Chapter 12
Alastor had been wrong.
It actually took them twenty-three minutes before their respective egos forced the meeting to adjourn. Overlords were Overlords for a reason, and amicability was incidental to that description.
And standing outside, leaning against the wall and feeling like a dumbass, was Chay, scrolling through her phone and trying her best not to scream from being alone in her thoughts.
Another fucking Overlord, she thought to herself. Another fucking debt that I'm going to have to repay.
"Hey Chay!"
She looked up from her phone to see Fyewackett waving at her as he crossed the street, oblivious to all of the irritable Sinners glaring at him as he weaved through the crowd.
She waved him over as his hooves hit the sidewalk. "Took you a while.", she said as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. "Must've been a tough nut to crack." She sniffed the air. "You reek of weed.
"Don't remind me.", he groaned. "I feel like I need a nap after the shit I just had to do."
"Well, did you at least get some info out of it?"
"Yeah, actually. A lot of it was confirming what we already knew, but I did get some stuff on the connection to Vox."
She quickly yanked her phone back out of her pocket and scrolled to the notepad function. "Talk to me."
"Well, I'll just tell you up front: Vox's connection is pretty incidental. He had the tech, but he didn't supply it to them."
"Yeah, because it was all bootlegged."
"Yeah, but I did find out what the tech is apparently being used for."
"Valentino said it was for mind control."
"Valentino is an idiot.", Fye answered back. "No, it's actually a bit more venial than that…"
GRUMBLE
Chay raised a bony eyebrow.
Fye blushed.
"You missed lunch, didn't you?"
"Yeah...Yeah, I did.", he replied sheepishly. "Look, I'm going to go down the street and get a hot dog. You want anything?"
She sighed. "Fuck it. Get me a fruit juice. Mango, preferably."
"Back in a flash.", he said as he rounded the corner and jogged down the street.
She shook her head as she re-pocketed her phone. Time was still ticking, and her window of opportunity was getting ready to slam shut at any moment.
"Didn't keep you waiting long, I hope?", a staticy voice asked her.
She looked over to see Alastor cheekily leaning on his staff.
"We really could have just made an appointment." she groaned as she turned around to meet him...only to realize that he wasn't alone.
"Then you would've had to wait another week.", Carmilla replied. "I'm booked up until then."
As had happened more than once over the last month, Lester found himself staring at a model of Hell.
He had first seen it when he had arrived, drying off his cloak near the fire. The model, sitting on an ornate table near the lounge's book shelf, immediately drew his interest. So much so that Niffty had had to physically drag him away from it. They had since moved it upstairs to the second floor, apparently due to the often constant damage that the lobby's walls (well, specifically one singular wall) kept regularly enduring. He preferred it this way; fewer people disturbed him here.
There was something oddly comforting about it. How orderly it was. How uniform and yet unique.
The model itself was roughly the size of a globe, and was made up of seven distinct horizontal rings, all of the same width and size, stacked on top of each other with a few inches between them. They were all connected to a central pillar, in this case a silver pole in the center of the structure. It started with red on top, representing the Pride Ring due to the color of the sky, and then descending with orange, yellow, green, blue, pink and purple (representing Wrath, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Envy and Sloth respectively).
Sometimes, when he looked at it, he could swear that he could see things inside of it. Buildings. Cities. Roads and bridges. Aircraft and boats. Even people. An illusion, perhaps? It was possible.
He sometimes wondered if Hell actually looked like this from a distance. Was Hell truly just a series of hollow rings stacked on top of one another? Was there nothing in the center? If one kept walking in a single direction, would one eventually encounter a hollow center? An enormous abyss that stretched down into nothing? Could one possibly climb down the side of the ring in order to enter the other rings? There were already several forms of transportation for the Hellborn. The Hellevator, of course, but there were also other ways: the Spiral Highway, vertical aircraft hangars…surely it was possible.
His thoughts began to wander, as they often did. He knew that Chay was still trying to find Ella, but he also knew that he couldn't solely rely on her. He had options at this Hotel, others whose skills he might be able to utilize. He didn't trust Alastor, and Her Highness could only do so much on her end. But still, there were others.
Like the fish man, for example.
THOOOM
A loud crash ripped the small Sinner from his meditation. The sound seemed to have come from the lounge.
Suddenly, the decision to have moved the model made logical sense.
The door to Charlie's office flew open, banging against the wall. The Princess and Vaggie charged out, eyes wide and Vaggie armed with her spear.
"What was that?!", Charlie shouted in alarm. "Are we under attack?"
A loud, booming voice rose up from downstairs.
"CHAAARLIEEEEEEEE!"
"….Uh oh.", Charlie whispered.
Perhaps no other Overlord living in Hell had more blood on their hands than Carmilla Carmine. Sure, other Overlords were involved in business that was far more directly nasty, from sex trafficking to mass murder...but if they had cash, they all bought their weapons from her.
The tall, elegant Sinner was an imposing figure, one that demanded immediate attention and respect. She had light gray skin on her face, neck and exposed shoulders. Her slanted white and red eyes were covered in what appeared to be a mask that was a part of her face, resembling that of a harlequin or even a raccoon. She sported a black dress that had white buttons and white stripes and included a spiked, white colored skirt. Her legs were covered in pitch black stockings that she wore up to her waist, resembling ballerina tights – which was appropriate as she sported a pair of gleaming white angelic metallic ballet shoes, from which she was standing on the perpetual tip-toes, and wrapping all over her legs that appeared to be of the same material. All of this was topped off by her voluminous ivory-white hair, which she had piled on top of her head into a pair of horns tied tightly with black lacing.
And at this moment, she was standing next to Alastor, her enormous white hands intertwined behind her back, and looking down at the Sinner in front of her. Her aura reeked of poise and effortless menace.
"My time is precious, Miss Ong, so let's skip the formalities.", she said with a distinctly Latina (possibly Mexican?) accent. "I already know who you are, and Alastor has already informed me of your intentions."
"...Right.", Chay responded while giving a whistling Alastor the side-eye. "What exactly did he tell you?"
"That you have one of my custom pieces, one that you came into possession of second-hand.", she answered curtly. "Also that you're trying to get dirt on the Vees."
Chay's hand hit her forehead with an audible smack. "Oh for fuck's sake, Alastor!"
"What?", he said with a shrug. "I didn't tell her that! She deduced it all on her own!"
"I'm one of Hell's sovereign Overlords, Miss Ong. I am neither stupid nor naive, no matter what some may think. I can assure you: we all know who you are and what you've done."
"….Yeah.", Chay responded suspiciously, her eyes darting between the two Overlords. "I'm sure you do."
"What she means to say…", Alastor interjected while rolling his eyes, "Is that Valentino has been incessantly whining about you outsmarting him to anyone who will listen over the last six months. That you and Charlie managed to publicly humiliate him and Vox only made him pissier."
Chay's eyes wandered up to the top of the building. "Were they...in there with you?"
"No.", Carmilla answered. "They typically send Velvette to these meetings."
-Interesting. The only Vee I haven't met yet.
"And she is…
"Still in the conference room, if you can believe it."
"Probably trying to talk Zeezi into another cross-promotion for her frivolous fashion line.", Alastor said with a sneer. "Some people really cannot take a hint."
"Either way, if you have business to do with me than now is your best chance. I'll be busy with inventory and material requisitions after the Extermination ends."
Chay opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by the sound of hooves walking up behind her.
"I'm back!", Fyewackett said as he rounded the corner, his eyes focused on a small box loaded with hot dogs. He clutched a plastic cup of fruit juice in his left hand.
"They had mango, if you can believe it.", he said as he ruffled through the box for a ketchup packet. Chay gingerly took the cup from the Imp and took a sip.
"Mmm, nice and creamy."
"Yeah, for a sidewalk vendor they have surprisingly good dri-HOLY FUCKING SHIT!"
The box dropped the box on the sidewalk. In a panic he flattened himself against the wall, his eyes wide at the sight of the Overlord.
Big...Tall...Aggressive…Hot...
Carmilla raised a curious eyebrow. "And the Imp is…?"
"Oh, that's just one of Miss Ong's associates staying with us at the Hotel."
"Yeah, he's with me." Chay said through her straw. "Fye, this is Carmilla Carmine."
Fye raised a tentative hand. "Hello Mrs. Carmine I am a very big fan of your work.", he answered in a panicked monotone.
Carmilla looked the cowering Imp over.
Something about that beret…
"...Charmed.", she answered. "But back to business. May I see the weapon?"
Chay took one more look at the shivering Imp before reaching into her pocket and pulling out the Apache. She carefully handed it to Carmilla, gripping at the barrel. The Overlord carefully palmed the weapon In her enormous hand and poked out the cylinder with one of her fingers, spinning it around.
"Hmmm...standard six-shot revolver pistol, Apache style. Knuckle duster grip, folding dagger attachment with Angelic tip and-"
She took a closer look at the cylinder.
"-Discreet signature imprinted on the cylinder. This is indeed one of mine."
She flicked the cylinder back into the gun. "Seems to have weathered rather well, all things considered. How exactly did you acquire this?"
"Does it really matter?", Chay asked in return.
"No, not really. Do you wish for the standard maintenance procedure, or do you want to upgrade?"
Chay raised an eyebrow. "Upgrade?"
"Yes, upgrade. We could extend the barrel, replace the blade with one that is wholly Angelic...we could also add an Angelic attachment that blesses all ammunition as it is fired. Of course, it'll cost you."
Chay thought it over for a moment.
-If I upgrade the gun, I might be able to get rid of Flynn's stink on this thing…and there IS still the other matter with the Vees…
"You know, I think I'll take you up on that offer."
The corner of Carmilla's mouth upturned in a smile.
"Very well then."
She reached into her skirt and pulled out what appeared to be a small remote control.
"Oh, and about that other matter?", Chay asked.
"Maybe, Miss Ong.", she answered curtly.
"Thanks, that's a big-"
"I said maybe. Now-"
The wall next to them suddenly opened up like a sliding elevator door. What seemed like brick was in fact just a simple facade.
"-Why don't we step into my office?"
The two Overlords strolled into the building, with Chay following close behind.
Fye unglued himself from the wall and looked at the dropped box of hot dogs. Surprisingly, most had managed to stay together, with only one or two falling onto the dirty sidewalk.
He reached down and picked the box up. He took a tentative bite.
Hmmm...not roadkill. That's actually a surprise.
"Psst! Fye!"
He looked up to see Chay peeking out of the still-open door, frantically motioning for him to follow.
The Imp jogged over to the door and running in, just barely missing the door snapping shut on his tail.
On the other side of the street, an Imp with a cowboy hat cocked his pistol.
CHAPTER 12 END