Work Text:
Title: The Fight Amongst Us
Prompt: Shared Leisure/Quarrel
Category: Hazbin Hotel
Rating: T (strong language for one point in the story.)
Summary: Charlie and Lucifer have been invited to come join Heaven for a conference over the hotel. Charlie is taking Vaggi and Alastor asks Lucifer if he would be joining as well for support. Lucifer makes a comment over it which causes the two to have a major fight in front of everyone in the hotel. Lucifer leaves the hotel to go unwind at some old shoddy bar that he was sure no one knew about. A face Lucifer never wanted to see again had literally picked him up from his bar stool and threw him to the other side of the bar counter before taking a seat.
Disclaimer: I own zero rights to the Hazbin Hotel series.
~~Story Begins~~
Lucifer rolled over onto the bed, expecting soft fur and warm heat that he just soaks up because even though Lucifer is in hell, the King of Hell, surrounded by hellfire and flames, Lucifer is always cold unless he’s next to Alastor. However, there was no warmth next to him.
Lucifer blinked, his eyes opened and frowned at the empty spot on the bed next to him. He wrapped the blankets around himself tighter as he stared at the spot. The cold shouldn’t affect him so much. Lucifer has always been cold, just like his siblings and cousins, even when he had Lilith cuddling up against him, he could never get warm. He could have been under an erupting volcano with lava pouring over him and he would still be cold (he tried it, okay?).
Lucifer sighed and sat up on the bed rubbing his eyes before looking over at his shadow, expecting to see Alastor’s shadow - Shadow - staring back at him with a grin on his face. It was just his own boring shadow not even staring at him because his shadow doesn’t have eyes.
“Why did I even hope?” Lucifer said to himself. “Alastor will never talk to me ever again.”
Lucifer looked over at his workbench and blinked as the wooden ducks had not only multiplied, but the scene had changed. He got up from bed and shuffled his feet over to the workbench. There was a long table in the center of the workbench where Lucifer Duck was sitting on a wooden throne with a crown on its head. In front of the table, Charlie and Vaggi Duck were in front of each other with a miniature spotlight on them.
Lucifer took a closer look at the spotlight seeing that it was also made out of wood and was powered by a sigil that was in Alastor’s handwriting. He sat the spotlight back down as he bit his lip.
“Did he make this all himself?” Lucifer asked, looking at his shadow expecting a reaction, but there was nothing. “That’s right. I pushed the limit too hard last night, just because of my stupid pride.”
The memories of last night tried to rear their ugly head but he shook them away.
He focused back on the scene in front of him and saw that at another long but smaller table was an Angel Dust Duck sitting next to Cherri Bomb Duck, behind the table in front of a detailed miniature wall filled with alcohol was a Husk Duck. On top of the table was a folded up piece of paper that Lucifer took.
‘Thank you so much for the new wood craving knife, my snake,’ Lucifer read as he recognized Alastor’s cursive handwriting. ‘I couldn’t wait to try it out so I hope you don’t mind that I presented you with two ducks today. Always on air for you, Alastor.’
Lucifer wrapped himself in his wings and let out a loud, anguished, heartbreaking scream into the feathers. He held the letter close to his chest as he cried, feeling his knees hit the floor. He doesn’t know how long he kneeled there, in the shield of his wings, before he felt something nudge them.
“Go away,” he said with a sniffle.
His wings were nudged again.
Lucifer unfurled his wings and shouted, “Go away!”
Alastor’s shadow was there looking concerned at Lucifer, but he didn’t go away. All he did was stay there against the floor opposite of Lucifer’s own shadow and pushed a very worn faded teddy bear towards Lucifer.
“Why are you here?” Lucifer asked, using his arm to wipe away the tears.
Shadow’s ears pinned down, but it nudged the bear closer to Lucifer.
“Don’t you hate me?” Lucifer asked.
Shadow shook its head. It watched with a frown on its silhouette as Lucifer picked up the bear.
“Isn’t this the bear Zusan gave Alastor last night?”
A nod.
“Is this- are you both here to comfort me?”
A hesitant nod and Shadow seemed to pull away a little, like it was afraid to get hurt.
Lucifer held his hand out and let it hang there, waiting for the shadow to nudge his hand which it didn’t do. It actually went to the workbench and knocked down the Vaggi Duck and Charlie Duck.
“Hey!” Lucifer said, trying not to raise his voice. “What are you doing?”
Shadow ignored Lucifer and knocked over the cup that he used to hold all of his tools in so they scattered across the floor.
Lucifer blinked as the shadow moved Lucifer’s wood craving knife towards him.
“What are you trying to tell me?” Lucifer asked.
Shadow made a motion with his hands making a deer and a duck.
Lucifer just held the bear closer to his chest as he watched the shadow. It wasn’t until the shadow started to tear its hair apart that Lucifer thought of it.
“Oh! You want me to make an Alastor duck?” Lucifer asked.
Shadow nodded.
“Is that why you symbolized a deer yesterday when I asked for your advice?”
A nod.
“I really am an idiot,” Lucifer said. “But, will that be enough to -”
Lucifer noticed that the smile went straight to a frown and Shadow seemed to back away. Its arms wrapped around himself.
“No, of course it won’t be,” Lucifer said with a sigh. “However, it will be a start.”
He stood up and looked at his work bench. He took a deep breath and placed the teddy bear on the workbench.
“Alastor likes wood craving and I used to enjoy it too before Sinners brought down rubber and I saw the first rubber duck,” Lucifer said. “So, I’m going to make him a wooden duck of himself and give it to him tonight in private. How does that sound?”
Shadow nodded, but as soon as Lucifer turned his back onto Shadow, the smile frowned and its ears went straight back down to its head.
Hours had passed and there were multiple imperfect wooden ducks tossed about the room when there was frantic knocking on his door.
“Dad! Dad! Dad!” Charlie's voice said in hysterics. “Please open the door! It’s an emergency!”
Lucifer opened the door and looked over at Charlie who was crying.
“Charlie, what is it? Who do I need to instill-”
“It’s Husk! Niffty! And Alastor!” Charlie said, instantly hugging her dad.
“Whoa, whoa, back up sweetie,” Lucifer said. “Explain it to me. I know Alastor and I had a huge fight last night, but if he was going to back out of the hotel because of me, then I’ll move back to the palace. I can even tell that he’s crucial to the hotel’s success and-”
“Dad! Niffty and Husk’s contracts broke! They have their souls back and aren’t under contract with Alastor anymore. Niffty is mad cleaning everything while crying and anyone who tries to stop her gets stabbed! Baxter is trying to reign her in, but he can’t keep up with her,” Charlie said in between sobs.
“He broke their contracts?” Lucifer said with a frown because that didn’t sound like Alastor.
“Husk quit the bar,” Charlie said. “There isn’t even a bar anymore Dad, it’s gone! But Husk, he’s off at a casino drinking and gambling away. Angel and Cherri are trying to convince him to come back, but he’s not listening!”
“What do you mean the bar is gone?”
“Dad, anything that Alastor had summoned is gone!” Charlie said, pulling back to look at her father. “His radio tower is gone! Vaggi broke down his hotel room door to demand answers but it looks like a regular hotel room now! There’s no decorations, no bayou, nothing that seemed like Alastor.”
Did Alastor truly quit the hotel? No, even if he did, that doesn’t seem right. Alastor wouldn’t just give up Husk and Niffty’s contracts like that. He would just take them with him.
“Angel tried to contact Alastor through the radio, which is how we have always been able to get a hold of him since he doesn’t have a phone and Dad, there was no music on any of the channels. There were no screams, it was just silence.” Charlie said. “Angel went back to the casino to bring Husk back, but it’s not looking all that promising.”
No, no no no!
“Dad,” Charlie said. “What if Alastor is double dead?”
“NO!” Lucifer said. “He’s too stubborn to die! He wouldn’t let just some random sinner kill him!”
“Dad, maybe it wasn’t a sinner,” Charlie said. “What if it was that angelic -”
“NO!” Lucifer said, shaking his head. “He’s alive. He’s still breathing somewhere in Hell.” He turned around to face Alastor’s shadow who was looking at them with a frown.
“He’s still in Hell, isn’t he?” Lucifer asked. “Please tell me he’s still in Hell.”
Shadow’s frown grew larger as its eyes closed with a shake of his head.
“Then why are you still here?!” Lucifer shouted.
“Dad!” Charlie said.
Shadow made a figure of a shield before turning it into a crown.
Lucifer’s anger left him.
“You’re here to defend the crown?” Charlie asked.
Shadow nodded.
“He’s gone, isn’t he? He’s not in Hell anymore, is he?” Lucifer asked
Shadow nodded again.
“Dad, maybe Alastor got redeemed? I can call -”
“Alastor didn’t want to be redeemed, Charlie,” Lucifer said. “That’s the one thing Heaven and Hell both determined was something that needed to be in the heart of the Sinner. That they wanted to be redeemed. He’s not in Heaven.”
“Dad-” Charlie said.
“I’ll bring Husk home first,” Lucifer said. “Then I’m going to calm Niffty down, and then I’m going to ask Bee for her strongest alcohol so I might not be at the hotel tonight.”
He closed the door behind Charlie and changed clothes. He took a look at the almost finished wooden duck and grabbed it, putting it in a pocket.
“Let’s go, Shadow,” Lucifer said, opening a portal to the casino district. “We have a cat to catch, a maid to calm down, and a duck to finish while I drink my sorrow away.”
Lucifer did have some issues pulling Husk away from the casino, but with help from Angel Dust and Cherri, they were finally able to pull him away and to the hotel. Lucifer had volunteered to stay and cat sit until Cherri and Angel came back with food, medicine, and drinks as they were going to watch over Husk until he was back to normal and they were going to talk.
Once the door closed, Husk left out a loud laugh startling Lucifer who spun around to look at the bartender who was sitting on his bed.
“Why are you laughing,” Lucifer said, feeling his tail erupt and hit the ground. “Do you have any idea on how worried Angel, Cherri, and Charlie were for you?”
“I don’t have a chain around my neck, my soul belongs to me,” Husk said. “I never asked for anyone to be worried about me.”
“You lost your soul to Alastor,” Lucifer said. “You lost to him in a bet and he prevented you from wasting your money on alcohol and gambling. Do you think this is what he wanted for you not from the viewpoint of being your boss, but as your friend?”
Husk blinked at Lucifer, “I’m surprised you aren’t celebrating with me or barricaded in your room crying your eyes out.”
“Alastor may be gone,” Lucifer said. “It could be my fault over his second death, I’ll never know. However, if Alastor’s shadow is still here defending Charlie, defending me, then I’ll honor his spirit and in return defend you and Niffty. If that means I need to defend you from yourselves then so be it. I may not be able to hurt Sinners, but I have other means of making sure you stay put.”
Husk smirked. “Well, well, Sire, I wasn’t expecting that,” Husk said in a tone that was perfectly fine and not drunk.
“Wait, you were faking it?”
“It will take a lot more alcohol than what I had to make me drunk, but I am quite enjoying the attention Angel Dust is giving me so I’ll keep up the act,” Husk said with a shrug. “Good luck with the Niffty test.”
“Test?”
“To see how much you care for Alastor and that includes his friends.” Husk said. “I’ll give you a C for my test. Oh, a word of advice.”
Lucifer narrowed his eyes.
“Niffty doesn’t know that this is a test. She never does,” Husk said. “However, after last night, whenever Alastor returns, you had best believe that he will not be so willingly to give into his emotions for you. Afterall, you are the Father of Lies, and lies, even small white ones, hurt more than anything else in the world.”
“Hey, Kitty,” Angel Dust said, opening the door. “We bring a lot of water, greasy food, and pain relievers which you are going to take.”
Lucifer left the room and sighed. He looked over at Alastor’s shadow and smiled a little. “At least, someone believes he will return for now, but we know the truth, don’t we?”
Shadow frowned.
“Think you can lead me to Niffty?” Lucifer asked.
Shadow shook his head before disappearing.
“Well, some help - AH!” Lucifer said, barely reacting in time as Niffty lunged at his face with a knife. “Niffty!”
“I HATE YOU!” the little one-eyed maid yelled. Lucifer had to hold her at an arms length away as she kept stabbing her knife in the air trying to hurt him. “I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATEYOU!IHATEYOU!IHATEYOU!”
“Whoa, whoa, calm down little lady,” Lucifer said.
“NO! NO! NONONONONONO!” she continued yelling as tears fell to the ground from her eye. “Bring back my bad boy! Bring back King Roach! He protected me from all the good guys! BRING ALASTOR BACK!”
Lucifer flinched and frowned. “Niffty-”
“It’s because of you that he’s gone! All he’s ever done is worry about you and your family’s safety!” Nifty yelled dropping the knife as Baxter, who looked exhausted, came around the corner. That exhaustion was quickly replaced with concern upon seeing Niffty. “Why couldn’t you see that? Why couldn’t you see that everytime your stupid ugly wife was mentioned by you that it hurt him? Why couldn’t you look past that all Alastor wanted was for you to not replace your memories of HER with him, but to move on and create new memories with him in mind? You are the angel of creation are you not?!”
“I-”
“Every single time you fidgeted with your stupid wedding ring, you thought of her and how much you missed her! Every time the two of you went on a date, you talked to Alastor about a time you had with Lilith! You talked about the past never living in the present unless it was with Charlie.”
“I can take her, your Majesty,” Baxter said. “When she’s tired, she gets overemotional, and with the events of today and running around. She’s exhausted.”
Baxter picked up Niffty’s knife and Lucifer gently lowered her down to Baxter.
Niffty looked up at Lucifer and let out a loud sob. “Bring Alastor back! He would never try to sell me to a marriage I never wanted,” she said. “Not like the good guys.”
Lucifer watched as Baxter led her away through the vents.
“I’m guessing I passed?” Lucifer mumbled to himself staring at the vents. He looked over at Alastor’s shadow. “What happened in her mortal life? What goes on in her mind?”
Shadow just shrugged.
“Okay, so now it’s just time to drink our sorrows away in Bee-”
Shadow made a cat motion before drinking.
“Yeah, you're right,” Lucifer said with a sigh. “I would be a hypocrite if I went and did what Husk said. Besides, I think she would be too loud and I just want quiet. Someplace where I could work on the duck in peace.”
Shadow’s ears perked up and left the wall to tug on Lucifer’s sleeve.
“You know of a place?” Lucifer said.
Shadow nodded.
“Well, let’s go give Charlie an update,” Lucifer said with a small smile.
Shadow rushed forward and turned the corner. Once it was out of sight of Lucifer, it split into two. The first one waited for Lucifer to follow it while the second one traversed through the shadows leaving the hotel.
It was much later in the evening when Lucifer found himself in a nice quiet bar that was tucked away in between alleys, away from all the lights and noise of Pentagram City. Shadow engulfed Sinners who thought they could get away with attacking Lucifer, their screams sounded in the void that Lucifer couldn’t hear.
He sat at the wooden bar counter that was in front of the entrance door. Shadow had protected Lucifer so far so he didn’t worry too much about having his back to the door.
“I wouldn’t sit there if I were you,” the bartender said. “That seat and the seat to the right of you belong to two powerful sinners and they don’t like people sitting in them.”
“Are they here right now?” Lucifer said.
“No, but,”
“Then I don’t see the problem,” Lucifer said. “Now listen, I’ve had a very terrible day, week actually because of my own pride -”
Lucifer heard the tiny bell above the door ring, but didn’t acknowledge it. He saw the bartender look over to his shoulder to see the newcomer, but just thought that it was the usual greeting as he’s seen Husk do that multiple times when someone walks into the hotel or gets close to the bar counter.
“-and I really just want to work on this duck in peace and drink my sorrows away. Besides, I am the King of Hell and -”
“You can’t hurt Sinners physically,” a voice said right next to Lucifer’s voice causing Lucifer to tense up and freeze. His heart stuck in his throat as he felt familiar wires circle around his waist and the voice from his most recent nightmares.
Nightmares that Alastor couldn’t protect him from anymore. Nightmares that he’s going to have to face on his own from now on.
“But you can hurt Sinners in other ways, can’t you?” the voice said with smug satisfaction. “After all, I just need to ask my old friend some questions.”
“Alastor would never tell you anything Vox,” Lucifer said with a hiss, looking at a flat TV screen head with red eyes and a sharp smile.
“Oh no, he wouldn’t,” Vox said, “at least nothing that could hurt you, but I wasn’t referring to him. I don’t hate him that much.”
“You were willing to destroy all of Hell just to kill him,” Lucifer said, feeling his tail come out. “I think you hate him a lot.”
“Mutural hatred respect,” Vox said with a shrug before placing his hands on Lucifer’s shoulders, blue claws digging into his skin. “However, I know better than to disrespect the double dead.”
Lucifer tensed and that was all that Vox needed to pick Lucifer up and throw him to the other side of the bar counter. Lucifer scrambled away from the bar counter and looked up at Vox.
“You should have listened to the bartender,” Vox said. “Those seats belonged to Al and I. They saw the tough times through our friendship up until the massive break in our friendship.” He tapped the bar counter getting the bartender’s attention. “An appletini, your weekly special of craft beer, and whiskey for drinks.”
Lucifer felt himself being pulled back to the bartender and placed on a different barstool.
“Can I also get two servings of your sweet peach funnel fries,” Vox said walking around the bar counter to sit next to Lucifer. “Heavy on the powdered sugar.”
The bartender nodded and started working on the drinks.
“Besides, it wasn’t Alastor that I was referring to, but more of Angel Dust. I don’t know what that says about your relationship with Alastor that you automatically assumed he would spill all of your secrets to me,” Vox said.
“I-”
“I didn’t say you were wrong,” Vox said. “Alastor did air about his relationship troubles to us.”
Lucifer froze.
“He wouldn’t.”
“Oh, he absolutely did. He wanted to, but then when it came down to it, he tried to backtrack, but Velvette convinced him. After all, quid pro quo, your majesty,” Vox said as the bartender placed two drinks - the appletini and the whiskey- on the counter. “You talked about your relationship to an outsider so Alastor did the same. Unlike you, however, Alastor placed a safety net to prevent us from using that information to slander your name, your daughter’s name, the hotel, or to make any comments about the relationship in public.”
Lucifer’s eyes widened as he watched Vox stuck a reusable plastic straw in the appletini.
“What safety net did you put in place to protect Alastor when you told your wife about the relationship?” Vox said.
“Ex-wife,” Lucifer said.
The bartender placed the craft beer on the bar counter.
“I’ll work on those funnel fries,” he said before going back to the kitchen.
“Interesting, when we talked to Alastor last night, he was under the impression that you were still married to the Queen,” Vox said, grabbing the beer and taking a sip of it. “Pistachio Ice Cream? Might need to bring Velvette here. She loves pistachios.”
“Next week is jalapeno,” the bartender said from the kitchen. “Make sure you let the Radio Demon know.”
Vox just hummed in response before he took another sip of the drink.
“What did you do to Alastor?” Lucifer asked hissing at the TV Overlord who didn’t even flinch. “He’s double dead now and -”
“Alastor has always had a strategic mind,” Vox said. “During the early years of our hell friendship, Zestial hosted a team tournament for potential new Overlords to play chess. He had a sinner under his control that could make anything into 4D. Zestial forced the upcoming new coming Overlords, and already established Overlords into this tournament.”
“Wha-”
Vox shoved the straw into Lucifer’s mouth.
“Drink,” Vox said. “It’s the only way to get past Shadow Maria’s shadows.”
Lucifer quickly drank the appletini as it was the first thing he’s had to drink for a few days. The bartender brought out two platters of the funnel cake fries and sat down another.
“Would you like another?” he asked, seeing the already empty appletini glass.
“Yes, and a glass of hell water please,” Vox said, sitting the drink down.
Lucifer didn’t even have time to continue with his question before Vox shoved a funnel cake fry into his mouth.
“Alastor and I were on a team as he was already an Overlord and I was rising in power,” Vox said. “I struggled a little bit with 4D, but I held my own. Alastor, he made it look like child’s play. He didn’t just pay attention to the pieces of the board, but he paid attention to his opponent’s body language. He considered what he knew of his opponent’s behavior in their hell life and how they usually defended or attacked themselves. If he knew the person was aggressive and always ready to attack, he played defensive. If they were defensive, then he would play slightly aggressive with three back-up plans while talking with them.”
Vox shoved a funnel fry into his own mouth.
“I didn’t know that at that time, Alastor was testing me to see if I was ready to be an Overlord,” Vox said. “I proved myself, yes, but not as strongly as he had hoped. He also overheard a lot of information from the others in the room. People never think that he has sensitive ears even though he’s a deer.”
Vox shoved another fry into Lucifer’s mouth.
“It was shortly after that is when our friendship broke up,” Vox said. “I found out later on through Valentino that Sinners were planning ways to kill me because they saw me as being close to Al and with us both sharing radio frequencies, we would have been a threat that no one could defeat. If Alastor and I never had that fight that night, I would have been attacked and killed as soon as Alastor and I separated ways.”
Lucifer watched as Vox finished the beer.
“From what I heard,” Lucifer said, “Is that you wanted to be romantic partners with him?”
Vox moved the whiskey glass halfway up to his mouth,
“I learned when we were alive that you already had his heart,” Vox said. “I knew from when we were alive that giving him my feelings would have broken me not because you had already claimed it, but because Alastor would have gotten killed if anyone found out that I had romantic feelings for him. He could have evidence upon evidence that he did not return those feelings, but the people in power would not have cared due to his mixed skin, his mother being a daughter of a shadow man, who ‘lied’ about being married to a man who was never home, and friends with a granddaughter of a witch doctor. Let’s add in the fact we were both men? No, it was too risky for me to confess to him when we were alive.”
Vox took a drink of his whiskey.
“No, I knew I was going to be rejected when I asked him to be a partner, I was prepared for that. I was not prepared for the way he publicly humiliated me, the way he made me feel so small and weak. He brought up points that I needed to improve upon myself that made me a better Overlord today than what I would have been, but he did that to protect me. If he didn’t make it obvious that he absolutely loathed my idea of being my partner, that I couldn’t do anything without him, I would have still been seen as a threat and possibly still killed that night.”
Lucifer ate the funnel fry that was shoved into his mouth. Vox munched on his own funnel fry as he closed his eyes.
“That was the second time we fought, the first time was when we were alive,” Vox said.
“You knew him when he was alive?” Lucifer asked with his mouth full of food.
Vox gave a disgusted look.
“What? You keep shoving food in my mouth!”
Vox rolled his eyes in response and swallowed his food.
“Yes, I knew him when we were alive. I started my career as a radio host, much like Al did, but I wanted more power, more fame, more recognition than just a voice behind the speakers. When I met Alastor for the first time, I had just become a news anchor for national news for a big news network. They wanted me to do a week long news story at New Orleans for a missing politician as my first assignment, I felt like I deserved more than that because no one cared about that politician. Everyone knew he got elected because of bribery and underage sex girls he was selling which I reported on. It was during that week that I meant Alastor who introduced himself to me as he was also broadcasting the same story on the radios. It’s also when I met Niffty.”
Lucifer opened his mouth and accepted another funnel fry.
“We shared information over the story between each other, Niffty staying by Alastor’s side. It was during one of these meetings that Alastor had kindly informed me that I was getting sloppy with my killings. It was in that moment as Alastor and Niffty left the diner, that I realized that Alastor was the one who killed that politician and Niffty was one of the girls who he had saved from that politician’s business,” Vox said with a sneer on his face. “They never did solve that mystery and that was without my help.”
Lucifer took a drink of water through the straw.
“It was years of friendship between us with letters and meeting each other in person before our fight broke out and that was before I became a daytime game show host. He warned me that the connections between my kills were noticeable, that he thought my warning from the politician's disappearance would have straightened me up. I didn’t realize that the police were already looking at me as a suspect, that the reason why it took them so long to even try to make a stronger connection was because Alastor had copied my killing method with a few other TV stars when he had to travel for work to throw them off my trail,” Vox said.
He tossed a funnel fry into the air and Shadow rose up and caught it with its mouth before going back to the ground.
“It was after that fight within two days, Alastor was reported dead,” Vox said. “I flew back as soon as I could to pay my respects to his grave and to take care of Niffty, but she was still so emotional. The only reason why she wasn’t in hysterics was because he had warned her that his death was going to happen sometime soon. Not even three months later, the police had enough evidence to arrest me for all of my murders and I had my followers brainwashed enough to commit suicide at the same time as I did, but that didn’t happen as a TV broke from a wire and landed on my head.”
Lucifer ate the rest of his funnel fries that Vox gave him before Vox tossed another in the air for Shadow to eat.
“Alastor doesn’t get into verbal arguments all the time, but when he does he is usually seeing something that the other person isn’t seeing that is destructive and he’s just trying to protect them,” Vox said, munching on his funnel fry.
Lucifer looked down at the bar counter.
“Dad, Sera has also invited you to come with Heaven for us,” Charlie said. “She said that there was a lot that needed to be discussed and it would be beneficial if you were there, since you are the King of Hell.”
It was a chance of seeing home again, a chance of seeing how happy Lilith and Eve are together, it was a chance to see how much Heaven has changed over the time and -
“I would love to join you in going to Heaven,” Lucifer said with a bright smile. “I’ll be happy to stand by and watch you in person alongside your mother as you convince your uncles, my cousins, and the rest of the higher council why your Hotel should succeed. Knock those angels down a peg or two, especially Sera.”
“Thank you so much Dad!” Charlie said. “I’ll call Emily and -”
“Hold on a moment, dear,” Alastor said from his spot by the wall that he moved too while Charlie was busy with other announcements just for the Hotel Crew. “Perhaps you should see if your father could bring a plus one?”
“Oh! That’s a-” Charlie said.
“Who the hell would I be bringing? I am not bringing any of the Sins with me because they would just make Heaven mad!” Lucifer said.
“Ah, yes, who in hell would you bring?” Alastor said with a mocking tone. “If no one comes to mind, then I would volunteer as your plus one. You know, considering I’m your partner.”
“Absolutely not!” Lucifer said.
“Why not?” Alastor asked.
“Are you kidding me? Do you not see how bad of an idea that will be bringing you with me? You’re a Sinner! They won’t take Charlie seriously! They won’t take me seriously if I need to get involved!”
“Dad-” Charlie said.
Alastor narrowed his eyes. “You know, when I brought up you having a plus one it was not with Charlie in mind, Sire, but with you,” he said back. “But, okay, let’s go with this route.”
“Alastor-” Husk said in warning but it fell on deaf ears.
“I would be best suited for joining Charlie and Vaggi into Heaven to help support the idea because I could care less about Heaven and what it has to offer me so I would not get false hope of ever reaching Heaven in my heart, I have been here since Day One and could provide all of the information and data needed about our guests past and present and the milestones they have reached with the hotel. I can explain how their behaviors have changed from when they joined the hotel to the present day.”
“I can do that too!”
“You can’t even get their names right unless they are wearing a name badge! You would focus so much on bragging Charlie up to where they will hold her with impossible expectations to where I would give Charlie credit, but also credit the guests with their self-improvement. I would make sure to keep their expectations at a reality level where Charlie won’t fear like she is under so much pressure to where she crashes out again like with Vox! However, Charlie doesn’t need me there to support her! She has Vaggi to do that.”
“She’ll have me as well!”
“Who will be there to support you?”
“I don’t need support when I go to Heaven, I will be fine and if I did need support, it sure won’t be from some lowly Sinner like you!”
“Oh shit,” Angel Dust mumbled.
“Even if I did need support Lilith will be there!”
“Wrong move there, mate,” Cherri Bomb said.
“Maybe we should calm down,” Charlie said.
Alastor laughed, running a hand through his hair as his eyes turned into radio dials. “Of course she will be there. Of course, how STUPID I must be. Why would you ever need my support when you can run straight to your wife?”
“Al-”
“Why the hell do you even bother with me when you have a wife that can easily support you while she waits patiently for you to sign divorce papers? Why the hell did you even start a relationship with me when you have a wife that has been gone for over seven years that you can go to for support?”
“What the hell Alastor?” Vaggi said as Alastor threw one of the hotel couches through the wall that has lasted only two weeks without breaking until now. “This isn’t about you!”
“No, of course not,” Alastor said. “It never is about me! It’s always about Lilith and the past! Am I the only one who notices that Lucifer has tunnel vision when it comes to Lilith? No? Of course not! Because Lilith could do no harm, she’s a wonderful Queen, a wonderful mother, and most importantly, a wonderful wife!”
“Alastor, take a deep breath,” Charlie said, trying to step in front of Alastor.
“Of course. Of course I have to be the one who calms down,” Alastor said, backing away. “Angel Dust is allowed to yell and scream at the bar when he meets with Valentino, Cherri Bomb is allowed to explode things when she’s mad or misses Sir Pentious, Baxter is allowed to set insects on fire, Vaggi is allowed to randomly attack me when she’s frustrated and wants a training session, should I continue?”
“No, but Al-”
“Do not speak to Charlie like that?” Lucifer said flying in front of Charlie and getting in Alastor’s face. “This is between you and me!”
“I always knew you were a fool,” Alastor said. “This is not between you and me!”
“Yes, it is!”
“No, it’s not. I was never a factor in this. You never once thought of me during this relationship, I was only a placeholder for Lilith so you could cuddle with someone, a substitute for your wife” Alastor said, his antlers growing in size. “I was only a source for you to fuel your need for physical touch even if everyone else in Hell knows I’m touch-averse! I have gone past my comfort zone so many times for you and what do I get it from? Nothing, not even a spare thought from you and I didn’t realize it until now!”
“Al-”
“Don’t bother Princess,” Husk said, picking up Niffty and holding her to his chest. “This has been building up for a while.”
“But-”
“I can’t believe I was so stupid to let myself get attached to you when you are still married,” Alastor yelled.
“You’re not stupid! Now will you-”
“Oh really Lucifer? I’m not stupid?” Alastor asked in a mocking tone, digging his claws into his hands as he heard Niffty crying into Husk’s chest. “Shall I prove you wrong on that judgement?”
“Why won’t you believe me?” Lucifer said quickly, finally able to get a sentence in.
Alastor laughed in a broken way, the heartbreak in the laughs caused Lucifer’s wings to stutter and Charlie to gasp with her hands covering her mouth.
“Believe you?” Alastor asked. “Why should I believe you when you do nothing but lie to me?”
“I haven’t -”
“Let’s take one of your lies that you told - no - that you promised me at the very beginning of this relationship that you started when I was willing to wait for you to sign the divorce papers. You promised me that Lilith would never come in between us during our relationship, well guess what she did. You allowed her too!”
“Do not bring Lilith into this!” Lucifer growled, spitting fire at Alastor. “She’s been in Heaven this whole time and not once has she come in between us!”
“On the first day of Valentine’s week, you gave everyone chocolates because Lilith preferred you giving chocolates to the closest palace staff. I told you every day leading up to the event, the morning of, and even left you a note reminding you that I don’t like chocolates. What did you end up trying to give me and as the last person of the day? You gave me chocolate!”
“That-”
“Second day you promised me an apology dance and a dance as partners, two dances Lucifer! I got maybe five dance steps all night, six if I’m being generous, with you. Why? You were too busy dancing with the von Eldertich family - especially Frederick after his wife and daughter left - and talking about the old days where Lilith was by your side.”
Vaggi lowered her guard as she could feel with Alastor for once over that. She remembers the same feeling too whenever Sevianthian danced with Charlie and she overheard them talking about the good memories they had when they were dating.
“We even had supper planned together as a chance to get away from the party for your social battery! It would have gone to waste if I would have waited for you to finally remember who I am and you know how much I detest wasted food!”
Lucifer opened his mouth to say something, but his demonic features were fading as he backed away slowly.
“Third day, oh you were clever with that one,” Alastor said, moving his claws up to his hair and tugging at it. “Oh so super clever. I made a whole date night with you, got you musical tickets and hard to get seats for you to enjoy. Yes, you did stay behind to take care of me and gave those tickets to someone else, but you think I wouldn’t tell the difference between what you truly wanted and what you were taught to want?”
Angel Dust wrapped his arms around his midsection as he felt sick. He remembers that night as Lucifer gave Husk and him the tickets. He thought it was weird that Lucifer really wanted to see a musical that was about some teenagers trying to win their life back from purgatory, he thought it was weird that Lucifer would have gone to the busiest and ritziest restaurant when Lucifer much prefers just staying hidden among his people and staying close to his friends and family. Then it was at the shopping plaza that even Valentino and Velvette can’t ever get into because they aren’t deemed fashionable enough?
“You might have enjoyed the musical,” Alastor said, “but the restaurant? The shopping spree? You being surrounded by Sinners and Hellborns that flaunt their high society, that will bow down to you with the fakest customer service and polite smiles, offering you all of the services, but as soon as they think you can’t hear them, they insult you? No, no, that’s not you at all! That was all Lilith!”
Lucifer physically recoiled from that and almost hit Charlie.
Alastor started to tilt his head from left to right after each word as he said his next sentence. “Lilith would have loved going to those places, wouldn’t she?”
“That’s enough!” Lucifer tried to yell, but he never felt so small before.
“She was the face of Hell’s royalty! She loved the public attention on her, the way they did everything they could to cater to her whim, all while you wanted to remain closer to home.”
“How dare you talk about Lilith that way?” Lucifer said his anger was coming back in full force.
“Jeezus mate,” Cherri Bomb said. “Pick a lane, will ya? Either you are defending the Queen of Hell or letting Red air out his grievances with ya? Ya can’t just say ‘believe me’ when he’s bringing up proof over why he can’t believe ya.”
Lucifer turned to glare at her as Alastor did his heartbreaking laugh again.
“What?” Cherri Bomb said. “According to Red, ya wouldn’t let Lilith come in between them, but from the way I am seeing it? You totally did. She didn’t have to be here physically, but just ya memories of her are coming in between them. It ain’t easy and sure some memories might come up, but if he’s just bringing up this week’s events? Then those memories come up quite a lot and Red is patient and understanding. I don’t even know how many times he's been there to just listen to me while I talk about Sir Pentious, but I also seek him out when I just want to be alone, but not alone if that makes sense. He’s a very good silent guardian.”
Nifty started to struggle against Husk.
“King Roach needs me,” she cried.
“Then the gift you gave to me today,” Alastor finally said as Lucifer looked back at him and froze.
Alastor’s smile was fighting to break through the stitches, tears were running down his face, his eyes looked so defeated and the light of emotions in them was fading.
“It wasn’t even your idea! It was Lilith’s idea! You couldn’t even think of a gift-”
“I wanted it to be special, you prick!” Lucifer shouted.
“Then you failed,” Alastor said.
Husk let Niffty go and she instantly ran to Alastor climbing on him until he was now holding her against his chest, her red hair getting rained upon by his tears.
“If you wanted it to be special, if you wanted it to mean something, then you shouldn’t have gone to your previous, no, to your current partner for advice,” Alastor said, spatting the word out. “You would have put more thought into what you were going to put on the handle. If you wanted it to be special, you wouldn’t have gone to the one person who I have told you multiple times that I do not want to compete against.”
“You aren’t competing with her!” Lucifer said, trying to reach out towards him who backed away.
“Then why does it feel like I’m playing in a losing game?” Alastor yelled. “Why does it feel like no matter what I do, I’m always in second place?”
“I-”
“Don’t bother answering Lucifer,” Alastor said. “I should have known it was too good to be true. I destroy all of my relationships, by myself.”
“Never mine,” Niffty said into Alastor’s chest as they disappeared into the shadows.
“Well, good luck,” Husk said with a shrug. “You won’t be living long.”
“What do you mean by that?” Baxter asked.
“Husk,” Lucifer said seriously. “Did you or did you not say earlier that Alastor sees, hears, and feels what’s going around with his shadow?”
“Yes,” Husk said, narrowing his eyes.
“Then why didn’t he know I signed those papers today?” Lucifer asked, turning to face the bartender with fury in his eyes.
“Oh, okay, you want to go there pal?” Husk said and if he had sleeves, he would have rolled them up to his elbow. “Fine, we’ll go there. The most important reason is that it would still be fucking nice for the divorce person to tell their current partner that the divorce has been finalized. The second reason is because Alastor may be a prick, but he respects the Overlords territories. So, as soon as you entered Cannibal Town, his shadow went ahead to tell Rosie that you were there so she wouldn’t come out as defensive and that she never received a warning!”
“I-”
“Fuck you,” Husk said. “Fuck your pathetic excuses! If there is anything left of you after his parents get done with you, then you can guarantee that the rest of your immortal life will be in misery. Even if you hide inside that fancy palace of yours, you won’t ever escape us.”
“Dad, look out!” Charlie shouted as two black tendrils shot forward from the ceiling and went straight towards Lucifer’s wings pinning him to the floor.
“I warned you,” a female voice said, belonging to a doe demon wearing yellow who had murder in her eyes. “I warned you that if you ever made my son feel like he was drowning in his sorrows that you’ll be paying hell for it. That if you didn’t take five minutes to check in on Alastor that I’ll make you pay.”
“Maria,” Vaggi said, grabbing her spear. “Why are you-”
The shadows threw Lucifer towards the thrown couch before circling around his ankles.
“Do you have any idea on how long it took us to convince Alastor when he was a child that he doesn’t destroy everything he touches?” Maria yelled. “How much longer does he have to protect you before you even start protecting him?”
Lucifer yelled as the shadows threw him that blasted weak wall.
Charlie ran over to help her Dad up and the two Morningstars looked at Maria.
“I can’t believe my son is stuck to you,” Maria said. “I can’t believe that he’s stuck to someone like you for eternity.”
Lucifer came back to the present when a straw was shoved into his mouth and started to drink an appletini. He looked over at Vox who was holding the glass for him while his other hand was putting Shadow who looked miserable.
Vox pulled the drink away and gave Lucifer the side eye.
“What would Alastor try to protect me from if he went to Heaven with him? They don’t really like violence or destruction.” Lucifer asked.
Vox shrugged. “Couldn’t tell you, honestly. However, I need to go. I promise my partners that I’ll be meeting them for a pizza night and I don’t want to be late.”
Shadow moved from Vox’s lap and back into the floor as he stood up. Lucifer felt the cables unwrap from his body as Vox paid for the food and drinks. Lucifer watched as the Overlord walked to the door before stopping.
“However, if I were in your position going back to a place that I used to call home before they kicked me out, in a place where my wife has been for the last who knows how many years now and is in a happy relationship with someone who isn’t me, in a place that prevents me from defending myself or the Vees, in a place that most of my family who hasn’t communicated with me unless it was to provide me with more pain or limitations, I would honestly love having Valentino and Velvette there to be there not just for emotional support,” Vox said. He turned his head to look at Lucifer over his shoulder. “But as a reminder that even though I’m in a place that hates me and what I stand for, I have people who love me for me and a place to return home too. Not as someone who sees me as Dad, or as the King, but as someone who sees me as I am. Someone who sees me at the core as Vox and loves all parts of me, the good and the bad.”
Vox looked back at the door and straightened his jacket.
“But, that’s just me, Your Majesty and what do I know? I’m just some lowly Sinner,” Vox said. “I do wish you the best of luck of making it right with Alastor, but personally, I hope you fail.”
Lucifer felt his feathers fluff up at that.
“Maybe then I can finally convince him to join us as a partner,” Vox said. “After all, in order for you to have that safety net I mentioned earlier, he provided all three of us with services. He never mentioned a single detail over Val or Vel’s breakdowns when he was my captive and helped them through it, he read a spicy book for Valentino to use as his personal audio book, and promised rare materials for Vel to use in some of her fashion designs. I think he’s already on his way to being a partner to us instead of a lousy hotelier.”
Lucifer watched as Vox left. He waited a few minutes before pulling out the wooden duck he was working on. He looked up at the bartender who stared back at him.
“Can I get the strongest appletini you can make?” Lucifer asked meekly.
The bartender nodded and made the drink. As soon as Lucifer reached for it, a shadow came from behind the bar and knocked the glass over to the ground breaking the glass as well.
“You’re paying double for that,” the bartender said.