Disclaimer I do not own Hazbin hotel/helluva boss series, and I am not making any money by writing this story. Hope everyone that reads this enjoys it.
thoughts will be in italics
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The nobles of Hell were not sure what was going on. One moment things seemed call enough as they waited for a chance to see their king and much to their surprise their queen after many spied lady Lilith rushing into the hospital building calling for her husband. A few minutes later the sins were rushing out of the building with an unknown extra demon in Satan's hands while the hospital was falling apart behind them either freezing over in parts or powerful surges of sonic magic tearing everything apart or even simply stealing the sound away from an area. The nobles unsure of what to do simply fell back on the basic wait and see approach even if they backed up a fair few kilometres just in case the queen decided to expand the range of her wrath even if they were struggling to understand why she was likely so angry. There were whispers among many nobles wondering if they should leave and come back a bit later yet many felt it would be disrespectful to the king who had finally made himself known again after years of leaving things in the hands of the queen and sins and also nobody wanted to be the first ones to leave lest they incur the wrath of the sins or the king if he wanted them all here for something important. Any idea of leaving early and waiting for things to calm down quickly vanished with the sins landing in front of them, Satan letting someone out of his hands before looking back at the 'conversation' going on between the king and queen.
The goetia looked among themselves as they tried to figure out who the stranger was among the sins and why she was likely so important. Had the king decided to choose and elevate a new demon to be his queen? Was that why the queen lady Lilith was so angry? No that was unlikely as the damage being done was much more contained than it should be considering just how powerful the queen was, no something else was going on.
Eventually someone managed to gather the courage to ask the sins what was going on. "Lord Satan if I may be so bold but who is this young lady with you at the moment?"
The other sins rolled their eyes at the deferral to Satan though it was understandable due to him handling the enforcement of the laws of Hell and making sure the goetia didn't start a war with each other every other week. Mammon though hid a growing grin as an idea popped into his head to mess with Satan and Lucifer he just needed to wait for the chance as he dragged the angel girl to his side out of the sight of everyone else as Satan got swamped by the goetia as after the first question asked many felt brave enough to voice their own concerns and confusion.
"Look girly how about a deal, I help you and you help me?"
Vaggie didn't looked impressed, nor did she feel very compelled to take the demon up on his offer no matter how confused she felt about where she was and what had happened to her. Everything felt different in a way she couldn't really describe. "Why do I need your help? Lucifer seems like he will have this sorted out once he is done talking with the queen."
Mammon broke out in a small giggle as he forced himself to keep his laughter in check not wanting to draw attention to his little scheme. "If you think old Lucy has any control on this situation you are just as delusional as those idiots up on Earth. The man is comically inept at the best of times. No, the ones running the show down here are Satan and queen Lilith because they actually have heads on their shoulders and not whatever circus for a brain Lucifer has and do you know what that means?"
Vaggie shook her head though she didn't like the growing feeling of a pit in her stomach as the demon continued to speak.
"It means that you are on a time limit girly. The queen doesn't like you and while Satan may defer to Lucifer on this situation the queen will find a way to get Lucifer to see things her way and all things considered I don't think that will end well for you." Mammon gave a big toothy grin as he watched a sense of despair and fear grow in the girls eyes as he let her imagine the worst possibilities of her future when in all honesty the most likely thing that would happen is her simply being abandoned by Lucifer and all things considered the girl seemed more than strong enough to survive in Hell but he could tell she was lacking information which meant she was an easy mark to manipulate. Wow they really don't know much about Hell up in Heaven, do they? Or they think things are still like the good old days not realising just how pathetic Lucifer has gotten.
"Look Victoria I aint looking for your soul or anything. I really just enjoy messing with Lucifer and you need a patron to back and support you with the queen being on the war path. So how about a bit of quid quo pro. I help you keep your head, and you help me have a laugh by screwing with Lucifer and Lilith without having to get my hands dirty. Heck, you don't even have to do much just smile and nod or wave, whichever feels ok for you."
Vaggie wasn't impressed though she was scared even as she tried to hide her fear recalling just how angry the queen had been when she had seen her. The deal was tempting, and it didn't seem to cost her much at all, but it also put her at risk if the queen got even angrier at her. Vaggie spoke out with any small annoyance she had as a way to stall the demon in front of her as she thought about the deal he was offering. "Victoria isn't my name, its…" she froze up for a moment as she felt a stabbing pain in her head by her eye, the only wound that hadn't properly healed with her transformation. "My name is Vaggie." She held her eye trying to hold back the pain as she felt a burning as if a wound had been exposed to air as memories flashed almost too fast to comprehend some feeling like damaged or burned old polaroid photos as Vaggie tried to make sense of her thoughts and memories. Some hidden and blocked due to her trauma and others missing or damaged due to her rapid transformation and the wounds she had received.
Mammon hid a grin taking note of the girl struggling to remember her own name. a bit of damage to the old thinker huh. Well, this could be very useful. Lucifer won't be able to abandon his sick little puppy, Lilith will get driven up the wall and all I need to do is warm up a bucket of popcorn.
"Well Victoria do we have a deal." Mammon smiled as he held out his hand
Vaggie frowned at the demon refusing to use her name but sadly she didn't think she had much choice in taking him up on his deal. She had no real friends and relying on Lucifer's support alone for her survival was a fool's gamble and she couldn't risk it when the queen seemed out for her blood for reasons she couldn't understand. It was a distasteful decision, but it was the best option she had at the moment. Vaggie almost wanted to cry, she had only been stuck in Hell for a few hours by her own knowledge and she was already making a deal with a demon. She held out her hand and shook hands with the demon, her soul wasn't sold, she didn't feel any hellish power attempting to bind her will, no true hellish deal or contract had been made or signed and yet Vaggie still felt like she had lost something, something fundamental that she wouldn't be able to get back, she had compromised and she realised that while it was a small line she had crossed that wouldn't be the last line, once you crossed one it was just easier to cross the next and the next.
"I believe this will be the beginning of a wonderful business arrangement. Names Mammon, sin of greed and I do say I think we will be good acquaintances in the future." They shook hands though Vaggie took note of Mammon's words and knew this was not a true partnership. He wasn't her friend, and neither was she his, this was something set up as an association by convenience and desperation. The power balance and disparity between her and Mammon was wide and she needed him while she was just entertainment for him.
As Mammon turned his back on her to keep an eye on the game of panic and politics Satan was trying to wrangle Vaggie could only look at the retreating back of the demon Mammon and feel anger and frustration at her own weakness and desperation. How she had thrown away even just a small bit of her principles just at the chance of survival, to have the aid of even an untrustworthy ally in this dangerous new life she had been thrown into. She wanted to hurt Mammon, hurt the sin of greed to get back even just a bit of her self-worth, to show him she didn't need him as much as he thought.
A dagger formed in her hand as she stared at Mammon's back.
She dropped the wicked blade as soon as she felt its weight in her hand looking at her hands in shock and terror, feeling shame and horror at herself. How had she been able to craft and form the blade so easily, so casually, how had she known what Mammon was when all she had been given was his name. New power, new knowledge both out of her hands, emotions she hadn't ever really thought about felt amplified and slipping out of her grip and shaping and moving her instead of her having control of herself anymore. I wanted to hurt him just because of how small he made me feel. I was willing to hurt him… What is happening to me? Vaggie didn't have a chance to really ponder her new existence as Mammon made his move to have his entertainment.
Satan had lost track of Mammon for a moment as he dealt with the many questions of the nobility getting them to calm down and getting everything in order as they were calling for the chance to talk to the king and queen seeking answers, hoping for answers many had been hunting for since Heaven had their little clean up of Hell and they lost the last bits of contact they had with the royals when they just shut themselves away.
"Who is the girl with you? Who is she that you rescued her from the building?"
A simple question to answer even if he was going to use a lie. Just call her an experiment crafted by Lucifer, a test to see how much of his angelic power he still had. That this was their king's attempts to see if he could actually protect Hell and its people from Heaven if larger actions were taken against Hell that went further than just acting against the sinners. Such simply and easy methods to gain control of the crowd and to get them to just shut up and listen, unfortunate for Satan there was a certain spider that just loved causing him and Lucifer chaos to deal with.
"Meet your new princess everyone, meet princess Victoria!" Mammon had crafted giant speakers that let his voice echo over the crowd reaching all ears. Satan froze up as he looked at Mammon as if he was insane and wanting to squish him under his foot as fire and smoke started to spew from his mouth. Unfortunately, Satan had made a mistake in turning his attention away from the nobles in his search to find and punish Mammon as the jester sin of greed further played up his own lie to the crowd by using a string of webbing he had attached to Vaggie to drag her in front of the crowed whispering in her ear for her to just show her wings.
Nervously Vaggie complied and unfurled her wings, leathery bat like demon wings sharing space with feathery dove like angel wings and a single horn growing on her head clear for all to see. While the goetia gazed upon her Mammon had dozens of robotic servants spreading among the nobles answering their questions with his voice as he moved through the crowd to keep out of Satan's sight. "Such a perfect blending of heaven and hell. Only the daughter of Lucifer could radiate this power. Queen Lilith was angry due to not being able to have her daughter in a natural manner. The child was hidden to avoid Heaven learning of her existence. The child was kept isolated to hide her from the politics of Hell. She was kept isolated until her power could be properly contained so she didn't hurt herself or others. The queen wanted her hidden to hide her shame at not being able to mother a child. The king wanted her hidden to keep her from himself and his queen." Mammon spread rumours and lies and deception among the nobility until they were all talking amongst themselves spreading Mammon's words further and faster, sometimes keeping information solid and straight and other times bending it and putting their own fantastical spin on it.
Satan eventually managed to get his hands on Mammon, but it was far to late as Bee pulled on his arm to grab his attention showing the gather goetia all bowing before the girl, only a few were slower than the others looking at ancient grimoires before they themselves were bowing and praising the new princess of Hell.
"Hell, dammit Mammon! Why would you do this? I don't need my job being made more difficult and I don't need you starting a fight between the king and queen."
Mammon just laughed shrugging even in the tight burning grip of Satan. "I like to cause messes and its even funnier if that mess spills on you or Lucifer." Mammon choked as Satan crushed his throat. The giant dragon of a demon only bemoaning the fact that his fellow sin would heal sooner or later, and he would no longer have some blessed silence and freedom from the chaos Mammon liked to dump on his lap.
"Bee please keep him from causing any more trouble. I need to figure out how to deal with this before more trouble comes my way. I also need to figure out a suitable punishment for Mammon here because I honestly think he's starting to enjoy the pain I cause him, or he gets enough jollies out of annoying me that he doesn't care about the pain." Growled out the rather annoyed and tired sin of wrath. Mammon was a walking talking aggravation for him made worse by the fact Mammon knew how to skim the edges of the few true rules and laws Hell had making it even harder to pin him down for a proper punishment. He and Lucifer literally had armies of lawyers, sinner and Hellborn alike working on finding a way to finally trap Mammon and block any escape he could make to weasel his way out of legal trouble or proper punishments. Mammon had made avoiding accountability an art form much to Satan's annoyance, it truly frustrates him to no end that Mammon put more work and effort into being a pain in the ass than in doing his job running Greed.
"I have a fabulous idea, Bee. Why not take Mammon down to my ring. I have the perfect gear to hold him down while we punish him."
Mammon let out a gurgled laugh as his throat hadn't healed properly not believing Beelzebub or Asmodeus could come up with anything even possible of being labelled as a good punishment.
"You should take this a bit more serious Mammon. When we get to Lust, you'll be tied down in front of a pleasant fireplace."
Mammon rolled his eyes not taking anything seriously. It had been decades since Bee had ever come up with a good punishment or torture system. She spent way too much time keeping her parties going and making her honey. Asmodeus had nothing that scared Mammon at all, at best he could end up using him as a tester for his more exotic and dangerous toys and that didn't phase Mammon at all.
"And while your immobile I'll be burning your money one dollar at a time."
Mammon froze up then started freaking out as he tried to break free of Beelzebub's grip. "Is it too late for the lava fields, I hear they are extra hot this time of year. Heck, I don't mind being a punching bag for Satan, I'll even drop half my legal team at the next meeting Lucifer, and I have." Mammon was begging and pleading the moment his throat had healed to try and save his money while Bee and Ozzie dragged him through a portal. Mammon tried to ask the other sins for help, but Belphegor was sleeping on the ground, and Leviathan was asking Bee to make a recording of Mammon's punishment.
Satan felt like he had been played for a fool for eons now. why had he never thought about simply threatening Mammon's money. Then again rarely was Mammon in a position to be caught like this and he rarely if ever left Wrath. I'll think about this later. Right now, I just need to figure out how to get the nobility to stop all this praise of a fake princess before lady Lilith sees it. She'll really blow a gasket then. Of all the sins only Belphegor and Satan had really known about Charlie about the child of Lilith and Lucifer, and he knew just how angry Lilith would get if, no when she learned of this.
Luck and more importantly time was not on Satan's side as a rather annoyed voice joined by a confused, yet curios voice directed at him caught his attention. "Satan what's going on?"
Satan didn't immediately turn to face the voices rather he turned to where the portal to Lust should've been hoping to be able to grab Mammon and use him as a shield but also forcing the spider to explain things instead of leaving it to him. No such luck, the spider was gone for now meaning he was stuck explaining everything. "Well, your majesties it's like this… it's all Mammon's fault."
/
Andrealphus was ecstatic learning about the princess the man going over political game plan after political game plan and how he could raise his status as a goetia. Stolas in turn found the reveal both as a sign that Hell may be leaving its current state of stagnation but also worried about what could happen in the new period of advancement that the princess could represent. There were many demons who loved the current status quo and would not be happy seeing their gold mine drying up and would fight to try and keep things as they were. Stolas may not be the biggest fan of his brother-in-law, but he knew the man would be needed with his love of the political game if they wanted their families to stay afloat and even thrive in the up coming unknown future Hell would face.
"Do you think our little Octavia would be able to befriend the princess? She is starting to come of age and having a friend with status like the princess would help shield her somewhat from the growing pains of her youth and interacting with her peers." Stella sipped her tea as she wondered aloud about the possibilities of bringing her family closer to the royal throne even if only by association. Andrealphus gave a big smile as he was already thinking about plans on how to get his niece and the princess to meet each other by 'chance' the man giddy at the idea his sister had given him. Stolas felt a bit apprehensive about using his daughter as a political tool even though he knew many of the other goetia would gladly use their children in such a manner couldn't bring himself to object to the idea. Stella was right growing up as a goetia, as Hell nobility didn't offer one a shield from the violence of Hell, often it painted an even bigger target on someone. No matter how kind or friendly a face looked, there was always a hidden knife or bottle of poison or curse hidden behind the back of the demon giving you that smile or friendly look. This could be rather healthy for his daughter having a friend as politically powerful and personally powerful as the princess would be and how that could let his little girl have a normal life growing up or at least as normal a life as a noble could have.
Stolas felt a slight buzz from his grimoire. A single message appeared on a blank page, a message from his father. A test is coming. Be prepared and don't disappoint me. Good luck Stolas, you are going to need it.
Stolas felt a pit grow in his stomach as he looked over the short message from his father wondering what he was talking about. His thoughts were interrupted by an imp butler arriving with a buzzing mirror. Picking it up Stolas wondered if it was his father calling to clarify what the message, he sent was, but it wasn't his father, rather it was his brother, his eldest brother. "To what do I owe this pleasure Blaze." Stolas wasn't sure how to feel about the call. Blaze had been the loudest of his siblings to challenge their father on giving him the true ancient grimoire. Had called it a disgrace of a decision to give it to one as young as Stolas. He had actively challenged Stolas to claim it several times, though much to Stolas' confusion many of his siblings, even the ones that didn't like him had stood in his defence. Stolas had learned that Blaze while one of Paimon's most powerful children he had not made any friends, being responsible for the most deaths of his own siblings than any other of Paimon's children.
"What no hello, how are you, Stolas. I feel hurt, where is that courteous and welcoming nature of yours Stolas?
"We both know you're not calling to see how I am. What do you want Blaze?"
The fake jovial nature and tone Blaze had been giving off vanished as the usual cruel and harsh energy Blaze usually gave off almost started to crack the mirror. "You know what I want runt. I want Father's grimoire; it is mine by right and should never have gone to a pathetic weakling like you."
Stolas laughed at his brother unable to take him seriously. "And what does that say about you that Father gave it to me and not the all-powerful Blaze. No, I think I'll be keeping the grimoire, Blaze." Stolas went to shut off the call but was stopped by Blaze who continued to talk with a rather hard glaze of anger in his voice now.
"I wouldn't end this call if I were you Stolas, after all you wouldn't be able to know where to send the book after all once you bend to my demand." Stolas wanted to laugh at his brother but felt the humour die in his through when Blaze allowed the image of the mirror to expand now it showed him next to a damaged and burning castle and Stolas realized where his brother was calling from. "You were smart enough to keep father's grimoire on your person but sadly it seems you didn't hire very good security. Not to mention the wonderful little bargaining chip I found."
Stolas felt his heart stop as Blaze lifted an unconscious Octavia up so she could be seen in the mirror clearly. "Such a fragile little thing. Bring the grimoire to the wastelands of Greed by midnight tomorrow or well I'm sure you and your blushing bride can have another heir prepared."
The mirror shattered as Stolas felt his rage bubble over, shadows flooded the tent at the sheer audacity of his brother going after his daughter. Stella and Andrealphus rushed out of the tent to avoid the initial wave of shadows not sure what was going on until Stolas had managed to calm down enough to explain the situation. Stolas knew his father knew what was happening and he couldn't give the grimoire to his brother as this was likely the test his father had mentioned. He felt angry recalling how Paimon had seemed to enjoy spending time with Octavia so why hadn't he stopped this but then again if he failed would his father simply take Octavia under his own wing. Either way he lost his daughter, and he couldn't handle that even as an idea or option.
Stolas couldn't leave. He and his entourage had been some of the first to arrive and it would be seen as a great insult if they left now not to mention they would lose an advantage of being the first to see and be able to talk to Lucifer, Lilith and the sins. If he could manage a meeting early enough, he could petition at least Satan for aid in this situation with how the sin was known for not really caring for the games of the nobility and just enforcing his will and Hell's laws.
Another idea was brought up by Andrealphus as a call to check up on the castle staff that had survived gave them the knowledge that the stores of angelic weapons was untouched Blaze hadn't even noticed them or if he had had simply left them alone not thinking them as anything worth taking. Stolas recalled one of his siblings once telling him about how short-sighted Blaze tended to be, the man never once thinking more than a step or two ahead. The true grimoire lit up catching everyone's attention as names started appearing in the book and a path was provided for Stolas to take to save Octavia.
I.M.P, passage to earth, angelic payment, Striker, humiliation, capture.
Andrealphus had heard of Striker, an imp assassin of great renown for being capable of even taking out lower-level nobility. Expensive but worth the cost, I.M.P was something none of them had heard of though as Stolas search over the Vox net to see what or who they were. Learning about the organisation was a bit funny seeing how a group of imps had managed to find ways to get to earth without being summoned by a human and were selling their services as revenge assassins.
Sending imp assassins after Blaze on a rescue mission would certainly send a message and it would also mean they didn't have to risk getting the ire of Hells rules by simply leaving to deal with the issue themselves. Stolas wondered what the grimoire meant by capture and humiliation, but he was sure he would figure it out once his daughter was safe again.
Andrealphus started making some calls to start organising as Stella and Stolas left the tent to act as if everything was normal. They couldn't afford any weakness being shown as if the other nobles learned of Blaze's actions, they would start taking their own shots at Stolas hoping to claim something while they could show off the privilege that they had managed to strike against the family of Paimon. Stolas was sure the other goetia princes would support their own children against him to spite Paimon and he didn't feel like suffering his father's wrath for showing any weakness his enemies would feel like they could take advantage of. Stolas could only chuckle at the dream of the punishment Blaze would face under their father's ire for pulling a stunt like this on such an important occasion. You have no idea the pain and suffering I will bring upon you Blaze once I have my hands around your throat.
Well, here is a fun present for all you readers. A new chapter out earlier than usual for how long the last one took to come out. Mammon clear to his jester roots likes to make fun of his king and it looks like we will be having a few other players entering the game. Blaze really has no idea the fun I plan to have writing his punishment once he loses in the next few chapters that is gonna be fun. Well looks like Vaggie is also going to be stuck dealing with the nobility and rules of Hell also suffering a bit of brain damage from her trauma at being betrayed but also having a knife in her head wonder how that's gonna affect some things. Enjoy this latest chapter readers.