"How do you get to the castle from here?"
"Well, you have to go through this war zone, take a bus, not sure if it's 2 or 3 stops, maybe it's 4-"
Voe looks frustrated "What?"
"What? I usually take a limo there,"
"So can you just call me a limo??"
"Oh, why didn't you ask?"
So the princess had a limo come and pick the doe up and take her to the castle in the center of the city. It was a long and quiet ride. She sat and thought about all the things that took place since the last time she saw him. She didn't mean to break his heart, she didn't even know she had his heart to break. What did he even see in her to fall for? She thought that everything about him was amazing, he was such a brilliant man, but the way she felt about him couldn't hold a candle to her feelings for Alastor.
She sighs, Alastor. She didn't know what to think about him right now. Ugh, should I even be thinking about him right now? This is why I need redemption. Maybe it was best that she broke things off before he asked her to be his new Queen. It would've been cool to be Queen. The difference is that Lucifer felt like an option, while her entire body and soul craved Alastor.
She shakes her head, this was not what she needed to be thinking about right before she went to speak with the man that she chose Alastor over. When she came back to reality she realized that the limo had stopped moving. They'd been in front of the castle already.
"How long have we been here?"
"About 15 minutes miss," the driver answered
"Thank you," She tells them, exiting the car
She stands in front of the door apprehensively. She raises her fist to knock and the large golden door creaks open on its own.
"Hello?" she calls into the door
"Enter," she heard the King's voice call, and she obeyed. She closes the large golden door behind her and the room is completely dark until a snap turns on the lights "Hello," Lucifer says with surprise when he sees her
He looks good, as always. His eyes are bright and his cheeks are full. He's wearing his hat and suit, she thought that he must be doing much better if he can groom himself to this degree.
"Hi," she waves and stands awkwardly allowing him to examine her fully
"What can I do for you?"
She seems taken aback. Guess we're getting right to it "Um, Charlie said I would have to come to you about getting a building..?"
"Ah! Yes, that! For what? I need to know the deets,"
She cautiously steps closer "Well, I want to open a theater,"
"Hmm, that's nice,"
"Yeah, and I think it would be helpful for the sinners of Hell to have other hobby options, I guess?"
"Hmm, okay," he snaps his fingers and an application appears "Sure, just sign this and I will approve it right away. It's a theater right?"
She nods "Yeah,"
"Okay great, I approve applications and they'll say that it's a clothing store, but it's secretly a drug ring, and what can I do? It's Hell!"
"Well, you are the King,"
He shrugs "So you can just sign this and you'll get your building right away,"
She takes the quill and holds it over the line "Nice, can I just read it over? The last time I signed something I lost my soul," she chuckles
"Yeah, sure. I don't want your soul or anything. Everyone thinks I want their souls, but it's the other sinners that have 'em. Seriously it's really annoying," his expression flattens
Voe chuckles "Yeah," then clears her throat looking down at the paper
"Yeah, so read away,"
She gestures to the couch he's sitting on "May I sit?"
"Oh yeah, yeah!"
She sits down and reads the application over, the terms seem fair so she signs them. "Here," she hands Lucifer the papers
"Thank you, and...approved!" he sounds silly and it makes Voe smile "So where do you want your theater to be? Lots of abandoned buildings in the Pride Ring,"
Voe shrugs "Well I'd like it to be in Pentagram City,"
"Plenty of vacant buildings here! You can pick one!"
"Really?"
"Yeah. All right, if that's all then..you can let yourself out"
"Oh uh- okay,"
Lucifer widens his eyes "Did you need something else?"
"Well I don't need anything per se, but, I just thought that we would talk. I-If you want to,"
"Uhhh, what would you like to talk about? I'm not busy,"
She turns her body toward him "How are you?"
"I'm fine. How have you been?"
Voe pulls in her ear "No, really. How are you?"
"I-I'm fine,"
"How are you...when you see me?"
"I'm fine Voe. Did you need something?"
She purses her lips "We miss you at the Hotel,"
"Yeah, have a lot to do,"
"You said you're not busy,"
"Not busy busy, but you know,"
"Lucifer..." she scooches closer to him
"Yes,"
She looks away "How do you feel about me?"
"I feel fine,"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah,"
"Okay, I guess I'll go then,"
"Mhmm,"
She stands to her full height and approaches the doorway again, looking back at Lucifer, waving. He waves back with a fake smile on his face. And she exits.
Voe lays on the parlor couch alone, scrolling through her phone when she hears Alastor's humming, she decides to be silly and sticks her leg up in the air as he approaches her and Alastor grabs it, massaging her foot.
"I already knew what you wanted," he purrs lifting her foot to his lips. He nibbles on the side of her toes, and she giggles pulling her feet back "No no, this is what you wanted" he cheeses at her, nibbling her foot more with his large, sharp teeth.
"I can't believe this is a man that tears apart souls," she laughs "When was the last time you did that?"
"Oh many years ago darling, long before I met you,"
"Would you ever tear my soul apart?"
He snickers "Only if you're being a bad girl," he nips at her foot again, making her giggle
"Where was all this a few days ago?"
"Hmm, I just felt like being alone,"
"And today?"
"Well, obviously today I would like some company,"
Voe kneels on the couch, facing the tall deer. She drapes her arms around his neck again, and this time he does not resist, in fact putting his arms around her waist
"You look, so good today," her voice low and sultry as she runs her hands up the bare skin of his undercut
"Thank you, my dear. I take it, you like my new coat? I just got it tailored, and- oh, I need to show you the shop, you'd simply adore it. Perhaps we could get you something new? Better fitting? Of course, you look ravishing as always, such a stunning beauty-"
"You want an excuse to pamper me."
"You know me too well, darling." (@hazbinhotelie)
"You know I never turn down a chance to be pampered," she smirks at him
"Oh, I know,"
She tilts her head and stares at him curiously "You know what I just realized?"
"Hmm?
"You never gave me back my panties,"
"Who told you that you were going to get them back darling?"
Her jaw drops and gasps "The smell must have faded now,"
"I'll never tell,"
Voe scoffs "Where did you put them?"
"A magician never reveals his secrets,"
"You're not a magician,"
"But Husker is,"
"Ugh, you dragged Husk into this? You're sick!" she tells him with a small smile forming afterward
Alastor chuckles "So I've been told,"
She sighs "I love looking at you,"
"Aww, me too,"
"You love looking at yourself?"
"Yes!"
She laughs and they stare at each other longingly, but just as abruptly he pulls his arms and steps back, forcing Voe to drop her arms
"Well, this was nice. I have things to take care of today in my radio tower,"
"Really?" Voe is incredulous
"Lots to be done, my dear," he says before dissipating
"Wait!" Voe reaches for the air where he used to be. She groans in frustration and shoves a pillow over her face, screaming into it.
The activity for today was riveting, Charlie was so very excited to get to her idea, that she skipped over everything and went straight to Voe.
"Voe tell them about the totally awesome thing that you're planning!!"
Voe looks up somewhat startled "Sure, just I have to say something first"
"Of course! Go ahead!"
"Do you know a few weeks ago when I said that you weren't a sinner?" she pauses "I wasn't saying that as like a gotcha, I was saying that because it's important. Your not being a sinner explains why you're finding it difficult to get to the root of redemption. I feel like you're focusing on the sin itself and not on why each person sins. You were born here in Hell so you don't know this, that's not your fault, but it is your fault if you continue to not know this. Your approach towards redemption acts as if sin occurs in a vacuum. But it doesn't. People sin because life on earth does not reward good people. Good deeds are punished, and bad people succeed all the time. There are a multitude of reasons why a person may feel like they have to sin. Because of social norms or maybe even family pressures. Or perhaps some sort of trauma experience that teaches them that the only way to act is this. There may be some people who send just because they can but I feel like that is a minority. And even the sinners who don't intend to get redeemed, are just people who don't want to address their trauma because it hurts. It hurts to address your trauma. It's a long arduous process to heal from your trauma. Some people don't want to do that, maybe they don't want to experience that trauma twice. That's something I feel like you should think about."
Charlie seems flabbergasted by her speech and starts slowly clapping "That was amazing! And so true! Thank you for that! That's actually super informative, I will have to keep that in mind. Maybe you can help me. But first, get to your idea!!" She sounds sing-songy at the end.
"Right, so I want to open a theater here in Hell. I'm an actress at heart and in my days of doing theater, I've found that doing shows brings people together in ways that nothing else can. I've also found that when people participate in the arts they become better people over time. Maybe it's having something to do with their time, maybe it's because it's much easier to be a good person when you have a support system, or maybe just because it's fun and not destructive. I'm not sure, but I genuinely believe that the more sinners that participate, the more will get redeemed. Theater gives people purpose, and theater is mine. So this needs to happen. I already got approval for the building, so what do you guys think?"
"I think it's a great idea," Angel chimes in
Voe smiles excitedly "So what about you guys?"
"Sure, why not" Husk shrugs
"I love the theater!" Niffty exclaimed kicking her feet
"What about you Bean?" Voe asks
Bean sits up as if she wasn't listening before "That sounds fun,"
"Awesome!" Voe smiles "And you Cherri?"
"Eh, I'd come watch the first show,"
"Are you sure? You seem like a performer,"
Cherri furrow her brow "Nah, I'll just watch,"
"All right, I already have Angel as an actor, anyone else wants to sign up?" there's a prolonged silence in response "Okay. Is this what it was like?" She asked Charlie
"Yes," she smiles
Voe shakes her head "Okay whatever, that's not gonna stop me!"
"That's the spirit!" Charlie grabs her shoulders "I knew my positivity would rub off on someone,"
"It's okay I know that a lot of people are just afraid to invest in themselves and put in the work because they're afraid that it won't work out or they don't think they're worth it!"
Charlie smiles widely "You just have to make people see the benefits!" She shakes her shoulders "I believe in you!"
Voe smiles back "I know. Thank you,"
"Is the meeting over?" Angel sticks his hand up
"Uh, I mean is that all you have to say Voe?"
She shrugs "Uh, yeah I guess"
"Then yeah!"
"Babe wait, you didn't do the activity!" Vaggie reminds her
"Oh shit right! No, it's not over!"
"Fuckin thanks," Angel says to Vaggie, who shrugs
It seemed like Alastor was avoiding her. He didn't say he was and when she spoke to him he was more than cordial, but Voe just could not shake the feeling that she was being ignored. This was not something she could learn to be okay with, if this was anyone else, she would say screw them, but this was Alastor, she wanted to be around him so much and he didn't feel the same way. He said that he still liked her, but now she wasn't sure if she believed him.
Voe turns on the live, sitting in front of her laptop camera "Hey guys, I know that I haven't seen you all in a while, but I was sorting things out in my life and now I'm ready to come back."
hey guys look it's that crazt bitvh that killed the vees
lol
hey bitch! what you been up to?
nah remember when she killed val?
wyd sis
"I'm mostly just chillin' y'all what y'all doin'?" she eats from her bag of chips
none ur bizness
getting my ass destroyed
"How you fucking on my live?"
lol you don't have nothing to talk about
nahhh lmaooooo
frfr thoooo
"Nah, this is just a casual live,"
casual my ass look in her eyes she's uncomfy
nah who looks in peoples eyes
nah tf you sum psychic? don't luk in my fucking eyes?
wtf i'm not a psychic
then y u luking in my fuking eyes?
Y YALL FIGHTING ABOUT EYES?????
aint nobody fighting abourt eyes
then wth yall talking bout???
YO MIND YO BISNESS?
WTF????
"Woah relax y'all damn, I'll ask y'all a question since y''all can't behave without structure. What do you think it means if someone starts behaving like distant from you?"
maybe they dont like u no more??
they prob want u to figure it out?
is this about the info you spread about the radio demon???
"No!"
nah that shit was hilarious
HILARIOUS!!!!!!
Y'ALL HEARD VOX 2 NITE IS COMING BACK
i missed vox
i miss zaddy
VOX IS HOT AF
"Wait, the Vees are back?"
BACK AND READY TO DO CRACK
NAH THATS ANGELS JOB
DONT TLK BOUT ANGEL LIKE THAT
BUT HE DO DO CRACK
"How do the Vees have the same amount of power when everyone they owned is free now?"
power is earned
but they're not overlords anymore
but they still got power
DEATH AINT TAKE THAT AWAY
"What about me though?"
no offense but killing the vees dont mean nothing
the radio demon killed heavy hitters
likw vox vs alastor????? cum on!!!!!!
"How y'all telling me that the Vees are hella powerful, but me killing them isn't enough?"
lmao the vees count as one person
the radio demon is different kill him and now we can talk
"I'm not gonna kill Alastor," she looks away from the camera
we know you love him too much
Voe blushes and looks down "I don't-"
holy shit
ARE U ACTUALLYMIN LOVE WITH THE RADIO DEMON
YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
i feel so bad 4 u ...not really tho
"I don't," she pauses "love him,"
thats good, cuz if you did and he found out he would use you to heaven and back
hes used more people than the vees
"Wait, what do you guys mean by that? Like, would it be awful for someone to...love him? Has anyone ever loved him?"
lol no idea!
probably not lmao
any1 that trusted him ended up on the end of his chain
"No, but Alastor doesn't want to own me,"
r u sure
"But he burned my contract,"
where u belonged to velvette
now ur free...to b his
'he burned my contract'
"He knows that I don't want to be owned,"
and what do oyu know about him?
"A lot, actually,"
ooooh tell us
SHE ALREADY TOLD VOX AND HE TOLD EVERYBODY
riiiiight
hop u not tryna be an overlord
"Wait, why not?"
uhave no clue what it takes
Voe slams the laptop closed. She pulls at her ears and hugs herself at the same time as tears sting her eyes. She sniffles and looks around the room. What was she even doing? What had she gotten herself into? What was she thinking that she could be somebody important?
Voe approaches the bar and a frustrated Husk. She sits on the stool and he sighs
"Hi," she says
"What can I get you? Some apple juice?"
Voe blinks "Is that a joke?"
"What do you want?"
"I want to talk to you,"
He rolls his eyes "Can't tell you about Alastor. Boss's orders,"
She seems very confused "Wait, what?"
"You think he's gonna want me to talk about him while he's not around after that incident,"
She sighs and taps the bar looking away "Am I ever gonna live that down?" she says under her breath
"Well, it's Hell, but you've got time. But don't expect things to go back to the way they were. Once you lose trust, it's gone."
She looks back up "That's not what I'm here for anyway,"
"Well, what do you want?"
"Tell me what it takes to be an Overlord,"
He scoffs "Is this a hypothetical?"
She raises an eyebrow "Why does it matter?"
He snickers "'Cuz if you're serious..." he turns and drinks from one of the bottles
"What?" she snaps
"Not really the Overlord type,"
She throws her hands up "What is the Overlord type?"
"Not you,"
"What does that mean? What about me?"
"Oh, you're serious," Husk scratches the back of his neck "Wow,"
"Yeah," she states flatly
He groans "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do you want to be an Overlord? Power?"
"I mean, yeah but not selfishly,"
He laughs at her "You gonna take the souls for charity?"
"I would employ them and protect them,"
"It's not as easy as you think kid,"
"I know it's not easy, that's why I'm here!"
"And I'm letting you know it's not easy!"
She slams her hands on the bar table "I KNOW THAT'S WHY I'M HERE ASKING WHAT IT TAKES!"
"STOP GETTING LOUD OR YOU ASK SOMEONE ELSE ABOUT THIS BULLSHIT!"
"You were yelling at me,"
He sighs "Anyway, first you need to prove that you can be an Overlord. Right now you're just some influencer,"
"I killed 3 powerful Overlords!"
Husk uses quotes "'Powerful'. The Vees are petty children that no one takes seriously. They lie and manipulate, that's all,"
"So what would I have to do then?"
"Back in my day, it was just getting rid of heavy hitters, collecting souls, proving that you have what people want,"
"Okay, but that's the Overlord 'type'?"
"Ruthless, not caring what people think. You wanna be an Overlord, other people's opinions really shouldn't be on your agenda,"
She pokes her chest out "I'm confident,"
"I didn't say anything about confidence. I said caring about what other people think of you,"
"You don't think any of the Overlords care what people think of them?"
"If they do, they don't show it. You show it every day. It's on your face, it's on your face right now,"
She slumps "I have to go back to masking?"
Husk stares at her "I don't know what that means, but you're breakable kid,"
"No, I'm not,"
"Honestly, I'm surprised that you got rid of the Vees that fast, people still think highly of the Vees you know. You gotta destroy their reputations then destroy them. I thought that's what you're in Hell for. You ruined boss's reputation,"
Voe blows out air "That wasn't on purpose," she speaks quietly
"Well, you did it,"
"Doesn't that mean that counts for something?"
"No, because you care too much. Apologize or don't. Move on,"
"So I'm supposed to become a cold and calculating, unfeeling machine?"
"I didn't say cold and calculating, you just need to control your emotions better. Are you sorry about what happened?"
She raises her brows "With Alastor?"
"No the Queen of England,"
She rolls her eyes "You could've been talking about the Vees,"
"Are you sorry about them?"
"No, they deserved it,"
"That's not what their supporters think,"
"Who gives a fuck?"
"Good. Are you sorry about Alastor?"
She lip trills "Yes,"
"Then say sorry and move on,"
"I did!"
"What's keeping you at a standstill?"
She scrunches her face "He's being weird,"
"He doesn't trust you,"
"Yeah I know," she said dejectedly "Am I not supposed to care about that either?"
"You can, but you're letting it stop you,"
"How?"
"You wish Alastor would help you with this theater idea you've got huh? It bothered you that he chose his radio tower over you, didn't it?"
Voe blushes "Why does it matter?"
"Do you want to be an Overlord, or is it just a thought?"
"I want to be an Overlord,"
"Then everything can't be about Alastor,"
She looks offended "It's not!"
"You're making it,"
"If I am, that ends now,"
"Good, put some hair on your chest," he slides her a drink
"Why would I want hair on my chest? I'm female,"
He raises his brow "Fine, here drink this it tastes really good,"
"I don't believe you,"
Husk smiles "Good, it's good though it's a nice fruity drink,"
"You hate making fruity drinks,"
"But you're my favorite customer,"
She purses her lips "Yeah, right,"
"All right," he pulls the drink back smiling "One step closer,"
"I guess you don't have to worry about copyright infringement when you're in Hell right?" she asked Angel
Angel types on his phone "Eh, yeah but you do have to worry about people doing stuff about it,"
"Stuff like what? Bombing the theater?"
"Yeah, or sabotaging your production,"
"Do you like musicals?"
"They're okay, I didn't really go to many when I was alive,"
"Why? Too much mafia biz?"
He looks up at her "It wasn't something a man was supposed to do. I mean, my sister went to musicals,"
"Right, 'cuz it made you 'gay',"
"I went with my sister on our birthday,"
"Oh right, you're a twin,"
Angel's face falls "Yeah,"
Voe stares at him.
"What?"
She points at him "You're sad,"
"No no no no no. No no, let's get back to the theater, no sappy stories. Back to musicals,"
"But you're sad. You sad about your sister?"
Angel shakes his head "No no no back to Broadway. Musicals!"
Voe tilts her head "Do you miss your sister?"
"Nope."
"You don't miss your twin sister?"
"No, I don't miss that little girl,"
"Your other half?"
Angel groans "You know I wish it was extermination day. So you could ask me that and an angel would come down and spear me in the head. Bam! Never get your answer!"
"You know I was thinking about the extermination day thing,"
"Why?"
"'Cuz I wasn't here for the last one?"
"Feel lucky that you weren't,"
"Right but isn't it annual?"
"Well, we don't have to worry about that!"
"Holy fuck! Where did you come from?" Angel asks Charlie who is standing behind him
Vaggie walks around the couch "Why are we talking about extermination day?"
"Wasn't me. It was her!" he points at Voe
"It's okay, she can know," Charlie sits down next to her girlfriend
"Yeah, so I was filled in on the whole extermination day stuff." She turns to Vaggie "Why did we not kill Lute?"
Angel stares at vaggie with a blank face as Charlie smiles nervously "I don't know, why didn't we?" the spider asks
Vaggie rolled her eyes "I was feeling merciful okay? Why does it matter?" she looked to Voe
"Because, if she's still alive, she's definitely going to become a problem later, right? Am I the only one thinking that?"
"Didn't I say that? Didn't I say that?! DIDN'T I SAY THAT?" Angel climbs up on the couch
Charlie puts her hands up "Well, we're going to cross our fingers and hope that doesn't happen,"
"Ugh, you are disgustingly pure," Angel scoffs
"Aww, thanks,"
"Not a compliment,"
Voe sticks her hand out "But are we prepared for if- well when Lute returns?"
Vaggie punches her palm "Don't worry, I'm ready for that cunt," she says smugly
"Vaggie!" Charlie says flirtatiously
"Gross," Angel comments
Voe leans over to Angel "So..Charlie is definitely the top yeah?"
"You never know with those two," he whispers back
"Should we be expecting the extermination again this year? Because I'd like to be prepped," Charlie shrugs
"Yeah sure you can hide in a cupboard or something," the spider offers
"Hide?" Voe asks
Angel scoffs "Or fight, whatever fuck," he shrugs
"So all of you fought in the extermination?"
"Hell yeah!
"Wo what are the odds they come back then?"
"I don't know, I was never good with math,"
Voe turns to the Princess "Charlie?"
She just shrugs
"Look, don't worry about that, worry about your theater. We will take care of all of that,"
"You know it would also be happening to me too?"
"That's why I said that we will worry about it,"
Voe looks off to the side "Okay," she says through her teeth
"Okay," Vaggie stands "Let us do our jobs,"
"Fine, but that means all the blame goes to you if something goes wrong,"
"Vagina's used to all the blame cuz she hates herself,"
Vaggie groans "Shut up!"
Alastor sits in the empty parlor at dead of night reading. He liked the quiet, no insolent sinners asking ridiculous questions, no Charlie with her ever-present optimism, and no Angel Dust propositioning him. He sat as he turned the pages quietly, keeping the silence intact.
Alastor's ears turned to the sound of footsteps that were trying to be silent but were actually loud in the process, and his nose picked up the scent he'd become familiar with.
"Yes, my dear?" He calls out into the almost pitch darkness
Voe clams up, embarrassed at being perceived "Sorry, I was just coming down to eat something before bed,"
"You're fine,"
"I know you like the quiet,"
"Mhmm," he says not looking up from his newspaper
Voe's footsteps made small noise as she made her way to the kitchen. Opening the fridge, removing the cold plate, heating it up all the small noises he made note of.
"This pasta is really good," she says between swallowing and putting more noodles in her mouth
"Thank you. The sauce is homemade!"
She smiles a bit, chewing and staring at Alastor as he reads.
"So.. how have you been?"
"Pretty good, looking for more things to talk about on my show. Not much happening these days,"
"Oh," she eats more, not knowing what to say "You're feeling okay?"
"Why yes I'm just fine, just reading the paper,"
"I see," she finishes the pasta, looking for another reason to stand there but couldn't find one. "Um, goodnight,"
She walks past him and starts ascending the stairs
"Goodnight darling, sweet dreams!"
Voe stops in her tracks "Are we okay?"
"Hmm?" He looks up from his paper
"Are we okay?" She speaks slower
"Of course! Why wouldn't we be?"
"Because you're-" she uses her hands to make a shape
"I'm what?"
"Kinda.. distant I guess?"
"Oh, I'm just laying low for a while. Every time I step outside some lowlife sinner thinks they can step up to me. It's growing tiring to rip them apart every day,"
"It's growing tiring?"
"Well, when I do it every day, yes,"
"I-" she scratches her head "I meant distant from me?"
"Hmm.. I don't know what you mean,"
Under the surface Voe's insides warned themselves, blood rushing everywhere. She was certain that her body matched her hair.
"Fine," she tells him, charging up the stairs.
"All right?"
If Alastor wanted nothing to do with her, nothing of her is what he would get.