The sound of the cicadas had come to a screeching halt at the offer of his extended hand. Seeing Charlie's brow furrow in contemplation was riveting, her face lit up in the green light of the electricity that swirled around his fingertips. A gust of wind pulled around them, Charlie's hair and Alastor's coat fluttering through the breeze.
"In exchange for this training you're requiring from me, I simply ask that you find a way to repair my staff. No harm done to a single soul!"
The princess looked him up and down, eyes narrowed in thought. Alastor batted his eyes, softening his smile to seem sincere.
Several long, painfully tense moments passed and Alastor was about to withdraw when Charlie huffed out frustratedly, "fuck, fine," slapping her hand in his with some force. Her grip was tight and deliberate, her nails digging into his fingers while the muffled sounds of screams escaped their palms.
"Excellent choice, my dear. Now come, time is of the essence," and all of a sudden, a portal opened up at their feet and they were falling into an expansive realm of darkness, the muffled screaming and strange squelches now at an ear-splitting decibel.
"Al! What're yo-aaah!"
Alastor took his other arm and pulled Charlie to his chest as she was unable to gather footing in this dimension; she had collapsed like a ragdoll, her body limp and dangling in his arms while the demon held his posture. She'd snapped her eyes shut, burying her face into him and grasping the stiff lapels of his suit jacket.
The demon chortled as he looked down towards their feet, a trace of color zooming towards them. And suddenly there was a jolt upon impact, his feet bouncing upon a soft surface.
He slowly rested Charlie down on the grass, careful not to open his wounds. She'd peeled her yellow eyes open, catching her breath and looking through the strands of hair that had curtained her face. Upon realizing her surroundings, her horns had retracted and her expression held that of total awe.
"Where are we," Charlie gasped, gawking at the sight around her. Purple and orange clouds billowed over them, the sky a mix of pastels bleeding into each other. Pastures extended as far as the eye could see, gusts blowing over the plains and through the wildflowers that dotted the green waves. In the distance were the transparent lines of snow-capped mountains, not a soul or structure to be seen.
"I've transported us into a different realm, one I felt was fit for your choosing. We're on a completely different plane, meant to act as your new training grounds my dear," Alastor clapped his hands together, head cocked above his shoulder and his lips pressed together in a pleased grin.
Charlie stepped away, feeling the soft grass beneath her hooves. It was unlike anything she'd seen in Hell. To teleport like this was beyond her imagination. She'd seen Alastor do it with ease, a skill she'd admired but never openly shared; being that she, the Antichrist, was never able to control such power was a rather embarrassing quality to admit.
"It's so….free," she murmured, turning away from her company to soak in the views all around.
"Yes, all the space to create, to destroy, whatever it is your little heart desires," Alastor's voice trailed off for a moment before he started up again, "whatever shall we start with first, Princess?"
Charlie drew her sight back to Alastor who was watching her closely, a budding sense of hope blossoming in her chest, "teleportation. If I'm to train here, I need to find a means of passage whenever I need."
A flash of confusion crossed the demon's face, his smile dropping slightly, "why, in order for us to teleport back here, we must be together. This plane is an amalgamation of my own creation, without me, these fields wouldn't exist. However," Alastor pulled the red monocle off his face, retrieving a kerchief from his breast pocket to polish it, "in time I can teach you how to create planes of your own you can travel to. But we mustn't be so hasty to make such leaps."
Alastor sniffed and set the monocle back in place, narrowing his eyes at her. "Perhaps we could pick up on the basics. Summoning magic is one of the simplest abilities a demon can acquire. Your trident would be an excellent first attempt! Now, close your eyes and think back to the battle, how it felt in your hands. Manifest it in your mind completely and with a quick snap," the demon snapped his fingers and a portal opened up, dropping the fragments of his radio staff into the palm of his other hand, "it's yours."
Charlie noticed Alastor's eye twitch at the sight of his staff but he still held his tight lipped smile as he scrutinized it in his hands.
Charlie did exactly as she was told, reflecting on her stance from the hill at the hotel before the angels made their appearance just days ago. She remembered how the roped metal fit in her grip, the trident's head feeling top heavy in her hands. Opening her eyes, she snapped her fingers and a portal hung overhead, her trident dropping to their feet and sticking neatly out of the ground.
"I DID IT," Charlie bellowed with a guttural yell and laughed incredulously, raising her hands above her head before pulling her weapon out of the dirt. Upon examination, it really was her trident that was given to her by her mother Lilith almost eight years ago. Gold embellishments wrapped around the handle and a jeweled apple sat at the base of the prongs, a tribute to her father's fruit from Eden. The soft sunlight reflected off the tips of the blades as she handled it. She felt an ache settle in her arms, so she planted it back into the dirt.
Charlie's eye's cast downward at the thought of her mother, a stranger to her now. Every call she made was dodged since the day she left, not a word mentioned about her hiatus, where she had gone, or why she left at all. In her stomach, a nauseating feeling of abandonment settled in. She drew her attention back to the man standing before her.
"It will get easier the more you practice; do remember that summoning does have its drawbacks. You're pulling on your life energy when you conjure whatever it is you're needing. So the larger the necessity, the more energy you must sacrifice."
Alastor spun both halves of his staff in each hand impressively before throwing them back up in the air and snapping his fingers, the pieces of his rod vanishing with a quick "pop!" He laced his hands behind his back and began to walk around Charlie, humming a catchy tune.
"Okay, how do you get it to go away?"
Alastor cracked his neck to the side and shrugged his shoulders before he turned back to face her, "simply imagine where you want it to go; fully believe your trident is already resting there. And with that same intent and energy, snap your fingers again and voila!"
She repeated his movements and snapped, her heirloom disappearing as quickly as it came.
Her eyes widened in surprise, an ache settling into her shoulders now. "Again," Alastor challenged. His eyes were lit with pride, watching Charlie as she celebrated her small victory.
The princess and the demon spent quite some time out in these fields, conjuring and dismissing different things in and out of Alastor's realm. Charlie had drawn up a sweat, her body on fire from the consistent push and pull of energy she'd never navigated before. She sank into the pillowy grass and panted, rolling onto her back.
"How are you not tired… keeping the door to this realm open? …Just spawning things over and over is exhausting!"
Alastor stood over her and studied her face with amusement, his hands behind his back, "it gets easier darling. Traveling to a realm entirely your own is a feat I've accomplished after some time spent in Hell. Though I do think it's time we make our way back, I'm sure the staff have been wondering where you are."
Alastor extended his hands again, pulling Charlie back to her feet.
"Don't forget your footing now," Alastor growled out, a snarky smile stretched out on his face. The maw of a portal opened up below them and hushed screams roared out before they dropped back into the void, her feet no longer upon a stable surface. Alastor pulled her into another embrace while Charlie held back a surprised scream, her face cradled in his shoulder.
Before she knew it, their feet landed upon a carpeted surface and they were left standing in the halls of the hotel, warm lights hung on the walls trailing down to the elevators at the end.
A couple moments passed before Charlie realized she was still clinging to his jacket. She promptly peeled herself off of him and shot him an apologetic smile while Alastor brushed off the wrinkles in his suit. He had always smiled but Charlie swore she saw a softness in his eyes she'd never seen before as he looked at her one last time.
"It was my pleasure, Miss Morningstar. Please do get some rest as we have much more than that ahead of us. Well," he nodded his head politely and turned to leave, "goodnight!"
"'Night Alastor," she chided, watching him exit the floor before looking at her hands, unaware that she was savoring the feeling of his wool suit on her skin.
Charlie felt her cheeks get hot with embarrassment, thinking about how she'd latched on, fearful of falling into the void. She could feel ghostly appendages still touching her back, as if she was still held in the embrace. That was the next thing on her list, being able to teleport without clinging onto her company.
"Charlie, what in the actual fuck was THAT," Charlie jumped and held her chest, startled. She looked over, seeing Angel's head poked out into the hallway, several doors down. "Don't tell me you're fucking Smiles over here."
She felt her face flush even more, surely she looked like a ripe tomato. She smiled and waved to her witness, "oh, hey uh, Angel! Alastor and I just talked for a bit after Sir Pentious' funeral and he teleported us back! Go back to bed," she started fumbling with her keys, desperate to get out of the hall and into the privacy of her room.
Angel scoffed before withdrawing his head back into his room, "sure thing, sugar tits. Whatever helps you sleep at night."