grimaces a bit which has Alastor frown in concern and sit a bit more upright. She smiles reassuringly at him before giving his forehead a kiss. "I think we may have caused a riot."
"Riot? You went assassin bitch crazy?" Husker wonders out loud.
"No. Definitely not. Close though. Apparently, most people in Heaven have no idea what it takes for a soul to be allowed into Heaven. The news of Adam coming down once a year to exterminate us also fairly new information for most of them." Sounds of disbelief fill the room. "I find it ridiculous too... Which I screamed out. Loudly. But after that, I think I shocked a lot of them telling them about earth. About what kind of souls also get sent here. My own story…" Alastor gives her a supportive squeeze, which earns him another smile. "It didn't end well though. We were forcefully sent away as tension rose. And Adam will be coming for our Hotel at the extermination."
"I will gladly eat everyone that dares come close." Alastor says menacingly, riled up for long and ready to kill.
"It might not be that easy. From what I have heard their numbers are big…" A headache forms and she sighs deeply. Worried. Wondering if going to Heaven has been worth it as this is the result… They have accomplished nothing yet except for making themselves a target…
Feeling her demeanor change, Alastor adjusts his holds and lifts her up. "Whatever questions or complaints you have left, take them to Charlotte. Cattaleya is going to take a well deserved rest." And just like that he dismisses them both, walks away without giving a damn what the others still want to discuss.
"Thank you, Darin." She mumbles against his neck as she rests her head.
"Honestly, this is purely selfish reasoning." Alastor squeezes her lovingly a bit tighter when he feels her giggle.
"Rascal."
Gently, Alastor puts her down on the bed but instead of taking the place next to her to cuddle, he sits on the edge of the bed facing her. Holding her hand and giving her full attention. "Are you okay?"
"That is a… Difficult question."
"Let me rephrase it then. Are you glad you went?"
She closes her eyes and sighs out deeply. Is she glad?... "I am so… Infuriated. I don't think I ever felt this much disdain, this outraged. Out for are clueless. The ones sitting high up on their golden chairs in their gilded palaces are either clueless or willingly turn a blind eye to the truth. I truly pray that everyone up there is at each other's throats right now. That they make themselves bleed for their negligence and that the higher hierarchy falls so hard that you are better off living in Hell." She seethes out. Feeling the fire rise again.
"Darling, it might not be a good time to mention…" Cattaleya looks a bit worried but then she sees his wicked grin and reddened cheeks. "This kind of talk coming from your mouth is getting me aroused."
With a laugh of pure delight she takes hold of his coat and pulls him up, on top of her and gives him a hard kiss. "Have you been good?"
"Like a newborn baby. I have not lashed out at anyone!"
"Then you deserve a reward and a thorough thank you, showing you all my gratitude for letting me go and supporting me." She gives him a sultry grin, which has his tail wagging in anticipation. After only a few kisses, neither remembers the turmoils of their day.
Tensions are rising and things are shifting. I think I have like 8 more chapters planned in my head? And that will be the end of the story. I might actually write a sequel as I have ideas and schemes and such at the ready. Like why IS Cattaleya in Hell? But first, this story will end with a banger for sure! And this is the start of it. Extermination day coming up soooooon. Are you all excited? What are you favourite parts/interactions so far? Would love to know your fac scenes! So if you enjoy this story: send me a review with your fav moments so far! Honestly DYING to know XD