Chapter Text
A couple of hours had passed, and sinners started to head to the hotel for safety. It seemed that there weren’t a whole lot of places that weren’t heavily affected by the roots.
The angels had to make sure that they weren’t noticed, but they hated that they couldn’t help.
“Ugh, I hate being a sitting duck here.” Emily crossed her arms; she and the others were all in one room.
“Unfortunately, we don’t know if someone within the crowd will have intentions to harm you. Not to mention Roo.” Lute tried to distract herself by reading a book, but with all the commotion outside the room, it was hard to focus.
“I still want to help.”
“It is in your nature, of course it is.”
She exhaled in frustration. She heard knocking on the door in the rhythm of the first few notes of Symphony No. 5. It was Charlie knocking at the door. She walked to the door and opened it.
“Hi.”
“Hello, Charlie. How are things?” She allowed Charlie to enter the room.
“Ugh. Stressful…” She went to sit down on one of the spare chairs in the room. “I needed a breather.” She rubbed her eyes; she was so tired.
“How long has it been since you’ve slept?” Lute could recognize that Charlie was running on a limited amount of sleep.
“... uh… I uh… less than 10?”
She knew that Charlie had to hit the bed, she had to be at full strength for whatever Roo had planned. “Do you have any spare clothing?”
“What?”
“Emily has been complaining about not helping. I know she means well, but I am certain that if this continues, she will sneak out to help.”
Emily’s cheeks went red with embarrassment, she couldn’t believe that she was that readable.
“I got a couple of things. Let me get them.” She got up from the chair to head to her room.
“Am I that readable?”
Lute was the first one to nod, but then the others started to nod as well.
“You have a lot of similar traits to princess Charlie, Emily.” Redempitious rubbed the back of his neck. “Just like her, you want to help people.”
He had a point, and he wasn’t wrong. There were a whole lot of things similar to her and Charlie. Their sweetness, them wanting to help people, their optimism, that before everything went down, they had a silver spoon fed life. So many similarities.
Charlie knocked at the door again, clothing in tow. She handed Emily a black sweater-vest with a hood, elbow length fingerless gloves, and a headband with little black horns on it. “Here are some clothes that I found. I think these might fit you.”
“These are all black, but the horns are cute.”
“They… are from my goth era…”
Molly accidentally let out a snirk. “Wait, you had a goth phase?”
“It happened in the 1980s…” Charlie went red in the face.
Molly made sure she didn’t laugh in her face, but the idea of little miss sunshine and rainbows having a goth phase brought a smile to her face. “Unexpected from you, but still very cute. Although that would have been interesting to see.”
“Are you sure, I cussed like a sailor back then.”
“As well as the other traits of having a goth phase, nothing new there.”
“Why does it sound like you know?” Emily muffled through the sweater vest while putting it on.
“I went through one as well, as much as heaven would allow me.” She heard lute let out a smirk from behind her. “What? Do you want to comment?”
“I would, but I have been mistaken for a goth a good number of times, so no comment.”
“Mmhmm. That is what I thought.”
Lute let out a sly grin.
“How do they fit?” Charlie turned back to Emily who had put the horns in her hair.
“I think I might need to mess up my hair in order to hide the headband part.”
“I don’t mind that.”
Emily ruffled her hair, and it did the trick. “Enough to fool sinners?”
“Maybe, I am a little worried about the halo.” she pointed to the halo to add emphasis.
“I can hide it in my pocket.”
“Mmm, still worried.”
“Maybe magic then to change my appearance a bit?”
“Uh… I think hiding the halo might be better, I don't know what will happen if you use your magic. I don’t know if that will bring you closer to becoming a fallen seraphim.”
“Good point.” She carefully removed her singed halo and hid it in one of the pockets in her dress.
“Okay… now it is enough to fool sinners.”
She knew that Charlie was still filled with dread and concern. “I know self-defense if that helps.”
She let out a sigh; “yeah, I still can’t help but worry.”
“That is a reasonable thing to do for your friends.”
“And you are surrounded by powerful allies and friends, which I suppose helps.”
“Exactly.”
She gently smiled. “Let me know if anything pops up.” she started to head to her room. She could feel the bags underneath her eyes, she needed to sleep. She opened her bedroom. “Hi Razzle, hi Keekee.” she patted razzles’ head, and she gave Keekee chin scritches.
She did a belly flop onto her bed; she didn’t even bother to change into her Pjs’. She lazily removed her shoes with her feet. So tired, she could feel herself fall asleep.
Razzle placed a blanket over her, and then placed himself on the foot side of the bed.
She was in an unknown location, the sky was white, but she was in a field. She turned to face all of the directions to see if anyone was there. She turned her body back to the north, and instead of nothing there was a black silhouette. She knew that this had to be Eve, because the silhouette looked similar to the one used for her in the storybook she owned.
“Eve?” her voice echoed as if she was in a cave, traveling for miles.
The silhouette turned her head around to look at Charlie.
She couldn’t see her face, but her mouth was a dark red outline.
“You have been wanting to talk to me?”
She froze, she didn’t expect her to respond back. She hesitantly nodded.
“Talk to Alastor, he knows…”
“He knows… what?”
Her smile turned into a grin showing all of her teeth. Her smile looked far too similar to Alastors’.
She woke up with a jump in step, unsure of what had just happened. She looked at the clock in the wall to see that 5 hours had passed. How a 5 second dream turned into 5 hours; she didn’t know. The only thing she knew was that she had to talk to Alastor.
Alastor was in the middle of dinner when he heard knocking at the door. Who might that be? He picked up his cane and walked to the door. He opened the door to see Charlie. “Charlie! What an unexpected surprise! How may I help you?”
“Can I talk to you?”
“Of course, come in, come in.” he waved his cane as a way to invite her in.
Charlie noticed the human-esge ribs on the table and twitched her nose.
“Funnily enough, after i was done with my dinner, i was going to come to talk to you.”
“Oh. Does this have to do with the deal?”
“You are correct my dear!” An array of clapping was heard through his radio filter.
“Hopefully this deal can interlope with why I came to you.”
He titled his head, curious on what she had to say.
“Before things go even more south, I am going to try to talk to Roo.”
He slightly raised an eyebrow at this.
“Yeah, I know, it is stupid, but… I still want to try.”
“Hmm, your bravery is impressive. But I'll help.”
“Wait really!?”
“Of course.”
“Oh, thank you Alastor.”
“Happy to help my lady.”
“Well… we better start heading to meet her now rather than later.”
“Want it to be over and done?’
“Might as well rip the band-aid off.”
“Shall we?”
“Are you sure you want to head out now? You were in the middle of dinner.”
“I had enough where I won't start biting people due to hunger.”
“Okay good to know.”
Charlie was the first one to leave his room, while Alastor stayed for a second. He hoped that this would be enough to get him out of the deal, but on the other hand he could feel that Roo would find a way to keep him under her thumb.
Charlie walked down the stairs, trying her best to look presentable, when she noticed that her dad was blocking her way at the end of the staircase.
He had his arms crossed and his brows furrowed; "You really going for it huh?”
“Yeah.”
He looked up to see that Alastor was not far from where she was. “You are bringing back up?”
She nodded.
While he still had his arms crossed, The seriousness in his eyes lessened. “I am your dad; it is my job to worry.”
“I know… but it is appreciated.” She had finished walking down the stairs to hug her dad. “I promise I'll return safely.” she whispered to his ear while in the middle of the hug.
Alastor was able to put the pieces together of what she whispered. While he knew that Roo had thought kindly of the princess, he wanted to make sure that if her temper ever appeared it would not lay a finger on the princess. He walked down the stairs to see Lilith mimicking the crossed arms that Lucifer had earlier.
“You don’t need to hear it twice; I think you already know.”
“Oh, don’t you worry your highness! I’ll make sure that the enigma of a woman dares not lay a finger on her.”
Lilith twitched at the thought of Roo harming her daughter. She wouldn’t, would she?
Charlie and Lucifer ended their hug, and Charlie started to walk to the door. Alastor followed suit. Charlie paused to give her girlfriend a hug when she noticed Vaggie was next to the door, concern written all over her face.
“Don’t do anything stupid.” Vaggie whispered.
“I’ll try not to, arandano.” she whispered back. She gently let herself out of the hug to give Vaggie a kiss on the cheek. She opened the front door and walked outside.
Alastor was a little impressed by the dull golden bubble that surrounded the hotel. He followed Charlie to the very edge of the bubble.
“Do you have any way we can sneak past the roots?”
“I know one better! I know how we can meet here and avoid the roots at the same time.”
She raised her eyebrows with curiosity, Afterall Alastor was an ace in the hole. “Oh? How so?”
“I know a shortcut.”
“Through the shadows?”
Alastor showed a genuine smile through the stitches, he was impressed that she knew about how shadows can sometimes be used as portals. “Indeed, my dear.” he reached his left hand in order for Charlie to hold it. “But I still recommend you stay close.”
“Portals are weird, I know.”
“Smart girl…” he thought to himself. He raised his cane and proceeded to tap the ground three times. On the third tap, a whirlwind of shadows surrounded them.
She looked back at the hotel while the whirlwind became thicker and thicker, the last thing she could see through the shadow were the eyes of her father, mother and Vaggie, watching with various levels of concern written through their eyes. The whirlwind had ended, but she was still surrounded by darkness. “Do we walk?”
“For a little bit…” he walked into the void, giving the appearance of his usual self, smiling and confident, without a care in the world. But that was all a lie, his heart was screaming to run, abandon the others and save himself. Should he…?
For a solid minute the both of them walked in the void, Charlie trying her best to stay with Alastor. She wanted to latch onto Alastors’ arm, the way that a scared child would do with their parent, but she knew Alastor didn’t approve of that.
He started to hear faint music, something that you heard from a lavish restaurant or a five-star casino. What was music like that doing here? He continued to walk with Charlie, but the music became louder and sooner rather than later he saw bright lights in front of them.
“The hell?”
“The hell?”
The building in front of them was tall and lanky. A building made out of bricks, but it seemed to be rimmed with gold, it felt it was so tall it could touch heaven, but in actuality it was only three stories tall. At the top of the building was a neon sign that said “Dantes’ delight”.
“Can buildings appear in this weird shadow dimension?”
“Yeah…” He was still surprised that something this intricate could appear in this place.
“Welcome!”
Both Alastor and Charlie lowered their head to where the door of the building was, there was Roo, she was dressed head to toe in clothes similar to what was worn in the 1930’s. She wore a cerise red cloche hat with a broad rim, a variety of feathers were on the left side of the hat. She had a mink coat over a mahogany red frilled dress that went below her knees, if you could call it that for a snake's tail. The only thing that seemed to be modern was her hair, which was in a poor attempt of braided ponytail.
“It is such a pleasure to see you again charlotte!”
Charlie didn’t expect to hear her full name from the womans’ mouth, and what did she mean “again”?
“And it is a pleasure to see you as well Alastor, I see you have brought the princess. Has she been meaning to have a chat with me?”
He nodded.
“Is that the outfit you are going to wear? It looks rather silly don’t you think?” She snapped her fingers and Charlie was dressed in a vermillion empire waist dress with puffy sleeves. Her hair was in a snake braid style with a 1920s style feather headband.
“Um, this is a nice dress and all, but I kinda liked the suit I wore earlier.”
She gently nodded, then snapped her fingers again. She turned the puffy sleeves into a puffy sleeve jacket that had a similar color to her original jacket. “Is that better?”
“It is, thank you.”
“Happy to help. Now, as for you, Alastor.” She turned to him, with a tone that sounded sweet, but there was no rhythm or pitch. “It is done.”
“Really?”
Charlie froze, what did she mean?
Roo gently nodded, “What’s done is done. You are free.” she raised her left hand with a careful but swift raise. In a mere blink of an eye the pact had appeared in her hand. While the pact had some wear and tear, Alastors’ name was still clear and straightforward, almost as if he signed his name hours ago.
Charlie couldn’t help but stare at everything that was going down, she could feel her heartbeat in her ears.
With a mere snap of her fingers, the pact started to burn in a green and violet fire dancing on the paper. In a mere matter of seconds, the fire had torched the entire pact, leaving it nothing more than ash.
“And now the stitches?”
“Yes, yes. No need to fret.” with the same hand that burned the pact, she mimicked the snipping of scissors, snipping twice. She cupped Alastor's face with right hand, and with a gentle but swift motion. She started to pull at the strings that outlined Alastors smile.
He was in so much pain due to the loosening of the strings. He could feel his mouth starting to bleed due to the force of the strings. As soon as it started as quickly it ended. As soon as the grip on his face was gone, he had to feel his mouth to see if the strings were there. They weren’t there. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“You may leave. I want this conversation to be between me and Charlotte.”
He wanted to stay, he wanted to make sure that no harm would come to Charlie, but… he wanted to revel in his newly given freedom. He froze for a split second and decided to leave. The look of betrayal on Charlies’ face was definitely going to haunt him.
“Alright, with that out of the way. Shall we enter?”
Charlie could only nod. She entered the restaurant with Roo right beside her. She could feel Roo place her left hand on her shoulder, but the way she placed her hand was so gentle. She couldn’t tell if there was genuine warmth or manipulated warmth based on how Roo acted.
“Welcome to Dantes’ delight! May I take your order?”
The unexpected appearance of the waiter caused her to jump. The waiter in question seemed to be a mafia shark demon. He had frill-like spikes on the back of his head, two sets of eyes, and a monocle for his second pair of eyes. The closer she stared the more she noticed that he was missing body parts and had chunks missing as well. He looked more like a corpse rather than a living sinner.
“Would you like anything Charlotte?” Roo asked Charlie with a melodic hum.
“Uh no, i am not hungry thank you.”
“Hmm, well I would like some red wine please.”
“Very well right this way.” The shark demon swayed his right arm so they could follow him. His right arm didn’t even have tendons or ligaments on it, it was skeletal.
The deeper they went into the restaurant, the more she could see of various dead sinners and overlords wandering the place, some she recognized as Alastors’ victims, others she didn’t recognize at all. They all seemed to be static only repeating motions of conversations, eating or as the waiters within the restaurant.
“Here are your seats.” He showed them their seats, it was a table with a window view, even if it only showed the void. “I’ll bring your red wine, right away ma’am.” with a sickening crunch, he started to walk to the kitchen.
The crunch of bones and rotten meat was not helping her stomach, she carefully sat herself onto the chair. Trying to make herself look as small as possible.
“Are you wondering about Alastor by any chance?” She tilted her head trying to start small talk with the princess.
Once again she could only nod.
“I suppose you know the story about how he came to power, correct?”
She was becoming a broken record at this point, the only thing she could do was nod.
“It is true. He was able to climb up the ranks of power with ease, attacking the most vile of overlords, draining their power in the process as well. He did that all by himself, but unfortunately one day he ran into me, he mistook me for one of his potential victims, and started to follow me.”
The waiter arrived with a bottle of red wine and a wine glass, and offered it to her. She grabbed both the bottle and the glass with ease and placed them on the table. She continued her story.
“One night he was feeling co*cky, and decided to confront me. He underestimated me, and I gave him a taste of his own medicine. After that was all said and done, I offered him a choice; either become my new hobby for the next few centuries before I get bored of him and throw him in the trash. OR work for me, because funnily enough, we had similar goals when it came to power. So he accepted the latter. I let him continue his business of grabbing power, but whenever I wanted him to do something he wouldn’t say no.”
“Did…it involve spying on me?”
“Nope, that was your moms doing. Some time after he gained the rank of overlord, he ran into conflict with your mother. She sang through the radio at the time or just on anything that involved audio. He used the radio to broadcast his torture sessions, you get the picture. So they made a deal with each other, His broadcasts would still play, just later in the day, while he would work for your mother.”
“So the spying part was moms’ idea?”
She nodded; “Before she disappeared for those seven or eight years, she wanted someone to keep an eye on you. While she didn’t ask me, she did ask Alastor.”
“Then why did he only appear at least 8 or 9 months ago?”
“There was a hiccup. I assume she told you about the angel attack?”
“Yeah, so that was true?”
“Mmhmm. Alastor got caught in the crossfire and received a couple of angelic wounds.” She took a sip from her red wine. “He was hellbent on not taking any of my healing potions, so it was going to take a while. Not to mention that angelic weapons maintain a scent and an aura with them. He didn’t want people to find out that he was hurt.”
“Is that why he disappeared not long after Adam attacked him? He was injured?”
“Yep, he found a faster way to get rid of the scent, he was hellbent on getting out of the deal we had.”
“Oh… then why didn’t he tell us about the deal?”
“He hates being reminded that he is not top dog when it comes to anything. He hates being reminded that he is not all powerful, and he would like to keep it that way.”
“Is that why you attacked the Vees?”
“Among other things, yes.” She took another sip of red wine.
“Are you really planning to attack my mom and dad?”
She paused mid-sip, she was amused by charlies’ ability to connect the dots. “Hmm… I'd be lying to say if I wasn't.” she placed down the glass.
“While I know you hate them, mom and dad don’t have any harsh feelings.”
“I’m doing something the both of them are afraid to do.” She got up from her chair to walk closer to charlie, She placed her left hand on the table
“You want to attack heaven, don’t you?”
“You have seen it firsthand sweetie. You have seen how they coldly disregard people who didn’t make it to heaven.”
“I have had a similar conversation with my mother, you don’t need to tell me twice.”
She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Hmm. fair enough. But you understand what I am trying to say.”
“Maybe they are stubborn, it has been proven that they will listen to reason.”
“Yes, that is true. Lute was able to change her mind, but only after she lost her dear adam. And her arm for that matter.”
“But if you hate him then why are you keeping him around?”
Roo dug in her nails into the table in a moment of unbridled pain and wrath, and in the process, it caused the entire building to creak and moan. “That… is none of your business. I have plans for him and that is ALL you are going to know.”
“If you are going to harm people I care about, it is going to be my business. I’m sorry Roo, it is as simple as that.”
“Well then, little-miss-bleeding-heart, if you are intending to interfere, you are going to have to expect a wall of thorns as a response.”
“Look, while I don't know every detail about your plan, I don’t want my people to suffer because of it.”
“Your people see you as a laughing stock.”
“You’re right, but… I still don’t want them to suffer.”
“One day sooner or later, that bleeding heart is going to bite you in the ass. It will bleed in a way you won’t be able to recover from.”
“...Why does that sound like you know from personal experience?”
The restaurant's shiny demeanor started to wilt, as Roo paused and accidentally let her guard down for a split second. She dropped a smile for that second as well. “Well if you know anything else about me, I am all ears.” Even if her smile returned it still showed signs of buried rage, like she was holding a piece of burning coal, willingly knowing that it is causing her pain.
“I know that Roo is not your actual name, and just like Adam, who was the first winner in heaven, you were the first sinner in hell.”
While she did maintain the smile, she was impressed that her parents would talk about her. She thought that Lucifer and Lilith wouldn’t utter a peep about her. “What is your interpretation about what happened at the garden?”
“No one was a winner in that situation. Adam didn’t mind the status quo of the gardens, but mom did so she left. She met Lucifer and fell in love, but she felt bad for leaving Adam hanging so she returned to let him know that she was okay. But she found out about you, and in a moment of pained rage, she aimed it at the wrong person. And everyone suffered because of it.”
“I was made to replace her, and to make sure he didn’t leave the garden to go looking for her. They didn’t want one of their little pet projects to defy the rules and question the status quo. I was made to obey his every whim, while he did let me be my own person, it felt like I couldn't go anywhere without the angels and Adam watching my every movement.”
“And you are really willing to let everyone suffer because of it?”
“I don’t want people to suffer, I am trying to make sure that all of our suffering comes to an end.”
“Suffering sucks, but it is the process of living, that is how we learn.”
“Oh come on now.”
“I mean it.”
She coldly looked to the princess who was slowly getting out of the chair maintaining a stern but kind face. “You are so f*cking naive.”
“I am trying to be optimistic, there is a difference. I might have been fed with a silver spoon, but I still WANT to see the best of a situation.”
“Even when heaven wants to make sure your plan crashes and burns?”
“Yeah it sucks, but if lute is anything to come by, they will learn that they were in the wrong, and learn to be better.”
“It was because of her past.”
“Does it matter? She admitted that she f*cked up and she is trying to be better.”
“How do you know that she isn’t doing it with an ulterior motive?”
“She’s not backstabbing anybody.”
“How do you know that she will not do it later?”
She couldn’t think of an answer that would work.
“I thought so. Heaven always has an ulterior motive, they claim to be a place of goodness and holiness. But that is a bald face lie.”
She hated the fact that Roo had a point. But Emily was a genuinely sweet person, Molly was Angels’ sister, and she knew Redemptious before he redeemed himself. Lute was only following orders right?
“Need i remind you that she ripped your girlfriends’ wings off because she spared a child?”
She tried to speak but her tongue kept getting tied in her mouth.
“They strive for perfection, but perfectionism is a process where they are only eating their own tail. It is probably for the best that we uproot them.”
The instant she finished her sentence, a black tendril laced with green lightning came from their right and slammed her into the wall. She turned around to see alastor, cane in hand.
“Alastor!” While it was unexpected, she was still happy to see him.
He wanted to do a silly retort at her, but the dread and fear was overwhelming him. He threw some more tendrils at Roo making sure she didn’t have a chance to get off the ground. The instant she landed on the floor, he grabbed charlies’ hand and ran out the restaurant.
As the both of them ran out the restaurant, its shiny facade started to crumble and melt, the guests and the waiters became distorted. They all turned to face them with sneers and glares galore. The farther they got away from the restaurant, a question started to flare within her mind. “Alastor, wait! I think we are far enough that we can stop. Alastor!”
He slowed to a stop, still holding charlies’ hand. “We can’t stay in one place for long, so spill the question, you are clearly dying to ask it.”
She carefully removed her hand from the grip. “Were you always planning to betray us?”
He didn’t want it to be that question. “I…” The static became so loud that it was the only thing he could hear. “For the longest time, I wanted a backdoor, I wanted to be released from this deal. While I was hesitant when she offered the way out of the deal, but in a weird sort of way, once she means something she means it.”
“What were you going to do once you were free?”
“...Show everyone not to mess with the radio demon…”
“Then why did you return?”
“You… and your little friend group… gave me a conscience, And I HATED IT. I started to like being around you and your little group. Your soft-heartedness poisoned me! EVERYTHING MADE SENSE WHEN I DIDN’T HAVE A MORAL CODE.”
“Well that’s a good thing isn’t it?”
“Not in hell, my dear! I MIGHT have a moral code when i was alive, but there is no point in using it when you are in hell.”
“You don’t attack women and children.”
“That is moreover the rules made by hell itself, and even I know not to mess with them.”
“Maybe so, but you helped us with the hotel. That is something."
“It was a part of the deal I made with your mother, your highness. It was all fun and games until I got ATTACHED.” Even after the stitches were gone he still answered the question with a smile, but this was a pained smile.
“Are you… afraid of getting attached…?”
“Being attached means i am vulnerable, being vulnerable means i can get attacked by others because they know my weakness. YOU and your damned hotel are MY WEAKNESS! I’d rather be stabbed by a thousand angelic weapons than get attached to something.”
That last comment stinged. It caused her to freeze, unable to process what he had just said. Unaware that the air had started to become cold.
Much to his dismay, she had found them faster than he would have liked to. He grabbed her hand and placed an orb into her hand.
“What…?”
“It will get you out of this nightmare, and get you safely home to people who care about you.”
“What about you?”
“...I am going to buy you some time… run as far as you can and don’t look back.”
“But-”
“Go…go now.”
She placed the orb close to her chest and started to run, granted she didn’t know how the pocket dimension worked, she just needed to run. Once she was far enough, she could use the contraption,
He watched Charlie go deeper and deeper into the dark, the tiredness truly written all over his face. He turned back to see Roo face to face.
“You are really going to sacrifice everything? Even after you just got your freedom back?” Her overlord form started to bleed through.
“Attachments…they are a bitch. As you should know…” despite the confident appearance, he knew that his voice said otherwise.
“Hmm… very gutsy of you, but futile.”
“Shall we get the formalities done so we can start the fighting… Ms. Roo?”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself… Radio demon.”
No matter how far she ran, she could hear the screeches and the rounds of magic and claws being thrown. She wanted this nightmare to end, she wanted to go back to a world where stuff made sense.
Almost as if the void was listening to her thoughts, the void thought it would be funny to start echoing things that people have said to her about her hopes and dreams, but they were all negative.
“THesE SiNNerS arE My faMily! Do you even hear yourself!?”
“Who would give two sh*ts about becoming a better person!?”
“I made you look… sad and pathetic.”
“There is no undoing what is done.”
“This discussion is senseless and petty!”
“Angels don’t care about that; they only see things in black and white! One chance, one life, that is it.”
“Extermination is entertainment!”
“Dream on princess!”
“Charlie… our people ARE AWFUL!”
“Heaven always has an ulterior motive, they claim to be a place of goodness and holiness. But that is a bald face lie.”
“I guess she don’t love you no more.”
“Her bleeding heart wants to solve everyone else's problems but her own.”
“Get the f*ck out of here, and let me finish work!”
“Did you know that your girlfriend was one of us?”
“The anguish it takes to do what was required.”
“Was talk of virtue just pretension!?”
The words kept repeating over and over and over again, getting to the point where she couldn’t hear her own thoughts. “Shut up…” she muttered to herself if someone or something would listen, but it didn’t. “Shut up…” She just wanted to go home, she just wanted this nightmare to end.
“SHUT UP!!”
She tripped on her own feet, causing her to fall. The orb slipped out of her hands slowly sliding away from her, it didn’t break though, much to her relief. The voices were finally gone, but all that she could hear was her rapid breathing and her heartbeat. She slowly walked to the orb that was on the ground, wincing every time she placed her foot down. She picked it up, and gently brushed it off.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a red color, she turned to get a closer look. It was the same shade of red as Alastors’ jacket. She walked with hesitancy in her step, she got closer to see it was a rag doll that looked like alastor verbatim. Almost in a heartbeat, she knew that it was alastor. She gently picked it up.
“Al…?” she knew that there wouldn’t be a response, but the fact that there wouldn’t be was the final nail in the coffin. She collapsed onto her knees, and broke, screaming at the top of her lungs. Tears were pouring out, as if her face was a waterfall. She held Alastor and the orb close to her chest, she wanted to go home.
Blinded by her despair, she was unaware that Roo had appeared behind her. Roo had to look away to compose herself, seeing Charlotte in pain brought up the painful memory of being told that she was banished from the garden and finding out why and who. “I’m so sorry that our conversation had to go south, my dear. But I was telling the truth, be in the way and you are going to expect a wall of thorns.”
She didn’t even want to look Roo in the face, she stared at the ground not uttering a word.
“If that is the case… don’t expect to witness any sweetness from me.”
“...I might have lost,” she slowly got up, the rag doll still close to her chest but the orb still in her hand. “But so have you.” She turned to stare at Roo, her true form fully showing. She raised the orb up in the air infusing it with hellfire then slamming it into the ground.
A whirlwind of fire and shadow surrounded the princess, causing Roo to flee so she wouldn’t be burned by the fire.
In a matter of seconds she was teleported to the doorsteps, she was finally safe. She landed on her knees again, not wanting to move.
