AN: Hey all! So I'm going to apologize to all of those excited to see more Pentious. I do not know how to write him and so to avoid all the angry pitchforks I don't have much with him. I hope this sort of satisfies those wanting Pentious and that I did him some justice. I really tried.

Charlie followed behind Pentious, unable to hide her giddiness. He did it! Her hotel works! Today was turning out to be the best day ever! Not only did they get Ellen back, but she found out Pentious was alive and she had proof of redemption. She linked her arm with Pentious as they made their way into a smaller room, one similar to the one she was in when she first met Adam.

Sera took a seat at the head of the table letting out a deep sigh.

Charlie didn't bother waiting, her excitement getting the better of her.

"So I have a whole bunch of plans to tackle this. Right now we don't have a lot of patrons at the hotel right now, but I'm sure when we tell them that we have indeed proven redemption works we will have a lot more sinners interested in giving redemption a shot." She took a big breath in to continue. "We had an open house a few months back and I know a lot of sinners were interested and with this push its all going to be-"

"Enough!"

She froze blinking at Sera.

Sera let out another breath before brushing some hair from her face.

"The denizens of Hell can not know."

Charlie's smile dropped. "What? Why?" Her eyes shifted to Emily who also looked a bit distraught.

"While I don't disagree that Sir Pentious earned redemption we can't be certain all of those looking to be redeemed deserve it. I have to keep the citizens of heaven safe and I can't ignore the possibility of some redeeming themselves only to cause chaos and harm here. We need more information before we can advertise this Hazbin Hotel."

Charlie looked at her in disbelief. "But that's the whole point of redemption, changing to be better."

"There is not enough information."

Pentious raised a hand drawing the attention of the room. "Pardon me, but if you are worried about others causing problemsss, why are you not worried about me?"

Sera raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't until today."

He retreated further into his seat. "Oh."

"You snuck into a council meeting you had no part of being in. Not something a winner would do."

Charlie's brows knitted together. "Hold on a second. You didn't tell Ellen about that meeting and it was about her."

"She shouldn't have been there either."

"What?!" Charlie stood outraged. "Shouldn't it have been her decision on whether or not she wants to stay?"

"Actually, Pentious wasn't the only winner there, Sera." Emily looked over to Pentious who didn't seem to know what to do. "There was another that snuck in."

Sera groaned, running a hand down her face. "Who?"

Emily looked back to Pentious. "It umm..uh…" He swallowed nervously. "It was Cecile."

Sera gave him a look to explain further. "Alastor's mother."

"Alastor?"

Charlie's eyes widened. Alastors mom was there? She watched the whole thing? Did she sneak in with Ellen? Did she watch Alastor kill the exorcist? That probably wouldn't have been good. She shook the thoughts quickly. Turning to glare at Sera. She didn't know?

"Alastor, my advisor? Ellen's husband?"

Sera rubbed her temples. "Uhg what a mess. This is the reason I didn't want her there." She took a breath before pressing on. "I have no say in the matter, this…Alastor gets full control of her wifes affairs. Had she not been there, the outcome would have been different, she would have stayed here until we got her back to her own realm." That must have been how Ellen must have found out about the marriage and why it was important to fight for. "No doubt Cecile informed her of all that." She muttered under breath.

That whole meeting had fallen apart from the start. She didn't even want to think about all the back lash that would come from it, clearly there was more than she thought and this was only the start.

Charlie fell back into her seat. "But she would have wanted to go back."

Sera shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Hell isn't a place for a mortal soul. Clearly she's already being corrupted."

Emily tugged at sera's sleeve. "Sera. If they are legally wed, that has nothing to do with who they are, they're souls are compatible, that's a one in a billion chance. If Charlie's dad did do it, this is huge. When was the last time we had something like this happen?"

"She is a mortal soul Emily, she doesn't belong in the afterlife. We are not discussing this anymore. That issue has been dealt with, right now we need to figure out what to do about him." She pointed to Pentious. "And this whole redemption issue."

"Wait one in a billion chance? What does that mean?"

Sera could feel a headache coming on, this was not how she wanted to spend her afternoon. She gestured to Emily, to explain.

"It's really difficult to get married in the afterlife. Your soul has to be completely compatible for the blessing to even work and I don't think I can remember the last time that had happened. So this is a really rare case. Even stranger since Ellen isn't dead."

It clicked. That's what that show was for. That's why Ellen had been so adamant about solidifying the marriage as legitimate. She knew it would tip the ruling into Alastor's favour and solidify her return to Hell. Smart. Did Alastor know too? She obviously didn't, which was odd because she was hellborn, you'd think she would know about this stuff. Did her dad even know? Surely he must have. She shook her head again to refocus on the task at hand. Redemption.

"If redemption works the denizens of Hell deserve to know, the denizens of heaven know why not hell?"

"They don't know."

"What?" Charlie looked over to Sir Pentious who only nodded.

"Heaven's denizens don't know about redemption. It's all been kept secret for now until we figure out how to progress from here."

Charlie's eyes watered, her heart aching. "You've just hidden him away from everyone? Out of sight?"

"I'm sure you've done the same with Ellen. It's no different."

"This is different, Pentious deserves to be here, he sacrificed himself earning a spot in heaven, he shouldn't be punished for it."

Sera raised an eyebrow. "So you agree Ellen doesn't deserve to be in Hell?"

Her eyes widened. No that's not what she said. Did she imply that? Ellen didn't deserve Hell not from what she could tell, but that wasn't the point. She shook her head.

"What? No that's not-"

"She's been hidden in your hotel since she arrived. To keep her safe, to prevent the rest of Hell from uprising. This is the same."

"Heaven wouldn't uprise because a sinner got redeemed."

"These people lived good pure lives to make it here and now those that didn't get to be here too? What's the point of being good in life if you can just redeem yourself later?"

Charlie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "People change." She waved her arms in Pantious' direction to prove her point.

"Be that as it may, we are not proceeding with this hazbin hotel."

Charlie could feel the tears coming back. "I'm not going to stop trying. You'll get more patrons and eventually you won't be able to hide it."

"And what of your advisor? Does he deserve redemption?"

Pentious turned to look at Charlie unsure of how she would answer that.

"He-" Charlie knew everyone deserved it, whether they wanted to or not was a different story. She was certain he had no interest, but if he did she had no doubt he could. It would probably just take…a while?

"Yes," she said with conviction.

"You realize he murdered one of my citizens in a courtroom full of people watching."

"In self defense." she argued, crossing her arms.

"And how is he keeping his wife safe? More self defense?" Sera raised an eyebrow challenging Charlie's argument.

She bit her lip. "Well, no. But he-"

"-was on his best behavior no doubt and still couldn't refrain from killing. And what would happen if someone like that was redeemed?"

The room became quiet.

"We will address this when we have a better understanding of what merits redemption and we know how one can be redeemed. Until then this will remain quiet."

Sera stood Emily following, giving Charlie a sympathetic look.

"Good day princess. will come and collect you and your companions in the morning."

Charlie stayed seated unsure how this ended like this. She was certain the outcome would have been the opposite, that they would team together and start helping sinners on the path to redemption.

Pentious moved to sit beside her.

"Where did I go wrong?"

She wasn't really asking anyone, more so trying to sort out her thoughts.

"I'm sssorry."

"Oh no Pentious you have nothing to apologize for. I just- I'm sorry this didn't turn out well." She turned, giving him a weak smile. "We'll figure this out. You did it. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before others will follow. Thank you Pentious. I'm really glad you're okay." She leaned over giving him another hug.

It was raining hard, but Ellen was fine with that. She liked the sound of the droplets hitting the roof of her car. It also meant there wouldn't be as many people on the road. Although the lateness of the night would have already ensured she would not have to worry about running into anyone else. A lot of people felt nervous driving in the rain, but to her it was relaxing. Sure it was a bit slower and you had to be a bit more aware of your surroundings, but it made the atmosphere feel like she was in a different world.

It was just past one in the morning and she was on her way home, or she was if she hadn't gotten lost. She had missed a turn somewhere and was now in the middle of nowhere. She did that alot, even with the help of a GPS.

There were vast open plains on either side of her, but with the lack of streetlights, that was about all she could see. She flicked on her high beams as she continued her way along the road. Her cell phone had no bars so she figured she'd drive until she had a decent signal to get directions. She shouldn't be too lost. What would one wrong turn really do? She still had a half tank of gas, surely she'd find some small town or county she could stop in.

She was supposed to be staying the night at her friend Katie's place, but the two had an argument and Ellen had decided it was best for her to leave. So she did, and now she was driving in the middle of nowhere, lost.

She fiddled with the radio in hopes she could find something to wash out the loud sound of heavy rain hitting her windshield and her wipers flicking at full speed. After a few failed attempts she let out an annoyed sigh and refocused on driving. She sat for a while, her mind drifting back to the argument, her thoughts creating better comebacks, or things she should have said. Then she realized she left her phone cord there. She slowed down fighting the thought of going back to get it.

If she had it, she could play her own music and charge her phone which was sitting barely alive at three percent. But she was also a little lost and if she turned around she would probably only get more lost.

She pulled over to the right and threw the car into park, her head resting on her arms on the steering wheel. What was she doing with her life? She groaned. Maybe her friend Katie was right, she needed to just buckle down and commit to something. Bouncing between jobs and her track of shitty relationship's definitely didn't help. She just hated the idea of getting sucked into something boring and mundane for the rest of her life. How can someone love their job if every couple of months they change their interests?

Her phone beeped and she quickly grabbed it. A text message had made it through.

'I miss you babe, and so does this guy.'

There was clearly supposed to be a picture attached and she was grateful it didn't come through. No doubt he had sent her a dick pic. She rolled her eyes and threw her phone to the seat beside her wishing she had the backbone to simply end that relationship. Everyone around her told her the guy was an asshole, and honestly she couldn't argue. It was a terrible relationship, but she stayed and she didn't even have a good reason. It seemed all he wanted was sex and despite the numerous conversations, that's basically all the relationship was. She was basically the world's worst booty call. Uhg. What was wrong with her?

She ran her hands down her face, eyes flicking up. She froze, eyes widening in horror. Just inside the light of her headlights was the tail end of a car on its side. How did she not see it before? Her stomach dropped. Oh shit, someone had wiped out pretty bad.

She threw the car into gear and slowly moved closer.

"Oh Fuck."

It appeared four vehicles had piled up on the road ahead of her. She grabbed her phone to find it had finally died. Shit.

Once she was close enough she parked and stepped out.

"Hello!? Can anyone hear me!?"

Her stomach twisted as the sound of the rain was all she could hear. The rain had soaked her in a matter of seconds, the cold sending chills down her back. What the heck was she supposed to do? She stood staring unsure of what to do for a few minutes before she snapped herself out of it. She could try to help.

She quickly made her way to the first car in the pile up and peered in. She regretted it instantly. She didn't bother staying, it was clear he wasn't recovering with a missing head. She moved to the second vehicle and she had to wonder how it ended up upside down. She peaked inside and found a sight just as gruesome as the first. This lady was also long gone.

She turned away from the wreckage to try to give herself air, afraid she would hurl if she looked too long, taking in too many details. She was probably going to need therapy after this and even that wouldn't get rid of those horrific sights. She had always known she would never get into the medical field, not because of the sights, though she was sure there were some things even she couldn't stomach and she had no intention on finding out what those were. There was too much stress in the quick decisions to keep someone alive, stress she didn't care to deal with. Kudos to those that could, she was not one of them.

The third car was so badly squished she didn't bother peering in, that driver and any possible passengers were goners. Definitely not a sight she wanted to see.

The last car, the one she had spotted earlier was tipped on its side, which made it a bit more difficult to look in. She very carefully climbed on top, noting it would be very slick due to the rain. She was a bit surprised she had managed to get up on her first try.

At this point she was shivering. The cold and dampness of the rain had soaked through her completely, seemingly down to the bone. Her teeth had started chattering and she could feel her fingers getting numb. She shook the thought knowing she had a change of clothes in her car. Her pj's wouldn't be warm, but they would be dry.

She was starting to wonder if she was insane scouting the wreckage for survivors. It's not like she knew what to do if she did find one. She had basic first aid training, but she doubted it would be very useful considering the damage of the vehicles. She couldn't call for help and she had no idea where she was, how could she explain where she had found the pileup? She didn't even know how long these people had been here.

She shook the thought and after a few steading breaths she leaned over to check on the driver.

Not as gruesome but it still didn't look good. She pulled the passenger side door open and leaned in, putting her fingers to the woman's neck. A bit of a struggle as she tried to keep the door open with her other hand. Nothing.

Ellen let out a defeated sigh. She carefully slid off the car, back to her feet on the road. Well, she supposed it was better this way. She wasn't too sure how well she would have handled a person in shock or life threatening injuries.

"You shouldn't be here."

She whipped around so fast she lost some of her balance, stumbling to stay on her feet. In the shadows, just outside of the headlights stood a figure with only their eyes really giving them away. A deep red that seemed to glow in the darkness. Had this guy been standing here the whole time? She felt herself shiver involuntarily. It wasn't the cold, it was the presence of this person. Just staring at the glowing eyes made the chill of the rain feel like a warm bath on a cold winter's evening.

Ellen was at a loss for words, unsure of how to respond. Everything about this person shouted danger, death, fear. She felt frozen in place. And then there was a scream. Her head turned to the tipped car she had just checked. That lady was dead, she was sure of it. But the sounds of crying quickly pushed her certainty out the window. Clearly she was wrong. Maybe she didn't find the right place to get her pulse?

She made a quick glance to the person standing just out of sight, before she turned and climbed onto the side of the car again, peering in.

"Don't. She is to die here with the rest of them." His voice was unnaturally calm considering the situation.

The driver hadn't moved, but that wasn't where the sound was coming from, she turned to find a small girl in the backseat. She had to be no more than four or five years old. Ellen's stomach sank. Holy shit. She didn't think she could do this. She didn't even think to check the back seats. Were there others in the other vehicles?

She turned to the shadow, watching her in the darkness.

"Call for help! Do something, don't just stand there!"

She carefully climbed into the vehicle to help unbuckle the little girl.

"It's okay, I've got you. Are you hurt? Can you tell me your name?"

The crying didn't cease. She was just about to unlatch the buckle, a difficult task with cold, shaky and numb fingers, when everything froze, everything now almost painfully silent. She looked into the little girl's face and found tears seemingly frozen in place, like time had stopped. Her mouth open, mid breath but there was no movement, no sound.

"What the…" She slowly poked her head out of the car door and found the person hiding in shadow, was just shadow. They had moved into the headlights, but showed nothing more than the shadow outline, though his eyes had narrowed to her.

"You are not supposed to be here." He repeated.

She opened her mouth but no words came out. Was she sick? Maybe she was dreaming? She turned to look out over the rest of the wreckage to find the rain had been suspended as far as the eye could see. They were frozen in time.

Too many questions filled her head all at once. Did he do this? That was wild to think right? No one could just stop time. And why did it matter if she was there? Did this person also see all the rain frozen in time? And what on earth happened here?

"Come on out."

She didn't know why she followed his request. It felt like she was compelled to, like under a spell, slowly being drawn to him, despite every cell in her body telling her not to. He still had a dark and foreboding aura about him. Nothing about him was welcoming. She landed back on the road, her eyes unable to move from him.

"Let's see what has been planned for you, shall we?"

Before she could ask, a shadowy finger was pressed to her forehead and it sent a painful shock radiating throughout her body. It was gone before she could fully comprehend what had just transpired.

"Interesting." He eyed her carefully before continuing. "We shall meet a few more times, but you have an essential role you must play for me."

Ellen rubbed the spot he had touched on her forehead. "I'm sorry what the fuck is going on? What role? Who the heck are you and why is everything frozen?"

There was a low, almost demonic chuckle that emitted from the shadow.

"Don't worry about that now. You'll get all your answers when the time is right. For now let's get you started on this little job."

He turned away, slowly fading back into the darkness, although somehow his red eyes were still watching her. "I'm glad I'll see Lucifer again, it's been far too long since we've chatted."

He chuckled darkly again and before she could think, she collapsed, though the ground felt soft. The cold and damp slowly faded from existence as her mind slowly followed, the dark laugh being the last thing she heard before it all faded, the smell of smoke and brimstone hitting her before it all disappeared, fading to black and slipping from her memory.