Chapter 5: Defying Gravity

"Can you feel it?"

His voice is barely audible over the roar of the storm, but his piercing green eyes hold mine with an intensity that cuts through the chaos. We lie soaked upon wet sand, side by side one another in the wild heart of a storm. Thunder booms all around us, almost shaking the ring, as if demanding all denizens to bear witness of its chaotic fury. Lightning danced across the dark gray sky, and my chest feels full when he is looking into my spirit like this. I nod, unable to tear my gaze away from his. Despite the tempest raging around us, there's a strange sense of calm in his presence, as if he's a beacon of stability amidst the madness.

Is this a dream? I instinctively reach for my lips, feeling no pain or threads binding them. No, this was no dream. This is a memory.

"It's loud," I murmured, already weak by the almost unfamiliar sound of my own voice. I'm grateful to the rain pelting against my skin, washing away my tears. And when I see his smile, something breaks within me.

"But it's still beautiful, no?" He says it like it's an absolute truth, not an actual question. And this is ironic, considering he questions everything.

"You find this beautiful?"

He nodded, green eyes never leaving my heterochromatic ones. A fleeting flicker of surprise danced in his emerald depths before he continued. "Don't you?"

I'm torn. Part of me wants to agree, to see the beauty in the chaos unfolding around us. But another part of me can't help but feel overwhelmed by the sheer force of it, the sense of powerlessness it evokes. I wish we could trade eyes. All I saw was a reflection of myself.

"I… I don't know. I don't know many people who do."

"I suppose it's not uncommon. People here don't take too kindly to things they cannot control." He turns to the sky, but not before I catch the glint of rebellion in him. A sudden, jarring shriek tore through the wind's howl, making me flinch. He doesn't bat an eye.

"My father finds my morals… disappointing, but I think that may be a good sign. If I rule the same as he does now, I will have failed my people. I will have failed you."

"Never." His defiance gives me strength. I am honored to work alongside a royal of true nobility. "You were always destined for greatness. See to it that you find peace within your own contradictions, and know that I will stand behind you. Always."

He chuckled deeply, but I don't think I said anything funny. "Heh… And you said you didn't like storms."

"I never said I didn't. And besides, you are no storm, sir."

"Ah, but we are all storms, my dear." He sits up, watching the ocean rage and claw at the shore. "We all have something we're fighting inside, something we're running from. Still, I choose to believe we are all beautiful, flaws and all."

I say nothing, letting his words latch onto me, letting it infect my thoughts and erase my self-loathing, eager to soak in his wisdom. He rises from the sand and dusts himself off, then he bows to me; one hand behind his back, the other offered to me for holding. It is a gesture that is looked down upon, to bow or touch demons who are considered "less". That is why all us Hell-antis maids wear gloves, as not to taint the skin of those above us.

In the eyes of Envy, of our great king, Leviathan, we are not equals. With a simple gesture, Seviathan dares me to challenge life as I know it. A chance to change lanes and reprogram the long brainwashed belief my life is not my own. It is his. And yet, he gives me the gift of choice, of free will. He gives me a chance to step outside of my duties to simply… be. And I take it. I revel in it.

He guides me to the raging ocean, his eyes keeping me grounded. Keeping me safe. His grip on my hand tightens and I have no time to ease the dread in my gut as we are swallowed by the mouth of an enormous wave, forcing us to break eyes for the moment. The storm above us becomes muted and I am slightly panicked, but the lightning in the sky shines through the surface of the ocean. I feel a calmness growing in me. Hues of greens, blues, and white appear like watercolor paint on a gray canvas and for a split second, I think I'm starting to get it. The beauty in the heart of all this chaos.

I am about to share these thoughts to his majesty, but when we lock eyes again, grief hits me worse than the wave that swallowed us. His green eyes are now a hazy white, his body limp and floating lifelessly beneath me. It frightens me and in my startled state, I let go of him. I can only watch as he fades into the darkness and as if I didn't already feel myself going mad at the sight of him, I see something else in the deep abyss lurking. Waiting.

Hungry.

A pair of heterochromic eyes the same as my own glows in the darkness, taking him somewhere I am too scared to follow.

My arm is wet with tears when I wake up in the hotel library. Sadness was replaced with confusion, then tired gratitude as the soft music from the radio made me feel… floaty? Yeah, that's a good word. Floaty. It soothed me. Alastor always did have fine taste in music.

I yawned involuntarily, wincing at the stitches that kept my mouth taut. Too tired to be truly irritated by the minor pain, I reach for the red ceiling before standing to my feet, the leather book and unexplained red blanket sliding off of me and to the floor. Someone must have covered me while I was asleep. A sweet gesture, though I wish I knew who was kind enough to think of me. I took them both with me, rubbing the last of my nap and tears out of my eyes before making my way to the sitting area.

Sir Pentious' portrait greets me and I give him a sleepy solute with an even sleepier high pitched hum.

"Finally awake, I see." Vaggie is walking up behind me and following my odd habits, saluting Sir Pentious with a sharper, more militant wave of her arm. I nod, feeling drained by so many things. And oh, so hungry. "Any sweet dreams?"

I shrug, not fully remembering what my dream was about. I just remember the feeling and tears it left behind. Only dreams of Seviathan did that.

'I was just wondering how he was doing up there,' I signed, still looking at the portrait.

The purple moth woman looks back to the portrait, a warm and proud glint in her eyes. "Yeah… I find myself wondering the same thing."

A moment of silence fills the space between us before I sign my question, 'Still no new recruits?'

She shook her head and I sighed through my nose. I've been here about a month and a half now, but according to Charlie, there's been no new recruits for the hotel since Sir Pentious joined them almost a year ago. 10 months to be precise. The documented war against the Angels was no help, to my initial surprise, seeing as I was their first recruit since it ended about 3 months prior to my arrival. It was a little hard to present the argument that the hotel was safe when it was the main point of contact for the war itself. And Charlie has made it incredibly clear that time was not a luxury she could afford to waste. She only had 959 days left to prove the hotel worked consistently.

Scary how small a big number could actually be.

The planning of the hotel's success is ultimately left up to Vaggie and Charlie. Alastor was only a facility manager, so when he wasn't keeping up with maintaining the building, he was locked in his radio tower or gallivanting around hell doing who-knows-what. He was a walking mystery with his own agenda and it was more mental gymnastics trying to figure him out. What he did on his own time, they were too antsy to care or argue with him. That time limit on the heavenly clock tower meant either the end or the beginning of something, and he knew that. Of what, I was unsure.

"I'm sorry…" Vaggie's sudden apology pulls me out of my thoughts. It confuses me, and she must have read it on my face. "In the beginning, I… I was a little jealous of you. Lately, I've been feeling like I've failed Charlie more than I've helped her. Then you suddenly show up and… She finds all the hope in you in a day that I couldn't give to her in months. And still can't."

I paused for a moment. 'Are you drunk?'

She seems embarrassed now and is quick to defend herself. "No, I'm not drunk! I just… I was just thinking, I guess."

I find her sentiment stupid and irrational, but I know better than to say it to her face. 'If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all!' Charlie's voice rang in my mind and I signed instead, 'You're too hard on yourself.'

"Maybe." She sighs and her shoulders sag on the exhale. "Maybe I'm just frustrated with it all. It's not easy to convince demons to give a shit about salvation with no reward. Or proof."

'Salvation is the reward,' I corrected her, but the latter comment surprises me. 'I thought it was confirmed that Sir Pentious was redeemed?'

"It is, but Sera won't give us the proof we need to help spread the word." She is digging her nails into the skin of her folded arms, visually annoyed by the inconvenience of this setback. Her red bow that decorated her ponytail almost looked like horns themselves. "Or provide any help with the operation."

'Why not?'

"We figured it out without the Angel's help the first time, so we don't need them to do it again." She paused before adding, "Her words, not mine."

'It sounds like she's counting on the hotel's downfall. I can see that it's putting a lot of pressure on both of you,' I say wordlessly. I know I am right when I read her eyes. They're full of doubt. They're desperate.

I offer her my best reassuring smile, even though I am incredibly tired. The poor thing really was trying, I knew that. When I finished healing, she asked me to be her sparring partner, so I've gotten a little closer to her. Not that I had a hidden agenda or anything, but I've always wanted to be included in the hotel's operation beyond just being a maid. I just didn't feel comfortable sharing my ideas yet. Not to mention Alastor was, at the time, a major pain in my ass. Not that he isn't anymore, but my dislike for him isn't as strong.

Since our sparring match (if you can even call it that), he doesn't tease me as much. And when he does, he stops when I tell him his jokes are becoming more insulting than funny, enforcing Charlie's much needed lesson on "boundaries". I am, for the most part, less rude to him now, learning to "improve emotional regulation" and to "lead with kindness". She made us apologize to each other once I was fully healed and since then, my opinion of him changed from insufferable to indifferent. There is, begrudgingly, a new level of respect we hold for each other.

Recently though, he seems to have been growing bored with these meetings, always seeming to have an excuse not to attend as often. I don't know if he is truly bored or if he's hiding something, but it wasn't my business. His absence was the perfect opportunity for me to swoop into his open seat. And I bet I could do a much better job than he ever did, anyway. At least I actually wanted to help. I wasn't necessarily "stealing" his spot, either. Just borrowing it until I can earn my own.

'May I help?' My question seems to surprise her. 'I've been doing my own research and I think we can help each other out.'

She raises an eyebrow at me, suspicious of what I may ask. "How so," she asks cautiously.

'Clearly you love and care for her majesty,' I started. 'And forgive my forwardness, but I couldn't help but notice Alastor seems a bit… Unreliable in this department.'

"Tch, tell me about it…," she scoffs. She takes a seat on the lounge chair in the sitting area and I join her. "What are you saying? That you want his place?"

'Exactly that.' She seems taken aback by my blunt response. 'I'd like your help with a presentation I've been working on. I have a good feeling about it and the plan is sure to bring in more foot traffic, but I need support. And your voice.'

"My voice?"

'These stitches are a damn curse,' I tell her, tapping my mouth to bring her attention to it. 'My hands won't convey the same emotion a voice will. Not with something as important as this. We can surprise her majesty with a full strategy to make some real changes here.'

"But… What if it doesn't-"

'There's no room for doubt, Vaggie.' I can see the gears in her head turning. The seed has been planted, I just need to water it. 'We have to try something. I don't know what Sera may be planning but I do know this: your life's on the line. I'm on the line, Charlie is on the line. If you help me with this, I promise, this hotel will be more successful than it's ever been.'

I learned long before we started spending more time together that it is in Vaggie's nature to be a skeptic, and I don't take it personally. Charlie is lucky to have such a down-to-hell and protective partner to keep her grounded. And Vaggie was lucky to have someone as loving and cloud-nine spirited as Charlie to remind her that not everyone is out to get them. That there is value in connection. I liked watching the relationships between all my hotel mates. Even Alastor and Niffty shared a close friendship. It was heart-warming, and left some room for me to imagine my own relationships; past, present and what kinds I wanted for my future. But if I want any hope for any future, I have to start pulling some weight.

'Please.' I hope my eyes are begging well. 'I know it would be a huge weight off Charlie. And it would mean the world to her, especially if it came from you.'

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of thought, Vaggie seemed to give in. "Ah, what the hell? Can't be as bad as Angel's suggestions."

I blinked. 'Were his suggestions that bad?'

"Last time I accepted his help on ideas regarding trust building, he took us to a BDSM Club."

Oh.

'I'd sympathize, but you should have known better,' I told her. It's not often I hear her laugh, but I'm glad I can get a giggle out of her every now and then.

'So it's a deal, then?' I hold out my hand to her, a smile burning my sewn lips.

She watches my hand for a moment before hesitantly taking it. 'Yeah, fine. But this had better work.'

I watch her eyes become heavy while a new surge of energy courses through me.

I have her.

I examined myself in the mirror, trying to convince myself not to rip off this new dress. My reflection was unrecognizable. Long locks draped around my bare shoulders, the upper half of it in a messy bun. This new dress was… flattering, I suppose. Midnight blue to match my broken horns, strapless and form fitting, hugging my torso. My only method of cover-up is a thin navy blue shall hanging off my gloved forearms, which stopped midway to my upper arm. The skirt portion reached midway to my calves, and I wore midnight blue heels and sheer black stockings. With every movement, there was a faint shine amongst the soft velvet of my expensive attire.

It wasn't quite my style, but Vaggie suggested I wear something that wasn't my usual maid attire for the presentation, so I didn't have time to get something less… Well, just less. Angel practically forced me to buy it on our last shopping trip, complaining that I never bought anything. He took it upon himself to help expand my fashion sense and prove to me that I'm a "hot pair of tits", as he put it. Thanks to him, I now own two articles of clothing.

I couldn't deny that it was a beautiful dress, but I couldn't decide if I liked it. I felt ridiculous, then beautiful, then ridiculous, then ugly, then beautiful again, then ugly again, and so the spiral began before I forced myself to stop.

Breathe.

A knock on the door saves me from my thoughts. I quickly shake my nerves away and with a final glance to my mirror, I stumble to the door in these stupid heels to open it. A different kind of anxiety strikes me when I find Alastor looking down on me.

If embarrassment was a disease, I'd have been dead long ago.

We say nothing at first. His eyes scan me, inspecting me, and it makes my skin crawl. I am trying not to let my imagination irritate me, half-expecting him to tease me on my appearance. Instead, he offers his arm for me to hold.

I stare blankly at his arm, then look up at him, a confused tilt to my head.

"Today, preferably," he says.

Hesitantly, I take hold of his arm and close the door behind me. The silence between us feels heavy, awkward and I feel the need to say something.

'Did her majesty send you,' I asked, looking up at him. His smile seemed strained. Not forced, but something was bothering him.

He takes a moment to read my translation before answering. "Yes."

'Will you be joining the presentation today?'

"Yes." He glances over at me. "I know you want to make an impression, my dear, but don't you think the dress is a bit overkill?"

'My dear.' He used this for me sparingly, and each time it made my blood run cold. I swallow the lump in my throat before answering, 'It's the only other dress I own.'

"Hmm."

He says nothing more and neither do I. The halls to the meeting room seem to stretch with every step. His arm feels stiff under my even stiffer small hands and it makes me wonder if being this close to me bothers him. It's not like I could call us friends, and after wailing on each other three weeks ago, this is the only other time we've made physical contact. I made the objective decision to release him.

He's about to say something, but I put a hand up to stop him.

'Sorry,' I tell him. 'Physical contact is a bit overwhelming for me.'

"I don't bite, you know." A lie. He's teasing me, but he puts his arm down anyway, quickly folding them behind his back. He looks relieved. The corner of my lips tug into a small smile.

'I do.'

"Ah, I don't doubt that for a moment. You seemed to want to devour me during our little spat before." He leans forward as he walks to get a better look at me. He takes notice of my chest and my face feels hot, quickly covering myself, barely, with my see-through shawl.

"What's that," he asks so brazenly.

I frown. 'What, you've never seen boobs before, virgin?'

"Not that," he spat. "The scar between them."

Oh.

'Oh, that.' I look down at my chest. Among the many scars that decorated my now exposed chest, back and shoulders, one remained stitched shut like my lips. The vertical stitching peaked between my breasts, and I felt my embarrassment flare up again. 'It's my other mouth.'

"Another? You've quite the collection, there."

'Of mouths?'

"Of scars."

I shrug. 'I've been told I'm too stubborn to die.'

We approach a pair of large red wood doors with gold handles. Deep breath through my nose, I am about to walk in, but Alastor holds an arm out between me and the door, blocking entry.

His red eyes are piercing into me and I want to look away. But I don't want to be weak. 'Yes?'

"You are about to meet the King of Hell. He's more of a jester than a king, but he is king nonetheless. So if you want him, or anyone, to take you seriously, then at the very least, I'd suggest you remove your shawl. Show your tenacity, my dear," he tells me.

I take a moment to process this, and I can't hide the smile forming under my stitches, even if it stings. Did he just… compliment me? I never thought I'd see the day.

I removed the shawl, which he took off my hands.

"Good girl," he praises.

I roll my eyes and flip him the bird and he smiles wider, straightens his back, and opens the doors for me.

The sudden attention of everyone in the room leaves my knees weak and I'm grateful for once that I cannot speak. Vaggie is standing in front of the projector screen in a beautiful white jumpsuit with fur around the collar, cufflinks, and the hem of her pants. She looks more like a moth now than ever, with her hair long to her ankles. I immediately feel better about feeling overdressed, and she seems to feel the same.

'Beautiful,' I sign to her. She blushes and gives me a sheepish smile, though I notice she's trying not to look at my scars. I don't want to be ashamed of them.

"You too," she says sheepishly. And I allow myself to believe it.

At the table sat the rest of our hotel mates. Husk and Angel sat next to each other, seeming to take turns playing a game on Angel's phone. Niffty was on refreshment duty, and since she was so small, sat at the front end of the table closest to the projector screen. Lucifer sat at the far opposite end, Charlie next to him and finally, Alastor. The King and Overlord shared a brief look of annoyance before focusing on me and Vaggie. Poor Charlie looked as though she might suffocate under whatever tension was between the two.

"Thanks for coming everyone," Vaggie stated proudly. "We're really excited to get things going, so we won't waste any more of your time. Thorne, if you could please?"

And so it began the explanation of my master plan.

Not to toot my own horn, but choosing Vaggie as my voice for the presentation was an excellent decision. She was nervous, sure, that was to be expected. But as I flipped through the slides and as Vaggie spoke her rehearsed lines with such confidence, I almost forgot it was all practiced. She held her head high with militant authority, and her rising excitement with each passing frame was infectious. As she outlined our plan to increase the hotel's population, awareness, and community support, I couldn't help but feel a surge of nervousness rush through me. Each point was met with a mix of nods and skeptical glances, but we pressed on.

"Thorne and I thought it would be best to start small." Vaggie turned to the group and put both hands on the table in front of her. She was locked in, making eye contact with everyone in the room as she continued. "We'll focus on reaching smaller-status and newly arrived demons, both soul-bound and free, steadily building our numbers before launching another public advertising campaign."

"And how do you propose we do that," Husk asked, resting his chin in his kinda-paws.

"Simple: We'll set up a recruiter at Hell's Gate." A few eyebrows rise at this and I feel less like I want to throw up. "We'll turn every new arrival into a potential resident, showing them that redemption is possible within our walls, even if they may not accept it right away."

'If they choose, of course,' I added. It was important that demons choose on their own accord to join the hotel. By greeting them at the door, we're giving them hope before any other demon has the chance to corrupt them.

Charlie gasped and stood up, crimson eyes shimmering like a thousand meteors. Realization dawned upon her as she spoke. "Just like Saint Peter…"

"Just like Saint Peter," echoed Vaggie.

If we can implement a system that gives us full advantage to point newly arrived sinners to pass through the hotel, it gives us the advantage to increase our numbers and our results without the buffer of other overlords trying to buy their souls. I noticed that the room was pulled in. They seem interested for the most part, but it's not them we needed to convince. It was Lucifer, whose expression was unreadable. All I could hope was that if Charlie was on board, Daddy Dearest would follow right behind her.

"I suppose it is pretty clever," Lucifer conceded, his tone measured but not dismissive.

Boom. Vaggie looked over her shoulder to me with a knowing look and I held a thumbs up.

"One question: How do you plan to build community amongst these demons?" The question was from Alastor, who was respectfully quiet for most of the presentation.

'A party,' I answered.

If Charlie's eyes got any bigger, I was afraid they'd pop out of her head. "A party!?" Then, she paused. "Wait, why a party?"

"My question exactly," Angel said, taking a swig of Husker's drink. The cat demon growled, but didn't complain. They should get married already.

'Music is a universal language,' I signed to them. 'Lilith used to empower demon kind with her songs, did she not?'

The mention of the late queen made everyone in the room tense.

Still, I pressed on. 'Music has the power to dig up the deepest of feelings within anyone, demon or not, no matter how repressed they are. This party would be multi-purposed; Celebrating Sir Pentious as our first success story, maybe more by then. We'd be celebrating the victory of a war against our oppressors, celebrating new beginnings, our new number of residents, change. A grand celebration, open to all, right in the heart of Pentagram City where it can't be ignored.'

"We're also hoping overtime to bring on some sponsors," Vaggie added. "We're already starting strong with Alastor and Lucifer, but we may need more as our numbers grow. This can be a later conversation, but we already have some potential candidates and would like you all to start thinking of some as well."

"Who were ya thinkin'," Angel asked.

'Carmilla and Rosie, to name a few,' I tell them. 'Considering the history shared between them and the hotel, I thought their names were worth putting down. Their partnership may not be guaranteed, but it's worth a shot. First, we must eliminate any outside skepticism of the hotel with more residents and more results.'

As the room fell into a thoughtful silence, I couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. Despite the initial skepticism, our plan had resonated with our audience. Vaggie's confidence and my strategic insights had carried us through, earning nods of approval and murmurs of agreement from our hotel mates.

"Excellent work, Thorne, Vaggie," Lucifer finally spoke, his tone carrying a hint of genuine praise. "Your plan shows promise."

A wave of relief washed over me, mingled with a surge of pride. We had cleared the first hurdle, gaining acceptance for our vision of the hotel's future. Now, the real work can begin.

"Thank you, Sir," Vaggie replied, her voice steady and grateful. "We're eager to put this plan into action and see the hotel thrive."

With our presentation concluded and the groundwork laid for our ambitious strategy, I felt a spark of hope ignite within me. Despite the challenges ahead, I knew that with determination and unity, we could turn Charlie's vision into reality.

As the meeting adjourned and our hotel mates began to disperse, Charlie walked up to us with wet eyes. "You guys, I… I'm so proud of you both. Thank you sooo so so so so so so much for doing this."

'I couldn't have done it without Vaggie,' I praised. Vaggie gave me a surprised look and I gave her a small, thankful smile. 'Her voice is so strong. I was right to ask for her help. You really breathed life into this presentation.'

"I-I did, didn't I," she said, awkwardly accepting the compliment.

"You did!" Charlie took her hands in hers and looked deeply into her eyes, making Vaggie blush heavily. "You were amazing… As always."

Vaggie's eyes seemed a bit heavy and like magnates, they slowly gravitated towards each other. "Thanks, babe..."

Yuck. I'm outta here.

With a quick bow, I awkwardly slipped out of the meeting room. I caught a glimpse of the two sharing a kiss before I closed the doors as quietly as possible. I stood in front of that door and, curiously, touched my own lips. I kissed my fingertips gently, wanting to know what it felt like to do it. Feels like…

Feels like an idiot just kissed her own hand.

I rolled my eyes and made my way down a different hall, hoping to avoid running into anyone as I slipped out one of the back entrances of the hotel. Our journey was just beginning, but with each step forward, we were one step closer to transforming the Hazbin Hotel into a beacon of redemption and hope in the heart of Hell. Together, we would defy the odds and carve out a new future for ourselves and our fellow demons. There was a lot to think about, but that would come later. It was hard to think on an empty stomach, and I think I deserved to treat myself to a large feast after my recent success.

I almost felt sorry for the poor thing that would become my dinner.