"What in the HOLY HELLS-" Vaggie yelled. Charlie and Vaggie clung to each other in the inky blackness. Not even a blink later, they appeared in Alastor's tower.
The tower was full of books, sigils, and somehow a forest that was mystically connected to it. Alastor looked to be reading a book, which he set down when the two of them appeared in front of him.
"Ah! I see you've accepted my proposal," Alastor said with a laugh. He walked over, twirling his cane.
"Not like there was much of a choice," Vaggie muttered as she let go of Charlie.
"Now now, no need to be bitter! If she really wanted out of the deal, Charlie could have triggered the failure clause!"
It was then that Charlie realized she hadn't even bothered asking about it after what her dad told her about them. Now that he brought it up… "What is the failure clause?"
"It was simple: the hotel would have come into my possession!"
Charlie felt more than a little scandalized. Give him the hotel? When it was such a beacon of hope in Hell? It would've been almost as bad as dying!
"What? That's IT?!" Vaggie rubbed her head. "Well, I guess it can't be helped. We'll give you the hotel and-"
Alastor's sharp laugh cut her off. He said, "The deal no longer matters. In fact, I'll free Charlie of it now!" Alastor snapped his fingers. The contract for their deal hovered for a second before bursting to burning green pieces.
"What are you playing at!?" Vaggie snapped.
"Vaggie…" Charlie squeezed her shoulder as she turned to Alastor. "Thank you for getting rid of that! Now…" she began dragging Vaggie to the door "...we have our own wedding to plan!"
"I thought we would have a group wedding seeing as you accepted my proposal," Alastor said cooly with a hint of something that Charlie couldn't quite pick out.
"We were only going to do it because of that deal. Do you REALLY think anyone would want to marry you?!" Vaggie snapped.
Charlie's heart skipped as she realized that a flash of hurt had gone through his eyes before a smile ate it up. Normally she couldn't read Alastor beyond his smile…
"It doesn't matter if you want to or not anymore! My proposal was accepted, thus we shall get married," Alastor said simply.
"What, do you mean these rings?" Vaggie gripped the black ring. "You can have them back!" She pulled. And pulled. And pulled. No matter how she twisted it, the ring wouldn't come off. Charlie looked at her own as she realized the shadowy horns had somehow grown into her finger. Vaggie stopped and said, "The fuck?!"
"No need to swearing. Not yet, anyway." Alastor lifted Vaggie's head with his cane and said, "The rings were more than symbolic. I'd woven a bit of a deal in them."
"You can put deals in objects?" Charlie was learning all sorts of things about deals that were too little too late.
"Oh yes! I've made so many deals I know everything about them, inside and out!" Alastor set his cane down. Brandishing his hand, he said, "It's a group deal." On his finger was a ring. The same kind of black ring as Vaggie and Charlie had. He continued, "This kind of deal, the stakes are far higher. If anyone backs out…" For a second, he was a monstrous wendigo. "The ring will swallow their soul."
Charlie's gut dropped straight through the ground. So much for knowing better about making deals…
Then, a stray thought hit her. She asked, "Wait. If that's the case, why did you put a ring on?"
"And leave my brides alone in the soul contract? I most certainly would never! No, I would never back out of this deal." Alastor turned around and marched back to the table. He picked up the book - actually, a magazine - and held it up for the two.
It was a wedding magazine. One of Velvette's creations, a worn copy from some kind of 'romance' theme before it flopped hard. Charlie remembered trying to search for it for her own use with Vaggie to no avail. There were also more than a few color swatches in his hand.
"Now, would you like to look through various themes and swatches with me to pick out the best combination for our wedding? I'm partial to black and red, but I'm willing to consider other opinions!"
Charlie, against the pit her gut had fallen in, couldn't help but get excited at the idea of planning her wedding~
Whereas Vaggie sighed and rubbed her head. "I guess if we're getting dragged into this madness, we might as well make it the way we want." She pointed at Alastor, "No black!"
"Now, surely you must realize we need an accent color!" Alastor protested.
"It should be pink! And sparkly! And, oh, oh, we need PARTY FAVORS!" Charlie was pretty sure she shouldn't slip so easily from being stuck in a deal that could destroy her soul to planning a wedding. She wasn't sure if it was because *WEDDING* or *MARRYING VAGGIE* or whatever. It was something to cling to, which is what she'd be doing a lot the next few weeks. She zipped over to Alastor and flipped to a page that she remembered from the decades before when she last saw it. Pointing, she said, "We should definitely have poofy clothes…"
