Hi there, back again with another Chapter, hope you like it!
Vaggie could not believe it. When she asked Odette and Clara, the Carmine Sisters, if they could help them out with something, they immediately agreed to help. Not only that they immediately started to work with Sir Pentious, but they also work exceptionally together. While Pentious and Clara disassembled the Shield device Odette was already writing down what parts were required to more devices.
On the other hand, she was very glad that Zestial helped her with training the Cannibals for the Extermination. Despite his looks and behavior, he was a force to be reckoned with. Zestial was proficient with blades, but his true skill lied with a Dueling Sword. When he and Vaggie sparred, to assess each other's skill level, Zestial moved with frightening speed, and his slashes were made with deadly precision.
It took all of Vaggies skills to even keep up with Zestial, and even then, she struggled tremendously. Every time she thought that she found an opening for her to strike, her opponent either dodged with his speed, or he countered the blow and caught her off guard.
"Haply, we should'st take a break anon, thy constancy seems to falter" Zestial suggested, even though he barely broke a sweat.
"And why should I? I can still fight, see-" before Vaggie could finish her sentence, Zestial moved like a blur, and knocked Vaggie to the ground. She tried to get back up, but this time, she felt a sword at her throat. She looked up, and into Zestials calculating eyes.
"Why is it that the younger generation doth not hark to the wit of their elders?" Zestial asked rhetorically, before lowering his sword and holding his hand out for Vaggie.
She accepted it and was pulled up to her feet, where she wobbled for a few seconds, trying to regain her balance. Zestial guided her to a bench, from where they could oversee the training of the Cannibals. Speaking of the Cannibals, in just one day, they improved tremendously.
At first, Vaggie was not sure if she would be able to manage a group of literal man-eating sinners, but to her surprise, these Cannibals are well behaved, and don't anything living in the area. Charlie told her that while they were Cannibals, they did not just murder anyone around. They do murder, but only in small quantities, in order to satiate their hunger.
"Wouldst thou enlighten me, as to why thou are content to fight thy own kin" Zestial asked, seated beside her, watching the Cannibals train to fight.
"Well, you have heard yourself that heaven is unjust in just exterminating human souls, so I want to protect-"
"This is what thy princess reason is, yes. That I but to wot why thou are so fixated on this fight? Mayhaps it is…" Zestial cocked his head to the side, as if he was curious. "Revenge?"
Vaggie inhaled sharply, which only confirmed Zestials theory. She was out for Adam's and Lute's blood after what they have done to her and she wished to return the favor by cutting off their wings, and in Lute's case, take both her eyes.
"Is this very the goal thou desire to achieve? for if thou only harbor vengeance, then what shall thou doth once it is achieved." Zestial proceeded with his questioning.
Vaggie was about to answer, when sudden explosion shook the ground. When both looked up, they saw a plume of black smoke rising from one of the rooms of the hotel. Vaggie just sighed and Zestial looked amused. Vaggie just got up and went for the room where the explosion originated.
Inside the hotel, she quickly made her way up to the currently inhabited floors, where on could quickly see whos' room the explosion originated from. From beneath the door of Sir Pentious smoke was seeping into the corridor. Vaggie made her way over to the door and was about to open it, when the door suddenly swung wide open.
A coughing Odette, Clara, and Pentious fled the room, all covered in soot, their clothes partially torn. Odette's and Clara's hair were a complete mess, while Pentious was missing his precious hat, presumably still in the room somewhere. Behind the trio, an assortment of Egg Bois were trotting out of the room, one of which held aforementioned hat in his hands.
"Note to myssself, never let you lassie operate the welding machine!" Pentious said, looking at Clara.
"Hey, how was I supposed to know that the whole thing would explode?" Clara defended herself from Pentious, while receiving an incredulous look from Odette.
"Clara, you welded over the gas tank, which held the gas you needed to weld in the first place, of course it would explode!" Odette retorted; annoyance written all over her pale face.
"No need to argue, ladiesss, just do not do it again, and if you decide to blow something up, pleassse do not try it in my workshop." Pentious steeped in between their squarrel.
Odette gave one last glance, before excusing herself, probably gathering new resources to continue their project. While the trio was able to reverse-engineer the shield, or rather the "Divine Protector", as they like to call it, but they had to make more than the one currently available. This in itself was a slight problem, as some of the components were rather expensive, while others were outright illegal in hell.
This led to the conclusion, that Lucifer could not learn of the components, as one of said components was pure human blood, which was only procurable in the world of the living. This resulted in dealing with various Imps, who had access to plane shifting, as the only other group in hell with this ability were the Ars Goetia, who were not likely to share this ability.
But as it was illegal for any hellborn or sinner to interfere with the doings of the living world, not many were too keen on doing this job. In the end, only one group was willing to work for Carmine Industries, named the "Immediate Murder Professionals", or short "I.M.P.". The group was able to get the blood and give it to the group without much trouble.
So now they tried to build a second shield before the Extermination, while the first one was mounted on Sir Pentious airship, in case they need the areal support. The airship was docked at the hotel, and there was always a small crew of Egg Bois on board to take off, just in case.
Vaggie just shook her head in bemusement at how good Pentious hit it off with Carmilla's daughters, and she even heard him talking about taking them up as apprentices, if Miss Carmine allowed it. Alas, getting her permission seemed like it was an uphill battle, as Carmilla did not trust Pentious all that much, and also for the fact that he was not that powerful.
Vaggie then proceeded on towards her next destination. Since Charlie and her found Emily, Charlie barely left Emily's bedside. Now with the Extermination only two weeks away,the Cannibals needed their leader more than ever, even if it was just to improve morale among their ranks.
The Fallen Angel opened the door and was immediately on guard because of the residents of the room. Charlie was sitting on the chair besides the bed, like she always does, but what put her on edge was the prescence of not only one, but two Overlords in the room.
Velvette was walking around the bed, apparently taking measurements of Emily. At first, Vaggie was about to pull her away from the Seraphim, but then deciding against it, since Alastor, who watched her very closely, would have intervened if she did something nefarious.
Speaking of Alastor, he seemed to be very tense, and his fake smile he always wore (which pissed off Vaggie to no end) seemed even more strained than usual as well as the fact that his shadow was constantly flitting around the room, as if it was looking for a proper spot to lie in wait, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
Velvette's eye twitched as the shadow flitted through her peripheral view for the fifth time, before she loudly exhaled and turned towards Alastor, "Hey Knob Head, can't ya see I'm fockin workin over here? Would it be too much trouble if I ask you and ya Arse-lickin Shade over there to leave the room?"
"Ohh, if you put it like that then… no" Alastor stated bluntly. "You see, while you might have the trust of our esteemed princess over there, I am not so keen on trusting anyone, much less a competitor. And while I show leniency with the sorry excuse for a evil genius that ripped my precious cloak, I cannot offer the same amount of leniency for you."
"And why is that, ya Bellend? Too scared that I might replace you as a advisor for the princess?" Velvette retorted in a sarcastic tone.
"Not at all, no. But you are still a danger to this hotel and given that your former associates are less than desirable here, I have every reason to be suspicious of you trying to sabotage us, if not even kill the princess herself" Alastor replied his shadow attaching itself to him and growing larger by the second.
"STOP IT; BOTH OF YOU!" Charlie screamed, having enough of the Overlords argument. "Alastor, you can leave the room now,since Vaggie is here to protect me, if Vel should try to do anything."
Alastor, visibly disgruntled, left the room, brushing past Vaggie without as much as a word. Vaggie walked towards Charlie, pulling a chair next to hers, seating herself. She then pulled Charlie close to her giving her a hug, while the princess put her head on Vaggie's shoulder.
"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you doing with Emily?" Vaggie asked, watching Velvette go back to her work.
"What does it look like, ya twat? If little Miss Goody-Two shoes ever wakes up, she needs some new clothes, and don't get me wrong but this," she points at Charlie and Vaggie, "it's fockin atrocious. Since I'm here, I decided I'll help you with getting up to the newest fashion trend."
Vaggie was about to retort back, but Charlie just squeezed her a little. Vaggie looked over and right into Charlie's eyes, which seemed to convey the message of "let me handle this". Vaggie just kept silent, while Charlie rose from the chair, slowly approaching Velvette.
"Velvette, I know that you hate to be here, or at least pretend to hate it, but I still want to thank you for everything you have done for us so far. With the shield you brought us, our survival rate skyrocketed, and I also cannot wait for the designs you come up with for Emily."
Velvette gave her a critical look, as if she was looking for any deception or malice in the words, but she could not find any. This surprised her mildly, as she was not used to such genuine words from her former colleagues. Sure, Vox sometimes sweet-talked her to get something from her or to calm her down after Valentino wrecked her studio.
"Sure, sure let me get back to work, and soon we'll have a wardrobe full of new clothes for the little fallen Angel." Velvette finally exhaled, before getting back to work.