"I have one. For Charlie." Vaggie turned to look at her. "Would you be willing to go to the rest of the Rings with myself and Alastor after this?"
"Sinners cannot leave the Pride Ring," Alastor reminded her.
"Yes, but you won't be any regular Sinner. Or even an Overlord! You and I would both be Royal Consorts. We should get some perks from it, like you were looking for. And I know that the Wrath Ring has farms," Vaggie explained.
"Why farms?" Charlie couldn't help but ask.
"...because I want to pet the animals," Vaggie admitted. "I miss the zoos in Heaven."
"Haha! Interesting!" Alastor was already starting to think of things he could do, Charlie just knew it. She was proven right with his next comment. "I would LOVE to go to the Greed Ring and help a few down-on-their-luck individuals find some semblance of existing with purpose."
"Oh no…" Charlie rubbed her head. He totally would, too.
"What's wrong, my dear Charlie?" As if he didn't already know!
"Could you please not enslave a bunch of people when we go to other Rings?" she asked.
"Ohhhh, so it can be done!" Alastor chortled.
" Yes , you two could go to other Rings," Charlie said, exasperated. "I don't like to."
"Haven't you been wanting to go to a theme park?" Vaggie asked. "The other Rings have plenty of them!"
"I…had a bad experience the last time I went." She stared off to the distance, remembering the screaming and green fire. "Never again."
"I bet things are better now. That must've been a while ago, right?" Vaggie probed.
Charlie decided to change the topic. "Uhm, Alastor?"
"Yeeees?"
She'd been thinking about it and this was the best idea she had. "I know the Lust Ring has some really nice technology. Artificial limbs and stuff like that! Did you want me to…" Charlie rolled her wrist. "...pull strings to get you an arm?"
"Made with modern technology such as computer chips?" he queried.
"Yes!"
"Hahaha! NO ." He got a little intense with the last word, a vicious snarl escaping his lips. "I have to put up with enough of the modern foolishness because of that mediocre tv host Vox. I'm not going to willingly have some of that same technology connected to me, built into me, no matter how much I miss having an arm. My shadows will serve me well enough in that capacity." To emphasize it, he let a wave of tentacles out of his back with a grin.
"Okay." Charlie was hoping he'd take the more convenient offer.
"If they ever come up with a model that uses purely magical means I'm interested. But I assume it's pointless."
"As of now, yes," Charlie answered, defeated.
"So, speaking of being Royal Consorts…" Charlie could hear the plotting in Alastor's words. "What 'perks' do we get being your partners?"
"You married her for political power and didn't know what you would get with it ?!" Vaggie asked, flabbergasted.
"I knew exactly what I would get." Alastor's gaze narrowed in on Charlie. "I want to hear her confirm it."
Ugh. Charlie hated having to go over her so-called duties and responsibilities. It was all so pompous and useless. Even her dad didn't participate! He let the Ars Goetia run everything.
"Okay…" She dug in her brain, trying to think of all the titles and committees she was technically in. And what she owned outright. "I guess first of all would be the Chair of the Welcoming Committee."
"'Welcoming Committee'?" Vaggie repeated.
"Yes. It's, uhm, a committee that I made when I was 15. It still functions! That's how most of the incoming Sinners aren't naked when they first arrive!"
"I always wondered about that," Vaggie said. "Coming in naked and all, have to get clothes somehow."
"Let's see…" Charlie decided to swiftly list them. If she went fast enough, maybe they wouldn't ask about them. "There's being the representative of the Head of Hell with the Ars Goetia, I also run the food program that ensures that the crops in the Wrath Ring are balanced with the most modern methods used to make the most crop possible, I run the Library Association-"
"Didn't all the libraries burn down last year?" Vaggie brought up.
"-I'm in charge of the STD/STI prevention program, I'm the ultimate authority of the zoning commission-"
"Your dad just kinda dumped a bunch of stuff on you that he didn't want to deal with, didn't he?" Vaggie asked flatly.
"No! Nono, of course not!" Charlie said leadingly, "He's a busy man! He was too busy to deal with the Ars Goetia! And the food program. Zoning, making new laws that are more like useless guidelines…"
"Do tell!" Alastor said with a most definitely amused grin.
"He'll take them all back eventually! Once he feels better!"
"Charlie, how long have your had those duties?" Vaggie was staring her down.
"Well, I mean, it's only been…" Charlie cringed as she answered, "Three hundred and sixty-three years. And everything was defunct until he named me the head."
"I think it's about time that you have some of that stress taken off your shoulders!" declared Alastor.
Charlie gave him a stern glance. "No using it to gather up more souls!"
"Oh, my dear, I wouldn't dream of it! I promise, I won't use being the head of committees and other royal powers to gather up all the souls I could dream of." Charlie relaxed; she could tell he was being honest with the promise.
"I could help with the welcoming committee stuff. I helped welcome new people to Heaven for a while," Vaggie offered.
"I can take many of your duties. You've had such a load on your back. Your loved ones can help you!" Alastor was laying it on thick. Charlie had to admit, it sounded really good.
"Okay," Charlie agreed. "I'll grant you some of my powers. Please, please don't abuse them!"
Neither Alastor nor Vaggie answered the last plea.
"Dibs on the libraries!" Vaggie shouted out.
"Only if I can help with the Ars Goetia~" Alastor lilted. "And I would love to help with zoning!"
"There's nothing to zone," Charlie said frankly. "All of the room in the Pride Ring is gone."
"Nonsense! There's always zoning work to be done. In fact…" His eyes went black for a few seconds. " I can think of several projects."
"Riiiiiiight." It sounded like their Q session was closing down. There was one question that Charlie had. She was afraid to ask, mostly because she was afraid of the answer. She wasn't even sure how she felt!
"You're cringing again," Alastor noted.
"What are you thinking about?" Charlie was surprised to find that all three of them were on the couch now. She wasn't sure when Alastor had migrated over. It was comforting and relaxing, which is why Charlie decided to simply ask.
"What do you two think about…children?"
Their reactions were the opposites of what she expected. Vaggie froze, eye wide in panic, while Alastor looked very interested.
" Children ? Can we even have children?" Vaggie asked vaguely, clearly taken aback at the thought.
"I can! I'm Hellborn," Charlie reminded her.
"If it were possible, I have no objections. I do have one request: we, with myself included, only have sex to procreate. No more, if even that. If we were able to have children by other means, I suggest we pursue them! After the wedding, of course." Wow. Alastor barely thought about it in the last few seconds. Maybe he'd been thinking of the possibility himself for longer than that.
"What brought this on?!" Vaggie demanded.
"My dad brought it up. It's been baking in my mind ever since," Charlie answered.
"Haha! Baking!" Charlie and Vaggie both gave Alastor flat looks. He still smiled at them, pleased with himself.
"I'm really, really not sure, Charlie," Vaggie said, rubbing an arm. "Kids are a big thing."
"This is a big in-the-future thing. You don't have to decide right now!" Charlie assured her.
"You don't even have to be involved!" Again, Charlie and Vaggie stared at Alastor who was taking another sip of his tea.
"All for one or none for all," Charlie answered.
"You say that now , but when she's still undecided in several hundred years…" Alastor didn't elaborate, leaving it an open leading statement.
" No ."
Vaggie rushed, jumping up, "Need to go do a thing so I'll see you two later BYE!" She rushed so hard that the couch shook from her jumping over it.
Alastor watched her disappear down the stairs in amusement while Charlie grabbed her head. She muttered stiffly, "That could have gone so much better ."
"Ah, but at least it wasn't so much worse ," Alastor replied.
"Uuuuugh." Charlie rubbed her head. She almost jumped when she felt a hand on her head. She looked up at Alastor.
He had a warm, fond smile on his face as he pet her head. "Don't be upset. At least you know where we all stand."
Charlie managed a weak grin. "That's true."
They simply sat there for a few minutes, Alastor petting and scratching her head. It felt so good . Charlie found herself sighing and leaning into Alastor as he continued his ministrations. He started, "It is Li-"
Ching !
Charlie felt and heard more than saw the appearance of the strings and chains. Her eyes shot open and she was about to jump up when Alastor's stern hand kept her in place. She glanced up at Alastor who was now cut up, bleeding, and trapped in the gold strings and collar. His smile was a forced monstrosity, but his eyes said that he was fine. The golden prison vanished as he sighed, the smile still stuck on his face.
"See, my dear? I can do something free of the threads," Alastor said, emphasizing it with another scratch of her head. "For that, I am thankful."
