Chapter Text
When she wakes up the only thing she feels is the burning from the hot wind that hits her back directly. She stifles the small whimper of pain and gets up to put on a shirt.
Something she has learned from her small instance in hell is that the air is hot, the temperature is no higher than 35° degrees and still enough to make her feel like she was in the sun. Charlie says it depends, it's usually like that for three weeks after the exterminations. Another thing that Vaggie just buried that the angels screw up...
Another thing she has learned is that she heals very, very slowly. It's not like she's ever been hurt in heaven to know how long a wound of the caliber in her back would take. Ripping off an angel's wings is... a lot, the only angel who ever received that same treatment was Lucifer and Vaggie really, she definitely didn't want to meet him in the near future.
Although they also had differences, Vaggie had heard that they cut off his wings with the Methuselah sword, completely burning his back and throwing him into hell from which he could not escape (at least that was one of the versions she was told, she heard from those of outside of exterminations they usually receive other versions and at this point in her life she begins to ask which one could be real, there is as much chance that what she was told is real as it is a lie)
Vaggie had not had the option of scarred by fire, her was the brute force that tore off a large part of the wings, leaving only remains of bone that did not seem to want to heal despite the care she had taken...
To be honest, Vaggie isn't really sure about her wings, she's a little scared that she won't heal, left with an exposed mark in hell because any touch of cloth would re-activate the nerves that were once there. Vaggie didn't even want to leave the room, even though there were only three beings in the hotel, she felt bad, nauseous and wanted to hide because she was embarrassed for Charlie to see her back, she knows that Charlie doesn't really think much about her.
Heaven beyond wanting to send redeemed sinners, knows that she surely doesn't care about her back, knows that Charlie cares more about the pain that Vaggie feels than what she represents, She knows that Charlie thinks she is a sinner and only feels pain to think that Vaggie was a victim of the angels and will not see anything else.
But the thought of Charlie seeing the consequences of her failure as an angel, of her failure in heaven...Vaggie really doesn't want that. So she covers her back, she takes the looser shirt that Charlie gave her and stands, enduring the burning that her touch causes. Once she holds on long enough to hide the pain from her, leaves the room.
—Hey! Good morning to you — Charlie seems quite excited as she enters the room, Charlie was sitting on the couch, in front the television was on — I hope you had a good nap
— Um, hey — Vaggie really doesn't know how to react to so much joy that Charlie always shows as if she were the same as breathing, it's not something she's used to — Are you... are you going to need something else before you go out? — Vaggie tries to be useful, to repay Charlie's kindness.
—Oh! Don't worry about that! In fact, it seems like that ended yesterday so there won't be much else to do for the moment — Charlie points at the television, her other hand taps the couch, an invitation.
Vaggie takes a moment to hesitate before approaching, sitting down and looking at the report, the difference from the previous days is that the area that was in dispute had already changed its name, there was already a winner. A sinner who the news anchors mocked because it seemed he couldn't outlast the other overlords and they were more likely to make a deal for his life.
Charlie quickly changes the channel to something else.
Vaggie felt the rest of the new channel slipping out of her head, passing through one ear and out the other. All because the term overlord stayed in her head when Charlie explained it to her and she didn't come out, That they were powerful beings, above normal sinners but below the deadly sins. Mostly represented by the amount of power over souls with contracts. And now the report where they showed that demon and bet on which overlord would be the one to take his soul, not even a maybe, it was completely correct that they would do it, that someone would try it even though that sinner passed by of two days of continuous fighting and survived.
That made her worry about her current situation, about Charlie.
She's assumed for the last few days that Charlie is in some kind of position, she hasn't finished asking her, she's afraid to ask, so she takes in information, gathers information, makes her feel a little safer.
She might as well just not get involved but...no, Vaggie is willing to help Charlie, it's...it's for the best What she can help her with, she wants at least Charlie to continue being Charlie, so she must prevent anything from happening to her. Just watching the news has she realized that hell is not that different from what they have said is, well, hell, the only difference is that she knows that even some good people can fall here. So yes, she wants, she wants Charlie to be safe, to continue being the way he is for longer, to continue helping the most hurt and to continue smiling as if it were the most natural thing in the world, because that is Charlie.
—Hey Charlie, do you, uh, do you think you could teach yourself a little more about the overlords, like, who they are and where they operate, to be careful — To make sure there isn't one nearby who wants to go after Charlie.
—Oh! Sure, of course! Although wait a moment and I'll bring a map, it's easier that way — Charlie accepted her request and stood up quickly before leaving the room.
And it's the only way Vaggie knows how to repay favors.