"You're asking me to come to your hotel…To do what?"

The radio crackled and sputtered.

"To teach our ragtag residents about what happens after they die here." Wyr sucked in a breath, staring at the radio, wondering if Alastor could see her on the other end. If he knew what he was asking was ridiculous. Not a lot of Sinners cared about dying again. The rites she performed were mainly for the hellspawn that resided in the ring.

"You seriously want me to teach a bunch of Sinners about death rites? Alastor…Are you okay?"

"Perfectly perfect, but it's not a discussion Wyr. Shall we say two days from now? Maybe a little field trip will brighten their spirits. You can show us your charming little cemetery. Wouldn't that be swell? What entertainment it would be." Wyr frowned and shook her head.

No, no, it would not be swell.

Sinners didn't care for the dead. They were self-absorbed and wouldn't treat any with the respect they deserved. The people who lived in Hell, who had only known Hell, deserved to rest in peace. She didn't care for Alastor's tone either."Those graves are notentertainment. You remember that I'm your elder, right?"

The words were out of her mouth before she could help herself, coming out light and sarcastic in tone, but the words weighed heavy between them just the same. Wyr wondered if the overlord's smile was twitching. There was a whine from the radio and the shadow it cast on the wall darkened to a void and grew, shifting to an unmistakable shape. The ghost of an outline with antlers, growing and changing, shifting and twitching as it loomed over Wyr.

"You said I could ask you a favour whenever I required, in exchange for helping you with your littledilemma. I require my favour cashed in." Of course, he'd never say he needed herhelp. It was a weakness to ask for help. And he wasn't lying…But the graveyards, whilst not sacred to many, were sacred to her. Alastor went on.

"I'm not asking much…Just a trifle. You take us in, give them a little showmanship, say some pretty words, and then we'll leave. Remember who kept you safe all these years." Wyr stared at the shadow of Alastor, cast across her bedroom wall.

"And you'll get me an audience?" Alastor outmatched her in every way. Wyr had folded into Hell and slotted herself within the masses to stay out of trouble. To have something of a life. Alastor hadn't. He'd overthrown overlord after overlord, collected souls and favours and debts. Alastor now watched her back and gave her opportunities, because she'd helped raise him up. Introduced him to the right allies. It was quid pro quo. Having friends in high places protected you in Hell, and since her patron had abandoned her…Alastor was who she had.

"A face to face." He promised. It sounded too good to be true, but Alastor wasn't one to betray the people who'd always backed him.

"Alright. Alright, Alastor. I'll do it. But I reserve the right to force them all out if they don't pay the proper respects. Am I understood?" Alastor's demonic shadow diminished, leaving a flickering behind the radio as its station dial glowed an eerie green.

"Ah ha ha, wonderful darling, we'll see you bright and early, two days from now! Ta, ta!" The radio dial spun and Wyr was left listening to Alastor's equivalent of 'let's not fight again darling'.

Teaching the damned about respecting the dead. Was this a fear tactic to turn them good? Was Alastor trying to scare the redeemers out of their bad habits? Wyr couldn't put the two together. But keeping herself on Alastor's good side was important. Her thoughts turned to her once-patron. The one who had signed a pact with her to give her aid, but when she'd arrived…He'd been nowhere she could follow. Literally. She'd been turned away at the manor time and time again until Alastor's invitation to the princess' birthday ball. Too little too late.

This was a useless train of thought.

Wyr let the memory go, letting go of bright violin strings, an indulgent grin. The look of pure mischief in his eyes and the smokey, indulgent apple cologne that had followed her home on his handkerchief. She let it all go.


"Dad, I know you're probably busy and all, but the group has an activity planned that I think would be great for you to join in on!" Lucifer's smile was something more of a cringe.

"Apple Slice, you know, I have a lot-" Charlie's impassioned voice cut through his bullshit excuse like Lillith had used to do. She had grown to be so much like her mother. It hurt, but his heart swelled with pride, even as she cut him down.

"You said you wanted to support me, this is what you can do! Come join us tomorrow for a field trip! You might really enjoy yourself! Alastor was saying the Sinner leading the field trip has been here for centuries! Come on Dad, you might even know them! How exciting!" Lucifer's face turned, his cringe becoming a grimace. The radio demon needed to back off. Permanently.

"And will…Alastor" He ground out the Sinner's name "be joining you on your field trip?"

"Well of course he will! He says the Sinner who's leading the field trip is one of his friends. Isn't that nice?" No…No it is not. It made him want to go even less actually. Anyone who had taken up with the tacky, cocky, daughter-stealing psychopath, wasn't worth a single second of his time.

Lucifer sighed, eyes focusing on the small duck sitting in front of him, a tiny panel open on its back, showing off a tiny golden array of clockwork. He was technically busy. But did he really have an excuse? Charlie had seen the ducks after all…He'd seen the way her eyes had taken in every depressive year he'd spent cooped up in his workroom. She'd taken all that in and still wanted him around. Still asked for his help. Even though it amounted to so little.

"Dad? Are you there?" Lucifer sat up, pressing his phone to his ear.

"Yeah, Apple Pie, I'm here. I'll be there tomorrow then." Defeat wore him down, his mind feeling clouded as he thought of the sickening grin on Alastor's face.

The squeal on the other end of the phone drew a smile on his face though, and the answering calls from Vaggie on the other end of the line made him smile more. His daughter had drawn the most worthy types towards her…The people who would fight for her the most.

"This is so great! Okay! We'll see you tomorrow! Bright and early okay?! This is so exciting! I can't wait to give everyone the great news!" A thought snagged in Lucifer's mind.

"Charlie, what exactly are we doing tomorrow?"

"Alastor said it was a surprise! But he said that it would be really informational about the path to redemption." Lucifer frowned again, his smile drooping as he cradled the phone between his cheek and his shoulder, hands moving to the small toy duck on the table.

"What does that demon know about redemption-you know he was a serial killer Up There right?" He directed the question to the duck, like the little toy could talk, but Charlie answered instead with a groan.

"I know you and Alastor don't get along Dad, but he believes in what we're doing here…I thought you would do the same. We don't judge people on their pasts Above." The king of hell dropped the tweezers he'd just picked up as his heart clenched. Sweat broke out on his brow as the same words were flung at him from a husky, feminine voice years ago. I thought you'd support me.

"I do support you!" He promised desperately. "Of course I do Charlie…" He grabbed at his chest, feeling his heart pounding as he struggled to drag in a real breath. "I-I'll be there. I promise I won't start any fights either."

"So you'll be there?"

"With bells on Apple Slice."

Please…Don't say you don't need me.

Charlie squealed again and told him what time he needed to be in the hotel's lobby. Bright and early indeed. When they hung up, Lucifer dropped the phone on the bench and gently lowered his head to the table and drew in breath after breath.

The King of Hell…Brought down by a broken heart and a desperate need to prove he was still useful.

Pathetic.

Bright and early the next morning Lucifer checked his reflection one more time in the mirror before opening a portal outside the front of the Hazbin Hotel. When he stepped out, there was a yelp of surprise that had him turning as the portal dissipated.

A woman stood, hand to her mouth and wide silver eyes staring at him like he was a ghost. Long white furred goat legs, morphed into creamy bone-white skin, clad in a diaphanous black dress. Lucifer followed the legs, up and up, catching black stained hands covering a bone white face covered in flecks of ash and bone white hair. She looked as though all the colour had been burned out of her. The only colour he could see were the leaves and berries woven into strands of her braid.

"Oh-shit-fuck…Uh, your Majesty. It's a pleasure to see you. Again, I mean."

What was he supposed to do? Were they a new redeemer? Had he just scarred her into turning around and leaving? What was he supposed to say?

His chest ached again, feeling tight enough to choke him. Some King of Hell, brought to silence by some surprise sinner.

The goat sinner dropped into a deep, graceful curtsy, startling Lucifer out of his spiral. Her cloak shifted around her, revealing the blackened hands also faded to that bone-white skin…And around her neck, a splash of colour…A line of purple-blue like a ring of bruising. Lucifer swallowed as the woman stood from her curtsy.

Lucifer looked over the woman again, critical eye taking in the lush full curve of her hips, the hinted softness of her body under the short cloak and floating dress. He swallowed. He'd remember a woman like this. He'd remember that mouth right? That caramel voice. Something lingered…A dark night, a vibrant, blooming garden…Or was it dark hovel, a poor crackling fire and a red-haired maiden with a rusted knife and an open book?

No, no that was someone else entirely…She might have made a pact with him…But obviously Heaven had sent that one up. They'd never let him keep anyone good.

The woman had started to look around uncomfortably. Fuck. She knew he had no idea who she was. He was an absolute embarrassment. He had to say something. Anything.


When Alastor had asked her for this field trip, Wyr had known she'd meet a Morningstar… She'd just assumed it would be the princess who ran the hotel. Not her father, not the king of Hell…Not the being she'd offered her body and soul to as a human to save herself. Not the Devil she'd finally met at a party for his daughter's birth…And hadn't had the nerve to introduce herself then.

That asshole…This was his idea of pulling strings. Face to face my ass. Like the first thing she would say to the Devil was that he needed to get his shit together and do his backlog of paperwork. It was clear he didn't know who she was. How fucking embarrassing was that?

And just what was she doing?! Dropping into a dumb curtsy like she was right back in the highlands again, curtsying for a visiting Laird. Humiliating. She needed to pull herself together. She straightened, righting herself and tugging at her cloak. The king of Hell stared, eyes sharp as he looked her over. She felt like she was being devoured by his keen look. She swallowed as she looked at him. He was just as short as she remembered, her hooves giving her the extra height over him. If anything it made him more interesting. When she'd been a human, his presence had felt larger than life. He'd inhabited so much space in her cottage, and even at the ball…He'd been this huge, godly being. She'd been so completely unworthy.

He was just as handsome now as he was back then, but now he looked approachable. When they'd met on earth he'd been more demonic, with tall horns protruding from his forehead, and hooves like hers. His claws had been sharp as they'd scraped along her skin, and his eyes had glowed with hellfire. In Hell, well, he looked more like a dapper ringmaster. His blond hair slicked back under the tall top hat but still curled up under the brim. His smile was bracketed with round red cheeks. He didn't have the same goat legs now…Just tall black boots with white pants tucked into the cuff. Wyr licked her bottom lip, sucking it between her teeth for a moment when she spotted the same tail. He was a temptation in both worlds.

Was he trying to figure out who she was? Was he cringing because of the curtsy? Wyr shook her head. The worst. No way could she get herself out of this. He had no idea who she was, and that was almost more embarrassing than frustrating.

"Dad! What are you doing waiting outside?! Oh! Oh my gosh! Alastor! Your friend is here!"

Wyr looked over Lucifer's shoulder, saved from the awkward tension that had irrupted between herself and the King. No, he had no idea who she was. Shouldn't have expected a passing smile to be so impactful.

From the wide-open doors of the hotel, a stream of Sinners followed after the princess of Hell. Alastor trailed after everyone but Wyr caught his eye first and gave him a 'no hard feeling, but you're still a dick smile'. The princess reached them first and hugged Lucifer quickly. Wyr watched and caught the relieved, warm smile he gave her before the princess turned to Wyr, holding out her arms and approaching like she was after a hug.

"Hi there! Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel, you can call me Charlie, no titles are needed here because everybody is equal!" Wyr swallowed and stood stiffly as Charlie enveloped her in a tight hug.

When the princess pulled away she was a flurry of activity, hauling up her girlfriend to introduce, and then the residents of the hotel that were coming along. Alastor sidled up alongside her as Charlie was talking animatedly.

"So good of you to come, dear."

Wyr tried not to frown, not wanting to let the fake smile on her face drop for someone else to notice.

"You didn't say anything about the King being here."

"I said a face-to-face meeting."

"I thought you meant you'd arrange one…Not throw me directly in his path. Warning would have been nice."

"Did I need to? Couldn't you have figured that out on your own?" Wyr dropped her smile and sneered at the demon.

"You know you're really pushing our friendship to its limits right?"

"Is everything alright over here?" Wyr twitched as she turned back to Charlie, who had her arm wrapped around her dad's shoulders. The image made her want to laugh. It was just too cute. She remembered when they would make public appearances with Charlie as a baby…She used to look so small in Lucifer's arms.

Wyr's smile was genuine as she nodded to Charlie.

"Just catching up, Alastor has a lot to tell me." Charlie grinned.

"Oh! Wonderful! Well, sorry to interrupt, I'm sure you two just got acquainted, but this in my dad, Lucifer Morningstar, king of hell…But don't let the title get in the way of any bonding! You can just call him Lucifer!" Wyr snorted as she looked at Lucifer who was smiling awkwardly down at the ground. Wyr held out her hand to him. It was fine. He didn't remember her. He didn't have to. She had to be okay with that. He'd been alive for tens of thousands of years. She'd been around for six hundred. She was being selfish. All she needed from him were a few thousand signatures.

When Lucifer looked up, Charlie nudged him with a strained smile. When his hand reached out and clasped hers, Wyr fought back the shiver that trailed up her spine.

"My name is Wyr, your majesty. It's a pleasure." Charlie squealed again, as Lucifer flipped Wyr's hand in his, and lifted to his mouth, placing a gentle, warm kiss to the palm of her hand.

If lightning could have struck, it would have hit Wyr directly with the shock that coursed through her. When Lucifer pulled away, letting go of her hand, his smile was a smirk.

"Just Lucifer is fine. It's a pleasure to get to know any of Alastor's friends." When Wyr turned to Alastor, the radio demon's smile was twitching dangerously into a snarl. So they obviously hated each other, because there was no way Lucifer was just that charming straight off the bat. He'd just wanted to see Alastor unhappy. Wyr tucked the knowledge away for later and turned to the group. Charlie followed suit and clapped her hands.

"Okay! Now that everyone's been introduced, this is Wyr! Wyr is going to be taking us out today on a field trip!" Charlie turned to Wyr again as the others gathered up. "What are we doing today?!" Wyr swallowed and turned to Alastor with a glare. So he hadn't told them where they were going or what they were doing. Leaving it to her. Wyr turned back to the group and coughed awkwardly, lifting the small basket she was carrying.

"We're visiting the graveyards today." Crickets. Wyr held back a frustrated sigh. None of them had a clue. She glanced over to Lucifer, who was frowning at her. No fucking way…Did he not-no…That wasn't possible, of course he knew about them…He'd built them. Wyr continued.

"On earth, we all knew about burial rites and some of us had an inkling of an afterlife, whether or not we thought we'd end up here or somewhere else." She swallowed against the ashy taste in her mouth. "Just like on earth, paying respects to those that came before can have a significant impact on our psyche."

"So you're saying we gotta go look at dead peoples? Seriously Charlie?" Wyr really sighed this time as Angel Dust turned to Charlie. Of course this was how it would go. Husk only grumbled under his breath behind Angel Dust as Sir Pentious hissed his approval for the outing.

A fieldtrip isss ssso exciting! Compatriots, we mussst.

I had to make excuses to Valentino to see some dead people…And it's supposed to help with my redemption?

You see dead people on the street every day. What makes hers so special?

"I won't make them come Alastor. I won't let them disrespect the dead." The radio demon was at her side as she murmured to him. He chuckled fondly at her.

"My dear, I think you're underestimating the princess here." Wyr watched as Charlie, who glanced back at Wyr apologetically, tried to settle everyone's arguments. Wyr felt eyes on her and caught Lucifer staring at her.

"You tend the graveyards?" His voice was quiet, contemplative like he couldn't believe something like that could occur. Tension squeezed between them but at least he remembered the cemeteries…That would have been a story and a half to tell.

"I do." It was part of her duties to him after all.

"I…I didn't know anyone did that." Wyr frowned.

"That's my whole…You know you…" What was she supposed to say? Do you remember making a pact with a girl to tend your graveyards in exchange for magic? No? Guess that meeting really only impacted me then. Stupid. Wyr clenched her fingers around her basket and forced a smile at the king.

"I think there may be a lot of things that happen in the city without your knowledge."

Oh yeah she just totally stuck her hoof in it. Lucifer's gaze tightened and he looked away. Wyr almost felt guilty behind the bubbly little feeling of anger and surprise at herself. Who was she to shoot poisonous words at the king?

Alastor's laugh crackled with static, drawing the attention of the arguing group and effectively shutting down Wyr's conversation. His shadow crackled and moved around him, and small green runes peppered the air around him. Wyr had studied those runes. It was part of the reason they'd become friends. Alastor's head cocked on the angle as he grinned at everyone. Had his antlers grown? Wyr looked away.

"You weren't planning on insulting my friend when she's come all this way to help redeem your souls?" Angel Dust's arms crossed and he took a step back, getting closer to Husk who sidled up protectively next to the spider. Charlie stepped in with a strained smile.

"No, no, everything is fine. It's certainly a surprise! But we're all very excited to learn more about Wyr's work."

Wyr could still fee Lucifer's eyes trained on her as she turned and started heading for the front gates.

"Well, come on then. We've got a long day ahead of us."

The Pride ring had five graveyards. They were spread out across the ring, nestled between destroyed buildings that the citizens hadn't been bothered to rebuild yet. Wyr picked her way through old rubble, leading the way on silent hooves to the easternmost cemetery. She could hear the group chattering behind her, and saw Alastor's shadow moving across the ground…Like climbing over rubble just wasn't his style. If it wasn't defined and graceful, she couldn't see the radio demon doing anything like climbing half-torn down walls.

"I don't remember the roads being this bad here." Wyr paused atop a towering pile and looked at Lucifer who was looking around, a puzzled frown setting deep lines in his porcelain face. The anger she'd been steadfastly working on getting rid of bubbled back up as she watched the fallen angel hovering above the mess on the ground.

"Do you even remember the last time you visited?" Wyr knew full well he hadn't set foot in any of the cemeteries since she'd been in charge of them. Her words were shot full of venom but Lucifer was still looking around.

"It…Hasn't been that long surely?" His tone stopped Wyr's next reply…The hint of devastation, the flat line of realisation you'd missed out on far more than you knew. The world had kept moving while you'd been buried alive. Wyr swallowed and reached out a hand to Vaggie below, helping the girl up and over. She didn't know what to say to Lucifer, so she helped the group over the rubble. When everyone had passed, now following Alastor's shadow, Wyr looked back to Lucifer. His head had drooped, and his apple-topped cane hung limply in one hand. She needed to say something. Anything.

Wyr shifted her basket to her other arm and felt the ground shift underneath her as her weight shifted. The pile she'd stood on had buckled and as she moved, it slipped out from under her hoof. Her breath caught in her throat as she lost her balance. Her hand flung out and her eyes squeezed shut, knowing she was about to break her neck or be in a lot of pain.

A hot hand closed around hers and her shoulder wrenched painfully as the whoosh of wings surrounded her in an instant. Her stomach dropped and she cried out as an arm scooped under her legs, catching her up in a strong, steady grasp.

"I got you!" Wyr cracked her eye and was blindsided. She gaped at Lucifer, up close and more personal than she should have preferred. Did he smell of smokey caramel apples? Wyr felt dizzy as Lucifer slowly landed on the rubble pile. He didn't let her go, but she could feel his eyes checking her over.

"You okay? Didn't hit anything did ya?" Wyr shook her head, eyes closed because oh my lord up close and personal…The muscle that effortlessly held her up…That was a lot. Too much. Lucifer's breath ghosted over her face, the smell of apples permeating everything. The silence between them was thick. She needed to say thank you, needed to move away from him.

When she tried to speak, her voice cracked and she tasted ash again.

"Thank-" She coughed into her arm. "Thank you…For catching me. You didn't have to." Despite the angry words she'd thrown at him. He could have let her fall. Lucifer seemed taken aback at her admission.

"You're welcome? Oh! I should-" Lucifer gracefully landed on the other side of the rubble pile. His grip under her legs loosened and he lowered her to the ground, keeping an arm wrapped firmly around her waist as Wyr tested her legs. She felt as wobbly as she had first waking up in Hell with the hooves. When she straightened up, dusting down her dress, Lucifer was holding the black basket he'd caught with her. Wyr swallowed the gratitude. He'd caught her basket. Not even knowing what was inside. There could have been nothing important in there. Wyr held out her hand.

"Thank you for catching that, I can carry it-"

"It's pretty heavy, what have you got in there?" The fallen angel went to lift the lid and Wyr blushed as he pulled out a black candle. He looked deeper in the basket.

"Candles? Just candles?" Of course, he didn't know about the fog either. The fog he put down.

"It's for my work."

"Oh! Well…" Lucifer coughed and hiked the basket into the crook of his elbow. He shot her a confidant smile. "Allow me, wouldn't want you to fall again."

Wyr wanted to argue, wanted to take back her basket because then at least she'd have something to do…But Lucifer held out an arm, sweeping out towards the rest of the group who'd paused. She swallowed words back and hells, she couldn't help but dip into another curtsy. She grimaced as she turned away from Lucifer's pink cheeks. He must think she was a total idiot.

He wasn't wrong obviously.