Chapter Text
Ever since all the Overlords and the hotel’s guests assembled to battle Vox, the redemption program has taken off. More sinners than Charlie ever imagined are showing up, interested in joining. With help from her friends and family, everything runs smoothly day by day. What once felt like endless, quiet days with barely any interest from patrons has turned into hectic, intense days filled with sinners needing assistance and guidance.
It seems like everyone enjoys their assigned roles. Well, almost everyone. Alastor has avoided his duty as the hotel’s host and has often been away instead. Charlie assumes he is simply relaxing and enjoying his freedom after being released from his deal with Rosie. Her dad, meanwhile, spends his time working on new duck designs. He has opened his own duck shop at the hotel, and some sinners genuinely seem to appreciate it. Seeing them both enjoy themselves is enough for Charlie.
She knows the rest of the staff enjoy their work. Husk serves drinks and works harder than he has time to drink himself. Niffty now cleans rooms that are actually in use instead of empty ones. And Vaggi manages the hotel with skill and care, keeping everything intact and likely running it better than Charlie ever could. After realizing her girlfriend is better suited as manager, Charlie accepts that she herself is stronger at the emotional side than at structure and organization. Her excitement often outruns her judgment and logic, something Husk has pointed out more than once.
Unfortunately, Angel has not been around the hotel as much as he would like. Valentino keeps packing his schedule, making it nearly impossible for the spider demon to get a break from filming. If Charlie had not learned her lesson about overstepping Angel’s boundaries, twice, she would have gone to Valentino’s studio and tried again with her aggressive kindness to convince him to give her friend some rest. Maybe once Angel redeems himself, he will finally be free.
Charlie stopped mid sentence while giving directions to a guest looking for her dad’s shop when the speakers announced, in Sir Pentious’s artificial voice, that another demon had been redeemed. Her first instinct should have been to cheer, since it proved the program works, but instead a strange twisting feeling settled in her stomach.
It had not fully hit her until now that if the program succeeded, even her friends could be redeemed and leave. Heaven still has no way for redeemed sinners to visit Hell. So far they remain there, limited to calls and letters to those still below, like Cherri and Sir Pentious do. The thought that her friends might reach Heaven and she would never see them in person again scared her.
She tried to suppress those feelings, knowing she could not prevent anyone from redeeming themselves. It was their choice, and they deserved to reach that goal. Charlie’s purpose is to help whoever needs guidance. She knows it would be wrong to try to stop her friends from redeeming themselves. That would be selfish, and selfishness goes against both her morals and the image of the hotel.
“Ugh, Princess Morningstar, where did you say Lucifer’s Ultimate Duck Shop is?” a voice asked, pulling Charlie back to her senses..
She blinked, as if she had not fully understood the question. Charlie cleared her throat and fidgeted with her collar. “Oh, sorry. It’s at the end of the corridor where—”
Once again, the speakers in the ceiling announced that another guest had been redeemed. And when she heard it was Angel, she felt conflicted. Charlie’s heart pounded harder in her chest, and her vision began to blur.
The guest’s mouth kept moving, but Charlie heard nothing. The room started to spin. She excused herself and hurried toward her shared bedroom, thoughts racing as she searched for some way to ease her constant fear of being left behind.
Of course she was happy for Angel—her friend was finally free from Valentino—but this made everything feel so much more real, solidifying the fear she’d carried for so long. All her friends would eventually go to Heaven, while she would remain down here in Hell.
But maybe she could find new friends who were not aiming for redemption. She could keep in touch with the others through letters and voice messages while spending time with new friends at the hotel. In that way she would never feel alone again. But doubt followed right behind the idea. Nothing seemed to calm her, especially as this future felt more and more likely.
Charlie stumbled into the room, rubbing her forehead, trying to hold back the tears pressing at the edge of her composure. Talking to Vaggi might help her calm down. Her girlfriend always knew what to say when she started spiraling. Hearing a simple reminder that she was loved would help before the pressure finally broke loose.
“Hey Vaggi, could we talk about—” Charlie trailed off as the speaker announced yet another redemption. Except this time it was different. She hoped she had misheard, that it was a malfunction. But the name came through clearly, and her worst fear had just come true.
Charlie’s chest tightened until every breath felt sharp and shallow. No. That was wrong. It had to be wrong. Her thoughts began to spiral, looping faster and faster, each one louder than the last. There was no way Vaggi had been redeemed. Not with the future they had imagined together. Not without saying goodbye. Not like this.
Denial wrapped itself around her panic. The speakers had to be wrong. A malfunction. A cruel mistake. Heaven wouldn’t just take her away without warning.
Charlie bolted from the room.
She ran down the halls, her shoes skidding slightly against the floor as she nearly collided with a pair of guests rounding the corner. She barely registered their startled apologies. Her heart pounded so hard it drowned out everything else. Vaggi had to be somewhere. In her office. In the lobby. Anywhere but gone.
Charlie checked the front desk first, scanning the space wildly. No Vaggi. She spun on her heel and ran again, ignoring the ache building in her legs and the way her vision blurred at the edges. Her breathing was uneven now, short gasps that refused to slow down.
She burst into the bar area just as Husk was setting a drink down in front of a guest.
“Vaggi? Mi amor,” Charlie blurted, her voice breaking.
Husk turned in surprise, and the glass tipped from his hand. The drink splashed across the counter and floor, soaking his sleeve. He swore under his breath, but Charlie was already gone, sprinting past him before he could say a word.
She checked the common rooms. The kitchens. The stairwells. Each empty space made her chest tighten further.
No no no no.
Charlie’s hands trembled as she pushed open doors, calling Vaggi’s name again and again, louder each time. Guests stared as she ran aimlessly around the hotel. Some stepped aside, while others muttered in confusion. Charlie didn’t see any of them. All she could think about was the love of her life, who was nowhere to be found.
Suddenly, through all her racing thoughts, she remembered Rosie’s words from that day in Cannibal Town after her fight with Vaggi: “Perhaps your girlfriend is also trying to redeem herself…”
That was why Vaggi had kept her secret, Charlie reminded herself. Vaggi wanted to become a better version of herself. It wasn’t a bad thing… but Charlie would be lying to herself if she said she hadn’t, deep inside, wished Vaggi would never redeem—just so she could stay by her side forever. They had so much ahead of them: plans, dreams, and love.
When Charlie reached the empty bedroom, her knees gave out and she collapsed onto the floor. Tears streaked down her cheeks, and her chest hammered painfully. Between gasps and sobs, she hiccupped, “When I think about the future, I see a better place where everyone can coexist safely…”
There was no response from her lover. No soft singing about how life is easy when they face everything together. No voice telling her everything would be okay.
Charlie flinched at the sudden crash with glass shattering violently by her balcony door. She lifted her head, a fragile spark of hope igniting in her chest. Vaggi? Please…
But the figure that stumbled through the doorway was not her angel.
Charlie’s breath hitched.
Lute stood there instead—if “stood” could even describe the trembling, broken posture she held. Golden blood drenched her entire body, dripping from deep gashes across her armor and staining the floor beneath her. Her once immaculate wings were torn and ragged, feathers missing in clumps. And her halo… it flickered weakly above her head, dimming and brightening like a dying bulb.
The exorcist panted, each breath sharp and wet. Her eyes glowed with a furious light, but they were bleeding too with rivulets of molten gold running down her cheeks.
Charlie scrambled backward on instinct, heart pounding so hard it hurt.
“L–Lute?” she whispered, unable to hide the tremor in her voice. This was the angel who had tried to kill Vaggi last time, if it hadn’t been for Abel stepping in and stopping the exorcist.
Lute’s head twitched sharply toward her, the movement jerky and unnatural. She blinked once—slow, heavy—before fixing her burning gaze on Charlie.
“H–how is this possible…”
Charlie froze. “W–what do you mean?”
Lute staggered forward, leaving smears of gold across the wall as she braced herself. “Your little vile brat…” She coughed, golden blood splattering onto the floor. “S–she… was redeemed… the fucking traitor! But I… I was sent to fall into this disgusting pit of fire…” The exorcist snarled, her voice almost demonic.
Charlie’s world stopped as her gaze fell on the pink ribbon crushed between Lute’s metallic golden claws. She would recognize that ribbon anywhere. Her stomach dropped like a stone.
“What did you do?” Charlie rasped, tears already gathering again. “Where is Vaggi?!”
Lute didn’t answer. She only smiled with a twisted expression of exhaustion and fury as her knees buckled beneath her. She collapsed onto the floor, her torn wings twitching weakly.
Even then, bleeding out and barely conscious, her burning eyes never left Charlie.
“She… made her choice…” Lute hissed. “And so did I…”
Charlie jolted awake with a sharp gasp, her body snapping upright as if yanked by a string.
Her lungs burned. She dragged in air in short, panicked bursts, fingers clawing at the sheets as sweat soaked through her nightshirt. Her heart slammed so violently she was sure it would break the blanket fort.
Darkness pressed in from every side.
For a moment she did not know where she was. The room felt wrong. Too quiet. Too still. Her ears rang, the echo of Lute’s voice still crawling through her head. The image of golden blood and torn wings refused to fade.
Charlie sucked in a shaky breath and reached blindly toward the nightstand. Her hand knocked against something solid. The lamp wobbled, tilting dangerously close to the edge before she caught it with a startled noise.
Light flooded the room.
Charlie squinted, blinking rapidly as her vision struggled to catch up. The familiar shape of the bedroom slowly came into focus. The walls. The curtains. The soft clutter that made it feel lived in.
Then she looked to her right.
Vaggi lay there, sprawled on her side with her wings slightly popped out. Her hair was a mess, but her face looked more relaxed than ever. She must have been sleeping deeply, probably worn out after a rough day. A soft snore escaped her.
Charlie froze.
Her breath caught halfway in. Her mind rejected the sight instantly, like it was a trick. A leftover hallucination. Her chest tightened again, panic clawing back up her throat.
No. No, this is wrong.
Her gaze flicked to the ceiling, half expecting to see speakers. Half expecting to hear that artificial voice again. Her ears rang in the silence.
Vaggi was redeemed. She had heard it. She had felt it tear through her chest. Heaven had taken her. This had to be her mind trying to protect her. One last cruel mercy before reality set in.
Charlie’s vision blurred as tears welled up again. She reached out carefully, almost afraid to move too fast, and closed her fingers around Vaggi’s hand. Even though she felt that familiar warmth, her chest refused to accept it as enough proof that any of this was real.
She shook her head faintly, lips trembling. “I miss you so much,” she mumbled under her breath, the words spilling out in a broken stream. “I should’ve… I should’ve done something. I shouldn’t have let Heaven take you. I shouldn’t have ever given Lute a chance to go after you. This is my fault. It’s all my fault…”
Her grip tightened just a little, as Charlie leaned closer, her shoulders quivering as quiet sobs worked their way out of her chest.
She pressed her face into Vaggi’s wings, the feathers warm, carrying the comfort she had clung to so many times before. She nuzzled closer, curling in on herself, as if trying to disappear into her. Her breath hitched again and again as she kept whispering, half formed apologies and tangled thoughts, words that barely resembled sentences.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured over and over, her voice shaking. “Please don’t go. Please… I can’t do this without you.”
Her body trembled as she stayed there, clinging to her girlfriend, eyes squeezed shut, still convinced that if she opened them, this last memory of her girlfriend would fade away.
A warm touch brushed against Charlie’s cheek.
She froze, breath catching as gentle fingers traced the tear tracks on her skin, slow and careful. The touch felt achingly familiar.
Charlie forced herself to keep her eyes closed.
If this was still a dream, she did not want to rush it. Dreams always ended the moment she became too aware. She leaned into the touch instead, her lips trembling into the faintest smile as she savored it. Maybe this time it could last a little longer. Maybe this time it could end happily.
Her name came softly.
“Charlie, babe…”
The voice came again, closer now, threaded with worry. “Hey, hon… it’s okay. I’ve got you.”
Charlie’s brow furrowed, tears squeezing out from beneath her closed lids. Her fingers tightened in the fabric beneath her hand. She shook her head faintly, as if refusing the truth.
But the voice did not stop.
“Charlie, look at me. Please.”
Her chest hitched. Slowly, reluctantly, she opened her eyes.
Warm light met her gaze.
Vaggi hovered above her, propped on one elbow, her glowing eye fixed on Charlie with unmistakable concern. Her expression was soft but frightened, lips pressed together as her thumb continued to brush gently along Charlie’s cheek.
“You’re shaking,” Vaggi said quietly. “What’s on your mind?”
Charlie stared at her, stunned, her breath locked in her throat. Every time she expected to wake from the dream, the warmth and the real weight of her girlfriend’s hand proved her wrong.
“It’s okay, babe. Whatever made you feel like this, we can work it out,” Vaggi continued, pressing a soft kiss to Charlie’s forehead.
Charlie couldn’t help but curl her lips into a broken smile. She sniffled, then lifted her hands again, this time less hesitantly. Her fingers traced along Vaggi’s jaw, her cheek, the familiar scar. She pressed her palm to her chest, feeling the steady rise and fall beneath her touch. Every small movement grounded her a little more.
Only then did she finally let out a shaky, relieved breath she felt like she had been holding forever.
She leaned forward and nuzzled into Vaggi’s embrace, tucking herself closer until her forehead rested against her shoulder. Vaggi’s arms wrapped around her without hesitation, firm and protective, like they had always been there and always would be.
“It was just… I keep thinking about redemption,” Charlie whispered, her voice uneven. “About how it’s working. And how one day… one day everyone I love might leave. And I know it’s good, I know it’s what they deserve, but I—” Her words faltered, dissolving into a small, broken sound. “I’m scared I’ll be left alone.”
Vaggi didn’t interrupt. She only hummed softly in response, a low, steady sound that vibrated gently against Charlie’s chest. One hand moved up and down Charlie’s back in slow, soothing strokes, grounding her every time her breathing threatened to spiral again.
Charlie swallowed hard, her fingers curling tighter into Vaggi’s nightgown. Her voice came out small, careful, like she was afraid of saying the wrong thing.
“I’m scared of losing you,” she admitted. “If you ever… if you ever redeem.” Her breath stuttered. “I know you’re trying to redeem yourself for what you did as an exorcist. And you deserve to seek that redemption. You really do. I know it would help ease the burden and the guilt I’ve seen you carry for so long…”
She paused.
Vaggi’s expression shifted, the warmth in her face dimming into something heavier. Sadness and guilt. The kind Charlie knew too well.
“No, no,” Charlie said quickly, lifting her head just enough to look at her. “Please remember that I forgive you. I always have. And I know you want what’s best for everyone. You have a good heart, Vaggi. You always did.”
She took a deep breath, steadying herself.
“It’s just that… as much as I want what’s best for you, and for you to find your redemption, I’m scared of what that would mean for us. For our relationship. For everything.”
The silence that followed felt long and almost suffocating. Charlie held her breath, bracing herself.
Vaggi finally spoke.
“I know, babe,” she said softly. “I understand that fear. Losing everyone you love because your dream actually comes true… yeah. It cuts both ways.” She hesitated, her hand slowing on Charlie’s back. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it too.”
She looked away for a moment, jaw tight.
“I think part of why I’ve had such a hard time letting go of my self hate is because I am scared. Scared that if I were redeemed, what would that make me?” Vaggi admitted. “Because if I really accept who I was and who I am now… I don’t know if I’d recognize myself anymore. I don’t know if I’d be able to look at myself the same way. And…what if I wouldn’t be the girl you fell in love with anymore. ”
Charlie pressed closer as tears spilled over again, shaking her head faintly against Vaggi’s shoulder. Every word felt like a small cut. She hated hearing that pain in her voice. Hated knowing how deeply Vaggi doubted herself. Her girlfriend had spent so long carrying blame, shielding everyone else from harm she believed she caused, never realizing how much that burden was tearing her apart.
Vaggi went on, her grip tightening slightly around Charlie.
“I wanted to support your dream from the moment you told me about it,” she said. “I always knew that one day it might mean I’d have to redeem myself too. Not just help other demons do it here. It felt like the least I could do after everything you’ve given me.” She swallowed. “But back then… I didn’t think I could ever live up to it. Leaving this life you gave me, leaving you… or going back to that place…that scared me more than anything. The idea of losing you just because I accepted my past as an exorcist… I couldn’t bear that. And now it feels like… I-I’ve failed you.”
Charlie lifted her head, tears clinging to her lashes, and gently cupped Vaggi’s face so she had no choice but to look at her.
“You never failed me,” she said, her voice firm despite the tremble in it. “Not once. Choosing love over punishment isn’t weakness. It’s part of redemption. It’s part of you.”
She brushed her thumb under Vaggi’s eye, wiping away the small tear forming.
“And not wanting to go back to Heaven… that’s fair. You built a life here. You built it with me.” Charlie pressed her forehead to Vaggi’s. “Redemption doesn’t mean erasing who you are or what you love. It means carrying it with you. Love is supposed to be part of that journey. You’re supposed to be part of it.”
Vaggi’s shoulders slowly relaxed, like a weight was finally lifting off her. She leaned in and kissed Charlie, gentle at first, then a little firmer, grounding. When she pulled back, her forehead rested against Charlie’s.
“I’ll try,” she said quietly. “I’ll try to give and accept myself a second chance. The same way you gave me one.”
That alone was enough to make Charlie melt. A small, broken laugh slipped out between her tears as she nodded, clinging to her just a little tighter.
Vaggi hesitated, then added, “And… what if my redemption doesn’t mean leaving?” She brushed her thumb along Charlie’s arm. “What if it means I’m meant to stay here? Maybe it already started when I spared that kid in the alleyway. When I chose not to be who I was anymore.”
Charlie stilled, then slowly smiled. The idea settled warm in her chest.
“I like that,” she whispered.
She wrapped her arms around Vaggi and rested her head against her chest, listening to her heartbeat. Vaggi held her there, one hand rubbing slow circles into her back, the other cradling her close.
“Even if redemption ever does separate the people we love,” Vaggi murmured, “we’ll find a way to make it work. We always do.” She pressed a kiss into Charlie’s hair. “For now, all we have to do is take care of each other. And stay here. Together.”
Charlie breathed in, finally calm.
“I love you, Vaggie.”
Vaggie smiled softly, holding her just a little closer.
“And I love you, Charlie.”