More to the Story

by MischaLoth

Something is wrong in Hell- other than the usual- and Lucifer has to take it upon himself to get to the bottom of it. But when old faces from Heaven pay him a visit, things are turned on their head as Lucifer starts to realize things go way deeper than he first thought. Will include a mix of lore including Lovcraftian Mythos. Subplot Pairings: Chaggie and Adam's Apple.

26. The Fall, Corruption, and Paul

"Sorry about this whole... attack thing." Michael was walking the deck of the Hell Liner as Charlie and Vaggie stayed suspended in the air only a few inches above the solid wood. "Hopefully the rest of the trip wasn't too terrible for you."

"It was... fine." Charlie didn't feel like going into all the bullshit of trying to board the Hell Liner, as her dad's inability to trust her wasn't Michael's fucking problem. (She was going to have a nice, long talk with her father once he had recovered from the Shoggoth attack because the amount of crap she had to deal with while just going to visit Purgatory was absolutely inexcusable. She was a princess goddammit. One day she would rule over Hell- hopefully after her father decided to retire and not for any, other, more morbid reason that Charlie was choosing not to think about- she needed to be able to get on the fucking Hell Liner. There was shit for the royal family to handle in Purgatory. Her mom was always complaining about it.)

"Great! I would gladly have just met on your turf, but I don't think my brother is in a particularly friendly mood at the moment. Which is fine! We didn't exactly leave on the... um... best terms if you catch my drift."

"You cut his fucking wings off." Vaggie had one arm protectively around Charlie's shoulders. She was glaring at Michael who was either ignoring her, or simply not noticing the aggression in her stance.

"Yeah... no..." Michael looked away. "That did happen."

"Sooooo," Charlie cleared her throat, interjecting before things got any more awkward. "Michael..." She wasn't sure if Uncle Michael would have been more appropriate. It might do more to endear him toward her and she wanted him to like her. He would be more likely to talk if he liked her. "I know you were worried about us, but... um... Vaggie and I are actually fine. So, you can put us down. We can walk." She gave her biggest, warmest smile as she gestured to the deck below.

"Yeah... I actually might have blessed the whole upper deck when I was fighting?" He rubbed the back of his neck with his left arm looking almost sheepish. "So right now no one can walk on it? Sorry about 'son me. Usually, I'm fighting things that are much... bigger and there aren't any infernal beings to worry about. So, it's like... no big deal when I go all out." His wings folded back into his back and he made a motion almost as if skating across the deck. "Basically... I overdid it."

"So, you fucking trapped us." Vaggie was still very clearly on edge. Charlie tried to give her hand a squeeze, in an attempt to calm her.

"I don't know if I would use those exact words..." The eyes in both of his halos all looked toward the main entrance to the lower deck. "I mean you could go to a different deck! Walk around to your heart's content! Just let me check and make sure there's nothing lurking down there."

"And then we'll be stuck below because we still can't touch the top of the fucking ship." Vaggie's expression didn't soften. "Because you trapped us."

"Right," Michael finally looked back at them, he clapped his hands together the way Charlie's father did when he wanted to get people's attention. "Well... let me clear the ship first! Then, we'll go into the city where everything will be a lot more accommodating!"

"You think there are more of those monsters?" Charlie wanted to keep the peace. (For someone who seemed convinced that Michael could and would kill them, Vaggie seemed more than happy to antagonize him.)

"Maybe! Hopefully not." He gave a small shrug, hands on his hips. "But I also need to check the damage to the ship. We can't just leave it sitting out here. The moment I leave, they'll probably try and sink it."

"We must return the ship to port! Jezebel will be very upset if we lose it." Paul was sitting up on his arms, leaning against the side of the boat. Charlie winced a bit, seeing him move around when he had been torn in half. But she quickly noted he didn't seem to have any blood, or really... anything inside of him at all. He was like a hollow shell.

"Oh, you're still functional. Look at that." Michael picked Paul up by the collar, looking him up and down. "You're missing some pieces..."

"My legs are gone."

"So they are! Look at that." The eyes in Michael's halo darted about the ship for a moment before landing on the legs that the monster had ripped from the unfortunate crewman. "Are these yours?" He picked up the limp legs by the ankle holding them up to Paul.

"Affirmative.

"These got completely drained. I don't think they'll do you much good. We'll have to get you some new legs, my friend."

"Aw."

"Don't worry! I am sure you'll be back up and running in no time. Do you know where the engines might be?" Michael tossed the legs overboard and Charlie watched as a pale hand reached from the water, dragging them down.

"Affirmative!"

"Could you show us?" Michael asked politely.

"Affirmative!"

"Do you guys want to come along?" He turned to look back at Charlie and Vaggie who were still floating above the shimmering deck. "You'll be able to walk around, get back on your own two feet!"

"Yes." Vaggie's reply was short, but Charlie couldn't blame her for being uncomfortable. Charlie wasn't a huge fan of being stuck in the air with only hallowed ground, or monster filled waters to choose from beneath her. But she still had to be polite.

"Please!"

"Of course, come on my friend, you'll be a great guide to the core of the ship." Michael kept a hold of Paul's collar, only spinning him around so he could look ahead. He walked to the entrance of the ship, surveying the entryway, before heading down the stairs. He snapped, and Charlie and Vaggie both dropped to the ground. Charlie felt relief wash over her as she was back on her own two feet.

"Has this ever happened before? The ship getting attacked?" Charlie had no idea if Michael was even the right person to ask, since he was really more of Heaven's representative. But maybe Paul would know the answer. (Though that was probably expecting a lot from Paul.)

"It happens from time to time. That's why we have Jezebel and Jazeerael. They're supposed to be the ones dealing with things like this. But apparently someone made the call to bench them while I was away." The eyes in Michael's halo all narrowed for a moment, then immediately relaxed. "But nothing I can do about that right now. The important thing is: no one was hurt!"

"Except the entire crew got royally fucked." Vaggie still had her spear in her hand, keeping herself positioned in between Charlie and Michael. Though the spear had not proven to be a very effective weapon when it came to him.

"Yeah, that's going to be tedious to deal with. But they can be , aside from the two of you, there was no one on board. I feel terrible that this even happened, but the attacks are so rare I'm also kind of... shocked." Michael sighed a bit.

"Left." Paul pointed down another hall. Michael followed his instruction. The deeper they went into the boat, the darker it became. Charlie realized that Michael seemed to actually glow in the dark. Wherever he walked was illuminated in some sort of soft, blue, lighting.

"So... the crew... they are going to be okay, right?" Charlie almost felt bad asking in front of Paul in case the answer wasn't an optimistic one. But she had to know. Sure, she didn't like Nadia. But she didn't want anything horrible to happen to her either.

"They should be fine. Just need some repair." Michael didn't sound all that concerned, so Charlie chose to believe him. Vaggie was acting paranoid enough for the both of them. "Hopefully the ship is still sound enough for us to just drive it back."

"Right."

"Right as in correct? Or do I need to turn?" Michael had to stop for a second, looking at Paul in his grip.

"Both."

"Cool." Michael shifted to the right and started to slow down. "Hmm..." he took a few more steps before coming to a complete stop.

"Is something wrong?" Charlie almost bumped into him as he held out his arm to stop her from advancing any further.

"Probably." Michael's eyes narrowed. Charlie squinted, she could see that down the hall there was light, dim, but noticeable, that was pouring out from underneath a solid looking door. Michael walked a little closer, the sword started to materialize behind him. He put Paul down on the ground advancing toward the door. "Please stay back." He turned to look at Charlie and Vaggie as he waved his hand over his head and that helmet reappeared. He put his hands on the door, starting to push it open. It seemed like he was beginning to struggle, pushing into it with his left shoulder, feet sliding on the plush, carpeted floor. He managed to crack it open just slightly, and more light washed into the hallway. Charlie swore there seemed to be an almost... breath-like pulsing to it. She reached instinctively for Vaggie's hand. Michael poked his head inside the room for only a second before letting out a massive sigh, hands on his hips again. "Ah beans."

"Beans?" Charlie blinked.

"Yeah, that room is a biohazard. I don't think we'll be able to salvage the engine at all. Which is a bit of a bummer."

"Well damn." Paul sounded indifferent, but Charlie assumed that was just due to his programming. A part of the princess did want to see what was making that light- however- the longer she looked, the more lightheaded she started to feel.

"Can you fix this?" Charlie didn't really understand what was wrong but surely Michael could just snap his fingers and make the issue go away. Right?

"I can clean it out- and I will. But the engine is shot. Ah well ,we'll get it back to Port Gatory and get it fixed up. Good as new!"

"Jezebel will be upset."

"That is most likely true, my friend." Michael took a deep breath. "Let me get rid of all of this really quickly."

"Without blessing the engine room?" Vaggie spoke up, still eying Michael with a noticeable amount of distrust.

"That is the goal. Though that might be difficult given how the engine looks right now. You two best stay back." And with that, Michael wiggled his way in the engine room and shut the door behind him.

"I don't trust him." Vaggie was glaring at the closed door where lights began glowing more brightly. "He's hiding something."

"Maybe he's just being extra careful." Charlie didn't want to make any assumptions, though her prior divine encounters had been... lackluster at best. But she had to keep reminding herself that Michael and the other Archangels had been nothing but helpful in the... four conversations Charlie had actually engaged in with them. That must have meant something.

"Or maybe he's being a suspicious mother fucker just like everyone else in fucking Heaven." Vaggie squeezed Charlie's hand. "I know we're basically trapped at his mercy and we literally can't leave so it's kind of pointless to bring this up now, but I just want you to be careful." She put a hand on Charlie's cheek.

"I am careful." Charlie cupped the gentle hand against her face and brought their intertwined fingers to her lips so she could kiss the back of Vaggie's hand. "Just... have some faith in me, okay?"

"I have plenty of faith in you it's him I don't trust." Vaggie looked back at the door. There was a bright flash of blue light that seemed to hurt Charlie's eyes, and suddenly she started feeling a lot better. That light-headed sensation finally dissipated and the Princess felt a little more at ease, despite her situation.

"Hey, Gabe, can you do me a favor?" The door opened fully and Michael walked out with a phone against the side of his helmet. The helmet vanished and the phone was against the side of his head "Yeah, the Hell Liner took a bad hit in the middle of nowhere. I need to get it back to Port Gatory ASAP." Charlie craned her neck to look at the room behind him. It looked as if it had been scorched, the walls appeared blackened, there were still flames of blue burning on the ground. "No, I handled it. It's all clear now." Charlie couldn't hear what Gabriel was saying on the other end, but Michael's expression briefly flickered to one of annoyance. "It's fine. I just need you to bring the boat. Gabe- no- Gabe listen I- Gabe." The eyes in Michael's halo all rolled in unison. It was almost funny to see. "I said it's fine. Just get here. I have to escort the passengers back to the Port. I know, the name change is cute. Are you coming or not?" Michael brought his hand to his face. "Tell Emily you can look at her cereal bowl collection after you get back. I know they're cute but the boat is literally stuck and what if I want to see the cereal bowls too?"

"Oh, is he talking about Emily the Seraphim?" Charlie spoke up, she had genuinely liked Emily when she had met her in Heaven. At least... she was hoping it was the same Emily. (A cereal bowl collection did sound like something she would own. Damn. Now Charlie kind of wanted to see it too...) "Can you tell her I said hi?"

"Can you tell Emily that Charlie said hi?" Michael gave Charlie a thumbs up. "Awesome, cool. Are you coming? Good. Thank you." Michael hung up the phone and slid it into the pocket of his pants. He looked up at Charlie. "Emily says Hi back, by the way."

"Aw! Yay!" Charlie smiled. It was good to know that Emily was doing well. She had been thinking about her a lot lately with all the Heavenly beings that had visited Hell. "Is Emily like... Gabriel's daughter? Are we cousins?" The idea was kind of exciting. Charlie had always wanted more family, and Emily was a lot like her: bubbly, upbeat, optimistic.

"Oh, she's just his Seraphim. But I suppose all the Seraphim are like our children in the sense that we guide them, train them, and all that fun stuff. But genetically speaking, no, Emily was made by the Metatron like most angels. Raph is the only one of us with a family."

"Metatron?" Charlie had a lot to unpack in that sentence, but she would just focus on one thing at a would be much easier to compartmentalize.

"Luci never mentioned The Metatron?" Michael stared at her, each of the eyes in his halos slowly blinking one by one.

"Uh... no. He wasn't really big on talking about Heaven outside of some... brief mentions of how you treated him. I mean, I've heard the story about him getting kicked out, obviously." Though, he never really name-dropped Michael, so Charlie didn't have the details. She still knew the gist. "He just didn't really elaborate, I guess."

"The Metatron is my Boss." Michael replied, gesturing to himself. "She's the one who oversees everything in Heaven. I am sure she'll want to meet you at some point, but she can be... a lot. So, I wouldn't be rushing that." Michael replied made a noise, clearly displeased with the answer he had provided. Charlie squeezed her hand to reassure her.

"Yo, Mikey! There you are." In the blink of an eye, Gabriel was standing behind them. Vaggie whipped around, spear still in hand as she pointed it directly under Gabriel's jaw. "Sorry! Didn't mean to startle you guys!" All his eyes closed as he tilted his head to the side, cheerfully.

"There you are." Michael folded his arms, making a face. "What took you so long?" Gabriel snorted at the reception.

"They were cute cereal bowls, and I didn't want to be rude, okay?"

"Yes, but I needed you for something a little more important than just looking at-" Michael started to lecture him, but Gabriel cut him off.

"She has one in the shape of a frog."

"Okay, that one I must see." That shut Michael right up for some reason.

"I am here now, that's what matters. Oof, is that one of the crew?" Gabriel knelt down a bit to look at Paul who was still on the floor.

"I have no legs."

"I can see don't worry buddy! We'll get you to Port soon, and they can fix you right up!" Gabriel stood back up before turning to look at the princess and her girlfriend. "Hey again Charlie! And Charlie's...?"

"Girlfriend." Vaggie didn't look any happier to see Gabriel than she had Michael. Which was not all that surprising.

"Aw! How sweet!" Gabriel smiled at them both. "I hope Mikey hasn't been giving you guys too much trouble." He playfully put an arm on Michael's right shoulder, making a show of leaning on him. (It didn't look like a comfortable angle given that Gabriel towered over Michael like Charlie dwarfed her father in height.)

"Oh, no! Not at all. In fact, we're lucky he came when he did to fight all those monsters." Charlie wanted to maintain a polite rapport with the Archangels given her current situation had her surrounded.

"Well, that was nice of him." The eyes on Gabriel's face maintained eye contact with Charlie. However, she noticed the eyes in his halos were looking over at Michael. (Michael's expression stayed rather cheerful, though Charlie saw his halos roll their eyes again at Gabriel, again.)

"Well, it was an emergency, Gabe. And I think we can now focus on the fact that we have an entire boat to move." Michael gestured around. "And I would really like to get this dealt with sooner than later because I would very much like to have a long, overdue dinner with our niece!"

"For real, for real?" Gabriel looked back at Charlie. "And Luci was okay with that?" Michael brushed Gabriel's hand off of him.

"Of course he was. Why else would she have come?"

"Yep!" Charlie tried her best to look innocent. (But it's not like her dad could disapprove of a meeting he knew nothing about. So, based on a technicality, this was all just fine and dandy.)

"Fine, let's move the ship back to Port Gatory. That just means I can head back to Heaven and look at the rest of those bowls!" Gabriel's wings flared out making Charlie jump quickly to the side. "You guys just stay put! Take it easy! This'll only be a moment!" He gave Charlie a thumbs up before flickering out of view.

"Sorry, that took so long." Michael took the moment to sit on the floor in the hallway next to Paul.

"It was fine, really." Charlie wasn't sure if Michael was annoyed, upset, stressed, or just indifferent. He was a bit of a hard read- but given they had only just met; it would take a while for Charlie to pick up on the subtle nuances of his mannerisms. Despite looking like her father, they seemed to be quite different.

"So, how long is this going to take?" Vaggie kept her hand on her spear, looking down at Michael on the floor.

"Well," Michael opened his mouth and there was a sudden lurching sensation and the ship went still again. "That should be it. We're probably here." He slowly got to his feet. "Stay here for just a moment, okay?"

"Where the fuck would we go?" Vaggie started to protest but Michael was suddenly gone. "I mean, he blessed the fucking deck..." She finished her complaint with a little less vigor in her voice as the Archangel was no longer around to hear.

"Yeah, we're here." Michael was suddenly behind them both. Vaggie jumped, pulling Charlie protectively toward her. "Just docking. Luckily there's exit we can take where you don't need to go back on the upper deck. You can follow me!" Michael seemed back to his cheerful self.

"Excellent!" Charlie tried to match his energy. "Just lead the way!" She followed Michael as he picked up Paul and started back through the halls.

"Turn Left." Paul was happy to keep giving directions. (Charlie didn't know if he actually knew where they were headed, at this point, but given that Michael did turn when instructed ,perhaps she wasn't giving Paul enough credit.) Soon the dark halls were illuminated with the bright sunny light of Limbo. Charlie could see an open door with a sky in the distance. She hurried onto the ramp, taking her outside. As soon as the fresh air hit her face, she realized how desperately she needed it.

"You stay here." Michael's voice was behind Charlie, as the Princess turned in time to see Michael put Paul down on the inside of the ship, squatting down so he was at eye-level with the torso. "I will tell Jezebel to come and help you. But you might freak out some of the souls if I carry you without your other half."

"Affirmative!" Paul did not seem at all concerned as Michael patted him on the top of his head, getting to his feet. Vaggie watched him leave, carefully eyeing him, before she finally stepped out into the clean, Purgatory air.

"Woah..." Vaggie's eye widened as she looked around, stepping out of the ship and seeing Port Gatory in front of her, her spear disappearing. There were people all around, talking, laughing, some were waiting at the docks, others were just observing, taking photos, enjoying their time in the bustling city. "It's so... busy..."

"Told you." Charlie nudged her playfully.

"Thank you for the help, you're dismissed." Michael nodded to him. "And do let Emily know I said hello."

"You want a picture of the frog bowl, don't you?" Gabriel took both of his hands and put them on either side of Michael's face. "Don't you?" He repeated, tongue poking out from between his teeth.

"Yesssss..." The eyes in Michael's halos were looking at the ground. Gabriel snorted and released his brother's face.

"Knew it! Don't you stress about a thing, Mikey. I'll keep everything up and running in Heaven until you finish all your research here."

"Thank you, Gabe." Michael seemed to have softened immensely now that they were on solid land.

"No problem, bro-bro!" Gabriel grinned wider.

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?" A voice shouted from behind the throngs of people. Charlie recognized it, though it had been quite some time since she had last heard the woman in question.

"Annnnnd on that note, I'm out. Have fun!" Gabriel gave a quick salute and vanished in a flash before Jezebel had successfully shoved her way to the front of the crowd, looking directly at Michael.

"Gabe wait-" Michael started to make a grab for him, but Gabriel was gone. So, instead, Michael turned on his heel, hands behind his back, a big smile on his face. "Hey Jezebel! Long time no see!"

"What the fuck did you do to my ship?" Jezebel went straight for Michael. She was in her human form, her heels clicking so loudly on the stone pathway to the dock that it could be heard even over the lull of conversation from the crowd. She made it onto the dock where Michael was standing beside Charlie.

"Jezebel! There you are! I was just-"

" the fuck up." She looked the boat up and down, cutting Michael off mid-sentence. "Are you shitting me right now, Big Blue? Did you fucking bless my entire upper deck."

"Yes, that was an accident but-" Again, Michael attempted to defend his actions, but Jezebel was looking at an electronic device in her hand. Charlie could see the ship schematics displayed on the screen with lots of information in glowing text around the corners.

"The fuck happened to my engine!?" Jezebel's eyes widened.

"Jez! You're making a scene-" The other captain came running up behind her, pulling her back by her shoulders. Charlie recognized his human form as well, though she didn't know him. Jezebel turned to look at her coworker, her eyes blazing.

"I'm making a scene? Your fucking boss has his goddamn halos out!" Her voice was a low hiss as she gestured behind her with her thumb toward Michael.

"Oops." Michael tilted his head upward and the eyes in his two Halos looked at one another. Charlie could see the lost souls looking at Michael... at them. Her dad used to give her a necklace to wear so she would look like a normal human. She had... forgotten about that. Though she and Vaggie didn't look nearly as outlandish as Michael.

"Oops my fucking ass-" Jezebel was livid. Charlie didn't want things to get any more out of hand than they were. (Plus yelling at the guy who cut her dad's wings off just seemed like it was going to end poorly for Jezebel.)

"Was the costume contest not today?" Charlie spoke rather loudly. Jezebel finally seemed to notice her.

"Ah, no." Heaven's captain answered Charlie with an equally loud tone. "That's next month. We do Halloween big here, so make sure you guys keep those cool costumes! You'll be a tough group to beat!"

"Well, I do like to win!" Charlie laughed watching as the souls seemed to accept the were still watching the shit-show, because it was human nature to enjoy a train wreck, but they seemed less... alarmed.

"Charlie!?" Jezebel was staring at her.

"Hey Jez~" Charlie gave a little wave.

"Holy fucking shit!" Jezebel grabbed Charlie by both her arms, looking her up and down. "Look at you! You grew up!"

"And you look the exact same!" Charlie giggled a bit. She was pleased Jezebel remembered her, of course she was the princess so it was probably hard to forget her, but still, it felt nice. "Oh! And this is my girlfriend Vaggie!" Charlie reached her hand out to grab Vaggie's.

"Oh, she's cute!" Jezebel gave Vaggie the once over. "You have a sister? A brother?" Jezebel put an arm around Vaggie and Charlie felt her girlfriend tense a bit. "Seriously though, if you hurt the princess I will drown you in this river." Jezebel's tone was still light, despite the severity of her words, as she pressed a finger to Vaggie's nose. To Charlie's surprise, rather than try to push Jezebel away, Vaggie smirked.

"Honestly, same."

"Oh, you two are just adorable!" Jezebel put one hand on Charlie's cheek and one on Vaggie's as she smooshed their faces together. She leaned toward Charlie, lowering her voice. "I like her, Princess, she's spicy~"

"Good to see you again, your highness." Heaven's captain bowed his head politely. "And nice to meet you as well." Charlie was a bit surprised (and relieved) to see that he didn't recognize Vaggie from Heaven. (Though Vaggie had said she didn't really interact with him.)

"Good to see you too!" Charlie did not remember his name. Vaggie had called him Jason but she didn't sound too confident.

"I'm Jazeerael." He, thankfully, introduced himself to Vaggie. "But you can call me Jayce. It's easier to pronounce."

"Nice to meet you." Vaggie's tone was polite, but a little cold. Jazeerael didn't seem all that offended as he stepped back.

"I'm Jezebel! Call me Jez, or Jezzie!" Jezebel smiled brightly. "And now that we're all acquainted," she turned on her heel back toward Michal. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO MYBEAUTIFULBOAT, ASSHOLE!?"

"Jezebel, no!" Jazeerael immediately grabbed her and pulled her back. Michael seemed nonplussed by her rage.

"I don't think the shouting is really necessary."

"I think it is." Jezebel batted Jazeerael's hands off of her before folding her arms over her chest. "Piss off, Jayce. He's not going to fucking smite me in front of a bag ass crowd."

"I'm not going to smite you at all." Michael rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry about the boat, but it was being overtaken by Corrupted souls and I had to react."

"God fucking damnit." Jezebel let out a frustrated breath of air. "See? This is why you need us on the actual fucking boat! I could deal with this shit! But noooooo! You assholes decided to go fully automated because it was so much safer, and easier, and cost effective, and much more efficient. Because the AIs don't steal any food- and the food is a fucking perk goddamn it."

"Well, I was not a part of that decision." Michael remarked dryly. "And I actually agree with you. I think you two should be on the boats." Jezebel opened her mouth, before hesitating, and closing it again.

"That... wasn't what I thought you were going to say."

"So do we get our jobs back?" Jazeerael looked equally confused. Michael put one hand in his pocket, making a vague gesture with his other one.

"I think we need to look into what exactly went awry here, but I will recommend you both to be on the boat from here on out."

"Perfect! I can't wait to get back on my boat- oh WAIT I can't because some asshole blessed my fucking deck!" Jezebel waved both of her hands toward the damaged Hell Liner. Michael seemed unfazed by her obvious annoyance. He nodded toward the door.

"I also got the engine room."

"Fucking brilliant. I love that." She put her face in both her hands. "We are going to be so backed-up because of this shit. You know that, right?"

"Surely you have another ship," Michael patted her shoulder comfortingly. When she didn't immediately respond, his eyes widened a bit. "Right?"

"You guys have another ship?" Jezebel lowered her voice, leaning toward Jazeerael, whispering loudly in his ear.

"We have three." Her fellow captain's reply was rather flat. "They rotate around depending on maintenance."

"Well damn. Sucks to be us." Jezebel stood straight again.

"You only have one boat?" Michael raised an eyebrow.

"I have asked about getting another one, but you know how Kingy and Queenie get. 'Just put your request on the desk and we'll get to it." Jezebel's impression of Charlie's mom was almost on par with Charlie's impression of her dad for how bad it sounded. "Spoiler alert: they never fucking got to it."

"Well, you'll need more than just a new ship, I'm afraid. Your crew got completely overwhelmed in the fight. You have a half of a crewman left." Michael explained calmly. Jezebel squinted at him, uncertainly.

"Half?"

"Yes, Paul has no legs but the torso is undamaged. I left him by the door," the eyes in Michael's halos looked around at the crowd of souls. "I figured that would be for the best."

"God fucking damn it, it would be Paul." Jezebel stomped her foot on the dock out of peeked his head out from the door and gave a wave. Charlie awkwardly waved back before Jazeerael hurried behind Michael and gently ushered Paul back inside. "No ship, no power, and only half a Paul!? How am I supposed to be getting souls to their destination? This is going to back Purgatory up for years."

"We'll talk to Death, and to Lucifer to try and get the Hell Liner back up and running. But for now... I suppose we can lend you any of our excess staff and one of our ferries. It isn't as big or as extravagant as your ship... but I can call Uri, she'll make some edits and while it may not be ideal, it should stop you from getting...too far behind." Michael gave a reassuring smile. "Don't stress, we can figure this out." Jezebel took a deep breath, she seemed to be visibly trying to calm herself down.

"Ugh, I'm gonna have to work with the Heaven staff. Gross. I don't even think they can handle what the Hell Liner has to put up with." Her shoulders relaxed. "But whatevs. I will fucking deal because I'm the best."

"I can help." Jazeerael offered quickly. "At least with the engine stuff. I mean, until Uriel gets , is she back? Are you all back?" He looked timidly toward Michael who gave a firm nod.

"We're all back for the time being, so if you have a problem, take it up with one of us directly. Okay?"

"Okay..." Jazeerael was giving him an odd didn't know enough about Heaven to pick up on anything unusual about Michael's words.

"Glad you finally returned from your grand fucking vacation." Jezebel made a point of rolling her eyes.

"It wasn't a vacation. But thank you anyway." Michael nodded his head respectfully. "Now, unless you have anything else to discuss with me, I will get Uriel over to you and I will be taking my lovely niece out to a nice dinner."

"Niece...?" Jezebel looked between Michael and Charlie for a moment, visibly trying to piece what Michael said together. "Oh shit! Right. Damn I forget you guys are related. And big guy is just... totally chill with you taking his baby girl out for food without him?"

"It's completely fine!" Charlie spoke up quickly. "Which is why I am here! And famished if I am being perfectly honest!" She wasn't actually that hungry after everything that happened, but she desperately wanted to change the topic of discussion. Her dad may find out eventually, sure. But that was Future-Charlie's problem!

"See? It's fine." Michael seemed pleased with Charlie's interruption. "I will get in touch with Uri, she'll be able to handle things from here." He took his phone back out.

"Uriel's coming here?" Jazeerael looked a little nervous. "Like? Soon? Has she been by the Archives at all or mentioned anything being mis-" Jezebel covered his mouth with her hand.

"Shhh."

"Uri? Hey! It's Mikey." Michael seemed content to ignore them as he turned away from the other two, phone against the side of his head. "Can you come to Port Gatory, it's urgent. Yeah! I know the name change is cute, right?" He rocked on his heels a bit as he talked. "Jezebel's boat is unfit for sailing, she's down to halfa crewman- no, not half her crewmen. There's just one half- you know what? You'll see it when you get here. We're going to need to supply her with some stuff until we can talk to Luc again." Michael made a face at whatever Uriel told him. "As a matter of fact, I do think he'll talk to us. No. I'm being serious. I happen to have our niece right here. No, not Angela- can you just get over here and help out Jezebel? We're putting everything behind with this conversation. Yes. Okay. Thank you, Uri, I'll see you in a bit." He hung the phone up and put it back. "Sorry about the wait, there's a lot to deal with after being gone for so long." He laughed, seemingly quite cheerful.

"Where were you anyway?" Vaggie was still eyeing Michael distrustfully. His expression didn't change.

"Doing my job."

"That's not super vague and disconcerting at all. Thanks, Big Blue." Jezebel was giving him a look that Michael seemed all too keen to ignore.

"You're welcome!" He gave her a thumbs up before turning to Charlie and Vaggie, looking rather excited. "So, what sort of food do you like? There is a really nice diner around here with great desserts."

"Oh! That sounds lovely!" Charlie had only ever really eaten at the high-end restaurants while she and her family had visited Purgatory. They were usually dressy, with a full wait staff in suits, and dishes Charlie would pick apart at her young age because a lot of the nuance of fine cooking was wasted on her undeveloped palate. In fact, she had really only been to one diner-style place when she was here. It was after her mom had gone to bed early and her father had decided to take her to a place that had 'the best apple pie this side of Limbo'- his words. It had been really good apple pie, but Charlie mostly remembered the place as the restaurant where she got to sit and talk with her dad until the wee hours of the morning. That had been one of the last family trips they had taken.

"Oh Mikey, what did you do to the ship?" Charlie's thoughts were interrupted as Uriel poked her head out from the Hell Liner. Charlie hadn't even noticed her arriving, and judging by the way Jezebel, Jazeerael, and Vaggie all jumped back- she wasn't the only one.

"I saved it." Michael replied brightly. "But I will be the first to admit: I might have gone a little overboard."

"Just a little, huh?" Uriel looked up at the deck as she walked down the ramp back toward the dock. Charlie almost didn't recognize her, with her human-colored skin and lack of halos, but the Princess recognized her voice. (That, and Charlie was fairly confident no one else would really have the balls to call an Archangel: Mikey.)

"A teensy bit." Michael brought his index finger and thumb close together, almost touching. "But in my defense, it was an emergency."

"I just appreciate that one of you fuckers actually used your human form." Jezebel smirked. "It would be you, Uri." She put a hand on her hip.

"Uriel! Hi!" Jazeerael looked... nervous? He took a step back away from the Archangels, which only served to get him elbowed by Jezebel.

"Jazeerael! Good to see you, my child." Uriel approached him and he looked even more uneasy. "Have you been doing all right in my absence?"

"Yep! Great!"Jazeerael's voice cracked a bit. "Just... uh... doing the old... Ferry job. Until I got benched, I guess. But that's all. Nothing weird or suspicious at-" Jezebel covered his mouth with her hand again, laughing loudly.

"Excuse him, he bonked his head on part of the Ferry during repairs and he's acting dumb as shit since that."

"Right." Uriel didn't seem convinced, but she turned her attention to Charlie instead, offering out her hand. "Good to see you again, Charlie. And you..." Uriel offered her hand to Vaggie as well.

"You too!" The Princess took the offered hand, giving it a vigorous shake. Vaggie's eye flickered to Uriel's hand before looking back at her face, making no move to take the offered hand.

"Vaggie."

"Lovely meeting you." Uriel let her hand fall and she looked back to Michael. "Do you want me to whip up a few human disguises for them so you can enjoy your food without a thousand extra eyes on you?"

"Oh, that would be lovely." Michael smiled at her. Uriel nodded, snapping her fingers and two bracelets made of red beads appeared in her hand. She offered them to Charlie.

"Put these on once you're out of sight and it will make you appear human. I know it's a huge pain, but trust me ,it's better than having everyone talking about your 'cool costume."

"Thank you." Charlie took both of the bracelets. (It might take some convincing for Vaggie to wear anything made by an angel, but Charlie hoped she could talk her into it.) "I appreciate the help."

"Not a problem. Those are easy to make. In fact, keep them." Uriel waved off the gratitude. "Think of it like a birthday present!"

"We have missed so many birthdays..." Michael looked a little deflated by the realization. "Ah well... it looks like you have this under control, Uri. So, I'm going to take Charlie and her lovely girlfriend out for a nice meal!" He perked back up, clapping his hands together decisively.

"Have fun, Mikey." Uriel nodded to him before turning her attention back to Jezebel and Jazeerael. "Let's see what we can do to salvage this ship, okay?"

"That's our cue~" Michael hurried down the dock, gesturing for Charlie to follow. She quickly moved after him, weaving through the crowd that seemed to have gathered on the docks, watching the drama with the ship from a distance with mild interest.

"Love the costumes!" One of the souls she passed gave Charlie a thumbs up.

"Hey, do you work here?" Another soul put an arm out to stop Michael. "Do you know if that ship is out of service? I have a ticket for that luxury cruise, and I have been waiting."

"I can see that." Michael's smile never faltered, though Charlie didn't once see him actually look at the ticket in the soul's hand. "My apologies, but there may be some slight delays with the boats due to some technical difficulties. But I promise you if you keep an eye on all the postage signage or talk to any of the Port employees, you will be kept up-to-date on any and all progress with the ships!"

"Maybe you should have spent less time on your costume and more time actually fixing the fucking ship." The soul shoved their ticket back in their pocket and stormed off, looking rather frustrated.

"We really should switch to human disguises." Michael sighed. "I should have done it on the ship, but I was just so focused on getting us to the port it sort of... slipped my mind. But that's no excuse." He gestured for Charlie and Vaggie to follow him into one of the emptier shops. There was a single employee at the front desk who waved at them cheerfully when they entered.

"Welcome to Port Gatory! Let me know if you require any assistance!"

"We should be fine, thank you." Michael returned the wave. "This should be a good place to change." He smiled at Charlie and Vaggie before closing his eyes. His skin shifted in color, round ears poked out through his hair, the halos vanished and when Michael opened his eyes, Charlie could finally see where he was looking. He had regular white sclera, blue irises, and black pupils. "The bracelets Uri gave you both should work to disguise you, just put them on."

"Oh, right..." Charlie looked at the beaded bracelet still in her hand. She looked at Vaggie who took both bracelets, turning them over in her hand, trying to analyze the magic within.

"It won't hurt you, it's just an illusion." Michael watched as Vaggie clearly hesitated to put the bracelet on. "I mean, if you guys can shapeshift, you're welcome to do that, instead. However, you feel most comfortable."

"Let me go first." Vaggie put her hand on Charlie's arm, holding up one of the bracelets. "If anything happens, run."

"What would happen?" Michael didn't sound offended by Vaggie's words, so much as he did confused.

"We're just being cautious!" Charlie tried to be reassuring as Vaggie slipped the bracelet over her wrist and suddenly, Vaggie looked less gray, more tan. But she still looked like Vaggie-just... an alive version. Vaggie looked at her own hand, flexing her fingers, rotating her shoulder. She held out her hand and her spear appeared.

"Oh, maybe don't do that-" Michael started to speak but suddenly there was a click and a red dot appeared on the side of Vaggie's neck. Charlie blinked as the little dot seemed to move along her hair, up to her temple. "Stand down! It's okay!" Michael waved his arms toward the front. Charlie turned to see one of the automated employees with a massive gun hoisted over her shoulder, pointing directly at them.

"Weapons are not permitted by souls!"

"Please put that away." Michael looked back at Vaggie before returning his attention to the employee. "It's fine! Stand down."

"Holy fuck!" Charlie jumped as she turned her head to see more of the automated employees starting to gather around the window, smiling as they got their weapons out. "Vaggie, sweetie, maybe put the spear away." Charlie tilted her head in the direction of the window.

"The employees on the ship didn't act like this. What the fuck?" Vaggie's spear vanished and instantly the automated staff all went back to their daily tasks as if nothing had happened. Michael let out a sigh.

"It's only on land. These guys are in charge with protecting the city from harm. My apologies for not cautioning you about that, but I didn't think you would pull out your weapon."

"Well that all got solved!" Charlie spoke up before Vaggie had a chance to explain to Michael exactly how little they trusted him. "And it looks like I can wear the bracelet too! So, yay!" She made a tiny firework in her palm before taking the bracelet from Vaggie and sliding it on her own wrist. She didn't feel any different and looking at her hands, she really didn't look all that different either aside from her skin tone. "It reminds me of what my dad used to do when we came here to visit."

"It's not necessary but it really does help to put the souls more at ease if everyone looks... well... alive." Michael explained. "So, who's hungry? I know I am!"

"I could eat!" Charlie grabbed Vaggie's hand again. Michael led them out of the ship and Charlie followed behind. She looked at Vaggie beside her, the way her hair glistened in the light. "You look beautiful, by the way."

"So do you." Vaggie smiled up at her, squeezing her hand. "But I still like the real you better." Charlie laughed; her cheeks felt warm.

"I mean, I feel the same way, but it is kind of fun to be in disguise! I feel like we're on a secret mission!" She wiggled her fingers on the hand that wasn't intertwined with Vaggie's.

"We kind of are." Vaggie nodded toward Michael.

"I'm sure dad won't be too upset." Charlie did feel a little guilty for sneaking around behind his back. (But had her father just explained shit to her in the first place, she wouldn't be forced to find answers elsewhere.)

"I don't know about that." Vaggie replied flatly. "But I do know he'll forgive you eventually. Your dad is physically incapable of staying mad at you."

"Maybe we could get him a souvenir!" Charlie suggested.

"I don't think that will help." Vaggie squeezed Charlie's hand, lifting it up to her lips and kissing the back of it.

"Here we are!" Michael came to a stop in front of a cutely decorated building. There were lovely plants adorning the top and sides, there was an outdoor eating area surrounded by a white lattice structure and covered in the most beautiful flowers. Charlie instantly recognized it as the diner she had visited with her father all those years ago. As Michael pushed open the doors, she saw that it had gotten a lot more modern since her childhood. There were screens with the menu that flickered from language to language, electronic registers, and the servers carried little tablets in their hands.

"How many?" The host at the desk had a crown of flowers in her hair, her green uniform matched the one the servers wore.

"Three." Michael smiled at her.

"This way!" She hurried from behind her little podium and brought the three to a quiet table in the back. She placed three menus on the table, looking directly at Michael. "Welcome back, sir. You have been missed."

"Thank you." He nodded to her and she hurried away. "Order anything you like! It's on me." He gestured to the menus in front of them. Charlie picked it up and instantly the text changed to the Infernal language that the Hellborns spoke. She blinked.

"Oh! That's neat!"

"They've been doing a great job upgrading this place." Michael seemed content. Charlie wasn't sure if now was the time to start talking, or if she should wait until they got their food.

"Who's in charge of all of... this...?" Vaggie gestured around her.

"The restaurant? Or like Purgatory in general?" Michael gave her a blank look.

"I mean Purgatory. Why the fuck would I want to know about the restaurant?" Vaggie's eye narrowed. (She did still only have one eye, even with the human disguise.) Michael gave a little shrug.

"I don't know, but I just needed to make sure I was answering your question correctly. Though... now that I think about it... the answer to both of those is just... Death. Death's in charge."

"I haven't gotten to meet her yet." Charlie knew her dad had wanted to stop by to visit Death once or twice when they were in Limbo, but they always ended up getting too busy and simply running out of time.

"Yeah, I haven't really gotten to talk to Charon too much since she got the job, but she was always such a hardworking angel back in Heaven, so I'm sure she's doing great!" Michael replied cheerfully.

"I thought her name was Azreal..." It was Charlie's turn to look confused. (Perhaps she had just misunderstood her father. It had been quite a while since he last mentioned Death.) However, Michael's reaction gave Charlie pause. He looked up from the menu in his hands, slowly. He carefully put it back down on the table before him. "Did... I say something wrong?"

"Azreal is no longer with us." His voice was gentle, but firm. Charlie felt a bit uncomfortable as he seemed to be staring at her.

"Oh! S-so sorry I didn't know..." Charlie put the menu in front of her face, trying to look anywhere but at Michael.

"It's fine. You would have been just an infant when it happened. You're... what? In your two hundreds? You were very small." Michael finally looked back at the menu on the table, before letting out a heavy, frustrated sigh. "It's just... your dad really didn't tell you? We sent him a bunch of letters. He was even invited to the funeral. He used to be her boss, after all, back when he was one of us. But I guess his hatred for me overwhelms any sense of obligation he might have had. But it's weird that he would teach you that Azreal was still Death."

"Maybe he didn't know?" Charlie suggested, finally peeking back at Michael. "I mean... Hell's mail isn't exactly reliable."

"We try to send stuff directly." Michael folded his hands on the table. "But I suppose there is always a possibility since I never spoke with him face-to-face on the matter." They were interrupted as one of the automated staff came up to the table, smiling brightly. She placed three glasses of water on the table in front of them.

"Hi! Welcome to Eden's Garden! I'm Puja! What can I get for you today?"

"Like I said," Michael looked back to Charlie and Vaggie. "Get anything and everything you want. I'll cover it." They placed their orders quickly and Puja scurried away back into the kitchen. Charlie could see other souls around them; however, they were sitting far in the back, away from most others. She vaguely wondered if this spot had been picked on purpose.

"Thank you." Charlie bowed her head a bit. "For the food, I mean."

"It's literally the least I can do after you came all this way." Michael smiled. "I am just happy to finally get to talk to you. I want to learn about you, what do you like? Dislike? Do for fun? Or-"

"Slow it down. She doesn't have to answer any of these questions." Vaggie held up her hand quickly to stop the barrage. (Charlie was grateful that Vaggie didn't seem opposed to cutting Michael off.)

"Sorry," he did seem legitimately apologetic. "I didn't mean to overstep."

"It's fine, it's fine! Just...maybe first we can talk about what's been going on in Hell?" Charlie wasn't sure how open she wanted to be with the man who cut her father's wings off, no matter how nice he seemed. Uncle or not, Heaven hadn't exactly been kind to her during her past interactions.

"Okay, that's fine." At least Michael seemed agreeable. "But first, why don't you tell me what you do know?"

"About... Corruption?" Charlie had heard that word dropped a few times now. "Or about like... everything?"

"Everything, I suppose?" Michael sat up, giving Charlie his full attention.

"Oh! Well, I actually brought some visual aids! They're a little sloppy because some of them are old. But here!" Charlie reached in her bag for one of her many little craft projects. She found the little booklet she was looking for and opened it up for Michael to see the illustrations.

"You brought all the booklets?" Vaggie lookedrather amusedas Charlie held up her self-bound book of illustrations.

"Yeah, just in case we needed them, and we did!" Charlie replied with a little more confidence. Vaggie smiled, nodding her head.

"That we did. Continue."

"Right!" Charlie cleared her throat. "Once upon a time, there was a glowing city protected by golden gates known as Heaven. It was ruled by beings of Pure light, Angels that worshiped good and shielded all from evil." She turned the page. "Lucifer was one of these angels. He was a dreamer with fantastical ideas for All of creation!" The image was of her dad,hatand all, but with wings. Michael tilted his head to the side.

"Luciael."

"What?" Charlie stopped her story, looking back at her uncle across the table.

"Luciael, that was his name back in Heaven. He changed it after he Fell. I think he didn't want to have a name like ours: Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel, Michael... you get it." Michael pointed at Charlie's drawing. "Though you're not that far off on how he looked."

"Oh, um... thank you?" Charlie hadn't known about his name. Her mom and dad never once mentioned it. "Anyway," she went back to her story, "But he was seen as a troublemaker by the elders of Heaven. For they felt his way of thinking was dangerous to the order of their world. So, he watched as the angels began to expand the universe in their ways. From the dust of Earth, they created Adam and Lilith, equals as the first of Mankind." Charlie flipped the page again. Michael was squinting at her little drawings, but hedidn'tinterrupt, instead, grabbing his water glass and drinking deeply. "But, despite this, Adam demanded control, and Lilith refused to submit to his will. She fled the Garden. Drawn in by her fierce independence, Lucifer found her, and the two rebellious dreamers fell deeply in love." Michael made a noise as if choking on his water. "A-are you okay!?" Charlie stopped again.

"Yep!" Michael's voice was strained as he started coughing. He hunched over a bit, covering his mouth.

"Are you sure?" Charlie watched him struggle to catch his breath for a moment.

"Positive. Keep going." He sat back up, giving Charlie a thumbs up.

"O... kay..." Charlie slowly turned the page. "Together, they wished to share the magic of free will with humanity, offering the Fruit of Knowledge to Adam's new bride, Eve, who gladly accepted." She saw Michael glanced at his water glass, sigh, and the water started to change, taking on a beautiful, burgundy color, and becoming a bit more viscous as he swirled it around. The entire glasschangedand Michael took a big gulp.

"Is there something you want to fucking say?" Vaggie put her hand down on the tablerather forcefully. Michaeldidn'teven flinch.

"Nope." He kept a smile on his face, but Charliewasn'texactly convinced of its authenticity. She narrowed her eyes a bit.

"You sure?"

"Yep!" Michael gave a firm nod before drinking again from the glass.

"Well," Charlie may as well continue, "But this gift came with a curse. For with this single act of disobedience, evil finally found its way into Earth. With it, a new realm of darkness and sin. And the order Heaven worked tomaintainwas shattered. As punishment for their reckless act, Heaven cast Lucifer and his love into the dark pit he had created, never allowing him to see the good that came from humanity, only the cruel and the wicked. Ashamed, Lucifer lost his will to dream." She showed Michael the illustration that matched, all the angels gathered judgmentally around her father and mother, alone and terrified. Michael looked at the picture in silence, his mouth drawn into a very thin line. He looked back at his almost empty glass.

"Wow..."

"It's the story my parents used to tell me, about how they met." Charlie was tryingvery hardto read her uncle's expression. But even in a human form his face was a difficult read.

"I can see that. I like the pictures; it really adds something." He smiled, but Charlie could tell there was something bothering itwas just a traumatic moment for him too. He had lost abrother after all.

"I mean, I know it's probably just recapping for you, since you were there..." Charlie tried to probehim for any real reaction.

"I like to think that one is me." He pointed to the angel in the front.

"I mean... it might be.I'veheard the story a thousand times... how dad tried to make a difference, how he and mom fell in love, and how Heaven cast them out for their actions." Charlie looked at her own drawing.

"Yeah..." Michael's voice sounded... strained? "It's quite the story, lots of drama, romance... I still thinkit'sbetter with the illustrations. We have stain glass that serves the samepurpose, more or less. Really wish they didn't keep it in the conference hall because walking past the story of your brother getting banished every day on the way to the office can be a bit of a downer, if I'm being honest."

"So that's what happened." Charlie looked at her book. She could redraw this page with Michael and the others, now that she knew what he looked like.

"I mean..." Michael's mouth drew into a thin line again and he looked like he was struggling with himself, internally. "That is definitely an interpretation of events. I feel like...mostmajor points were touched on."

"The fuck does that mean?" Charlie had come to Michael because he had been more of an open book than her dad. Now,they were not even to the Corruption yet, and Michael seemed to ne dodging the question.

"It means that the story is definitely how my brother would have... felt? Is that the word?" Michael's eyes flickered upward as he tried to search for the rightphrasing. "Some of those things definitely did happen."

"Refill?" Puja stopped back at the table, a pitcher of water in her hand. Michael looked at his empty glass before handing it over.

"Yes please."

"Here you go, sir!" She filled the glass back up. "The food will be out in a moment!" And with that she left. The moment she was gone, Charlie turned back to Michael.

"The fuck do you mean: some of those things definitely happened. That doesn't make any goddamn sense."

"It means that it was a great story with some real grounding in a reality that resembles our own. It picked out some highlights from 'snice. That's all." Michael's weird response just made the princess narrow her eyes more. Vaggie snorted.

"I have seen this before, it's fucking angel-speak."

"Angel speak?" Charlie repeated.

"It's this super roundabout way of telling someone that they're wrong. Only high up angels ever do thisshitbut it is really goddamn annoying. I thinkit'sbecause theydon'twant toberude, but it sucks." Vaggie locked her eye withMichael'sand he looked away.

"Now, that seems like somewhat of an exaggeration about the way we talk." Michael's protest would have been a lot more convincing if itdidn'talmost prove Vaggie's point with its indirect nature.

"Yougottabe direct." Vaggie kept her gaze on Michael. "Is Charlie's story historically accurate? Yes, or no?"

"Most of those events definitely have some grounding in-" Michael started evading again but Vaggiewasn'thaving it.

"Yes. Or no?"

"It can really be up to interpretation-" Michael tried again, and Charlie decided to support her girlfriend's attempts at the truth.

"Yes or no, Uncle Michael."

"It's... missing a lot." Michael finally seemed to cave under the pressure. "And I mean a lot." He put his hands flat on the table. "But I don't think your dad really would tell you the more... unpleasant details of what happened as a bedtime story."

"So, what really happened? Does this have anything to do with whatever Corruption is?" Charlie had always wondered if there might be more to the story of her father's Fall, but it never seemed like something she could ask without feeling like a total asshole. She took a sip of her drink, watching Michael shift uncomfortably under her gaze.

"Not really?" He gave a little shrug. "The Fall was more about the adultery and your dad's attempt to overthrow Heaven; and Corruption is more about forces outside of Heaven or Hell that want to eat the souls of the living and dead alike."

"Adultery?" Charlie had to scoff a bit. Thatdidn'tsound right. And her father certainlyhadn'ttried to anything against Heaven other than make a few suggestions! "I hardly think giving Eve the Fuit of Knowledge really constitutes trying to overthrow Heaven." Now it was Charlie's turn toalmost choke. She put her glass back down.

"Yeah, no. But raising an army sure does." Michael looked at his glass again and the water turned that deep red oncemore

"An army!?" Charlie scooted back a bit in her chair right as Puja arrived with the food, taking the opportunity to put a plate in front of moved her book as more food was put down, looking at the image of her mom and dad alone facing the cold, judgmental eyes of Heaven all alone. Was this all a lie!?

"Enjoy your food!"

"Thank you." Michael gave asmileand thewaitressreturned to her other tables. "Please, eat something." He gestured to the food, before starting to cut into his own. "Look, the whole army thing is neither here nor there at this point. The important thing is that you know about Corruption so that you can keep yourself safe from it."

"Y... yeah..." Charlie shook her head, Vaggie reached over, squeezing her hand as the Princess tried to regain control of her emotions. "Corruption. Right." She poked at the food for a moment before taking a bite. It waspretty good, weirdly enough though, Adam's was better.

"Sorry," Michael swallowed his food before speaking. "I'mnot trying to antagonize your dad here, and this stuffisn'treally superrelevant to Corruption. But at least I know what topics to avoid." He gave Charlie a kind off half smile before adding. "And I hope you don't mind but I made some visual aids too!" He reached into his vest and pulled out his own little illustrated booklet. Despite how much her mind was racing, Charliecouldn'thelp but light up a bit as she saw the hand drawn images on the front.

"I think it helps to have something to look at." Charlie shook herself again. This was why she had come. Shecouldn'tlet herself get overwhelmed when she was this fucking close to getting an actual explanation for all the bullshit happening in Hell.

"Okiedokie, so where to start." He flipped through his illustrations, trying to decide on the first one to show Charlie. "So, it all started a long time ago, before I was ever created- actually, it even predates you dad which is saying something because he is the oldest angel there is." The image on Michael's card was almost abstract, a bunch of shapes that almost seemed to be... writhing despite the image being still. "There were beings that thrived on misery, chaos, and madness. We call them The Old Ones, the Elder Gods, they have a lot of names- especially on an individual level. I could start listingthembutwe'dbe here till closing."

"The restaurants close?" Thatwasn'treally the point of Michael's story, and Charlie knew it, but she was still curious.

"Sometimes. Time is weird in Port Gatory." Michael gestured again to the card; Charlie could see eyes in the amorphous shapes. "So, with the Universe being overrun by these Elders, there was no way to make anything like the world you see today. To make an obnoxiously long story short, angels were created to make and protect a beautiful world full of life that the Elderscouldn'truin. There was a lot of fighting... more fighting... first attemptdidn'treally go great." Michael started flipping vigorously through his cards skipping over a lot from what Charlie could tell. "Sorry, I made these for my Seraphim whenthey'retraining for battle. So, they get a little more detailed than we need for just a simple , wemanaged to banish the Elders. Which is great! Hurray for us!" Michael finally showed Charlie another one of the cards. This one was illustrated with her father, his wings, cheeks, and eyes were gold. She could see the same halos Michael and the others had, circling around a similar white top hat. Beside him was obviously Michael, sword raised. Gabriel, Uriel, and Even Raphael all had weapons drawn, posing in victory.

"Is that what dad looked like as an angel?" Charlie leaned forward slightly. It was hard to imagine her father with those empty, angelic eyes.

"Oh,yeah! You want to see it?" Michael offered her the card and she took it, looking closer. It waskind of niceto get a glimpse of her father in the past.

"I didn't know his wings used to be gold..."

"Well, he was the Morning Star so it was kind of his thing." Michael seemed to talk fondly of her father in the past. "I know it's bad, but I used toidolize him. Don't tell the Metatron I said that. I mean, she probably already knows. She kind of knows 'sher whole deal-buthewasn'tjust one of us, he was ourleader. We all looked up to him. And wecouldn'thave won without hisguidance." Sure enough, her father was at the head of the group, he had a beautiful golden bow in his hand, the string drawn back with what looked to be an arrow of pure light. Funny, Charlie had never seen her father really use any kind of weapon, at least, not one thatwasn'tjust summoned up that hedidn'teven really need to touch. (That'swhy they had security anyway. Key word, of course, being: had. And after the Shoggoth, she really needed to ask her dad about fixing that.)

"So, what happened? Why didn't you just kill them?" Charlie handed the card back to him. Michael sighed a bit.

"That's easier said than done. If we killed them, all of that rotten, putrid power would have had to go somewhere. You know? And we were trying to make a new world full of nothing but goodness and light. I mean we got some of them, but it really just made things worse in the long run." He flipped through more of the cards. "So, you know the gist of the whole Eden fiasco, so, I won't really get into that. But when Eve ate from that tree, it released all the pent-up darkness and evil that humans were capable of." He turned another card to face her. Charlie saw Eve for the first time, she had never seen a drawing of her before. Her own rendition was off as Eve had long, thick, wavy dark hair. But she was not the focus of the image. Nor was the focus the absolutely grief-stricken Adam that was holding thetree itself seemed toalmost shimmer, the roots in the ground were growing, the tree itself seemed tobe almost radiating energy.

"My dad just wanted free will! Hedidn't-"

"Hedidn'tknow, I think. I hope not. I mean... none of us really did at the time. We were too busy dealing with all the dark, terrible evils of humanity that the tree unleashed. And there was the matter of the little Uprising, but that'skind of irrelevant." Michael was flipping through cards quickly again.

"What-" Charlie started to speak, but Michael found another card, a simple image of one of those roots, so deep and far from the tree Charliecouldn'teven see it in the drawing. But that root was pushing into some sort of... barrier.

"Slowly, over time, those Old Gods have been waking up, making contact with humans, alive or dead, and trying to bring about that destruction they love so much. It's kind of a cat and mouse game for us now. Not exactly what I thought I'd be spending my eternity doing, but here we are." Michael let out a soft sigh. "Corruption... Madness... Eldritch Curse...it'sall just a wording for that dark, ancient magic that belongs to the Old Ones. It only takes just a small amount of contact- itdoesn'teven have to be from anything aliveit can be from an item that carries the Corruption- and that poor soul that touched it starts to 'slike a disease... it can spread from soul to soul, living or dead indiscriminately. Holy beings, such asmyself, are more resistant to Corruption, but even we can be stricken with it. And ifyou'vehad it for long enough, it devours whatever soul you have from the inside out." He flipped another card toward Charlie and the Princess audiblygasped.

"The woman on the boat..." she covered her mouth. There was an image of a human with those awful tentacles erupting from its body. Body parts were stretched and elongated to a spidery, inhuman length. "She was human!?"

"Was." Michael said the word firmly.

"That shit is in Hell!?" Charlie felt Vaggie squeeze her hand again. She took a deep breath; she could feel her leg bouncing up and down.

"Wouldn't be the first time. Usually, your dad has that sort of thing under control." Michael was somehow able to keep his voice calm, but Charlie felt herself starting to panic. Her friends, her family, her people were going to be a feeding ground for some sort of ancient evil that Heaven hated even more than her father.

"Is my dad going to be okay?" Charlie squeezed Vaggie's hand in return. She had seen the way the Shoggoth had tossed him around.

"We treated all the Corruption we saw on all the injured on-site." Michael tried to reassure her. "But if you can convince your dad to let Raphael treat him again, it wouldn't be a terrible idea. His natural, angelic heeling keeps the Corruption from consuming him, but he can't grow his leg back if he's using all his energy for that."

"Oh, he will fucking let Raphael back in or I'll make him." Charlie had only just started getting close to her dad. Now wasn't the time to lose him.

"Speaking of which, I texted him to stop by before you head back to Hell so he can give you two a once over, you know...make sure you don't have any Corruption." Michael had mentioned that back on the boat. Charlie nodded.

"That's fine. I want to talk to him about dad, anyway."

"Perfect! Now eat up! Let's enjoy ourselves! This conversation has been so grim I feel like I'm giving the strawberry's depression." Michael's cheerful smile returned and he took a big bite of strawberry soaked pancake. It took a bit for Charlie's appetite to return, but she eventually was able to start eating again. She was still rather drained from when they had to sneak their way on the Hell Liner. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't really figured out a plan to get back home. That was still a problem for the Hell Liner would be fixed by the time the finished. Then she and Vaggie could just ride down with the Sinners. It wasn't ideal because she heard the ship could get a little... rowdy... but it was better than being stuck forever.

"Sorry I took so long." Raphael came up behind the table and Charlie nearly jumped, hearing his voice. She turned to see he had taken on a human form as well. He waved to Charlie and Vaggie, then to Michael. "I too wanted to see the cereal bowl collection. It's pretty cute." He cleared his throat. "Big Blue, we're going to need you back in Heaven sooner than later. I messaged you about some things, but I'm guessing you haven't seen. You'll need to look at your texts."

"Oh?" Michael picked up his phone, his face immediately fell. "Oh. .I'll... um...I'll deal with that when I'm done here. Sorry, I wasn't ignoring you, I was just having a nice dinner and I didn't want to be on my phone." Whatever was on that phone must have been important as Michael did sound truly apologetic.

"Of course." Raphael turned his attention to the princess, pulling up a chair to sit beside her. "Charlie, good to see you again. And you brought a friend."

"Girlfriend, actually. Vaggie." Charlie smiled, holding up her hand, fingers laced with Vaggie's. Raphael chuckled.

"Ah, congratulations!" He reached into a bag he had slung over his shoulder, pulling out a small device. "Would you two mind if I gave you a once-over? Just to check for Corruption. Mikey tells me you ladies had a run-in with the lost souls in the water."

"Yeah... that wasn't very fun." Charlie gave a nervous laugh. "So, please! Go ahead! I appreciate you coming out to help us!"

"It's fine." Vaggie kept her eye on the device in Raphael's hand. The Archangels were still acting kind, but Charlie was no fool. She understood that Heaven could be deceiving; so, she didn't fault Vaggie for her paranoia.

"Not a problem at all. Happy to help." Raphael sounded a lot less irritated than when he had been bickering with her father.

"Do you think you could come back to Hell?" Charlie hesitated, but the thought of her father, injured in his bed back home, pushed her to ask. "For my dad I mean."

"I would be open to the idea if he would actually listen to anything I have to say." Raphael scoffed a bit. "He was easier to deal with when he was semi-conscious." Charlie frowned, she knew her dad, she knew his ego wouldn't allow him to accept any kind of help. Especially not from Heaven. But she also knew that her dad had an Achilles heel. She was that weakness. She was her father's Kryptonite.

"I'll talk to him." Charlie spoke with a newfound confidence. Her father would listen to her. He had to.

"I look forward to it." Raphael didn't sound quite as convinced, but Charlie had to hold firm. The Archangel of Healing turned his gaze away from the princess and her girlfriend, reaching back in his bag. "Good news, Charlie, you're clean." He pulled a small vial out of his bag. "Vaggie, you have a low-grade level of Corruption. Nothing worrisome at all. It, honestly, could be from the Shoggoth if you were there for that. Drink this vial over a period of one week. One sip every night before bed. You will throw up. It's normal. Just burn what comes out. Or, if that's not an option, I will give you some extra holy water to clean the messes."

"Are you shitting me?" Vaggie took the vial, looking at Raphael with disbelief. "But I feel fine." Charlie was suddenly very glad they had come to visit.

"Not everyone exhibits symptoms in the same way. Some actually feel better when Corrupted. Regardless, this is entirely treatable. If you like, I can check back in on you at the end of the week and we'll make sure you're back to normal." Raphael's calm tone did help ease Charlie's mind. Poor Vaggie! Had she been suffering silently because she didn't want to upset Charlie? She held more tightly to her girlfriend.

"I'm fine, Charlie." Vaggie kissed the back of Charlie's hand.

"Thank you for agreeing to do this! And please come at the end of the week." The Princess wasn't about to risk the love of her life to this Corruption. After what she had seen, if it took trusting Angel's to be rid of it, that was a risk she was willing to take.

"Happily. Maybe I can stop in and see your dad too. If he'll let me." Raphael pulled out a few more vials and handed them to Vaggie. "These are for clean-up. Just let me know if you need anything else."

"How?" Charlie took the vials from Vaggie, securing them in her bag. "How do I contact you? Do I just... like... pray?"

"I mean you can. But we also have a phone." Raphael seemed a little confused by her offer. But Charlie didn't really know enough about Heaven's inner workings to know if she could just call from her cellphone and actually get through to someone.

"The Heaven Phone is in your dad's workshop. I saw it after the Shoggoth fight. Have you ever used it before?" Michael spoke up. Charlie didn't even know there was such a thing as a Heaven phone. "Though it's super outdated. We need to send him a new one. It's not very... direct. I think it just gets answered by whoever's there. But that's one option. Another way to contact us is, we'll, yeah, you can pray but I dunno how that will work. Or you can just go to the church in Hell where meetings usually take place and use the phone in there and just call this number." Michael handed Charlie a card that appeared blank. She looked back at him uncertainly. "Oh! Sorry! You gotta say the name of who you want to call."

"Raphael." Charlie watched as the card scrawled out a number in beautiful green script. "Oh, that's fun! Michael!" The green number vanished and a blue one appeared. "Cool. I can never lose this card." Charlie put it in her bag beside the holy water.

"Why didn't you just start with the fact that you have a direct number? Why bother with the Heaven phone and praying bullshit?" Vaggie looked a little annoyed. Michael frowned for a moment, glancing over at Raphael.

"Sorry?" Michael gave a small shrug. "I can get a little carried away."

"I'm going to head back Upstairs." Raphael got back to his feet. "Let me know if you need anything else. Mikey, I'll be waiting for you. We all are. Good to see you again Charlie, Vaggie." He smiled, nodding to both of them. Charlie gave him a wave.

"See you in a week!" She was not about to let him forget to check up on Vaggie and her stubborn father. She could definitely convince him by then to swallow his pride and at least let Raphael do his fucking job.

"Bye." Vaggie's response was rather flat.

"See you in a week!" And with that, Raphael headed back out of the restaurant. Charlie watched him leave before looking over at Michael who was looking a little more serious as he re-read whatever messages Raphael had sent him. Charlie cleared her throat.

"Uncle Michael?"

"Yes!" He put his phone back in his pocket. "Charlie! Hi!" He smiled, closing his eyes and waving cheerfully at her from across the table.

"Is... everything okay?" Charlie tried to read his expression. His eyes flickered downward before looking back at her.

"Things are... doable. Nothing we can't handle." Michael's answer was not direct and knowing what Charlie now knew about Angel-Speak- as Vaggie had called it- that did not bode well for what Michael actually meant.

"Right..." Charlie didn't buy it for a second.

"So, how are you girls getting home? With the Hell Liner down are you just going to have your dad come get you? That... actually...probably wouldn't be a great idea. He's in no shape to travel to Port Gatory." Michael immediately changed the topic.

"Yeah, that is a bit of a predicament." Charlie replied uncertainly. That had been Future-Charlie's problem for so long that she was now Future Charlie, and she had nothing cooked up to get them back to Hell.

"I can take you!" Michael offered. "I'm much faster than the ship!" A wave of relief washed over the Princess and she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"Oh really? That would be super helpful actually!"

"Sure!" Michael got to his feet. "Let me just pay the bill and we can head out!" He left the table, walking up to the front of the restaurant. Vaggie stared after him, her eye narrowed. As soon as he engaged in conversation with one of the staff, she turned to Charlie.

"If he brings us back to Hell, people are going to see him and freak the fuck out. The only reason there isn't widespread panic in Hell after that whole Shoggoth bullshit is because Vox didn't want the public to see him get his ass kicked."

"I mean, maybe not! Maybe he can be subtle!" Charlie tried to be optimistic, despite the fact that Michael had always seemed to be about a subtle as an explosion. "Plus... we don't exactly have a lot of other options."

"Ready to head out?" Michael came back to the table; he seemed upbeat again whatever had been bothering him no longer appeared to weigh on his mind. "I figured we could head straight back; I can drop you off at your dads!"

"Not necessary!" Charlie spoke up rather quickly. "You can just take me to my Hotel, I can give you directions." She got up from her seat as well.

"Are you going to take us like that?" Vaggie got up from her seat, motioning toward Michael, who looked down at himself uncertainly.

"No. I don't have my wings. I mean, I can still fly but I would look a little silly."

"But you can't show up in your Angel form either, you'll cause a riot." Vaggie pressed a little more. In Michael's defense, it didn't take much to start a riot in Hell. But Vaggie was still absolutely correct that the image of Michael, carrying the Princess might give people some crazy ideas. (Especially her father who would instantly jump to the worst-case scenario.)

"It's fine. I have a plan for that." Michael assured them as they weaved their way through the crowds of souls. Soon, the number of people began to thin-out. The buildings became sparser. Eventually, they were completely alone. Michael stretched his arms up. "Ready to head back?" He brought them back to his side.

"Yeah, sure." Charlie nodded.

"Perfect!" Michael clapped his hands and his hair became swept back in a familiar pompadour, his clothes changed to a white and red suit. His eyes turned the same crimson and gold as Charlie's own, and small red cheeks markings appeared on his face. His wings spread out, only they were white and red, as Charlie looked at the spitting image of her father. "See! I had a plan! It's really easy to shift into my brother since we already look alike. I don't even have to change my voice!" Michael put his hands on his hips, chest puffed out proudly in the spirting image of her father. It was more than a little uncanny, is she was being honest.

"That'll work. Sure." Charlie wasn't sure how to feel seeing an Archangel take on her father's face so easily.

"Up we go!" Michael raised up a hand and Charlie and Vaggie both lifted off the ground. He took off and suddenly, Purgatory was just a blur. "You'll have to give me instructions once we actually get to Hell. I haven't been since before you were born. And even then, I got thrown out immediately."

"I can do that." Charlie had no idea how fast they were going; she couldn't even feel if they were going straight or turning. There was just a light breeze in her hair, and she watched Michael in front of her swooping and twirling around in the air.

"Best get out of Purgatory ASAP. Outside of the city gets even more dangerous if you can believe it." Michael kept turning to look at them, flying backward, and Charlie became increasingly concerned that he should be focusing on the path ahead, and not on she and Vaggie.

"I keep hearing that." Charlie replied quickly. She wasn't really feeling small-talk at the moment from an identical clone of her father. If she wanted that, she could always grab the Muppet off of whatever roof it had crashed on.

"Hold your breath!" Michael gave Charlie a thumbs up, before diving backward. Charlie and Vaggie were pulled sharply toward the water and Charlie held her breath as they crashed beneath the surface. "You... don't actually have to hold your breath." Michael's voice didn't even sound garbled by the water over them. "You're in a protective 's... just an expression. Sorry. I thought your dad would have done this with you before."

"He did not." Charlie let out the breath she had been holding. Sure enough, despite being underwater, she wasn't even remotely wet. Michael did another steep dive and they went deeper into the murky water. Soon the light faded away and Charlie could see a pulsing red glow beneath them as they spiraled downward. Michael went straight toward the glow and suddenly Charlie was back in Hell.

Home.

Thank Fucking God- or whoever it was.

Michael dove straight past the docks onto the ground, landing as he took a look around. "Oh hey! A puppet." He picked something up off the ground and Charlie's cheeks reddened as she saw her stupid Muppet in his hands.

"That's- uh- that's mine!" She grabbed it quickly and shoved it in her bag before she felt a massive weight push her from behind. Michael and Vaggie both tensed before Charlie's face lit up. "RAZZLE! You waited for me! What a good boy!" She cupped her beloved pet's face in her hands, kissing his snout.

"Aw! It's so cute!" Michael immediately relaxed.

"YOU'RE MAJESTY!" A voice called out to them and Charlie felt herself cringe as Katie Killjoy came running up with an entire fucking crew. Wasn't Vox supposed to be doing something about this shit? "A few questions!"

"Sorry, I don't have a lot of time." Michael gave a cheerful wave to the camera." I have to take my daughter back to her hotel."

"This won't take long! We had a source that said you had been brutally murdered. Do you have a comment?" Katie ignored his attempts to disengage and Charlie could see the annoyance in Michael's (or rather, her father's) expression.

"I mean..." Michael gestured to himself. "Clearly not."

"But we found a body." Katie handed him a few photographs that he flipped through, looking more and more frustrated.

"You mean the puppet? I think these photos have been... edited." Michael handed the pictures to Charlie, and sure enough their body was just Charlie's make-shift puppet sprawled out on the ground from when it had flown off of Razzle's back. They had done some haphazard photo editing to the image to make it look more real, but her dad's body had bones, and didn't bend the way a puppet did.

"This is a fucking puppet. My dad is fine." Charlie narrowed her eyes. She handed the pictures to Vaggie. She already didn't like Katie on the best of days, and Charlie had been through a lot in the last... however many hours. She didn't have the mental capacity for Katie's bullshit today. She just wanted to go home.

"You have no proof that it was 'just a puppet'." Katie kept smiling, not batting an eye. Charlie reached in her bag.

"Actually, yeah, Ifuckingdo. I have the goddamn puppet!" She pulled the puppet from her bag. Katie stilldidn'tchange expressions.

"That doesn't look anything like the body in the photos. Does it Tom?"

"Not at all!" Charlie could hear Tom's voice from one of the phones of the onlooking Sinners starting to crowd around the scene. Charlie stormed her way to the Sinner with their phone out and saw that this was, in fact, live, and they were displaying the heavily photoshopped images of the Muppet, splayed across the ground. "Denial from the Princess and from the king! This is going to-"

"Shut the fuck up,Tom!" Kaite cut him off. "Therewere reports of a disturbance at your house. Is there somethingthatyourpeople need to know about?"

"No." Michael was firm, but Charliewasn'twilling to test his patience.

"I want to talk to Vox."

"Sorry, this story isn't his." Katie ignored her request. "Is this a warning for Exterminations yet to come?"

"What?" Michael looked confused and Charlie grabbed his hand.

"We have to go. Now." She pulled Michael and Vaggie onto Razzle's back. The last thing she needed was Michael, pretending to be her dad, to say something condemning on live TV.

"Are you fleeing an interview!?" Katie tried to chase after her. "So,there IS a conspiracy in Hell right now!"

"EAT SHIT!" Charlie sent Razzle up as high in the air as he could go. She took a deep breath. "Sorry about that." She looked behind her to be sure that Vaggie and Michael were still with her. A drone flew close and Vaggie stabbed it through with her spear.

"We are going to talk to Vox about this shit."

"We surefuckingare." Charlie was pleased to see her girlfriend had her back. "I didn't expect to get swarmed like that." She apologized to Michael who was enjoying looking down at all of Hell.

"Thank goodness I was in my disguise!" He looked back to Charlie.

"Oh,for fucking sure. If you had shown up with me as your Angel-self, especially with that fucking creepy-ass helmet, I'm pretty sure they would have been convinced this was part of the Exterminations." Charlie laughednervously, hopingthe main crisis had been avoided.

"Right... Exterminations..." Michael seemed to be trying to remember something asCharlieguided Razzle back toward the Hotel. "Is that like the name of a play? Or a TV show? I feel like everyone knows what that means but me." Charlie froze. Her mouth went a little dry as she landed Razzle on the front lawn of her hotel. She slowly slidoff ofhis back, turning to look at Michael who hopped off.

"You don't know?"

"Of coursehe fucking knows." Vaggie jumped down, stepping in front of Charlie protectively. "He gave the fucking order."

"What order?" Michael looked between the two. "I haven't given any orders that would affect Hell. Not since I left."

"The Exterminations... you know... where Heaven flies down..." Charlie reached into her bag, finding her old drawings that she had used to explain her ideas to Adam so long ago. She found the one of the Exorcists, weapons raise, chasing down Sinners. "Once a year angels come and kill a bunch of Sinners?"

"What?" Michael took the drawing from her so quickly Charlie didn't even see him move. He was staring at it, hard. For a moment, the bright, unnatural blue of Michael's real eyes started to glitch through her father's image. The paper crinkled as his fist tightened around the edge of thedrawing. His face suddenly was like stone and for the first time in Hell- outside of the rare winters when Hell froze over- Charlie felt cold. Freezing, in fact.

"You... didn't know?" The Princess could see her own breath as she spoke. Michael smiled up at her and Charlie felt even more uneasy.

"I have to go." He was using that resonating voice again, but this time without the helmet. It wasn't loud… but somehow that made it so much worse. Vaggie pulled Charlie back.

"Waaaaait!" There was anout-of-breath cry from the distance. Charlie took any excuse to turn away from Michael, and was treated with the sight of Lysander, her father's security intern, running toward them. "Wait... just a second." The Hellborn reached them, squatting for a moment, tail twitching as he tried to catch his breath. "I got... I got a message."

"Take your time." Charlie was a bit surprised to see him. Hehadn'tbeen around for theShoggoth,ofcourse the one fucking time her dadactually neededsecurity. So, seeing him now was a bit strange.

"Oh hey, it feelskindanice over here." He perked up in the icy aura, not entirely shocking asit seemed hewas an Ice-based Hellborn. He finally stood back up.

"Did you need something?" Michael's voice was still just as frigid as the air, despite the smile he wore on Lucifer's face.

"Yeah, fakeboss, Ihave a message foryafrom real boss." Lysander cleared his throat. "Hey fucker, you got some big-ass balls to come back here after I kicked you out. Come to the mansion." Though Lysander was obviously reading from a piece of paper her father had written, Charlie highly doubted that Michael was in any mood to be called fucker by some rich, obnoxious Hellborn.

"Awesome! Thanks for delivering the message. Whydon'tyou just-" Charlie started to try and usher Lysander away from them, back toward the mansion.

"I'll be there." Michael suddenly had Lysander by the arm, his head snapped up to look directly at him, again Charlie saw the small glitch where a part of his eye flickered back to blue. "But tell him I'll be late. I have something that needstobe done at home first." His head snapped back to Charlie, unnaturally quickly. Again, shehadn'tseen any actual movement. "I really did have a nice dinner, Charlie. I hope wecan do this again sometime." Despite the otherworldly sound of his voice, he still sounded completely calm. Heheldup the drawing, still gripped tightly in his hand. "May I take this?"

"Y... yeah?" Charliewasn'tgoing to say no even if she had wanted to keep the drawing. But she could always just draw another one.

"Thank you." And with a flash of light, he was gone. The freezing air died down and Hell's natural heat started to return. Charlie leaned over, taking a deep breath.

"Are you okay?" Vaggie had her arms around her instantly. Charlie's head popped back up, and she looked in the place where Michael had just been standing.

"What the fuck was that?"

"Dunno, mate. Your dad just told me to say that shit to the guy that looked like him." Lysander was the only one whodidn'tseem perturbed by Michael's behavior, but Lysander alsodidn'tactually know it wasThe ArchangelMichael he had just called: Fucker. "And now my job's done." He put his hands back k in his pockets before starting to leave. "Oi!" He whippedback around suddenly,pointing at Charlie."Almost forgot! Your dad wants to talk to you too."

"Of coursehe fucking does." Charlie's face fell a bit. "You know what? We can talk tomorrow. I am way too tired for this shit." She put her hand on the door to the Hotel. "C'mon Vaggie, let's go the fuck to sleep."

Charlie had been through enough today. Her dad had avoided talking for this long. Whatever he had to say could wait.

Once again, thatwas Future-Charlie's problem.

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A/N: I know that was very long omfg. I hope you guys are still awake. Happy Friday the 13th! See you next week!