Chapter Text
It should have been a time of celebration, and it was for the most part. The war had been avoided, power in Hell had shifted dramatically, and new alliances had been formed in the aftermath. Some alliances had been shaken, but they were still there. Hopefully, after everything, they were sufficiently cowed for the time being. At least it would give Charlie the room to breathe and work without worry. With Heaven's backing, the hotel lobby was fuller than ever with sinners checking in to try and earn their redemption.
‘Redemption…’, Lucifer thought bitterly as he watched the various people filter in through the open doors, carting luggage and chatting excitedly about their futures. He loved Charlie more than anything, and he would support her in her dreams, but he couldn't help being disappointed that after everything, she still thought Heaven to be the ultimate answer. Maybe he'd raised her too privileged, kept away from the worst of Hell so she wouldn't be as broken down by its darkness and cruelty as he had. Maybe he should have talked with her more, shown her, and proved it to her.
Some sins just can't be redeemed, and some sinners would never pass through His judgement.
The king sighed as he once again fiddled with the gold band on his ring finger, watching as Vaggi led another group of sinners up the winding staircase towards their new rooms. Charlie and Keekee were passing out the keys, organizing the guest book, and were clearly at home assigning the damned to their rooms and congratulating them for their choice to try and be better. Even if they gave up on themselves, she wouldn't, and she made it known to every sinner that came up to her, even getting a few grateful smiles. How could they not after Vox had betrayed them so thoroughly? She was finally being taken seriously as the Princess of Hell with the wellbeing of her people at heart, and she didn't have to give up her dreams for it. Lilith would have been proud. He hoped.
Familiar doubt crept its way in again, his chest tightening as his own black heart beat a little too painfully. Before he knew it, he was pulling out his phone and scrolling through his contacts. “My Dearest” soon came up after “Mammon”, and he supposed he really needed to call the other Sins after all those gifts they sent. He made a mental note of it that hopefully he wouldn't forget and hit the letter icon. He knew better than to call.
Hey, Lilith! I know I just messaged you the other day, and I know I've sent a lot. Hoo boy! Have I sent a lot, but I have to tell you. Charlie did it! Our little girl is finally seeing her dreams come true. She's so much like you. I'm so proud of her. I mean, she didn't do it alone. She had her friends, and they were behind her all the way even though it got tough for a while. They really are an amazing lot. I'm glad she has them. She even has friends in Heaven. That little seraphim girl, Sera, fucking Sera! And that snake friend of hers. Ha, can you believe it? They let in a snake after kicking out the first snake…
The frantic typing stopped as Lucifer felt a familiar burning ache in his back. The memory of newly created Hellfire scorching his wings as he and Lilith were cast into an unforgiving darkness burned fresh even now over 10,000 years later. He could still vividly picture that day as if it were yesterday. The pain he'd felt as crimson horns burst from his head, breaking his angelic crown and twisting it into the serpentine form that had damned him and the humans he'd sought to help. How his body had morphed into something he barely recognized. Lilith had felt that same pain. All the Sins had felt it as their angelic forms were changed beyond recognition. The favored son, the first woman, and those that had believed in and followed them. All damned to this eternal suffering because he thought humans should have a choice in their lives.
Lucifer shook his head to chase away the unpleasant memory. He stared at the message, his shaking thumb hovering over the arrow that would send it. It would be delivered in seconds, and he had to give Voxtech credit for developing a reliable signal down in this infernal pit. It wouldn't even take five seconds to get from his phone to hers. Still, he hesitated. His eyes flicked up to his previous messages. Hundreds of little blocks containing thousands of words, pouring his heart out to the woman he'd come to love, had a child with, and now who wasn't even here to see how much Charlie had grown. Messages asking where she was, why she left, telling her of Charlie's life despite how little he'd been in it up until recently. He'd begged and pleaded for answers. Was she unhappy? Had it been his fault? Would she have stayed if he had tried harder to be more involved with Hell like she had been? Every single message still had that damn ‘Delivered’ text next to it but, they hadn't been read. Not once in eight years.
His eyes turned red and burned with tears, horns beginning to poke through his skin. Why did he bother?! The near war between Heaven and Hell had clearly not been a secret. Vox broadcasted his message everywhere, even to the golden promenade somehow, and he was certain the Other Rings felt it when the Pearly Gates came crashing down into the middle of Pentagram City. Wherever Lilith was, whatever she was doing, there was no way in Satan’s name that she wasn’t aware of what had been going on. Charlie had been slandered and attacked very publicly, and Lililth hadn't even bothered with a phone call! At least he had tried to do something to help her even though she had been quite angry with him. And his greatest secret had been revealed to all of Hell.
Remembering that embarrassing stunt at the rally had Lucifer shifting back into his normal form, carefully biting the inside of his lip. That was another problem he hadn’t wanted to address just yet, but he couldn’t ignore it either. He’d been able to ignore it for years now but only because his fallen family had been the only ones to know. In Heaven’s “infinite” wisdom, his punishment for giving humans free will was to force him to watch what they did with it and be powerless to do anything about their chaos. That might have been fine if not for the fact they also decreed he should be the one to rule over the damned and see to their punishments. How did that make sense?! Hell’s warden, and the most he could do was throw a rubber duck at a Sinner’s head since it didn’t technically hurt. How was that meant to keep anyone in line? Mortals may have feared his name, but that was only useful on Earth. In the Infernal Pit, it did him little good.
Reputation alone and Lilith’s influence had carried him this far, but his luck had run its course. Lilith was gone, and the sinners knew that as a king, he was worthless. He could hide here at the hotel, yes, but that was hardly any better than what he’d done before. He would just be taking up space and mocked even further. It’s possible even his presence would eventually become a detriment to the hotel and drive away those who were honestly seeking to leave behind the vices that had brought them here. He couldn’t do that to Charlie. Even though redemption was impossible for him, he still wanted her to succeed. It would kill him to watch her fail because of him. Again.
A burst of static feedback had him flinching, and his attention was drawn to the other balcony across the foyer. That annoying red sinner was there, his smile wider than Lucifer remembered. Charlie had so much faith in him yet Lucifer could see that he was a master manipulator. He’d been freed of both his restraining deals by wordplay alone and had gotten control of his own soul back. He didn’t keep up with the Overlords, but he knew how they worked. They dealt in souls and power, and that’s all Alastor wanted. Power. The ability to keep causing chaos and torment unfettered. Why he was still here at the hotel was a mystery to Lucifer, but it did force him to think.
With Vox out of commission thanks to his own paramour, Alastor was once again the most powerful sinner in all of Hell. He’d done some reading on the man now that he’d had the chance. After arriving in Hell, he began taking down Overlords left and right. He put them through such horrific torment, they made deals to be his servants just to make it stop. Their suffering was broadcast to all to remind the masses what The Radio Demon was capable of so they'd never dare cross his path. The bartender and maid were probably the luckiest of his little collection since they at least kept their original forms. Alastor was a force to be reckoned with, and he was completely unchained now that he had played the long game and won. That kind of patience was fearsome in and of itself, let alone what he could do.
What else could the Radio Demon do if he was but given the opportunity?
The gears turned in Lucifer’s head, and when they finally stopped, a devilish grin painted his alabaster face in such a way it rivaled even the deer sinner’s. Alastor must have noticed because his own smile twisted slightly, and he melted into shadows that crept away along the floor. He reappeared next to Charlie and made a show of welcoming the sinners, his hand around her shoulders.
“Aah, pleasure to be meeting all you wayward sinners! My name is Alastor, and I am the host of the hotel. We’re very proud of Charlie for making all this possible.” His red eyes immediately sought out the king, and his grin widened. He was baiting Lucifer, tempting him to indulge in his namesake sin and make another fool of himself, and the fallen angel knew it. Last week, he would have done just that. He'd have tried to turn that simple compliment to his daughter into a very public and seemingly unprompted competition for her attention and praise. He’d learned his lesson though, and he wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.
Instead, he nodded his head at him, his top hat shifting with the subtle motion, and he disappeared to his penthouse in a crimson flash of cosmic energy. The confusion he saw in Alastor's eyes before he was whisked away was more delightful than he expected, and he found himself giddy by the idea that he would be seeing it a lot more if all went to plan. Hell was still in chaos, and he would need help to reign it in, to bring order to a place that had long needed it. He just needed to bide his own time and wait.
Lucifer at least knew how to do that very well.