Shattered Innocence Ch. 20
Emily with her chest eye still opened, is now sitting on the couch in the lounge with only Vaggie next to her for comfort. Standing in front of them is King Lucifer with his daughter not far from them. Also in the room are the rest of the Hotel's residents, most of whom are weary now knowing that they've been in the presence of an angel. Aside from the Eggs who don't seem to know what's going on around them, Alastor is the only one who seems unbothered by the revelation of the young Seraphim.
"So…" the Big Boss of Hell starts as he eyes the motionless wings of the angel and nots that not only are most of them are broken but once is missing as well. "Are you going to explain or not? It kinda feels like you've left us hanging for days."
Emily refuses to look anyone in the eye. "It's complicated."
This timid nature of hers is far different from the joyful one that Lucifer knows the angel for.
"I'm the literal devil. It doesn't get more complicated than that." She still refuses to tell him anything and with a sigh, Lucifer reaches for her. "Look! You can tell me all about it on our way to send you back to—" he is then shocked when his hand is smacked away. "Uh…"
"Sorry, Your Majesty," the angel shivers under the King of Hell's gaze.
Angel Dust then speaks up. "Don't take it personally. She does that with all the guys."
"Okay… Since when were you shy around anyone? You love meeting people," Lucifer then shakes his head. "Never mind. Let's just get you back in Heaven where you belong."
Emily then pulls one of her wings to her front. "I don't belong in Heaven."
"Oh, don't say that. I'm sure your sister misses you."
For the first time since meeting the young seraphim, the residents are surprised to see Emily glare. "How do you think I ended up here?"
Lucifer blinks being unfamiliar with the action from the angel. "Wait! A-are you saying that Sera herself. The high and mighty casted you out of Heaven?" her face softens as she looks way as if she's afraid to confirm that. But that told him everything. His horns sprouted as his eyes turned red for a moment. "Why the Hell would she do that!?"
Her grip tightens around her wing. "She didn't want Heaven to know."
Charlie tilts her head. "Know what?"
Emily closes her eyes while taking a deep breath. "Heaven knows nothing about the Extermination."
That shocked everyone.
The Princess steps up. "Wait, wait, wait! Are saying that for thousands of years, an army of Exorcists have been sent down from Heaven but no one up there has any idea that it's been going on?"
The seraphim nods and briefly glances at Vaggie. "I only found out recently. From the records I came across, there's some sort of gag order that prevents the Exorcists from speaking about it. If they do then not only would they no longer be Exorcists they too would end up Fallen… just like me."
"That's a little extreme."
"Sera has this picture of perfection of Heaven just as everyone else up there. Like I had," she looks down. "She's afraid that if the rest of Heaven finds out then that image would shatter."
"Is that why you're here? Because you found out?"
The angel shakes her head. "I threatened to tell Heaven. That's why I'm here. She cared more about hiding the truth than she did about me."
Lucifer gaze softened hearing that and then takes another glance at Emily's wings. "Did she try taking away your wings as well?"
She looks down at the wing in her arms. "No. This happened after I Fell."
This concerned the King of Hell and he let out a sigh. "I was afraid of that. Nothing good can happen to an angel in Hell."
"Actually," Emily brightens up with a small smile. "There is one thing. I found a new family here. People who care for me despite being an angel. It's because of them I was able to see for myself that there can be good in Hell," her grip then tightens around the wing. "Even after having a firsthand experience of the worst. And I miss them."
"Emmy…" Charlie takes a seat next to her. "Why are you here if you miss them so much?"
"Because if there's any chance that redemption is possible I want them to be safe from Extermination," she starts tearing up. "I just got a new family and it's scary to think I might lose them because of Sera's choices." Emily is then hugged by both Charlie and Vaggie.
"It won't come to that," the Princess says as both she and her girlfriend pull away. "We'll make sure of it. I'm certain that with the meeting we can change Heaven and Hell for the better."
"I hope so. But when I confronted Sere she refused admit any possibility that what she'd done was wrong."
"She's always been stubborn," Lucifer then comments, "And I'm supposed to be the King of Pride."
"What was that, Dad?"
"Nothing! Look, Emily. I can't promise anything but…" he reaches for her only to have the young Seraphim to flinch away. The Big Boss of Hell then pulls away, still confused over her actions and wondering where her joy went. "…I'll do everything in my power to help you. I swear on this realm of mine I'll get you home."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Emily finally meets him in the eyes. "But I can get home on my own."
"Down here?" he raised a brow. "Are you sure?" he watches the angel nod and he just shrugs. "You must really care for whoever took you in. Very well. But I have a suggestion. You better work on keeping your wings in check," he points at them. "If they come out while you're in public just because you're jittery then there just might be a mob out to get you."
The angel looks down at the wing she's holding. "I-I'll figure something out, Your Majesty."
"Good," magic starts surrounding Lucifer. "I best be on my way. And Charlie," he turns to his daughter with a small smile. "Good Luck." The Princess returns the smile.
Emily steps up to him. "Your Majesty! Would you be able to do me a favor?" she looks down. "When you schedule this meeting, could you not mention me? I'm not ready to face Sera yet. I'm not sure I'll ever be."
"I promise that she won't hear from me," and with that, the King of Hell disappears.
.oOo.
With her wings hidden and false horns ready, Emily walks down the staircase one last time with her suitcase in tow.
"Are you sure that you can't stay a little longer?" Charlie asks.
"I would love to," the seraphim smiles. "But I miss my family. I think I've been gone long enough. I also happen to know that she's very protective of me and I'm not sure how much longer she'll wait before risking a war against another Overlord."
"I understand," they hugged. "At least come and visit sometime."
"I will," they break apart. "I don't have many friends here in Hell but I'm happy to say that you guys are one of them," she goes to hug Vaggie. "Both of you," then whispers. "You should tell her. Keeping a big secret from those you care about can push them away. I should know," she then pulls away.
Emily then walks up to where Angel Dust was standing moping. "Was anything you told us true or were they all lies?"
The angel's eye droopily opens. "The only thing I lied about was that I was a demon. Everything else was the truth."
"Even what happened to ya?"
She looks down. "No one in their right mind was would lie about that."
The Spider Sinner looks upon her with a worried expression before showing a smile. "This is Hell, Honey. You'd be surprised. Not many here are in their right mind. Present company included," he says that proudly. "I'd offer you a hug, but I know that ain't your thing with me."
"H-how about a handshake?" Emily shakily lifts her hand towards the demon.
Angel stares at the offer for a moment before slowly and gently accepts it and the two smile at one another.
Emily then says her goodbyes to the others, with Sir Pentious respectively keeping his distance while keeping the Egg Bois away from her. Husk just waves her off. Niffty oddly asked for one of the angel's feathers who happily gives the maid one. The said maid then uses it to try and stab a bug.
The only one missing was Alastor. Which according to the others isn't so strange for the Overlord.
The seraphim finally takes a step outside the Hotel and takes deep breath before walking down the front steps.
"No goodbye, Dear?"
Emily lets out a squeak as she quickly spins around to see the Radio Demon and her large eye instantly widens. "S-sorry, Mr. Alastor."
"No need to fuss, my angelic friend," he leans closer to her, causing the poor thing to shiver. "I merely want to wish you farewell," he backs up. "Are you on your way to mother dearest?"
"I, I want to," she looks away. "But I really don't want to go home empty handed," the angel starts walking away with the Overlord following not far behind. "I did sorta run away from home and I want to get them something as an apology. Only problem is that I don't have money."
Alastor hummed before asking. "May I see your lovely wings?"
Emily glances behind herself before looking around to make sure there was no one else around before sprouting her wings. She then notices Alastor holding out his hand. The New Carmine hesitantly turns around and briefly flinches as one of her wings was gently grabbed. But as soon as she felt him sniffing then, the seraphim pulled away and started panicking.
Are you ready for more fun?
"They are quite valuable," the demon tells her while taking out a car. "Even the ones that are damaged," he offers it to Emily. "It may be extreme but since King Short suggested you take care of those wings think of this as killing two birds with one stone." The Angel accepts the card. "Take this detour. On your way just tell anyone who approaches you that I sent you. And once you meet my associate, tell her exactly who you are and I'm sure she'll offer you her best service." With that, Alastor melts away into the shadows.
Emily blinks before looking at the card. "Rosie's Emporium."
.oOo.
Vaggie walks in as Charlie gets off the phone.
"We got the meeting!" the blonde jumps in glee.
"This next part is going to be scary," Manager walks up to her. "You ready?"
"I'm ready," Charlie hugs her girlfriend. "Cause you're going to be with me."
Vaggie's eye widens. "In spirit?"
"In Heaven"
The grey woman nervously lets out a, "Yay…"
The Princess then pulls way. "And with the fact that we know that no one else up there knows about the Extermination. Maybe we can use that to our advantage. I'd like to see them try to surprise us!"
Vaggie takes a deep breath before taking Charlie's hands. "Hon. There's something that I need to tell you."
