Chapter 30:

The affair

Seraphim feathers, deathly prairiebloom, succubus spittle….….sea salt from the oceans of envy….This luckily was quite an easy reagent to gather.

All they had to do was head to envy, stroll up to one of the beaches, fill a jug with water and once back, boil it down until only the salt remained.

It took them a little longer than anticipated, but one by one, over the course of a month, the 5 of them managed to gather all of the necessary reagents for the separation ritual as by now, they once again rolled up to the all too familiar courtyard of the hazbin hotel, which, to Charlie's delight, was still standing.

Having texted her father beforehand, Lucifer was eagerly awaiting their return, joined by Alastor and angel Dust.

"Told ya I wouldn't let them burn the place down, toots" the tall spider joked when they began to unload the car, Charlie giving her dad a big hug "Thank you guys for keeping an eye on the hotel while we were away" as Vaggie piped up "Hope there wasn't too much trouble?"

As she asked this, the short ruler would freeze for a second.

"…..dad…what happened…." Charlie asked in a monotone voice, noticing her father's reaction.

As Alastor rolled his eyes in the background, clearly not wanting to get involved in his mess, the king of hell began to fidget with his hands "Well….you see…..the little ratman known as R. O. A. C. H. …."

"Yes?" Charlie pried.

"Weeeeel…" Lucifer continued awkwardly.

"He uhm…. May or may not have…."

Vaggie would stand next to her partner "May or may not "what"?" in a deadpan way.

Rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, Lucifer finally finished "…..escaped…."

Rubbing her temples in annoyance, Vaggie groaned "Uhggg….of course that little fucker has" to which Angel Dust spoke up, very casually "Well, if it makes ya feel better. Lucifer here scared him so bad, he'd probably think twice before trying to fuck with the hotel again so, we won't see him for a good while"

Wincing with an uncomfortable smile, Charlie just sighed "Well, there's at least that, I suppose"

..

..

Having thanked Emily and Lute for their assistance, the 2 angels had quickly returned to heaven as by now, all the reagents were safely stored in Charlie's and Vaggie's room, under lock and key, protected with defensive wards as to not repeat another "Roach" incident.

As Charlie sat in the lounge area of the hotel, she once again read through he ancient spell tome, making sure everything was alright "Alright, so I'm still not as fluent in my abyssal as I used to be, but I should be good enough to pull off the ritual" she confidently piped up as she went over the steps.

"This….will really separate me from…."her" ?" Vallery asked meekly, still barely able to believe it.

"If the description of the spell is to be believed, then yes" Vaggie smiled "Then, you can finally be rid of her and get yourself redeemed…..possibly even going to heaven"

Vallery sighed, a cautious smile creeping on her face as she ran a finger over the amulet she still wore….the amulet that had kept her "sister" at bay for all this time "Yea…I'd like that…."

As Charlie put a comforting hand on the vixen sinner's back, Vaggie's phone went off.

Putting it on speaker, Vaggie picked up

Vaggie: Hola Clara, what's up?

Clara: Hey sis, how was reagent hunting?

Vaggie: Eh, aside from the sandstorms in wrath, went pretty well I'd say.

Clara: Oh glad to hear that. Hey Mom kinda gave me and Odette a HUGE stack of cash to spend on a "night on the town" wana tag along?

Vaggie exchanged a quick glance with her partner, though Charlie would give her 2 eager thumbs up.

Vaggie: Yea sure, we're not gonna start the ritual for another 2 to 3 days or so so, yea I'm down.

Clara: Awesome, so, we'll see you at club "the aftertaste"?

Vaggie: Well I was thinking more so mom's warehouse. I've been away for like a month and I wana swing by real quick and say hello, let her know I'm back, ya know.

In the last few months, Vaggie noticed she had come to refer to Carmilla as "mom".

It started as a slip of the tongue at first, but when the angelic arms dealer didn't correct her, and instead actually reacted with an endeared chuckle, the former exorcist knew they were good and she's been calling her that ever since.

Clara: Alright then sis, see you at the warehouse.

Vaggie: Ight, see ya girls there, nos vemos pronto.

Quickly hopping over to her partner on the couch, she gave Charlie a peck on the cheek "You really don't mind, babe?"

Charlie just giggled in a cute way "Just go and have fun with your "sisters" honey"

"Hehe, you picked up on that hu?" Vaggie awkwardly chuckled, to which the princess just smiled "It's just lovely to see, you really are so much like a sister to them that they refer to you as such"

Vaggie would glance down at her phone, seeing Clara's name in the "recently called" list "Yea….and the feeling is mutual…"

She would give Charlie one last kiss as she began making her way towards the door "See you tonight then, babe. I promise I won't make it too late"

..

..

A little later and Vaggie would stroll up to the Carmine warehouse, waving as she saw Clara and Odette in the distance before approaching them and giving the 2 demonesses a tight hug "It's been a while since we had a girls night out like this"

"It really has" Odette smiled, giving a content, closed eyed nod as Vaggie piped up "Just give me a second, got to quickly say hello to Carmilla and then we're good to go" as she opened the side door of the warehouse and stepped in, Clara and Odette.

Once they stepped inside however….they'd hear strange noises…..was that….another woman's voice…moaning? And why did this other voice sound so familiar to Vaggie…..

Once she stepped into the larger warehouse and finally beheld the source of the sound, herself, Clara and Odette just froze, eyes wide in shock at the scene that had unfolded before them, the only thing Vaggie was able to bring herself to say being "WHAT…..THE ACTUAL…..FUCK?!"

She got only one reply.

"IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!"