Hazbin Hotel: A Room of Requirement
"I've never seen her do that for anyone other than me and Dad" After a while Caine went to seek out Charlie to inquire about her pet's odd behavior. As soon as he handed her the key, it turned back into her pet and bounded off since Caine was no longer holding her "Keke!" Charlie was as shocked by this new display as Caine was. Keke was always so well behaved. After a minute she came back to Caine and touched his boot, he knelt to pet her again and she turned back into a key, landing in his palm. "I think…. perhaps…well…." she was avoiding an answer and groaned "You may have to ask my dad."
Caine had been avoiding the king as long as he'd been there. Or rather they'd been avoiding each other. Lucifer rarely made his face known outside of his top floor suite. He was sure neither of them felt like revisiting those old memories quite yet. "A sound option I'm sure, but I think I'll figure it out on my own." he gave her a slight polite bow and then made to leave her office, opening the door and almost running smack into Emily, her first raised about to knock on the door. For a moment they stood there staring at each other, neither ready to broach the awkwardness from before. Quickly they both looked away from each other, Charlie seeing the whole exchange. She smiled wide while neither could see her and quickly decided to be her usual match making self "Emily! Maybe you can help us! Caine found a key and doesn't know what it goes to, maybe you can help him?"
If looks could kill. Emily, however, was beaming once again, all the way to her eyes. "Oh, a mystery? I love it! Count me in!" she giggled as Caine held the key out to her, resigned to punish the princess later in some way "It appears the little cat can turn into keys and for some odd reason as designated me as it's bearer. There must be a thousand doors in this hotel, I have no idea where to search for one that needs unlocking" Emily thought for a moment "Well…she obviously has made a connection with you, anyone can see that. Perhaps it would be something special to you. Something personal?" She was curious now as to what Keke could see in him that she could not. It could go a long way toward helping his redemption. "Let's start looking! I'm sure we can find something that needs a key…. I'll help you look" That much he couldn't say no too. For some reason, he liked being around her and any excuse to get over that afternoon's little spat.
The ground floor was the most reasonable place to start looking. Everywhere they could find either had a door that was already unlocked and led to some insignificant room or broom closet. Emily was able to search higher in case it was somewhere they didn't think about right away, though when he saw her looking in a vase, he wondered how hard she was really looking. After a while they found themselves in some tucked away corner, Caine turning the key over in his hand while he thought about why the cat had allowed him to use her key. He was no one special, certainly a stranger to her and, as everyone in the hotel constantly pointed out, a dangerous individual. Emily could see him pondering and looked at her hands folded in her lap "You know I can tell what you're thinking. You're not so hard to read as you like to believe. Animals are often more intelligent than people, and if she thinks you're worthy, then that probably means you are." It should have occurred to her that his self-worth would be absolutely eroded after so many years alone. The image he must have of himself must truly be that of a monster.
"You're right. I don't know what you've been through, what you had to do to survive down here. Everything you experienced went toward shaping the man you are today. But what you need to understand is that just because you're that man now, doesn't mean you have to stay that man, or be anything anyone else thinks you are. You can change. You can be someone different with just a little bit of help and encouragement. You're the one that decides who you are, not me or anyone else." The hand that held Keke clenched tight around the little black key "I don't know what to be. All I know is death, darkness, murder…. power. It's what I had to know. What I had to become to live. Everything I had, everything I knew was taken away from me that day. I became accursed. I became a wanderer, and an outcast. So down here, I decided to be the same thing."
Her hand came to rest on his once more and there was that soft, angelic touch he was slowly becoming accustomed to "But you've found a place now. You're here now. Charlie's seen your progress and she believes in you. I believe in you" she blushed but stayed concentrated on him. "You're not an outcast anymore. You've found a place and you're slowly working your way to earning that place here amongst this little family" He winced at that word. He'd had a family. A wife at one point that now he couldn't even remember, and a son. A son he was starting to remember more about and wish he could see at least once "Do you think my son is in Heaven?" He looked over to her and their gazes met, his somewhat softened now that he was looking at her.
"I know he is. Enoch is very famous among the angels and heaven born alike." This shocked him to hear that anyone he begot could be welcomed into the kingdom. "My son? Famous?" she nodded enthusiastically. "Enoch became one of the great prophets. He spread the holy word across the land, living an extraordinary lifespan. Hundreds of years, before dying of old age. He's a great teacher and authority on the bible." Even in Heaven, Enoch had not lost his zeal for teaching the holy scriptures. He was highly regarded amongst all who knew him. "I've met him several times. He looks like you, though his eyes are softer, probably from…"
"His mother" he didn't really remember what she looked like, but he knew that his son had always favored her in some ways. His gentleness, his care of living things. "He certainly never got anything good from me." Emily smirked a bit at that "I wouldn't be so sure. He can be quite stubborn." She giggled. She could see his eyes fill with pride, his head looking up toward the Heavens as if he could see it from where he sat "My son, a prophet. "Will wonders never cease?" he had a hint of a smile ghosting his lips as he turned the key over in his hands "You know his favorite story was of that garden. The bravery of Lilith for standing up for herself, the true love that she and Lucifer shared. Adam and his new bride falling to darkness, or so we thought" he was amazed Adam was able to cheat his fate and wind up in Heaven. "He was so sure he could find the place. It became a kind of game for him. So much so I even had a little garden made and tucked away within our home. The only way he'd be able to find it was…" he lifted the key and turned it over with a smooth motion of his fingers "With a key…" as if possessed he took off, Emily having been so enraptured by his story that she fell behind "Wait! Where are you going?" she chased after, using her wings to catch up to him.
"It was a game. I would hide the key for him to find and then leave him a map to follow. The garden was walled off, no one knew where it was except for me. But it was at the heart of our home, a place worthy of Babylon. Green grass, a stream running through, flowers, birds…a paradise. Once he found it, he never wanted to leave" he turned a corner, trying to estimate as to where the center of the hotel would be from there "And if I'm right and this key is to what I think…then it should be…." He turned a corner down a corridor that was tucked out of the way, somewhere he was sure he'd passed numerous times on their walks "Here..." She almost walked into him when he stopped. Had that door always been there? Somehow, she doubted it as it certainly didn't match the rest of the hotel.
It was much older looking. The archway was made of stone, the door old wood. It looked like something belonging to a medieval castle, or an ancient middle eastern palace. "I…I know this door" he didn't move. She didn't force him, but she could feel he was apprehensive. She was at his side and gently, she slipped her hand into his that held the key. "The hotel is magic. It's trying to show you something" He was so lost in his thought's he didn't even flinch at her touching his hand again "Why don't you open it?" he gulped air into his lungs and just stared at the path ahead "It's a trick. A terrible, horrible joke in poor taste. This can't be…why it would be here?" Taking his hand, she moved around him till she faced him and then took his other one, holding both "Caine… "she said his name quietly, drawing his attention "You won't know unless you try. I'll be with you. I promised, remember?"
He tore his gaze away from her and focused on the task ahead. The hallway felt miles long and yet a few strides and he would be there. Slowly he moved, she let him lead. Once he had the handle in his hand and could feel it was real, he offered the key to the lock. On its own accord it slipped in and turned. He could hear the heavy metal sounds of a lock disengaging, the key turning back into Keke as soon as it was open, having served her purpose. She stood by, just observing. He pulled on the large brass ring that served as a door handle and it opened, light flooding out as soon as a crack in the door formed. He covered his eyes with his arm, but Emily was used to such light, so she remained still, but put her hand on his shoulder for support. As the door creaked open, he was able to look and adjust to the brightness before him. When his eyes could see again, it was like looking into another world from the one he was so accustomed to.
The only sounds were that of birds flying about, chirping and dancing in the gentle breeze and the babbling brook that ran near the tall apple tree, this one safe to pick and eat its fruit. All around him plants grew, bright and colorful in stark contrast to the darkness of Hell. It seemed to stretch on forever, though he was sure at some point he'd walk into a wall. It was exactly the garden Enoch had run and played in. That he'd watched his son enjoy and treasure. He'd taught him to garden there. He showed him the joys of caring for a living thing, watching it grow and change into something so beautiful. "It's…. beautiful" he murmured as he touched the tree, almost feeling it live.
Emily watched and just soaked in this little patch of paradise in such a desolate wasteland. It was truly an oasis. The hotel must have felt his need for this place and provided it for him. This was a sign. A sign he was heading in the right direction, making a real connection with the magic surrounding him. It chose him for something, of that she was certain. She came over and laid her hand on his back "You know there are thousands of gardens like this in Heaven, but this one is special because it means so much to you. Now you'll always have a little bit of it here, that you can find your peace in." For some reason, that made him feel something. Something stirring inside him, a light, gentle feeling. His lips turned up into a smile and he just stared up at the magical sky above them. "Peace. That's something I haven't thought about in a very long time" he turned to face her "Every time I find just a small fraction of it, someone takes it away from me. I feel it slip through my fingers like sand." He gripped his fist as if to demonstrate "I always thought it was something I had to fight for. To kill for. In my isolation I mistook silence and emptiness for that very feeling. Darkness became my peace; loneliness was my friend. I forgot that places like this could even exist" He thought of the wicked brambles that grew outside of his home. The leafless trees.
Emily could see it was all very overwhelming for him and so she squeezed his hand "Why don't you stay here a while. I can always come find you later." She turned to go, but that hand stayed with her and she let out a little sound when he kept a hold on her "Will you stay with me? A place like this should be shared, especially with someone who can appreciate it" Her cheeks turned bright crimson and she could only nod, at a loss for words. They sat beneath the tree, though she gave him space as he leaned into it's trunk and just existed for a moment without a care in the world.