Chapter Text
Husk stands behind the bar, staring down at the martini he had just made. He wasn’t a martini guy, and nobody had requested it, but he still made it, his hands had moved on their own, he had only realised what he was making as he made the finishing touches. Angel Dust was usually home by this time so Husk always made sure he had a drink ready for his friend whenever he came around(a part of his mind froze at the word ‘came’ as if waiting for some kind of joke), and maybe he would, maybe whatever lead Charlie and Vaggie were running towards would be the end of this, maybe Alastor’s contacts came by with Angel in tow and all this could just be another story to laugh about… maybe maybe is a stupid word.
Husk was used to wallowing; what drunkard wasn’t? But wallowing sucked, he’d rather be out there getting shot at by some sharks than be standing here wallowing. But Husk never gets what he wants. Someone needs to keep Nifty company, Charlie, Vaggie and Alastor are out chasing leads, Cherri disappeared off the map when it was made apparent that Angel was no longer in Pentagram and the king… well the king was never that reliable in the first place. But even if he could go out, what would he even do? Fly over to fucking Imp City and what? Chase ghost while pissing off every Tom Dick and Harry he could find? The truth was he was useless, so the only thing to do was to wallow.
Amidst his wallowing, he heard the sound of static approaching the hotel, a regular sign that Alastor was in a mood . Husk sighed and threw some ice into a glass and poured in bourbon. It’s best to be prepared when it comes to his moods.
The doors flew open and the radio demon stepped through. The static was piercingly loud at this point, but Husk ignored it as he slid over the bourbon to Alastor when he sat down.
Alastor took a sip, letting out a sigh of relief, the static quieting down immensely, “Ah, I can always rely on you, my deer Husker.”
Husk grunted in response, “No luck finding Angel?” He asked, for no particular reason, as it was clear what the answer was.
Alastor hummed, “Unfortunately not, no,” he took another sip before continuing, “Y’know I quite enjoyed watching you lot run around like headless chickens but now that I am one of the chickens…” he trailed off, swirling his glass as he stared at the spinning ice cubes.
“Finally experiencing empathy, boss?” The snark might have ended with his boss giving him a lashing in the past, but ever since the hotel opened, the radio demon had become more and more lenient, clearly trying to stay on Charlie’s good side.
“Hah! Heavens no!” He laughed that humourless laugh, “No, no, it is just frustrating you see, our deer lost Angel Dust has seemingly disappeared into nothing and despite my investigation we truly have not moved an inch towards actually finding him,” a sip, a sigh, “All the information we’ve gathered only points to the day he disappeared, no sightings the day after, no clues pointing to his exact location beyond ‘north-westerly’, and no one has any information so far!” The hotel shook as Alastor’s anger peaked again before settling down after another sip.
To anyone else, the outburst might have made it look like the overlord cared about Angel Dust, Charlie, after all, had similar outbursts after the first few days, but Husk knew better. Alastor, despite often mocking others for this, was deeply competitive and hated losing; he always needed to have the upper hand, always needed to be ahead and when he wasn’t? Well, usually Husk paid that price. This was no different. Alastor saw finding Angel Dust like a game, one where whoever finds him first wins, so when he seems to be making no progress, he feels like he is losing somehow.
Husk grunted, not letting his eyes meet his boss’, “Did you check the hellevator?”
“Hm, the hellevator? Whyever would I do such a thing?” The anger that was radiating off of Alastor shifted into amusement as he leaned forward, palm on his chin, and beckoned Husk to continue.
“The north-west road out of Pentagram leads to the closest hellevator, if the limo Angel Dust was taken in passed through there we might get a better lead,” Husk sighed as he was readying what to say next, knowing the reaction he would get, “And maybe they figured out how to send a sinner to another ring.”
For a moment their was silence, Husk and Alastor staring into each others eyes no word shared between them. Then it happened. That laugh, piercingly loud, just the sound alone was shaking the foundation of the hotel. He could feel his feline ears start to bleed as he clutched his head, “Oh HUSKER! My deer sweet Husker,” the laughter stopped, as he placed a hand on Husk’s shulder “You always know how to make me laugh, if there was a way for us to get to another ring I would have found it,” the hand lingered for a moment, almost piercing his skin as the force, before he let go and leaned back with another chuckle, “If I couldn’t do it then do you think that half-blind degenerate moth could?” the laugh returned, now more subdued than before.
Husk glared at his boss and, against his better judgement, opened his mouth, “I was thinking more like Vox,” STUPID STUPID STUPID .
The shadows grew darker as the sickeningly green chains that bound him to Alastor manifested around his neck. Alastor's form twisted any semblance of emotion gone, as Husk stared up at the doll-like grin and wide, horrifying eyes. “Husker…” his chain was yanked down, face slammed against the wood of his bar. Long spindly fingers wrapped themselves around Husk’s face, “I know that you did not just speak the name of that artless HACK, and I know for sure that you did not just try and tell me something so ridiculous as him having accomplished where I had not, correct?”
Husk could barely breathe as he nodded, “O-of course, sir! I was meaning to say was that, uh, um,” He looked for the words, a way out, “The buyer! The buyer!” the radio demon’s head tilted to the side, “If-if the buyer is hellborn, yeah? Maybe they had access to knowledge and resources we don’t here in pride, right?”
Alastor’s grip loosened, his form reverting back, “Hm, interesting theory,” he tapped his chin and spun his staff around, “Yes, very interesting,” he had now fully reverted back to his original form and had fully let go of Husk, the chains vanishing into the air, “Altighty then! No time to dally, we best inform the princess of our new theory, yes?” Husk nodded slowly, reaching for his phone, “Oh no,” Alastor swatted the phone out of his hand with his staff, “No, I will go ahead and inform her in person while you, my deer Husker, will be heading off to this Hellevator you spoke of to see what you can find, yes?” Husk lamely nodded, “Good, now I best be off, ta ta!” With a flourish, he disappeared into the shadows.
Husk waited s full twenty seconds before letting out a heavy sigh. Rubbing his temples, he looked at the martini glass that had fallen over and spilt at some point. He picked it up, made a new martini and placed it in the middle of the bar, “For you, anything for you,”
Loona was not having a good time.
Sure, she had been having a good time when she came over to jam out with Octavia(and possibly convince Stolas to just talk to her dad like a normal person) but then the fucking Princess of hell arrived and now she had to hide the super illegal things that her dad did and Stolas helped with. This was not a problem with Bee, as Bee wasn’t the ‘follow-up question’ type, just, “Hey, what does your dad do?”“He’s a hitman,”“Sweet,”. But the Princess? Loved asking questions, especially when she realised she and Bee were dating. (Well, officially they were ‘trying things out’ and wouldn’t be using labels yet, but apparently Bee had told her closest friends about them, which was fair, Octavia knew and now, because the Princess decided to greet her by saying “Oh, your aunt Bee’s new girlfriend!” , so does Stolas, which is… fine.)
Needless to say, she wanted to know everything about her both as Bee’s girlfriend and as Octavia’s friend, and that made her job harder to hide. Stolas tried to help and it seemed like the Princess was buying their lies, but her guard/girlfriend? Not at all. Her singular eye was almost continuously squinting at them as their elaborate web of lies grew thicker and thicker. Though she clearly suspected something, she never voiced it.
The food had been eaten, the dinner was completed, without food to occupy her, Loona sat awkwardly only speaking when directly addressed. The princess was open and kind and very much not the image she had in her head when she pictured Hell’s royal family, despite that, Loona could not help but fear that every word out of her mouth would cross some social foux pas and get her killed, or that the Princess would say something, drop the shoe and treat her like the Princess of Hell is supposed to treat a Hellhound, but she powered through because despite all the shit Octavia has been through, in this moment, she looked excited and happy, so if it meant her sort of little sister was happy she could handle anything.
In the middle of a conversation, Loona could smell something off, something rancid and bloody. She tried to subtly lift her snout to identify the smell, it wasn’t the food nor was it coming from any of the guests, it was coming from… the shadows?
The smell of sin wafted from the shadows, hints of wrath, pride, envy, greed and an intense smell of gluttony, if Loona was not used to it from Bee, the scent would almost be overwhelming. From the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the shadows moving. From a quick glimpse at the rest of the table, no one else had noticed it. It was slithering from shadow to shadow approaching… approaching the Princess!
With no time to think, instincts kicked, she lurched across the table, teeth bared and claws out. She reached out to the shadow until she found purchase and ripped whatever it was out of it’s hiding spot.
Loona smelled it before she saw it as the shadows began to take shape in her claws. Whatever she was holding was radiating immense demonic power, not the smell of Stolas behind her or the Princess next to her, this was a smell she recognised from the few times she had been to Pentagram, the smell of an Overlord.
When the Overlord finally took shape, she was holding it up by its neck a horrifying grin glaring down at her, “My, my,” the mouth barely moved as it spoke, the sound appearing to come from some kind of old radio, “Someone forgot to put a leash on their mutt it seems,” Wrath, from all corners of the room, all she could smell was wrath, from the thing in her hand (because to call it anything other than a beast felt incorrect), from Stolas, even from the Princess.
She dropped the Overlord, whose smile had yet to leave his face, and backed away. The Princess was already in its face, her demonic heritage far more obvious as long red horns stuck out of her scalp, as was Stolas who towered over the overlord with a rage she hadn’t seen since she had to rescue Blitz from those humans.
“ You dare break into MY HOME and insult MY GUEST -”
“What the fuck Alastor!”
“For fucks sake, pendejo pu-!”
Loona took another step back as the two royals and the fallen angel began screaming at the overlord, whose eyes lingered on Loona for a moment, what constitutes as a glare from the smiling face directed at her, before turning to the Princess.
“Hey,” Loona flinched as Octavia quietly spoke, “Are you okay?”
Loona shrugged, “I’m fine, those three seem to have things handled,” she gestured with her head, refusing to look in the direction of that thing (Alastor apparently).
Octavia’s big red owlish eyes squinted as she stared into her, “What he said-“
BSST
The vibration of Loona’s phone in her pocket interrupted whatever Octavia was about to say. She pulls it out after a second of hesitation.
BEE <3 is inviting you to a video call
No one throws a party like the queen Bee, that was a fact that all of hell understood implicitly and it was an image the Bee herself was rather keen on keeping. But it is said that centuries past there was a demon who rivalled her, a demon whose parties were beyond mortal comprehension, and that demon was rumoured to be back.
Now, Bee knew that if these rumours were true(she started them) then it may call the end of her reign as the undisputed party queen. A tragic fate, one many a ruler might run from but Bee saw another path, one where they combine their shared party-throwing might and throw the most rocking party creation has ever seen.
“ Is this party the fucking bomb, or what!? ” The crowd of demons cheered nearly all of them in various states of inebriation. Beelzebub descended from the ceiling, looking over her people taking a moment to appreciate their gluttony . Their ravenous appetites, their unquenchable thirsts, they are insatiable and she couldn’t be happier. “So there’s been this rumour going around that there’s someone who can rival my parties!” Jeers and boos filled the mansion, “Well guess what!? He’s real!” A synchronous gasp echoed through the halls, “I was at one of his parties centuries ago and I am still riding that high! But you think I’m afraid of him!?” An uproarious ‘ NO!’ followed by cheers from her people, “You must think we are enemies, rivals, that we must hate each other to the very core! Well you’re WRONG!” Gasps, again(Bee honestly cannot believe how much they are eating this up) “He is someone you should all know-” the lights dimmed, the music stopped as fog poured in(Bee shook her head at the theatrics), “The reason we are ALL here, the man who gave you the right to sin!” The fog grew thicker as spotlights appeared shining down on a spot behind her, “Give it up for the king of Hell himself! Lucifer Morningstar!”
With a flash of light, the king of hell manifested in the air where the spotlights pointed, “Heyyy bitches!”
After several hours the party was still going strong, tiny clones of Lucifer dressed like butlers all with fake moustaches to boo,t were running around making sure everyone was gouging themselves as much as possible. On the dance floor were a bunch of Lucifers dressed in classic disco attire, bell-bottoms, open jackets and shades, and anyone who didn’t already have a dance partner had their own Lucifer. You could not move an inch without bumping into another Lucifer, and the people loved it.
Bee looked down at the party from her balcony, one only someone with wings could reach, it was a spot she often used to quickly scan the party to see what area needed attention, but with all the Lucifers running around, that was no longer necessary. Instead, it was being used as a private place where she could take a moment to catch up with her old friend, her oldest friend.
She looked over to Lucifer, who was sitting down on the edge of the balcony with his legs swinging back and forth. She sat down next to him and gave his shoulder a shove. “That script you gave me was awful!” The whole lead-up to introducing Lucifer had been planned out by the king himself, which apparently included a script for her to memorise.
He laughed, “Well they seemed to love it!” he gestured over the crowds of party-goers.
“They love me and everything that comes out of my mouth,”
“And who brought you into existence?”
Bee punched him in the shoulder, “Shut the fuck up, Lulu!” Lucifer laughed at that and Bee could not help but join. As their laughter died down she looked at her king, he looked happy, not just the momentary happiness from the party or the laughter, he held himself differently than when they last met, right after the divorce. Fuck, she had missed that smile.
She was about to tell him as much when his head snapped up, “Shit,” he snapped his finger and turned to her, “I know you don’t like talking work stuff during a party but I will forget about this if I don’t say it now,” he got up from his sitting position, he cleared his throat and straightened his back like he was about to make some sort of announcement, “Beelzebub, sin of gluttony, due to the failures of Satan, the sin of wrath, to perform his duties as my second in command in my absence he has been demoted,” Good riddance Bee’s mind couldn’t help but respond. As much as she loved Satan like a brother, ever since he became the defacto leader of Hell with Lucifer’s absence he had become unbearable to be around, and the fact that as a judge anyone who was not a goetia got executed the moment he got bored with the trail did not help things. “Which means, you are my new second in command! Congrats!”
“Holy shit…” she said dumbly.
“That’s right! Now this will come with new respons-”
“I GOT A FUCKING PROMOTION!” Bee gasped, “I gotta tell Tex and Loona!” She reached for her phone as she ignored whatever Lucifer was talking about. Tex was unfortunately doing his dumb job so Loona it is!
“Hey, I know you’re excited-“
“Ugh! Why is she taking so long to pick up!” Bee was floating in the air, vibrating with her phone pressed against her face, “C’mon, Loona,”
The screen lit up with Loona’s adorable little face, “Hey Be-“
“GUESS WHO GOT A FUCKING PROMOTION?!”