Vaggie and Charlie walked into their penthouse. They were tired, defeated. They had been so hopeful. Alastor had said he was looking forward to finding out a relationship with them and the future.
Then, the gold threads and collar. Charlie wished she knew what he was going to say. 'Li' wasn't much to go on. It was obvious it was some kind of high-tier deal. It forced him to convulse, to bleed, to smile …
As Alastor had said, it was an act. He wasn't lying about that part. Vaggie and Charlie knew better than to think that he meant his feelings towards them. That was more genuine than anything about him. No, the act was everything else . He wore the mask of an unrepentant plotting monster. They had been so close to pulling out the man under it.
It hurt . To be so close. To almost freeing him from his self-crafted prison. Only to find his wings were clipped against his will even before that.
Charlie still didn't know if she loved him. Vaggie's affections were at a similar keel. They cared so much for him; to see him trapping himself for his own self-defence was painful. Alastor was better than he thought. His actions, his feelings , proved there was a decent man there.
He had vanished again, under the shell. After the incident, it was like they were back at stage one. Alastor was guarded, paranoid. He didn't dance with them. He didn't give them genuine smiles. He hid himself.
Tonight had been another date, another attempt to break through again. Alastor dodged their hands, escaped their glances, managed to keep them from even getting near him. All he did now was watch them and engage in meaningless small talk.
The door closed behind them. They stood together, aimless on what to do next. Charlie could feel tears welling up like they had the last few dates. This time, she didn't fight them. She let herself fall to the ground, teeth grinding together as her thoughts consumed her. They raced in her head, mocking her, pissing her off …
"Charlie…" Vaggie's voice sounded distant. Charlie knew she was trying to calm her down. That just made the emotions inside her boil to bursting.
" FUUUUUCK! " Charlie screamed. Flames burst from her into the ceiling, out the ceiling, up miles into the air. Her horns burst from her head, her tail whipped around aggressively. Her eyes were red and sharp even through the tears. The rage was eating her alive. If she knew who this 'Li' was, she would tear them to pieces .
"Charlie! CHARLIE! CALM DOWN! You're going to burn down the penthouse!" The words reached Charlie this time. Vaggie probably expected her to calm down. Instead, Charlie ran for the balcony. Flaming hoofprints burned into the floor wherever she stepped, her shoes having burnt to piles of ash, as she rushed out, desperate for air and emotional release.
Charlie burst through the glass doors. Didn't bother opening them. The need to be out was too much for forethought. The glass didn't so much shatter as melt in the intense heat radiating off of her.
She stumbled to the balcony and found herself screaming flames now. The anger was too much. It was the most rage she'd ever felt in her life. Her back itched, her legs felt tight; it felt like she was tearing out of her own skin.
It was getting hot, too hot, everything red and her enemy-
Suddenly she was swept up in someone's arms. The surprise shocked her enough to give her some thought back. Charlie looked up to find and equally pissed Lucifer.
" Who the FUCK hurt my girl?! " His monstrous scream echoed out over the entirety of the Pride Ring.
"Dad… " Charlie grabbed onto him for all she was worth. The tears were back, evaporating on her cheek in wisps of ozone. She let herself sob, let the anger fall off like a bird molting. The flames receded, her body shrank back down to her normal self. She choked out again, " Dad ."
Her dad held her up and looked her over. " Who hurt you?! Was it Alastor? "
"In a manner of speaking," Vaggie said, coming out from the burnt-out penthouse. Before her dad could say anything to possibly trigger his contract, she rushed, "We almost had a breakthrough and someone, some thing stopped it cold."
" Breakthrough? "
"With Alastor ," Charlie managed to choke out.
Her dad winced at his name. Still, he, too, shrank, setting Charlie down as his own flames died down. He started, "Look, I knew that he was a monster. I tried to tell you! But-"
"Other direction." Vaggie mimed an arrow. "We almost broke the monster. Then gold threads and chains came in and-"
Her dad froze. Then he murmured, "Gold? Like Angelic?"
Now that he said it… "Yeah!" Charlie looked deep in his eyes and asked, "Do you know anyone named 'Li' or starting with 'Li' that has that kind of power?"
Now he looked devastated . His face was twisted in disbelief, his mind obviously trying to forget some kind of revelation. He stuttered, obviously lying, "Well, I haven't heard of such a person!" An insincere laugh was followed by, "You know, I wish your mother was here. I'm sure she'd know!"
Charlie frowned. "Dad. This is serious ."
"I am being serious." He flew up, a grim look on his face. "Your mother knew more demons than I did. I'm sure if anyone would know who contracted Alastor, she would." Her dad rubbed at an eye and faked a yawn. "Now that I see you're okay, I think I'm going to go to bed! Big bad ruler of Hell has appointments to keep tomorrow." Before Charlie could grill him, he raced for not his tower, but toward the old palace.
"Rrrrr…" Charlie slammed a fist against the balcony railing. He knew something. He knew something . Her dad, he must have known that pact magic, the name .
Charlie made to give chase when she was stopped by Vaggie's hand on her shoulder. Charlie turned, snapping, "What?!"
"I think you should leave him alone," Vaggie warned lowly. "I think I know what's going on."
That broke Charlie's anger. She immediately turned, shocked, and said, "Really?" A flash of black against the wall of the hotel caught her attention. She looked at the swiftly moving thing- A blink and it was gone. Weird. Her attention quickly went back to Vaggie. "What's going on? Who trapped Alastor?"
"Charlie…" Vaggie bit her lip and ventured, "Is it possible that it was your mom?"
"My mom?" The suggestion was so ludicrous that Charlie started laughing. After a few laughs she managed, "Why in the world would my mom enslave anyone? She isn't even here!"
"You don't know where she could be. You don't know what she's doing . She's been gone almost twelve years. No communication, no nothing. She could be doing anything! And it matches! Li, Lilith?" Vaggie's eyes widened at some realization. "Alastor and her both disappeared at the same time. Then the first thing Alastor does is come to the hotel to help us out. What if your mom did make some sort of deal with him?"
"Pffft!" Charlie waved a hand dismissively. "My mom would never do anything like that! She's too nice and kind and wonderful!"
"You won't even consider it?"
Vaggie's question was ridiculous. Almost insulting. Her mom playing games with souls? She always believed in the idea of free will. The right to make your own choices, good or ill. She loved her subjects and they all loved her back. The idea that she threw it all away for some weird unknown reason? Unthinkable.
"I think…we need more evidence?" she suggested, sidestepping Vaggie's question. Vaggie looked like she knew exactly what Charlie was doing but let her do it anyway. Instead, she shook her head and looked away. Charlie shook the aftereffects of the intense emotion off and said, "Well, I guess it's time I go and clean up my mess!"
"'Mess'?" Vaggie sighed. "You roasted the penthouse."
"Ohhhh, I'm sure it's fine." The two of them walked over to the melted glass doors and looked inside. Charlie winced; it did not look fine. The fire had apparently spread after she exited. Everything was singed, some embers still smoldering. Cringing, Charlie said, "Nothing a fresh coat of paint couldn't solve?"
"Uh, no." Vaggie acted like she was presenting the penthouse as exhibit A as she waved at the destroyed bed. Charlie jumped as the roof collapsed into the room. Vaggie's expression intensified as she again waved at the room.
"Okay, okay! I messed up." Charlie rubbed her arm. "What should we do now?"
"First of all, we need to find you some clothes."
"Huh?" Charlie looked down. "Why do I need-" It was then she realized that she'd burned so hot that her clothes had immolated as well. " Oh ."
Vaggie edged into the room enough to reach into Charlie's smoldering closet and pull out a random dress. She tossed it at Charlie and said, "Try this one."
Charlie didn't even have to look at it to realize it was her ballgown. A gown she had yet to wear on any of their dates. It was always so beautiful, a gift from her mom for her sweet 160th. She'd never had an occasion to wear it to after that. She stared at it for a minute before she asked thickly, "Could you get me a different one?"
Vaggie seemed to realize there was something wrong. Instead of asking, she simply nodded and retrieved another dress. This one was green and plain. Plain was good right now. Charlie slipped it on, keeping a hand on the ballgown as she did so. A small wiggle later and it was safely down to her knees.
"What do we do now?" Charlie asked.
"I would suggest we go to bed, but hey." Vaggie thumbed behind her. "No bed."
Charlie sighed. "Looks like we'll have to take up a room at the hotel."
"Looks like." Vaggie peeked in the toasted bedroom again. "And we'll need to go furniture shopping. And clothes shopping. And… everything shopping." Worried, Vaggie said, "I've never seen you so angry."
"I haven't ever been that angry," Charlie admitted.
Vaggie was quiet for a moment. "It shows me how much you care about what we're doing. About Alastor."
"Yeah…" Charlie bit her lip, not sure what else to say.
When she realized that Charlie was going to stay silent, Vaggie picked Charlie up and flew her down to the entrance of the hotel. She joked, "Time to check in."
Charlie laughed weakly as they entered the hotel. They made for the front desk. The front desk agent this late was only reachable by ringing on a bell. Otherwise they were encouraged to do yoga in the back. Vaggie reached out to ring the bell when they were suddenly sucked into shadow.
Vaggie rolled to her feet as soon as they reappeared from the shadow. Charlie was not as graceful, tripping over her hooves onto the floor.
"Ouch…" Charlie rubbed her side. She hadn't had Alastor to balance on, so she was completely unprepared for the shadow transport.
"Are you quite alright, my dear?"
Charlie looked up, eyes shining. " Alastor ."
He was standing above her, looking down with his usual smile. The unusual thing that Charlie caught was he was gripping his jacket hard with his free hand. Otherwise he looked the same as he did when they split just a few minutes ago.
"Why'd you snag us?" Vaggie asked in a slightly bothered tone.
"Why, to help you, of course!" Alastor turned his back to them and spun his cane. "I heard quite the racket earlier and assumed something had happened! When you went to the lobby, I knew that you'd need somewhere to stay." He turned back around and said, "It would be rather negligent if I were to leave my brides homeless with nothing but a hotel to scamper off to! Oh no." He spread his arms magnanimously. "So I offer my home to you!"
The two women froze. Charlie was the first to recover as she said, shocked, "What?"
"We are to be married! Doesn't it make sense that we stay under the same roof, even if only temporarily?" he asked.
Vaggie and Charlie shared a look before Charlie nodded and said to Alastor, "Yes, it does."
"Excellent!" Alastor directed their attention to behind him. In the middle of his main living area was now a large comfy-looking bed with several pillows and blankets. "Please, make yourselves comfortable! I'm sure you've had a tiring night. Best to get your beauty sleep before we go shopping tomorrow!" He turned and started up the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Vaggie asked, confused.
"To bed of course!" His smile widened as he chirped, "Goodnight my dears!" before he vanished up the stairs.
Charlie sighed in disappointment while Vaggie rolled her eyes and said, "It's Alastor. What did you expect?"
"Well, at least we're staying with him?" Charlie said hopefully.
"Yeah, and he's so defensive that he could solo a football team. He'd block all the goals we try."
Nodding, Charlie went and jumped on the bed. WOW! It was super soft! So were the pillows, like it was filled with Angel feathers!
She tried not to think that that might be exactly what it was. She felt like she should be excited for a sleepover but found tiredness creeping into her bones. A yawn escaped her as she bundled down in the blankets. Charlie reached out for Vaggie. "Come to bed?"
Vaggie closed her eye and hopped on the bed. She let herself sink into the softness. "Alastor has good taste in bedroom things."
"Yes, he does," Charlie agreed sleepily. She grabbed Vaggie and pulled her close like she did every night. And, as always, she left a soft kiss behind her right ear. "Good night, Vaggie."
Vaggie snuggled into her. "Good night. Love you."
"I love you too."
As Charlie drifted off to sleep, she couldn't help but think there was room enough in the bed for one more.