A Little Hazbin 2: Freezing Over Ch. 01

Charlie walks through into the Hotel Lobby with a large box. While examining the decorations. "How's the streamers, Angel?" she shouts at the Spider Demon who's standing on top of a latter.

"I'm doing my best here," Angel Dust looks down. "It help if this pussy cat would keep it steady," and points at Husk.

"Maybe if you'd stop squirming it be easier," the Bartender growls. "Now unless you want a piece of me…" the Cat Demon stops as he notices the smug suggestive look on Angel's face. "Not a word, Spider."

"Keep it up!" the Princess tells them as she takes the large box to the table set up with several decorated gifts. "Who was on cake duty—Ah!" she let out a shout as Alastor had appeared in front of her.

"Sorry, Princess!" the Radio Demon bows. "Did not mean to startle you. But I was the one in charge of the confectionery," he presents a small simple dessert in the palm of his hand.

"Oh, um. Thanks, Alastor. But I don't think…"

Before she could finish, the Sinner Demon places the small dessert on the table, and it turns into a large, decorated cake.

"This is great!" the woman jumps in place. "Thank you so much, Al!"

"It was my pleasure," he reaches into his coat and takes out a small box. "I am her Godfather after all," and places the box on the table among the other gifts before taking off.

"Wow!" a small voice marvels at the decorations. Running down the stairs is Celest with Vaggie not far behind her carrying something flat under a cloth.

"There's the birthday girl!" Charlie greets with her arms open to accept the little girl's embrace. "Happy Birthday, Sweetie!"

"Thanks, Mom," the child then looks around her and spots the table. "Can I open my presents?"

Both moms let out a chuckle before Vaggie answers. "Let's wait until everyone else gets here. That way you'll have even more presents."

"Yes!" Celest then runs up to the table. Even though she can't open them, that doesn't mean the child is can't try and figure out what's in the boxes.

"Oh, Vaggie," Charlie leans into her girlfriend. "I still can't believe it's been a year since she came into our lives."

"I know, hun," the Fallen Angel happily accepts the warmth from the Princess.

The Hotel Owner lets out a happy sigh but soon glances at what's in the grey woman's arms. "What's that?"

Vaggie looks down, being upset about something. "It's another one of our daughter's paintings."

"Oh, I love her paintings," Charlie snatches it up and briefly lifts up the cloth. Her smile soon drops at what it's showing. "Oh…" She lowers the cloth. "I thought she was past this?"

Her girlfriend shakes her head. "So did I but apparently Celest had just been hiding them. There's a lot more. And I don't think I found them all."

The blonde lets out sigh. "I'll take care of this one," she takes the painting and starts walking away.

Vaggie sighs as well. "I guess this means it's my turn to have this talk," the former Exorcist walks over to where her daughter is shaking a small box. "Celest, Honey. We need to talk."

The child looks down, "Okay, Mama," having a feeling what this is about. The girl sets the box back down as her mama kneels in front of her.

"Celest. I know what you went through was traumatizing. It still scares me every time I think about it. It's best that you just forget everything about the incident and move on."

"But, Mama, they—"

"Stop!" the Fallen Angel snaps but takes a deep breath to calm herself. "It's your birthday, Honey. Let's just drop the subject until tomorrow. Okay?"

"Okay," with that, the girl goes over to sit at the table to wait for her birthday party to actually start.

.oOo.

Charlie had made it to the broom closet where she and Vaggie had been storing these specific artworks. It's only temporary until they can get rid of them without Celest seeing it. But just as she reached for the doorknob, there was a clutter, followed by a small bang, and a laugh.

The Hotel Owner sighs as she moves away and further down the hall. "Pentious, Cherri. I told them not to do this during the party," she passes a room. "I'll scold them later after…" the Princess stops and walks backwards to the previous room to peek inside.

"They grow up so fast!" Niffty cries while getting comforted by Emily.

"It can't be easy," the young Seraphim places a hand on the maid's shoulder. "Saying goodbye to the one you took care of and raised."

"So true," Sir Pentious tells them. "The time I was away from my Eggies were among the worst. But all younglings must leave the nest at one point. Whether or not they return is up to them."

"You f(bleep)ing serious?" Cherri Bomb's brow curved in a way to give the others a questioning look. "She wasn't your kid. She wasn't even a kid. Kayla was a full-grown woman who had her mind f(bleep) with. It just caught up with the rest of her. I'd honestly be surprised if she had stayed here." That didn't seem to calm things with her fellow one-eyed demon.

the Snake Man then places a hand on Niffty's other shoulder. "How about we go hunt some of those dastardly bugs and use their corpses for a gift to the birthday girl?"

That causes the maid to perk up. "Okay!" and she takes out her knife. "I think I'll make her a belt this time." and the two walked, or slither in Pentious' case, out of the room.

"Pardon me, Charlie," Pentious bows as he passes the Princess.

"Hi, Charlie," Emily greets while walking out while Cherrie simply nods.

"So, Em," Cherri tuns to the Seraphim. "Had your first drink yet or are you still too high and mighty to even try?"

"It has less to do with me being an angel and more to do with the fact I'm nervous," she honestly answers. "I mean, if I were to have a drink where would I start?"

The Explosive Expert smirks. "I have a couple recommendations."

Charlie had just stared at them until they rounded the corner. "If Pentious and Cherrie are there, then who's…?"

The woman then looks back at the broom closet before setting the painting down and calmly walking back to the door. Her hands slowly grip the nob, and she quickly twists it to slam the door wide open.

.oOo.

Everyone was in the final stages of prepping for the party when they heard a scream throughout the building.

"Charlie!?" Vaggie brings out her spear and rushes through the halls. She comes to a sudden stop at the sight of her girlfriend with her back to a closed door. At first, the Fallen Angel lets out a sigh of relief as Charlie seems fine.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," the blond woman keeps repeating with a horrified look in her eyes.

"Charlie?" Vaggie places a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"Oh god, oh god, oh god."

Soon, the rest of the Hotel arrives.

Celest tilts her head at her Mom's behavior. "Mom?"

Charlie finally moves way from the door. "Oh god, oh god, oh god," picks up her daughter. "Oh god, oh god, oh god," and walks away.

"Mom!" the child struggles to get out of the woman's grip. "What's wrong? Where are we going?"

Everyone watches as the mother and daughter leave their sight. Vaggie then turns to the door, readies her spear, and throws it open. Her eyes widen. "You have got to be…"

.oOo.

"…kidding me!?" Vaggie scolds both Lucifer and Lilith who are now sitting on a couch with their clothes disheveled. Both man and woman refusing to look up. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves."

"What shame should we have?" Lilith straightens up, not liking being talked down like this. "No one talks to us like that! We are the King and Queen of Hell!"

The former Exorcist gets up into the Queen's face. "And I'm the mother of your grandchild!" that causes the taller woman to lose her posture. "You traumatized Charlie. What if that was Celest as it's her birthday party that you two were doing that at!?" she then covers her face. "I doubt Charlie would have opened that door if she had any idea that either of you were here."

Lilith raised a brow at that. "Why would I not be here? I do live here after all."

"Yeah! You haven't lived here for nearly two months," Vaggie raised a brow at that. "Your room has been unused for a long while. Everyone here knows that you've been staying with your husband every night. If not back at your home it's some other hotel."

The King and Queen glance at one another with a slight blush.

Vaggie then takes a deep calm breath. "But once the shock wears off, I'm sure Charlie will be glad to know that the two of you are getting along."

Then a knock is heard.

Vaggie turns in the direction of the sound. "That must be one of Celest's friends and their parents," she takes out a phone to check the time. "They're a bit early," the grey woman comments before turning back to her girlfriend's parents and warns, "We'll continue this after the party," before heading to the front doors.

The knocking became for frequent and louder before turning into repetitive banging. "Somebody help!" a woman's voice screams. "Please hurry!"

That puts Vaggie on alert as she picks up the pace and opens the door to let a figure rush in before dropping to their knees. "Clara?" she kneels next to the young Carmine and notices that she's cradling something. "Is everything all right? What's wrong?"

Clara looks up with horrified bloodshot eyes.

"Ah, one of Carmine's daughters!" Alastor pops up. "I figured you'd be at the Overlord's meeting with your mother and sister. Speaking of…" he looks around. "I rarely see the two of you apart. Where is your dear sister?"

That question only seems to make Clara cry. "She, she…" the poor woman had a hard time getting the words out.

"Clara…" Vaggie's maternal instincts kicks in a she finds herself placing her hand on Clara's shoulders in an attempt to calm down. "What happened?" she then glances at what's in the Carmine's arms and could only describe what appears to be a large white rock. "What, what are you carrying?"

Clar glances down at her hands and slowly reveals what she was protecting. Both Vaggie's and Alastor's eyes widen at what they see. It was not a rock, but a head frozen in ice and given the shape of the face, the hair, and the presence of glasses, there's no doubt who it was.

"It's, it's, it's Odette," the Carmine then brings the head closer to her chest to keep it safe. "What's left of her."

NOTE: Emily and Sir Pentious made their introduction in Little Hazbin Tales Chapter 2: A New Arrival and An Old Friend.