Chapter Text
You sat on the floor, your head resting between Lucifer's thighs as he cards his fingers through your hair.
Charlie had decided the activity for the day to be an open forum. Each person gets a turn to ask another person of their choosing a question, and the person questioned may answer the question or say "pass" if they don't wish to answer.
Personally, you thought it was a good activity that can help you and the others get to know each other even more. It also allowed each of you to ask some of the things you were curious about.
Charlie, Vaggie, and Lucifer took the long couch, with you sitting on the floor in front of Lucifer and Husk and sitting on the smaller arm chairs nearby. Nifty sat criss-cross on the floor with a happy expression on her face while Alastor sat on the other arm chair across from Husk.
Sadly, the two other sinners residing in the hotel weren't present, as they were called over by their employers.
Currently it was Angel's turn to pick someone to question. He picks you.
"So uh toots, I've seen mr. Big Dick In-charge here goes full demon mode twice now. I've seen Charlie go full princess of hell during the extermination too. We've all seen Alastor go murdery multiple times now too. Like- do you have a super mode too?" Angel asks with a finger pointed at you.
You snort at the choice of words, "Super mode? You mean when we pull out our true forms?"
"Yeah that, I noticed mine had changed after I became an overlord too, so I was wondering, since ya like- a big shot up top, maybe ya got one too?"
Lucifer lets out a chuckle at that, "We only take on our less restricted appearances when we need to exert more of our power. Now of course that's not always the case. It happens when we experience intense emotions, mostly ones of anger. But since people like me or the overlords hold so much power, we don't really need to take on those forms other than the times we get immensely pissed or want to intimidate people."
Angel listened to Lucifer's explanation in wonder. He looks at Charlie, "Mind if I ask another question toots?"
"Of course Angel! So long as it's in relation to the original question you asked!" Charlie enthusiastically agrees, she was somewhat curious about the answer to the question too.
"Like- I don't think I've ever seen ya angry Crys. Neva seen ya go serious eitha’ like- have ya ever gone full on…?" Angel makes a gesture at Crys referring to him in entirety.
"No," you simply answer, your expression thoughtful. "I don't really get that angry. I mean sure I get angry, I get serious too. But it isn't really to the extent where I lose my grip on myself and my true form appears ya know? I mean OF COURSE I know what it looks like, it's happened before, mostly when I was uh…being super self loathing when Luci fell."
You look behind you to Lucifer and send him a sad smile. Lucifer scratches at a certain part of your scalp that has you melting in his touch.
"Damn, you literally have the patience of a saint!" Angel belts out with impressed laughter.
"Understatement. I haven't seen it either," Lucifer says, drawing everyone's attention.
"You haven't?" Charlie asks in surprise.
Lucifer shakes his head no for further confirmation.
"Nope, when I was…cast out…he was more devastated and sad if anything."
You puff out your cheeks in a pouting expression at that.
"Even before that, he has such great control over himself that even if he was angry, he didn't really resort to using his powers." Lucifer continues.
"Could be more harmful than good." Husk interjects. Angel looks at him confused.
"Whaddya mean by that?"
Husk props his cheek with his hand as he sighs, "Haven't ya heard the unspoken reality in which the nice ones generally are the most dangerous ones to piss off?"
"‘Sides, we all saw him take on the attack from that exorcist. Didn't seem to be a normal attack as well." Husk explained.
"That's because it wasn't," Lucifer adds with a proud look on his face. You roll your eyes at that, one would think he was the one that blocked the attack.
"Angelic artifacts are far more powerful than angelic weapons. They are usually made by the big G himself. Or through the combined powers of at least 2 High Council members." You explain to everyone.
Alastor gets a thoughtful glint to his eyes.
"You're part of the high council, aren't you dear?" Alastor inquires in addition.
You try to read his expression but to no avail.
"Yes, I am." You answered cautiously.
Alastor's eyes narrow, his smile sharper, "My! Are you able to do that too? Perhaps you can create such a powerful artifact that can further help the hotel!"
Charlie opens her mouth to interject. You beat her to it, "Hm, no."
Alastor freezes in surprise, "Say what now?"
You stretch back a bit, you lay your arm over Lucifer's thigh. "No," you repeat, throwing Alastor an unamused expression.
"Hm, unfortunate, I quite thought you wanted to support Charlie and the hotel." Alastor replies after regaining himself, Lucifer frowns at the obvious unspoken words.
"I do want to help with the hotel. I'm technically your man on the inside so to speak as well. But just because I help hell, doesn't mean I'm on hell's ‘side’," You made air quotes at the word before continuing. "I'm on neither side. I have personal bias, sure, Charlie is as much family to me as Lucifer, and the lot of you are all my friends. But I wouldn't do anything that can potentially harm the peace in heaven so long as long as it is possible. I may not like some of the existences governing it and their decisions, but I care about the people of heaven. They're my people too."
Lucifer releases a fond sigh as his hand trails from your scalp to your neck, softly trailing his finger along it.
You don't bother holding the shiver that runs down your body at the action.
Alastor's eyes narrow even further until he breaks off the tense atmosphere with jovial dismissal of the topic.
Charlie sends you an admiring look for your words.
"Right, still last question from me, like- you told us all about how the High Council is basically the highest ranking just below the big G and hids kid. So- surely not all of you are equal in strength?" Angel asks once the atmosphere got light hearted again.
"It's similar, in a way, to the overlord system and the sins here in hell. Unlike the deals down here, up there we have what's called the-"
"Oaths." Vaggie interjects unintentionally, the word slipping out her lips. She sends you an apologetic look for interrupting you.
You nod your head at her with a soft smile to imply it was fine.
"Right. Oaths, unlike deals where it's an exchange, Oaths are voluntary and selfless in the way that the soul or existance making the oath doesn't ask for anything in return. There are many types of oaths of course, and due to most of them being more binding and permanent in nature not many souls give their oaths to others."
"Hmm…mind sharing some examples?" Husk adds in with a curious look.
"Of course, there are not permanently binding oaths like Oath of Truth, it can be fine tuned to specific situations only where two people make it to ensure that only the truth is being exchanged during the agreed sitarion."
You drew a symbol in the air, gold magic following the movement of your finger as you did so before it disappears after a few moments.
"Then there's the more binding and permanent oath that the High Council earns in order to expand their power and authority. The Oath of Loyalty."
Charlie looks really interested in that one, "Ooo! What does it do?"
"When a soul gives their oath of loyalty to another, they essentially enter that person's faction or group. They are obligated to be loyal to the person they give their oath to and anything that happens to the person they give the oath to will also happen to them."
Charlie's smile drops at that, "Wait, like if they get hurt?"
You exhale an amused huff at that, "No…but if the person they gave their oath to were to be cast out of heaven for example. They'd be cast out too."
Vaggie looks thoughtful at that, "...How…how many souls have given their Oath of Loyalty to you?" She asks you.
Lucifer's attention also seemed to be taken by the question as he gazes at you from behind with an inquisitive expression.
You tense lightly for a moment, "Didn't I just explain that an Oath is rarely made? Besides, you can't force Oaths either. Because it doesn't take effect if the person who is making the oath doesn't truly want it with their whole being."
Vaggie narrows her eyes at that, she knew about that of course, she wasn't suspicious of Crys, she just had a feeling that he wasn't JUST a member of the High Council.
"Yeah toots, you didn't really answer who the most powerful one is of the High Council yet!" Angel speaks up too. Nifty just sat down vibrating as she looked at you with big eyes anticipating your answer.
You sigh, "30%." You simply say with a grumble under your breath.
You never really liked accepting oaths, but refusing an oath also has large implications, and you refused to make any soul who gave you their oath a hard time.
"30% of what?" Angel asked, confused.
Lucifer who had stilled at hearing the number finally spoke out in an audible whisper, "30% of Heaven's Population?"
You nod your head slowly at that as the rest of the Hazbin crew's eyes widened.
"Th-that's why even when they found out about you being in hell a lot, they can't cast you out. Casting out that many souls will create an imbalance in the realm's structure and community!" Vaggie said in realization.
"Hey, it wasn't on purpose, of the High Council, I specialize over time and space related abilities. A lot of souls come to me to see their loved ones, you know…like ghosts and stuff. Some want to see how their family is doing in hell." You defend yourself, Lucifer bends forward to place a kiss on your cheek.
"I knew you were impressive when I was in your body before. Guess my boyfriend is QUITE a big shot like me hmm?" Lucifer teased with an adoring grin. You blush at his words.
"Ugh, whatever, let's just continue with this game. It's my turn, yeah? Alastor-"
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The activity lasts until lunch. You found out about a lot of things, you specifically like the stories about Charlie's emo phase as well as some stories about Husk's time as an overlord.
The lunch was fairly uneventful, some light banter exchanged between the crew. You sat next to Lucifer who had Charlie on his other side as the two caught up about the previous days.
Half way through the lunch you started thinking about how you were gonna break the news to Charlie and Lucifer about the upcoming trial in 2 days. You had to go to heaven tomorrow to discuss a course of action with Micheal, but first you had to find a way to break the news to Charlie and Lucifer first.
Lucifer turns to chat with you too but finds himself closing his mouth at the sight of your serious and worried expression.
He gently places his hand over yours, getting your attention, "You okay love?"
You give him a thankful smile as you nod your head softly. The smile slips off after a few moments though and you take a moment to yourself before whispering, "Can I…talk to you and Charlie after lunch?"
Lucifer was a bit confused on what it was you wanted to speak about that was making you so worried, still, it must be important if you felt it was.
Nodding his head, relief can be seen on your face as you changed the topic to something more light hearted.
The talk could be done after you enjoyed the rest of your lunch.