"Are you sure you want to do this?" Vaggie was sitting on their bed, watching Charlie as the Princess packed a bag for their impromptu trip to Purgatory. Or Limbo. Charlie liked calling it Limbo it made it sound a lot more fun. Purgatory sounded like a big empty waiting room where nothing ever happened. In a way, that is kind of what it was, however, it had things to do, shops to explore, water to enjoy- though Charlie wasn't allowed to go in the water. No one was, from what she knew.
"Of course! We're just going to go talk to my long-lost Uncle that my dad never mentioned who brutally mauled him on their last meeting AND is probably the one who actually kicked my dad out of Heaven. What could possibly go wrong?" Charlie laughed, she had to laugh. If she didn't, the panic would set in, and freaking out wasn't going to help anybody.
"Do you want a list? I can make a list." Vaggie was doing little to ease the princess's nerves.
"Oh, you're just being overprotective!" Charlie brought a sweater to the bag that was sitting on the bed, stopping to give Vaggie a kiss on the top of her head. "He seemed nice when I met him. Ominous, but nice." Sure, he had come on a little strong with the flaming sword, booming voice, and terrifying mask... but maybe that was just a bad first impression. When the mask was off, he just seemed like a more talkative version of her dad.
"You met him for like five seconds. You don't know him. No one knows Michael, even in Heaven. I mean I lived there and I never even saw him."
"Maybe he's just busy? Or shy?" Charlie picked up two pairs of shoes, trying to decide which to bring. What did one wear to a meeting with an Archangel? "Hey, do you think he's going to want me to dress more formally? Or business casual? I know angels are all about humility, but like... I don't want to be underdressed-"
"Something you can fight in."
"Oh, I'm sure it won't come to that." Charlie forced another laugh. "Don't be silly! We're just going to have a nice conversation! If he wanted to kill me, I think he would have done it when the Shoggoth attacked."
"Unless he wanted to kidnap you, interrogate you, make you pay for all your father's transgressions-"
"He still could have done literally any of that when he was here. Instead, he just kinda flew in, saved us, argued with my dad, and then left. Though he did fuck up the floor with his holy aura or whatever that was. But I'm pretty sure that was unintentional." The whole exchange between Michael and her father had been... strange and that was putting it gently. Charlie had seen how her dad reacted... that did scare her. Vaggie might have a point. There was a very real chance that the Princess was throwing herself directly into danger. However, she needed to take that risk. It wasn't just her own life at stake. All of Hell was relying on her. "Maybe he just wants to get ice-cream and explain to me why the fuck my dad's been acting so weird."
"I really can't talk you out of this, can I?"
"Nope!" Charlie decided to take both pairs of shoes since Vaggie was no help at all. "This is the only way for me to figure out what the fuck is going on with my dad and I am going to do it."
"Yeah, but this is dangerous."
"That's why you're coming too." Charlie nudged Vaggie playfully. She didn't want to go alone, in all honesty, she was terrified to do this. But with Vaggie by her side, she felt as if she could do anything. Plus, she knew Vaggie would never agree to let her go alone, and that was fine by Charlie.
"Purgatory itself is incredibly dangerous, we lost Exorcists when we had to fly through it, and I told you I don't know the way. Adam was the only one who knew the path to get from Heaven to Hell."
"Well, we're not going to Heaven, for starters. We're going to the city!" Charlie wiggled her fingers dramatically for flair.
"City?" Vaggie blinked.
"Yeah, there's a big city with lots of fun stuff! The people who work there are kinda... weird." Charlie recollected on the multitude of strange interactions she had experienced with the employees in Purgatory. Of course, she hadn't been in quite some time, so they might have gotten better at customer service. "But you get used to that. Do you think I'll need my emergency crafting supplies? Yay or nay?" She held up a box that had glitter and construction paper sticking out from under the poorly closed lid. The top of the box was adorned with a bedazzled apple and Charlie's name was emblazoned in gold, in a crawling script that seemed to glow when the light hit it.
"There's a city in Purgatory? Are we talking about the same place?"
"I don't know how we wouldn't be. There's only one Purgatory, silly."
"It's just..." Vaggie looked at what Charlie had already packed, "with all the time we spent flying across it, you'd think we would have seen the city at least once."
"Not if you were going straight from Heaven to Hell. Dad says the city is kind of off the path. Are you bringing an extra outfit in case we go somewhere nicer for dinner? I think there's like a black-tie only restaurant there and what if THAT'S where Uncle Michael wants to have our meeting? Then I show up in the wrong outfit and they refuse to let me in, and he decides to kill everyone in Hell because I disrespected him!"
"I don't think any of that's going to happen. Plus, you wear a suit pretty much every day. I don't think it gets more formal than that." Vaggie reached up, straightening Charlie's bowtie. "I don't think we are going to be meeting in a restaurant anyway. It doesn't seem like Michael's scene. Plus, it will be difficult for him to attack us if he has to worry about bystanders and witnesses."
"Or maybe he just doesn't want to attack us at all! You know what? I'm bringing the craft box. Fuck it."
"Sure." Vaggie grabbed a few knives from a box in the back of the closet, adding them to the bag Charlie was packing. "You think Angel will let us bring any of his guns? He shouldn't need all of them while we're gone."
"I don't think we'll need the guns-"
"I'm going to ask him."
"Vaggie no." Charlie gave a little sigh as she finished packing her bag. Did she overpack? Maybe? She wasn't sure how long she would be in Purgatory. She really had no concept of how long it would take to find her uncle once she reached the main city. She didn't want to be underprepared. She slung the bag over her shoulder as she headed down the stairs after her girlfriend who was tucking a handgun away into her bag.
"You two bitches going somewhere?" Angel was still in his bathrobe in the kitchen. Not everyone was up and ready. He had a cup of coffee clutched in his hands, eyes flickering to Charlie's bag. He looked exhausted. But that was nothing unusual. In fact, it was stranger to see Angel awake so early.
"Yeah! We're going on a little vacation!" Charlie had no desire to voice her actual plan to the Hotel Guests. She wouldn't want them to worry.
"Ah yes, nothing says: Redemption like abandoning all of us after we were torn apart by fucking Shoggoths." Vox's voice caused Charlie to jump. She hadn't realized he was up and about as he simply materialized beside her, holding a cup with the words: Fuck Alastor very clearly painted on the side. He looked... better than he had when he first arrived at the Hotel- which was a bit surprising given that he had been crushed under her dad's wall when the Shoggoth had thrown him into it.
"We'll be back by tomorrow at the latest." Charlie tried to assure him.
"If you don't like it, you can fucking leave you know. No one wants you here you goddamn psycho." Angel was quick to jump to her defense. Vox simply vanished, reappearing by the coffeemaker and starting to fill his mug.
"Actually, I can't."
"Riiiight, 'cause Val kicked you out." Angel smirked.
"No." For a moment, Vox's voice took on a more synthetic tone, his screen flashed a little brighter. But he quickly calmed himself, shaking his head. "I'm in a deal with the princess. I'm here for the rest of the fucking month." He flicked his wrist and the lights in the kitchen flashed different colors. "Hurray." His voice had all the enthusiasm of a hostage, but Charlie would be lying if she said she didn't like what Vox was doing with the lights. It made the kitchen feel like a little party. (It might not be the worst idea to utilize Vox's unique abilities while he was under contract.)
"And maybe while you're here, you use a... different mug?" Charlie clapped her hands together.
"Nah." Vox took a seat on one of the couches.
"Oh, you're leaving?" Mimzy stood at the top of the stairs. "Don't you worry about a thing, Princess. I promise you, as your best friend and most promising patron, that I will take good care of the Hotel in your absence."
"That's very nice of you, Mimzy. But we really won't be gone for very long." Charlie kept her smile unwavering.
"Ah that's a damn shame." Alastor exited his room, fully dressed and alert. Charlie didn't ever really recall him looking anything other than perfectly professional during his entire stay at the Hotel. "I was hoping you would want to join me for lunch with Rosie this afternoon." He started heading down the stairs, into the kitchen.
"Aww..." Charlie would have liked a nice lunch with Rosie. Despite the Overlord's choice in cuisine, the princess felt a fondness for her that stemmed from everything she had done for Charlie's cause during the last Extermination. "Sorry Alastor, I'll have to take a rain check."
"Not a problem, Charlie dear! You know Rosie's door is always open!"
"At least you're leaving that should make things more fucking tolerable." Vox snorted, leaning back in the chair. Alastor didn't really bat an eye. He glanced toward the media overlord, his crimson eyes lingering on Vox's mug for a moment, but his expression remained entirely stoic.
"Oh Vox! Good morning! I didn't even see you there."
"You literally walked right past me! The fuck do you mean you didn't see me!? That's bullshit!" Vox's eyes narrowed.
"Maybe we should stay..." Charlie let out a soft sigh. Could she really leave Vox and Alastor unsupervised at the Hotel. She trusted Alastor on most things, not everything, it would be a foolish move to blindly trust anyone in Hell- still- he had bailed her out of many situations. That being said, she didn't really trust Vox. Despite the fact that he had kind of helped save her during the Shoggoth attack, the only reason he had even been at the party was because he wanted to spy on her dad.
"Nonsense Charlie! We're both adults. I assure you that everyone will still be in the same, respective number of pieces they were in when you left. After seeing your father get mauled and utterly humiliated, I'm sure you could use a nice relaxing vacation. That was probably a lot on you, emotionally." Alastor put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her toward him.
"Yeah... That was pretty traumatic." Charlie gave an uncomfortable laugh as Alastor released her. "Thanks for bringing it up."
"You're welcome."
"We're really not going for all that long." Charlie also didn't want to leave her dad for a long time while he was still recovering. He had been so lethargic through her last few visits; she had been concerned. Hopefully, Michael could talk to Raphael about maybe doing another checkup.
"And it doesn't sound all that relaxing since your girlfriend just borrowed one of my guns." Angel nodded toward Vaggie who was polishing her spear "I mean, unless you gals are into that shit. In which case, good for you. I don't kink-shame."
"Wh- no!" Charlie's cheeks reddened slightly. "Vaggie's just being safe."
"Most people just use condoms." Angel didn't bat an eye, and Charlie felt her whole face heat up. She cleared her throat.
"Not what I meant!"
"Oh, you two don't need to worry about a thing." Mimzy had made her way down the stairs, an arm around Charlie's waist. "Everything will be perfectly taken care of while you're gone!"
"Wow." Charlie hoped her fake enthusiasm was coming through in her voice, she didn't want to offend Mimzy, but at the same time, she would prefer literally any other Sinner. "That is really sweet of you. But I don't really think that's necessary."
"I mean, we're all fucking adults. I think we'll be fine for however long." Angel looked thoroughly unamused by Mimzy's offer. "Go have your fun, bitch. Get your mind off all this shit for a few days. The Hotel will still be here when you get back."
"Thank you, Angel." Charlie did feel a little more at ease. "I promised we won't be gone for too long." Vox swallowed the rest of the coffee, slamming his mug down on the table.
"I should get into the office since I assume we won't be doing any kind of friendship bullshit today since you're leaving."
"Redemption Activities." Charlie corrected. "But no, not today." She did need to plan a few more while she had Vox forced to comply. For what it was worth, he did actively participate in the only one she had held since he arrived. His heart clearly wasn't in it, but Angel's hadn't been either when he first started. She had to give Vox a chance.
"Great. Then I have shit to do to cover for all the goddamn bullshit that happened at that fucking disaster of a party." Vox straightened his bowtie.
"That's true, it was a disaster." Alastor laughed; Charlie tried to ignore the comment. (She knew Alastor and her father didn't exactly see eye-to-eye but arguing wasn't really going to make a difference.) Surprisingly, Vox paused for a second, looking back at Alastor, then Charlie.
"On second thought, it really wasn't that bad."
"Well, it looks like you all have things to do today, so Vaggie and I are going to head out." Charlie didn't want to leave with tension hanging in the air, but with Vox hanging around, that wouldn't really be a viable option. However, it looked like he was heading out as well. It was probably for the best.
"Oh, before I go, the guy with the white hair, tall, eyes all up here." Vox gestured above his head. "The one who was pulling people out of the wreckage of the house. Do you know him?"
"Gabriel?" Charlie couldn't think of anyone else that might have met Vox's description. "I mean, not well." Vox gave an annoyed sigh.
"Damn, I hate owing people a fucking life debt. I was hoping to just let him have a chance to be on TV or try his hand at fucking a celebrity and get this all settled within the week."
"Yeah... I don't think he'd really go for that." Charlie didn't know anything about Gabriel, but she could assume that nothing Vox could offer him would be of any interest to an Archangel. Charlie hadn't really gone into too much detail about the Archangels with anyone other than Vaggie. To be fair, none of her friends had really asked too many questions about who those weird fucking angels were. It was Hell, after all, and the Sinners had to put up with a constant spray of bullshit magic from all around them, so after a while, they seemed to stop questioning things too deeply.
"Well fuck, that is going to bite me in the ass later." Vox seemed more annoyed than anything else. He coughed, but it didn't sound as rough as it had when he first arrived.
"I don't think he'll be trying to get anything out of you." Charlie tried to reassure him. Deals and debts were a big thing in Hell, she understood that, but she was starting to learn that Vox would take something and obsess over it, so she wanted to try and calm him before this got way out of hand.
"We'll see about that." And in a flash, Vox vanished.
"I hate to admit it, but Vox has a point." Angel relaxed onto the couch.
"Don't admit it then. The last thing we need is Vox getting an even larger head."
"I'm just sayin'," Angel glanced over at Alastor, "no angels are gonna drag their ass out of Heaven outside of Extermination Day unless they have a damn good fucking reason. And the reason wasn't to save us. My guess is they did this to get your dad by the balls."
"A delightful and justifiable theory indeed." Alastor sounded rather amused, but Charlie knew his smile could be deceptive. "And now that your father is indebted to Heaven, who knows what they'll ask of him."
"Maybe they just wanted to help?" Charlie wasn't sure if she even believed her own words. The Archangels had been nice enough during her brief conversation; however, Sera was able to look her directly in the eyes and smile while condemning her people to the slaughter.
"Denial isn't a good look on you, Charlie."
"But if you could get me the green guy's phone number, I think we had a real connection." Mimzy was less concerned with the ramifications of Heaven's assistance and more focused on one of Charlie's uncles.
"Sorry, no." Charlie wasn't the least bit sorry. "But as fun and not at all stressful as this conversation is... I really feel like I should be on my way. Vaggie and I have a fun trip ahead of us! And the sooner we leave, the better!"
"Or we could stay." Vaggie had her arms crossed.
"Noooooo, this will be fun!" Charlie grabbed her arm. "Plus, you and I can have some time together. Won't that be super nice?" After all of this chaos was settled with Michael, Charlie held out hope that she would have the time and energy to take Vaggie on a nice date to one of Purgatory's restaurants. Vaggie more than deserved a little pampering after everything they had been going through. Plus, her wings were still growing back from the attack, she needed a nice break.
"I hardly think this will be relaxing." Vaggie made a face but allowed herself to be pulled to the door.
"Bye everyone! We'll be home soon~!" Charlie gave a dramatic wave to Alastor, Mimzy, and Angel who were the only ones downstairs.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Angel gave a small wave in return, winking, a subtle smirk playing at his lips.
"Yes, have a lovely trip!" Alastor nodded politely. Charlie felt infinitely better knowing that Vox wouldn't be staying. She wanted to return to the Hotel in one piece.
"I will hold down the fort until you're back." Mimzy waved excitedly. Charlie immediately let out a nervous laugh.
"Entirely unnecessary! Bye everyone!" And with that, she pulled Vaggie outside, closing the door behind them. Vaggie looked at her spear, then back at Charlie.
"So... like... I've been meaning to ask you: how are we getting to Purgatory? Because I can't fly you, and even if my wings were working, I don't know the path."
"Oh! Don't worry about that. We're going to take the boat!" Charlie had ridden the Hell Liner plenty of times. It was always such a nice ride. She could have some alone time with Vaggie on a luxury cruise, it would be amazing.
"Boat?"
"Yeah! Jezebel loves me, she'll be so excited to see me again." Charlie whistled and Razzle appeared at her side in an instant. "There you are! Can you help me get to the docks?" Charlie cupped Razzle's muzzle in her hands, as the goat nuzzled her affectionately.
"Oh, we're taking Razzle." Vaggie seemed a bit surprised. There was a burst of fire as Razzle grew in size. Charlie jumped on his back, offering her hand to Vaggie. The former Exorcist hesitated for a moment but grabbed her hand and allowed herself to be pulled onto the demon. Razzle let out a small noise of excitement as Charlie lovingly stroked his head.
"Hold on tightly!" Charlie looked behind her at Vaggie who wrapped her arms around Charlie's waist as Razzle took to the skies. Charlie could feel the beating of his wings beneath her. It made her heart ache for Dazzle; she reflected on the last time she had ridden her beloved pets. Vaggie's grip on her tightened, and Charlie wondered if she was able to sense the sadness that was swelling up within the princess. Razzle zoomed gracefully through the crimson sky of Hell, heading toward the invisible dock where the ship to Purgatory would be waiting. Or at least it should be. Charlie didn't really know the schedule. She would have loved to have looked it up, but apparently there were no times posted for the Hell Liner since most of Hell couldn't interact with it.
They flew higher, toward the blazing sun overhead. Charlie cast her gaze upward looking for the entrance. She couldn't remember the exact location, as her dad was always the one to open the gate, but she had a vague idea of where it was as she had distinct memories of looking down as her father carried her and her mother to the boat. She reached up as they continued to spiral higher, soon her hand touched a solid, invisible ceiling. Vaggie reached up as well. "I've never really felt the barrier before..."
"Neither have I." Charlie trailed her hand along the solid surface. There had to be something to allow her to open the barrier and reach the boat on the other side. She could ask her dad, but that didn't seem like a great option, given that she was doing this without his permission. Adam might know, but that would mean talking to Adam. "Razzle, I don't suppose you know where the boat is, do you?" Razzle craned his neck, bumping his horns against the surface of the barrier. Why did everything have to be fucking invisible? Whose idea was that?
"Are we in the right spot?" Vaggie seemed just as unsure as Charlie.
"I think we're close..." Charlie slowly moved Razzle as she tried to feel for any sign of weakness in the barrier. There had to be some kind of trick to this.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!"
Charlie was forced to pull Razzle to the side as a soul plummeted out of the sky, past her, to the ground below. Perfect. They were close! "Sorry!" Charlie called after the soul, but she doubted he had heard her. They wouldn't remember too much of this part anyway, so she didn't need to stress about making a good impression. Charlie pulled back on Razzle, so they had an easier time dodging the souls that began falling from the sky. Charlie looked up, trying to focus her energy the way that her father had taught her when she was still learning. As she concentrated on the sky above, she could see a soft shimmer where the souls would pierce through the sky. "I think I see the opening!"
"Where!?" Vaggie had to speak rather loudly, despite being directly behind Charlie as the sounds of screaming were quite loud as human souls went whizzing past them.
"This way!" She nudged Razzle and they started to ascend back toward the barrier. She had to keep her focus as she pressed her hand against the shimmering sky. The barrier felt different, softer, cooler. "Higher, Razzle." Charlie felt her hand slide through as Razzle's wings beat faster. It felt like breaking through the surface of a particularly viscous liquid. Charlie closed her eyes and held her breath as she motioned for Razzle to pick up speed. There was an almost popping sound and the heat temporarily became much more intense.
"Holy fuck." Vaggie was staring upward. Charlie followed her gaze to see the massive vessel that ferried the souls back and forth was turned upside down. The ornate ship hovered above them, casting the entire dock in its shadow. Charlie felt Vaggie squeeze her more tightly as she landed Razzle in the dock.
"Excuse me!" The Princess looked up at the ship where she could see some of the automated staff walking easily on the deck of the upside-down cruise liner. More souls kept hurtling past her as the staff continued to empty the ship. The crew didn't seem to notice her at first, but they were quite busy. "EXCUSE ME!" Charlie raised her voice. One of the finely dressed crewmen seemed to hear her, as a male clad in the Hell Liner's luxurious uniform, flipped from the deck of the ship, landing soundlessly on the dock below. He had a Sinner on his shoulder, shrieking- so perhaps he had made a noise, but the terrified screams simply drowned it out.
"Greetings!" The crewman waved with the hand not holding the Sinner before tossing the Sinner off the edge of the dock. "Please enjoy your stay! If there is anything else I can do to assist, feel free to ask."
"I don't think he can hear you..." Charlie looked after the soul, but she could no longer see it. The crewman looked down, then back at Charlie, then back again.
"Oh."
"So, anyway," Charlie cleared her throat, she could apologize to that Sinner later if he remembered this exchange. "Hi, I'm Charlie, and I was wondering if I could talk to Jezebel."
"No. Thank you for visiting! Have a nice day!"
"Hey wait!" Charlie hadn't really considered that she would meet a roadblock this early in the journey. The crewman turned and started to head back to the ship. Vaggie grabbed him by the arm, forcing him to stop.
"She wasn't done talking, jackass."
"My assigned name is Paul." The crewman gestured to a nametag.
"Hi Paul," Charlie clapped her hands together, keeping a smile on her face. "I'm Charlie, or well, Charlie Morningstar." She tried to drop her last name for a little more leverage. Perhaps Jezebel could only be greeted by Hellborns of a certain rank.
"Hello, Charlie Orwell Charlie Morningstar! I am designated as Paul. I am a member of the cleaning crew."
"Are you fucking stupid? This is the goddamn princess." Vaggie still had Paul by the arm, and Charlie could tell she was getting frustrated. Paul was on the cleaning crew, so he wasn't quite as advanced as his upper-deck counterparts. Charlie wondered if she could grab a bartender or someone more front facing.
"I am not Fucking Stupid. I am Paul."
"It's okay," Charlie put her hands on Vaggie's shoulders. "He's not being an asshole; he just doesn't know any better. He's not real." Charlie tried to lower her voice to be polite, but Paul just continued to stare at her with a blank expression on his face. Charlie gave him a soft smile before adding: "No offense."
"I cannot be offended."
"Can we talk to someone else? Preferably Jezebel?" Charlie knew Paul wasn't necessarily sentient, but it felt wrong to just be rude to him. He was still just trying to help, even if he was only making this more difficult. "Please?"
"Jezebel is not available."
"Not available?" Charlie looked back up at the boat. "Is she busy? Tell her that it's Charlie, she'll listen." Maybe. Probably. Charlie hadn't actually seen Jezebel since she was a young teenager, but there can't be many Hellborns who took the boat, and of those allowed to do so, Charlie couldn't think of any who shared her name.
"I cannot tell her. She is unavailable."
"Do you have a boss? Can we talk to them?" Vaggie finally released Paul's arm. He looked up the boat above him.
"One moment please." Paul kicked up off the dock, flipping in the air, and landing upside-down on the ship. He walked along the deck, toward another one of the crew. They exchanged a few words, and a female crewman jumped off the boat landing gracefully on the dock below without a single sound. (So, they were just quiet, it wasn't the screaming drowning them out.)
"Hey there! I'm Nadia, Paul says you need some help."
"Oh my gosh! Yes, thank you!" Charlie could already tell this was one of the crew that did a lot of the face-to-face interactions with the passengers. She sounded far less stilted and robotic. "I am looking for Jezebel."
"She's not here. She's back at the Port."
"Then who's driving the boat?" Charlie instinctively looked above her, watching the crew dragging out the stragglers from their hiding places on the boat. (Her dad usually brought her and her mom to the docks after this part had finished, and she was glad for it. This wasn't exactly an enjoyable watch.)
"It's fully automated."
"Oh. Well..." Charlie straightened her posture, trying to give off a regal aura. "Then I need you to take me to the city."
"We only Ferry very specific Hellborns into Port Gatory. May I have your name?"
"Port Gatory?" Charlie blinked. "They changed the name? That's so cute!" She did love a silly pun! She wished more of Hell had silly names, but it wasn't really on brand.
"Name please."
"Princess Charlie Morningstar, daughter of Lucifer Morningstar, heir to the throne of Hell." Charlie puffed out her chest, trying to look as regal as possible. She doubted the automated staff would remember her, but hopefully they'd recognize her name.
"My sincerest apologies, Princess, however you do not seem to be on our list of approved passengers."
"What?" Charlie blinked. "Try looking under Charlotte." Nadia didn't actually seem to be looking at anything, but Charlie figured she was just in tune with the ship.
"Afraid not."
"But I've ridden the boat before." Charlie needed the boat. Purgatory was impossible to navigate without years of training that Charlie just didn't have.
"I assume you have ridden the boat with your father. Lucifer is an authorized passenger. However, you are not listed. I am very sorry for any inconvenience this might cause you and your plus one."
"Are you even fucking listening? This is the goddamn Princess of Hell, your fucking Princess." Vaggie's hand visibly tightened on the spear.
"She is not my Princess as I am a citizen of Port Gatory."
"Can you call Jezebel? She would sort this whole thing out." Charlie pulled Vaggie back a little.
"I cannot make contact with the Port from within Hell's barrier. However, if you would like to leave a message for her, I can certainly deliver it and bring you a response when we return."
"No thank you," Charlie sighed. That would take way too fucking long. "Is there any way I could convince you to let us on? What if I made it worth your while?" She didn't like resorting to bribery, but she had worked alongside enough Sinners to know everyone had a price, and she was a wealthy elite.
"I appreciate the attempt at a bribe; however, I do not actually take bribes off the clock. I have no use for money as I am not a sentient individual. Though your offer is quite flattering. Or, at least, it would be if I could feel such emotion."
"But my dad is totally okay with this! He actually asked me to get something from the city for him!" When the attempt at offering incentive failed, Charlie resorted to lying.
"I will need to see him."
"He's really busy, that's why he asked me to do this for him." Charlie kept her smile plastered on her face. (That wasn't technically a lie, he was busy recovering.) "So, if you don't mind, I'm kind of on a time-crunch."
"Apologies, I need direct permission from the big man himself."
"Of course you do." Charlie's face fell. "Give me a second, you can go back to the ship while I go get him." She had no intention of going to retrieve her father, even if he wasn't injured, he would never agree to this. The fact that he didn't even have her as an approved passenger was fucking frustrating as it just seemed to be proof that her father still saw her as an actual child. She was over two hundred years old, goddammit. She could ride on a fucking boat.
"Of course!"
"Thanks!" Charlie watched as Nadia flipped back into the air, landing on the deck, walking, perfectly balanced on what looked like the ceiling from the Princess's perspective. She looked at Vaggie, "Well that complicates things."
"We can call it here." Vaggie looked back up at the boat. "Because there is no fucking way your dad will agree to this. And you know what? He has a point."
"No, no, no, no, no we have to get on that boat." Charlie's frown deepened as she squinted up at the crewmen moving overhead, cleaning the Hell Liner from all the wanton chaos the Sinners had caused on the way down. She was in a bit of a time crunch, but that had never stopped her before!
"How?" Vaggie still wasn't sold on this idea as a whole, and it showed. But Charlie had made her mind up, and goddammit, she was going to meet up with Michael in Purgatory and he was going to tell her everything about her dad and then maybe she could figure out why the fuck Heaven wouldn't even try and listen to her when she had a very good idea about a Hotel and-
Charlie was starting to spiral, but that wasn't going to help anyone. What would be helping was "Craft supplies!" Charlie started digging in her bag for the sloppily packed box of her favorite crafting tools. She sat on the dock, opening the box (it was magic, so despite its small size it was holding an incredible number of various paints, papers, scissors, and glues. It had been a gift from her father when she was still little, but she had kept it over the years. It was useful.)
"What are you doing?" Vaggie sat beside her as Charlie started on the quickest paper mâché project of her entire fucking life. Vaggie watched her for a moment, as Charlie started to build a familiar looking structure. Her girlfriend was quiet before slowly starting to help Charlie flair out the shape. "This is so not going to work." She didn't sound upset, in fact, far from it. Vaggie seemed more amused by Charlie's plan than anything else. Charlie grinned back at her.
"It's going to work."
"It's worth a try."
"That's the spirit! Now let's start painting!" Charlie would very much have liked to give her project some more time, but the Hell Liner wasn't known for its long docking, and if she missed her chance, she would need to wait for it to return, and she didn't really know how long that would take.
"It's not looking half bad..." Vaggie was a decently skilled painter, especially given this was a rush-job. (Maybe Charlie could plan a painting party for just the two of them later- when Hell wasn't in danger. Oh, that would be a lot of fun!) Charlie entrusted her to finish as she grabbed some fabric from the bottom of her bag and tried to throw together the next part of her plan.
"What do you think, Razzle?" Charlie summoned up some heat from her hands- she was supposed to go light on the magic, so she didn't want to do anything too dramatic, but some mild temperature manipulation was almost like second nature to her. (She had to alter her own body temperature a lot to avoid poor Vaggie getting overheated when they snuggled.)
Razzle snorted.
"You're right, it needs a little glitter." Charlie reached her whole arm into the box to find the golden flakes at the bottom. She pulled them out and sprinkled them on the drying paint job. She ran her hand over the surface. It was a little damp, but this would do in a pinch. She picked up her quickly sewn together fabric and threw it on over her red suit so that she was wearing a familiar white and red tail coat. She took the paper mâché masterpiece from Vaggie and flipped it up on her head. It was not the best rendition of her father's hat, but it was passable. "Well...?" She started tucking her hair underneath the hat. "What do you think?"
"Your makeup." Vaggie was instantly in front of her, reaching into the bag to grab her makeup wipes and started wiping around her eyes. "God, you have such beautiful lashes this feels like a fucking crime."
"Awww! I love you..." Charlie couldn't help but smile. Despite everything, Vaggie's little comment made her heart float.
"I love you too..." Vaggie's expression softened, she looked Charlie in the eyes for a moment before pulling out her makeup brush. "Your dad's cheeks are also just a little lighter than yours. And, I really need to thicken up your eyebrows too, he has some big brows compared to you."
"Thank you for helping." Charlie knew she probably shouldn't be talking, but it felt like the right thing to say.
"You know I would do anything for you. Now, I would kiss you, but it feels a little weird when you're dressed like your dad."
"That's fair." Charlie adjusted the hat, whistling for Razzle who obediently knelt down and let Charlie and Vaggie onto his back once more. "Let's go up!" The princess immediately cleared her throat, trying to deepen her voice a bit. "I mean, Razzle, why don't we see our friends from Purgatory?"
"You need to work on the voice." Vaggie whispered in her ear as her hands wrapped around Charlie's waist.
"Fuck." Charlie hissed. "I mean: Fuck." She did her best impression of her father as Razzle reached the deck of the Hell Liner where the crewmen were walking upside-down, cleaning. "Hello there citizens!" Charlie held out her hand, trying to gesture in the extravagant way her dad would do during public meetings. "It is I! Lucifer Morningstar! Here to board your vessel!"
"Greetings Lucifer Morningstar!" Well, they had successfully fooled Paul, for what it was worth.
"Hello... you..." Charlie doubted her dad would know the names of the crew. She had no idea if the names were even consistent. "I am ready to go to my room, so if you don't mind, I would like to-"
"That is not Lucifer." Fuck. It was Nadia.
"It looks like Lucifer."
"This one is far too tall to be the King. Nice try though."
"No, no. I totally am Lucifer!" Charlie's voice cracked a bit and she silently cursed herself for not being able to shapeshift the way her dad could. He always made it look so easy, so seamless.
"No. You're really not. And unfortunately, we are almost done here at the dock and must start our return-."
"Okay so I'm not Lucifer." Charlie cut her off. "But I'm only trying to stall because he's on his way! I just didn't want you to leave before he got here. He's been busy at meetings and shit; you know how it is."
"I most certainly do not know." Paul seemed rather proud of that fact. Charlie chose to ignore him. He was easy to fool. It was fucking Nadia who was more advanced than her cleaner counterpart, that was causing issues.
"I suppose we can wait a moment longer."
"Perfect! I'll go get him! Don't go anywhere!" Charlie quickly brought Razzle back to the dock hopping off and going back into her craft box. She heard Vaggie hop off behind her, feeling her girlfriend's hand gently rest on her shoulder. (Under normal circumstances, Charlie would be put completely at ease by her touch, however, the Princess's mind was racing with ideas for deception.)
"Now what?"
"New plan!" Charlie pulled out stuffing and started cutting up and re-sizing the coat she had made. The hat would need some editing too. It would be incredibly sloppy. But Charlie was betting on her ability to hide those god-awful seams on the inside where they wouldn't be visible. This was not going to be her best work, but it didn't have to be amazing it just had to be passable.
"I don't think this is going to cut it." Vaggie caught on to Charlie's idea, and immediately knelt down to help, despite her obvious reservations.
"I mean... you don't know... it might!" Charlie made an attempt to sew together a passable rendition of her father's (weirdly perfectly round) head. Eyes would be a nightmare. Why did her dad have to be so fucking extra in his appearance? (Honestly, Charlie might have been able to pass as her mother- though the height would still be wrong, and Nadia seemed to be a real fucking stickler for that shit. But also, Charlie had no idea if her mother was even authorized to be on the fucking boat.)
"I think the dressing up was a better option."
"Yeah, but we don't exactly have a whole lot to work with. This is dressing up too- but we are getting it size-accurate."
"What about Razzle?"
"Huh..." Charlie looked at her demonic guard who was curled up around the craft box, still in his true form. She squinted for a moment. "Too small." Her dad wasn't a big guy, but Razzle was petite. "Though..." She looked Vaggie up and down, silently sizing her up. The height was right.
"I only have one eye, it's not even the right color, and I have a nose."
"Right."
Vaggie had a point, her face was beautiful, but it was all wrong for Charlie's father. The former Exorcist reached over, gently rubbing Charlie's arm as she furiously sewed and glued. "So... puppet it is I guess."
"I actually know a thing or two about puppets. I used to make them all the time when I was little." Charlie was hard at work, and if she hadn't been rushing for such an important cause, she might have taken more time to really enjoy herself. She hadn't made a puppet since she lived at home.
"Really? That's adorable."
"I would put on these puppet shows for my parents- or well- for mom mostly. Dad would come sometimes, and he always seemed to like them when he did." Charlie didn't have time to individually sew in the strands of hair, so the wig of silken yarn would be held to the puppet's head through copious glue and sheer force of will. "Not trying to brag, but I do know some ventriloquism."
"Damn" Vaggie smiled as she helped piece the puppet together. "I didn't know that about you."
"It's been a while but," Charlie maneuvered the puppet's mouth as her own lips stayed perfectly shut. "Hello Vaggie, I'm the real Lucifer." Charlie's impression of her dad was still lacking, which was annoying, but maybe Nadia wouldn't be as familiar with his voice. (Or maybe Charlie could blame it on a cold or some shit.)
"Wow! That was really good." Vaggie clapped her hands. "You should do that in the Hotel sometime and really fuck with Mimzy. It would be hilarious." Charlie chuckled at the mental image. (Not surprising that Vaggie would single out Mimzy. She had been rather clear on her dislike of the robust little Sinner.)
"Maybe when all of this is settled."
"You could convince her one of the vases talks." Vaggie seemed genuinely impressed by a talent Charlie had always sort of pushed to the side. It wasn't very useful, just something she had taught herself when she was playing in her room. She would use it to mess with the palace staff, not something she was proud of, but she had been young and mischievous. (And all she had really wanted was attention.)
"Or one of the paintings." Charlie smiled, as she did her best to make convincing eyes on a puppet. They didn't move, but she was working with limited supplies and virtually no time. This was an act of desperation. "What do you think?" Charlie made the puppet do a little spin. It was a bit hard to operate because of the size of it.
"It's too obvious..." Vaggie squinted as she watched Charlie trying to maneuver a puppet that reached up to her chest.
"I could do this?" Charlie was supposed to be going easy on her magic, but this was a simple spell. She moved her hand, and the puppet followed gracefully.
"Much better. If this doesn't work, I could always wear it like a mascot suit and pretend to be your dad."
"That would be so fucking weird." Charlie laughed. She pressed a kiss to Vaggie's cheek before putting a hand to Razzle's neck. "Let's go, buddy! Look who I brought!" The Lucifer puppet waved at Razzle from behind Charlie and her pet's eyes widened and it scooted back in abject horror. "Oh, come on!" It's not that bad!"
Razzle made a noise of protest.
"You have to let him on." Charlie's eyes narrowed. She crossed her arms, and the puppet mirrored her movements. "Don't you want to give a ride to your boss?" Charlie's impression of her father didn't do much to calm Razzle's nerves. She put her hands on the side of his head, gently guiding his gaze to meet hers. "Hey, I'll be right here. It's not real. Just a toy." She turned to the puppet, lifting one arm and dropping it to show Razzle that it wasn't anything to fear. (Of course, Razzle and Dazzle had been created as plushies before her father had brought them to life, so maybe this was a bad explanation.)
"You got this, Razzle." Vaggie patted the demon on his side before jumping on his back. Razzle was still eyeing the puppet distrustfully.
"Let's go!" Charlie and her puppet hopped onto Razzle's back and he took off, back toward the boat. She focused her magic, making the puppet hop off Razzle, and onto the boat, walking upside-down the way the crewmen did. "Greetings Crew! It is I Lucifer!" Charlie reached in her bag and threw a handful of glitter behind the puppet as it gestured dramatically.
"Hi Lucifer!" Oh, thank fuck it was Paul.
"Hi there! I just wanted to personally give my daughter and her lovely girlfriend permission to ride this boat to go to Purgatory!"
"Affirmative! Anything else I can do for you?"
"Nope! Just show my daughter to our personal suite! And maybe bring some cookies and cupcakes." Charlie had to at least offer Vaggie a snack since she had gone through all the trouble of helping.
"Right away, sir! The room is this way!" Paul started to head into one of the rooms. Charlie held to Razzle as she tried to follow through the door. Her father usually carried her through this part. Razzle was way too big to fit through the doorway and Vaggie couldn't fly with her wings still damaged by the Shoggoth. Charlie took a deep breath, moving Razzle as close to the door as he could get. She grabbed the top (or, well, bottom) of the ornate glass roof where the doorway was situated, trying to pull herself up. Razzle was simply too big to get any closer with the way the ceiling dipped. It was fine. Charlie could climb. The ship lurched suddenly, and Charlie lost her balance. (Luckily, Razzle was not too far below her.)
She instinctively grabbed the puppet for support, but her quick (and frankly shoddy) craftsmanship came back to bite her as Lucifer's arm came straight off and Charlie landed back on Razzle with a small "Oof."
"Oh, look at that." Paul tilted his head to examine the obvious stuffing coming out the puppet's shoulder. "You should really be more careful, your highness."
"Paul, is everything ready? We need to hurry back- oh." Of fucking course, Nadia had to come running at the most inconvenient moment.
"I was almost ready. I was simply showing the royal family to their room when the sudden movement of our ship damaged the King of Hell." Paul made a gesture toward the puppet as Charlie tried to hide the arm behind her back. "Jezebel will not be pleased."
"Paul, that is not the King of Hell. That is a puppet."
"Excuse you!" The remaining arm on the puppet moved to its hip as Charlie desperately tried to save the situation. "Who do you think you are calling a puppet!? I am Lucifer! King of fucking Hell!"
"No. You are a puppet. The real King has two arms, and also, I can see the stuffing." Nadia pressed her finger against the hole spewing white fluff.
"Oh, come the fuck on! Just let me on the ship!" Charlie dropped the silly voice.
"I cannot do that." Nadia didn't sound either happy or sad, Charlie noticed she didn't seem quite as... convincing as a living being as she had been when Charlie first talked to her. "Without your father, you are not allowed on this ship. Apologies."
"But I have my dad!" Charlie held to Razzle with her knees as she gestured full force at the fake Lucifer.
"That's a puppet."
"You're a fucking puppet!" Charlie felt bad saying it, but she was getting frustrated. She had been so fucking close! And she was telling the truth, the artificial employees were just as legitimate as her impromptu father. Though Nadia didn't really change her expression, the guilt was overwhelming, so Charlie had to add a quiet "... no offense..." at the end.
"I am not offended, that's more or less true. However, rules are rules. I must obey my orders and the ship needs to return to port. Now. I am so sorry, Princess, but you need to go." And with that, Nadia pushed the puppet out of the doorway and closed the entrance to the ship. Charlie gripped more tightly to Razzle.
"FUCK!" She felt her heart racing, but a gentle squeeze around her waist brought her some comfort. "We almost had it!"
"We got a lot further than I was expecting." Vaggie's voice in her ear was reassuring. Charlie looked up as she saw the boat start to spring to life.
"Razzle," Charlie wrapped her arms tightly around her beloved pet's neck. "Follow that ship." She felt Vaggie tightened her grip as well.
"Is that gonna work?"
"It has to." Charlie held on for dear life as the ship above started to move and Razzle started to fly after it. The poor puppet went flying as Charlie had to turn her focus on to other things. It wasn't too bad at first as Hell started slowly getting further away. But suddenly, the ship started to go faster. Razzle was struggling to keep close. Charlie bit her lip, looking below her, then at the ship slowly pulling ahead. "Razzle, throw us." Charlie shoved her bag in her coat, her arms starting to let go of Razzle's neck.
"WHAT!?" Vaggie didn't sound on board with the plan, or maybe she just hadn't heard Charlie. (It was probably for the best if that was the case.)
"Vaggie hold on to me. I've got this!" Charlie did not, in fact, have this. Not in any sense of the phrase. But sometimes, you just had to come up with a plan on the fly. And what was the worst that could happen? (Aside from being lost in Purgatory forever. But seriously? What were the odds of that?) "RAZZLE THROW US!" Of course he hesitated, throwing Charlie didn't exactly seem like a good plan. But Charlie had to get to that fucking boat. "NOW GODDAMNIT!" Somehow, Charlie had tapped into that growling voice again, and this time, Razzle listened. He reared back and used his body to fling Charlie and Vaggie full force toward the speeding ship. They were still in Hell, the sky was still a deep red, and Charlie could feel the heat of flames as she stared at the boat ahead. She reached out her arm. She just had to grab the underside of the boat. Then she could climb up before they flipped back over. It happened pretty early in the trip, from what she could remember.
They were gonna make it.
She could see the boat getting closer as Charlie's fingers stretched out.
They were going to make it.
Charlie started to feel herself slow down.
Fuck.
They weren't going to make it.
She could feel Vaggie's grip tighten on her and Charlie stretched her hand out in desperation. She couldn't fail. She couldn't let anything happen to Vaggie.
Fire consumed her arm, and Charlie saw her forearm and hand start to grow bigger, her fingers becoming more claw-like as glowing, red markings spread down her hand. Her fingers brushed the metal of the boat, and Charlie dug her claws in, while the metal didn't pierce, the red markings started to spread to the boat and Charlie's arm stuck to the side as if it were glued. She could feel her horns and tail in the wind. It seemed she had transformed, which was not planned, but fuck if it didn't just save her ass. "GOT IT!" Charlie turned her head to celebrate with Vaggie, but the ship started to turn. "WAIT! FUCK!"
Charlie started to scramble. She managed to pull herself and Vaggie to the bottom of the ship. Using her glowing arm, she started to drag herself along the side as the ship began to rotate into its upright position. There was a moment where it felt as if they hit something, and then suddenly the heat of Hell was replaced with rushing water all around. They were officially in Purgatory.
Charlie wished she had taken a deep breath, as she struggled not to let her lungs fill with water as she continued to pull her way along the ship until both she and Vaggie had their heads above the water. Charlie started to immediately cough, hand frozen to the side of the ship as she tried catching her breath before making her way to the top.
"Vaggie, are you-" Charlie was cut off as lips met her own, there were fingers in her hair as Vaggie kissed her the moment she turned her head. Charlie couldn't really breathe again, but this time she didn't mind. (And while breathing was necessary-ish, it wasn't like she needed to do it as much as a living human.) As Vaggie finally pulled back- much to Charlie's disappointment- Charlie let out a chuckle, her cheeks flushed from adrenaline. "Oh! Thank you."
"YOU WERE FUCKING INCREDIBLE!" Vaggie squeezed Charlie more tightly as the Princess started to scale the ship again.
"I am just glad we're here. On the ship. Kinda." She looked behind her, the Hell Liner was fully upright now, and as far as the eye could see there was endless forests and river. Razzle must have still been in Hell. (Charlie realized that had she not been holding the boat when it crossed over, she and Vaggie would not have made it to the realm between.)
"That was so badass, you have no fucking idea." Vaggie pressed another kiss to Charlie's cheek as she continued to make her way to the deck. She wasn't sure what to do about Nadia or the other more advanced AIs, but hopefully they wouldn't just throw her off the ship. (Worst-case scenario, they were armed, Vaggie had made sure of that fact before they left.)
"You're making me blush." Charlie tried to stay focused on getting them to the deck, as she had no idea how long her demonic arm was going to hold out. She finally made it to the top, looking around carefully for any sign of the crew, before pulling herself and Vaggie onto the luxurious, glistening deck. "Looks all clear to me."
"Where is everyone?" Vaggie grabbed her spear the moment she let go of Charlie. The Princess's arm reverted to normal, and Charlie found herself feeling rather... lethargic.
"Dunno..." Charlie took a moment to sit on the solid wood. The excitement was starting to wear off and she was feeling drained. She had probably overdone it on her magic, but the important thing was that they were here, on the ship.
"You okay?" Vaggie knelt beside her.
"Fine."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, just a little tired." Charlie laid on her back, looking up at the sky. It was such a warn, welcoming blue color. She had forgotten how peaceful Purgatory was. There was the soft sound of water lapping against the side of the boat, a gentle wind caressed her cheek. She could fall asleep out here. "We can probably find some food inside, that should get my energy back up." She hadn't really had a great breakfast; she hadn't had too much of an appetite. She had so much else on her mind that food was really her last priority.
"What if we see Nadia?"
"Hopefully since we're already here, she'll just drop us off at the port." Charlie headed toward the ornate door with the golden handles that lead to the rest of the ship. From what she knew, the Hell Liner had everything. She remembered a massive pool, a game room, karaoke, and an indulgent buffet of all her favorite foods. (She was starting to realize how much she missed these trips. Being with her mom and dad, exploring a place that wasn't Hell... why had they ever stopped coming?)
"Unless they just leave us here." Vaggie stuck close. "Purgatory is incredibly dangerous. If we get left behind... we'll have to fight our way through." Charlie looked behind her at the peaceful forest rushing by.
"Right. Dangerous."
"I'm serious, we lost people when we flew through." They started walking through a grand entryway, there was a golden staircase with a plush red carpet that led up and down towards other parts of the ships. Charlie could see expensive items in stores, and beautiful, lavish artworks hanging all around. Though, the lighting wasn't as bright as it could have been. Maybe they just didn't bother with it, since no one was supposed to be on board.
"It's always been so nice when I visited." Charlie had to try to remember where the kitchen even was- or at least the buffet. The crew should already be stocking it up for the next trip. Charlie could feel her stomach growl.
They continued to wander for what felt like hours, though that could have been Charlie's hunger making time feel like it was dragging on. Charlie did, eventually, find the buffet. There wasn't much out, which was as disappointing as it was surprising, but Charlie did grab a red velvet cupcake that was sitting on a tray of only about twenty desserts. "How is it?" Vaggie looked at the cupcake.
"Not bad. But they really should have more food than just this." Charlie had seen some vending machines but a majority of them were filled with liquor and drugs. Charlie wanted something to eat.
"Is it weird that we haven't run into any of the employees?" Vaggie took a German chocolate cupcake from the tray.
"A little..." Charlie was starting to feel better now. The sugar was rejuvenating her energy. "But I'm taking it as a win."
"I suppose... but I still have some concerns." Vaggie was a bit muffled through the cupcake. "How many people work on this thing?"
"A lot, I think." Charlie didn't really have a solid idea about the staffing on the Hell Liner. "The only one I actually knew was Jezebel. She was the Hellborn who captained the ship. I was really hoping we would find her here, but if the ship is fully automated now, I guess I will just see her once we make it to land."
"I knew there was a boat to Heaven, but I guess I never really thought about the logistics of it. The guy who drives Heaven's boat was rarely Upstairs and even when he was, he wasn't really popular. I mean, I never talked to the guy, his name was... Jason... or something."
"We didn't really talk to him either. Though I think he did try a few times..." Charlie felt a little guilty about straight up ignoring the other boat captain the few times he had tried to say hello to her family. But neither of her parents wanted to engage with him, so she would just follow their lead.
"You guys have a way cooler boat." Vaggie finished her cupcake.
"I think that's the point." Charlie smiled slightly, reaching up to wipe some of the chocolate frosting from Vaggie's cheek. "We can't ride it when there are souls on it because things get too rowdy. Dad would just get Jezebel to make a special trip to take us back, he probably paid her an exorbitant amount to do so because she never seemed to complain."
"So... how are we getting back?"
"You know...? I haven't actually thought that part out. But we can always take the boat back. There just might be Sinners on it." Surely, they would have to let Charlie on the boat if she was just returning home. Otherwise, she would be stuck in Purgatory, literally.
The ship lurched again and Charlie and Vaggie both stumbled to maintain their balance. Vaggie caught Charlie's arm before the princess fell on her ass. "Is it always such a rough ride?" Vaggie was using her spear to keep her on her feet.
"I... maybe...? Hard to say; it's been years."
The already dim lighting in the dining hall flickered and Charlie suddenly felt a heavy sense of unease settle over her. (She had been a little more on edge since the Shoggoth- something about that creature felt as if it were burned into her brain. She couldn't forget it even if she wanted.) "Is that normal?" Vaggie was looking at her for any kind of information, but it has been over a hundred years for Charlie since her last visit.
"I don't... think so." The lights began to flicker again. Charlie took one of the cookies off the plate, shoving it in her mouth before heading to the door back into the rest of the ship. "Let's take a look." The hallway was even darker as Charlie and Vaggie headed outside. Charlie pulled out her phone, using it to shine a light. The corridor looked empty, aside from the usual extravagant décor. The lights were barely flickering, and without any windows directly outdoors it was nearly pitch black. Charlie could actually see quite well in the dark, but she wasn't as sure about Vaggie.
"Yeah, this doesn't seem like it should be happening. I hope this isn't some fucking security thing because we snuck on."
"That seems... possible." Charlie hoped this wasn't her fault. She just wanted to meet up with Michael and if she broke the Hell Liner in the process, people- mostly Jezebel- were going to be so pissed at her. "But no one even saw us?"
"Maybe it's automatic? Everything else is." Vaggie's hand slid into Charlie's, their fingers intertwined as they started walking toward the front entrance once again. Vaggie had taken the lead as Charlie held the light up to try and illuminate as much of the hall as possible. But despite her best efforts, Vaggie stumbled over something in the path. "Fuck!" She quickly regained her balance as Charlie directed the light downward revealing one of the crew face down on the ground.
"Holy shit..." Charlie knelt down, rolling the crewman onto her back. It wasn't one she recognized, but that wasn't surprising given Charlie had only come across two employees during her attempts to board the ship. The body felt stiff the eyes were open, completely devoid of life. She knew the crew were not technically alive, but she couldn't shake how dead the body looked.
"Stay behind me." Vaggie continued forward as they reached the entryway. There were more collapsed crew lying in darkened halls, but the actual main hall was empty. Vaggie took a deep breath and she and Charlie opened the doors, walking back onto the decorated deck. Charlie looked around, for the moment, she didn't see much of anything.
"Wait..." She ran to the edge, pulling Vaggie behind her as she looked down at the water. The beautiful, calm, reflective water. "Why have we stopped moving?" Charlie could feel the worry slipping into her voice.
"Yeah, that's not a good sign."
"This is fine. I am sure the staff are just fixing up the boat!" Charlie let out a laugh that she hoped sounded more excited than nervous.
"Over there!" Vaggie's head snapped quickly up, and she pointed in the distance where Charlie could see some of the crew running across the deck. At least some of them still seemed to be moving around.
"Wait!" Charlie didn't want to get in trouble, but she also didn't like the looks of the ship. If this was some kind of response to she and Vaggie sneaking on board, it seemed like an overreaction at best.
"Oh! Hello again Charlie Orwell Charlie Morningstar!" Fuck. It was Paul. Why wouldn't it be?
"You should not be here." And Nadia too, because Charlie wasn't able to catch a fucking break.
"Sorry, I know. But we really need to get to the city. I have a very important meeting." Charlie tried to explain herself, but she knew that logic was wasted on the automated crew. "So, if this was about us breaking in, I am super-duper sorry and I promise I won't do it again!"
"We have an intruder." Paul didn't sound as if he had heard a single thing that Charlie had said. He looked straight past her.
"Yeah. Us." Vaggie waved her hand in front of him, and he didn't blink.
"Did you go to the engines?" Nadia still seemed a little less... believable than she had when they first met. Her movements were a little more stilted, her tone less organic in its fluctuations. Charlie shook her head.
"I don't even know where those are."
"We sustained engine damage." Paul remarked helpfully. "Power is critical." He sounded remarkably upbeat, given the rather... ominous nature of his wording. But perhaps that was just his default tone.
"We are running a skeleton crew, trying to reserve power until we make it back to port, but it seems we have failed." Nadia's words were reassuring in the sense that perhaps those corpse-like bodies Charlie and Vaggie had stumbled upon in the hallway were simply deactivated staff. However, there was the more pressing issue of the fact that the Hell Liner had stalled out.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Vaggie was clearly concerned as well. Charlie squeezed her hand.
"Not unless you know a mechanic." Nadia was not looking directly at them either. It seemed they were almost... lagging. There was an unsettling delay in her movements and expressions that didn't match her speech.
"Yeah... no." Charlie's dad was the closest thing she knew to a mechanic. Unless Vox counted? Probably not. (And neither of them were even around, anyway, so it isn't as if Charlie could call on them.)
"We need to put out a distress call. Jezebel should be able to get to us so long as the beacon is active, but that will drain what is left of our reserves." Nadia looked over at Paul.
"There is an intruder on the ship."
"Yeah, we got that." Vaggie's grip on the spear tightened.
"Can you call Michael?" Charlie tried to think. Her uncle had said just to ask the automated staff, and they could contact him. Surely Nadia and Paul counted as staff, (Even if they were on the Hell Liner.)
"That is not protocol." Nadia ignored the request. "I will activate the distress beacon. Please return to the indoors until we give the all clear. A state of emergency is being declared ship wide. Paul, see our stowaways to a safe room until Jezebel arrives with help."
"Affirmative. Please follow me." Paul made a very stiff turn and started to walk back toward the entrance to the bowels of the ship. Charlie started to follow him but stopped as she heard someone talking.
"Don't leave me..." It was a human voice; it sounded frightened. "Please don't leave me..." Charlie turned; she could see the figure of a woman standing on the deck. She looked like she was shivering, soaking wet, dark hair plastered to her face as she clung to her drenched clothing.
"You are not supposed to be here." Nadia started to approach the lost soul. (Perhaps she had fallen overboard or stowed away in the pool to try and hide from the eternal damnation that waited at the end of the trip.) "I thought we cleaned everyone out. Did we miss one?"
"That appears to be correct." Paul had stopped moving as well, looking back at the soul, shivering under Purgatory's warm sun.
"Don't leave me... please don't leave me." She stumbled forward. Charlie's heart ached for the soul, she was clearly terrified- and given what fate she had in store at the river's end, the Princess wasn't sure if getting her inside would be helpful or hurtful in the long run.
"The ship is malfunctioning. You must return to the inside until we are able to make contact with our superior." Nadia approached her with far less empathy than Charlie wanted for a situation like this.
"It's going to be okay..." The princess lied, but she just wanted to help. She tried to move toward the woman, but Vaggie held her back.
"Something isn't right."
"Vaggie, she's terrified." Charlie could understand. This pour soul probably had no idea what was happening, most likely she didn't even realize she had died, as most souls in Purgatory didn't remember that fact. "What's your name?"
"D-Don't leave... me..." The woman hunched over, her fingers digging into her scalp as if she was overcome with a sudden burst of pain.
"You must return in doors." Nadia reached toward the woman, putting a gloved hand on her shoulder, trying to steer her toward the entrance.
"PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!" The woman screamed; her voice made Charlie's head spin for a moment she could see nothing but colors. The woman's back arched, her mouth and eyes started to widen, her body convulsed and contorted. A flailing, greenish, tentacle-like tongue erupted out of her mouth, so large her head had to split part way to accommodate it. Her eyes lost all sense of humanity, turning to something more akin to black glass as they shifted further up the stretching face. They started leaking thick black liquid, almost like tears, streaming down the contorted face. More writhing tentacles exploded from her chest and Charlie realized the woman she had tried to help as nothing more than a shell from which an abomination had emerged. Nadia had been too close and with a simple sweeping motion, the crewman had been tangled in the appendages before Charlie could even fully understand what was happening.
"FUCK!" Charlie fumbled in her bag for her trident and shield. (It was by the sheer grace of whoever the fuck was supposed to be watching, that Vaggie had made her pack them. Summoning them would take way too much energy and Charlie was still drained from getting on the goddamn ship.
"Stay back!" Vaggie stood in front of Charlie. The princess managed to grab her weapon as she watched Nadia's body start to seize in the monster's embrace before going completely limp. Was this going to be the Shoggoth all over again!? The monster tossed Nadia to the ground, there was a sizzling crack of electricity in its tentacles as it skittered its way across the floor- far quicker than the Shoggoth counterpart.
"VAGGIE!" Charlie cried out, but Vaggie was able to dodge out of the way just in time as the tentacles slammed into the ground where she had just been standing, splattering the floor with black goo.
"The intruder." Fuck. Paul was still here.
Paul was still here!
"PAUL!" Charlie grabbed him, pulling him away from the monstrosity that was now making a sound that reminded Charlie more of wailing but it made her vision blur at the edges once again. "CALL MICHAEL!"
"That is not protocol."
"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT PROTOCOL! FUCKING DO IT!" Charlie had to dodge again; this creature was far faster than she wanted.
"I do not take orders from you."
Charlie took a deep breath. She could not believe she was about to do this. She glanced over at Nadia's inactive form, and she cleared her throat. "Paul, I'm going to need you to call Michael."
"Affirmative Nadia. Calling Michael."
"Charlie LOOK OUT!" Vaggie grabbed them both and pulled them backward as the abomination flailed toward them. Vaggie was able to slice at one of the tendrils as it tried to grab at the Princess. More of that black blood sprayed out. Vaggie and Charlie were backed up against the railing of the Hell Liner, Charlie was holding Paul under the arms like he was a fucking cat. "Huh?" Vaggie looked down at the water.
"Vaggie?" Chalie followed her gaze. The water was no longer still, but rather... looking choppy.
"D... do you hear singing?" Vaggie squinted at the water but quickly looked back as the monstrosity dove toward them again. She tried to parry; Charlie released Paul with one arm so she could use her spear to help knock it back.
"Where am I...?" Charlie didn't hear singing but she could hear another voice in the water. She looked down to see another soul floating in the water, a dripping hand touching the side of the boat. "Can you help me?"
"Mommy? Where did you go? I'm sorry!"
"Hello? Is anyone out there? I'm lost!"
Voices, more of them, as more heads popped above the water. They looked like normal humans, but moments ago, so that that thing before its flesh ripped open to reveal the abomination inside. Charlie tried to look away. Maybe they would stay in the water. She could hear the sounds of hands slapping and clawing against the solid metal of the boat. "There's more of them." The Princess cautioned Vaggie, as the two kept their primary focus on what was in front of them. The monster kept striking forward- almost as if trying to push them over the edge.
"Excuse me! I need help! Can you help me!?"
"Wait! Stop! I fell in!"
"Come back! There's someone in the water! Wait!"
"My legs are gone."
Charlie had been forced to look back. With all the cries of going overboard, she couldn't risk if one of them were true. But all she saw was more souls, clawing desperately at the boat as they emerged from the water. Then, she finally heard Paul. "Wait, what!?" She looked down to see Paul's entire lower half was gone, and wrapped in the slimy appendages of the monster.
"They're climbing the boat!" Vaggie had only glanced down for a moment. But that was all it took. The monster charged them again and knocked into Charlie. The Princess felt her back hit the railing as she started to fall over. "CHARLIE!" Vaggie reached for her, only to have her leg grabbed out from under her, and her body tossed over the side as well. Charlie reached for her girlfriend as the started to fall.
Vaggie was right.
Purgatory WAS dangerous.
This had been such a fucking stupid idea.
"I've got you." And suddenly Charlie felt arms beneath her, she felt her body lifting up into the sky. She looked up, Michael smiled down at her. "Both of you." Charlie saw Vaggie below her; Michael was holding her by her collar.
"Holy shit!" Charlie's heart was still pounding as she reached for Vaggie instinctively. "Thank you I-"
"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad I got the call. The Hell Liner being attacked like this is something that needs immediate attention." Michael's large blue wings were spread as he soared over the boat. "I'm going to put you both somewhere safe," he came to a stop in midair. "Can you fly?"
"No." Charlie was still trembling. "Neither of us can right now."
"Oh. Well, that's fine. Just stay right here." Michael lifted his arm up to bring Vaggie up to Charlie's level, before he released them both.
"Wait! I JUST said I CAN'T FUCKING FL-" For a moment Charlie's heart plummeted into her chest but rather than falling, she and Vaggie were suspended in the air. She stopped midsentence, looking to Michael who was floating in front of them, his wings seemed to almost dwarf him with their size. They also didn't seem to really be moving at the moment.
"It's okay, like I said: I've got you." He put a hand on Charlie's shoulder. "But you need to stay here, okay? Those things aren't very strong, but they group up really quickly. I hate to just... leave you up here but if I don't deal with it now, it's only going to get a lot worse. And it looks like the ship took enough damage as is, and-"
"Just go." Charlie didn't love cutting people off, but Michael seemed to ramble. At least, that happened a lot when he talked with her.
"Okie dokie! Don't go anywhere!" And with that, his wings shifted, his left arm raised in the air, the sword of blue flame materialized in his outstretched hand. The helmet Charlie had seen when they first met, formed over his face as he dove, head first, toward the boat. The souls in the water started trying harder to climb the boat.
"Where the fuck would we go?" Vaggie was still eyeing Michael with distrust. Her arms were crossed, her legs folded underneath her in the air. She looked over at Charlie. The princess could feel her eyes starting to water. "Charlie, don't. It's ok-" Vaggie didn't even have a chance to finish as Charlie's arms wrapped around her, drawing her close, burying her face in that soft, white hair.
"I am SO sorry! You were right! About coming here! About Purgatory! About everything! I was being so fucking stupid! I almost-"
"I'm okay, love" Vaggie returned the embrace. The feeling of her girlfriend's arms wrapped around her was reassuring. Her heart was finally starting to slow. "They didn't hurt me. And more importantly, they didn't hurt you."
"Fuck that! If anything had happened to you, I don't know what I would have done..." Charlie squeezed her harder.
"You picked the wrong time to attack this ship." Michael's booming voice distracted Charlie from her guilty doom-spiral as she saw him on the deck below. He was face to face with the creature that had tried to tear Charlie and Vaggie in half. It was clear they had wounded it from the way it stumbled about. Black, oil-like blood dripping from the cuts they had made.
"PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!" The monster wailed again, but this time the voice didn't make Charlie see stars that weren't there. Michael bowed his head, releasing the sword in his grip. It moved on its own until it was hovering behind his halo. The blue light from the flames of the halo and sword combined, bathed the entire scene in a blazing sapphire aura.
"I am so sorry this happened to you, my child... I failed to protect you. I pray you one day find peace." Michael had his hands clasped together as if in prayer. "Amen." The creature let out another cry before hurtling toward Michael. The sword behind him moved so quickly, to Charlie it looked as if it had teleported straight through the creature. One moment it was about to grab Michael, the next there was a wave of blue flame, and the monster vanished. "Forgive me." Michael moved his arm again and the sword plunged over the edge of the ship. The souls trying to climb, started shrieking, moving away from the flame. Michael moved his arm and the sword started to circle the ship. Moving faster and faster until there was a ring of blue fire making a protective barrier around the Hell Liner. "Begone! All of you! This ship is under my protection!" Michael levitated off the deck, the eyes in his wings were open again. The monsters in the water retreated, desperately trying to escape the flame, they withdrew under the surface. Slowly, the water went calm once again. Michael flew back to Charlie and Vaggie, the eyes in his wings closing, the sword vanishing. "I hate that you had to see all of this chaos. Are either of you hurt? I can get Raph if you are. I should have been here sooner. I-"
"It's fine! don't think it did more than slam into us. But if you do take us to see Raphael, I wouldn't mind talking with him." Charlie just felt... exhausted, more than anything else. Still, she couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk to the only one who seemed to be able to fix her dad. (He may be too stubborn to talk to the Archangels, but Charlie sure as fuck wasn't.)
"Yeah, it might not be a terrible idea for him to just give you both a once-over. Just to make sure nothing got on you."
"Right. So..." Charlie was trying to calm herself, but Michael's stupid helmet was the opposite of helpful. "What the fuck were those things?"
"You..." Michael stared at her (or at least Charlie thought he was staring. She REALLY wished he would take that fucking mask off.) "You really don't know?" He tilted his head to the side.
"No! That's why I came to you!"
"Oh boy..." Michael let out an audible sigh, which sounded almost comical in the mask's booming voice. (Had Charlie been in a better mood, she probably would have giggled at the absurdity of it.) "Do you like food? Because it sounds like I am going to have a lot to go over, and I feel like a nice dinner might make this all more digestible."
"That sounds nice, but first, can you please take the mask off?" Charlie forced a smile. "It's really freaking me out."
"Oh! Sorry!" Michael snapped and the helmet vanished. Charlie let out a sigh of relief. She had made it. And for everything she had been through to make it here, whatever Michael told her... had better fucking be worth it.
A/N: Charlie is on her way to learning more about what's going on! She and her add are going to have much to discuss when she gets home. Also, fear not. The Lucifer Muppet is okay. I don't know why my Purgatory Chapters are some of my longest ones.. I feel like that's super on-brand for Purgatory as a concept, but this is the second time I've had to split a chapter. Lol. Anyway! You guys are so amazing for continuing to stick with me through this absolute monster of a story. I hope you enjoy reading the new update! And I hope y'all are buckled in for next week!