A/N: Content warning for very mild gore,
"I can't believe he just kicked us out like that." Charlie took a seat on one of the plush, red chairs in the parlor, placing her hands on her knees, as she and her friends were quickly ushered out of the dining hall before they even got a chance to start dessert. "Or... well... maybe I can..." Her dad had always been a little elusive, vague on details, avoidant on certain topics. This behavior wasn't really anything new, but she had been hoping her dad had changed. Especially with all the interest he was showing in the hotel.
"Well, you know, your dad has a lot of secrets, I'm sure. I highly doubt he really wants you to witness him murder Vox for his bad behavior." Alastor looked rather amused by the situation, which was frustrating, but unsurprising. "I wish I could say I'm shocked he finally snapped, but I'm not. Him coming to the hotel in the first place reeks of desperation."
"I'm sure your dad just wants to check on Vox," Vaggie put her hand on Charlie's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "He has been looking like shit, Alastor's right."
"Your father will explain everything in due time, I'm sure." Carmilla had taken her glass with her, looking at the champagne before taking a sip. "But for now, we best leave him be. For our sakes as well as Vox's."
"The fuck does that mean?" Charlie sat up a bit in her chair. Carmilla must have taken lessons on being cryptic from her father.
"It just means your father is doing what he thinks is best." Carmilla sounded so sure of her answer that Charlie had to wonder if she was the only one not clued in to whatever the fuck was going on.
"Master will let us all return to the party soon!"
"Thanks Syn." Charlie reached over with the hand Vaggie wasn't holding and gave Syn a pat on the top of her head. "I don't suppose you have any idea what he might be up to, do you?"
"I know everything about Master! Currently he is explaining to Vox how amazing he is and putting up balloons!"
"Balloons?" Carmilla blinked.
"Yes, because research indicates that parties are a fun activity that often requires balloons to create a friendly and celebratory atmosphere."
"As much as I love balloons, which I do," Charlie liked anything fun and colorful. When you lived in Hell the little things that brought happiness to people often were forgotten, so Charlie always tried to pay them special attention. "I highly doubt my dad kicked everyone out over just a simple talk and some party decorations."
"Very important party decorations."
"She's correct in one sense. Your father does appear to be all about aesthetics. Perhaps that is the reason for evicting us so he could add some festive balloons." Alastor was trying to humor Syn, Charlie assumed, but the little virtual assistant simply shifted looking away from him. It was weird, usually she would be jumping at a chance to respond. Alastor must have noticed the change in her demeanor. His smile only widened as he added, "Right?"
"Maybe." One word, short and flat.
"Or maybe your dad is gonna kill him," Angel didn't sound all that concerned, and Charlie couldn't blame him. He wasn't all that thrilled to have Vox at the hotel in the first place. "I mean if Vox dies, he kinda had it coming for acting shitty at the King's shindig. He wasn't even originally invited. Bitch kinda crashed our party."
"And there will be an opening in the Vees for me." Mimzy remarked proudly.
"Good fucking luck with that." Angel outright laughed.
"And nothing of value will be lost." Alastor chuckled to himself as he sat back in one of the chairs.
"But there will be new territory open." Cherri piped up. "Though Velvette and Val will probably just split it between the two of 'em. But that's a lot of power for just two people to manage, if ya get my drift."
"I like where this is going." Niffty's eye lit up as she ran about the parlor, picking up an examining each piece of décor to check it for dust.
"He's not killing Vox, at least not yet. So, I wouldn't be planning out how to steal his territory just yet." Carmilla sounded rather certain of herself, but Charlie was just at a loss for what the fuck was happening.
"But he was acting weird in there, right?" The princess looked to the others for backup. Husk simply shrugged.
"Vox? Or your dad? I don't know either of 'em well enough to judge if that was out of character or not."
"Emergency."
"What?" Charlie shook her head. She had heard Syn's voice. It was quiet, but she had definitely heard it. She looked down to see a pulsing red light had taken over the usually multicolored rings that decorated Syn's top and bottom.
"Emergency. Perimeter breach detected. External security measures failing. Security drones unresponsive." This was the most... robotic Syn had ever sounded. Charlie felt a little unsettled by her tone.
"Syn? Is everything okay?" Charlie knelt down, the lights on Syn began to flash and she swore she could hear the sounds of machinery moving throughout the parlor. It was very quiet, easily drowned out by the natural lull of conversation. However, the red lights had made the room go quiet.
"Lockdown protocol initiating."
"Wait a moment," Carmilla got to her feet. She hurried out of the parlor toward the door. "Is she part of your dad's security?"
"I don't think so?" Charlie ran after Carmilla, her friends seemed curious enough to start following behind as they ran toward the entrance to the mansion. "I was under the impression that my dad's security was just one Hellborn guy called Lysander." Carmilla gave her a look.
"I mean... maybe Syn's trying to play a game or some shit because ain't no one fucking stupid enough to try and attack the big guy himself." Angel laughed. The idea did sound preposterous. Her father was the most powerful being in Hell by far, Sinners typically gave him his space.
"It could just be paparazzi, but we don't need them bothering your father right now. I can handle this." Carmilla grabbed the handle to the front door, throwing it open and stepping outside. She quickly threw the door back open, shutting it. Carmilla had only been out for a split second but her face looked as if she had seen something terrible. She had her back pressed against the door as if trying to keep it closed.
"Lockdown protocol initiated." Syn must have followed them into the entryway. There was a series of clicking sounds as the doors started to become covered with angelic steel. Carmilla finally moved as the doors and windows in the front started to seal shut one by one.
"My, my, Carmilla. You look worse than Vox. And that's saying something." Alastor didn't seem at all off-put by the situation. Vaggie instinctively reached for Charli's arm, drawing her close. "Don't tell me a little riot has gotten you so shell-shocked. You're supposed to be an Overlord, my dear."
"That's not a riot. We're under attack." Carmilla looked serious, though that wasn't all that unusual for her. Still, Charlie could feel a sudden, choking tension hanging in the air that had not been there moments before.
"From Heaven?" Charlie had been worried the elimination of the Exterminations would cause some sort of rebuttal from the angels, but she had certainly not anticipated something so soon.
"No." Carmilla hurried past her. "I must get your father."
"Whatever's out there, we can take it. We fucking took on an angelic army. If it's not from heaven: it's not worth fucking shit!" Cherri lifted her glass in the air, the threat of attack only raising her spirits more.
"And Lucifer did say that he didn't want to be disturbed." Alastor glanced behind him toward the dining hall.
"He'll want to know this." And with that, Carmilla left. Vaggie looked toward the window, but could only see a solid plate of angelic steel. She slowly released Charlie's hand, walking toward the wall, pressing her ear against it.
"Ug. No use. These walls are practically sound proof."
"Why is everyone just running off and not explaining shit!?" Charlie was frustrated, the idea of Hell being under attack while she was locked inside her home didn't sit right, especially not after she had done so much to prove herself in battle. No. If something was out there, she wouldn't just sit pretty while it tore her people apart. (Plus, if it wasn't from Heaven, it couldn't be that bad, could it?) She snapped her fingers, her trident and shield appearing in her hands, still laced with the angelic steel from Carmilla. "Something is out there and we have to help stop it."
"Oh, FUCK YEAH!" Cherri pulled one of her bombs seemingly out of thin air. "It's not a party until shit starts exploding!"
"We still need to know who exactly is attacking." Vaggie pulled out her spear, cutting into the back of her dress and allowing her wings to unfold. Charlie's eyes lit up. She knew her friends would stand beside her. (And Vaggie really did look lovely with her wings out, her expression focused.) The Fallen angel took the princess by the hand. "You know I'll fight by your side; I just think we need more information."
"Damn, if I had known we were gonna be fucking fighting I wouldn't have gotten so wasted." Angel sighed looking at his half-finished glass of champagne with dismay. He shrugged and started to finish the glass. At that moment, Charlie's father ran into the room with Carmilla, Vox, and Adam tailing behind him.
"Syn, open the front door for me." Her dad had a rather cold look on his face, Vox looked a bit as if he had been caught in some sort of lie. Adam was the only one who appeared indifferent to the chaos.
"Terminate lockdown protocol?"
"No. Just open the front door." Lucifer repeated.
"Unable to complete request during lockdown. Terminate lockdown?"
"Yes. Fuck. Fine, terminate lockdown, then once I get outside, initiate protocol once again." Lucifer turned to the others in the room. "Everyone stay inside. I cannot stress this enough. Just stay where you are."
"Terminating lockdown protocol."
"What the fuck is going on, dad!?" Charlie immediately approached her father, her trident gripped tightly in her hand. There was that sound of softly whirring machinery again and the steel plates started to gradually lift off of the doors.
"Nothing I can't handle, my little Jonagold." Her dad's smile had never looked less convincing. "But I need you to stay in here where it's safe."
"That's not an answer!" Charlie was getting fed up with this elusive bullshit. She had patience, she prided herself on that. But even the princess had her limit. So, before the doors were even fully free of the steel coating, Charlie grabbed the handle, pushing it outward slightly and slipping outside.
"CHARLIE NO!" She heard her father cry out, and then... her feet hit the porch and all she could hear were screams. (Not that unusual for Hell, but this... this was different.) The sounds were not the cries of Sinners in combat, but more akin to the horrified shrieks during the Exterminations.
And then there was another noise.
A horrible, head-splitting sound that tore through the air like a hot, jagged knife through soft flesh.
"Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"
Charlie felt overwhelmingly nauseas at the sound. The way it wormed into her ears reminded her of the whispering she had heard when she looked at the writing in the ruined VoxTek store. The edges of Charlie's vision blurred like the burning strips of film. She knelt over, leaning her weight on her trident. She could understand any and all languages, but those were not words. At least... nothing she could comprehend. Her crimson eyes finally focused on the creature before her.
That was no Sinner, nor was it any type of angel Charlie had ever seen before. There was a moving mass of tentacles, eyes, and teeth all writhing in a fleshy mound right outside the mansion gates. One of the tentacles grabbed at the metal bars and screamed again as they held strong. Even though it was at a distance, Charlie could tell the thing was massive. It was taller than the towering metal gates that stood in its way.
"Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"
The cry came again but thankfully was a bit softer as Charlie felt something covering her ears, an arm around her shoulders. She looked up, her vision starting to clear up as she saw her dad behind her. "You have to cover your ears, crabapple. The sounds they make can hurt us."
"Dad!" Charlie wrapped her arms around him. She could feel pressure over her ears as she pressed her cheek into her father's shoulder. She reached up with her free hand. Earmuffs. That was surprisingly helpful. "What the fuck is that thing."
"It's called a Shoggoth, an incredibly dangerous little shit that's sometimes found in Limbo, they're from another realm entirely." Her dad hugged her back before pulling her so she stood behind him. "And this guy is a long fucking way from home." Charlie was impressed she could still hear him, but the earmuffs were either enchanted to only block out the Shoggoth, or her dad was just speaking incredibly loudly.
"WOW! THAT IS AN UGLY SONNUVABITCH!" Angel's voice was coming from behind her. Charlie turned to see some of the Sinners poking their heads out. Carmilla was walking out behind Lucifer, her ears covered.
"Stay inside everyone. I can handle this." Lucifer held out both his arms. "If you don't have the proper protection this thing will fuck you up beyond repair. Even your Sinner regeneration won't save you."
"So, like an angel. Big fucking deal. We've been there, done that." Cherri seemed to be actively trying to force her way out of the door and into the fray.
"Not like an angel. Very different." Charlie's father's response was so quick he almost cut Cherri off. "If this thing so much as touches you it can make you sick." The Shoggoth let out another cry, but this time Charlie didn't feel nearly as overwhelmed. She did see some of her friends start to hunch over, looking ill.
"Cover your ears!" Carmilla was already rushing past Lucifer toward the monster. "FOUL BEAST! YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE!"
"IS NO ONE LISTENING TO ME TODAY!? STAY THE FUCK BACK!" Gold chains erupted from the ground with just a simple movement of the Devil's hand. They wrapped all over the creature in question who, at this point, had pulled the gate from the ground and tossed it away, lumbering toward the mansion. It tried to move against the restraints but the gold held steadfast. Carmilla was close enough to it, with a spin her shoe sliced the glistening, iridescent flesh. At once all the monster's eyes rolled to look toward her, they were a dingy yellow with a pupil so red it looked like a drop of human blood in purulent pools. The blood that came from the creature looked almost more like oil, a thick and viscous black that seemed to have an almost reflective tint. "Carmilla! Get your ass back here!"
"With all due respect, your majesty," Carmilla danced around the writhing tentacles that had yet to be restrained with gold chains. "This thing must be destroyed."
"Yeah, I'm pretty fucking aware of that. That's what I am doing, asshole!" Lucifer was focused. Charlie saw his horns were out. His tail was thrashing back and forth like a prowling animal.
"I'm staying inside!" Mimzy gave a wave from inside the house. "I'll listen to you gorgeous!" Lucifer either didn't hear her, or didn't care as he stayed focused on the target before him.
"I wanna stab it." Niffty's eyes were wide as she looked at the monstrosity in the distance. Adam took one look at her and kicked the small Sinner back through the door before it was once again covered by the steel panel. There was an explosion as the Shoggoth was struck by a bomb. Charlie could guess who had thrown it even before she heard Cherri cheering.
"DIRECT FUCKING HIT! EAT SHIT YOU DISGUSTING BASTARD!"
"Well, you seem to have complete control over the situation here. So, I assume you won't mind if I just observe. I don't exactly carry angelic steel on me, and I can follow direction, unlike some of you." Alastor stepped to the side, out of the door and away from Charlie's father standing on the opposite side of the porch from Adam and Lucifer. He made a vague gesture toward the others. Adam seemed to just be staring at the creature, looking more confused than anything else.
"I haven't seen one of these guys outside of Purgatory before..."
"They show up on Earth sometimes, probably not when you were there. But they sure as shit don't belong in fucking Hell. So, if everyone could please stand back and let me actually get rid of the problem, that would be great." Lucifer was getting frustrated, Charlie could tell. She looked at the trident and shield still in her grip, then at the monster that Carmilla was slicing up, splattering that strange black blood all over the grass. She looked at Vaggie beside her, spear raised, pointed to fly into battle at a moment's notice. She held up her hand. She couldn't control Carmilla, but she could at least hold off her friends. She tapped her trident on the ground with what she hoped was an authoritative thud.
"Stand back, let dad take care of this." She tried to sound commanding.
"Ug that thing has no fucking camera presence." Vox was looking a little worse for wear as he surveyed the fight from the back. "People won't buy any merchandise of something that revolting. I don't even think I can record this fight because the audience has to be able to look at the monster without throwing up long enough to enjoy it."
"Don't fucking record this." Lucifer pointed a finger at Vox without actually turning to look at him. "In fact, you and Adam need to go back inside. Now. We're not done talking." He made another gesture with his hand and the ground beneath the Shoggoth began to glow. A portal began to open, the Shoggoth screamed as flames from the portal licked at its underbelly. (Though it was hard to tell which way the creature was facing.) All the mouths were open, shrieking that horrible sound. Charlie winced; thankful her ears were covered. "Yeah, I bet you don't like that, do you mother fucker. But you know what I don't like? Being interrupted!" Flames were coming from her father's mouth as Charlie could almost feel the anger inside him.
"Oh, I don't feel well..." Vox stumbled a bit, and backed into the side of the house, grabbing at the sides of his screen. Charlie could see her friends covering their ears with varying degrees of success. Vaggie was the only one still standing firm, an arm around Charlie's shoulders.
"You dare try and step into my domain!?" Lucifer's voice was booming with power. Charlie had not seen such determination in him since the battle with Heaven. "You have trespassed here! And for that: You. Will. Pay." The portal beneath the Shoggoth was widening, almost reaching a size large enough to swallow the massive creature.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait..." Adam grabbed Charlie's father by the shoulder. "Something isn't right." His eyes were narrowed. And while it seemed as if the First Man were speaking to Lucifer, he was looking all around.
"Not now, Adam." Lucifer was too focused on his task to bother with his typical insult. (Or maybe, he and Adam were making progress with how they treated one another. Charlie wanted to be hopeful, but realistically it was far more likely that her father's mind was simply on the crisis at hand.) "Every bit of Hell this abomination touches risks spreading Corruption."
"Something isn't right." Adam pulled harder on the Devil. "There's music..."
"You didn't cover your fucking ears!?" Finally, Lucifer whipped around to face Adam who was still looking all around, his expression was almost disoriented. "Go inside. Now." His tone was severe, his voice so soft that Charlie almost couldn't hear it. As her father's back was turned, the Shoggoth gave another, soul-splitting shriek of agony.
"Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"
"Fuck!" Lucifer whirled back to face the Shoggoth. Adam reeled backward at the horrible sound, grabbing at the sides of his head. He hit the floor hard, body going rigid.
"Oh fuck! Adam!" Charlie would be honest; he was not someone she cared about. In fact, of all the people here, Adam was the one she wouldn't cry over should something happen. But at the same time, he was a Sinner now. And that made him one of her people. She didn't want to see him convulsing on the floor, his eyes rolled back into his head.
"Don't get near him!" Lucifer immediately forced Charlie back with his hand while trying to keep eyes on the Shoggoth. (It almost looked as if some of the golden chains had started breaking.) "While he's down! Someone fucking restrain him!" Wires came out of the sides of the house and began wrapping around Adam's wrists and ankles, binding him to the ground. Charlie saw Vox with his eyes glowing, hands resting against the mansion's solid frame. He was on his knees, it looked almost as if he had been vomiting only moments before, however, his reaction to Lucifer's instructions was almost instantaneous. He was watching Adam with obvious distrust in his eyes. Adam's eyes slowly blinked back open but there was something... off about his gaze. His eyes looked glassy; his expression seemed devoid of Adam's usual egotistical snark.
All at once Adam let out a sound, somewhere between a growl and a scream as he started to fight against the wires holding him back. Charlie had heard him make the sound before, but not since the day he had first arrived in Hell. When Adam had awoken, he would make these horrible, unnatural sounds. But her dad had returned and the next thing she knew, Adam was fine. (Though, perhaps, he wasn't quite as fine as her father had led her to believe.) Adam started to contort his body trying to tear at the makeshift restraints. His neck bent at an angle Charlie had never seen a human achieve before as he started ripping at the wires with his teeth.
"Oh no you fucking don't!" Instantly Vaggie was on him, her foot pressed into Adam's chest, the blade of her spear under his chin, forcing his head up. "You stay put." Her wings were flared out, as Adam looked up to her, his lips curled into what looked to be an animalistic snarl. (The princess swore she could hear the low sound of Adam growling, even through her earmuffs.) The gold pupil in Adam's empty, black eye, flickered down to look at the blade under his chin. For a moment, it almost looked as if he was grinning as the tip of the spear pressed into his throat, not enough to draw blood, of course. (Vaggie knew better than to slit his throat when he was in the middle of the Redemption process.) But there was enough pressure that Adam knew it was there.
And then suddenly Adam was gone.
"The FUCK!?" Vaggie jumped backward, the wires that had been holding Adam fell uselessly to the ground.
"What just happened? That doesn't sound like a good: what the fuck." Charlie's dad tilted his head back to try and get a look at the Adam situation as it unfolded. It seemed that her dad was having his own struggles with the Shoggoth as it was trying to squirm away from the flames beneath it, the way its body moved to try and escape almost made the flesh seem like liquid- as if there were no bones under that rancid skin, despite the fact that Charlie could clearly see the jagged, needle-like teeth as the mouths were open and crying out. The center mass of the beast was tilting away from the portal opening, and some of the golden chains that were holding it in place seemed to have broken. (Most likely due to her father's lack of focus. Charlie felt like shit for dividing his attention during a pivotal moment in a fight, but no one had expected Adam to just vanish out of thin fucking air.) Carmilla was using the blades on her feet to cut at the Shoggoth, forcing it to try and move away from her and back into position.
"I don't want to alarm you, dad, but Adam sort of... kind of... just... disappeared." Charlie tried to keep her tone calm, but there wasn't exactly a great way to break news like that in the middle of a massive battle.)
"He WHAT!?" Lucifer turned to see the wires on the ground and Vaggie looking frantically around, poking at the ground with her spear. His eyes fell on the blade and Charlie could see him tense. "Did you touch Adam with the blade?" His voice was calm the way Charlie's had been, so she knew for a fact that it was a front.
"Yeah, he was chewing at his restraints. I had to make him stop. It looked like he might break free." Vaggie was still looking everywhere for the First Man. "You told us to keep him away."
"I know where he is. There's nothing we can do about him now, but if you're holding something reflective just be aware he might pop out of it. If he does, drop it and get away from him." Lucifer sighed.
"He might what?" Charlie wasn't quite sure she understood the instructions as she looked at her shining shield and trident.
"It's his Sinner Power. Just stay away from him. I'm sorry crabapple, I'll explain it later when I'm not trying to do something else." Her father's attention was back on the Shoggoth that was desperately trying to dig its slimy appendages into the soil in the Devil's yard, trying to avoid the violent slashes of Carmilla's shoes. "Carmilla!" he raised his voice. "Let's fucking end this!"
"Of course, your majesty!" Carmilla picked up her pace, dodging the thrashing tentacles and cutting into the Shoggoth causing it to rear back, away from her and back over the widening portal. More gold chains appeared, grabbing whatever writhing bit of flesh the manacles could clasp around and pulling the monstrosity back over the hole in Hell that Lucifer had created.
"Ready!?" Lucifer had both his hands raised, gripping his staff. There was a blazing hot wind whipping around them all, that seemed to be coming from the blazing hole beneath the Shoggoth, it smelled strongly of brimstone. Carmilla's pointed shoes sliced through the last remaining tendrils of flesh that had tried to dig their way into the dry, hardened ground causing the monstrosity to pull completely away from her.
"Ready!" She called to Lucifer and all at once the gold chains released and the monster plummeted into the swirling pit below with a horrible howling sound that resonated around the courtyard before it was cut short as the portal vanished.
"Oh, thank fuck." Charlie's father immediately sat down on the hard ground. He looked exhausted, breathing hard, his tail curling around him. He seemed drained; it was a bit surprising. Sure, those spells looked difficult, but Charlie had just never seen her father run out of energy. He leaned his head back for a moment, his eyes closed. "Now we just gotta find Adam."
"Yeah, you need to explain that." Charlie went to move to sit by him. "And about the Shoggoth. I've never seen one of those, and we used to visit Purgatory all the time with mom."
"It's... complicated..." Lucifer rubbed his eyes.
"It wasn't all that tough!" Cherri cheered, an arm around Angel's neck, practically forcing him to lean down.
"I just wish I'da brought different guns. I coulda done way more." Angel looked annoyed by the whole disaster. "But I thought bringing too many weapons to your dad's party would come across as a fucking threat, ya know? But these babies don't have the best range." Angel's second set of arms appeared holding two small handguns. Lucifer looked at them with disinterest.
"Not sure how effective those would be. Shoggoths aren't very intelligent, but they're durable."
"But how did one get here?" Carmilla started walking back toward the group, the black blood on her shoe seemed to almost stain the ground where she walked. In fact, as Charlie looked, the grass and dirt beneath where the Shoggoth had been looked almost as if it had been charred. It looked blackened and brittle. She would look into that later, right now she needed to think about her dad.
"Well, I think that was handled nicely." Alastor clapped his hands together. "And everyone knows it's not a party without some degree of property destruction! I'd still call it quite entertaining."
"You didn't do anything." Lucifer narrowed his eyes at the Radio Demon, and Charlie reached out, gently placing her hand on her dad's arm to try and calm him. She knew tensions were high between the two, and this was not the time or place for them to start an argument.
"Quite frankly you didn't need me to. It's impolite to fight in someone else's home if not specifically asked. Plus you're the one telling everyone to stay back. I'm jut the only good listener in attendance, it seems."
"You literally did nothing. I did more than you." Vox was on his hands and knees on the ground, glaring daggers and the grinning demon in crimson. Alastor seemed anything but bothered by the comment, simply chuckling.
"Ah yes, you failing to restrain one Sinner was instrumental to our success."
"Oh, shut the fuck up." Vox's palms were flat on the ground. He turned his gaze from Alastor looking back down. "Look, we've all just had a day, and I'm not one to be needlessly cryptic unless it directly benefits me. But does no one fucking feel the ground shaking?" Charlie braced her hands on the ground behind her, laying her shield against her side between her father and herself, and her trident on her other side. When she focused her attention on the feeling of the warm ground beneath her, she could feel something... it was like a trembling. Before Charlie could really react, Adam's torso pulled itself out of her shield, grabbing her dad and trying to bite him, nails digging into his shoulders. As Charlie grabbed her trident, Adam seemed to give up on the feat, throwing her dad backward into the mansion wall instead. He growled before vanishing again.
"Dad are you-" Charlie never even had a chance to finish her sentence. The next few seconds seemed to all happen at once.
The ground beneath her hand crumbled and a writhing mass of tentacles exploded out with such force that Charlie skidded back. She managed to grab her shield with her free hand and slice at the tentacles with her trident as they came flailing down around her like hail. Vaggie pulled her back in a fluid motion her spear plunging into one of the wide and wild, dingy, yellow eyes. There was the sound of fire from Angel's guns, the sizzling sound of Cherri lighting a bomb. A playing card whizzed past her from Husk, cutting into the beast and causing it to scream.
"DAD!" Charlie could only think of her father who was on the other side of the beast.
"Your majesty!" Carmilla started to rush toward them but there was another splitting shriek of:
"Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"
And the ground started to disintegrate behind her and another abomination burst from the dirt before Carmilla had a chance to react, one of those tentacles was wrapped around her neck, squeezing and pulling as it forcibly separated Carmilla's head from her body.
"FUCK!" Charlie felt flames engulf her, her horns pierced through the skin of her forehead, her tail thrashing around as she turned into her demon form. Two of these fuckers. In a rage the princess jumped back into the fray. She couldn't even see her dad. She couldn't see much of anything save for slick and slimy, bulging skin and flecks of blood, black, gold, and red. One of the tentacles wrapped around her writs. The feel of it against her skin was painful. It felt like burning. Charlie immediately cut into the offending appendage and the black blood splattered on her. Staining her clothes. It smelled as bad as it sounded, or perhaps, even worse.
"Charlie!" Vaggie tried to pull her back again, but the princess wasn't about to stand down.
"Dad needs me!" She summoned up explosions of her own to keep the greedy gnashing teeth and flailing tentacles away from her. And more importantly, away from her friends. The second Shoggoth had bounded its way over. Wires came from the house and started running electricity through the Shoggoth in front of her. She could see gold blood dripping from one of its mouths, mixing with the monster's own black blood. Charlie felt a wave of fear as she thought about her father.
"EAT SHIT YOU FUCKS!" Despite how weak he looked; Vox was fighting back. He had every wire burying into the monster's skin causing it to convulse. The second one came hurtling toward them, one of the massive, swinging tendrils came toward Vox who teleported away. It hit the house with such force it started to crack the foundation. Vox sent another wave of electricity as he reappeared. The Shoggoth went to grab him. Charlie saw his form flicker, but the teleportation failed as Vox was picked up and slammed into the side of the mansion. The already unsteady foundation collapsed on top of him. The wires all went limp at once.
Fuck.
Vox had actually tried to help.
Charlie tried to keep both of the monsters at bay, as it fell to just her and her friends. She knocked the limbs back with her shield and tried to hit whatever weak spot she could find with her trident. The prongs found themselves buried in one of the bulbous eyes and it screamed again.
"Fuck." Alastor's voice came from somewhere on the other side of the two Shoggoths who were, at this point, basically a solid wall of flesh and teeth. Charlie could hear screams and cries from her other friends, but could only see Vaggie who was trying to pry her wing out of one of the mouths, the teeth tearing into the feathers and bone like paper. Charlie summoned another explosive burst of fireworks to singe the flesh by that mouth, stabbing her trident violently into the creature. A second mouth shifted through the flesh to bite onto Charlie's wrist. The teeth felt like burning daggers.
Fuck.
She was barely able to push these things back.
She had to think of something- anything- to destroy these monsters before they tore apart everyone she loved.
There was a burst of light and the Shoggoths both recoiled away, releasing Charlie's hand. Vaggie's wing was torn clean off as the monster jerked backward, but she was still standing, spear at the ready. Finally, Charlie saw her father, some of his wings were missing, one of his legs was gone, he had wounds all over him. But he was alive. She ran to him, holding her shield and weapon out to protect him as the abominations recovered from the blast, clearly enraged. She felt a hand on her shoulder, Vaggie was by her side, blood dripping from her back.
"Don't worry about me." Vaggie must have seen the horror in Charlie's eyes as she smiled. "Not my first time I've lost my wings."
"Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!" Both of the monsters screamed out in pain and rage as they came bearing down toward the princess.
"STAY AWAY FROM MY DAD YOU UGLY FUCKS!" Charlie was not quite as in tune with her magic as she should have been. She had lost interest in studying as she got older and the idea of the hotel came to her. However, she was able to make a ring of flames that seemed to deter the Shoggoths enough that they didn't crush the Princess who was kneeling on the ground.
"Charlie...no... you got bit..." her dad was staring at the bleeding wound on her wrist. "Fuck..."
"It's just a bite. I'm fine." She didn't want to tell him about Carmilla. She just needed to push through this first. She bashed a tentacle back as it came over the fire. The bombs, bullets, and razor-sharp cards from her friends were flying past, desperately trying to keep the creatures at bay.
Then all at once, the sky was ablaze with white fire. For the first time, it was like a sun was shining in Hell. Charlie almost didn't notice it in the chaos, but it was so jarring she had to look up.
"Double fuck." Lucifer grabbed to his daughter and tried to force himself to his feet- or rather foot-, grabbing his staff.
"What the fuck was that!?" Angel's voice was close to the princess, she turned to see that he, Cherri, and Husk had made their way to her side.
"Nothing good." Her father coughed, blood splattering out of his mouth and onto his coat as he continued to struggle to fight back the Shoggoths as they bit and tore at every bit of Sinner or Hellborn they could get their tentacles and mouths on. Charlie's clothes were damp with blood of black, red, and gold, as she held her dad up with one arm and used her shield to protect them both.
"Don't move, you're hurt."
"We're all gonna be absolutely fucked if I can't get it together." His expression was determined, but Charlie had never seen her father look so frail. He was Lucifer, King of Hell. He could do anything, defeat anybody. He had swept in to save her when Adam had gotten the upper hand.
"We'll get through this." Charlie held her dad's shoulders tight. "Right guys?" She felt a rush of wind behind her and as she turned, Cherri, Husk, and Angel Dust were gone. Charlie felt fear settle into her stomach. "Vaggie I-" The wind brushed her cheek again and Vaggie was gone.
"Are you fucking kidding me!?" Her dad grabbed tightly to her. "YOU CAN'T HAVE HER! DO YOU HEAR ME YOU FUCKING BASTARDS! YOU CAN'T HAVE HER!"
"Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name." A voice came from above Charlie. She looked up, and her heart leapt into her throat. Floating just above where she and her father were fighting for their lives, was an angel. Charlie had never seen an angel like this before. They wore a mask similar to the Exorcists save one of the eyes was shaped like a cross, and rather than the white lighting that illuminated their mask, this one was lit with a brilliant blue. The mouth was curled into a haunting smile. Rather than horns, the top of the mask was covered by a burning, flaming, blue, halo. There were eyes in the flames that were staring down at the princess and her father. From the angel's back were large, blue wings, eyes hidden in the feathers as well. In the angel's hand was a sword, alight with sapphire flames. "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven..." The sword was pointed downward, the angel tilted its head and Charlie became unsure if she should be prioritizing shielding off the Shoggoths, or the angel.
"Don't you take one step closer!" Charlie's father's voice boomed over that of the angel as he pulled Charlie back, moving more toward the Shoggoths just to get away from the sword. Charlie looked, noticing the creatures hadn't made any moves toward them since the Angel's arrived. She realized then that they couldn't. They were bound to the ground with chains of blue, red, and white. Their mouths were screaming but no sound seemed to be emitted.
"And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us." The sword was slowly raised up. "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." The angel moved fluidly as they swung the sword downward toward the Morningstar family. Charlie held up her shield, bracing for impact, holding her father close. "AMEN!" The angel's voice shook the very ground, there was a sensation like rain, the soft sound of thudding against Charlie's shield. And then... nothing. Carefully, she lowered the shield to see the front covered in the inky, black blood. The two Shoggoths were split down the middle. The bodies were still burning with blue flames that seemed to be consuming the flesh, turning the massive monstrosities into nothing. "Burn it all."
"Yes Michael." There was a voice in the distance. Charlie saw the angel with the blue wings had landed, dragging his sword along the ground, leaving a trail of flame behind him as he walked toward her. There was another angel behind him. This one had red wings; the voice more feminine than that of the angel called Michael. Her hands were holding a scroll with glowing text.
"You stay the fuck back." Charlie's father's only remaining wing flared back as Michael drew closer. He tried pushing Charlie back, and the Princess could see part of his hand had been bitten off in the fray. His eyes were wide, his chest was heaving beneath his jacket stained with golden blood. Charlie had never seen him like this before as his red and gold eyes stared up at the Angel begore them. He looked panicked.
"Lucifer..." Michael's mask was still smiling, the empty eyes boring into Devil and his daughter. Charlie jumped to her feet; her tail thrashed as she held up her shield in front of her dad.
"You heard him! STAY THE FUCK BACK!" When she was on her feet, she realized that the angel called Michael was not nearly as large as she had first thought. In fact, he looked to be about her dad's size. But she knew from experience not to underestimate him based on size alone.
"No, no, no, no..." her father sounded as if he were hyperventilating. "Not again. Not again." He was scooting backward, on the ground, trying desperately to get away.
"Gabriel." Michael called out to another angel and Charlie felt that rush of wind again.
"GET THE FUCK AWAY." Her dad's voice was loud for a split second, and then he was gone. Fucking angel. Charlie was about to murder him. She held her shield before her; her trident gripped tightly in her hand. She thrust it forward toward the angel who sidestepped her so quickly she hadn't even seen him move. One moment he was in front of her and in the blink of an eye he had moved to the side. The mask was staring at her, but she could see no eyes behind it. She stabbed toward him again, and again he stepped to the side. This time, she felt soft fabric and pressure on her arm as he grabbed her with a hand clad in a black glove.
"You were bitten."
"I'm going to fucking kill you." She tried to pull her hand back, but the angel wasn't letting go. She used her shield to bash him in the side of his head. The helmet must have been made of something incredibly tough, because despite the strength of her blow, the angel didn't even flinch. He let go of the flaming sword, and it moved so it was floating over his shoulder, pointed toward Charlie. He snapped his fingers and a vial appeared in his free hand. "LET ME GO YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"
"This will be painful." The mask met her gaze as she hit him with the shield again. "Be not afraid, this is for your own good." And with that, he poured what looked like water onto Charlie's wrist. It burned like acid. She wanted to cry out but she wasn't about to give the angel the satisfaction. Instead, she gathered her magic and summoned up a burst of light, so brilliantly bright and hot, that the angel released her hand. "You really shouldn't do that." As the light cleared, she saw the angel had taken his sword in hand once again.
"Where did you take the others!?" Charlie's fangs were bared. She had to think of something, anything to take this fucker down. But hitting him was like hitting the goddamn wall.
"Others? We took care of them."
"You WHAT!?" Charlie had never heard her own voice take on such a wrathful tone before. But hearing the completely emotionless response from Michael had broken something in her. She charged forward, Hellfire left in a trail under her feet. She moved so quickly it was like time stood still. She took her trident and tried to bury it in the angel's heart. He dodged, but this time she could see him move, and she changed her trajectory and managed to cut him on the arm. Michael looked at the cut on his arm, a trickle of gold blood started to be visible, then he looked at Charlie.
"You seem upset."
"UPSET!?" Charlie's voice barely even sounded like her own. "YOU MURDERED MY FAMILY! MY FRIENDS! MY GIRLFRIEND! OF COURSE I AM FUCKING UPSET!"
"..." There was silence from the angel as he looked at Charlie through the mask, then looked behind him at the blood-soaked battleground. "Wait, what?"
"The fuck do you mean what!?" By this point there were tears in her eyes, but her body was burning with such fury that they evaporated before they ever reached her cheeks.
"Michael!" There was the female angel's voice again. Charlie's eyes scanned desperately for her. She saw her with Carmilla's body in her arms. Charlie had to pick between Michael and the angel with the red wings as her next target. She would kill them both, but she needed a plan. "Take your helmet off! You're scaring her!" And in a blink of an eye, the red winged angel was gone again.
"Oh right, sorry, I guess this thing can be a little spooky. But it does protect my face." Michael brought his hand up and over his face, the helmet vanished with the movement, the flaming halo dissipating into nothing. Charlie was taken aback for a multitude of reasons. For one, the ominous voice using words like: spooky was jarring to say the least. For another, Michael looked incredibly familiar. He had golden hair that had gentle waves and curls, paper white skin, his eyes were completely blue, no sclera, no iris, no pupils, just large, empty blue. He had two Halos, one that circled around the circumference of his head, and one that seemed to start at one side of his head where his ears would be, and rise over the head, coming down around the other side. Both halos had eyes embedded in the gold, the eyes were white with blue pupils, all currently directed toward Charlie. But in spite of the halos, the blue eyes, and the fact that his hair was messy, Charlie could only see her dad when she looked at him. The resemblance was uncanny. Still, she tightened her grip on her trident, pointing it toward Michael. The eyes on the halos glanced at it before looking back up at her. (It was easier to tell where he was looking by watching the halos, rather than the eyes on his face.) "Be not afraid, the threat has been destroyed."
"Where is my fucking dad!?" Charlie had lost some of her fervor upon seeing Michael's face- the helmet was a lot more intimidating. But she was still ready to cut the bitch down where he stood.
"Your dad?" He repeated the words back at her, looking her up and down. "Well, there were a lot of people you will have to be more specific. Does he have any defining characteristics? Like a TV for a head?"
"What!? Fuck no!" Charlie recoiled at the idea. Was Michael playing dumb right now or some shit? "My dad is literally the goddamn King of Hell!"
"Oh gosh!" His whole face seemed to light up. "Lucifer has a daughter!? That's amazing! Look at you! You're so pretty! Ah! You look just like your dad! I don't know how I didn't see it before! Probably because of all the blood on my helmet. Really distorts the vision." He was talking so much Charlie was having trouble following what he said. Every time he reached toward her; she knocked his hand away with the trident. "Oh wow, I have missed so many birthdays." His face instantly fell. "I'm a terrible uncle."
"Uncle!?" Charlie never questioned her dad about his time in Heaven. It always made him so fucking sad, her mom just said to leave the subject be. However. There was no mistaking what Michael had said, and the resemblance to her dad was uncanny. She had just assumed (apparently wrongly) that her father would have mentioned if he had a fucking brother. That meant this wasn't just an angel, this was an Archangel.
"I will make it up to you! That's a promise! But first I still have to finish taking care of you! I already got your wrist, but I'll be honest, this whole healing thing isn't really my forte. I mean I can do it, but I feel like Raph still needs to look you over, check for more wounds, make sure none of that blood got in your system because let me tell you that stuff is pretty nasty! The longer it sits, the harder it is to get rid of!"
"I just want to know where my dad is." Charlie wasn't about to drop her guard. Michael's entire demeanor was different without the mask's unchanging expression and the booming almost synthetic sounding voice. His real voice sounded... well... like a slightly lighter version of her dad's voice.
"He's with Raph. He got pretty beat up by those Shoggoths, which is, honestly, a little surprising. Maybe he was going easy on them?" Michael spoke as if Charlie had preexisting knowledge on regards to whoever Raph was and the Shoggoth.
"And Raph is going to... what? Finish the job? Interrogate him? Get revenge?" This was about the end to the Exterminations. It was Heaven's retaliation. It had to be.
"Haha." Michael laughed, or at least, said the words haha in a jovial tone. "You have some very interesting ideas! Not entirely sure I am following your train of thought, but your input is still appreciated... um... wow! I actually don't know your name!" His face fell again. "How am I supposed to send birthday cards!? Or even tell the Metatron! I mean, sure she probably already knows but-"
"Charlie." Charlie cut him off as soon as he stopped saying anything that would be relevant. He seemed... more focused on the fact that they were related, rather than the fact that literally everyone Charlie knew had fucking up and vanished. "My name is Charlie."
"Charlie! Oh, that's so pretty! Your dad did a great job picking it out!"
"And you can take me to see my dad? Right?" Charlie tried to use that intimidating voice again, but it seemed to have little to no effect on Michael.
"Well... I'll have to check with Raph first. He's the one with your dad right now. But why don't you come with me and I'll take you to see the others!"
"Others?" Charlie wasn't sure if he meant her friends? Or the angels he had brought with him.
"Yeah! They are gonna be so excited that Lucifer has a kid! I know I am just pleased as punch to meet you!" Clearly, Michael had meant his own kind. He made a huge gesture with his sword over his head flagging down the angel with the red wings. She was by his side in a flash. She had pink skin, red eyes that mirrored Michaels in the fact that they were simply one color She had dark spots on her cheeks, and red rimmed glasses. Her hair was tied back and she too had the two halos, the pupils on the halo's eyes were red to match her wings. "Uri! You won't believe this! Luci had a daughter! You're an aunt!"
"Oh? Is that so." The angel called Uri looked Charlie up and down. Where it was easy to see how Michael was related to her father, Uriel looked entirely different. She was taller, for starters. "Well, it is lovely to meet you. I'm Uriel. But you may call me Uri if you wish. I apologize that we have met under such unfortunate circumstances."
"Do you know where my dad is?" Charlie had to give it a shot. Michael was a bust when it came to direct answers, but maybe this Uriel was going to be a better option. Michael was just telling her the same thing over and over.
"He's with Raph." Uriel nodded toward the mansion. Okay, that was slightly better. She had a vague direction.
"Oh, and you must meet Gabe!" Michael seemed rather excited by her presence. "He's inside?"
"He is." Uriel nodded. "But perhaps you best take her to see her father, if Raphael will allow it.
"Right, right." Michael gestured for Charlie to follow him again, this time into her own house. He walked over the fallen debris that had, at one time, been a wall before it had crushed Vox. Inside was another angel, this one was reminiscent of Sera, with the skin tone and white locks of hair. Only his eyes were a pure white and he had the two halos rather than the one. "Gabe!"
"There you are, Mikey." The angel called Gabe looked relieved to see him. "I gathered all the wounded like you ordered. I got Carmilla's head, but Uri was the one who grabbed the body. Looks like the head was pulled off, not bitten- oh hi there!" He finally seemed to notice Charlie standing by who Charlie assumed to be his leader. He was the tallest of them yet, towering over Charlie and Michael both.
"That's great about the head. That'll make it so much easier to put her back together. If it ate her head who knows if she'd be able to recover from that at all." Michael seemed far too excited about a head being ripped from someone's neck.
"Yep. Um. Who's your friend." The eyes in the halo glanced at Charlie, then back at Michael.
"You mean: who's our niece!" Michael gestured excitedly toward Charlie. Gabriel looked mostly confused. "Luci had a kid."
"Oh! OH! That's so cool! Hi! I'm Gabriel, you can call me Gabe." He smiled at Charlie with the same sort of excitement Michael seemed to show. Charlie wasn't sure what their end-game was, but she would play along until she figured out where they had put the others.
"Charlie." Her reply was short, but still polite. Best not to piss these guys off until she figured out how to kill them. She had only managed to scratch Michael's arm, and even doing that had left Charlie feeling exhausted. "You guys were saying something about Carmilla?"
"We were! Yes." Michael clapped his hands together. "Just discussing how she was decapitated. Looks like the head was removed through pulling not through biting. It's a much easier fix because if her head was in the Shoggoths insides, the Corruption would be way worse. Luckily the little guy wasn't too hungry, I guess, because he just knocked her head to the side. Should make her recovery much easier."
"Right." Charlie had understood each of those words individually, but there seemed to be some sort of connotation for the word corruption that she was missing. However, Michael assumed she knew what he was talking about. "So how did the Shoggoths even get to my dad's mansion? They live in Purgatory, right?"
"That is a question, isn't it?" Michael put one hand under his chin. "They shouldn't be able to access Hell at all, what with the barrier and all that. And I wouldn't really say they're from Purgatory. They're just sometimes in Purgatory. It's a real problem, actually."
"I am going to make sure I didn't miss any wounded." Gabriel gave Michael a small salute. "Maybe I can take a look at the barrier while I'm out?"
"And also look at the soil, if you don't mind." The way the angels gave commands seemed really strange. Charlie had been under the impression that Michael was in charge. But he seemed more into suggestions than direct orders. "Judging by the battlefield, it seems as if the Shoggoths were moving underground. That could put any plant life at risk of Corruption. The last thing we need is that mess spreading around Hell."
"Of course!" There was that rush of wind again, and Gabriel had blinked completely out of existence. Charlie had to do a double take but there was no sign of him.
"Don't you worry about a thing, Charlie, we'll help clean this up until your dad is ready to take charge again. Then we will be out of your hair, because I know he doesn't want anything from Upstairs. And I respect that." Michael kept mentioning her dad in the present tense, which was relieving. But the Princess was certain that any help an Angel wanted to give was just going to screw them over in the long run.
"Can you take me to my dad?" Charlie needed to see him, to know he was okay.
"Let me check." Charlie saw Michael blink out of view the way Gabriel had done, but the accompanying wind wasn't quite as powerful. He reappeared only a second later. "Let Raph finish up, and then I can bring you myself."
"What about my friends? My girlfriend." Vaggie had betrayed Heaven. Aside from her father, she would be the one the angels hated the most.
"You want to see them? Sure! Which one is your girlfriend?"
"Vaggie, she's-" Charlie didn't want to call her a Fallen angel, not to Michael's face. On the off chance he didn't know (since it sounded like she might have only run into Gabriel) she wasn't about to reveal that. Michael vanished again and reappeared. (His speed was intimidating, Charlie wouldn't lie.)
"There's a Vaggie this way! All the injured parties are in these rooms down here. We kinda pre-treated the ones we could. Raph really does the heavy lifting with this sort of thing, but I help where I can. " He led Charlie down the hall to one of the many vacant bedrooms, that had once belonged to staff. He opened the door and Vaggie was instantly on her feet, spear in hands.
"LET HER GO!" Vaggie charged toward Michael and the angelic spear struck him directly in his face before bouncing back off of him. There was a moment where he stared at Vaggie in silence before recoiling away with the most unconvincing groan of pain Charlie had ever heard.
"Well, gosh darn, that was quite the blow. I guess I have no choice!" He immediately righted his posture. "You two have fun! I will come get you when Raph is finished! I gotta try and find whatever's moving in the mirrors." And in a blink, he was gone again. Charlie ran to Vaggie, holding her in her arms. She felt Vaggie's embrace, the former Exorcist took Charlie's chin in her hand, tilting her head down and kissing her deeply. Charlie held the kiss, the relief of seeing Vaggie alive finally hitting her. She felt tears streaming down her face.
"Hey, don't cry." Vaggie's voice was gentle, warm, loving, and Charlie only held her tighter.
"You're okay..."
"I am. Lost a wing and some fingers," she held up her hand, "but they'll grow back. Won't be the first time. You'd think with all the regeneration I would get my eye back at some point, but oh well." Vaggie's attempt at humor made Charlie laugh through the tears. "But how are you."
"I got bit on the wrist, and I had fucking acid poured on the wound for some reason, and all I want is to know that everyone is okay but I just keep getting these confusing fucking answers from the angels and also they're my fucking family? But I don't give a shit about any of that because I just want to see my fucking dad! But every time I ask Michael is like: Oh he's with Raph BUT THAT DOESN'T FUCKING MEAN ANYTHING TO ME! WHY IS EVERYONE IN MY GODDAMN FAMILY ALLERHIC TO GIVING ME A STRAIGHT FUCKING ANSWER!?"
"Woah, woah, woah, breathe." Vaggie grabbed both her hands, holding them to her chest. "Just breathe, sweet heart."
"Sorry," Charlie took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. "I have just had such a shitty fucking day today."
"I can see that."
"I just want answers. Dad always just says: I'll explain it later," Charlie's impression of his father's voice wasn't great, but it got a chuckle out of Vaggie, and that brought a smile to her face. "But he never fucking explains anything. He just dodges the question until I stop asking. And now I have fucking Uncle Michael I guess who explains literally everything but assumes I have some fucking well of background knowledge to have any goddamn inkling about whatever the fuck he's explaining."
"Hearing you call him Uncle Michael is fucking weird." Vaggie sounded more amused than anything else. "He's the leader of Heaven's armies. At least, that's what I was told. I never met the guy. But if that was him just now... I expected him to be taller." She pulled Charlie into her arms again, hugging her tightly, planting a loving kiss on her tear-stained rosy cheek. "But I can explain something: Raph. I assume he's talking about Raphael, the Archangel of Healing."
"Healing?" Charlie blinked as she repeated the word back at Vaggie. Sure, Michael had been talking as if he were helping, but a part of Charlie was convinced that was all code for some sort of bizarre assassination attempt. "Why?"
"I dunno, Heaven's weird. It's probably more of that works in mysterious ways bullshit that they're always on about."
"So, you think he's okay?" Charlie had Vaggie back, and she didn't seem any worse off than when the princess had seen her last.
"Of course." She brought Charlie's head down so it could rest on her shoulder. "Knowing your dad, he's giving them a Hell of a time."
"I bet." Charlie allowed herself to relax, just slightly. Vaggie was stroking her hair, it felt nice. Her horns started to recede, her tail disappearing. "Thank you."
"For what?" Vaggie looked down at her.
"Everything? Making me feel better, protecting me, explaining what you know... It can't be easy for you to talk about shit with Heaven. So... thank you."
"You hardly need protecting." Vaggie smiled at her. "That being said, I would die for you."
"Please don't." Charlie lifted her head, kissing Vaggie softly. "I love you."
"I love you too."
A knock on the door drew both their attention. Vaggie grabbed her spear, slowly getting to her feet, separating herself from Charlie. She threw it open to see Michael. He gave a friendly wave, looking at the spear Vaggie was pointing directly at his throat with no reaction. "Hey! Your dad is stable! He will be just thrilled to see you!"
"Dad!" Charlie was on her feet in an instant. She looked at Vaggie. "Can she come too?"
"Um... probably just you. Raph isn't exactly big on visitors, especially those we haven't finished treating." Michael did look apologetic, but Charlie had seen that same look on Sera when she had doomed Hell to the slaughter.
"Fine." Charlie nodded, walking to the door. Vaggie pressed the spear to Michael's neck, the tip not even making an indentation in the paper-white skin.
"If you hurt her, I will fucking destroy you."
"Awe, that's really sweet." Michael moved the spear with his hand. "But I promise you, there's no need to worry! This is my niece, you know. Come on, Charlie, let's go see your dad!"
"I'll be fine." Charlie gave one last kiss to Vaggie before facing Michael. "I have my eye on you."
"Well, I would hope so, I am leading the way. Otherwise, you would get lost." The threat was not nearly as effective as she wanted, seeing as how Michael simply turned and started walking down the hall. His wings were gone, he was dressed rather simply in a blue sweater vest and white collared shirt. His sleeves were rolled up, Charlie could see golden cuffs on both of his wrists. She thought she could see faint scarring on his arms but she couldn't be sure. He took Charlie to her father's bedroom, throwing open the door with a friendly: "Luci! We brought your daughter!"
"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER YOU SACK OF SHIT! I WILL STAB YOUR FUCKING EYES OUT!" Charlie heard her dad and instantly ran toward him. He was on a bed, hooked up to some sort of machines. There was a green skinned angel with blonde hair standing beside him. As Charlie ran toward her dad the angel was suddenly beside her.
"Nope. Stop right there." He grabbed Charlie by the wrist, looking at the bite wound which was already starting to heal up. "Drink this." He handed her a glass. "It will be unpleasant." He had the same, single-color eyes and two halos of the other angels Charlie had met. However, his color seemed to be green.
"No. I'm not going to do that." Charlie tried to knock the glass out of his hand.
"Then you're not getting any closer because you probably have Corruption in your bloodstream and you're not about to make your dad sicker." The angel was the most tired sounding of all four that Charlie had met.
"Raph! Be a little gentler with her, please. You haven't even introduced yourself yet." Michael didn't sound mad, he sounded more like a teacher trying to correct a student. "That's our niece!"
"Don't fucking call her that you dick." Charlie's father was glaring daggers at Michael from the bed.
"Noted." Michael took a step back, Charlie assumed out of fear, but her dad didn't look all that threatening with only one wing and missing a leg and most of a hand.
"I am Raphael. I'm a doctor. Drink this." He tried to hand her the glass again.
"Fuck that." Charlie protested.
"It's..." her dad spoke up, he sounded... rough. "It's fine crabapple, drink it. It's okay."
"You will feel some discomfort." Raphael put the glass in her hand. Charlie looked at the glass, it looked like the same acid they had poured on her wrist. But... her dad would never let her get hurt. He hadn't always been the most... present parent, but damn if he wasn't protective." She took the glass and started to drink.
It sucked.
The liquid felt like trying to swallow fucking fire. In fact, fire was more pleasant because at least Charlie was immune to that. She finished the glass, her lips felt like they were burning. "Holy fu-" She couldn't even finish swearing because she was hit with sudden, intense nausea. Without missing a beat, Raphael handed her a trash bag. Charlie started to vomit. It was worse coming back up than it was on the way down.
"Just let it happen." Raphael had a gentle tone, but he still sounded predominantly just tired. "It'll stop in a moment." And it did. But it left Charlie's mouth tasting terrible. Raphael took the bag from her, burning it with green fire right before her eyes. "Luckily we got here when we did, all of this Corruption can be easily purged."
"Charlie is going to be okay?" Her dad seemed to know exactly what the angel were discussing.
"She should make a complete recovery." Raphael nodded to her. "You can go to him. But take it easy on your magic for at least a week, and of course, stay away from Shoggoths." Charlie wasn't sure if the comment about the Shoggoths was just Raphael being an asshole, or if it was supposed to be genuine advice. His voice was just too monotone for her to analyze his intentions. She ignored him and ran to her dad's side.
"Hey Char-Char." Lucifer hugged her, but Charlie could feel him wincing as she hugged him back. "I'm okay."
"You had fucking better be!" She could feel the tears welling up again. She had only just started being genuinely close with her father, losing him now was out of the question. She wasn't going to be the one to call her mom and tell her that Lucifer had been eaten by some kind of monster. "You still have to tell me what the actual fuck is going on. Is this about the Exterminations?"
"I dunno Michael is it?" Her father's voice was so cold it was almost unrecognizable as he glared at the angel with the blue eyes. Michael looked back at him.
"I... don't know?"
"Did you come here because of all that shit I said about telling you to fuck off and die? And that you could shove your Exterminations right up your ass?" Lucifer's eyes were still bright red his horns still out.
"Wow... I am sensing some animosity. Which is understandable. We haven't exactly seen each other since-" Michael's voice somehow stayed cheerful despite the venom Charlie's father was spitting.
"If you're here to restart the Exterminations then you can fucking kill me right here and now because I'll tell you the same thing that I told the rest of Heaven. You can suck my dick and die. I don't give a flying fuck."
"What are you talking about!? I'm here because Rochele called me. She said you were acting strangely and she was concerned. She said Adam was Corrupted- which is wild because I didn't even know he Fell- and I just came to be sure that everything was okay." For the first time, Michael raised his voice.
"Everything is fucking great. It was even better until I had to see your stupid fucking face again. All of you!" Lucifer shot a glare at Raphael who didn't even look up from the tablet in his hand. "I want you out of Hell, now."
"I know we didn't leave on the best of terms-" Michael seemed unable to get a word in through Lucifer's barrage of insults.
"You cut my fucking wings off." The vitriol in her father's voice was almost startling. Charlie covered her mouth. Michael opened his mouth as if to say something, but he looked at Charlie, and he closed it again.
"No. That did happen. You are right to be upset with me."
"Upset!? UPSET!?" Lucifer was so mad, he was almost laughing as he said the word back. "Michael, I fucking hate you."
"R... right." all the eyes in Michael's halo looked at the floor. "But still, you can't deny that you need our help with-"
"I don't need your help with shit." Lucifer had not looked so hateful even when facing Adam. Michael's cheerful demeanor had completely vanished.
"Hey!" There was the rush of wind again, and suddenly Gabriel was in the room. "I know this is a bad time, because it seems like you two are having a rather heated and emotional argument, but Uri and I looked at the barrier to Hell and-"
"ALL OF YOU GET OUT NOW!"
"Dad," Charlie was more concerned about him exacerbating his injuries at this point. "Please, be careful."
"You need to relax." Raphael finally looked up from what he was doing, if only for a second. "You know it feeds on negativity."
"Oh, excuse me, Raphael, but it is kind of fucking hard to relax when you four come waltzing into Hell like you fucking own the place after everything you've done, causing nothing but fucking goddamn destruction and stress. Get the fuck out of my domain, or I swear I will drag you out by force."
"You only have one hand right now." Gabriel glanced at the Devil's injuries.
"Gabe." Michael's tone was stern. "Luci, my-"
"Don't fucking call me that."
"Lucifer," Michael sighed, his tone was more professional, "You need to relax. And if kicking us out will help you with that, then we will leave."
"Good."
"But I beg you to reconsider, the fact that Shoggoths got in to Hell is alarming and we still haven't analyzed the full extent of the damage. This could spread-"
"Get the fuck out of my sight."
"..." Michael sighed. "As you wish."
"Um, Mikey, not to step on any toes here, but is it a good idea to just... you know... leave?" Gabriel sounded concerned, and Charlie herself had a few doubts. But it was clear her father wouldn't hear of any protest. If Michael had been the one to cut his wings off, she could assume that seeing him would be unimaginably difficult.
"It's not my choice. It's Lucifer's domain and if he wants us gone, we should respect that. After all, we didn't come for official business. Technically, we're trespassing." Michael's voice stayed completely calm; it was almost eerie how much he sounded like her dad.
"You sure as fuck are." Lucifer was watching them all as if expecting Michael to pull out his sword and make a move to slice him in half. His eyes glanced at the floor. "Did you bless my fucking carpet?"
"Did we?" Gabriel looked down at the floor as well. Michael followed suit. Charlie noticed the floor seemed to be lighter in color, almost glowing, but only where Michael and Gabriel were standing.
"Ah! Cheese and crackers!" Michael jumped up, levitating off of the floor. "Sorry about that, Lucifer! I got so focused on the Shoggoths and on you that I wasn't paying attention. That's entirely my fault."
"Yeah. It is." Lucifer's eyes scanned the room. "And my goddamn doorknob? Are you serious right now? How much of my fucking house have you touched!?"
"Sorry! We can fix it-" rather than answer directly, the eyes in Michael's halo glanced at Gabriel and then back at Lucifer before he gave another apology.
"GET OUT!" Flames erupted from her father's lips; his voice shook the room. Raphael grabbed Michael by the shoulders, turning him toward the door.
"You're stressing him out. Leave."
"You too, asshole." Lucifer looked directly at Raphael. The green eyes in his halo all narrowed simultaneously looking back at the Devil. Lucifer grabbed a pillow from his bed with his only good hand and threw it at Raphael's face hitting him directly. He blinked but otherwise didn't react.
"Really? I understand that you're upset, Lucifer. However, while I stabilized your vitals, there is still a lot more work I need to-"
"OUT!"
"Come Raphael." Michael gestured for the green-eyed angel to join him at his side. Raphael seemed torn, looking at the machines he must have set up while Charlie was being introduced to the other angels.
"I've left you holy water that I made myself in case of emergency. Please, please call me if there's any major changes in anyone's condition."
"Not gonna happen." Lucifer's upper lip was curled into a sneer.
"I wasn't talking to you." Raphael turned his head, and instantly the green eyes in the halo snapped to look at Charlie.
"I'm going to make sure they leave." Charlie spoke up. Something about Raphael's words wasn't sitting right with her. Her father was stubborn to a fault. He was the Sin of Pride after all and accepting help could sometimes be difficult for him. She had seen it in the past, she had even seen it (to an extent) in his refusal to explain exactly what the fuck was going on to her or to anyone else. At this point, she swore fucking Adam knew more about this shit than she did. And right now... her dad looked... weak. Seeing him like that? It was scary. Maybe Raphael was lying, maybe her dad was more than capable of recovering on his own. But... Charlie wasn't ready to take that risk. Her dad hadn't been acting right for over a month. At this point, she was desperate.
"I don't want you alone with them, Honeycrisp." Her dad looked panicked by the suggestion.
"Dad, it's fine. I'll just walk them to the mansion door." Charlie needed to ask them a question without her dad around. If he heard her, he might try to stop them from giving her any kind of answer as he seemed desperate to keep this shit as far away from her as possible. But Charlie wasn't a child any longer. She needed answers and if she had to get them from another source? So be it.
"Hey Gabe, you missed a survivor." Suddenly Uriel was with the group. But she wasn't alone, she had something in her grip.
"I did?" Gabriel looked surprised as the object in Uriel's hands lit up.
"MASTERRRRRRRRR!" Syn flew out of Uriel's grip to Lucifer's side, bumping into his cheek over and over again. "I was so scared! I got trapped under a rock and I had no arms to push it off of me!"
"Oh, aren't you adorable!" Gabriel's face lit up. Michael's expression seemed to soften as well.
"Did you make her, Lucifer? She's so cute!"
"First of all, she's not adorable, she's threatening. And secondly, get the fuck out of my house before I rip your fucking halos off and shove them up your respective ass holes." Lucifer wasn't backing down.
"Syn, can you help me show our guests out?" Charlie felt this was a fair compromise to alleviate her father's (valid) concerns.
"Charlie..." Lucifer looked at her pleadingly.
"I'm not going to be alone with them, Syn is there." Charlie replied pointedly. "And you know she won't let anything happen to me."
"Never! I love Charlie!"
"See?" Charlie leaned down kissing her father on the top of his head. She could smell the blood on him, it was almost overwhelming. She fought back the nausea to keep her reassuring smile. "I'll be fine." She put her hand over his only remaining hand, and gave him a reassuring squeeze. "I'll be right back. I just want to make sure these assholes don't skulk around any longer than they have to."
"If you're not back in three minutes, I'm nuking the building." her father's voice sounded incredibly serious.
"Don't do that, please." Charlie hoped he realized all her friends were still inside as well. "Or at least make it five. The doors on the first floor."
"Five." His eyes narrowed, looking directly at Michael.
"This way." Charlie left the room, keeping her back straight, her stride long and purposeful as she walked down the hall and toward the stairs. Syn was happily zipping around her head.
"We know where the exit is." Gabriel started to protest. "I mean technically there's a big hole in the wall we could also use as a door-"
"Shh." Michael shushed him rather quickly. Charlie walked down to the bottom. Raphael, Gabriel and Uriel stepped outside and were gone in almost an instant. Charlie was shocked, she had expected them to put up more of a fight. She was hoping to ask Raphael a few more questions.
"They're..." Charlie blinked. "They're gone."
"Goodbye whoever you were!" Syn flew outside after them, leaving Charlie with Michael for just a moment.
"Heading to write this all up. It's going to be a paperwork nightmare." Michael stopped at the doorway, turning to face her. "It was lovely meeting you Charlie. I hope I can get to know you at some point so I can make up all those missed birthday presents." He gave a flourished bow.
"Wait! Stop." Charlie had to get her words out quickly. "What were those Shoggoths? How were they making my dad sick? How will I know if he's getting worse? Does this have anything to do with Heaven? I'm so confused. Did you send those here!?"
"No. They're monstrous creatures that cause nothing but misery and death wherever they roam. Do you really think so poorly of Heaven that you believe we would send those here? Or even that we could?" Michael sounded genuinely surprised by the question. Charlie bit her lip.
"Raphael mentioned that he couldn't let me through to see my dad because I had: Corruption in my bloodstream." The words had stuck with her because they seemed so odd. "Is he talking about me being a Hellborn?"
"What? No." Michael blinked. "Corruption with a capital C."
"What's the difference?" Charlie met his gaze.
"You... you really don't know?"
"No."
"..." Michael took a deep breath. "Charlie, I'm sorry. We don't have a lot of time before your dad comes here looking for you and making all his wounds so much worse. I don't have the time to explain it. But ask your dad. And if you still have any questions, you can come find me."
"In Heaven?" Charlie made a face. Sure, the ice-cream had been amazing, but she had no desire to go back to that place.
"Oh, no. Not if it makes you uncomfortable. I'll be honest. It's been about two hundred fifty... three hundred years since I've been back in my office Upstairs, anyway. It's probably a wreck. We can meet in Purgatory."
"Oh... okay. Yeah. Do I like... call you?"
"Just go to any of the automated employees and ask them to contact Michael. I'll probably be around there for a bit before going back to Heaven. So, I won't be far."
"I do not know where they went." Syn flew back inside, sticking close to Charlie. "You need to leave now too." The googly eyes turned to face Michael who nodded.
"Of course. My apologies"
"Michael... thank you." Charlie nodded her head. Michael smiled before turning on his heel and vanishing in a burst of wind. Michael wanted her to ask her father first. And in all fairness, Charlie had asked him multiple fucking times. If her dad was going to be a closed book about all this shit, then she would just have to find answers somewhere else. And if that meant talking to Michael...
So be it.
A/N: I am LEGIT petrified with this big update. I am EXCITED too don't get me wrong but this was the BIG update we've been building toward for like the last five chapters. It's probably the finale to our first major arc! Action scenes are not my usual jam but I did my best! And we are FINALLY to the Archangels!
Buckle in for next week!
Hell needed her.