[Overview - Story Contains the Following:

-Some Spice (Skippable, and always marked with a warning)

-Sensitive Topics

-Graphic Violence

-Political Intrigue

-Queer Themes

-Alastor x Female OC slow burn romance

A note from the Author: I thought this fandom needed an Alastor pairing written by someone who was asexual like him, so here I am. This story takes place after season one, anything that happens in season 2 is not considered within this fanfiction because I started writing it before S2 was released. The story is based on the show; any lore or insider information from interviews, comics, or headcannons may be left out for the sake of this story.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions of the characters in this story are works of fiction and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author or any organizations to which they may be party to.]

The seraphim sat in their meeting room to await the exorcists' return. Emily slumped in her chair, feeling helpless to stop the slaughter below while Sera stared at her tablet, tracking the progress of Hell's declining population. The denizens of hell were dying at a dramatically slower rate this time, usually Adam and his army had killed ten times as many sinners as they had here. She knew it had to be related to that troublemaker and her misguided hotel, but-

Sera was pulled from her thoughts by a flash of light. She looked up to see none other than Sir Pentious, the slippery snake man that had been out drinking with Angel Dust the day Charlie had come to Heaven to try and stop the exterminations. He was only in the background, but she knew him to be one of Charlie's few Hazbin residents. Her eyes widened as he looked around in confusion.

"What? Where am I?" He took in his golden surroundings and saw the two seraphim staring at him in shock, "Oh… Hello!" Sir Pentious waved awkwardly at them, unsure how to respond. When he went after Adam, he had been sure he would be erased from existence, but here he was with a halo on his head.

The smaller seraphim let out a squeak and smiled so wide it brightened the whole room. The woman literally glowed with joy, which made Sir Pentious feel light and oddly peaceful. "Oh my gosh! You're here! I can't believe it! Charlie was right!" She jumped up and embraced him, squeezing the breath out of him. Somehow, he didn't mind.

"Um… Yesss. So it seemsss," Sir Pentious replied, his snakelike lisp prominent with his inability to breathe. He didn't know what to do with his hands.

"How did you get up here?" The taller seraphim stood up, the look of horror on her face only deepening as understanding soaked in. Charlie was right. The proof was right in front of her and yet she still couldn't quite process it.

The smaller woman let him go and beamed at him, "I'm Emily, but you can call me whatever makes you happy. Welcome to Heaven! Charlie told me all about you when she came up here. I took her to the zoo while we waited for a meeting to start, and she just couldn't stop talking about how much she adores you and your friends down at that hotel of yours. You have no idea how excited I am to see you here," She turned to the other woman in the room, "Sera, this means you can stop the exterminations! The hotel works, we can bring-"

"Emily, wait," Sera interrupted, "We can't just-"

"Can't what? We have the proof you were looking for, what more do you want?"

Sera hesitated. She couldn't think of a valid argument.

"If I could interject," Pentious raised a shy hand, "My friendss are good people. They may not be perfect, but if a dirtbag like me can be redeemed, then they sscertainly can. Doesn't that warrant an opportunity to try again at leasst?" Tears welled in his eyes, "If they even survive the battle…"

Emily conjured a soft white handkerchief and wiped a cheer from Pentious's cheek, "You're not a dirtbag. You're an angel now. You belong here with us, and I'm sure we can get your friends to join you now that we know redemption is possible." They both turned to look at Sera. "Let's give them the chance."

After a few speechless moments Sera finally spoke, "But how? We don't really know what tipped the scale on his divine judgement and the entire hotel is run by a hellspawn. What do any of them know about Heaven and earning a place here?"

"So, we send someone down there to help them," Emily suggested, "I'm sure of all the good souls in Heaven there would be hundreds of angels willing to be part of it."

"I could-"

"Absolutely not," Sera interrupted Sir Pentious before he could volunteer. "You just got here. Sending you back down there could be a political nightmare. No; We'd need a neutral party that doesn't have ties to the angelic army or to the demons. If we did this, It would have to be one of our normal citizens, which I hesitate to allow. No matter what happens, you need to stay up here. And we'll have to wait until the army returns from the extermination to make any big decisions either way."

Sir Pentious glared back at her, "You mean the army that is actively trying to kill the friends I jusst died to protect?"

Just then, a knock came at the door. It swung open to show a very beat-up exorcist. Sera was surprised to see that it was neither Adam nor Lute. It was one of the soldiers. They were torn to shreds. "Seraphim! Dark news from the battleground."

Sera rushed over to her with healing on her hands before she had even registered what the exorcist had said. "What happened?"

"It was a slaughter. Those fuckers found a way to kill us! Adam is slain and half our sisters are dead. Even Lucifer was there protecting his cunt daughter."

Sir Pentious perked up, "Are they alive? Charlie and the others?" He rushed forward and grabbed the soldier's shoulders, "Doess the hotel still ssstand?"

The soldier looked at him, bewildered, "Huh? Yes. Well, no. The hotel is a pile of rubble. But those vile sinners almost all survived. We were forced to retreat." She squinted at him, "You don't have a twin in hell, do you? You look like that snake guy who shot me in the wing."

Pentious folded his arms and glared, "No. That wass me. I'm sssorry for hurting you, but I don't regret protecting my friends."

The soldier's jaw dropped. Her eyes bounced back and forth from Pentious, to his new halo, to Sera. "But… That's not possible…"

"Clearly it is," Emily's gentle voice interjected, "You don't need to worry about him. He's one of us now." She gave the soldier a gentle kiss on her cheek, "Why don't you go and rest."

The soldier softened at Emily's words. It was difficult to be upset with her in the room. She nodded reluctantly and turned to leave, risking one last unsure glance toward the snake man before flying off to tend to her wounded sisters.

"Pentious," Sera offered him a chair, which he politely took, "I need you to tell me what happened at the extermination. And I mean everything."

They talked for hours with Sir Pentious taking care not to offer any information that the seraphim couldn't have learned from their own angels. He was too familiar with war to know that giving an enemy too much intel was a lethal mistake. He wasn't sure if these people would turn out to be friend or foe, but if he could do something to mitigate the exterminations in the future, he would do everything in his power.

When Pentious was finished, Sera locked eyes with Emily. She had never wanted to allow the exterminations in the first place, but sending a citizen of Heaven down to Hell now that the demons knew how to harm them was risky at best. She sighed. There was no getting around it. Adam was gone and the battle had been a disaster. With Lucifer getting involved, this had turned from population control to politics, and this situation had to be handled delicately. "Alright," she conceded, "If, and only if, we can find an angel who is crazy enough to volunteer to help, we'll send them as an ambassador to keep this situation from getting any worse. We can't risk open war. If they can help Lucifer's daughter figure out what exactly got Sir Pentious up here and successfully repeat the process enough times to properly mitigate Hell's overpopulation problem, then the exterminations can stop permanently."

"Sera," Emily took her arm tenderly, "Shouldn't we stop them altogether? Now we know better."

"Only for now. One redeemed soul is not enough to solve the whole issue. We'll try to find an ambassador. Let's focus on that for now, and we'll decide the next steps afterwards." In all honesty, Sera doubted anyone would agree to help. But she didn't have the heart to say that to Emily. All she could do was come up with a decision for what to do when no one stepped up. "Sir Pentious, if you follow the hallway to the exit, St. Peter will meet you just outside. He'll get you settled in. Please meet us back here tomorrow evening at 7 o'clock. If we find a volunteer, you can tell them what you know."

"Yes misss, thank you very much. I'll be there." He gave her an awkward bow and began making his way down the way she'd indicated.

Taking a deep breath, Sera tapped a few keys on her tablet that gave her access to every station, device, and speaker in Heaven. Every angel's ears perked up as the chimes of church bells indicated a major announcement. "Attention citizens of Heaven, this is the head Seraphim speaking. I am seeking a volunteer to assist with an important project. The volunteer will reside temporarily in Hell to help guide sinners through a redemption path. If anyone is looking for a way to help people and are willing to hear the details, please report to the council room tomorrow at 7 in the afternoon."

Thousands of eyebrows raised at once as a whisper went up all through Heaven's society. Who in their right mind would leave eternal paradise to help a bunch of demons, even temporarily?

Looking curiously at her rustic old radio, a winged doe of a woman tilted her head, thinking. This was an odd and unexpected development. It came so out of the blue it took her a moment to fully grasp what Sera had said. If you so much as mentioned Hell up here, you'd get told not to worry your pretty little head about it. Go play with this shiny gold thing and forget about the demons below. But the refusal to discuss the topic had only stoked the young witch's curiosity. It was the only topic she was truly discouraged from asking about.

She finished her transaction with her last customer of the day and turned the sign on her potion shop to "Closed" not bothering to lock the door. No one robbed anyone in Heaven. She packed a small bag of her favorite potions, picked up her grimoire, and turned the radio off before heading home. She flew to her home on the top floor of a silver skyscraper and went inside through the balcony door. Gently setting her potion bag onto her desk, she decided to run a hot bath. She did her best thinking when it was warm.

Pouring some herbs into the tub, she sank into the water. It was nice to be an angel, unable to be harmed. It meant she could have the water as close to boiling as she liked without getting burned. It was a convenient offset to the ice magic constantly running through her veins. She hated the cold, but dying in the snow had its lingering effects.

As the heat soaked into her skin, she weighed the pros and cons. The message was vague, but Sera had said something about helping people. That was something she had a hard time refusing. It's what resulted in her death, and it's why she had set up her little potion-shop in Heaven's promenade in the first place. Still, Hell was a heavy topic. After some contemplation, she decided she would show up to hear Seraphim's pitch, just to see.

When morning came, the angel took her sweet time getting up. She stretched out, enjoying the silk sheets on her skin. Waving a hand, she conjured a light breakfast of berries and yogurt, sprinkled with granola for a nice little crunch. There was nothing better than breakfast in bed.

To her annoyance, she had barely taken her first bite when her doorbell rang. She looked at the clock; it was 10 in the morning. Pushing the covers aside and throwing on a robe, she opened the door to find a well-groomed man in a white suit smiling at her. He was holding a comically large bouquet of roses. She groaned inwardly, knowing exactly where this was going.

Leaving her face gentle, but blank, she greeted the visitor, "Hello Marcel. What can I do for you?"

He gave her what he must have thought was a smoldering grin, "Good morning, Elida! I trust you slept well?"

"I did. I was in the middle of breakfast just now," she kept her tone neutral. She didn't want to hurt his feelings but didn't want him to get the wrong idea either. This one was particularly persistent.

"Oh, well, I brought you these," He held the bouquet out to her, "I was hoping to take you out for a bite to eat, but I can come back at lunchtime instead?"

"They're beautiful, but I'm not interested. I've told you that before," she began to close the door, but Marcel blocked it with his foot.

"Wait," he pleaded, "Just one lunch? Please?" He gave the same puppy dog look he used on everyone that he was trying to get something out of. He always got what he wanted that way.

Except it didn't work this time. "I said no, now move your foot." Ice began to gather around Elida's pale blue fingers.

"Oh, come on, what's the point of Heaven if you have no one to share it with?" He asked, removing one of the roses from the bouquet, "Here, if you won't take the whole thing, at least accept this one?"

He handed her the single rose, and she took it from him. Staring straight into his eyes, she brought the flower to her nose as if she was about to smell its fragrance, but instead she ate the blossom in one large bite. Chewing, she handed the now empty stem back to him. "Thanks for breakfast. Now you can stop asking. Have a good rest of your day." Closing the door on his baffled face, she turned around to finish her meal and get dressed. She had a shop to run.

Her day went on normally, aside from the distraction of thinking about Sera's odd request. She found herself checking the time every few minutes in anticipation. Something about it just wouldn't let her mind settle. She had to know what it meant.

When 6:45 came around, she closed up shop and walked the short distance to the Heavenly council's meeting room. A snake man she hadn't met before looked lost. He shyly asked her if she knew how to find Seraphim and Emily. Apparently, he was interested in the announcement as well. "Are you new?" She asked. He nodded and blushed a bit.

She cheerily took his arm, "Don't you worry about it. Follow me, I'm headed there now. I'm Elida. What's your name?" She made sure to sound welcoming and friendly. Getting used to Heaven could be a big adjustment for some people.

He seemed surprised at the contact, "Oh! Alright. Thankss," he followed dutifully beside her while she led the way, "I am Sir Pentious. Are you… here to volunteer to help the hotel?"

"What hotel?" Elida looked at him curiously.

Pentious wasn't sure what to say about it. It was a complicated topic out of context. Luckily, he didn't need to worry too much about answering, as the door to the council room was not far from the building's entrance. Elida confidently pushed open the door and strode into what she expected to be a crowded room.

Instead, she was greeted by empty seats and an echo as her hoofs clicked on the floor. Emily and Sera stood in the middle of the room, unreadable expressions on their faces. Elida offered a polite bow of deference, nudging Sir Pentious to do the same. He mimicked her motion.

"Well met your graces," She greeted.

"Elida? Were you assisting Sir Pentious in finding the council room?"

She smiled, "Yes, he seemed new and a little lost. I was coming here anyway, though. I heard your announcement and couldn't help but come see what it was all about. Should we wait for everyone else?"

Emily moved to the door and peeked out into the hallway, "I thought there would be more?" She looked at Sera, eyes misty and disappointed, "Why aren't there more?'

"Let's wait a few minutes, just in case," Sera suggested. She was surprised that even one angel showed up, but there was no harm in giving others a chance to come by late.

No one did. It was just them. After half an hour of agonizing small talk, Sera finally got down to business. Elida McCarthy listened quietly as Sir Pentious, Emily, and the head Seraphim of Heaven told her about demons, exterminations, and an experimental little thing called the Hazbin Hotel.