. . .

. . .

. . .

"Excuse me...are you okay?"

Truth be told, Lincoln was not okay. But a good night's rest (which consisted of an apparent 17 hours―far more than the bedtime hours of a typical preteen boy) ensured that he was on the way of becoming so.

It was pretty astonishing how quickly events could escalate in the blink of an eye, but considering his former lifestyle, he should not have been too surprised at the outcome. That was probably why he preferred to be the result of escalating events rather than the cause of them. With that said, he would like to admit he himself was not exempt from this, stemming from his own selfishness when the occasion called for it. He considered even the action of saving the deer-fox girl and her classmates as a display of his self-interest.

Call him crazy, but although he was residing in Hell for a little over a month now, he could feel the violence and influence rub off him.

Slowly sitting up and shaking his head, Lincoln's eyes eventually met those of the deer-fox girl as they gazed at his injured form. He then took a moment to clear his throat and senses before speaking.

"Are you okay? You and...Mrs. Mayberry?"

"We're okay," The deer-fox girl nodded with a smile, "All of us...thanks to you."

"Don't...don't mention it," Lincoln winced as he shifted to stick out a hand for her to shake, "Where are they now?"

"They're staying at the...Hazbin Hotel, I believe?" The deer-fox girl replied as she took his hand and shook it, "Miss Mayberry's talking to the Princess about your condition. You were hurt pretty bad out there."

"The Princess?" Lincoln frowned, an eyebrow raised.

"Princess Charlie Morningstar," The deer-fox girl explained, "She's the daughter of Lucifer Morningstar and Lilith Magne. She's also the owner of the Hazbin Hotel?"

Lincoln blinked in surprise, attempting to process the information given to him.

Princess...?

Daughter...?

Hotel...?

. . .

. . .

. . .

The Devil and his wife had a daughter...and she runs a hotel?

. . .

I shouldn't be too surprised...and yet, I am.

"Okay then," Lincoln stated nonchalantly to mask his confusion as he got off from the bed.

"Wait, wait!" The deer-fox girl began to protest, "You're still hurt!"

"I'll be fine...for the most part..."

"But you were shot in the side with a shotgun! And the average human being shouldn't survive that!"

Lincoln opened his mouth to refute her claim, but he slowly closed it upon processing again the words spoken by her. Glancing down at his hands in a similar manner, he confirmed her claim that, yes, he was a human being. Again. The rabbit demon disguise he had perfected for himself in the past month no longer lingered; he had reverted back to his true form. His true human form.

Lincoln groaned, "You're right. But hey! There's a first time for everything."

The deer-fox girl rolled her eyes and watched as Lincoln cut off the bloodied bandages and discarded them in the trash. She decided to help him with applying the fresh ones when it became clear that he was struggling.

"Does anyone else know?"

"Besides me? And Miss Mayberry? And your group of friends? No, I don't think so."

"That's good to hear," Lincoln noddedokay his head, "Are...are they here?"

"No, they're not...as far as I know," The deer-fox girl shook her head, "Miss Mayberry's been trying to get in contact with them for the past few hours."

"They must be worried sick then. Wait...the past few hours? How long was I out?"

"17 hours at the most. It may go up to 19."

"Great," Lincoln groaned and applied the last of the bandages, "So where am I now? Because I'm pretty sure this isn't the Hazbin Hotel."

"You're at my older brother's apartment building," The deer-fox girl explained, "The bartender who helped you save us helped bring you here as my suggestion. Miss Mayberry stayed behind with the rest of my classmates."

"Is he nice...or a word associated with it? Closely or loosely?"

"For a given value of nice...sometimes. I could tell he's been going through some things, so I knew better than to ask."

The deer-fox girl looked up to Lincoln as she added, "If you want to talk to him, I have to warn you: he can be a little rough around the edges."

"Well, I might as well get it over with," Lincoln started to get dressed, "And let them know that I'm okay for the most part."

"I should go too," The deer-fox girl nodded, "Maybe I can convince him that you can stay a little longer if he tries stating otherwise."

"I also need to know my way around should I decide to come back here, right?" Lincoln smiled.

The deer-fox girl returned his smile with one of her own, "Sure. Something like that. If that's the case then, I think it's best to introduce ourselves. That way, we can know each other a little better."

"Good idea," Lincoln continued smiling as he outstretched his hand for her to shake again, "Well, my name is Lincoln. Lincoln Mayberry. A honor to meet you."

The deer-fox girl continuing smiling back before taking his hand to shake. With that, she formally introduced herself.

"Hello, Lincoln Mayberry. I'm Hilda. Hilda Buchanan Barnes. The honor is all mine..."

"Sera...? What's going on?"

A soft, scared voice echoed in the courtroom, one that Emily almost failed to recognize as her own. Her failure was similar in the one where she could not read the facial expression of the Sepharim whom she considered as an older sister. Sera maintained a certain kind of stoicism: blank, empty, nothing in sight. She had never seen her like this before. Sure, Sera was always serious, but this? This felt very different.

Behind her stood Adam and Lute, whose facial expressions were much easier to decipher. The latter was completely neutral, giving nothing away that would make the current situation comprehensible except for a slight smirk. The former was smiling with glee; he gave off the impression that he knew something the others including Emily did not, doing nothing to assuage her fears.

"Emily..."

Emily turned back to Sera as she called her name.

"Based on the accusations of collaborating with Hell, disclosing classified information to the demon princess Charlotte, and standing against the ideals of Heaven overall...the High Council has decided that you will be cast to the pits for your crimes."

A blunt but brutal statement was enough to stop Emily's whole world dead in its tracks.

"...What? This...this is a joke, right?" Emily managed to breathe out with a damaged smile as Sera gazed down with a glimmer of disappointment and shook her head.

"No... It isn't."

Emily closed her eyes, a few tears dropping.

"I... I don't understand! I haven't done anything wrong!"

Scoffing behind Sera, Adam continued to smirk, "Don't act all innocent right now! We know you've been in contact with that fucking demon princess slut and giving her high-level information!"

"But you already leaked to this court that the Exterminations has existed for millennia, Adam!" Emily cried out, doing her best to keep her head high, "And you lied to me, Sera! You've been killing human souls, and that isn't what Heaven stands for!"

"You miserable fucker...!" Lute growled out from her position behind Sera, her hands balling into fists as she marched forward, "We have heavenly ordainment to kill those demons, you damned bitch! If you weren't so fucking dense, I would—!"

"Enough, you two!" Sera shouted at Adam and Lute, "There is no need for profanity or violence. Stand down!"

Disgruntled, Lute crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at Emily, who felt her face turning red.

"You can't honestly believe this! I haven't even talked to Charlie since our meeting! I'm...I'm your sister..."

Sera closed her eyes, straightened her back, and took a deep breath. The older Seraphim, the other archangels, and the other exterminators...they all knew what the verdict would be. Heaven's people were in a panic, flinching fearfully away from the angels in the streets. She knew desperate times called for desperate measures when it came to reassuring the people that the matter was being dealt with, and with that knowledge came the additional fact that their trust in angels would take longer to mend.

But peace had to be maintained.

The greater the suffering, the greater the peace.

"I have no sister," Sera finally said.

The eyes of the younger Seraphim widened in horror before they shattered in a million little pieces.

"I tried to warn you," Sera continued, "I told you not to question, not to get yourself in trouble. Too much evidence is against you in this case. With that...you are banished for your crimes against Heaven. Your wings will be removed and you will no longer be welcomed into the heavenly company. This court is dismissed."

"No!" Emily cried out.

"Yes!" Lute cheered, pumping a fist into the air. At that, a pair of Exorcists approached Emily and grabbed her by the arms as the younger Seraphim pleaded.

"No! NO, PLEASE!"

Held down, Emily watched as Adam and Lute unsheathed their swords, slowly raised them up, and swiftly brought them down.

An ear-piercing scream of agony echoed throughout Heaven on this day.

Brought down to her knees, Emily sobbed messily as her wings fell beside her and disintegrated upon reaching the ground.

"Choke on that, dipshit..." Lute sneered before she and Adam were pulled by Sera, who shot an intense death glare at them both. Their glee disappeared as they both slunked away in shame, but not at the deed they committed. They both missed Emily's broken look of betrayal as she continued to cry.

"I'm sorry..." Emily begged for forgiveness in-between her sobs, "I'm so sorry..."

Her pleads were so small and childlike that it made Sera flinch, although she ultimately shook her head. Knowing what she had to do...what had to be done...Sera steeled herself and knelt to Emily's level. A single hand outstretched to raise her head, they locked eyes just as a portal opened underneath the clouds beneath her.

"I'm sorry, too. Goodbye, Emily..."

And that was that.

Emily fell from grace.

She almost could not scream, for her voice had become lodged in her throat. She could only watch. Watch herself fall further and further from the kingdom she was born and raised in, tears blossoming in her eyes and blurring her holy vision in a terrifying yet beautiful fashion. As those tears fell along with her, memories of her and Sera briefly flashed before her very eyes.

Had those moments meant nothing to Sera?

Had my entire devotion been for naught?

Had...my blindness sealed my fate?

It was only after being greeted with the sight of a blood red sky did Emily scream in horror as she collided with the ground.

Momentarily knocked out, she eventually regained consciousness. Her vision remained blurry, but she did catch a glimpse of the same blood red sky that now appeared to have a blood red pentagram adorning it. Her body feeling weak, she slowly sat up lest she extend more pain to her back. she glanced around and caught another sight, this time of blood-covered and bullet-littered streets that were in desperate need of cleansing. Her eyes then panned over to a few bodies scattered a few feet from where she was, blinking in terror as a pool of blood began to build up from beneath them.

Is... Is this Hell?

How am I not dead?

Should I be happy that I am still alive?

What am I going to do now?

How am I going to survive?

. . .

Gosh, my body hurts so much.

More and more questions created a tornado in her head, but no answers.

BANG-BANG!

Her head shooting up at the sound of gunshots, Emily immediately scrambled for cover and watched as a group of demons began fighting over a large bag of what she presumed was drugs. Shots were fired, stabs were landed, and blows were delivered, culminating in the last two Sinners killing each other, leaving the small bag discarded and unnoticed by anyone else.

All the while, the former angel had her hands clamped over her mouth, the first time she witnessed such a violent act of unbridled rage. She was appalled, disgusted, and frightened all rolled into one. At the same time, though, she could not look away and feel sympathy for the denizens of Hell. Is this what they had to endure for the past few centuries?

She had learned the tale of Lucifer Morningstar, the first fallen angel. She had learned of his marriage to Lilith Magne, the first human woman created by the angels. She had learned of the battle to banish them after they corrupted humanity with the forbidden fruit of knowledge, which in turn created Hell to contrast Heaven. She had learned that they both became King and Queen of the hellish empire due to Lucifer's angelic status. She had learned to fear him, to treat him as an enemy, and never sympathetize with him or his people.

One meeting with his daughter, however, changed her view on things.

As a (former) angel, Emily's job was to preserve the happiness and joy of the human souls that ascended to Heaven. Keeping with her kindhearted and excitable personality, she was not one to discriminate others based on race, species, or mistakes. As such, despite the Princess of Hell being a demon, she got along swellingly with Charlie, whom she bonded with after it was revealed the Princess held a great amount of sympathy towards human souls and saw them all as equal. She also held a great amount of disgust when the Exterminations were made known, and she subsequently made a vow to Charlie...

...that I would help her...

Perhaps that was why she was banished here.

A simple miscommunication that resulted in a flimsy conclusion.

What was it that the humans called it?

"Poor communication kills"?

Yeah.

Yes, that was it.

Perhaps, there was a chance.

A chance to make things right.

Thinking quickly, Emily shot up to her feet and grabbed the bag before she was tackled and thrown off her feet, causing her to shout out in surprise and groan in pain when she landed on her side. When she rolled onto her back, her eyes glanced up to find a snarling, muscular demon with black eyes and sharpened teeth.

"Hey, little girl," The demon smirked in a manner and asked with a tone unlike she had even seen or heard before, "You new around here?"

Emily crawled back in alarm, but the demon leaned down and took her arm, gripping it with frightening force, "W-What are you doing?"

"You must be new here," The demon chuckled menacingly as a saliva strand dripped down his chin, "It's quite dangerous here in Hell for an angel like you."

Yanking her up so they were face to face, he examined her with a predatory gaze as he noted darkly, "You obviously did something to piss off the big man upstairs. But don't worry...I'll make sure to show you the error of your ways..."

With that, the demon began to drag Emily into a deep, dark alley, horror adorning the Seraphim's facial features.

"N-No!" Emily cried out, "Let me go!"

Her heart began to race. Her pulses began to pound. Her body began to shake. Something was very wrong about the situation. She had never felt this way before.

Is this fear?

She had no idea what it was.

All she knew was that she had to get away.

Not heeding her pleas, the demon pressed her against the brick wall and used a rusty knife to tear away her gown piece by piece, eventually exposing her teardrop breasts and blossoming labia.

"P-Please..." Emily's eyes watered up.

"Please?" The demon mocked her with a smirk, "Don't worry. I'll make sure you keep begging after I'm done—"

WHAM!

Before the demon could finish his threat, he was suddenly tackled in turn by an unknown individual and forcibly released his grip on Emily. The young Seraphim fell down and crawled away as she watched the individual wrestle with her attacker, who attempted to reach for his trusty rusty knife and land punches on his opponent to do so. Alas, his efforts were futile as the individual gripped him tight, hoisted him up, and slammed him head-first back into the ground, breaking his neck and sending him breathing for air. They eventually pulled out a glowing carmine combat knife and proceeded to repeatedly slash and stab him, ignoring his pained pleas for mercy before he ultimately disintegrated into ash.

Taking a moment to catch their breath, the individual slowly turned to face Emily, whose still fearful facial expression gave off the impression that she did not trust them nearly enough. Attempting to remedy this, the individual sheathed their weapon before raising both hands in surrender.

"It's okay," The individual spoke, revealing his masculine voice, "I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to help you."

"W-Why?" Emily shakily asked.

A moment later, the individual responded, "Because...it's the right thing to do."

Emily took note of the hesitance in the individual's response, as if he himself did not fully believe the confidence in his own answer. Even so, she felt inclined to trust him; she had no one besides Charlie to trust, and even Charlie could be anywhere in Hell.

"Who are you?" Emily asked again, this time more clearly.

The individual removed his hood and revealed his identity to her. He had a dark bluish grey complexion, dark green hair with gray roots, dull red eyes with neon green irises, and thick eyebrows to match. When he moved his mouth to speak, she could see it was filled with neon green sharpened teeth.

"My name is Seviathan...Seviathan von Eldritch."