"Goddammit!"
Charlie clawed at the air above her, feeling her stomach dropping as she fell back into the void for the fifth time in the row. Another portal opened up beneath her and she landed in the netting that Alastor had spawned over the pillowy green grass beside him.
"Summon a platform if you must," Alastor called out, a coffee cup pulled to his lips while he sat at a small iron table he had spawned at the beginning of the day's training. His eyes were lit with interest watching her fumble her training over and over again.
Charlie rolled out of the hammock and huffed, brushing the hair out of her face that had fallen out of her braid. She'd felt sore from the previous day's work but she was determined to nail this portion of the practice. A whirlwind of emotion budded from her chest: the crippling weight of remorse from losing Pentious, the disdain she held for herself though having won the battle against Adam but now waging war with all of Heaven, and now snarky comments from Angel roiled in the back of her mind on things he knew nothing about.
She sucked in a deep breath, narrowing her focus again and snapped in a concrete step just wide enough for her feet to rest upon. She stepped up and gave Alastor a nod to which he waved his hand and another hole opened up beneath her.
Even just the sight of the landscape changing gave her a sense of vertigo. She teetered, legs stiff and she felt herself fall forward again but a black tentacle reached from the darkness and pushed her back on the platform, holding her steady before pulling back into the nothingness.
"Don't lock your knees, dear!"
"Right!"
Alastor was finding the entertainment of Charlie's training to be almost, almost better than watching souls struggle to achieve redemption. He knew Charlotte had an enormous potential that lay dormant within her and he counted himself lucky to pull it out of her piece by piece, the struggle just a bonus.
"Are you ready to try your hand at taking us back to the hotel? It's much like summoning, but you're moving your life force and not an inanimate object." Charlie nodded and stretched.
The radio demon got up from his chair fluidly this time, just a dull ache lining his stomach now. After making his way over to the princess, he stepped beside her summoned structure and held out a hand to which she was hesitant to accept. "If we're to teleport together there must be some semblance of contact, dear," he stated as a matter of factly, "and plus, with it being your first go at it, it's better to be safe than sorry; ready?"
"Let's do it."
"Now, remember to narrow the focus, believe as if you are already where you want to be. Manifest the feeling into all of your senses, the sounds, what this place smells like. A helpful tip if I may, it's easier when you close your eyes."
Charlie's grip tightened in his hands when she'd shut her eyes. The maw of the portal opened up wider to accept both of their forms into the emptiness, the sounds of wailing and the gnashing of teeth pulling over them.
Alastor kept his eyes on her stance, ensuring she'd kept her footing in the darkness. Only moments passed and before they knew it, they had landed on the front steps of the Hazbin Hotel, the portal fastening off above them.
Alastor brushed his thumb across the top of her hand and gave it a small squeeze before letting go,"you're quite the natural, darling!"
Peeking an eye open, Charlie saw she was back at the safety of her humble hotel again and she stepped off her concrete platform. Alastor flashed her a proud smile and laced his hands behind his back politely before turning towards the large double front doors that had just creaked open and gave way to a familiar spidery face with rose-colored glasses.
"'Scuse me, lovebirds. Val called me in for an emergency shoot again," he said gruffly, shouldering past them and down the steps. Angel tugged his black cropped jacket over the fluff on his chest as he called over his shoulder, "I'll be out most of the night so count me out for dinner."
Alastor studied Angel as he flew down the hill and passed the iron gates at the maw of the mount. He'd flagged down a cab and gave Charlie and Alastor a wave before ducking into the transit that zoomed off. Charlie had already turned into the hotel, her back to him and her hands balled into tight fists. He followed her footsteps, not noticing that she'd practically stomped her way through the foyer to meet Vaggie at the front desk.
She had a large tome laid out, her head propped with one hand, the hotel's landline in another. Since the hotel had been recently refurbished, they'd finally gotten a hold of a working phone to make and receive calls, though they hadn't received any since the news aired that the hotel was up and running again.
"How much will that be? Okay, fine, thanks…an hour? Great, we'll see you then," she slammed the phone on the receiver, huffing out an exasperated sigh before rubbing her temples. "We're getting pizza tonight. Nifty kept saying she hadn't seen many roaches since we re-opened, well… they made their nest in the goddamn pantry," she waved to the kitchen, the sound of loud clanging and crashing barely being muffled through the layers of walls between them.
Charlie, who was already wound up from the brief interaction with Angel, took her hands and rubbed her face before combing them through her hair, an attempt to wipe away the stress. Vaggie started again in a hopeful tone, "I did however, schedule a small team-building exercise, I guess you could call it a scavenger hunt! I figured it'll help everyone get accustomed to the layout of the new hotel," she glanced at Alastor before directing her attention to Charlie, offering the princess an eager smile.
This seemed to put the blonde in much better spirits as she jumped over the front desk to give her friend a bone-crushing hug. Vaggie's eyes were bulging out of their sockets, a faint wheeze escaping her lips when Charlie yelled, "Thankyouthankyouthankyou! That's just what we needed!"
The crashing coming from the kitchen continued and Alastor excused himself from the exchange to address the commotion. Making quick strides, his legs flew him through the ornate hallways and through swinging doors that opened to the sight of complete disarray.
Pots and pans of all different sizes were strewn across the floor. Their trashcan had been knocked over and practically emptied, large roaches skittering through the debris and dry food that was being flung from the open doors of the pantry across the aisle. Alastor expertly dodged a package of tortillas that came flying towards him and hit the wall next to the doors with a sharp smack. A flash of red fell from the top shelf of the pantry and Nifty popped up instantaneously, her monstrous eye glowing red with malicious intent while she laughed maniacally.
"STAB! STAB!" She lifted a narrow dagger above her, bugs skewered upon her blade like a shishkabob.
"My, what do we have here," Alastor said in a sing-song voice in an attempt to draw Nifty's manic attention to him, but it only roused her craze. Her laugh's pitch heightened and she began to bounce up and down on her feet, swiveling her head from side to side, unable to decide which bug to claim as her next victim.
Alastor tiptoed around the chaos spilled on the floor, squashing any bugs that came underfoot before plucking the small woman up by the nape of her dress and holding her at arm's length. She was squirming with delight, shouting crazed laughs as she threw her dagger, skewering yet another critter with her blade.
"They were HIDING! Imagine all the puppet shows I could host with these," she squealed, swinging from side to side to free herself from his pinched grip, her hands flailing to try and grapple onto his outstretched arm.
He couldn't help himself from letting out a chuckle before lending a hand with the tedious task of clean up and pest control.
Meanwhile, within the confines of a pearly palace hoisted upon a valley of clouds and sunshine budded tension within an angelic conference room. Muted light filtered through stained glass windows and poured into the room over a long, elegantly carved birchwood table which held some seated purveyors that studied the pacing of a younger seraphim that had been rattling off her mouth for some time now.
"-so it IS possible to redeem hellbound souls! There's no reason why we shouldn't pursue Charlie's plan now!"
Emily came to a stop, bringing her eyes to Sera who was looking at sun beams coming from the windows. Was she even paying attention or heeding a word she said?
"For all of eternity we've been under the impression that no soul could escape infernal suffering. Maybe we can talk to Sir Pentious about the trails he went through to become redeemed! He's the key! Now that we have proof it's possible there's a chance that anyone can be-"
An angel with a short white bob with a missing arm slammed her fist down on the table and stood up, "Adam was murdered and you're just going to sit back and give those filthy scumbag sinners an out? Those hypocrites are doing the very thing they're fighting against, does killing the First Man and leader of the Angel Army really bolster their chance at redemption? Seriously Emily, you need to open your eyes!"
Emily lashed her wings out to her full span, all of her eyes staring daggers at Lute.
"Open my eyes? Extermination is the epitome of hypocrisy! Here we are annually slaughtering souls in Hell while God just looks the other way! Explain to me how he's okay with us breaking His commandments yet He smites the one's without divine ordainment!"
Sera got up, mirroring Emily's stance with her wings outspread, "Emily! What did I say about speaking against the higher command?! This is the way it has to be! One more statement questioning His word and the infernal blaze will be your inevitable demise. I told you once, I will not spare you again," she looked at her with pleading eyes.
Lute interjected in a flippant tone, twirling away and fluffing out her feathers, "angels have fallen for much less than what you just did."
The other angels at the table watched them closely, high-browed with surprise at Emily's brusque statements.
She couldn't believe what was happening. Emily was a monarch in Heaven that stood among the frontlines of bigots and not a single one of the angels found an interest in the betterment of human souls, damned or not. She knew she had to tread lightly now, eggshells sitting upon the edges of her feet.
She withdrew her wings and folded them neatly behind her, casting her gaze downward and nodding respectfully.
"This meeting is adjourned," Sera closed the debate and tucked her wings back, turning to exit towards the large wooden doors that emptied out to Heaven's palace.
Emily knew there was more she had to do. She wasn't about to be the puppet to eternal bloodshed and Charlie had to know her theory was proven right, she just had to figure out a way to reach out. There had to be a way.