Hazbin Hotel: The Caine Saga
2 years after the failed extermination
"Ok everyone! We have a lot to get through today and not a lot of time to do it so let's get started! First, we'll start with some trust falls! Then we'll get into a sharing circle and share our feelings and then an hour of silent and relaxed meditation followed by…." The princess continued on with her day plans, facing a large board where everything was tacked up and organized, her back to the crowd of people forming behind her, all of them still in sleep wear and looking very haggard. She had no idea they weren't paying attention, or barely conscious for that matter. "And then arts and crafts! Nothing gets people excited for redemption like macaroni and glitter glue!"
Husker tipped a whiskey bottle into his coffee cup. It was never truer than now, fuck Mondays. Angel came up behind him, still in his pink robe, sleep mask and with fat nuggets tucked under one arm, lifting his cup for a couple splashes of the wake-up juice. Surprisingly Vaggie came up next and held up her cup as well "Don't say a word, but this is too much even for me" she mumbled quietly. Both the men looked at each other, shrugged and then poured into her cup. "She's really going overboard, isn't she?" Angel murmured quietly as he took a sip. "She's a little on edge. It's been two years and still only Sir Pentious is the only one redeemed to Heaven. If she can't redeem another soul…. then it's almost like Pentious was just an accident.
Angel looked over to the giant portrait of their fallen friend. He missed the crazy bastard, and the egg boys. The place almost felt empty without their craziness. He watched Cherri, still in her pajamas, go over to the little shrine and put a fresh flower like she did every day when she thought no one was watching. He knew she'd never say it out loud, but she missed him too, especially after that steamy kiss. "Hey I'm trying, ok? Now that Val has me down to weekends only, I can put more time in around here ... just…. this shit isn't as easy as snake boy made it look."
Other guests were coming down the stairs. Quite a few had checked in once the place was rebuilt and word got around that The Great Sir Pentious had actually been redeemed. It was a big shock to Hell that it had actually worked. Even Katie Killjoy had to eat shit and report it live. She wasn't happy having Charlie back in the hot seat, but when Lucifer was standing there staring daggers at you with The Radio Demon at his side, you didn't argue. Sinners now saw redemption as a real possibility rather than one misguided princess' long shot pipe dream in the clouds. Though Charlie singing on air again didn't help matters.
"Oh! Dream journals! We should start logging our dreams and comparing them! I had one last night about rainbows and koalas…" Vaggie, after a few sips of her stiff coffee, was finally awake enough to corral her girlfriend before she hurt herself "Babe, how about we just see where the day takes us. After breakfast we can take things one at a time…" Angel interrupted
"Yeah don't want to have all the big rainbow fun at once there princess. Then what are we going to do the rest of the day?" He smirked as he stretched and cracked his knuckles. "I knowww, but I'm so excited! We have all these new guests; Alastor hasn't scared anyone off…well…today at least…and we have…" But she was interrupted yet again, though it was a welcome one as a cheery, melodic voice called out to everyone "Good Morning! What a beautiful and blessed day it is!" Several non-morning people just getting to the first cup of coffee groaned and grumbled their good mornings. The angelic figure of Emily flapped all six of her wings and rose up and over the banister, coming down to land right next to Charlie and all of her morning madness. "Oh everything looks wonderful! Sorry I'm late, I was just finishing my morning prayers. Every time we add a new guest they just get longer and longer" she giggled as she took Charlie's hands, and they twirled in a circle together "Did you bring up the dream journals? I know they can be a little daunting at first but sometimes when you want to remember that one important dream they really come in handy"
Emily had joined their hotel staff as a go between for Heaven and Hell. Sera, the high seraphim angel, decided she was the only one she could trust to appoint as the hotel's ambassador to Heaven. She would be the one to overview progress in the hotel and make the recommendations to Heaven as to who could be seen as redeemable. Though in the two years, she'd yet to see anyone meet Sera's new list of ridiculously high standards. Every time Emily brought them up, she just reminded her that "Heaven has high standards Emily, if everyone met them, then there'd be no need for Hell" A statement that made Emily cringe a bit, but it was the first bit of change Heaven had made in…. well forever. So, she wasn't going to push her luck.
While Charlie and Emily were finalizing a schedule, a shadowy form materialized behind Angel and Husk, taking the form of Alastor with his "Oh Deer" mug in his hand. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were twins" his laugh track played, though it was the only thing laughing in the room. "Circus twins…" Husker muttered, tipping the contents of the bottle into his cup so that it filled back to the top. At this point, there was hardly any coffee left amidst the alcohol.
"Look princess and uh…angel princess" Angel came up to them so fat nuggets could get some pets "Not that this hasn't been an enlightening lesson into the things that can be done with crayons and glitter, but I have a kitchen to run and a bunch of hungry guests that are probably wondering where breakfast is" He gave them a mock salute before heading for his room to prepare for the day. It would be a long day of breakfast, perhaps a nice light lunch buffet and then a main course for dinner. He had a lot to prepare. The restaurant had been his contribution to the hotel, a place for people to gather and enjoy a meal. For once Vaggie and the princess actually liked one of his ideas. Nothing brought people together like food. Emily had been even more enthused, saying Angel needed a pet project and a passion. Other than the passions he currently had already. It certainly kept him away from hard drugs. He hadn't touched the stuff in almost a year now.
"Hmm…as entertaining as it is hanging about all day and…." Scaring" up some fun…" Alastor's eyes turned bright, and wicked smile stretched across his face. A nearby sinner that looked like a sheep saw this and went weak in the knees, being caught by a fellow patron that resembled a fennec fox. "I have an outing planned for today, so I'll be otherwise engaged until this evening. Best of luck chums!" Noticing the poor sheep recover from her shock, Alastor couldn't help himself. He turned his head around 360 degrees and let his antlers grow, his eyes turning to dials. It was a treat watching her eyes roll back into her head and her feet go up into the air as she hit the floor. "Alastor! Stop that!" Vaggie snapped at him, rushing to help the poor sinner. Of course this got a boyish giggle out of the cannibal overlord. His wicked laugh could be heard all the way out the front door and beyond. Charlie looked at Emily sheepishly. "He ... uh…is more of a morning person than most people" She tried to make it a positive and Emily just shook her head with that same sweet smile on her face. Alastor was a special case and maybe one day could be a good case study for her.
Right now, Angel Dust was a priority, as insisted upon by Charlie and Vaggie. They'd both seen how much he tried, how much progress he'd been making. Even Emily had seen it in the court room of Heaven, Angel was a different person than the one people talked about that didn't know him or his struggles. He was kind, though still had that bite to his personality. He was a lot more selfless now than he used to be, taking on the burden of cooking and feeding a hotel full of guests all by himself. She could even see a little something between him and Husker, though Husker would never admit it out loud. There was just so much more to accomplish though, so much more to do to prove to Heaven he was redeemable. Fortunately for him, he had a wonderful support system.
After breakfast Husker came back out front from the kitchen where he'd been spending time with Angel. He liked to tell people it was to make sure he wasn't sneaking drugs, but they all pretty much saw through that by now. He just wanted to be there to talk to him, spend time with him when they weren't too busy and could actually hold a conversation. Not to mention he made a great sauce and Husker always got first taste. With his excellent feline hearing he caught the sound of the mail flap and went to collect the growing stack of correspondence that had been showing up at the hotel ever since they'd taken on more guests.
"Charlie, Charlie, Vaggie, Angel…Niffty?" he held up a magazine and the little bug came scuttling by at the mention of her name "Yay! My issue of Housekeepers Monthly!" Immediately she opened it up and let the centerfold come out, her pupil becoming dilated as she giggled with her usual amount of dark, perverted glee. "Right…ok…bill, bill, bill, Lucifer…" When she brought out the last letter in the stack, he dropped everything onto the floor, and he could almost feel his body turning white. "No….no it can't be…not now…"
He held a pure black envelope, silky to the touch, certainly prime stationary. Tied to the envelope was a single black raven's feather. Only one being in all of Hell used raven's feathers as a marker and turning over the letter, Husker could see it was indeed meant for The Radio Demon.