FicWad

Texts on Hell often say things like: “Hell, in many religious traditions, the abode, usually beneath the earth, of the unredeemed dead or the spirits of the damned.”
In its archaic sense, the term Hell refers to the underworld, a deep pit or distant land of shadows where the dead are gathered. From the underworld come nightmares, ghosts, and demons, and in its most terrible precincts sinners pay—some say eternally—the penalty for their crimes. The underworld is often imagined as a place of punishment rather than merely of darkness and decomposition because of the widespread belief that a moral universe requires judgment and retribution—crime must not pay. More broadly, Hell figures in religious cosmologies as the opposite of heaven, the nadir of the cosmos, and the land where God is not. In-world literature the journey to hell is a perennial motif of hero legends and quest stories, and hell itself is the preeminent symbol of evil, alienation, and despair.
Many English translations of the Bible use Hell as an English equivalent of the Hebrew terms Sheʾōl (or Sheol) and Gehinnom, or Gehenna (Hebrew: gê-hinnōm). The term Hell is also used for the Greek Hades and Tartarus, which have markedly different connotations. As this confusion of terms suggests, the idea of hell has a complex history, reflecting changing attitudes toward death and judgment, sin and salvation, and crime and punishment.
So, as most of that was written by the same people that white-washed Jesus, of course most of that is incorrect.
Hell may be a place of anarchy but not in the sense many people think. Demons do not actively torment sinners, but that does not mean that they are kind towards them. Sinners are one of the lower classes of Hell. The hierarchy of Hell is as follows:

The Royal Family of Hell: Lucifer Magne is the King of Hell and has the final say on everything that happens in Hell. Despite what most modern interpretations of Lucifer say, he is not the Devil, and he is more of a fare ruler than one would think, but he’s still a little twisted. You can’t rule Hell for several billion years without being so. Lilith is Lucifer’s wife and Charlie is his daughter. Lilith is sometimes considered more powerful than Lucifer due to him loving her unconditionally. As the phrase goes: “Behind every great man is an even greater woman.” Charlie is much kinder, has lived in Hell since she was born 200 years ago, and cares about all her people.

The Seven Deadly Sins: A physical representation for each of the seven main sins plaguing humanity. Each of them is in-charge of one of the Rings of Hell. Lucifer is one of them but is considered a separate entity at times since he embodies aspects from all seven of the sins and the Rings of Hell they are named after.

Ars Goetia: The Ars Goetia family controls aspects of Hell that the Overlords have no power over, with the only people in charge of them being the Seven Deadly Sins and the Magne Royal Family. The main member of the family is a prince named Stolas, who monitors the Earth’s stars in search of prophecies.

The Overlords: The Overlords control Hell’s perception with the main 5 controlling a form of media and information dispersion: Radio, mouth-to-mouth information, TV and Movies, pornography, and social media.

The Sinners: the sinners are a large group of demons whose appearance and abilities vary widely due to their demonic forms, which correspond to their human selves’ aspects. They are in the lower-middle of Hell's hierarchy, being above the three lowest tiers. Sinners have limitations that separate them from every other denizen of hell. For example, all sinners are confined to the pride ring and are unable to traverse through the other rings of hell. Furthermore, sinners are the only known species of demon that are unable to reproduce. Despite things like these, sinners have the rare privilege to change their social status by accumulating power through deals.

The Hellborn: The Hellborn are what most people think of when someone says demon. The Hellborn, despite having more privileges than the sinners, are considered lower in Hell's hierarchy. Hellborn demons can travel to other rings and can sexually reproduce with other Hellborn species, with the best example being a known bounty hunter called Striker, who is a mix of an Imp and another Hellborn demon. So, to quote the Cinema Snob: “And then they BANG!”

Imps and Hellhounds: Imps and Hellhounds are considered the lowest of Hell’s hierarchy, to the point that when an Imp-ran assassin agency called the Immediate Murder Professionals was created and started to do well, everyone in Hell was surprised. As for Hellhounds, it is at the point where they can be adopted by any other race in Hell, provided that the Hellhound in question is an orphan and is under 18 years of age. Even Hell has some standards.

However, our story does not start in Hell. It starts in the world of the living. To be specific, Santa Fe, the capital of the state of New Mexico.
The area of Santa Fe was originally occupied by indigenous Tanoan peoples, who lived in numerous Pueblo villages along the Rio Grande. One of the earliest known settlements in what today is downtown Santa Fe came sometime after 900 CE. A group of native Tewa built a cluster of homes that cantered around the site of today's Plaza and spread for half a mile to the south and west; the village was called Oghá'o'oge  in Tewa. The Tanoans and other Pueblo peoples settled along the Santa Fe River for its water and transportation.
Don Juan de Oñate led the first Spanish effort to colonize the region in 1598, establishing Santa Fe de Nuevo México as a province of New Spain. Under Juan de Oñate and his son, the capital of the province was the settlement of San Juan de los Caballeros north of Santa Fe near modern Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. Juan de Oñate was banished and exiled from New Mexico by the Spanish, after his rule was deemed cruel towards the indigenous population. New Mexico's second Spanish governor, Don Pedro de Peralta, however, founded a new city at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in 1607, which he called La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís, the Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi. In 1610, he designated it as the capital of the province, which it has almost constantly remained, making it the oldest state capital in the United States.
When the Republic of Texas seceded from Mexico in 1836, it attempted to claim Santa Fe and other parts of Nuevo México as part of the western portion of Texas along the Río Grande. In 1841, a small military and trading expedition set out from Austin, intending to take control of the Santa Fe Trail. Known as the Texan Santa Fe Expedition, the force was poorly prepared and was easily captured by the New Mexican military.
In 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico. Brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny led the main body of his Army of the West of some 1,700 soldiers into Santa Fe to claim it and the whole New Mexico Territory for the United States. By 1848 the U.S. officially gained New Mexico through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
What the history books do not say is that in order to gain New Mexico, and by extension Santa Fe, General Stephen Kearny made a deal with Lucifer so, in exchange for his soul, General Kearny would have the ability to make the solders in his command do whatever he orders. So, the origins of Santa Fe as a capital city in the U.S. have what you would call “Demonic Intervention.”
While the beginning of our story takes place in the city of Santa Fe, it starts in an apartment building in downtown Santa Fe.
If you met Lucia Harmon, you would not assume that she's a second generation Mexican-American due to her not being that great with Spanish and her being able to pass as white. But in 1947, her grandparents legally immigrated to the U.S And eventually, Lucia’s grandmother gave birth to her father, which led to her and her brother being born. While Lucia, unlike her brother Barry, does have a traditionally sounding Mexican name, she can't speak Spanish all that well, again, unlike Barry. Barry, and we quote: “Liked to throw people off when he goes to places like Taco Trucks that are run by other Mexicans by speaking in only Spanish.”
Whatever floats your boat.
Upon seeing Barry, you would be more likely to scream “monster" then assume he's a Latino. The reason for that is that Barry is a pure charred black skeleton with truly little muscle holding him together, bloody eyes, a nervous system burned to his bones, a somewhat burned brain in his skull, and an esophagus running down his neck. Inside his ribcage, he still has a heart, lungs, and a stomach, but no digestive track. There are cracks at the very top of the skull that go down to the left eye socket, several of his ribs are broken, and he is currently sitting on Lucia's couch, wearing a pure black suit, and smoking a cigarette.
Why does Barry look like this?
He’s dead. Duh.
In 2016, Barry, who is the personal psychiatrist to the governor of New Mexico, was in the city of Las Vegas (not to be confused with the Las Vegas in the state of Nevada) where a few cartel members decided to kidnap him to get information on the governor to use as blackmail. After three weeks of Barry refusing to give in that end with him being starved to death, the cartel members set fire to the warehouse where he was locked up, destroying the body and all evidence.
Barry ended up in Hell and wandered about for weeks until he came across a strange demon that, when he was speaking, sounded as if he was speaking through an old microphone from the 1940s. The strange demon said he would send Barry back to the living world if he could call upon a favour in the future. Barry agreed, and he appeared in his sister's living room, three hours after his own funeral.
Since then, Lucia has gotten used to living with the demonic form of her dead brother, though it does come with some drawbacks with the best example being the sibling’s mother.
Their mother, a kind old woman named Carmella, has been stopping by often since Barry’s death, sometimes with no warning. They both know that Carmella just cares, but she should still warn them ahead of time. The most mentally scaring example of that being 4 years ago, with her showing up unexpectedly as Lucia and Barry were trying to figure out how to clean off Barry’s bones without destroying the muscles and organs. That lovely incident ended with Barry, butt- er, bone-naked, hiding himself in the laundry chute.
Barry gets off the couch and walks to the door, where Lucia, wearing her Sunday best (A sea blue dress with a thin black sweater), is trying to hold the door open as she brings five bags of groceries into the apartment.
“I know you’re doing well, mi querida Hermana, what with the recent influx of one-time therapy sessions, but 5 huge bags are a bit much, don’t you think?” says Barry as he grabs three of the bags. Despite being mostly bones, Barry is quite strong. One of the perks of being a demon.
“No tienes que comer, hermano. If I want to get some extra shit for myself, I can and will. Besides, you love my baked empanadas. I just don’t want to know where they end up after you’re done eating, hermano.” Lucia says she puts an aerosol can on the counter, like Lysol. “Took me a while to find, but there you go! Hydrogen peroxide with one of those thin straw things. Your bones may be black, but they don’t have to be filthy. I am getting tired of explaining why there’s ash on everything.”
“Sorry, sis.” Barry takes the can and puts it in the cupboard where the cleaning supplies are. “Thanks. So, how was Church? Still not telling’ everyone that you live with your dead brother who rose from Hell?”
Lucia laughs as she starts to put away the groceries. “Oh, yes! Let me pull Father O’Brian aside after mass and tell him that for the last 6 years, I’ve been living with a literal demon, who also happens to be my brother, the one that was murdered by a bunch of Mexican gang members because they wanted to blackmail the governor! He totally won’t have me institutionalized! And if he doesn’t, the chances of him coming to exorcise you TOTALLY don’t exist! I really can’t see that conversation going well, Barry.”
Barry laughs and puts a few bags of pasta into the cupboard by the stove. “Father O’Brian may be Irish and a bit… well, nuts. Remember that one time while we were seven?”
“When he told us that he once shared a drink with Satan and Jesus? Yeah, I remember. It’s more likely that he was drunk, and it was Halloween. Can you put the flour by the microwave?”
Barry grabs the big bag of flour and puts it by the microwave before saying, “Maybe so, but seeing as I magically popped out of nowhere after being in Hell… it adds prospective. Besides, Father O’Brian is an open-minded guy. I think if you explained it to him, he’ll take it well.”
Lucia finishes putting away everything she does not need, and she folds the paper bags she brought the groceries in before tossing them into a recycling bin. “Maybe, but do you really want him breathing down your neck all the time, asking about Hell and Heaven and all that? The only reason I still even go to church and believe in all that is because of you and your stint in Hell. Imagine what Father O’Brian, a man who is in his 60’s and has been a devout a devout Christian since childhood, would do. Besides, remember how Darleen took it?”
“All too vividly. I get your point. Speaking of which, Darleen slipped two invitations to a boat party for her cousin under the door. I snuck over and asked her how she expected me to attend.” says Barry as he takes off his jacket and rolls up his sleeves. “She said I could just wear sunglasses, some medical wraps, a fedora, a trench coat, and a scarf. ¿Quién diablos se cree que soy? ¿El maldito hombre invisible? I told her that’s not happening, but that I’ll tell you about the party.”
Lucia takes off the sweater. “Good to know. I’m gonna go change and then we can get cooking. Preheat the oven, please.”
As Lucia went to change out of her Sunday Best attire and as Barry preheat the oven to 400 degrees, neither of them knew that things were about to get chaotic because down in Hell, a certain demon started to debate whether or not to call in a certain favour…
12 minutes later, Lucia, now wearing a simple white blouse and jeans, walks into the kitchen.
Calling it a kitchen is generous, since it is just a part of the main room of the apartment elevated a few feet higher than the rest of the room and has a tile floor as opposed to the rest of the carpeted floor.
The living room is also a part of the main room and has a few steps going down to where the couch, loveseat, recliner, and TV are placed.
There was also a walkway from the door to the hallway where the bathroom resides and to the staircase to the second floor, where the bedrooms are.
By anyone’s standards, it is a genuinely nice apartment and Lucia thought so as well. Both Lucia and Barry had spent about 8 years working to get enough money to afford it when they started their psychology careers in Santa Fe.
After about 3 hours, Lucia finishes the empanadas, and the siblings sit at the counter, eating the delicious meat pies.
“So, how’s mamá and papá?” asks Barry as he uses a napkin to wipe a bit of dough in the area around his teeth.
“Mamá is still getting overprotective because of what happened to you. Before church, she actually said that I should move back in with her and papá. All I could do was give her a look that said ‘HELL NO’ before Father O’Brian came out. At least it looked like papá was somewhat against the idea.”
“Oh, God. I really don’t want to explain the whole ‘sinner demon back from the dead’ thing to mamá. She would probably trick me so she can spray me with Holy Water from the garden hose. Still can’t believe she did that.”
Lucia takes a big bite of empanada before saying, “Yeah, did she think it would bless the flowers?”
Just then they both hear a strange voice say, “Sounds fun! I wonder what would happen if a demon ate lettuce or spinach watered with Holy Water.”
The siblings both jump out of their seats with Lucia pulling out a glock-17 and with Barry making his hands catch fire.
They watch on as something quite strange happens out of nowhere, black, and red energy begins to form in the center of the room, crackling with electricity as it expands into a vaguely humanoid shape.
The figure fully forms into a slim, dapper sinner demon, with beige coloured skin, and a broad, permanently a fixed smile full of sharp, yellow teeth. He is sporting a pinkish-red cropped, angled bob-cut with black tips at the ends and two large, black tipped tufts of hair extending from the top of his head, evoking the ears of a deer. The style has an undercut at the back, and two small black antlers protruding from the crown.
His eyes have dark red sclerae, bright-red irises and thin black pupils. He also wears a dark-red oval-shaped monocle, rimmed with black, over his right eye.
He is wearing a red pinstripe coat with dark-red lapels piped with white, which is ragged along the bottom hem. Underneath this, he wears a bright red dress-shirt with a black cross on the chest, and long black dress pants with matching bright red cuffs.
He seems to be accessorizing with a black knotted bowtie with a bright red center, black gloves with red at the fingertips, and black pointed-toe boots with red deer hoofprints emblazoned on the soles. He is also carrying a thin cane with a sentient vintage style microphone attached to it.
Barry seems to recognize the dapper demon. “Oh, that’s just fuckin’ great.” Barry makes the flames vanish as Lucia asks, “Barry, who is this?”
Barry pushes Lucia’s gun down. “Alastor. The Radio Demon and the one that I made a deal with.”
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, my dear! What a lovely abode you have here!” says Alastor as he quickly shakes Lucia’s hand. He then walks over to the counter and grabs an empanada, which he promptly takes a bite of. “I believe I had one of these before, but unless I am mistaken, that’s chicken instead of virgin flesh. Just lovely.”
Barry seems to be getting annoyed as he asks, “Why the hell are you here, Alastor?”
Alastor grabs a paper towel, carefully wraps the empanada, and puts it in his coat before saying, “Why, I came to call in my favour of course! Nothing messy, but it would make wonderful use of your talents!”
“And that would be?” says Barry as he grabs his jacket.
Alastor’s smile widens and the siblings both get a bit unnerved. “Take a look.”
Alastor claps and everything around them turns an unnerving red as the siblings’ lines of vision are obscured by strange symbols called the Loa.
Loa are spirits in the African diasporic religion of Haitian Vodou. They have also been incorporated into some revivalist forms of Louisiana Voodoo. Many of the Loa derive their identities in part from deities venerated in the traditional religions of West Africa, especially those of the Fon and Yoruba.
In Haitian Vodou, the Loa serve as intermediaries between humanity and Bondyé, a transcendent creator divinity. Voodooists believe that over a thousand Loa exist, the names of at least 232 of which are recorded. Each Loa has its own personality and is associated with specific colours and objects. Many of them are equated with specific Roman Catholic saints based on similar characteristics or shared symbols. The Loa are divided into distinct groups, known as nanchon, the most notable of which are the Petwo and the Rada. According to Vodou belief, the Loa communicate with humans through dreams and divination, and in turn are given offerings, including sacrificed animals. Vodou teaches that during ceremonies, the Loa possess specific practitioners, who during the possession are considered the chwal of the Loa. Through possessing an individual, Voodooists believe, the Loa can communicate with other humans, offering advice, admonishment, or healing.
Alastor, however, has the rare magical ability to control the Loa to his whim as he is doing now. He is using the Loa to pull himself, Barry, and Lucia through the cosmic membrane that separates the living world from Hell, which is an amazing feat.
Think of that membrane between realities as a cotton shirt. If you put said shirt under a microscope you would see incredibly tiny little holes in the fabric. To put it simply, if someone could manipulate one of those holes within the membrane, they could pass through the hole with no problem. That is what Alastor is doing right now. He is using the Loa to hold open a part of the membrane as he takes himself, Barry, and Lucia through it.
The Loa start to vanish as they find themselves in what is obviously a hotel.
The hotel seems to be in a slight state of disrepair, with wooden boards covering shattered windows, bloodied tools left lying around, and paintings are shown hanging off the walls. Most of the furniture in the lobby is strewn around haphazardly, while there are still 5 large wooden crates that most likely have furniture in them.
There is a check-in counter/Bar a few feet away that uses skeletons, snakes, and bones as general themes, along with card suits and candles, and advertises itself as a casino with a sign that says “concierge” above the counter.
There are many apple, snake, and circus motifs throughout the hotel's interior. Eyes are also a recurring theme throughout the building, appearing on the frame of almost every single painting and several vases and jars.
Barry and Lucia are stunned at the sudden change of scenery. Barry walks over to the check-in and rings the bell on the counter.
“OOOO! PEOPLE!!” yells a strange little voice.
Barry yells in surprise as a small little demon jumps on him out of nowhere.
She is a small one-eyed demon, akin to a cyclops. Her one large eye has a hot pink and yellow sclera with a light-yellow iris, and a black pupil. She also has a single eyebrow and pure white skin. She has short pink hair with a yellow highlight. Her teeth are sharp and light yellow, and she has small pink dots at each corner of her mouth, evocative of dimples. Her attire is that of a red 1950’s house cleaner dress and a white apron over it with three dripping splotches. She wears a dark red neckerchief. She has small, pointed limbs with her arms being black and her legs coloured dark red.
The little demon looks at Barry with her face inches away from Barry’s. “Oh! A boy!”
Barry is very confused. “Sí, soy un tipo. Can you please get off me now?”
The little demon jumps off Barry as he sits up and rubs his ribs. “Sorry about that! I’m Niffty.”
“Hello Niffty. I’m Barry Harmon.” Says Barry as he stands. He points at Alastor. “Hey, Mr. Cheap Grin! Where are we?”
Alastor laughs at the insulting nickname and simply says, “Look for yourself.”
Barry runs to the nearest window and throws it open.
He sees a city. A huge city with so many unusual places of interest such as casinos, nightclubs, adult film studios, brothels, restaurants, television stations, and hotels. Full of businesses, where they are allowed to sell everything from blood-covered chainsaws to drugs to the discarded special weapons of the angels known as the Exorcists. In the center of the city, there is a Clock Tower, which has a day counter under the face of the clock. The counter is counting down from 125 days (about 4 months) and while Lucia has no clue what that could mean, Barry, Niffty, and Alastor certainly do.
Barry closes the window and walks over to Alastor, saying, “Why did you bring us here, Alastor?”
“Barry? What is it? Where are we?” asks Lucia
Barry tries to contain his anger as he says, “We’re in Hell. Alastor brought us to Hell.”
Before Lucia could even begin to express her surprise, another new, cheerful, voice says, “That’s right! Welcome to the Happy Hotel!”
Barry and Lucia turn to see another demon descending the main stairs. This demon is Charlotte Magne, but everyone calls her either “Charlie” or “Your Majesty” and if you must know, her ringtone is “Pink Fluffy Unicorns, Dancing on Rainbows” on a loop.
Charlie is a tall, slender hellborn demon, standing at around 6 feet tall or over. She has long, blonde hair, with lighter blonde highlights, which is tied into a twice-banded low ponytail. Her blonde bangs flip to her left with a curl.
Her lips are black, and she has rosy red cheeks like marionettes.  Her pupils are red, her sclera is light yellow, and she has thick black eyelashes, both top and bottom.
She is wearing a small black bowtie and black suspenders, with an untucked white, long-sleeved dress-shirt. Over this, she is wearing a fitted red tuxedo jacket with dark-red lapels and red fitted pants, alongside a pair of black and white saddle shoes.
Lucia is the first to ask the obvious question. “What is the Happy Hotel and why are we in Hell again?”
Charlie puts one arm around each of the siblings and happily says, “My name's Charlie Magne and I, no joke, am the Princess of Hell. The Happy Hotel is… a bit of a pet project of mine. So, every year, an elite unit of angels comes down and slaughters every demon they can find for 12 hours, kind of like those Purge movies the living are so fond of. I hate seeing my people killed every year, so I started the Hotel as a way to rehabilitate sinners and get them sent to heaven. As for why you two are here, I would like to hire you to help out.”
Lucia is shocked while Barry just laughs.
“That idea is stupidly retarded, but if I'm being honest, it sounds so stupid that it might actually work.” says Barry as he flops onto a nearby couch. “And I assume Alastor told you about me?”
Charlie enthusiastically nods. “Yep! And then I did research and learned about your sister here. I thought it would be smart to hire you both. AND!” Charlie adds quickly. “Before you say anything, Lucia, I will be paying you in U.S currency. Roughly double what you make now.”
Lucia is somewhat shocked. Despite her amazing work over the last 4 and a half years and the premotion she got in 2019, her boss has outright refused to up her pay by even a little bit. And now, a strange demon/woman that looks a bit like a peppermint is offering her a job that will pay her double what she makes, provided she serves as a psychiatrist for a hotel in HELL.
“I… would be stupid to not take you up on that. I would just have to change the locks to my apartment and break it to my boss that I quit.” says Lucia since she would be an idiot for turning down the offer.
Charlie, however, is a bit confused. “Why would you need to change the locks to your apartment?”
“Because my mother has a key to the apartment and if she goes in and sees I’m not there late at night, she’ll call the police and get a citywide search going, which I really don’t need. Just… agh. Esa mujer me enoja a veces!”
“I’ll also take the job, but I still want to stay in the apartment. I’ve been there for 6 years and there has been no problem. Just want to know: How would we get here for work?” asks Barry, who has finally gotten off the couch.
“It took a lot of convincing and bribery with candy, but I managed to convince my father to give Alastor the permission to bring you two here and back every day.” Says Charlie as she digs around the check-in counter, ignoring the fact that neither Barry nor Lucia knows why her father is important. After a minute or so, she gives up and says, “Oh, Satan. Vaggie must have it. HEY, VAGGIE, DO YOU HAVE THE FOLDER?!?”
Someone yells, “YEAH! ON MY WAY DOWN!” and another demon comes down from the upper floors. Her name is “Vagatha,” but we have been informed that we have to say that if you called her that, you would be likely to find her spear lodged deep in your stomach. She prefers “Vaggie,” and we are not saying this because there is a spear at our throats.
Vaggie is a slim demon with muted grey-lavender coloured skin. Her hair is white and has a jagged, moth-like shape to the cut, with grey-lavender stripes at the ends. She wears a large, ragged dark reddish-pink bow with two long tails on the back of her head.
While Vaggie's right eye has an ivory white iris, and her sclera is light pink, her left eye is missing and is replaced by a dark reddish-pink X. She wears a dusky pink blouse with a dark slate-grey peter-pan style collar, scalloped trim to the sleeves, and two buttons down the front. Her choker and skirt are the same dark slate grey. Vaggie accessorizes with long slate-grey fingerless gloves and long stockings, which are scalloped with white at the tops and the tips of the toes.
Vaggie is also not taking anyone’s shit and never will, thank you very much.
Vaggie walks over, kisses Charlie on the cheek and hands her the kind of yellow file folder a well-paid businessperson would have.
Charlie thanks Vaggie and out of the folder, she pulls out some papers stabled together.
“Here you go. Just give this to your old boss. We have a shell company listed should anyone follow up.” says Vaggie as she takes the papers and hands them to Lucia.
Lucia takes the papers and carefully looks them over. “You guys seem pretty prepared.”
Barry, who was looking over Lucia’s shoulder, laughs. “Bueno, por supuesto que están preparados, hermana mía. They assumed we would say yes. Positive way of thinking, if I’m right, which I am.”
Charlie shrugs. “Better safe than sorry.”
Alastor pops out of nowhere and grabs everyone into a somewhat choking hug. “This sounds like the start of a beautiful and mutually beneficial partnership! Hahahaha!

⭐ Lucifer's Castle, Hell ⭐

There are some places in Hell that people fear and admire at the same time and the Castle of Lucifer Magne is one of them. You would expect the castle of Hell’s ruler to be all skulls and fire, but in 1458 Lucifer said that he wanted to change things up, thinking that the skulls were too much. However, Apples and Eyeballs are a little stranger if you look at it from a certain perspective.
Lucifer doesn’t really look demonic. Nothing about him, save maybe the way he holds himself, screams “King of Hell.” He even likes eating Candy Corn and Candy Apples.
Lucifer has pure white skin, blonde hair, thick black eyebrows, black lips, and a mouth full of sharp teeth that make most sharks cream themselves. His eyes are yellow with black slit pupils resembling those of a snake. He, like his daughter Charlie, has red cheeks and his eyelids are purple, which give the appearance of eyeshadow. He is wearing a white high collar suit, a black bowtie, and a red undershirt with white stripes. He also has on a wide-brimmed white top hat, with a purple snake and red apple over a red band.
The snake is named Basil. He likes eating candy and souls and that’s all you need to know about him.
Lucifer walks into his library: a rather large circular room with bookshelves covering the walls and a large blood-red pentagram on the ground. Lucifer waves his hand and the circle around the pentagram goes ablaze with blue fires as Lucifer grabs an old book on the closest shelf. The book has a crimson cover with strange words in Hebrew engraved into the cover. “Okay, how did it go? Fuck, umm… Oh, right! I, Lucifer, call upon Gabriel, the Divine Messenger of Heaven, and the worlds beyond. Come to me and the infernal pit NOW!” says Lucifer as he reads from the book and holds his left hand before the pentagram.
The pentagram glows and there is no big show of energy or fire. Instead, there is a simple blue glow, and a man appears in the pentagram.
We may have just called him a man, but he is far from human. His name is Gabriel and if you had cracked open that bible in front of you instead of reading stories from Archive of Our Own on your phone, you would know that Gabriel is one of the 7 Archangels.
Maybe because he is meeting with Lucifer, Gabriel has chosen to take no form. He simply looks like golden vapor in the shape of a tall and slender man with glowing blue eyes.
“Hello Lucifer. Why have you called me to this infernal place?” asks Gabriel, who sounds rather impatient.
“Oh, come on, you’re happy to see me, brother.”
“Maybe so. Why have you called upon me?”
Lucifer begins to pace. “Last night, I was calmly asleep until I heard a noise, I have not heard in at least 28 millennia: the sound of 4 horses in perfect sync, riding across charred stone. Both Lilith and Charlotte heard it too, though Charlotte had no clue what it was. It’s THEM, isn’t it?”
Gabriel slowly nods. “Yes. We believe they have been brought back together to serve a new master.”
Lucifer grimaces, an ugly expression. “And what did that tub of shit in the sky say?”
“Father has not shared any wisdom about this. Except for Him, the only ones that are aware of this are us, our siblings, Azrael, and Forfax.”
“And what about Charlotte?”
“She is destined to take your place one day. You know that the Horsemen will be drawn to her eventually. You have not told her yet about her family, have you?”
“No, and I hopefully will never have too.”
“Lucifer, out of all our siblings, I am the only one you have met with often since-”
“Since Father chucked me from Heaven like a two-month-old sack of cat-shit? Yeah. That would be because you are the only one of our siblings I can stand. I still absolutely forbid any of you telling Charlotte about her connection to that asshole.”
“Very well, Lucifer. However, I have stated my opinion on the matter many times.”
“Yes, and I have politely told you to go fuck yourself.”
Gabriel begins to vanish, but before he disappears, he says, “Young Charlotte will eventually learn the truth. You should at least tell her yourself before she discovers the truth herself and resents you for not telling her, my dear brother.”
Gabriel vanishes and Lucifer looks at where the angel stood. Gabriel couldn’t be right…
Could he?