Chapter Text
white heather: protection
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It was just a few days after the extermination, and a few days after Alastor offered his help. Still, it just seemed like a normal night. Husk was at the lobby cleaning up, knowing Angel might lumber in for another drink. Though right now he was musing quietly, reminiscing on his old glory days. As the concierge, it was his job to greet anyone who came in, that is, assuming anyone came in.
Husk wasn’t too keen on Charlie’s idea. Really, he was only here because he was forced to. Still, he wasn’t one to argue, especially since he knew if he tried to fight back, he’d be added to Alastor’s broadcast of screams. Whatever. As long as he had booze to drown it out, he was willing to put up with anything. Cleaning up the glass, he felt like he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It looked like something or someone scampering from the door to the elevator, seemingly ducking down and being as quiet as they could.
It was then that Charlie walked by, having finished a warm cup of milk before going to bed.
“You saw it too, didn’t you?” Charlie asked. Husk simply shrugged in response.
“It ain’t my business, still. If you wanna go I ain’t stopping you.” He chugged another bottle and sighed.
Charlie quickly followed them, (or rather the trail of footprints they left), but not before stopping to get her girlfriend. Vaggie was almost half asleep when Charlie awoke her, so she groaned slightly as she sat up.
“What’s going on?” She mumbled. “Why’re you waking me up?”
“I’m sorry…" Charlie whispered. “But I think something, or maybe someone just entered the hotel. And they didn’t even check in.”
“Maybe they must be looking for free shelter?” Vaggie shrugged. But before she could lay her head down, Charlie grabbed her hands.
“Please. We have to investigate what this is.” The demoness begged, her eyes wide like a sad puppy. “I promise. We’ll just look, then go back to bed.”
Vaggie sighed, but cracked a bit of a smile. She loved the compassionate side of Charlie, the side that saw the good in others and gave everyone a chance. It’s what made her fall in love with her in the first place, after all. Getting up, she put on her slippers and headed towards the elevator with Charlie. Thankfully for them, it seemed their unwelcome guest was covered in a thick layer of mud or grime of some kind and left handprints all over the elevator, but more specifically at the button that took them to the highest floor. Charlie’s eyes widened, as she realized what it most likely meant. While she was naive, she wasn’t dumb by any means and knew that jumping off a building wasn’t usually good. She quickly pressed the button, hoping she wasn’t too late.
Arriving at the rooftop, they saw it.
The creature was quite small, only slightly taller than Niffty, and they were filthy, covered in muck, trash and what looked to be twigs and leaves. She (the two assumed it was a she, as she was wearing a dress) was looking down below, almost as if she was getting ready to jump, but they were also trembling. Small, stifled sobs came out of the poor creature.
“Please! Don’t jump!” Charlie cried out, startling the stranger. Turning around, she stared at the two women in shock. Upon doing so, Charlie and Vaggie noticed that she resembled a bird of some kind, having a feathery looking body and a beak. Her eyes were quite large, pupils slightly constricted due to her pure terror. Yet she barely spoke a word as Charlie ran over and held their hand.
“Whatever is going on, it’s not worth killing yourself. Come with us, I’ll get you clean clothes and some warm water, okay?” Charlie said softly. “Please. Hell has already seen enough death these past few days.”
The little bird stared at the two women, her eyes still wide with terror. Then, suddenly she began to sob, curling up into a ball and rocking back and forth. It seemed she was trying to say something, but Charlie and Vaggie couldn’t understand her.
“Charlie…are you sure you want to take this…bird in?” Vaggie asked. “We don’t know who or what she is and it doesn’t seem like she can tell us.”
“I know, but…the purpose of this hotel is to help people. We’ll just give her a warm bath, a change of clothes and see if things get better.”
The two guided the still crying bird to the bathroom, helping her undress. Charlie started a bath, making sure it was nice and warm before adding some soap. She then placed her into the bath, grabbing a soft sponge and starting to scrub away the grime. Vaggie did the same, being careful around her face and eyes. As they scrubbed away, more of the little bird’s features were revealed. Blueish black feathers covered her entire body except for their face, which was snow-white with rosy cheeks. She also seemed to have long feathery hair, with one side having a red stripe and the other having a blue stripe. Her arms and legs tips faded into black, with her talons and fingertips being a deep red color. What was very unusual was her tail, as rather than it being a feathered one, her tail resembled that of an imp with small spikes at the base, but in place of the spadelike tip, there were what looked to be fanned out feathers. But what was most odd of all was the fact that on top of her head were a pair of black and white striped horns, not unlike that of an imp’s. Her small size indicated that she was probably a child (along with the fact that she was rather short and her voice seemed somewhat high-pitched from her crying).
“Oh gosh…you’re just a little girl. Why are you out here?” Charlie questioned. “Why…why were you trying to kill yourself?”
“Babe, I don’t think she-”
“…because I’m a mistake.” The little owl blubbered between sniffles. “Nobody likes me…”
“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I don’t know what’s going on but I don’t think you taking your life will make things better. Do…do you have a name?” Charlie questioned. “Do you know who your parents are?”
“No! Don’t tell papa I’m here!” She screamed. “…I don’t want to go back there...please.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay…shhh.” Charlie hugged the owl, stroking her back. “You can stay here as long as you want, okay? Can you tell us your name?”
“I’m Anastasia ...but, if you find that’s too long, you can just call me Twyla. That’s what everyone calls me…" the owl replied. “Everyone but...never mind.”
Charlie and Vaggie quickly took Twyla to a bedroom, giving her a shirt for her to change into as well as giving her a plush toy to keep her company. Vaggie quickly left the room to bring Twyla some food while Charlie brushed her hair, though no matter how much she brushed it out, it simply would not stay neat. She did manage to tie it into ponytails with some red ribbons, which Twyla seemed to enjoy. Vaggie brought her a sandwich, some chips and a glass of milk. The little owlet happily ate the food she was given.
“This is really yummy…my belly was hurting so much, I didn’t realize how hungry I was…" the little owl stated. “…I don’t think I’ve had anything to eat for a while, not since I left.”
“How long have you been away from home?” Vaggie asked.
“I dunno. Maybe 5 days? I know I escaped before the extermination and tried to throw myself into the exterminators but they ignored me. Actually, one came close to killing me but then it stopped.” Twyla explained nonchalantly.
“They don’t kill hellborns. Not usually.” Vaggie commented.
“I was gonna try to use one of their weapons, but I got scared. So I thought if I jumped off a high place I wouldn’t feel it.”
Charlie felt horrified listening to Twyla’s words. How could such a young child have feelings like this!? Her heart ached just thinking about what she might have gone through to feel like this. Before Twyla could continue, Charlie hugged her tightly, stroking her head and trying to not let tears fall from her eyes. Twyla struggled a bit, but eventually relaxed.
“..don’t worry Twyla. Just try to rest for now, we’ll figure things out later.”
Twyla just nodded and lied down on the bed, closing her eyes. Charlie and Vaggie got up and shut the lights, leaving a nightlight for her. Taking a deep breath, the demonic princess leaned slightly against the wall before letting out a scream that was muffled by her sleeve.
“I’m so sorry…I just…I can’t believe it! She’s just a little girl!” Charlie fumed.
“Babe, deep breaths.” Vaggie tried to console her. “We have to tread carefully. Just because we stopped her doesn’t mean she’s good to go. Right now, we have to make sure Twyla feels safe and understood.”
“Hold up, did you say Twyla? About yea high, huge fuckin’ eyes and the look of a sad baby clown?”
Charlie and Vaggie turned to see Angel, who had just arrived from work with his young daughter Sparry (who was snoozing away on Angel’s back), heading towards his room.
“You know her?” Vaggie asked. “How?”
“Met her pop a few times before and she an’ Sparry used to go to the same Hellementary school.” He shrugged as he opened his door. “One day she just stopped showin’ up though. Don’t know why, but Spar was pretty upset about it. Not much I can do.”
“So you also know her father? Who is he?” Charlie looked puzzled.
“Ya know the Goetias?” Angel continued, looking at his phone as he placed Sparry in her bed.
“Yeah, more or less.” Charlie answered.
“You know the owl guy with a dumb hat, four eyes, kinda smells like weed but also like plants?”
“Stolas? Her father is Stolas!?” Vaggie gasped. “One of the princes of hell!?”
“I mean if you put it that way.”
This didn’t make sense to Charlie though. Stolas didn’t seem like the type of person to abuse their children. She really wanted to go and talk to him, really give him a piece of her mind. But Twyla…she didn’t want to go back there. What could she do?
“Look, I think we should wait until tomorrow before we do anything. I guess I could call Stolas later, but Twyla doesn’t seem to want to see him. Plus, in her state, things might just be worse if we call him.” Charlie sighed. “Let’s go to bed. It’s been a long couple of days.”
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I know I haven’t met you yet, but I already love you.
Are you excited to meet me?
Soon, you will be in my arms.
I swear, no matter what happens…I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe and happy.
My beloved Anastasia.
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