"And here is your room!"
Charlie and her latest resident came upon a door in the midst of one of the long hallways in the hotel. She held it open, gesturing inside with a hopeful shrug of her shoulders while beaming down at Baxter who peered inside, the light of his antenna bathing the room in a cool glow.
Inside sat a small leatherbound suitcase on a nearby desk, Baxter's belongings waiting patiently on his arrival. His room was adorned with crimson furnishings, trimmed with golden accents that complimented the general displays of the hotel. Off to the side hid a closet that doubled as his bathroom. Most of the wall space was filled with bookshelves that contained articles ranging from fiction to encyclopedias, all valuable resources for the scientist.
Charlie watched her company with hopeful eyes, ignoring the ache that settled behind them as Baxter explored his new quarters, his gills flaring with curious observation.
"How quaint; this will be a fine space for me to gather my studies," Baxter fixed his glasses and pushed them back up his slippery nose, eyeing Charlie who was still hanging in the door frame.
"We are SO excited to have you here, Baxter," the princess felt an onslaught of deja-vu run through her, the buildup of anticipation and excitement that rolled through feeling an awful lot like the hotel's most recently incinerated counterpart's welcoming.
Sir Pentious's face burned in the forefront of Charlie's mind and the princess visibly shook her head, trying to ignore the stacking weight of grief that flooded her mind and encumbered her body like stones stacking in her chest. Thankfully, Baxter wasn't paying attention.
"Well," the woman's voice cracked for a moment as her intrusive thoughts snowballed, "I'll let you get comfortable, but dinner should be out soon if you're hungry!"
And just like that, Charlie's legs propelled her away from his room as she closed his door and hurried down the hall, a bead of sweat collecting at her hairline as she tried repressing the thoughts that impudently roiled in her head.
She turned the corner and ran headfirst into an unsuspecting Vaggie, both of them tumbling to the floor in a knot.
"Ah- Jesus, Charlie," the angel laid dazed for a moment before pulling herself and the princess up and fluffing out her feathers. "You okay?"
"Yes, sorry," the princess barked out with a shaky laugh, thankful for even the slightest distraction.
The angel shot her a confused look, eyes narrowed, "hey, what's going on? You haven't been acting like yourself. What happened?" Vaggie took Charlie's hands, looked around the corner and down the hallway from where Charlie came, hoping to find clues behind her friend's strange behavior.
What a loaded question.
The blonde squeezed Vaggie's hands, "yes, but are YOU okay? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to run you over. I'm a bit of a mess right now what with everything going on," she was hoping her vague response would've been enough to satiate Vaggie's budding curiosity, but it only fueled it, the princess receiving a dramatic eye roll. Charlie dropped her grasp, and her mind flipped from Baxter, to Pentious, to her parents.
The princess's face was a wave of emotions, like book pages flipping back and forth and Vaggie read all of them before she took Charlie in for a hug.
The two of them stayed like that in a tight embrace, Charlie falling limp in the angel's arms. Her mother's voice rang in her ears.
"You have to let this redemption thing GO, Charlotte."
The day's events had begun to take its emotional toll on the demoness, and it didn't feel like it was going to get any better. Hope felt so farfetched, and fear had made itself a comfortable residence in her heart.
"Moms back…," she croaked out quietly.
Vaggie peeled away from her, her eyes bright with surprise.
"What?! That's- that's great," the angel studied Charlie for a moment, "right…?"
It took all of her energy not to open the floodgates. It was the same wound being reopened again and again that left her feeling emptier than the last.
She inhaled, filling her lungs and holding it before sighing out shakily, deciding to ignore Vaggie's question, "Baxter is good, I just showed him his room and I'm letting him get settled," she pointed her thumb over her shoulder and gave Vaggie her best version of a smile that looked more like a grimace. The two shared a look and the angel understood, following her friend's lead.
They left the hallway and took the elevator back to the top floor of the hotel where they made it to Charlie's office.
It was late afternoon so the light from the grandiose window filtered through and lit up the space. Both of them took their seats on opposite sides of the large wooden desk, Charlie falling into her chair with a slump and Vaggie watching thoughtfully. The silence that filled the room was deafening.
"Dad invited me to the palace," Charlie started carefully, picking at her fingers.
"He'd been so helpful with the rehabilitation of the hotel that I was under the impression he was still supportive of this…" she waved her hands, trying to orchestrate her thoughts, "dream."
A dream she so desperately wanted to be real.
Her mind continued racing, the recollection of the visit turning over and over in her mind and the timeline bleeding together, drawing out her story.
The rush of the water's fountain echoed in the room as the regal family shared their quiet reverie.
"What do you mean you've been in Heaven? This whole time?" Charlie seethed, her eyes looking over the queen's bronzed skin that starkly contrasted against Lucifer's porcelain complexion nearby.
"How can you…," she was shell shocked. Her tongue was in knots trying to understand what she was hearing, what she was seeing. Her mother was unrecognizable, completely and indefinitely.
"You couldn't even bear to pick up the phone, talk to your daughter who so desperately missed you, needed you? You disappeared and left all of Hell to squander while you were out doing what, exactly?"
She was reeling.
"Charlie please, I know it seems like a lot, but you need to understand, we did this to keep you safe. Adam was willing to spare your life, I don't know what I would do if we lost you."
The blonde swirled around in her chair to look out the window. She scanned the city before her, taking in the countless souls she'd hoped to offer a second chance.
"I can't give up no matter how much this hurts. Their souls…depend on me."
How was their queen supposed to just show back up with no real explanation behind her disappearance?
Oh, what was she kidding, it's HELL, nobody would care.
"Charlie, I can only imagine this weight that's on your shoulders. Don't forget you have others you can lean on; you were doing this just fine without her, what's it going to change now that she's back?"
"It's not even about her anymore. We have zero clue what it takes to redeem a sinner and neither does Heaven. Sir Pentious spent nearly a year building himself to be the perfect candidate and for what?"
Charlie pushed herself out of her chair and started pacing, fidgeting with her hands again.
Vaggie was quiet for a long time.
"You don't know he wasn't, Charlie."
She stopped dead in her tracks, her hair flowing over her shoulder and her breath catching in her throat.
Vaggie continued, "what if he WAS redeemed? How would we know? How could we?"
The angel got up and stationed herself before the demoness, forcing herself into Charlie's line of view and grabbed ahold of her shoulders, "we still have a chance."
Nifty was scrambling around, putting up some simple decorations to welcome their latest resident. She was adamant about ensuring his approval considering he sported some of the best bad-boy qualities she'd seen since she bade Sir Pentious farewell.
Alastor was humming to himself as he began to set dinner out upon the grand dining table. He'd secured a black plastic table cover before dousing it in the delectable flavors of a savory seafood boil.
Angel and Husk were quibbling back and forth, Angel making suggestive comments to the cat while he found a seat.
Husk eyed the Radio Demon, snorting at his choice of dinner, "really? Serving seafood to a fish? That's kinda fucked up."
The red-clad demon chuckled deeply, "there's a variety here, Husker," he sang.
Eventually, the rest of the residents trailed into the dining hall, Vaggie, Charlie, Baxter and Nifty all gathered and found themselves a chair at the table.
Alastor took in his company and noticed a more composed Charlie among the group. Her demeanor was certainly different than when he'd last seen her, seeing as she held her shoulders back with an air of confidence and her face was clear of tears.
Baxter, who sat off to the side was accompanied by Nifty who flashed the fish a giddy smile while he looked forlorn at the table, spying the shrimp mixed in with the rest of the boil.
"I was hoping to share a favorite meal of mine growing up," Alastor chided, taking off his newly laundered coat to hang over the edge of his chair. "My mother was a fantastic cook, but the simplicity of a seafood boil was always one of my favorites to come home to; I do hope you all enjoy."
"Damn Smiles, Nifty is a great cook and all, but you sure know your way around the kitchen," Angel belched out and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his stomach.
Baxter had removed himself from the table and followed Husk out of the room who was making his way back to the bar top in the lobby, "yes, thank you, Alastor," he said over his shoulder, hoping to get away from the smell of cooked fish as quickly as possible.
Nifty trailed behind the fish demon while Angel snagged a few more pieces of sausage and shrimp to give to Fat Nuggets in his room, leaving Charlie, Vaggie and Alastor who began cleaning the mess.
Alastor shook his head at his maid who disappeared after Baxter; usually Nifty hopped at the chance to clean but it seemed she had become short of enamored with the angler fish, following him at the heels like a puppy.
"I don't think Angel's scheduled for a shoot tomorrow, so I was going to set up shop for a group exercise in the morning," Vaggie began, opting to help the Radio Demon by gathering the plastic cover on her edge of the table.
Charlie nodded, "that sounds perfect. Thank you Vaggie. And thank you for dinner, Al," she added quietly
She shot an apologetic glance to Alastor who flicked his ears and continued clearing the debris off of the table.
"Why it was my pleasure, dear."
The gray angel took the remainder of the trash from Alastor with a curt, "thank you," and eyed Charlie before exiting the room.
Alastor felt a low hum of static reverberate in his chest when his eyes fell upon his business partner who was looking up at him curiously. He raised an eyebrow, before turning, shrugging on his suit jacket and straightening out his collar. He'd missed the rosy tint that fell on the apples of her cheeks while he had his back turned.
Charlie cleared her throat, "I was hoping I could borrow you to train if you're able."