Author's Note: Hello travelers of this infinite library we call the internet, and welcome to the twenty-first installment of Drifters. Bit of an interesting chapter this time around, for it is neither a continuation of last weeks, or a flashback into the past. Instead, this section runs parallel to the previous, separated by space instead of time!
Alright, with my idiotic way of saying this chapter is set simultaneously to the last one out of the way, onto reviews!
Gamer of Action 44D: If all the world's a stage, then Alastor is its director! And while the choreography he wrote, aka setting up Zeezi's goons to attack the hotel staff, definitely holds the risk of sparking a larger war, my logic for Alastor is he views finding out more about the weapon that is causing the Cold War is worth whatever fallout this proxy battle sparks.
That, and as you pointed out, whether Alastor's able to control the fire of this attack or not, he has successfully delivered quite the blow to the Carmines, and to a lesser extent the Vees, neutrality stance. Which in itself is an incredible resource our favorite deer man can utilize.
Now whether he will use those resources to conjure in peace or promote further conflict… well, let's just say that question leads into Alastor (Spoiler) territory XD
An Angry Green Boss: Thanks man, your comment means a lot! Luckily for me, Hazbin made all their characters so amazing and distinct they really write themselves! And while I certainly have nothing against stories with strong and competent OC's who have complex internal issues… I much prefer throwing the timid but, relatively, everyday man into the chaotic situations of a fantastical world's external woes.
With the story ramping up in the second half, the reviews get more and more fun to respond to every week!
But now, without further adieu, besides my traditional apology revolving around any grammatical mistakes that may pop up along the way, I welcome you back too….
Drifters
A Hazbin Hotel Fanfic
Chapter 21:
The Quack Job
Vaggie had seen Charlie try to cover up her emotions before. Hell, given the nature of their profession, the white haired security guard wouldn't be surprised if at this point her girlfriend's natural smile had become a forced one by default.
However, walking beside the princess of the realm as they strode through the 'castle's' gate, Vaggie was presented with a first.
And that first came in the form of a bullet list of abnormalities.
That included Charlie's shoes hitting the ground a bored clatter rather than an upbeat, or even nervous, tap.
The blonde's leveled blank stare ahead. Lids not propped up in joy, nor closed in a panic.
And her girlfriend's clenched grip on an inert KeeKee. Who was currently held an unmoving key rather than the feline embodiment of hope the heiress usually swooned over.
And while Vaggie was no stranger to seeing past any mask Charlie would throw up to hide her true emotions, her girlfriend not even trying to wear one was a paradoxical sight to say the least.
'I didn't even know you could be indifferent.' the white haired woman thought, as they trailed the cobblestone pathway up to the Morningstar's manor.
Not trapped in such a state herself, Vaggie frowned at the sight of it infecting Charlie.
For better or worse, her partner had always been the type of person who utilized emotions to their fullest extent.
And even if Charlie's ability to experience the happiest joys meant she also had to endure the saddest sorrows, either state was the product of the blonde's greatest blessing. Her innate selfless nature to care about what she did, and who she did it for, to an unmatched degree.
Right now though, Vaggie painfully watched the blonde step onto the porch with no increase or decrease in velocity. As her girlfriend raised a hand, not trembling in excitement or rage, to knock on the door. And was presented with a Charlie who didn't care enough to fix, or run away, from the problems inside her own home.
A crisp series of knuckles rattled against the entrance. And standing next to her girlfriend, Vaggie's lips traversed farther south when she heard the echoed cracks fade away with no beat.
'…'
The guard's empty mind was a precursor to the long nothingness she and Charlie began to wait through. Yet, the shorter woman was too confused about what would break the silence to find it awkward.
Distant as her life on Earth had been, Vaggie still very much recalled Lucifer's image there being less of a person, and more a symbol of evil incarnate.
When she had died and become an Exorcist, she was then told that the Angel who had fallen before her was more akin to a mischievous fool. Whose desire and greed to create a world in his own image became so powerful, that when he manipulated Adam, Lilith, and Eve into corrupting Earth, he had accidentally tricked himself into becoming the source of all things wrong with creation.
After being cast down into the pit of imperfection, Charlie presented her a third view of the man. A fallen hero, who had lost all drive and hope when his gift of free will was reciprocated with a one way ticket to the realm of chaos incarnate.
Funnily it was only now, when standing before the literal barrier that held back the true answer, that Vaggie realized Charlie's version wasn't too dissimilar from the one she had been given by Heaven.
Which she supposed shouldn't have been surprising since, unlike Earth, the story of Lucifer's downfall wasn't a story at all to the two transphysical realms. For them it was history.
Still, while the heiress' tale painted her dad as more an Icarus type dreamer rather than a mischievous jester, both tellings ended with Lucifer fading into his own misfortune. A discarded tool so the actual protagonist merits, whether that be Adam or Lilith, could be shown. As they found their purpose and forged their character from the tragedy he sowed.
And while Vaggie had no doubt the account spun to her by the Exorcists was due to their Commander's bias, she couldn't help but feel Charlie's own cover of the story painted a worse picture of the first Morningstar due to the artist's personal connection with the piece.
The tap of footfall, approaching the door like drips from a leak, almost seemed to give the spearwoman's hypothesis legs.
'Whatever happens,' Vaggie took a deep breath to stow herself, 'I've got to be here for Charlie. No matter how big, or indifferent, the storm that emerges is.'
And when the first gust blew it open, Vaggie clenched her teeth, ready to face down any demon, even their king, for her partner-
"Retirement means retirement!" an oddly vex tone emerged from the oaken door first, "So if you've come for another surprise social visit Mammon, then know I've finally figured out they're just business meetings in disguise. And if this is Satan, and you're here to rob me again, then know the value of rubber is at an all time low!"
An apple atop a stick launched the door open. Revealing a fanged grin that wobbled upon its own depressed enthusiasm. Propped up much like its wielder's short blonde hair, white tux, inflated top hat, and… stature.
"So jokes on you-" the fruit equipped man's statement was stunted faster than the three inches separating the top of his head from Vaggie's eyeline.
'And I thought I was tiny.' the security guard's wide eye nearly floated her up to a towering position over the mysterious being, 'But I've got nothing on your… butler?'
Vaggie's pupil tilted, confused at her own theory. A confusion that got significantly worse as she couldn't help but feel the problem looked familiar.
"Charlie?" He blinked twice, before his pale face heated up red. His eyes darting in every direction, "I-I didn't know you were coming- God, I wish you told me, the place is such a mess-"
'Maybe he's a Doorman?' Vaggie pondered. Based on their own hiring experience in that field, the delayed response time and nervous stutter definitely fit the description of all the receptionists she'd ever met.
Although, unlike Nester's wave of pity that would have swept Charlie away by now, Vaggie noticed her girlfriend's cheeks puffed out a sigh at this nervous wreck's antics.
"I-I just-" mercifully, the white hatted man cut himself off with a large intake of air, "Not that I'm not thrilled you're here Charlie, it's just… why are you here?"
The tux man deflated, and Vaggie couldn't help but cock an eyebrow at how painful it had been to watch the man labor through a sentence.
"I used to live here," Charlie gritted through clenched teeth wrenched open to form the tiniest opening, "pretty sure I don't need a reason to visit my childhood home dad."
'… but the reason we're here is to see your dad.' Vaggie couldn't help but think, as Charlie's odd behavior only caused her concern to rise-
"Wait." her dilated eyes leaked out her disbelief. Images of paintings in the hotel invaded her mind. The memory of the knee cut portraits confirming both her exclamation and shock, "He's your dad?!"
Vaggie's eyebrows nearly raised her back to Heaven. As she wondered if her fellow fallen Angel had slipped fifteen discs when he landed.
Lucifer's quizzical eye shifted around, all but silently asking her 'why wouldn't I be?'.
"Yeah… he's my dad." Charlie's sigh confirmed.
"A dad who loves his daughter very much!" Mr, evidently fucking, Morningstar voice was laced with the guilt his smile tried to bypass. As he immediately ushered Charlie a free path into the house. With the hopes he'd be able to get her attitude to stay behind, "Who can't wait to uh… sit down and shoot the shit with you and your friend... Veronica? Who I definitely recall you messaging me about!"
Vaggie blinked, her eyes still trying to reform their popped pupils. Did- did the enemy of Heaven and all things good just try to act nonchalant in an outlandishly embarrassing way?
This- Was she being pranked right now?
"Then you'd recall my girlfriend's name is Vaggie." The cringe in Charlie's voice proved that theory wrong. For only a genuine dad could produce such a level of awkwardness in his daughter.
"Girlfriend?!" Lucifer's face went beet red, before he tried to brush his obvious mix up away by grabbing onto the security guard's hand, "O-of course your name's Vaggie! Forgive me, I've got the eyes of an old man! Can't read a billboard without my reading glasses, let alone a text."
"You don't have reading glasses dad." Charlie pinched the bridge of her nose, "Can we just come inside already?"
The heiress asked, as if she wasn't already shuffling her way through the wooden frame to get away from the conversation.
"Only if you two promise to keep your door unlocked hehe~" Lucifer's shaking smile started to falter.
The cold front Charlie produced froze Vaggie in place. And the stare of absolute dread she swiveled onto her dad didn't just kill his regret, it turned it into stone.
"Not that you have too! Since you're an adult and I respect your boundaries and decisions-"
"Dad?!" Charlie's shout of embarrassment not only slapped the elder Morningstar's current train of thought away, but Vaggie's paralysis as well.
"R-right…" the first fallen Angel coughed into his hand, before shooting the guard an apologetic smile. Along with a gesture for her to follow Charlie, "Well, welcome to our humble abode Vaggie… I'll go make us all some tea while Charlie shows you around."
XxxxxxX
Whelp, Charlie was seated next to Vaggie in the living room when two things became apparent to her.
The first was that she hadn't been able to show anything inside the manor to Vaggie. Because all the things in her house she would even want to share with her girlfriend were currently lost beneath a sea of rubber ducks. One that would take a lifetime to drain, if the hour of excavation to dig out two seat cushions on the couch was anything to go off.
The second thing she understood was that if she were to dedicate her life to removing the bath toys from her old home… she'd get it done before her dad arrived with the tea. Whose stove evidently increased the temperature of water one degree per minute.
"… you're dad seems-" despite her partner's best efforts, Vaggie's attempt to interrupt the silence was cut off by a squeak when she shifted in her seat. Pulling up a party hat duck, she gently placed it in her palm, "Nice."
"… I guess." Charlie gave her girlfriend an apologetic look for everything that had gone on since they arrived.
"No, I'm serious." Vaggie tried to continue, "Can you image how people up top would react if they knew that Lucifer had this type of soft side hehe…"
Vaggie squeezed the bath toy towards Charlie, but it inflated to the tune of her girlfriend's deflated laugh.
Charlie took a deep breath. She'd usually be over the pentagram her partner was making such an effort to be understanding and polite. But given who she was granting the benefit of the doubt to, she honestly felt bad Vaggie's efforts were being wasted.
"I'm sure it would be quite the shock."
'Until they found the cement core covered by his rubber skin.' Charlie's thought corrected her own answer with a sigh.
But outside the rub she gave her arm, the heiress didn't voice the edit.
"Yeah," Vaggie sucked in her lips, and decided to let a new topic out, rather then drag her girlfriend through the old one, "So how do you think things are going back at the Hotel?"
"I… don't know." Charlie's cheeks paused their downward trend. Caught by a topic that she actually could find some enjoyment in, "But given how well they do with improvised lessons, I have faith any activity they build from scratch will be great-"
"Speaking of improv~" an overly joy filled voice interrupted the happiness in Charlie's. As her father tossed himself into the room, platter in hand. The plate filled to the brim with simmering cups of chestnut hued water topped with soft white icebergs, "Guess who decided to make coco instead of tea!"
'That still doesn't explain the wait time.' Charlie barred her steamed thoughts behind closed eyes.
"Oh, that's wonderful." making her blind to the forced smile on Vaggie's lips as her dad rattled the plate down onto the mountain of ducks that used to be their coffee table, "Charlie must get her sweet tooth from you."
"Sugar's a pretty common thing to like." Charlie tone dipped with her eyes to the floor.
"Tell that to your salt loving mother hehe~" her dad's manufactured chuckle only weighed her own words down.
"I wish I could…" Charlie didn't have to look up at the silence that followed to know her fellow blonde's nervous smile had been eviscerated.
"… right. Anyway, how are things?" her dad coughed, but was unable to blow away the sour mood that had flooded the room.
The heiress took a deep breath through her nose.
"Everything's fine-" Charlie breathed her answer, before a knowing look from Vaggie forced her to elaborate on it, "Except… I've run into a small problem at work, and need your…"
The blonde bit her lips, and closed her eyes. Leaving her ignorant to Vaggie's supportive gaze, that left her unfinished sentence stewing in silence for a few more seconds.
"Advice to find a solution." she opened her eyes. Her irises filled with a tidal surge of seriousness.
"You want… my help?" her dad floated up a finger towards his own surprised face.
"That's why we're here." Charlie cautiously nodded.
"I see." he blinked his eyes into a dipped head. And for a moment, the younger Morningstar actually thought he had picked up on the tone of the room for once. "Well you've come to the right man!"
And just like that, her dad dashed her hopes away in an instance. As he preemptively smiled his enthusiastic answer to a problem he hadn't even heard.
"All you've got to do is quit!" exclaiming the answer with a throw of his arms, the man jumped higher than the feet he landed on.
"Quit?!" Vaggie mouthed in shock. More so at the fact he hadn't even waited to hear what was going on, than the wrong solution she repeated.
"Dad, I haven't even asked the question yet. You don't even know-"
"How you feel?" the elder Morningstar twirled his cane with a chuckle, "Of course I do Charlie! Ten thousand years old or not, I am very relatable!"
"That's great sir, but-" Vaggie's head tried to shake off its confusion, and reorient the conversation.
"I was in charge of an entire realm of reality, and believe me when I say retirement's the best thing that's ever happened to me!'
'You never put effort into running Hell even when you weren't retired!' Charlie's thoughts never had the chance to make it out of her mouth a point. Not that it would have mattered given the motor running her dad's lips.
"My only regret is not having done it sooner!"
"That's great dad," it really wasn't, but with her dad's word coming at her a jet, Charlie wasn't exactly picky at which plane door she could jump into, "but I'm not in a position where I can just quit-"
Especially when she could be knocked off by high speed turbulence at any point.
"Oh I'm sure your boss won't mind." waving her point away, her dad certainly seemed ignorant to the amount of dangerous wind he whipped up, "And if he does, then he'll have literal Hell to pay!"
Lucifer's chuckle turned into a deep bellow at his own joke. Although the quip was lost to Vaggie and Charlie, whose claps were in the form of confused blinks.
"I'm, uh, referring to me by the way." her dad's laughter died down when he noticed.
"I know it's just… I'm my own boss." the heiress stated bewildered, her eyes flickering themselves narrow when she began to piece together what her shock meant, "You- You do remember what I do, right?"
"… o-of course I do." her dad's words tripped over themselves into the fan blades of his waving arms, "It's just the wolf guy in your commercial presented himself so well, I wasn't sure if you had hired him as some sort of mentor to teach you how to run a restaurant."
"Wolf guy?" Vaggie cocked her head.
"Restaurant?-" Charlie's confusion quickly morphed into offense when everything clicked into place, "Are you talking about the ad I did for Canine Cuisine?"
"Yes!" her dad snapped his hand in triumph, ignorant to the crack that echoed from his daughter's voice, "Canine Cuisine, the name of your diner I definitely remembered and have been planning to go too…"
Her dad trailed off, unaware that he had already crashed through the guard rail.
"Then you would know that Roadie's diner doesn't belong to me, and that I don't work there!" Charlie's voice rose, and shattered the patriarch's face like glass.
"You- You don't?" he weakly whispered, "Well… uh… I guess that just goes to show you how great your acting skills are-"
"I'm not an actor either!" the blonde slammed her hands on the diner table. Her anger fueled by disbelief, hurt, and with a wide eye Vaggie in the room to witness it all, embarrassment."
"But… you starred in the commercial-" Lucifer tried to point out.
"As a favor to Roadie and a worker at the hotel!" Charlie sound waves all but bent her dad's raised finger backwards.
"Hotel?"
Charlie's jaw went slack, but the words in her throat went numb.
If her dad had brushed off her project because he was indifferent to it, she'd be depressed. If he scoffed at it because he believed it was a fool's errand, she'd be hurt. If he had even straight up laughed in her face and told her he thought her dream was a dumb idea, she'd be appalled.
For him to not remember any of the conversation they had when she moved out expressly telling him what she planned to do.
For him to just glance over all the texts she had sent him for every rare milestone her business achieved.
For him to recall her one off commercial in a diner, that she was pretty sure even stated what she actually did, and not her Hotel's infamous air time on the news.
For him to question the incarnation of the dream she had dedicated the last seven years of her life to as if it had been born yesterday, it went beyond the emotional realms of annoyance, sadness, and anger.
Eyes wider than the cannon ball that had just been shot through her soul, Charlie was devastated.
"I didn't know you ran a Hotel?"
And her dad's inability to even sense that only made the reveal of it worse. So much so, her knees went slack and she crashed onto the sofa. Seated in her own silent disbelief.
"Yeah…" Vaggie's one eye shot onto Charlie's two that stared blankly ahead, "She's the owner of the Hazbin Hotel."
The blonde couldn't even decide if she should be happy Vaggie had the maturity to move the conversation forward. Or furious at herself since she didn't have the immaturity to throw a melt down.
"Although, we're really more of a rehab center." The gray hued woman offered out a life preserver for the dad's own ignorance.
"Rehab? Oh, well, no wonder you need to retire." one he immediately swam away from, "Sinners are naturally violent enough monsters as it is, I don't even want to imagine what sort of psychotic nut jobs they turn into when you take away their drugs."
Correction, life preserver that he sunk away from.
"…" and even Vaggie couldn't help but be overcome by a brief wave of shock. "Drug addiction is one of the many issues we address. But the rehab tackle all types of Sins..."
Charlie felt her girlfriend wait on her to fill the silence that came next, but face to face with her dad's inability to follow along, Vaggie's sigh had to patch up the conversation's hole.
"So that our guests can redeem themselves and be granted entrance into Heaven."
"That's…" the elder blonde's words may have sounded upbeat, but they traversed out a hollowed head, "a very cute charity you two have going on."
"Cute?" Charlie breathed out for the first time in what felt like hours.
"Um… yes?" her dad's lips quivered downward unsure of his response.
"Thousands of human souls are slaughtered every Extermination." the heiress rasped her words out razors, "That's my people, your people!"
Charlie motioned to her dad. Her emphasis caused him to recoil.
"Being wiped away from existence, because they don't have the resources to show themselves and Heaven they can become better people!" Charlie's voice rose to a borderline shout, "And you think me dedicating my life to helping them is cute?!"
"Should I…" her dad's eyes darted back and forth, unsure what he should say, "Should I not?"
"No!" Charlie exploded, "People's eternal souls are on the line dad!"
"Charlie," Vaggie's words and hand pressed softly onto her shoulder, "maybe we should all take a second to breathe."
And while the heiress appreciated the gesture, and did not shrug it away, it did little to calm her down.
"A-and maybe have some coco." her dad's shaking smile was only out done by the mug rattling in his hand, "After all, you shouldn't stress yourself so much over Sinners Charlie."
The words themselves were enough to be a slap to the face. The fact her dad said them, not with a sense of arrogance at a lesser being, but rather concern for her mental health, made them a sucker punch.
A blow so powerful, it even had the strength to shatter its users density. As her father's lips sucked themselves inward when he saw the air he had knocked from her lungs.
Unfortunately for him, the chance to reel in his statement had passed. For he had discovered the elephant in the room five minutes too late.
"I-I mean, don't stress yourself over most Sinners." he frantically tried to correct an explanation beyond repair, "Obviously you should care about your girlfriend."
He attempted to direct a propped smile towards Vaggie. But at this point, even Charlie's partner gazed at his gesture with a monotone expression.
"I just meant that most Sinners- Look, why they're down here is in the name, so it's not like these are innocent people being wronged." he continued, his words tripping themselves into a face plant when his words circled back to Vaggie, "A-although I'm sure you're Sin wasn't that bad! No system's perfect you know!"
His smile stitched itself together when he was met with silent stares.
"When dishing out punishment, I'm pretty sure Heaven's not that big on taking contexts into account… believe me." His muttered defense melted into a sideways glance.
"Guess I have too-" Vaggie sighed, before her eye went wide, "Wait, what do you mean 'pretty sure?'-"
A ring cut the security guard off. And before Vaggie could truly voice her question, or Charlie could determine whether or not the siren was being produced by her blood pressure, the security guard fumbled around her pocket for the phone.
And although the heiress' eyes were too drilled onto her dad's panicked face to see the screen, whatever was on Vaggie's cell evidently was perplexing enough to redirect the woman's confusion. As she took a step to the side to answer the call.
"And what do you mean Sinners deserve to be slaughtered into oblivion?" Charlie crossed her arms, having answered her questions on whether she was angry or not.
Her father's face paled at the conclusion she reached.
"I-I didn't say that! Just that you shouldn't-" he struggled to build a shield to protect himself from his daughter's wrath, "Heaven's set in their ways Charlie, and you shouldn't worry yourself to death trying to save souls gone bad."
"I am worried though!" Charlie threw her hands up.
"Everything all right Nester-" nearly as high as the static bomb that blew up next to Vaggie's ear, "What the fuck was that?!"
"Because you're a kind person, and that's a good thing Charlie." Lucifer tried to reason, "But some of these people- Are some of these people really worth your concern?"
"I made the effort to seek you out to help them didn't I?" her words shot into her dad's face an emotional rocket.
"Nester?! Holy shit! Charlie!" a hand grasped her shoulder, but the blonde eyes remained fixated on the problem in front of her.
"W-what do you mean?" her dad's stutter proved he knew the answer.
"What I mean is that I care about people's ability to be redeemed. So much so, that for their sake I sucked it up and came to you for help. Despite the issues between us."
"Just hold on Nester-" Vaggie's phone cut off with the same force the tension in the room was snapped, "Fuck!"
"T-there aren't any issues between us-" her dad stuttered out. Shocked hurt written all over his face. Yet he only received pity in the form of two interruptions.
"Charlie?!" The first was made by Vaggie.
"I can count the number of times you've called me since I left on two hands dad!" And the second came from the heiress who cut them both off, "Not that you remember what we talk about even when we do chat."
"I-I'm sorry, I should have remembered your hotel." Her dad took a step forward, his words reaching out like his concerned arm.
"Why bother?!" she scoffed, and knocked a table's worth of coco at his olive branch, "It's not like you care about it."
"But you do!" Vaggie quite literally plowed her scream between the two Morningstars, "And right now, what you care about is currently being attacked!"
"What?!" Both blondes whipped their heads down, and up, to Vaggie, "By who?!"
"A fucking army from the sounds of it-" Vaggie's point wasn't interrupted, so much as whisked away.
For the moment the heiress heard 'army', her hand was on her girlfriend's wrist, and her feet were making a mad dash for the door.
"Wait Charlie! Let me help-"
And going through the door she left her dad words behind. Or, more accurate, was traveling so fast she was unaware of an offer that would eventually catch up.
XxxxxxX
I cannot tell you the effort it took me to put off writing a scene with Lucifer, aka one of the best characters in the show. As An Angry Green Boss comment has shown, I really enjoy writing about goofballs, and as it stands, the Helliverse's head honcho himself is the king of goofballs!
With my fanboying out of the way, thank you to all those who have read through the twenty-first chapter of Drifters!
I will try my best to upload a chapter every Friday. But until next week, please feel free to leave a comment! Criticism is always welcomed, so long as there's an attempt for it to be constructive.
As of this moment I am still looking for a beta reader, so to anyone interested please feel free to shoot me a PM.