Chapter 1
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"You made things worse!"
Those words kept bouncing around in Charlie's head. The ugly bruise on Angel Dust's face filled Charlie's vision.
Angel Dust was still speaking, but none of it registered. A cold warmth began to form in her chest, her eyes darted from the vivid black eye to Valentino's smug little grin and relaxed posture.
'He thought he could just…' Charlie's fists clenched, rapidly lengthening nails punching through soft palms, she paid it no mind. She'd never felt such rage before. The little wretch thought he could hurt her friend right in front of her?
No. This could not stand. It would not stand.
She made to step past Angel Dust, and he all but lunged in her way. Frantically babbling and waving his arms in front of her, fear glittering in his eyes as he begged for Valentino's safety- Charlie blinked in surprise, the rage temporarily fading away in shock, as she realized Angel wasn't begging for Valentino's safety, he was begging for her safety.
Charlie didn't know if she wanted to scream in frustration or cry at his thoughtfulness.
"Stop." Her voice echoed with power she rarely tapped into.
Everyone stopped, Angel's blabbering, Valentino's impatient foot tapping, the various film crew, everyone.
She could taste the hellfire on her tongue, the crown of her forehead itched fiercely where her horns begged for release.
Taking a deep breath she made her nails retract before she reached for her friend. Patting him gently on the arm, smiling reassuringly at his frozen form.
"I appreciate your worry-" she trailed off.
Her gentle gaze turned ponderously from her friend, sharpening into something much darker as it settled on her target.
"-but I promise you I'm not the one that needs protection here." With that said she once more moved past Angel.
Her transformation bubbled under the surface, everyone in the room could feel it, the air around her growing heavier with each step.
Finally, she stopped in front of the still Valentino.
Valentino shook off his shock, a sleazy smile crawling across his face. "Princess! I don't know what made you so angry, but I'm sure-"
"Oh, so you do know who I am? That's good!" She cut him off with false cheer dripping off her words. "But it does leave me wondering, what the fuck you were thinking when you hit my friend."
"Which part of 'Charlie Morningstar, sole Princess of Hell' made you think it was a good idea to mess with what's mine?" The last word escaping as a snarl.
"I assure you, Princess, I-"
"Shut up." She growled, Valentino's jaw clicked shut. "If I wanted bullshit, I would have asked for it." Her horns slowly sprouted and her eyes began to glow cherry red, little tongues of flame danced through her writhing hair.
"Do you wanna know what I think, Valentino? I think that you've mistaken my kindness for weakness." Despite being almost half his height, Charlie seemed to loom over him. Something beyond his awareness writhed behind her, the shadow at her feet didn't match her form, it hurt to look at. "Tell me, Valentino, do you think I'm weak?"
"Of- of course not, P-princess."
She stared at him. He was beginning to have trouble breathing the scorching sulfuric air.
"Good!" She smiled, all cheer and rainbows, the promise of fire and brimstone vanishing like a bad dream. "Now, break your contract with Angel Dust and I'll forget this little incident."
"What!? Break my contract-!" He couldn't quell the anger the thought brought up. Demons valued deals over everything. "Are you crazy! I won't-"
His grievances were forcibly silenced by a crushing force around his throat. Valentino pried uselessly at the deceptively slim tail she'd wrapped around his neck.
"That wasn't a request Valentino. That contract is going to be broken, either by you, or by me."
"You can't break contracts." He gasped out, deals were unbreakable, everyone knew that.
"You're right." She sighed and he felt relief at the confirmation. "But I don't need to break the contract, I just need to break you." He swore the already blazing hot tail had increased in temperature at her words.
"You know my Dad's a fallen angel right?" She said conversationally, almost whimsically. Valentino wasn't sure where she was going with that non-sequitur.
"Even Dad's not sure what would happen if I killed a Sinner." He stilled at her words, a cold ball forming in his stomach. Death by angel was one of the few ways a Sinner could permanently die.
Charlie tilted her head, and a smile that made him shudder appeared. "Perhaps today we'll finally have an answer?"
He wasn't imagining it, the tail was definitely beginning to heat up. Valentino paled at her threat.
He caught a whiff of something burning.
"Alright! I'll break my deal with Angel Dust!"
Immediately following the vow, a chain of red smoke spawned into existence, connecting from his chest to Angel Dust's, it shattered before his eyes with a sound like broken glass and a distant rumble of thunder.
The tail around his neck disappeared.
Charlie dragged her friend outside the studio, not stopping until they were several blocks away.
She slumped bonelessly against the wall.
"I can't believe I just did that." She whispered to herself, hands pressed against her face.
"You-?" Angel Dust sputtered, "I can't believe you just did that!"
"I haven't lost it like that in a century!" She laughed almost disbelievingly, it had been forever since her demon side had held so much sway over her. A quick peek through her fingers at her friend sent a lurch of that cold heat through her. She wanted nothing more than to go back and raze-
She clenched her eyes shut, taking deep calming breaths, snuffing out the flame before it could flare up.
Charlie was over two hundred years old, she'd seen friends get hurt all the time. But this time was different. Valentino had hurt Angel Dust because of her. The guilt mixed with the outrage in a way she had never felt before, completely overwhelming her normally ironclad control.
"I'm free." Angel Dust murmured as he slid down the wall next to her, finally processing the events of the last few minutes.
"Charlie, you really are something, you know that, right?"
Angel Dust reached around and pulled Charlie into a sideways hug. She couldn't help but lean into the surprisingly comfortable hug. As it turns out, more arms made hugs exponentially better. They stayed that way in silence.
Finally, he spoke. "Now, how about we get back to the hotel? I think you wanted to do some more exercises, right?"
Her drooping eyes shot open, she gaped at him. "Really?" She asked hopefully, almost unwilling to believe she'd heard right.
"Yes, really." Angel Dust smiled at her.
This time the warmth that filled her was of an entirely different sort.
/
This is my first story, let me know how I did?
I watched Hazbin Hotel this weekend, I got super excited when Charlie started to get mad at Valentino, but then screamed at my phone when Angel Dust stopped her. So, obviously, I had to fix that.