Once outside, Claire expected Alastor to shake her hand off his arm and disappear with some kind of witty rejoinder. Instead, he continued with purpose down the hill and onto the street, as if leisurely afternoon strolls were things they did all the time.
"Are we actually going somewhere?" She asked after waiting a few minutes for the inevitable shoe to drop, giving him a suspicious look, "I thought that was all just an excuse to get me away from Lucifer."
"Since you insist on traipsing about town despite the danger," Alastor gave her a pointed, sidelong look before turning his smiling attention to the path ahead, "I thought it best to make a few introductions."
Claire studied his profile with slightly narrowed eyes as they walked on, trying to figure out the angle here. Suddenly she raised both brows, "Are you worried about me?" she was able to keep the amusement from her face, but not from her needling tone.
Alastor nodded to a few people walking in the opposite direction as they passed some overgrown rose bushes, not looking at her, "Just protecting an investment," he replied as they climbed the stairs of the building he'd been steering them towards. He did pull his arm away from her then, but only so that he could hold the door open for her.
"Well your concern is noted," Claire said primly, stepping inside and politely waiting for him to follow.
"Best behavior now," he warned her, straightening the coat of his suit, "You're about to meet an old friend of mine who is one of the most dangerous—"
"Claire!" came a delighted call from across the room.
A burst of high pitched radio feedback belied Alastor's surprise as Rosie sashayed right past him to grab both of Claire's gloved hands with glee. "How are you? I wasn't expecting you until next week!"
"Better now that you're here, Rosie," Claire pointedly did not look at Alastor, enjoying the sudden uneasiness that radiated off of him. "I hope we aren't interrupting anything."
"Pfft," Rosie waved a hand with a breathy laugh, "You can interrupt any time you like! And Alastor! Showing up with another young lady like this, are you trying to make me jealous?"
It was the first time Claire had seen Alastor look uncertain, though he hid it rather well behind his smile, "You…know each other?" he asked carefully.
"We have tea every Tuesday," Claire linked arms with Rosie, head held high as they headed for the back room.
"We call it Tea-for-Twos-Day, haha!" Rosie guffawed, leading them both towards the seating area where she claimed her usual high backed chair, picking up a cup and saucer, "Now, what are you two doing here, thick as thieves?"
Claire sat in a chair across the table and Alastor claimed one beside her, giving her a narrow eyed, suspicious glance, "I could ask the same thing."
"Oh, are we sharing friends now?" Claire countered, giving him a pointed look in return, "You're going to tell me where you go and who you talk to every day, hm?"
Alastor held her gaze for a second too long, then turned back towards Rosie, saying brightly, "Since introductions aren't necessary—"
"That's what I thought," Claire sniffed, picking up a cup as Rosie poured some tea.
Alastor continued as if she hadn't spoken, "—I heard a rumor, probably nonsense, about a sinner that once arrived in Hell with an ability that could increase the collective power of souls. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
Claire choked on the small sip she was taking, shooting Alastor a look.
"Oh, Alastor," Rosie set an elbow on the arm of the chair, leaning her cheek against the back of her hand, delighted by the question, "Who's pulling your leg? Advocators are just a ghost story for young overlords." She waved a hand dismissively, "You know as well as I do that power has to be earned around here. Or at least," she amended, rubbing her fingers together, "negotiated."
No longer choking on tea, Claire asked, "What's an Advocator?"
Alastor shrugged, "I've certainly never heard of them."
Rosie leaned forward, looking between them, "How have you never heard this story, it's a classic! I suppose you don't truck with that kind of gossip, but let me see if I remember it…" she tapped her finger against her chin and suddenly a few cannibals rushed in to set up—well, Claire wasn't exactly sure what they were doing.
One of them carried something that looked like a cross between an old fashioned camera and a lamp, another a box filled with paper cutouts. It took Claire a moment to register that it was a Magic Lantern-a projector that worked with flame rather than electricity. The cannibals scrambled around and assembled everything in just a few seconds, then pulled the curtains to plunge the room in complete darkness.
A light flickered on and illuminated Rosie's face, glinting against her dark eyes and casting long shadows against the far wall. Shadows which twisted and turned until they formed two figures as Claire shifted in her chair to watch.
"They say that centuries ago, a sinner arrived in Hell that had the unique ability to empower others," Rosie narrated as the sinner shadow puppet moved through the scene to shake hands with another figure, who started to glow and grow. "They exponentially increased the power of held souls. Can you imagine?" she interjected, before stating with a quiet reverence, "The Advocator."
The larger shadow puppet, clearly the Overlord in question, loomed above the rest with the Advocator by their side and a smaller figure in a top hat that Claire immediately recognized, distracted by…was that a tiny shadow duck?
"A deal was struck and one Overlord reigned supreme above the rest, second only to Lucifer who, as we know, is more of a…hands-off sort of guy." Rosie continued, "But the Overlord used the power of the Advocator to do something truly terrible, causing the others to band together to bring them down."
The Overlord grabbed the Advocator and they both glowed with a menacing light, pushing back the shadows which individually were not strong enough to withstand it and cowered on the outskirts of the scene.
"The fighting was bloody and violent of course—can you imagine one of us giving something like that up? Ha! War with Heaven would look like nothing compared to what us overlords would do for that kind of power."
Those individual shadows alone were not strong enough, but soon enough they melded together, surrounding the Overlord in a swirl of blackness. It reached out in a rage, tearing chunks out of the mass, but eventually it was overwhelmed, disappearing in a puddle of black.
"In the end, the Advocator was nearly burned up, a wisp of a thing when they found it."
The scene faded in to the singular figure of the Advocator, thin, kneeling on the ground with its head hanging down and shoulders slumped. One by one, more shadows popped up to form a circle around it.
"Deemed too dangerous to the delicate balance of power in Hell, the remaining overlords destroyed it."
The shadows once again swirled together, closing in on the Advocator who opened its mouth in a silent scream before being consumed and taking all the light in the room with it.
"And nothing like it has ever been seen in Hell since." Rosie said dramatically as the curtain was once again drawn and light poured into the room.
Claire blinked a few times with a furrowed brow, trying to parse the whole display. Alastor looked from her to Rosie with a grin, "Thank you, Rosie. That was very informative, as always. Advocators sound just awful. Good to know they're only a tall tale."
"…what was the truly terrible thing?" Claire asked pensively after a beat.
"Oh, that varies by the teller," Rosie waved one hand while the other reclaimed her cup and saucer. "You should hear Zestial's version. He really knows how to terrorize an audience!"
"ROSIE!" came an urgent call from the front, causing her to set everything down with a sigh before she was able to take a sip.
"Looks like my next appointment is here, but stay as long as you like," Rosie said graciously, standing up, "There's finger sandwiches over there if you're peckish. Always a pleasure you two!" With another wave she swept out of the room, already greeting her next customer.
Alastor watched her go, then turned an incredibly pleased look on Claire, "Well. It's never a dull moment with you, is it?" He mused.
"I didn't love that story," Claire said, looking anywhere other than him.
"Just imagine how popular you'll be when everyone finds out you might be the key to upending the very balance of Hell itself," Alastor continued, leaning closer to her over the arm of the chair, "Your dance card is going to be full."
Claire stood up abruptly to put some space between them, "We shouldn't talk about this here," she told him firmly, giving a quick look around to make sure they were alone. If there was even a sliver of truth in that tale, the situation was more fraught than she'd thought. "It can wait until we're back at the hotel."
For a moment it looked like Alastor might protest, but then he simply shrugged, "Fair enough."
As he stood he moved so impossibly fast towards her that Claire only just had time to halfway raise her arms up defensively. One of his hands clamped down around her wrist while the other grabbed the forearm of her other arm and he pulled her in close, his pupils replaced by dials and his smile even more deranged than usual as the air crackled with static and strange symbols.
"Let's take a shortcut!" He declared in a high-pitched tone distorted by feedback. The fury that instantly rose in Claire's chest overwhelmed the initial burst of fear and she attempted to take a step back only to find she couldn't move her feet due to the tendrils of pitch-black shadow unfurling from the floor and wrapping around them.
Fear started tipping the scale back in its favor as they swirled higher and Claire gave him one last desperate glare before they were both completely enveloped and pulled down through the floor as if it wasn't there. She didn't even have time to wonder if she should hold her breath since as soon as the shadows wrapped around them they seemed to peel away, leaving the two of them standing on the roof of the hotel rather than in the back room of the Emporium.
Disoriented and unnerved, Claire wrenched out of his grasp and backed away, "Don't you ever do that again," she snapped furiously.
Alastor rolled his eyes, "Don't be so dramatic, it's just a little shadow displacement."
Claire instantly rounded on him, pointing a finger at his chest like a knife, "You do not put your hands on me without permission and you do not magic me from one place to another without asking. Is that clear?" She demanded, glaring up at him.
"Crystal," Alastor replied crisply, holding her glare with a narrow eyed one of his own, "Though you may want to consider that not everyone will be as well-mannered as I am once word gets out."
"I've considered everything and I already have a plan thank you very much," Claire stated defiantly.
Alastor raised a brow, folding both hands on his staff and leaning down to almost, but not quite, get in her face, "Do you? Well, I'm all ears."
"I need to learn to control whatever these powers are," Claire said, looking down at her gloved hands, "Figure out what they do and how to use them. And for better or worse," she placed a slight emphasis on the latter, giving him a Look, "you're the best person to do that with."
Alastor's head tilted at an unnatural angle, "Why Claire," he intoned coyly with a wide, sinister grin, "Are you looking to make a deal?"
"Absolutely not," Claire shut that down immediately, making a dismissive gesture with her hands for emphasis, "But we practice and you get a boost or...whatever...free of charge. I gain control and you're the only one who ever knows about or benefits from all the power."
"Hm," Alastor considered, straightening back up, "not ideal, but you had me at 'benefits from all the power.'"
"…that was the very last thing I said," Claire pointed out with annoyance.
"Well, it's a good thing you said it then!" he exclaimed, walking away from her while still talking, "I give you magic lessons and you give me unlimited access to your power. Sounds like a plan!"
Claire held up both hands in exasperation, "That's not what—"
"Lessons start tomorrow, seven sharp in the dining room!" Alastor called out, undeterred as he opened the door to his suite, "Looking forward to it!" With that he disappeared inside.
She stood there for a minute or two, staring after him in annoyed disbelief. Thankfully a sudden flutter of feathers and a loud caw broke her from her reverie. The hellcrow was back, hopping around on the ledge clearly hoping she had another sandwich with her. With a sigh she moved over to lean both arms on the wall beside it.
"What do you think, Hades?" She asked the hellcrow, gazing out at the city, "Big mistake, or biggest mistake I've ever made?"
"I wouldn't trust him."
Claire went very still then slowly turned a wide eyed, shocked expression on the hellcrow. There was no way—that couldn't possibly have—"Did you just talk?" she asked incredulously.
"AHHHHH!" The also shocked hellcrow exclaimed, flapping his wings a few times, "I'm talking! You shouldn't have done that!"
"I didn't do anything!" Claire protested, once again holding her hands up, "I didn't even touch you!"
"You named me!" Hades screeched, feathers ruffling and fluffing out around his neck, "Now I have sentience and it's the worst! Ugh!"
"I didn't mean t—wait," Claire interrupted herself, dropping her hands, "You didn't have sentience before?"
Hades paced along the top of the ledge, putting the edge of his wings to his head as if he had a headache, "Our mother gives birth to hundreds of us a day and the ones she doesn't eat become her eyes and ears throughout Hell. Part of a collective group think, without the thinking on our part. But now I can't hear her!" He shot her an accusatory look, spreading his wings again, "And I have fucking opinions, and I might just have to go write some emo poetry except oh wait I can't read or write!"
Before she could say anything, Hades flapped his wings a few times, lifting up and flying away as fast as he could, "Thanks for nothing you stupid bitch!"
Claire stood there and watched him until he was nothing more than a speck in the sky.
"…that's probably fine."