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Alastor rounded the corner and immediately froze as the tip of an Angelic spear was shoved in his face. After the split second it took for the surprise to wear off, his expression relaxed and he gave a short amused laugh. “And what have I done to merit such a threat this time?” He asked Vaggie, casually reaching up to move her spear aside, only to have her keep it aimed at him at a less dangerous distance.
“What have you done to Lucifer?” Vaggie accused, eyes narrowed and glinting with murderous rage.
Alastor had to admit, it was a good yet all too common look on her, as annoying as it was to so often be directed at him. He sighed dramatically, wondering what spurred this little bout of righteous fury.
Yes, him and Lucifer had spent a bit more time together lately, a bi-product of the King of Hell now knowing his real identity, and wanting to keep a closer eye on him. But their little rivalry had for the most part remained unchanged, they certainly hadn't had a fight today , so she couldn't have misinterpreted one of their many disputes. Even when it had happened that they got physical in their fights, it was little more than an aggressive sparring match when tensions got high now it was clear that neither could easily obliterate the other.
“I'm afraid I haven't seen him this hellish morning. Whatever state he has gotten himself in, I am surly not to blame for it.” Vaggie was one of the few who didn't by his playing nice, she had been skeptical of him from day one, and he could respect her cynical mindset. However boring it may be when she immediately blames him for everything and anything wrong at the hotel.
“ Don't lie to me. Him and me are the only ones in hell right now with golden blood.” She half growled, glaring pointedly at the white cuffs of Alastors jacket.
Alastor looked down at his attire, and sure enough, there were small golden stains on the white cuff of one of his sleeves, and tiny splatters of it across his chest. “Ah. It appears I was a tad hasty in making myself presentable this morning.”
He had been hunting a troublesome sinner that morning, and must have not noticed a small injury he sustained. He'd had to rush back in time for one of Charlie's arranged little sessions he was expected to oversee, and cleaned himself up with a spell before haphazardly throwing his jacket on without checking his appearance before leaving his rooms. A silly mistake, one that he was lucky was caught before more eyes had the chance to notice it.
With the flick of a wrist, the stains disappeared, much to Vaggie’s weary confusion. Sinners couldn't dispel Angelic blood or essence, their powers were not compatible, which was why Angelic forces were so dangerous to those who owned a corrupted human soul.
“Where's Lucifer?” Vaggie asked again, her spear barely moving an inch away from threatening him. A threat that would be more serious if he didn't know for a fact she'd never follow through, for no other reason than because she wouldn't upset her sunshine girlfriend by killing off someone from the hotel.
“I've already told you, I haven't the faintest idea.” He sighed in frustration, they were going to go in circles forever if she didn't change her tune. “Now, if you don't mind, I believe our darling princess is expecting us in the foyer for one of her little ‘team bonding’ exercises. Perhaps you could learn to not make empty threats at people without knowing the full context for a situation? Wouldn't that be a novel breakthrough!” He taunted, knowing that Charlie being upset or disappointed in her was a valid concern the ex-exorcist always carried with her.
“You're not going anywhere until you tell me where that blood came from.”
“The question you're asking is something you do not want to know the answer to.” Alastor's claws clicked against his microphone as his fingers drummed impatiently against it. This conversation was getting stale quickly, and yet she was as stubborn as he expected from an exorcist angel.
“I am being very gracious in allowing you to walk away without having to learn an uncomfortable truth. I suggest you take my offer before you regret the answer.” He tilted his head, grin turning sharp and dangerous, a threat and promise all rolled into one, disguised as a polite dismissal.
“Tell me!” She demanded, not even hesitating to consider his generous proposal.
She wouldn't back down, and Alastor was growing tired of this senseless back and forth. He could always ensure her silence he supposed. There would be more than enough opportunity to use her guilt against her, and the possibility of Charlie getting upset may cause her to hold her tongue without him needing to resort to threats.
“Very well. Then I believe a demonstration would be the simplest answer.” He stated, deciding to end this silly intimidation attempt and just deal with the aftermath. The others would become suspicious if they were too late to an arranged meeting, and he didn't need this to be a whole Hotel scandal just because Vaggie was too suspicious of him.
With a smirk, Alastor brought his hand up to the point of the Angelic spear, and pressed the tip of his finger firmly against it until it broke the skin. He didn't even flinch, keeping his eyes locked on Vaggie with a sharp grin as a drop of Golden ichor bubbled up and ran down the blood red claw to soak into his gloves.
Vaggie was frozen, her mind spinning in dizzying circles as she took in the fact that Alastor, the Radio Demon, had golden blood. Not red like a sinner, or black like a hellborn. Bright, angelic Gold. She dropped her spear in shock, and took a couple of steps back, her wide eye finally flicking up to that manic grin.
“Surprised my dear? Did you think you were the only one to try and hide your identity from all of Hell~?” He half sang, playful malice in his voice as he laughed, his voice filled with a static filled crackle. Bringing his finger up to his lips and licking off the blood, the cut was small enough that it didn't bleed that much, his Angelic nature healing it almost instantly.
“Who are you?” Vaggie demanded, but her voice was more alarmed than angry, her hand twitched, but she didn't immediately make a grab to retrieve her weapon. In a delicious twist of irony, she was the one who looked like a deer in the headlights, waiting for the full force to hit her and powerless to do anything to stop it.
Alastor ignored her question. “Though, if I do say so myself, I think I've done a much better job of remaining incognito… Of course I had assumed Lucifer had discovered me, seeing as he has known me for so long. But even he was fooled until recently.”
“ What are you?!” Vaggie snapped, more anger filling her voice as she grabbed her spear from the floor, ready to fight. “You're a fallen Angel? Like Lucifer? Is that why you were so powerful?”
“Fallen?” Alastor laughed, waving off the accusation as if it was a silly idea. “Heaven's no! I assure you, I'm very much here because I choose to be, as opposed to banishment. Hell is just so much more entertaining than Heaven wouldn't you agree, my dear?” The Radio filter dropped from his voice, a dark echo creeping in to take its place.
Vaggie visibly reacted to the voice, not exactly remembering it, but recognising it somehow, like it was engraved somewhere deep in the back of her mind, shrouded in shadows. “That voice...”
“Do you remember it? I was never sure just how much the exorcists were aware after their creation.” His voice continued to reverberate, as if the voice itself was cushioned by a thick layer of shadows, all traces of his Radio persona in his voice melting away into non-existence. The visual of the new voice coming out of Alastors mouth as an unsettling juxtaposition.
He stood with his head tilted in curious mischief, his posture one of a soldier at rest. Then his red eyes seemed to flicker, before his eyes changed to a bright gold surrounded by a void of black. His ever present smile sharped to a dangerous grin, and with a casual roll of his shoulders, his entire appearance glitched and shimmered before her eyes.
The man before her was familiar in a way that turned her blood cold, taking a few more startled steps back as she took in his new appearance.
Black hair tipped in the colour of blood. The six horns framing the top of his head, encircled by a black halo that glowed with a red aura. The dark military outfit he wore was completed when the radio demon's microphone lengthened under his hand, curling into a long sharp scythe.
“ Azrael .”
The figure gave a theatrical bow, his eyes glowing and amused by the reaction to his identity being revealed and confirmed.
“What have you done with the real Alastor?” Vaggie accused, surprising herself at how defensive she felt over that manipulative prick.
“Aww, and here I thought you hated us.” Azrael put a hand on his chest as if he was touched, his grin stretching impossibly wider. “The Alastor you knew has always been a front my dear. The ‘ Radio Demon’ was nothing but a character, a mask to hide the outrage of an Angelic force pruning a few troublesome Overlords.”
Vaggie looked at a loss, the betrayal clear on her face. “But… he hasn't been doing that since he arrived at the hotel. Did he actually die when he went missing?” She accused, still skeptical that the big scary radio demon that had terrorized Hell, was actually an Angel the whole time.
“No, I haven't. The creation of you and your sisters made that job obsolete.” Azrael tutted, as if the exterminations were a minor inconvenience, bringing his scythe in front of him he casually leant against it. “I had intended to keep the radio demon dead all those years ago. People already assumed he'd been taken out in the exterminations, and I had no intention to correct them.”
“So. You decided instead, to, what? Stalk me?” Vaggies fear and disbelief was slowly shifting to frustration. This was so far beyond anything she expected from finding out more about Hells most mysterious overlord. She'd just started to, well, not trust exactly, but be a little less afraid of him turning on them all at a moment's notice. And now this .
“I won't deny I was curious when I learnt you fell. Especially when I found you living with Lucifer's child.” Azrael admitted, his head tilting thoughtfully, before his smile melted back into a smirk. “But don't flatter yourself. It wasn't until an exorcist was killed by a sinners hand that I decided I needed to become active once again to keep an eye on things down here.” He explained, as if all of this was fairly obvious.
Vaggie just stared at him, the full weight of everything finally settling in. He'd known about the dead exorcist the whole time, he'd known they could be killed with their own weapons, that she was one of them that had been killed and abandoned. He knew , and waited until it benefited him to make a move and stir the pot.
“But… You made a deal with me… you made a deal with Charlie… ” The implications of that suddenly dawned on her. Charlie had made a deal with Azrael , she was in debt to an Angel, one that didn't answer to either heaven or hell.
“That deal was a spur of the moment decision.” He assured, waving off the concern. “A harmless little IOU , always good to have one in your back pocket. Especially if she is able to reach her full potential one day. I can assure you, I have no plans to cash in on it anytime soon.”
As messed up as all this was, Vaggie couldn't help feeling a little relieved about that. She'd been so stressed about Alastor taking advantage of Charlie with such an open ended deal, using her to grow his own power with someone so powerful in his debt. But Azrael wouldn't have as much need of her power. He was just as powerful, if not more so. The benefits to himself should be a lot less disastrous for everyone around him than a power hungry overlord.
“So why are you here ?”
“The hotel simply seemed a good way to have front row seats to the latest clash between heaven and Hell. I wasn't lying about it being an endless source of entertainment .” Azrael chuckled, straightening up with a knowing look, seeing Vaggie struggle with her emotions over the weight of the revelation.
“Uh, Vaggie?” A sudden feminine voice asked from the end of the corridor. “Who's your friend?”
They both froze, but Azrael recovered first, his expression smoothing out to one of casual indifference as he turned to look at a very confused Charlie in the doorway.
“Ah, yes. Why don't you introduce us my dear? We wouldn't want to be rude to our gracious host now would we?” His voice was smooth, but his eyes were as sharp as his teeth. A silent warning not to reveal his secret to Hell's princess.
“Um…” Vaggie was visibly uncomfortable, lying to Charlie wasn't something she wanted to do again, especially about this. But it was also now clear to her that ‘Alastor’ had kept her Angelic secret, and she was expected to return the favour. “Right. Charlie this is… my father. I guess?”
“Your what?! ” There was a sound like nails on a chalkboard, Azraels expression going tight and uncomfortable as he froze at the unexpected declaration. His lips stretched in a too tight grin, eyes narrowing as he leveled Vaggie with a warning look.
“ Well, what else should I call you? ” Vaggie snapped as she threw her hand up in indignation, annoyed by the whole situation and very much put on the spot. It was objectively true , if she'd had time to think she might have said something better, but that was the first thing that came to her mind!
“Heavenborn don't have parents. The Angel of Death does not have children !” Azrael snapped back, his eyes practically glowing in anger, if his wings had been out they would be bristling right now. “Me creating the exorcists does not make you my child .”
“You…created the exorcists?” Charlie asked, her unsure voice cutting through the angry bickering. Her smile was awkward, not sure how to react to all of this, but trying to be nice and polite. A million questions ran through her head, unable to decide which was the most important. Why was there an Angel here? Was he here to take Vaggie away? Was he mad because of the battle?
Angel Dust and Husk poked their heads around the corner at the raised voices, sharing a look with eachother. “And you thought Charlie had Daddy issues” Angel muttered to Husk, who just scoffed, but turned to continue to watch what was going on.
Azrael shot a glare at the two, who were wise enough to quickly duck out of sight. The Angel straightened his jacket and made himself more presentable, his face dropping to a more casual expression. “I'm afraid I've made a terrible first impression, haven't I?” With a flick of his wrist the scythe disappeared, and he bowed forward politely to offer Charlie his hand. “My name is Azrael, it's a pleasure to finally meet you again, princess. I'm a very, very old friend of your parents.”
As soon as Charlies shook his hand, all the questions she had were suddenly replaced with a very surprised: “Again? You knew my mom? Do you know where she is?” The question was spoken before she could even think about it, skeptical of him knowing both of her parents if he was an Angel.
“Indeed, not that I expect you to remember me. You were but a tiny tot the last I visited the Palace.” Azrael chuckled, shaking his head as if reminiscing over old memories. “As for your mother's wearabouts, I'm afraid that I couldn't say.” He said, cutting off any more questions about Lillith as he stepped forward towards the main foyer with a questioning look, indicating for them to make themselves more comfortable. There was no point trying to keep a low profile now everyone had seen him, might aswell make like a guest instead of lurking in the hallway.
“Right. Uh, does my dad know you're here?” Charlie asked as she gestured for him to follow her into the main room. An Angel just turning up without permission or an arrangement wasn't something she thought was possible.
“I have spoken to him since extermination day. But no, he is not yet aware that I am at this hotel.” And he was probably not going to be happy that Azreal was here, without his disguise, but that was something for them to fight about at a later date.
Following behind as Charlie led the way, he was amused to find Husk back behind the bar, and Angel trying to ask as if the two of them hadn't been eavesdropping on the whole situation.
“Angel, Husk, this is Azrael… the, uh, Angel who made the exorcists.” Charlie introduced with a strained smile, clearly not fully comfortable, but polite and friendly to a fault as always. He briefly wondered if any person could get her to stop being polite without actively being a threat to the ones she loved.
Azrael was confident enough that his reveal had been before the two sinners had decided to try their hands at spying, so they didn't know his connection to Alastor. With a smirk, he realised he could probably have fun with this. Poor Vaggie and Lucifer would get so stressed being the only two to know the truth, and needing to keep it to themselves.
“Heh, heaven ain't mad about how many exorcists we killed, I hope?” Angel asked, attempting to play it off as a joke, but there was a tension in his shoulders that betrayed real fear of retaliation. “Cause, just saying, they've got a much higher body count than us.”
“Believe it or not, I don't have a stake in either side of this silly war between heaven and Hell.” Azrael shrugged, amused at the idea that Angel Dust thought a heavenly Angel would come down this casually if they were going on a revenge kick. “I may have created the exorcists, but that's as far as my involvement goes. As I'm Sure Vagatha here can confirm.”
“It's, Vaggie.” Said Ex-Exorcist grit out, knowing full well that the other was aware of her name. She stopped seething a little when she felt Charlie's hand on her shoulder. Her girlfriend was giving her a questioning and concerned look, which she responded to with an awkward smile. “But he's right. This is the first time we've actually spoken.”
“In general, my jurisdiction lies outside the nine realms.” Azreal pointed out, glancing at his claws as if the devastating war was very trivial to him, when in reality it was highly amusing for him to watch. “Heaven asked for my assistance, but I'd just as soon provide an army for Lucifer if asked.”
“So.” Husk speaks up, pouring himself a glass instead of drinking directly from the bottle. “What exactly brings the Angel of Death to our hotel? Bit suspicious showing up after a big fight if you don't actually care about it.” He said, clearly skeptical over Azrael's motives. Maybe he felt more safe than Angel with the knowledge that ‘Alastor’ would probably protect his property if things got intense. Which was an ironic sense of confidence from the former overlord.
“I'll admit, I'm curious about the ramifications of redemption.” He admitted. “I am aware of every road between life and death. Each path to heaven and hell is well trodden and populated at all times, but very rarely does anything travel in the opposite direction.”
“So, ya just decided to drop in and meet everyone?” Angel joined in with the questions, tilting his bottle towards Azrael.
“I've been keeping an eye on this place ever since one of my creations fell, and another was killed by an overlord. I'm pleased that at least one of them broke free of Adam's little narcissistic cult.” Azrael tilted his head towards Vaggie for emphasis, taking note of how uncomfortable she looked over the whole conversation. “I watched the battle personally, and was rather impressed by her ability to train and lead an army so swiftly. Exorcists were supposed to be soldiers, with strategic minds and ruthless tactics. Not the senseless murder machines that the first fool turned them into.”
“If you've been watching us all this time, why haven't you done or said anything before now?” Husk asked, eyes narrowed suspiciously. He was good at reading people, and Azrael hoped the other had the sense to keep any suspicions he had to himself, or to bring it in to him alone and not in front of everyone else.
“I merely thought it was finally worth visiting this curious little hotel for myself. It's very much the talk of both the angelic council and the other rings of Hell right now, you know.”
“Uh, speaking of. Is extermination day still a thing?” Angel wondered. “I mean, wasn't Adam the one running that whole shit show?”
“We'll probably need another meeting with heaven. To discuss what happens next.” Charlie sighed, not looking forward to going through all of that again.
“Lute isn't going to let it go without a fight. And heaven will be dealing with its own issues since they kept Exterminations secret from most of heaven.” Vaggie huffed.
“Oh, believe me, heaven has a lot to consider right now. There's more than just the exterminations to put the cats among the pigeons up in heaven.” Azrael hummed, smug in knowing what they didn't. “But that's a topic for another time. In the meanwhile, I'll be dropping in from time to time. To catch up and get better acquainted with this place and what you're doing here.”
Oh this would be fun, a double identity and more opportunities to stir the pot. Lucifer was going to go spare when he found out, and that thought alone made it worth this unexpected twist in the plot to Azrael. Everything just got even more entertaining .