Part Two
Day Five - Just outside Cannibal Town, early afternoon:Lute's unconscious body once again rested on the gurney. Vaggie and Charlie flanked it as Seviathan wheeled it out of the alley and onto the street.
"So now what?" Vaggie asked.
Seviathan was the first to answer. "No more adventuring for me, Charliesauce. I have have to talk with my father."
He turned to Niffty. "Not the way I wanted to end our date..."
"That's okay," Niffty told him, promising, "Special outfit next time."
"Special outfit?" Charlie asked.
Vaggie suggested, "Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to, love."
"Special outfit?" Crymini echoed, getting a grumble from Vaggie.
Niffty wiggled a finger at all of them. "It's a secret!"
Charlie blinked. "Aaaaanyway..." She fished out the bottle. "We need to get this bullet to Belphegor. That means Sloth. So we have to go back to the hotel and wait for Emily." With a little thought, she added, "Maybe we can pay some other visits while we're down there..." Her voice trailed off.
Vaggie looked down at Lute. "I guess we should take her with us. Although I don't know how."
Charlie thought on that a moment before her expression darkened. "No!" Charlie shook her head. "No. Lute can not come to my hotel. I mean, maybe if she was repentant and trying to... no, not even then."
"Charlie?" Vaggie looked at her with concern. She didn't want Lute at the hotel either, but this was unlike Charlie.
Charlie's eyes narrowed, voice hitching, "I am not bringing Razzle back home to a hotel with Lute in it!"
Niffty shook her head.
Crymini asked, "Who?"
The little she-demon explained, "Lute killed Dazzle."
Vaggie immediately and completely understood. "We wouldn't be doing that. If we take Lute to the hotel now, we will be delivering her to Rosie."
"Oh," Charlie said softly. "Right."
Seviathan suggested, "Other option: I'll take her. She's seen Victor in action. Father will have a few questions."
Charlie stiffened at the mention of Leonard's killer. She frowned, looking away. "Yes. Do that. And when your dad is done, then we'll give her to Rosie."
Crymini scratched her left arm. "Wow... that's cold."
Charlie winced, knowing the puppy demon was right. "Sorry. But... Rosie is probably the most reasonable person for Lute to end up with right now."
Niffty's eye widened, staring at Crymini. "NOPE!"
The little she-demon scooped Crymini up, much to the puppy demon's protests. "You are not bringing fleas into my hotel! You're not going anywhere without a flea bath!"
Crymini struggled. "Are you serious!? Put me down you one-eyed cunt with teeth!"
"NOPE!" Niffty repeated as she raced off down the alley with Crymini.
Vaggie watched them disappear back down the alley. "I... guess Niffty and Crymini are staying in the Doomsday District a while longer?"
"Don't worry. She can handle herself out here. Even when it's five against one." Seviathan grinned. "It really was an amazing date."
The pentagram floating above the city darkened as shooting stars arced past, flying in the direction of the Hazbin Hotel.
Charlie turned to see a spire of light and fire rising from the roof of her hotel.
Then found herself scooped up into her partner's arms, airborne and racing towards the new cataclysm.
Day Five - Golden Library, Heaven, early afternoon:
To see or not to see?
That was the question.
Emily sat alone at the table, in front of a viewing orb. In her hand, she idly flipped the glossy purple card that the librarian angel had given her when she arrived.
Emily looked down at it, flipping it to the front to read the golden script in Molly's handwriting:
Don't panic.
Dearest Emi,
On the day you told us you were in love, I made sure you and your new girlfriends would have privacy filters whenever intimate.
Here is a little gift from me to you.
Love, your favorite spider.
On the back of the card was a reference index within the Golden Library's archives. She was surprised to find it was archival footage of an angel. The actions of every angel were recorded in the Golden Library. It was scripturally written into the function of the Library itself. No angel was involved in making it happen. And except for those who were fallen and considered angels no more, no angel was excluded. Even if the angel in question was not in Heaven. Unless, of course, privacy filters were in place.
Emily didn't really want to pry into the lives of other angels. Who did? But Molly had directed her specifically to this one, so she had opened the latest file.
And witnessed a terrifying scene in a recently abandoned underground clinic in Hell.
"Her demonic aspect gives her a fucking arm and mine makes my bow cute? How the fuck is that fair!?"
The record had ended with that haunting cry of anguish from a woman she loved. Emily had sat in shocked silence, emotionally aching, for several minutes.
Leonard was dead. Lute was found. And both Charlie and Vaggie were in pain.
She had needed to get back to them. She had needed to get back to them now.
But even as she had stood up, it finally sank in why Molly directed her here. The card in her hand had been waiting with the librarian for days. Molly didn't lead her here to see what she just saw. She led her here to give Emily the proof she needed to wash away any doubt in her mind or anyone else's.
Heaven Itself still considered Vaggie an angel. The Golden Library was still keeping her record.
Now a battle between her mind and her heart had rooted her in place. Her heart was pleading, practically screaming at her to race to her girlfriends. To drop everything and be there for them right now.
Her head was telling her that she couldn't just run to them if she didn't know where they were. She could open a portal directly to that clinic, but the recording was over an hour old. Her best option was to return to the hotel and, if they were not there already, wait for them.
Emily knew her mind was just making excuses to delay because part of her wanted to watch just one more archive. One she knew she absolutely should not see. This was the sort of self-destructive behavior she told Husk she would stop indulging in.
But Vaggie was hurting. And Lute was with them.
Against her own better angel, Emily reached out to the orb. The white light shifted to a Hellish red as Emily stared into it. Seeing Vaggie's last moments as an Exorcist. Hearing her voice.
"Go. Run. Now!"
Day Five - Hazbin Hotel, afternoon:
While the hotel's residents panicked, running outside to view the spectacle, Rosie sat calmly in her chair. She listened to the storm above the Hazbin Hotel and knew exactly what it was. Beside her, Timothy was cringing from the roar, clinging to her dress with one hand.
Tea would be nice.
She frowned as the noise abruptly stopped. "Well. That's done."
On the roof...
Husk stumbled back, radiating angelic fire. "This is... wow."
Sera stared at him, waiting to see what he would do.
Husk stared at his glowing hands, grinning madly. Then closed his eyes, his predatory, glowing grin slowly receding to a gentlemanly smile. The aura burning around him faded into him like a lion going to sleep.
He looked up at Sera. "What are you going to do now?"
Sera answered, "I was wondering the same thing of you."
Husk smiled. "Well, I plan to return to the bar and serve drinks until Emily gets back. Would you like one? It would mean facing the others again."
Sera paused, looking aside, then turned her gaze back to Husk. "I am... how does Emily put it?" Perfect angelic memory was a blessing she had not given up. "In a 'better headspace' now. I believe I can handle the recriminations."
Husk nodded. "How are you feeling?"
"Liberated. Which is quite surprising, given this." Sera raised her right arm, showing the manacle around it, the chain dangling from it leading to the feline Dealmaker
Husk de-manifested the chain, but Sera could still see it.
Husk stepped up to the ledge and smiled back at Sera. "So what will you have? Emily prefers Moscato, but you strike me as a white wine angel."
"Emily...?" Sera sighed, admitting to herself: Well, if anyplace could drive the sweetest angel to drink, it was Hell. "A week ago, you would have been correct. But I think I would like to try red."
On the grounds below...
Angel Dust and Cherri Bomb stared up as Husk and Sera flew down towards them.
Cherri Bomb felt out of expletives.
Angel Dust had a few left. "Figlio di puttana! What the blasphemous pigfuck was that!?"
Sera scowled a little as she landed a breath before Husk.
Cherri Bomb blinked and looked at Angel Dust with mild revulsion. "I know pig swears are an Italian thing, but for Fat Nuggets' sake, don't ever say that again."
Angel Dust looked to Husk, clearly terrified for his friend yet angry that neither seemed harmed or concerned in the wake of the rooftop apocalypse.
"Are you okay? I was afraid she smited you or something! What kind of attack was that!?" The spider demon turned on Sera, "What did you do?!"
Husk said calmly, "She made a deal."
Angel Dust just stopped.
Cherri Bomb said, "Angie, I need some of your pig swears."
Husk lifted a hand. "Look, everything's fine. Let's..."
"Vaffanculo!" Angel Dust turned and marched back into the Hazbin Hotel.
Cherri Bomb finally settled for a tired, "Bollocks."
Day Five - Vees Tower, afternoon:
The imagery on the screen showed the tornado of fire and light dissipating as the energies within the vortex were subsumed into the winged feline Dealmaker.
The footage vanished, replaced by Vox's face. He looked across the table at his fellow Vees.
"It wasn't Alastor, so we aren't royally fucked," Vox stated. "But there is clearly a new Dealmaker in town, and he has just made one hell of a power play."
"And he's with that cunt child of Lucifer's in that fucking hotel," Valentino added. "I told you that place was a problem."
Vox kept his voice admirably even. "What I want to know first is if this new guy is allied with Alastor."
"Assuming there's a Radio Demon left," Valentino oozed self-satisfaction. "My little parting gift should be about done erasing him."
At the looks from the other Vees, the moth Overlord admitted, "Honestly, I'd use it on all my problems if it weren't so slow and easy to cure. But then, unlike Alastor, most demons would either die too quickly or seek help."
Vox smiled. "Seeing him eliminated by his own arrogance... sometimes, Val, you are a poet." His voice grew agitated, his screen arcing electricity. "The only problem is that I can't fucking watch it!"
Velvette sighed. "Back to the matter at hand. The Overlord meeting is in two days. What does this change?"
She started to pay attention to her phone, but turned back with a look of alarm. "Wait, if this new player has that fallen bitch's power, can he break demonic pacts himself now?"
Vox frowned. "Good question. That would be an unacceptable complication."
"So, what do we do?" Velvette asked.
"First, we..." Vox was interrupted by a buzzing from his cell phone. "Hold on."
Vox picked it up. "I thought I said NO CALLS. Do you remember that? I distinctly remember that."
The frightened voice on the other end blabbered, sounding wet and raspy, "I'm v-v-very sorry, Mr. V-V-Vox. But... uh... someone is h-here, a-a-and he's very insistent..."
Through the phone, Vox heard an unfamiliar voice. "Tell him I'm offering a solution to the Angel Problem."
Day Five - Hazbin Hotel, afternoon:
Emily stepped through the golden portal, heavy bags in both hands. She set the bags down, closing the portal behind her, and looked around the surprisingly empty parlor and bar. Her right hand strayed to her left arm, fidgeting with the material of her sleeve. She needed to find Vaggie. She needed to hug her and hold her and tell her she was sorry for the horrible experiences that were fresh in Emily's mind. To hold her and kiss her and promise nothing like that will ever, ever, ever happen again.
And Charlie. Charlie needed hugs and holding too. This hotel was everything she has worked for, her precious and beautiful dream. To have a guest, only for that soul to be killed before they could even start to find redemption? It was horrible. Charlie needed all the support and comfort she could give.
And Lute? She needed...
Emily scowled. Unkind thoughts did not come easily to her. But even if Vaggie had somehow forgiven that horrible excuse for an angel, Emily could not. Lute needed a Time Out.
A tiny part of her mind suggested that Time Out should be in an elevator. With Niffty. But that was a shameful idea, and she rebuked herself for thinking it.
"Hello, dearie. Welcome home."
The voice came from behind her. Emily turned and her vision filled with chains. In the center of the chains was the cannibal Overlord, Rosie. And beside her...
Rosie said, "Emily, please sit down. We need to talk."
Emily barely heard her. The High Seraphim's attention was snared by the cannibal child. She recognized him immediately. She was just watching Vaggie save his life.
"Hello there." She moved closer, drawn by her heart. "Please don't be afraid."
The boy clung close to the Overlord, staring at Emily with the black holes of his eyes. Rosie smiled. "His name is Timothy."
Emily felt her heart flutter. Such a sweet name. "Hello Timothy." Of all the souls she expected or hoped to come home to, she never imagined to find the most beautiful part of that most horrific thing she had witnessed in the Library. For him to be here was a miracle. One that Vaggie should be sharing in.
"Where is everybody?" Emily looked around again.
Timothy answered timidly, "They're outside with the bad angel."
Emily's eyes widened. Then narrowed, glowing fiercely. Her halo blazed. "Lute!"
Before Rosie could say anything, Emily was already in flight. She nearly collided with Angel Dust as she shot out the door, the spider dancing out of the way with arachnid grace.
Emily swooped out of the Hazbin Hotel and into the air above the Dazzle statue, blazing with holy light as she took her full seraphim form. All of her eyes were open, searching for that blight on angelkind.
Instead, she saw Cherri Bomb, Husk and Sera.
Emily's anger turned to numbness. Sera. Within her, the feelings for her sister mixed and battled with the emotions she had just been experiencing. And above it all, the joyful revelation:
Sera came to see me.
Sera is willing to see me.
Immediately followed by the recognition that her sister was fallen, and why. Sera was not the sister she thought she knew. Nothing screamed that more than the very fresh memory of what Sera allowed the Exorcists to do. Including what Lute did to her partner.
Sera is the bad angel.
Sera was staring back at her. She was still as tall and graceful and sternly beautiful as ever. A spiked crown of black metal had replaced her halo and her wings had grown black, the feathers fading to charcoal at the tips. But Emily could ignore the changes if it weren't for Sera's eyes. Glowing red eyes with darker red irises. Not at all like Charlie's beautiful and sexy demonic-aspect eyes. More like Alastor eyes.
"Emily," Sera breathed.
The sound of her voice knocked the wind from Emily. She fluttered to the ground. "Sera?"
And then she saw the chain. "No. Sera, your soul!"
And then she saw where the chain led. "Husk?" All the emotions fighting within her merged and focused. "You chained my sister!?"
Emily flapped her wings again, rising up, her body becoming shadowed as her eyes blazed with divine light. Her halo cut the air of Hell like a chakram. "LET HER GO, HUSK! LET HER GO NOW!"
Husk cringed back. "Emily, wait. This isn't a bad thing."
"TAKING MY SISTER'S SOUL ISN'T A BAD THING!?" For the first time in her life, Emily wielded her holy light offensively without a pact forcing her to do so. The blast scorched the ground beside Husk. The only warning she intended to give.
"Really, really bad phrasing." Husk took a step back, trembling slightly. He knew that was a warning shot. He wasn't sure what would happen to him if Emily decided to free her sister the old-fashioned way. Small runes of diamonds and clovers danced around the fingers of his right hand as he invoked his luck. "Emily, can we talk about this?"
Emily advanced, holy light blazing from her hands.
Suddenly, Sera was in her way, interposing herself between them. "Emily! Stop!"
Emily did as she was told, tears welling in her eyes. "Sera?"
"Emily, I chose this!" Sera insisted. "This was my decision. One I went into with my eyes open. He didn't force me or trick me. He helped me."
Emily felt the anger draining from her. "What?"
Sera lifted her right arm, showing Emily the manacle and chain. "I know you cannot understand, but this is a good thing for me. And I can be free of it any time."
Husk backed Sera up. "She can. Her Contract has an exit clause allowing her to undo this entire thing."
Emily cried out desperately, hating seeing that chain beyond anything she imagined, "Then do it now!"
Husk smiled a little. "One small caveat."
Sera's eyes widened a little then narrowed.
Husk said, "She has to really, truly want to."
Emily glared at Husk.
Husk shrugged reasonably, "Can't have it so a demon like Alastor could bully her into breaking the chain so he could put one on her himself."
Sera frowned thinly. "Or allow an angel to bully my... keeper... into the same."
Emily stared at Sera. Then broke down, sobbing. She felt her sister's arms and wings enfold her as she shook and heaved uncontrollably.
Day Five - Hazbin Hotel, afternoon:
Rosie watched Cherri Bomb re-enter the hotel, shooing Husk and Angel Dust before her. The spider demon had been watching from the doorway since Emily flew past him.
"Come on, Dealmaker. Let's give Mrs. Genocide and the Cinnimon Roll some alone time. You too, Angie."
Husk returned to the bar. "Anyone want a drink?"
Angel Dust shot him a dark look before collapsing on the couch. Husk flinched.
"I'm going to my room," Cherri Bomb said. "Knock if the world's ending."
Rosie stood up primly and moved to the bar, taking a seat.
Husk grumbled, "Sure you want to be seen here? I get the feeling I'm persona non grata."
"Give them time," Rosie advised. "And try not to be uncharitable towards Emily. That sweet angel was emotionally frayed before she stepped out of Heaven."
"Oh. Yeah, Emily's a good soul. I can't blame her for being upset." Husk smiled a little. "And thanks. It helps to know not all of that anger was about me."
The winged feline bartender chuckled. "How about an actual Bloody Mary? I can make it with real blood."
"A kind offer," Rosie replied. "No, thank you. But I wouldn't turn down iced tea."
Husk began to make the cannibal Overlord a drink.
"So, you're the new potential Overlord that Alastor is grooming."
Husk froze, growling. "Say what!?"
Rosie continued, "And you netted the fallen High Seraphim. Added her power to your own."
Husk's growl deepened, the drink forgotten. "That's not... Okay, that is what happened. But not why."
Rosie still continued, noting, "One soul is by no means enough to get you a seat at the table. But that soul will definitely get you through the door."
Husk slammed the glass down and spread an arm towards the door. "Do you really think I did all that just for my own power?!"
Rosie smiled gently, quiet for a moment, letting the silence in the room focus Husk's attention. "No. But everyone else will."
"I have no interest in being an Overlord again," Husk told her. "And the only thing I want power for is to help people. Like I just helped Sera."
Rosie looked at him. "Do you know why I'm the least powerful Overlord, Husk?"
Husk frowned and returned to making Rosie an iced tea, mixing in bourbon, whiskey and limoncello. "Because you have the least number of Contracts. You own the least number of souls."
Rosie nodded. "And do you know why?"
Husk passed her the drink. "I've always assumed the Exterminations hit Cannibal Town pretty hard."
Rosie took the glass. "Thank you, Husk. And yes, but because of that, we adapted faster. Other districts have had a higher percentage of loss in the last decade. The Doomsday District in particular."
Rosie sipped primly at the bourbon sweet iced tea, then lifted it with a nod, giving Husk a smile and wink of approval for his skills. "It is because I care about my clients. As you heard me tell Sera, they aren't just a resource to me, but a responsibility. And as such, it always pangs me to lose one. Whenever a client died in an Extermination, even if it wasn't a client I particularly cared for, it pained me."
Husk listened, saying nothing.
"So after a while, I forbade myself from making Deals the day after Extermination Day," Rosie told him. "Even though that was the richest 'harvest time' for new Contracts. Because I worried the losses I had just taken might compromise my judgment. I needed a little extra time to get my head on straight."
"Why are you telling me this?" Husk questioned.
Rosie pointed out gently, "You went after Sera all of five minutes after you felt the loss of Leonard."
"That had nothing to do with why!" Husk protested. But even as he did so, he marveled at the timing.
Rosie seemed to accept that. "But it was affecting your judgment. Wasn't it?"
Husk looked down at his hands, understanding. "I don't know. But it definitely could have. Is that something that you did when you lost a Contract? Immediately seek to replace what you lost?"
"No." Rosie admitted. "But it is something gambling addicts do."
Angel Dust listened raptly from the couch.
Husk sank back. "Fuck."
"For what it's worth, I can see you had your heart in the right place. And I suspect you really did help that woman. Overall, you did good," Rosie assured him. "But this will have fallout. And before you tackle how others are reacting to what happened, you should look inward. And maybe be more cautious of your instincts in the future."
Day Five - Cherri Bomb's room, afternoon:
Cherri Bomb closed the door of her room behind her and locked it. She trudged over to her bed, the earlier argument with Husk playing over in her head.
You're also an adrenaline junkie. Are you so addicted to putting your life in danger that you're picking fights way above you? Or are you trying to commit suicide by greater power?
Definitely not the second. She wanted to argue against the first as well, but the shot felt too close to home.
Cherri Bomb collapsed on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
I need to blow something up. No, I need to blow up a lot of things.
The very idea brought back a vivid memory of the last soul she did blow up. Her hand reached out for her nightstand, fumbling until it closed on a card. She pulled it before her eye, reading the name on it, written in her handwriting: IZZI.
She clenched her eye shut so she could pretend there were no tears. The wet feeling on her cheeks tried to tell her otherwise. She rolled onto her side, tossing the card to the floor and trying to block out everything.
Including the click from her door and the soft creak as it opened.
Cherri Bomb rolled back onto her back, eye resolutely closed. "World better be fucking ending, cunt, or..."
Something warm and plump landed between her breasts with a cute squeal.
Cherri Bomb sat up abruptly, Angel Dust's pet pig rolling off her bosom and into her lap, upside down and wiggling.
"Fat Nuggets?"
Cherri Bomb picked up the pig, staring at it questioningly. "How did you...?"
Cherri Bomb looked up. Keekee was a few feet away, staring back at her, floating at eye level.
The cyclopian cat gracefully dropped onto the footboard of her bed, staring again with an expression of my work is done. Then hopped down and walked back out the door. Which closed and locked behind her.
Cherri Bomb wiped her eye and hugged Fat Nuggets. The pig nuzzled at her.
"I'm calling it, Nuggs. The hotel's haunted."
Day Five - Hazbin Hotel, afternoon:
Vaggie swooped down towards the Hazbin Hotel.
"Charlie, that's Sera," Vaggie said as she spotted the tall figure in front of the hotel.
Charlie suddenly had ideas of what the magical maelstrom must have been, all of them wrong.
She felt a spark of happiness when she saw the halo next to the fallen seraphim. "Emily's with her!"
The pair landed just in time to see Emily take her sister's hand and lead her back into the Hazbin Hotel. Charlie and Vaggie moved to follow.
"So I guess whatever that was is over? And things are... okay?" Vaggie said hopefully.
Charlie drew up short, staring at her hotel - a hotel that would never again have Leonard in it.
Vaggie looked to her partner and saw the wetness in Charlie's eyes. "Love, are you okay? Enough to do this, I mean?"
Charlie nodded, clenching a fist over her breasts, and strode into the Hazbin Hotel.
Vaggie followed, and was tackled in the doorway by Emily.
"VAGGIE!" Emily hugged her fiercely, tears welling again. "Vaggie, I'm so sorry!"
"I... um... for what?" Vaggie asked, suddenly very worried. "What happened?"
Emily blurted, "I saw what Lute did to you! It was more horrible than I imagined!"
Vaggie was confused. "Lute... didn't really do anything to me. She screamed, panicked and passed out."
It took her a moment to realize Emily was staring at her eyepatch. Vaggie felt a chill. "Wait, you mean you saw... what she did to me before? How?"
Emily kissed Vaggie hard, her lips salty wet with her tears.
Breaking the kiss, Emily admitted, "I saw it in the Golden Library!" The younger seraphim plead, "Bring your wings out! Please! I need to see your wings!"
Vaggie unfolded her wings, dismayed.
Charlie watched, feeling floored by Emily's almost heartbroken ferocity. "Oh my gosh, Vaggie."
She'd found Vaggie. Dressed Vaggie's missing eye, although the wounds had already healed. She knew - in her head and in her heart - that what happened to the woman she loved was terrible. But Emily's raw reaction was screaming to Charlie that she never really understood.
"I really should see this, shouldn't I?"
Vaggie tensed. "No! That is something you should absolutely not see! Emily should not have seen it! For the love of everything, Charlie, do not seek this out!"
Vaggie jolted as Emily began kissing her wings. "Emily..."
Charlie stared, then pried her attention away, realizing that Sera was standing only a few yards away, watching them.
"Sera! um... Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel." Charlie found herself able to give the fallen seraphim a genuine smile. "I'm so glad you came. Emily has been so worried about you. She's missed you dearly. Will you be staying? I can get you a room. I don't know if we have any beds long enough for you, but I'll work something out! Maybe Keekee or dad could..."
Sera held up a hand. "I will not be staying. There is no redemption for me..."
Charlie interrupted, "We don't know that! Sure, no fallen angel has ever been redeemed before. But it's not like there have been many of them. And none of them had this hotel to help. You could be the first!"
Sera stared at Charlie. "I was the one who resisted everything you are trying to do - have succeeded in doing once - with your Hazbin Hotel."
"I haven't forgotten. But now you know better! At least give it a shot." Charlie looked at her with hope.
Genuinely baffled, Sera asked, "I'm not even one of your people. Why do you care?"
Equally baffled, Charlie responded, "Why wouldn't I?"
Angel Dust interrupted, "She can't go to Heaven, Charlie. She's chained."
Charlie blinked, brow furrowing in further confusion. She looked around. Sera chained? But there was no way Alastor could have. Could he?
Her eyes moved to the bar where Rosie was sitting, watching the cannibal child that Vaggie once saved explain Janga. Did Sera make a Deal with Rosie?
Reading Charlie's confusion, Angel Dust clarified, "It was Husk. That was the big light show. He took Sera's power."
Charlie stared, dumbfounded.
Vaggie's jaw dropped, "Wait, what!?"
Still hugging Vaggie, Emily said, "Sera chose to." Her tone suggesting this ranked among her sister's least impressive decisions.
Angel Dust scoffed, "Like you're one to talk."
Sera looked at Angel Dust questioningly. "Explain."
Emily's grip on Vaggie loosened and she drew back, looking as abashed and guilty as she suddenly felt.
Angel Dust pointed at Emily. "Em here made a Deal with Alastor the first morning she was here."
Sera eyes widened and turned to Emily, staring at her little sister. "You. Did. What?"
Emily meekly confessed, "It wasn't for my soul." She quickly added, "And it's over. It was a do-this-and-I-do-that Deal. It's complete and done."
Sera processed that. "Which would explain why I never saw your chain while you had one."
Emily squeaked. "You knew we had blind spots?!"
Sera stepped forward, pointing at Emily. "You. Do. Not. Get to give me any shit about this anymore!"
Emily shrank back, chastised. "Sera, you cussed!"
Sera said, "You're fucking right I did."
Husk offered to Rosie, "Popcorn?"
Charlie looked between Sera and Emily, then refocused.
Husk quickly stashed the popcorn as Charlie approached the bar.
Charlie drew herself up, putting on a businesslike demeanor. "Rosie. The angel who murdered those two children has been detained. Her name is Lute. She is a recently fallen Exorcist."
Rosie listened, recognizing the name from Emily's assumptive outburst.
Charlie continued, "Lute is currently in the custody of the von Eldritch family, who will be questioning her for a few days on another matter. Once they are done, I will see that she is remanded to your custody."
"Thank you, Charlie. And so professional." Rosie smiled sweetly. "I am glad I can count on you."
Charlie sighed, putting a hand to her temple. "That said... Lute has done many terrible things. She was one of the leaders of the Exorcists. Adam's lieutenant. She's probably killed hundreds of your people. But..."
Rosie stared at Charlie, carefully keeping a neutral expression.
"...Dad told me that angels are 'volatile' in the hours after they fall. When Lute killed those children, she wasn't in her right mind." Charlie groaned. "Not that I think she wouldn't have if she was, but... I can't in good conscience not make sure you know that."
Rosie said, "I see. I will take that into consideration."
Charlie put a hand on the bar, supporting herself for a moment, feeling exhausted physically and emotionally.
"Everybody, I have bad news." Charlie took a shuddering inhalation. "Leonard is dead."
Husk gently took Charlie's hand. "We know. I felt it when he died."
Charlie turned to him in surprise and sorrow, beginning to cry again.
Husk let go of her hand and stepped around, out of the bar. "Come here." He spread his wings and arms.
Charlie trudged towards him, then collapsed into his waiting hug.
"It's fucked up and it hurts," Husk said. "I know."
A breath later, Charlie felt Vaggie next to her, holding one of her hands, and Emily joining the hug from behind.
The hug lasted only a short while, Husk and Emily breaking it awkwardly. But it was enough for Charlie to press forward. She stood again.
"I feel like everything's a mess, but right now I can't stay. I have to go to Sloth. I have to take this bullet to Belphegor so we can get the cure for Alastor."
Sera said, "I will go with you. I believe I have worried Lucifer. He probably fears I have done something."
Emily knew she was not allowed to make the comment she really wanted to.
Sera reached up, pointing towards the far end of the parlor, then sighed and lowered her hand. "Emily, would you please open a portal to the hallway outside the lavender guest bedroom in Belphegor's estate."
Emily blinked. "You can't make portals anymore?"
"I cannot."
Emily stared at Husk, but the stare softened, mindful of her own choices less than two weeks ago. She had to ask, "Sera, can Husk compel you to do things?"
Husk answered, "I can make reasonable requests, and she has to consider them. But ultimately the choice is hers. She can tell me no."
Sera nodded in confirmation.
Husk stepped forward, looking to Sera. "Before you go, let me offer one. In two days, we are gathering together to rebuild the Heaven Embassy. I request that you join us for that."
Sera opened her mouth to reject the offer and found she could not - not without giving it fair consideration first. Recovering quickly, she asked, "Why?"
Emily caught that brief moment, her forehead creasing in worry.
"For one..." Husk held out his hands, letting motes of angelic light dance above his palms, "We may not have Lucifer or Keekee, but I'd bet this power could make things go a lot faster... if I knew how to use it."
"This will give me a chance to be trained by you in how to wield this power properly and beneficially." The angelic motes faded. "More importantly, you will get to spend a whole day with Emily. Working together on something she cares about."
Husk put his hands in his pockets. "Both Sir Pentious and Molly will be there, and I know you aren't eager to face them. But can you think of a better next impression?"
Rosie raised her eyebrows, fascinated.
Sera considered. "Emily? The portal please."
Emily looked between Sera and Husk, then nodded and opened a golden portal into a pink-hued hallway.
Sera stepped through, then Charlie and Vaggie. Emily followed last, closing the portal behind her.
Husk smiled. "She's coming."
"She didn't say that," Angel Dust pointed out.
"No," Husk assessed, "But that was her testing whether she had to answer."
Rosie leaned towards Husk. "Even though you don't want to, from what I just saw, I believe you would make a respectable Overlord."
Day Five - Belphegor's Estate, Sloth, late afternoon:
Belphegor held up the bullet, studying it with glowing eyes.
Lucifer was exasperated. "Charlie, you didn't tell me you were doing this for... him."
"No, dad. I didn't," Charlie admitted. "And this is why."
"Charlie, I won't have you sticking your neck out for that guy."
"For fuck's sake, dad!"
Sera interrupted sternly. "This is unproductive and childish. You would both do well to calm down."
Lucifer turned on Sera, fire dancing in his eyes. "You have no place giving advice right now!" He stared pointedly at her wrist.
Vaggie whispered to Emily, "She like that with you?"
Emily grumbled back, "All the time."
Emily had refrained from squeeing at Lucifer this time, but she still agreed with most of what her Champion of Free Will was saying... well, at least where her sister was concerned. Less so over his wish that Charlie wasn't helping Alastor. Helping souls should not be restricted to those who deserve it. That was Sera's song, and Emily heartily disagrees.
Emily would be hard pressed to disagree that Alastor didn't deserve Charlie's help though. Manipulative, Vaggie-shoving jerk.
Ignoring everyone, Belphegor said, "Well, that narrows it down."
Charlie turned from her father. "Narrows it down?"
"I have determined two things," Belphegor stated. "First, this poison is from Hell. No part of it is from Heaven or the Living World. Second, all poisons are either natural, synthetic or magical. And I have determined that this one is not magical in nature."
Vaggie followed. "That leaves synthetic or natural. Kinda a wide range."
Belphegor agreed. "Yes. And given that we have only one bullet, it is imperative that we determine the most likely of the two to pursue first."
The Sin of Sloth looked to Lucifer. "The synthetic pharmaceuticals produced in Sloth are made by expert chemists in dedicated laboratories. The Overlord from your Ring who inflicted this, what manner of legions and facilities does he have?"
Lucifer replied, "I believe he makes porn."
Belphegor ahhed. "Natural, then."
Vaggie cautioned, "Unless he got it from somebody else who owed him. Or bought it. I'm pretty sure Valentino gets imports from the other Rings."
Charlie nodded. "Angel Dust told me Val gave him Fat Nuggets as a gift. I've always assumed he came from the Wrath Ring. They have farms there."
"Still, a natural poison is most likely, and we may only have time to pursue one." Belphegor looked at Charlie. "Your call."
Charlie frowned and nodded. "Natural first."
"Okay." Vaggie asked, "So, what does that mean?"
Belphegor answered, "It means somebody here needs to bleed."
Vaggie stepped back. "I am not bleeding for Alastor.*
Suspecting, Emily hugged herself. "I... can't."
Charlie's brow furrowing in determination. "I'll do it."
Lucifer was firm. "Charlie, no!"
Charlie bit back a growl. "Yes, dad. If I have to bleed to save Alastor, then I'll bleed."
Vaggie gasped, "Charlie!"
Lucifer did not bite back his growl, "I absolutely forbid it!"
Vaggie offered quickly, "I changed my mind. I'll do it instead."
"We're wasting time," Charlie huffed, turning to Belphegor. "Just give me the knife or whatever."
"There is no need to be so dramatic," Belphegor stated as she produced a syringe connected to a blood donation bag. "Fill this."
The Sin of Sloth next produced a sheet of paper with a complex symbol. "Then use the blood to draw this on the ground. Large enough to stand in."
Lucifer glared at Belphegor.
Emily closed her eyes, whimpering. "That's what I thought."
Charlie took both, blinking in surprise, then nodded resolutely.
Vaggie moved to Charlie.
"I'm doing this, Vaggie," Charlie insisted.
Vaggie had already given in to that reality. "Then let me help."
The two began the process. Soon, a slightly weakened and even paler Charlie was drawing on the hallway floor in her own blood as Vaggie held the bag, squeezing out more at regular intervals.
Charlie asked, "This symbol... is it a magic rune that analyzes natural poisons?"
Belphegor chuckled lazily. "In a manner of speaking."
Emily told her, "You're summoning and binding a greater demon to a service."
Charlie looked up at Emily, shocked. "I'm what?!"
Belphegor nodded. "The most knowledgeable of the Goetia on matters of herbs, plants and the poisons that come from them. Granted, he is far more focused on the astronomical portion of his portfolio, but if there is anyone in Hell who can find a cure, it is he."
Charlie took that in. "Oh. Okay..."
"I see," Sera said, understanding. "Each of these greater demons has a different specialty, and only one can have this bullet at a time, so what you were really asking the Daughter of the Morningstar was whom she wished to summon and bind first."
Emily stomped. "Will you stop calling her that!"
Sera's response was cut short as Charlie finished the last line of the symbol and a geyser of darkness erupted from it filling the hallway and showering it in feathers of purest black.
Infernal features appeared in the spewing void, highlighted in bloody scarlet with eyes of raging crimson.
"WHO SUMMONS..."
The eyes blink-blinked, and the kaiju-esque demonic form collapsed into a tall, lanky owl demon.
"Oh. Hello Belphegor. Lucifer." Stolas greeted. "You could have just called. Unless... am I in trouble?"
Belphegor held the bullet out to the Goetia. "We believe this bullet bears a natural poison. Can you confirm that?"
"Oh." Stolas took the bullet and held it up. "I'm a little out of practice. I've been focused on prophecies... but..."
His eyes narrowed then widened as he smiled. "Oh yes. Definitely natural. I don't know the exact poison off hand, but I can tell it's from a plant grown in the Greed Ring."
Stolas lowered the bullet, geeking a little. "You know, the toxic environment down there produces some of the most exotic flora. I line the hallway in my mansion between the bedrooms and the kitchen with some of the more fascinating Greed-born species of..."
Lucifer cut off the owl Goetia's rambling. "Stolas."
"Oh, right, sorry."
Belphegor asked, "How long would it take you to determine the exact plant and create a cure for this poison?"
Stolas answered, "A day or two."
There was a stretch of silence.
Acquiescing to Emily's demand, Sera addressed the Princess of Hell by her first name, "Charlie, you have to tell him to do it. You're his summoner."
Stolas turned, noticing the others for the first time. "Charlotte Morningstar? My, you've grown!"
Charlie blinked. "You know me?"
Stolas smiled charmingly, "Of course. You think I wouldn't recognize the Princess of Hell? I was there when your parents revealed you to us all. It was a beautiful ceremony. Very Lion King."
"Very what now?" Charlie asked, confused.
Lucifer interrupted again flatly. "Stolas."
Charlie jolted. "Oh, um, right. Stolas? I..." She looked to Belphegor and back. "...command you to bring me a cure for this poison so I can save... someone. Pretty please."
She gave Stolas an encouraging, hopeful smile.
Stolas answered, "Right away." He transformed into a feathery swath of scarlet and black, curling about and flew out the nearest open window.
Charlie watched, stunned. Then fretted, "Oh fuck. I didn't tell him where to find us! Does he even know about the Hazbin Hotel?"
Belphegor stared quietly, eyes narrowing.
Sera blinked, "You bound him to a service, Charlie. He'll find you."
Emily nodded. "It's essentially a type of Deal. Only without consent."
Belphegor turned to the King of Hell. "Lucifer, have you never taught her how bindings work?"
Lucifer looked away, tapping his fingers together. "I was... busy... with, you know, other important things."
Sera stared at him, aghast.
Emily tugged gently at Charlie's and Vaggie's arms.
Sera asked, "Was it ducks?"
"... No," Lucifer replied.
Vaggie was still holding a nearly empty bag of Charlie's blood. She looked at Emily and nodded as the younger seraphim opened a portal back to the hotel.
Sera huffed. "Lucifer, how could you be so irresponsible?"
Vaggie whispered, "Charlie, we should go."
The throuple quietly took their leave, stepping through the portal.
As Emily closed it, they heard Sera ranting, "This is why we stopped letting you take part in Creation after the platypus!"
Day Five - Doomsday District, evening:
Crymini stared at the rubber duck floating in the tub with her. Even without picking it up and turning it over, she knew there was a Lu Lu World stamp on the bottom. Half its face was melted, making it a war veteran. She could relate.
Crymini looked up at the darkening sky through the rotting timbers of what little remained of the abandoned building's roof. She could see Heaven from here. Which was a rare sight in the Doomsday District. A mythical unpromised land of non-suckage.
"Fuck me. I actually want to go there."
"So do I!" Niffty says, scuttering by. "I hear it's clean."
Once resigned to her fate, it hadn't taken long for Crymini to get Niffty to one of the hideaways she knew with a bathtub. It had taken a lot longer for Niffty to make the place clean enough that Niffty was willing to bathe her in it. Crymini had eventually tried to help just to make it faster, but the little gremlin of a woman was very possessive about her chores. Even the self-inflicted ones.
Niffty pulled the bucket off of the fire and hopped over to the tub. Gripping its slightly-glowing underside, Niffty dumped water from the bucket into the tub, the boiling hot liquid mixing with the cooling bathwater, keeping it warm.
Crymini's ears twitched, catching a noise from the first floor. "Ssshh," she whispered to Niffty. "We have company."
Niffty nodded, scooping the bucket into the tub and using the water to quickly douse the fire.
Crymini smirked a little at that, adding the maid to her mental list of people in the Hazbin Hotel that have earned her respect. Right below Cherri Bomb, doubling the number of names.
"Lookie, boys," a gruff, barely-feminine voice carried from below. "We've got squatters."
Crymini's nose wrinkled. She knew that voice. Merri, latest leader of the Skullfuckers. Territory must have shifted in the last few days. This used to be one of the Dragons' blocks.
Niffty moved quietly back to the tub and pulled her sickle out from beneath it.
Crymini got out of the tub and shook, ridding herself of as much water as she could as fast as she could. She looked at the doused fire and hissed very softly at Niffty, "Did you have to burn my clothes?"
"Fleas!" Niffty whispered back.
Crymini rolled her eyes. Fuck my life.
A small gang of demons spilled in from the stairwell, led by a cyclopian weasel demon in makeshift armor flanked by a cactus demon and a grenade demon. All familiar to Crymini.
"I spy with my little eye," Merri taunted, "A wayward Crymini!"
Crymini responded dryly, "Well, if it isn't the upper left's favorite cumdumpster and her unholy hand grenade."
She looked to the latter. "See you're intact again." She had heard one of the Dragons had set him ablaze with lethal hellfire roughly a week and a half ago. Flamethrower-loving bastards.
Her eyes turned to the cactus demon. "Why the fuck are you here? You don't run with the Skullfuckers."
"Things are changing," the cactus demon said as he lifted his fists, showing off his new, silvery knuckles. "Permanently, if ya catch my drift."
"So," Merri recaptured Crymini's attention, "What have ya stolen this time?"
"Nothing," Crymini insisted. "I'm just taking a bath. Thought this was still Dragons turf."
"So you're stealin' water," Merri churred.
Crymini's eyes traveled down to the slightly glowing angelic chain Merri was holding.
FUCK.
"I think the little stray got lost," Merri sneered, brandishing her chain. She tugged it taut between her fists. "'Fraid this will be the last time you forget your place. Thieving bitch."
"Hey, uh..." interrupted a red-haired imp whose body was entirely white with scars, "Ain't that the little dervish who wiped out Satan's Table Scraps the other night? Like, all of them?"
All eyes turned to Niffty.
Niffty grinned back. "I want to play some more."
"Niffty, tub!" Crymini shouted as she launched herself into the air. Past Merri, faster than they could react. Landing on the grenade demon and jumping again, pulling his pin.
Niffty splashed into the tub as Merri spun, eyes widening. The cactus demon cried out "What the fu..."
Crymini's jump took her through the jagged glass of the only remaining window, the shards cutting into her as the upper floor of the abandoned building exploded behind her. She fell towards the dark alley below, peppered with chucks of falling brick.
Day Five - Hazbin Hotel, evening:
Husk sat apart at the bar, watching the others finish dinner. The parlor coffee table was cluttered with little boxes from Bees Eats.
Emily suddenly let out a high squee.
Angel Dust looked up in surprise as Cherri Bomb joined them, holding Fat Nuggets. "Nuggie!" He reached out for the pig, who squealed happily.
"Great you could join us!" Charlie said happily. "I wasn't sure what you liked, so I saved a little of everything for you."
Emily was beside Angel Dust and Cherri Bomb in an instant, her face all of the smiles. "Soooo cute!"
Angel Dust scooped up his pet pig, giving it nuzzles. "How'd you get out of our room?"
Cherri Bomb told him, "I was brought an emotional support pig by Keekee's Delivery Service."
Charlie blinked cheerfully. "That's sooooo nice!" She looked to Vaggie. "Keekee is becoming super active with the rebuilt hotel."
Vaggie chuckled. "Well, she's definitely your cat. The other day, after..." She mouths silently to Charlie: after the melting. "...I found her staring at me while I showered."
Cherri Bomb said, "That's not a Charlie's cat thing, that's just a cat thing."
Husk waited for the joke from Angel Dust, but it didn't come.
Husk sighed and crouched down, taking inventory of the mini-fridge under the bar: fruits for cocktails, a few liquors that really need refrigeration, and two blood bags, one of which was new. He made a warning label for it, deciding it might be ill-advised to feed a random cannibal Charlie's blood.
Rosie and Timothy had gone back to Cannibal Town when Charlie and her angels were in Sloth. With the situation explained and Lute in custody, Rosie no longer had the need to speak formally with Emily.
Charlie had told Husk and the others that they could expect an owl-like visitor sometime in the next couple days. Someone would need to stay behind and watch for him on Embassy reconstruction day if this Stolas fellow had not arrived by then.
Charlie had emphasized to Husk that should Stolas arrive during the night, he was to wake her.
Husk stood back up and found himself face-to-face with Emily. "Aagh!"
"Sorry."
"... Can I get you anything?" Husk asked.
Emily lifted a finger, "One glass of forgiveness, please."
"I... oh. Sure. Coming right up." Husk smiled a little. "Want ice with that?"
"No, thank you."
"How 'bout a hug?"
Emily said thankfully, "Yes please."
Husk exited the bar and pulled Emily into a hug.
Emily shuddered a little. "I... I was..."
Husk understood. "You don't need to say it. I get it."
Emily hugged tighter. "But I do. You did exactly what you said you would. And Sera was way better than I expected her to be - she was arguing with me and everything - so you had to have helped. I should have been thanking you. And instead I was awful."
Husk wanted to tell her she had good reason to be, but after everything she just said told him that wasn't what she needed to hear.
"I forgive you."
Emily hugged him even tighter, whispering. "thank you thank you thank you thank you..."
Day Five - Doomsday District, late evening:
Crymini whimpered, uncurling. The cuts hurt. The bricks hurt more. But the landing had been the worst.
She had almost made it into the dumpster, instead slamming down on the metal lip of it chest-first, causing an explosion of pain and knocking the wind out of her. She had fallen back and hit her head on the asphalt hard enough to see stars. She wasn't sure if she lost time or not.
She used the dumpster to haul herself back up to her feet. Her head was throbbing and when she reached back, she felt tacky blood in her fur.
"Just another day in the fucking Doomsday District," she grumbled, wincing with every movement.
A shadow stepped into the far end of the alley. The scarred-white imp limped towards her. The handgun in his remaining hand had a glowing silver muzzle and angelic filigree. He raised it towards her.
Crymini's eyes darted about her, quickly checking her options. Nothing offensive, and her body was not ready for gymnastics, so that left diving for cover. The dumpster was her best bet.
"I'll recover, cunt," the imp spit, coughing up blood as he advanced. Crymini seriously doubted that. She suspected this would be the hellborn's last week. "Will you?"
The imp fell to the asphalt screaming as the sickle removed his legs.
"You look messy," Niffty complained as she hopped over the writhing, howling imp, his blood splashing her.
Crymini huffed. "So do you." she commented, looking over Niffty, who clearly climbed out of a tub filled with burning debris. "But hey, no fleas."
Crymini found herself once again hefted by the tiny woman. "You are freakishly strong."
"Thanks," Niffty giggled. "Back to the hotel now!" Her brow furrowed. "I hope Charlie isn't upset. I missed making dinner."
"They won't starve," Crymini huffed again. Multiple meals a day was a luxury.
"Hey, Niffty? You're kinda awesome."
Day Five - Hazbin Hotel bar, night:
Night had settled over the hotel. The parlor was draining of its occupants.
"We're going to bed." Charlie announced. "Husk, remember, if Stolas shows up, come get me..."
Husk grumbled. "Even if you're asleep."
Charlie clapped. "Right. No matter what. It's important."
Husk watched Charlie follow Emily and Vaggie up the stairs before grumbling more under his breath. "Because we're saving Alastor. Hooray."
And that left one. Husk tended to the bar in the quiet.
An hour ticked by.
Angel Dust entered from the hallway, dressed in a loose pink crop top with a pig face over his chest fluff and matching shorts. He sat down wearily at the bar.
Husk was surprised "I thought you were avoiding the bar."
"Yeah, well, I need a drink. And a bartender to bitch at."
"I can give you both. What will it be?"
Angel Dust said, "Surprise me."
Husk raised an eyebrow. "Okay. What's on your mind?"
Angel Dust answered, "A friend of mine."
"Oh?" Husk began pulling down bottles. "What kind of friend?"
"The best," Angel Dust said. "He was there for me when even I wasn't. Saw through my masks. Didn't take any of my shit. Or let me take any of it either."
Husk pulled some fresh mint and lime juice from the mini-fridge. "Sounds nice. So why are we talking of him in the past tense?"
"I don't know." Angel Dust leaned back against the bar and waved a hand. "We bonded over the shit-stain of our lives because our souls belonged to piece-of-garbage Overlords. Only a week ago, both of us were freed. And now... it's like the very foundation of our friendship is missing and I don't know where we stand."
Husk muddled mint in a little simple syrup at the bottom of his shaker as he listened attentively.
Angel Dust continued, "To make it worse, he's not just free, but apparently an Overlord-in-the-making or some shit. That is, if he's even going to be around anymore. He bound this fallen angel supposedly on the level of Lucifer, so I guess he has a throne in Sloth now? I don't even know."
"And he hasn't talked to you about any of this?" Husk mixed into the shaker a measured combination of orange liquor and rum, along with some of the lime juice and a bar spoon worth of tamarind concentrate. "Sounds like a loser."
Angel Dust turned back around. "Funny you should say that."
"Also sounds like he has a load he's dealing with. But that's no excuse to ignore yours." Husk added a pinch of cinnamon and filled the rest of the shaker with ice. "Surely he's not the only one who's been dealt a new hand."
Angel Dust sighed. "Yeah. Everything's fucking changed and... I dunno. My best friend is staying at the hotel now. I've got my soul back. I've got my sister back. It's not like things are bad. Hell, they're way better than they have ever been down here. But..."
Husk strained and poured. "But that's a lot to try to wrap your head around in a very short period of time."
"You win the pot."
Husk topped the drink with soda, stirring until the mixture blended. "Normally, this would be served with sprigs of mint, but..." He added a little pink umbrella. "...you sound like you could use one of these."
Angel Dust smiled, looking at the umbrella. "I kinda love these things." He picked it out, spinning it, then put the umbrella in the pocket of his shorts.
Husk leaned against the bar. "Just to be clear, I'm not going anywhere."
He explained, "Sera doesn't have the power anymore to have a throne, but that doesn't mean I do. I'm just a sinner demon, end of the day. I'm not going to Sloth."
Angel Dust listened as he tried the drink.
"And I'm by no means an Overlord. I have exactly one Contract that isn't on loan from Alastor. And Emily isn't needed to break this chain; Sera has the ability to end the Deal and reclaim her soul whenever she wants to."
Angel Dust's eyebrows raised. "That's... quite a thing. Has any Dealmaker ever made a Deal like that before?"
Husk shrugged. "Not to my knowledge. But frankly, it wouldn't surprise me if Rosie has."
The conversation was interrupted by the front door banging open. Crymini stumbled in, naked, battered and bleeding. The puppy teen collapsed onto the floor with a groan.
Husk was already grabbing the first aid kit under the bar as Angel Dust got up and moved towards her.
Niffty raced in, blurring past Crymini and to the bar, grabbing the first aid kit from Husk's hands.
Once again, her dating outfit was in tatters. She was bleeding from roughly a dozen small wounds, and there was a half-melted rubber duck tangled in her hair.
She raced back to Crymini before either Husk or Angel Dust could process what they were seeing.
"What happened!?" Angel Dust blurted" Are you two okay?!"
Crymini huffed sarcastically, "Does it look like it?"
"Date went okay," Niffty announced. "Oh! Yours!" In a fluid motion, she tossed Angel Dust's cell phone towards him.
Angel Dust caught it, "Why the fuck do you have my phone?"
Niffty replied, "Cuz I didn't want to set it on fire."
Angel Dust stared, at a loss for words.
Crymini gave Niffty a look of respect.
"Going to my room to fix us up! Sorry about dinner! By the way, we found the fallen angel! Seviathan has her!"
Husk shook his head. "Christ, Niff."
Niffty lifted Crymini with one hand, the other holding the first aid kit, and dashed for the elevator.
Angel Dust looked down at the phone in his hand. "I think Crymini stole my phone this morning. I've been looking for it all day."
Husk said, "I suspect you're right."
Angel Dust stared after them and calmly asked nobody in particular. "What's with the duck?"
Angel Dust continued to stare in the direction Niffty and Crymini disappeared for a minute longer. Then returned to his bar stool and his drink.
"Charlie did say those two were staying in the Doomsday District for a little while. Looks like the place hasn't changed." He looked to Husk. "I hope they're okay."
Husk frowned a little but assured Angel Dust. "Sure, they looked beat up, but hey, it's Niffty and Crymini. I'd be more worried about whether the Doomsday District is okay."
Angel Dust laughed a little at that.
Changing tracks, Husk asked, "How is it having Cherri Bomb here?"
"She's taken to what Charlie's trying to do way better than I thought she would. I expected her to spend months backsliding. I think Sir Pentious has a lot to do with that." Angel Dust set the drink aside and looked at Husk with a serious expression. "She's struggling though. I expected you of all people to see through the façade."
Husk's eyes widened, alert. "Oh?"
"Hell, you know what else happened one week ago today? Same day we lost our chains?" Angel Dust frowns. "Cherri Bomb blew up her old boyfriend. Who, despite all sanity, she still had feelings for."
"Fuck." Husk slapped his forehead. "Why didn't I put that together?"
"I didn't either until your argument. So I'm in the shit too for this one." Angel Dust gestured with self-exasperation. "I actually bought that she was doin' fine until you pointed out she's spiraling. In her own way."
"Well then, I need to cut her a lot more slack. And... I dunno. But one of us should keep a closer eye on her while the other watches her back."
Angel Dust smiled. "Thanks. She needs it. And I could use the help."
"Happy to." Husk smirked a little. "Dealing with somebody else's problems is a whole lot more pleasant than dealing with my own. I can see why Charlie does it exclusively. At least this way I'm helping a friend."
"Not just helping a friend," the spider demon claimed. "I heard what Rosie said. I'm thinking some part of you really needs to make sure this hotel doesn't suffer another Leonard."
Husk winced. "Hey, who's the wise old bartender here?!"
"Ha." Angel Dust took another swallow. "Hey, this is pretty good. What's it called?"
Husk told him, "A Beautiful Friendship."
Day Five - ?, night:
Angels don't make mistakes. I know that.
The Elders Above cast me down. I am not worthy of Heaven.
The Elders don't make mistakes. I know that.
I was in Heaven, and I lost it.
Angels don't make mistakes.
I am not an angel.
I am fallen. No, worse, I have seen it. Seen it in my own hands.
I am one of them . One of those wretched things I have gloriously ended.
I am unholy. Wretched. Deserving fire and the blade.
I am what I kill.
Victor's voice crept in.
"What is at your core?"
"Let's find out."
Lute's eyes shot open. She jerked, kicking herself into a sitting position on the hard metal floor, staring about at the bars of her cage. She felt the heavy weights of the manacles on her wrist and ankles, heard the clattering of the thick chains.
Lute pulled herself up against the back of the cage, bringing her knees to her breasts and wrapping her remaining arm about her legs. She felt violated, alien within her body, drenched in sweat and loathing. But at least the headache was gone. And the only nausea was that which she felt when she remembered what she was.
Even Hell meted out small mercies.
Outside her cage, a large feline demon loomed guard. Female, with six arms, standing rigid like a statue. Or maybe she really was a statue? Lute could not tell.
Beyond her, Lute could make out a dungeon of torture equipment, strange displays, a headless mannequin in a dress...
Something dark moved. Green eyes erupted with a light worse than unholy. The same light stained the darkness from the abomination's smile.
"Oh good," Seviathan said. "You're awake."
Lute considered not acknowledging him. But what would that gain her? "Joy. Another torturer. If I didn't know better, I'd believe Hell was just a series of basements."
Seviathan chuckled. "I'm not here to torture you. Just making sure you are well for when my father arrives."
As genial as he was pretending to be, Lute could tell he was lying. His interest was not for her well-being. And his relationship with said father was entirely lacking in affection.
"The whips and the wooden horse are just for intimidation? Nice try. They're not even angelic."
Seviathan raised his eyebrows, looking briefly around. "No, no. This is..." He reached out and stroked the sharp edge of the wooden horse, cutting his finger. "...is a reminder of my time with Aerosteta." He sucked the black liquid from his finger as it healed.
Lute watched, trying to assess her situation and this creature holding her captive.
"This suit," Seviathan said, proudly showing off the slashed and blood-soaked remnant of garment, "Is the suit that I wore on my first date with Niffty."
Seviathan danced to the mannequin. "And this dress - truly a prize - was Charlie's prom dress."
Lute's eyes widened. Who?
"I tell you, it was a lot easier talking her out of it than talking her out of it."
Lute's eyes narrowed. Oh. Different Charlie. Lucifer's brat is a dyke.
"And I see you have met Talia." Seviathan lifted a hand towards the unmoving feline demoness. "For nearly two months, she was very special to me. I think we could have become serious... if you hadn't killed her."
"Well, one of you, anyway. You Exorcists are all interchangeable." Seviathan scowled hatefully. Then seemed to brush it off. "Thankfully, it was with a spear, so her body was salvageable for taxidermy."
Lute pretended not to find that disturbing. "The freak show parade continues."
Seviathan's grin grew broad and predatory. "Welcome to my date collection."
Day Five - Charlie's, Vaggie's and Emily's bedroom, night:
Charlie groaned softly under the weight of the day. She felt numb. There was too much to process, so her emotions had gone on strike.
She fumbled absent-mindedly with her suspenders. By habit, her coat and shoes came off the moment she entered the bedroom with intent to go to bed. She untucked her shirt and began to pull it off. It was partially over her head when the hem snagged on one of her suspender straps which she hadn't properly removed. She eeped as she quickly became entangled in her shirt.
"Fuck" Charlie struggled in her shirt. "Uh, no worries, I got this." She flailed a little. "Eek!"
Vaggie rushed to catch her as Charlie overbalanced. "Gotcha." Vaggie unhooked the caught hem. "There you go."
Charlie pulled her shirt off. "Thanks."
"Trust fall training to the rescue," Vaggie said.
Emily giggled. "Sorry. That was adorable." She banished her Heavenly raiment.
Charlie's brow furrowed. "Cheaty seraphim powers."
Emily suggested, "I think we should shower together. You sacrificed a lot of blood, Charlie. You're woozy."
"I'm fine," Charlie claimed, still being held upright by Vaggie.
"Uh huh," Vaggie said. "I'm siding with Emily on this."
Emily beamed happily.
Charlie admitted, "Okay, maybe I'm a teeeeeeeeny bit woozy."
Emily nakedly pulled out her nightgown and set it on the bed. Then looked to the bags sitting at the corner of the closet.
"That reminds me..." Emily sighed, her voice a touch melancholy. "I finally got my 'I'm fine' shirt. Molly is getting each of you matching ones, and wants us all to wear them on rebuilding day."
"Ooooh! That sounds like fun!" Charlie paused "Why don't you sound happy?"
"Because it isn't true. I'm not fine. None of us are. We'd be wearing a lie. How can we do that?"
Vaggie offered, "Don't think of it as a lie. Think of it as... encouraging each other."
Emily looked at her partner. "Sounds more like denial."
Charlie suggested, "We do it because it will make Molly happy. And because she did something really nice for us."
Charlie continued to disrobe, more cautiously this time. "Today has been a lot. I can't even process it right now. I think we should spend tomorrow just... sharing our feelings and helping each other deal with it."
She kicked away her pants. "I'm going to make a lesson plan about grief."
Vaggie frowned slightly. "That... Charlie..."
Emily smiled. "That's a wonderful idea. I'll help!"
"Okay. Yeah," Vaggie said. "I think maybe that could do everyone some good. But..."
Charlie looked at Vaggie, concerned.
Vaggie said, "Maybe we should spend some time getting our shit together before trying to give a lesson? Each one of us is dealing with serious trauma from today. Mine is probably the least so."
Charlie and Emily simultaneously scolded, "No, it's not."
"Okay, okay. But... I dunno..." Vaggie pinched her nose. "This is going to sound bad. But maybe we need to set some ground rules first? Between the three of us, for how we handle this?"
"Why?" Charlie asked.
Vaggie shrugged. "I mean, we're all new to this 'throuple' thing..."
Charlie and Emily both shared a grin and stifled squeals of joy at Vaggie's first embrace of the word.
Vaggie continued, "...and we need to make sure we are all getting the care and support we need."
Vaggie sat on the bed and looked at Charlie. "I know you well enough to know that if we don't, Charlie, you will absolutely focus on trying to make us feel better while ignoring what's hurting you. And it's not much of a leap to guess Emily would either do the same... or spend the whole time beating herself up."
Charlie waved that off. "I... what? No. I love you two. It hurts to see you hurting and I want to help. I can deal with... you know, what happened, later."
Emily jumped in. "Vaggie, you forgave Lute. But when she woke up, you immediately tried to kill her. You are not okay. And... and I've seen why now, and it's soooooo bad. And..." She turned to Charlie. "Charlie, you just found Leonard murdered. I can't imagine how horrible you feel. You're not going to stop feeling just because you want to 'deal with it later'."
Emily squeezed her eyes shut. "And I wasn't even there to help! I was shopping."
"No," Vaggie corrected, "You were traumatizing yourself."
Charlie pleaded, "Emily, could you please stop doing that?"
Emily protested, "I had to see! I'm sorry!"
Vaggie threw up her hands. "See this? This is exactly what I'm talking about."
The three women fell silent, looking between each other, each resolute in their conviction.
The door clicked open.
Keekee entered, walking across the room and hopping up onto the bed. She stared at Charlie while the door closed and locked.
Charlie's eyes shifted to the door and back to her key cat. "Uhhh... what? Keekee?"
Keekee raised a paw in a feline gesture. Her eye widened as she was scooped up from behind by an angel.
Emily began showering Keekee with affection, eyes gleaming.
Charlie exchanged looks with Vaggie.
Vaggie whispered while Keekee purred loudly, "Did she just... try to be a referee?"
Charlie looked confused. "What's a referee?"
"Sorry, it's a Living World thing, hun. Wait, your dad literally sang about it."
"Yeah, I didn't get that part."
Charlie moved and sat on the bed next to Vaggie. "You know what? You're right. I love both of you and I don't want us to screw this up. And if it can help us not do that, then yes, we need some ground rules."
Charlie took a breath. "But first, I really need a shower."
Vaggie began removing her bow. "Right there with you."
"What do you say, Keekee?" Emily offered. "Want to join us in a shower?"
Keekee looked appalled. She leapt from Emily's arms and scampered under the bed.
Emily awww'ed. Then perked. "Oh, that reminds me! I know nobody is in the mood tonight, but just in case tomorrow..." She flew over to her other bag. "The Charliegasm absorbers!" Emily hefted the bag with an expression of pure glee.
Vaggie and Charlie smile at each other and back to Emily.
"Maybe tomorrow night." Vaggie suggested, "Or as a celebration after rebuilding day."
Charlie nodded in agreement.
Five minutes later, Keekee slinked back out from under the bed. She cautiously approached the bedroom's attached bathroom, drawn by the sounds of running water. The door opened for her and she hopped onto the sink. Then floated upwards to watch over the top of the frosted shower door, fascinated.