My alarm wakes me up and I groan wanting to go back to sleep but knowing I can't be late to my job.
Getting up and looking for my dirty clothes from last night surprised to find them hanging in the closet clean.
"Thanks, Nifty," I say aloud grabbing them and moving to the bathroom and taking a quick shower, climbing out and drying myself off wrapping the towel around my waist and taking a deep breath before looking at my face in the mirror, where I once saw rose quartz and my dad all I see now is Pink Diamond, I run a hand along my dark pink crystal horn touching the point feeling it dig into my finger seeing it engulf in pink light as I pull it away already healing. I meet my eyes in the mirror, black diamond irises surrounded with pink, and before I can even think my fist is shattering the mirror.
"Shit." I look at my hand, glad to find it undamaged and I consider healing the mirror before deciding against it, I'll have to ask Charlie to have it removed. Throwing the towel into the hamper I pull on my clothes I push my wet hair back and walk out of the bathroom grabbing my wallet key and charger shoving them into my pockets along with my phone heading out of my room shutting it behind me and locking it pocketing the key and heading towards the lobbyfinding husk passed out on the bar the only one in the loby. I walk out the door shutting it softly and head down the hill and take the street towards the V's tower stopping in front of a storefront with the picture of a donut on the window, i duck through the door having to bend forward to keep from hitting the roof.
"What can we get ya?" the demon behind the counter asks and I look at the display case, deciding quickly.
" One strawberry and one Chocolate Dew….Donut." I correct myself and he gives me a strange look before bagging my order and telling me the price, I hand the money over thanking him, and leave the shop glad to be able to stand up again.
I bite into my donut and for a moment it's almost like I'm back in Beach city, walking towards the temple, and I can almost believe I'll see my family again before hell comes crashing back in, I shove the rest of the donut into my mouth swallowing it and wiping the tears from my eyes as I reach V tower crumpling the bag and throwing it in a trashcan ducking into the lobby and walking to the front desk, a different woman working there now,
"Good morning, today's my first day, and I'm unsure of where to go?" I smile at her and she looks up at me uninterested.
"Name."
"Steven Universe." she types it into the computer.
"Press the pink V, the schedule says you are with Tris today." she looks back to her computer and I know I've been dismissed. I walk over to the elevator crouching inside pressing the pink V and counting the floors as we go the door opens up into the bustling room once more, I step out straightening up, and look around realizing I should have asked what Tris looked like. I scan the room finding the least busy-looking person and walking over to them, dodging people moving through the room and coming to stand near the fish demon.
"Good morning, do you know a Tris? I'm supposed to work with her today."
"New guy huh? Tris is through there." he points to a door off to the side.
"Cool, thanks." I let them get back to their work walking across the room to the closed door and knocking.
"It's open!" a voice calls and I go inside finding three women in the room.
"Good morning, I'm Steven Universe. I was told to find Tris?" I look around the room eyes coming to rest on the purple-furred sinner at the front of the room with purple wings pulled close to her body who gives a lazy wave.
"Just on time, today we're going to start going over how to walk and how to move I'll show you what to do, and I'll explain it as I go, and then you three will try and I'll correct you as we go. Any questions?" nods and calls of agreement come from all of us.
"Ok, first things first a bit of a Faux pas how long have each of you been in hell? That is to say how used to your second body are you?"
"Ten years." "four for me." the two others say.
"A few days now." And there are the pitying looks I've come to accept.
"But don't worry I'm a fast learner when it comes to new forms." I try and assure them, knowing it doesn't work.
" I spent my first week crying, so youre already ahead of me." one of them jokes and it breaks the tension.
"Well, let's get to it," Tris says clapping her hands and starting our crash course on modeling.
Hours pass and we continue trying to learn as much as we can when we hear the door open behind us.
"I heard Velvette found something special, let me get a look at ya." he strides over to me and I can see my coworkers seem to shrink back from him as he comes to stand in front of me his head coming up to my stomach, he looks me up and down like a piece of meat licking his lips and taking a long drag of his cigarette before blowing the smoke up into my face, grinning as I start to cough, feeling someone else at the edge of my mind 'Get out.' i think focusing onto the other presence in my mind forcing it out.
"That's rude," I say through coughs hearing him hmm.
"Ohh, strong-willed huh, I like that. What say you ditch Velvette and come work for me downstairs I could make you a star."
"I already have a job, but thanks for the offer." I take a long step back, hating how he's crowding me.
"Ah come on, someone youre size? I'm sure youre hung like a horse. With me behind you, you could be the biggest star we've had in decades. Hell ill even put you with Angel dust in your first video maybe you'll be able to get that stick out that's been in his ass since he moved in with that bitch Princesa" The ringing in my ears almost drowns out his voice.
"Angeldust and Charlie are good people, you shouldn't talk about them like that." I give him a chance to take it back through gritted teeth.
"Who cares how I talk about those two whores." quicker than he can react I grab him by the scruff on his shoulders lifting him to look into my eyes, Tris curses behind me but I don't look away from the moth, who brings his hands up to grab my wrists grinning at me.
"Who fucking cares how I talk about whores? Do you have a little crush on Angel? Maybe if you make me enough money I'll give him to you." The room goes red and I contemplate quite literally ripping that smile from his face when the door flies open the clack of heels echoing through the room.
"What the fuck Val?! Stay away from my fucking models! Every fucking time you come down here I lose money" She pauses when she sees me holding up Val grinning.
"This one was a little stronger than what you normally have to deal with huh? Get the fuck off my floor Val I don't fuck with your work you don't fuck with mine, that's the fucking deal remember."
"I remember, but how could I resist this beauty?" I look to Velvette and realize that was a mistake when I feel Valintinos slimy tongue run up the side of my face, I throw him away rubbing at my face trying to get it off.
"Ohh, playing hard to get, I like that. I'll be seeing you Stevie when we're not being babysat." he glances at Velvet as he stands straightening his shirt before sauntering out the door.
"Surrounded by assholes," Velvette mutters before turning to me, her eyes shooting to my hand.
"You gonna do something with that glow, or do you want to calm the fuck down and get back to your job?" she raises an eyebrow and I realize energy had stater to pool in my palms as if I'd been preparing to attack Val, I tighten my fists before opening them letting my powers dissipate.
"There we go, now the first rule. Don't fuck with the v's next time tell Val that you work for me and if he says something or does something call my assistant, Tris will give you her number." I nod not knowing what to say and wanting to go take a shower.
"One more thing, how hard was it for you to manhandle Val?"
"Like folding a blanket," I confess and she grins.
"He probably deserved it, now we both have shit to do so back to it." and with that, she walks out of the room leaving us alone.
"I think we should break for lunch, Let's meet back here in 30 minutes," Tris says and the others all but run out of the room. I walk out of the room, looking for the bathroom, seeing the sign on the wall and walking over to it, shutting the door behind me and walking over to the sink, turning it on and forcing myself to look in the mirror seeing the remains of a purple liquid smeared across my cheek cupping my hands in the water and using it to scrub at my face, using my nails to scratch at it until I almost feel clean again and I make a promise to myself to stop Val if he tried again, whatever it takes.
I walk out of the bathroom after drying my face and watching the gouges left by my nails heal walking back into the room and sitting down against the wall in the empty room deciding to forgo lunch, I pull out my phone heading over to Sinstigrahm and opening the app, realizing I hadn't permitted it to send me notifications as hundreds of tiny dings echo from my phone.
I mute my phone, opening up the notifications seeing hundreds of likes and follows on my account, and private messages from several people asking for details and trying to offer solutions or asking which overlord I was meeting with. I respond to a few, thanking them for their worry but quickly get tired of sending so many responses, my eyes scan the room coming to rest on the window overlooking the city getting an idea, I stand, walking over to get the city behind me, taking a selfie angled down on the city with a sharp-toothed grin. I look at the pic deciding its good enough before captioning it 'I lived' Sending it off looking to the time and noticing that the break is almost over I pull up angels number, sending off a message telling him his boss sucks before pocketing my phone again Tris and the other models coming back. The rest of the lesson is mostly going over what we had learned already the time coming for me to leave. I say my goodbyes being told to meet here again tomorrow.
I walk through the front door of the V Tower looking at my phone to see ten missed calls from Angel Dust and texts asking if I'm ok, I call him back lifting the phone to my ear as I walk, people moving out of my way as I go, it rings twice before angel picks up.
"Steven?! What the fuck man? Are you ok what did Val do?"
"I'm fine Angel, guys just a creep. He said some stuff I couldn't let go." silence stretches for too long and I pull my phone away to see if the call was dropped when I hear Angel scream.
"What did you do!?" Angel asks in a panic.
"I manhandled him, he said some stuff about you and Charlie that was really not cool."
"God you really are just a kid huh?" Angel asks and I don't think he's actually asking me. The stress in his voice makes me almost feel bad for what I did, but only almost.
"Angel, I'm fine I promise I've already left the tower I'm going to walk around for a bit and then come back to the hotel."
"J..just be careful yea, I've known Val for decades now trust me when I say that he's not done with you. Just keep an eye over your shoulder ok?"
"Well, I've got an extra one now so sure." Angel laughs over the phone.
"Don't I know it, you'll get used to it quick. I'm glad youre ok. Txt me when you get back yea?"
"Will do, bye." I hang up tucking the phone back into my pocket and continuing to walk down the city street, deciding that this city is just too big and pausing to wonder just how many people actually live here, how much of humanity ends up in hell. The thought isn't worth thinking about the number is probably so high it loses meaning.
I pull my phone back up Lugleing the population surprised to see 15 billion, that's a good amount of people going to heaven then. Scrolling down I see an ad for an estimate of deaths in the most recent extermination and my stomach drops.
"Extermination?" I murmur tapping on the ad, seeing a death total in the millions. I tap back and type extermination in the search bar seeing a video mentioning Charlie in the title clicking it.
"It was announced a little over two months ago that The exterminations which see millions of sinners violently slain by the exorcists will be happening twice a year, it is this reporter's humble opinion that Princess Charlie who was seen going into the heavenly embassy the same day as the announcement is solely to blame…" I close the video deciding to head back to the early needing to talk with Charlie.
"HEY ASSHOLE." I hear a voice yell from behind me and I ignore it thinking it must be for someone else until I feel something hit the back of my head bouncing off, i turn around quickly not recognizing the man.
"Who are you," I ask him and he glares pointing his little gun at me.
"You don't recognize me you big pink bitch?"
"No." I deadpan and I can see him get angrier.
"Whatever I did I'm sorry it made you so mad." I try and diffuse the situation but can see that it doesn't work.
"You're going to give me youre phone and wallet or I'll shoot you, carve you up and leave your pieces all over the pentagram."
"You don't want to do this." I can feel my patience wearing thin as I give him one last chance to walk away.
"I think I do. He says pulling the trigger the world slows down and I look behind me glad to find the street having cleared, i sidestep the bullet moving forward to get a good look at the man, finally recognizing him as the man I threw through a storefront. I grab his gun, feeling his hand crack apart as I pull it from him, ripping the clip out of the metal as I drop it crushing the rest of it and dropping it too. I grab the man by the front of the shirt lifting him up to look me in the eye.
"Why is everyone outside of the hotel so Fucking rude," I ask rhetorically as he screams, I see him reaching towards his back with his nonbroken hand cursing at me and I decide I'm done with this turning and throwing him as hard as I can into the air, watching him disappear over the horizon speeding like a bullet wondering where in hell he'd land. I pull out my phone and open Sinstagrahm taking a picture of the skyline, Captioning it. 'Just threw a guy, if you see him land tag me' sending it out putting my phone back in my pocket, and deciding that the conversation with Charlie needs to happen sooner rather than later jumping into the air towards the hotel.
I slow my descent as I reach the hotel, landing in front of the door pushing it open, and stepping inside, seeing Husk polishing glasses at the bar.
"Hi husk, you see Charlie?"
"She's usually up in her office around this time, planning the next of her "Exercises" " I'd check there first." he uses air quotes around exercises.
"Sure, where is that?"
"Twelfth floor, right across from the elevator, she said she wanted it to be easy to find."
"Cool, thanks husk." I walk over to the elevator climbing inside and pressing the button for the 12th floor waiting as it climbs dinging before it opens, i climb out having to awkwardly crawl towards the door knocking.
"Come in!" I hear a voice call and I open the door crawling inside, seeing Charlie sitting at a nice black wooden desk, bookshelves lining the parts of the walls where windows don't look out over the city.
"Oh Steven welcome back, how was work," she asks setting down her pen, paying complete attention to me.
"Not my best job but I'll manage, how has your day been?" she lights up when I ask.
"I've been having a really good day Steven, is there a reason you came to find me? Not that I'm complaining or anything I love company." she quickly assures.
"I wanted to ask you a few questions, please tell me that millions of people aren't going to be slaughtered twice a year?" her eyes widen and she seems to shrink in on herself.
"It's true, the exterminations have been happening since before I was born."
"Why?"
"My father told me it's to deal with hell's population, we get millions of new citizens a year and the numbers only growing. It's why I've started this hotel to create an alternate solution to send redeemed sinners to heaven.
"Millions of people dying for overpopulation? And no one tried to stop them? your father Is in charge isn't he, he can't do something?!"
"It's more complicated than that Steven." I can tell that she doesn't want to talk about her father, but there are only four months until the next slaughter and more than one person needs to work towards change.
"Then explain it to me, please? I want to help but I can't if I don't know what's going on, so please help me help you, Charlie." She lets out a groan burying her face in her hands.
"What exactly do you know about hell Steven?"
"Anime has told me that it's a dark realm where villains and demons come from, except when it's a place filled with pretty demon women. But Connie and I stopped watching when those ones came up," and Charlie gives a little laugh.
"So nothing then, let me give you a little history lesson. In the beginning, the elders of heaven sang the universe into existence, they did so with a clear idea in mind and shunned anything that went against the mold.." familiar
"They created the heavens and the earth and they tasked my father with creating the stars. After they were done they moved on to the next part of creation making the animals and the plants in the garden without my father's input, they made Adam and Lilith the first humans meant to be the perfect couple living up to the standards The elders set for them, toiling under the sun never questioning, never growing beyond what they were, never learning. But my father saw more in them and saw in Lilith another dreamer forced to live by the rules of someone else. He went to her and they fell in love and they were cast out from the garden and from heaven.
"The elders created a new wife for Adam, Eve, and she was under far stricter watch than my mother. My parents pitied her, returning to the garden and convincing her to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and she convinced her beloved husband to eat from the fruit as well. What was meant to be an act of freedom introduced sin into the world, and hell was created to be his and my mother's punishment and to keep them away from humanity but it was already too late. Sin had its hooks in humanity and more and more of them end up here every year." I try to make this new story fit with what he knew of gem history and it doesn't mesh well so something must be mixed up or hidden. Another thought occurs, Did Lilith eat the apple or was she capable of good and evil from the beginning?
"My father has seen only the worst humanity has had to offer for the 200.000 thousand years since his fall, and it has broken something inside him, Steven. He can't bring himself to dream of a better future anymore, can't bring himself to strive for any change and if I call him I'm afraid he won't help me." she takes a big breath and I can see her fighting back tears at that admittance.
"Even if he won't help you I will, and Vaggie will too. You're not alone in this Charlie. Even if the universe is against you fighting for a good cause is always worth it in the end. Call your father Charlie even if he won't help it'll be better to do it now so we have time to try other options, we don't even know if it's possible for a soul to leave hell to go to heaven, youre father was there around the time they where made he may know something that could help us." and she groans burying her head in her hands again.
"I know you're right, I'll invite him over Friday. That gives me some time to prepare my pitch to him."
"Want some help? I'm great at convincing people to make the brave choice."
"Please, help me i can never get the pitch right I always just break into song."
"Sometimes a song is the best way to convince someone, you just need to understand them enough to use the right words, give me youre normal pitch, and well work from there.
"Will do." she takes a deep breath.
"I know hells population….."