Author note: welcome back readers! I can't believe I've been writing this story for a month straight now with nearly a chapter out per day. Thanks for sticking by as I get my thoughts out! I admit the last chapter was not my best work, and I found out I have a hard time writing Vaggie well. More research is needed for next time. Thanks to all you 11-12 favorites and followers, I cherish your confidence in my work. Also, woot for double digit followers and reviews, y'all are the best! Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 27: Carmine catastrophes

Taylor walked back from another day of breaking their client's contracts apprehensively. It had been two weeks since their last visit from their fiery patron, and they were getting worried. Not that they ever looked forward to their overnight encounters, but they were concerned about the possible implications when they did eventually meet next.

'They thought that my mentioning their early appearance last time was impertinent, so what will they do if I point out they're running late?' they pondered with dread.

They were ripped from their fretting when they heard a high-pitched scream and yelling from across the street. They zoned in on the commotion and saw a group of shark mobsters threatening two demonesses with knives and guns on the sidewalk across the street. They stood next to a large black van with a pink emblem on the side that was open in the back. They gasped when they saw the puce skinned demoness with curly hair in a pony tail was propped up on the ground and clutching their side. A blonde demoness with glasses was holding her up and clutched her protectively. Taylor put up the hood of their jacket and ran over beside the van as they heard the leader of the mobsters threatening the two demonesses with an accented voice.

"Now's that we're done with our introductions, let's move on ta business. Yous gonna move aside and gift us these here weapons or we'll pump both of yous full of angelic lead and send you back to mommy dearest!" They jeered as the others started guffawing sadistically.

Taylor had heard enough, incensed at the situation. They crept to the side and looked over at the group of shark demons and concentrated their gaze. Their heat exhaustion ability had gotten better; Taylor only needing thirty seconds to a minute to get their target lightheaded and another minute to knock them out. They saw one group of shark mobsters start moving toward the cart with several crates on and scattered beside it while another stepped toward the blonde demoness. Taylor summoned two flame tendrils with a grunt just as the sharks stumbled and started to sway.

"What the hell?" One of the sharks muttered woozily. Taylor took the opportunity to step out from beside the van and swing their flaming tendril forcefully, clotheslining a group of them and launching them into the alleyway beside them with a litany of screams and crashes. The leader and the rest turned around dazedly and Taylor used their other tendril to sweep around and wrap the other mobsters, causing them to struggle and wail, as they wound back and threw them down the alley to join their friends. Checking for any stragglers and finding none, they rushed over to the downed demoness and knelt down as they noted blood on the ground around them. They looked over at the shocked looking blonde demoness as they spoke quickly.

"You okay?" The blonde nodded mutely. They looked down at the other demoness's

wound and winced. A vertical slash went from her hip up to halfway to her armpit. The injury looked deep, cutting through some of the demoness's crop top and was bleeding profusely, staining the ground red. The puce demoness was breathing heavily and barely conscious. They hurriedly tore off their jacket and pressed it to the wound to staunch the bleeding, making the puce demoness hiss in pain. Looking around for anything that could help, they then darted up to look at the blonde. "Do you have someplace we can take her? We need to stop the bleeding and fix her up." The blonde nodded quickly before she glanced over to the crates and cart.

"We need to collect everything first. We can't leave it here for anyone to collect, it's too dangerous." She said with a tremble in her voice.

Taylor nodded as they grasped the blonde's hands with a yelp and pressed them into the jacket.

"I can do that. Keep pressure on this while I load up the van. Be right back." They stood up hurriedly and got to work using their arms and tendrils to collect the contents of a tipped over box and load the crates and cart into the van. As soon as they closed the back van doors, they ran back to the two and crouched over to check on things. The once blue jacket was stained dark red and the puce demoness was growing pale and panting.

'Shit, this is more serious than I thought. We got to move her now.' They thought anxiously.

"I'll ask again: do you have someplace we can take her? I'm not a medic and if we don't do something soon, she might not make it." Taylor pressed.

"Y-yes, mother can help. Oh hells, these were angelic weapons, we can't lose her, she won't come back!" She started to panic.

"Hey, focus!" They said firmly. "I'll get her in the van and keep the pressure on the wound, you drive and get us to your mom, got it?"

The blonde nodded quickly as Taylor took over pressing the jacket into the wound as she got up and moved toward the van. Taylor gently picked the injured demoness up with their flame tendrils and carried them over to the door the blonde held open for them. As they settled in, the blonde got into the driver's seat, turned on the ignition, and peeled out into the road.

Now on their way, Taylor took a moment to take a breather and noticed that these two were somewhat familiar looking. After racking their brain, they remembered Sir Pentious's delivery at the hotel and these two were the delivery demons.

"I know you. You work for Carmilla Carmine, don't you? You dropped off a delivery to the Hazbin hotel a month or two back." They said with a tone of recognition.

"We do, but we make a lot of deliveries, so sorry but I don't remember you." The blonde said tensely as she focused on the road.

Taylor nodded as they checked on the wound and their charge. They started to panic as the jacket was soaked red and the demoness was moaning and growing paler and colder by the second.

"How long 'till we get there? She's looking pretty bad over here." They urged.

"Ten minutes maybe. I'm going as fast as I can."

The puce demoness groaned weakly and went limp, making the blonde cry out.

"Clara!"

"Shit!" Taylor cursed as their hands and clothes were getting stained by the sopping wet jacket. They felt tears prickle their eyes as they didn't know what to do and the severity of the situation was overwhelming them. Then they had a frightening idea. They turned quickly to the blonde and spoke with as much determination as they could muster.

"Listen, this may be a crazy idea, but I think I know how to stop the bleeding. If you'll let me, I'd like to try cauterizing the wound. It should buy us enough time for your mom to help."

"Have you ever done something like this before?" She asked shakily as she held back worried tears of her own.

They remembered all the times they've blinded demons with their hands to hide their identity.

"Not exactly, but the effect should be the same."

"Okay, if it'll give Clara a chance, do it." She said resolutely.

With a nod, Taylor tremulously moved the jacket aside and exposed the wound. It started to gush with more blood as the pressure was relieved and Taylor took a stabilizing breath as they surveyed the gore. After adjusting the demoness and moving the crop top aside to gain access, they willed their hands to heat up. As their palms grew blazing red hot, their vision blurred as nervous tears of anticipation started to return. Wiping them away with the back of their hand, they steeled themselves and warned the blonde.

"She's going to scream, but I need you to focus on the road. Okay?"

"U-understood, just do it."

With a tense nod, they leaned over Clara, got their hands in position and braced before slapping their hands along the wound. They heard sizzling as Clara jolted and shrieked in response. Taylor gritted their teeth but held firm.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry." They repeated as their nervous tears now coupled with guilt over hurting the demoness caused them to flow freely. Clara thrashed but Taylor's tendrils wrapped around her tighter and held her in place as the space started to smell of burnt flesh.

After a minute of pressing, Taylor moved one hand partially off and saw that the cut was sealed. They carefully peeled their hands off the demoness's side and Clara went quiet and limp again. Breathing heavily and sniffing, they took a moment to check for any bleeding but it appeared to have stopped. With a ragged sigh, they cooled their hands as they sat back and readjusted Clara onto her back with their tendrils.

"H-how did it go?" The blonde asked with a tremble in her voice.

"I think it worked. It should get us by until your mom can do a more extensive patch up job." They said wearily as they wiped their face with their sleeve. The blonde nodded as they spared a worried glance over at the unconscious demoness.

The rest of the drive was silent, both demons feeling too high strung to talk. Taylor checked on Clara and noted that while she was still pale, she seemed more relaxed and felt warmer as she rested.

'A good sign, I hope.' They thought optimistically.

The van arrived at what looked like a warehouse district with many demons loading and unloading enormous crates into smaller boxes and black vans with identical pink emblems on the side. The blonde backed the van into a loading dock with the number seven on it. They turned off the ignition before jumping out of the car and running over to the passenger side. Taylor adjusted the tendrils to better carry Clara as the blonde opened the van door for them and they got out carefully. The blonde moved over to a call box and demanded to open up and notify their mother of their arrival. The door rattled open into an area with pink light. They were led in, feeling a wave of apprehension at the unknown.

Taylor walked into a large pink foyer that had a magenta light shining in. The red chevron rug traveled along the room leading to a wide staircase on the opposite side of the room. The ceilings were high with arching pillars on both sides and a second floor with railing that looked like daggers. There was a prevalent X and eye theme around the walls, pillars, and ceiling that reminded them of ballet pointe shoelaces. Along the second-floor walls, dual axes decorated the walls along with red walls adorned with more Xs, eyes, and daggers.

'Wow, this place is amazing.' Taylor thought in awe as they turned around to drink in the surroundings.

"Odette, what is the meaning of this? Why did you bring an outsider into our home?" spoke a stern sounding voice behind them from the second floor.

Taylor turned around to see a tall, light gray demoness with long white hair with black streaks pulled up to resemble two large horns with black ribbons. Her eye area had a darker marking that looked like a mask, but Taylor was drawn to the disapproving glowing red sclera and white irises that looked suspiciously at them. Her arms and clawed hands were white with black nails and larger than the rest of their body. Wearing garb reminiscent of a ballerina, she wore an off-the-shoulder black dress with white buttons and white stripes along the front. Her skirt also sported white stripes and a pink underside. The ballet theme was complete with her black waist-high stockings with white ballerina shoelaces.

Taylor felt intimidated by her severe look, but the demoness glanced down and saw the listless looking Clara in their tendrils and her gaze shifted to shock.

"Clara! Odette, what happened?" she said agitatedly.

"We got taken by surprise during a delivery. Clara tried to protect me but got slashed with an angelic dagger!" She realized something and looked over at Taylor. "I forgot to ask your name."

"It's Taylor."

She nodded and looked back at the gray demoness.

"Taylor got rid of our attackers and reclaimed all the fallen merchandise before helping to stabilize Clara."

Taylor spoke up with urgency.

"We couldn't stop the bleeding in the van, so I cauterized the wound, but she still needs medical attention."

The gray demoness jumped down from the balcony and landed lightly before rushing over on the tips of her toes, footsteps clinking lightly as she drew close. Taylor shrunk back minutely before holding out Clara for the demoness to inspect her. After a brief once over, the demoness remarked curtly.

"A little crude, but it got the job done. Come, let's get her upstairs."

She stepped back and led the way as the three demons went up the staircase and into a side room that had medical equipment set up. Taylor laid Clara on the examination table gently before they extinguished the tendrils and stood to the side. The gray demoness got out equipment as they called out to Odette.

"Get a blood bag and set it up, she needs a transfusion."

"Yes, mother." Odette responded quickly.

Taylor watched with interest as the two demonesses worked in sync to clean Clara up and set up a blood transfusion. Once they were done, they indicated toward a sink so Taylor could wash the blood off their hands. After the two cleaned their hands, the gray demoness turned to Taylor with an intense gaze.

"Thank you for helping my daughters. As I don't like to be indebted to anyone, state what you want as a reward and if it's in my power as an Overlord, I will grant it." She spoke in a business-like manner.

Taylor's eyes widened as they realized that Carmilla Carmine was standing before them, and they tensed as dread washed over them, leaving them in a cold sweat.

'Crap, it had to be an Overlord's daughters I helped, didn't it?' they thought frantically, fearful for their life. They waved away the idea as they laughed awkwardly.

"Oh, there's no need for that. If you could point me in the direction of the Hazbin hotel, I'll just make my way back and get out of your hair."

Carmilla's eyes narrowed as she regarded the fire demon.

"You're part of the Princess's inane idea of redemption?"

Taylor's temper flared at Charlie being insulted. Just before they could respond angrily, they felt their mark burn, causing them to clench their jaw as they swallowed their annoyance and answered tersely.

"I am. The people there are my family, so let's agree to disagree on whether her idea is sound or not."

Carmilla's eyebrow quirked as she considered them. She shrugged and waved their hand at to indicate their bloodied clothes.

"Very well. We shall get you a change of clothes and then you can be on your way."

"Mother? Odette?" a questioning voice called out behind them. All turned their attention to Clara, who was sitting up and looked around curiously. She was no longer pale and seemed to be in good spirits.

"Clara! You shouldn't be up, dear, lay back down!" Carmilla cajoled as she went over to the puce demoness.

"Mother, I feel fine. I'm not even sore!" She replied and stood up animatedly to demonstrate.

Taylor was dumbfounded; not long-ago Clara seemed at death's door but now was up and about like nothing happened.

"What did you do?" Odette said as she stared back in bewilderment at Taylor. The whole room as a unit turned their focus on the fire demon, who grew increasingly nervous at the attention.

"Nothing! I just cauterized the wound shut, honest!" They replied timidly.

"Is that why my side smells like barbecue? Wicked!" Clara replied as she admired the cauterizing mark.

Carmilla stared intently at the newcomer, searching for deceit or malevolent intent, but could sense nothing. They went and removed Clara's transfusion line silently before speaking to the group.

"Very well. Taylor will join us for dinner and we shall discuss more of what happened today."

Taylor tensed and started to protest.

"I don't want to intrude on your family time. I- "

"I insist." Carmilla said with a tone of finality.

Taylor was forced to relent as they sighed weakly.

'Why me?'

After calling Charlie and telling her they'd be out having dinner with friends and getting a change of clothes from Clara and Odette, Taylor sat at a long table next to Clara as the puce demoness chatted animatedly to them. Now wearing a black turtleneck minidress that exposed their shoulders with black thigh high stockings and black boots, Taylor listened intently to Clara regale them about their night life and how they were going to get some street cred from their new scar. Odette sat opposite them chimed in every so often to offer her two cents, leading to a friendly back and forth between the sisters. Taylor at first was nervous to be in the presence of an overlord, but the great rapport between the two sisters relaxed them enough to start sharing the more hilarious antics they've had at the hotel.

"Then we were thrown into an active turf war as a trust exercise! Crazy as it sounds, when all was said and done, we were all in great spirits and we brought Sir Pentious into the fold. So, it worked in the end!"

The three demonesses laughed jovially, causing Carmilla, who sat at the head of the table, to smile fondly at the trio.

"Gosh, I wish I had a sibling to chat like this with. I'm an only child and it got lonely sometimes." Taylor sighed longingly.

Carmilla chimed in with a level tone.

"Yes, you did mention that the residents of the hotel are your family, but do you have any blood family here, perhaps?"

Taylor's good mood soured at the reminder of their parents. They replied in a cold tone.

"Probably not, I'm still pretty new here. Even if they were, I wouldn't seek them out."

Carmilla noted the change in demeanor and decided to press further.

"Care to elaborate?" She said in a tone that was more of an order than a request.

Taylor felt their mark burn as a reminder to leave out certain details. With a strained huff, they replied sourly.

"In short, my parents made an exchange so they could have connections and nice things. The end result was me getting killed and next thing I know, I'm here."

The three looked back at each other, shocked at the reason. Carmilla interjected with a follow up.

"Perhaps they had a good reason or regret the choice they made."

Taylor answered bitterly.

"Not likely. From what I gathered from our last interaction; they thought the exchange was for the best. So, no, I don't plan on welcoming them if they end up down here." They sighed before putting on a strained smile. "Thankfully I found a new family here that is much better for me."

Carmilla stared wide eyed at the idea that a parent could do such a thing to their child. She herself would do anything to protect her daughters, even make mistakes in their place to do right by them. She felt pity for the fire demon before her, but didn't know what else to say on the topic. Taylor did the job for her as they saw Odette pull something from her pocket and mindlessly palm something in her hand.

"Odette, what are you doing?"

She held out a bunch of slivers of metal out for the table to see.

"I was trying to find a use for these angelic steel shards. We can't do anything with them now since they're small and dull, but it seems like a waste to get rid of them. A bomb might be an option."

Taylor was intrigued at the novelty.

"Can I see? I've never held angelic steel before."

"Sure."

Odette and Taylor reached over the table to pass the shards over. Taylor felt the pieces; they didn't seem much different than normal metal, but it felt lighter yet sturdy in their palm. They continued to run their fingers along it as they considered the fact that this material could permanently kill them if wielded against them. It sent shivers down their spine.

All at once, their palm ignited without warning, startling the four demonesses. Taylor stared curiously, for the silver flames were back and blazed hotly in their hand, obscuring the shards.

'Weird. Normally these flames only show up when I'm breaking chains.' They considered as a flash of panic hit them. 'Shit! They can't be seeing this! It might make them suspect and then I'm really double-dead!'

They quickly extinguished the flames and blew into their hand to cool the shards down.

"Sorry about that, things like that happen sometimes. Here, thanks for letting me feel angelic steel." They laughed nervously as they stood up and handed the shards back.

But instead of the clinking of small pieces falling into the blonde's hand, a single lump of metal landed in her palm. The room was dead silent as the four stared in shared disbelief of what they were seeing. Taylor blanched and started to shake as they carefully sat back and began going into a cold sweat. Carmilla looked over to them, incredulous.

"You can melt angelic steel."

She then smiled as the possibilities hit her.