I'm not entirely sure how long I've been hidden. After I left the alley where I killed the angel, I searched quickly for a hiding spot, and humiliatingly I found a large trash can. It was relatively empty, but it stenches horribly.
And now, the screams have gone quiet. I know I can't keep hiding myself forever, so I gather up courage, and slowly open the lid of the trash can and have a peek outside. Fortunately, I see no more angels around, but there are still explosions at the distance.
I get out from my improvised refuge and start walking again. The horrid smell had stuck to me. I'm gonna need a bath, and it has to be as soon as possible.
I direct my sight in the direction of the explosions, and see a golden zeppelin flying in the sky. And whatever that is, it's not gonna be MY problem, so I take a completely different direction.
The absolute chaos that had happened just hours ago had left its mark all over the place: broken windows, burnt down buildings, people terrified. And you call yourself a just God, Being X? Don't make me laugh.
For a while I thought that, since I'm dead, I wouldn't need to eat or drink anything. The growling of my stomach proved me wrong. Now, how am I going to get food here? Do demons even use some kind of currency? I mean, in both my lives I had heard of demons dealing with souls, but given the fact that each individual has only one soul, it seems an unlikely kind of currency. And right after a night of slaughter, it would be impractical to ask for help from any survivors, since they must be taken up by fear, paranoia, and their own selfish needs. It's at times like this when I would like to preach generosity to others, so that I may benefit from other people's generosity. But alas, ask not, want not.
I have no idea if there will be another attack of the angels soon, and even if there isn't there could be side wars or something similar. I need a more permanent and sturdy refuge.
An abandoned building would be ideal. And just my luck, I find a very large one with a broken down neon sign on its top: 'Happy Hotel'. It must be the funniest irony I've seen, since the thing looks almost on the brink of falling apart, making it an extremely sad look. On the other hand, given the fact that the irony made me laugh, it did bring a form of happiness to me, just briefly. So... well done, to whomever named that sorry excuse of a building like that.
Most of the windows of the hotel are closed by wooden planks, but luckily the planks are not all that sturdy. A quick strike with the spear in my hand, and one of the planks gets pierced, and I use a little bit of force over it, so that it's opened. I repeat the process with other wooden planks on the same window until a hole big enough as for me to enter is opened.
As soon as I'm inside, I see that the interior is furnished, but it all has an unhealthy layer of dust to it. I also see my own reflection in a mirror on the wall. I still look a lot like a child. In fact, almost identical to what I looked like as Tanya Degurechaff, except the horns on my forehead, and the red skin. My eyes are still blue, and the hair on my head is still blond. But, I'm not one to overstretch my visage on a mirror reflection. I still need to ensure my safety in this place. But... what is this? a box of popsicles? And it's full of cold popsicles. This is a recent acquisition, otherwise these things would be entirely melted down, and even lukewarm. Huge mistake. This building isn't as abandoned as I imagined. I have to get out before anyone comes back inside.
I direct my steps towards the entrance door, and as soon as I try to reach towards it, the doors are suddenly open, and two figures come inside: a really tall one and another not so much. But they are both taller than me, and they both have a full on look at me.
"What the...?" says the shorter figure. We both stare at each other for a while. And then she instinctively pulls out a spear from behind herself, just like the one in my hand.
I immediately get in a fighting stance in case this one tries to attack me.
"This... is new." says the tall one.
"Who the hell are you?! How did you get in?! What do you want?!" says the succession of yelled-out-questions firing from the female figure.
"Vaggie, why are you screaming?" says another voice from behind the other two. Another female looking one. A blonde creature with white fur and reddened cheeks. Her eyes widen immediately as soon as she sees me. "OH! MY! Hello!" she yells enthusiastically. "Did you see the announcement I did on TV? Is that why you're here?!" yells the blonde one. And now I wonder if the stereotype about blonds has some truth to it. I mean, I'm wielding a spear, while this other one is also wielding her own spear at me. Read the room, damn it! Since I remain silent, and say nothing, because I really don't know what to say, the blond one keeps talking. "Ahm... You look a bit young. Are you lost?" On the other hand, I could spin this situation in my favor, if I play my cards right.
With my most worried and slightly scared expression, I turn my gaze at the blond woman, and I say:
"Please, help me. Some mean creatures were trying to attack me." says the little red skinned girl in front of them. I don't specify which creatures. Neither demons, nor angels, nor animals. I leave it as vague as possible so that they fill in the blanks with whatever they want.
I see as the expressions on all of them change into slight worry. But the one holding the spear doesn't lower it yet, since I do have my own weapon in my hand. But then I see the blond woman get closer towards the one with the spear, and she gently forces her to lower her weapon.
"Vaggie, please, lower your weapon." Now I have the name of the first one. The one wielding the spear is called 'Vaggie'. Good to know. But then I see as this 'Vaggie' lifts up her spear again with renewed strength.
"I will do so only if she does." Vaggie says as she narrows her eyes at me. Ah... a negotiation. Now this is a territory I'm familiar with.
With my sight still looking worried, I begin speaking, and I ensure to put an air of innocent nervousness in it. "I-I'm sorry. I-I'm just scared. I just found this spear and picked it up to defend myself. I will lower it if you promise you won't hurt me. So, can you please lower yours first? There are many more of you than me." That should do it. I intend to keep my promise if she does, but the question is: will she?
I can see as doubt flashes on her eyes for a moment. But in the end, she slowly lowers her spear. "Now, you." says the dry voice from Vaggie. I comply, and thus a successful transaction has been completed.
"Well, I guess that's that." Said the blond one "Who are you?" she's looking at me expectantly.
"I-I'm just a child. I arrived here today. What is going on? I don't understand anything." That is only partially true. I do look like a child, but my conscious mind is probably over fifty years old by now. And for now, my name will remain undisclosed, at least until I know what they are all about.
"Ahm..." The blond one starts speaking. "Hello! Ahm... My name is Charlie. And this is my hotel." Of course it is. That explains the cheesy name 'Happy Hotel'. "How did you come in?"
"I opened one of the windows and got myself inside before those creatures would attack me. I just thought this place was abandoned." no point in denying it, since the broken wood planks were more than obvious, besides, it would make myself look like an honest child, and it added no important information that could be used against me.
"Oh! So, did you see the TV news today?" asks the woman called Charlie.
"Ahm... No. I arrived just recently. Is this hell?" I play a fool here.
"Ahm... Yeah. Sorry. I wonder what you did to end up here." asks Charlie.
"Well, I was a soldier in a war, so maybe that's why." I don't mention any of my feats, like obliterating a resistance in a city alongside many civilians as collateral damage. It was an order, so I had no choice anyway. Still, no need for them to know details.
"A child soldier?" asks the tall one covered in white fur this time.
"Ahm... Yeah." that is again, technically true, even if my mind is far older.
"Well, sorry to hear that." says the tall one.
"Well, you're welcome to stay here, if you have nowhere else to go." says Charlie.
"Thank you." That still remains to be seen. If at any point I feel my life threatened by any of them, I will try to leave peacefully, but if there is no choice... I will gladly add three more corpses to the list of dead demons. Hopefully that won't be needed.
"What's that smell?" Asks the tall white creature.
"Oh! I hid in a trashcan for a while." I'm already regretting that one.
"Oh, you poor thing." says Charlie. "I would hug you." (Please, don't) "but, then I might also get the smell on me. So, why don't you take a bath? I'll see if I can get you some clean cloths." Well, that's awfully nice of her. On the other hand, that would leave me totally vulnerable to any attacks, and if this really is hell, then I have no reason to believe that any of them have good intentions.
"Ahm..." the hesitation becomes a bit too clear. "I will only do so if I can take my spear with me."
"Ahm... of course." says the hesitant voice of Charlie. "I don't see why not."
"Great! Where is a bathroom?"
"Ahm... I'll take you there in a minute." says Charlie "I didn't catch your name earlier."
"I never said it. You can call me Tanya. Let's keep it on a first name basis for now. I know you are Charlie, and you are Vaggie, for what I heard. But I didn't hear your name earlier." I said that looking at the tall creature.
"My name is Anthony. But everyone calls me Angel. It's my artistic name." Artists... always so extravagant.
"So you're an artist? What do you do?"
"Ahm..." I suddenly see as Angel gets a bit uncomfortable. "Just an artist. I have made some... movies."
"Oh, an actor. Anything I may have heard about?"
"Ahm... doubt it." says Angel.
"Oh, so, B-movies?"
"Ahm... not exactly."
I notice that he's guarding himself from saying something. And then it hits me: he's an adult talking to whom he thinks is a child, and he seems very uncomfortable. I realize that this is the perfect moment to make a joke of this situation.
"Oh! I get it. You are in the adult video industry." I say with a mocking smile on my face. I'm entirely sure that comment got them all by surprise, and it showed on all their faces. None of them knows how to react, so they stay silent. I just find it amusing. "What? I just know about it, that doesn't mean I've seen anything. Calm down."
"Ahm... I really don't know how to respond to that." said Angel with an uncomfortable expression on him.
"Let's just move on, since apparently you are all unequipped to deal with me knowing about that. Well, now that introductions are out of the way, why don't you show me where I can take a bath, Charlie?"
"Ahm... Of course. Follow me." says the blond woman, and I follow behind, spear in hand, and I feel the still-untrustful sight of Vaggie on my back as she also moves alongside us with her own spear by her side. Calm down deary, I won't hurt her... if she doesn't give me a reason to do so.
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It was quite invigorating to take a warm bath. I feel much more comfortable now. And all the while, my spear never left my side. No peeping toms or attackers would ever come out with both eyes still on them, assuming they would even survive the encounter, which was already very unlikely.
But in the end, I finally come out of the bathroom. As promised, Charlie had left a full set of cloths for me to put on. They aren't quite my size. They are a bit too big, and they hang around me a little, making it look slightly ridiculous, but for now they would serve their purpose.
And as I enter the lobby once more, I see that a whole bunch of new people has gathered in the middle of it.
"Oh!" I listen to the all-too-enthusiastic voice of Charlie as she lays eyes on me. "Tanya! Come here! Let me introduce you to..."
I see another tall man dressed in red approach me.
"Alastor! Pleasure to be meeting you. Quite a pleasure!" says the overly enthusiastic man at me at a high pace, as he shakes my hand without me even extending it in the first place. He had simply grabbed it out of nowhere. "Charlie told me that you are the newest resident of this hotel, and a new arrival to hell altogether! Well, let me tell you, I expect you to be quite comfortable here. Yes, quite comfortable indeed."
For some reason the strange man dressed in red strikes me as... odd. I can't quite explain why. At first he seems like a male version of Charlie, with all his over-the-top enthusiasm, but, there is something... out of place with him. I don't like him. Which is precisely why I must befriend him. Keep your enemies close, as they say.
"Hello!" I say in a similarly enthusiastic voice and a large smile on my face "Pleasure to meet you too! When did you arrive?"
"About ten minutes ago. And let me introduce you to my good friends: this over here is Husker! Or just 'Husk' for short. A fitting nickname since he is empty and dead on the inside, which is why he spends his days drunk out of his mind. HAHAHA" his fake out laughter is almost convincing.
"Yeah, fuck you too, Alastor." says the cat-like creature. Strangely he seems to have wings, but they are too small as to serve for flight. Perhaps useful for gliding in the best case scenario, but I can't help but think that those wings are mostly decorative.
"Nice meeting you, mister Husker." I say politely.
"Just leave me alone. I have no patience for children. And I'm too busy with my own problems as to be playing nanny to a brat." I like this guy already. His anger is too open to the world. That means he's probably brutally honest. Good to have someone like him around to reflect on your own flaws. Bad if you overshare with him, for he may accidentally spill out one of your secrets. Tread carefully around him, and select very carefully the information shared to him.
"Oh, don't worry. I won't be causing you any trouble at all." I tell him with a polite reverence, and move on.
"And finally, this nice girl over here is Nifty!"
"Hello! Wanna help me hunt some bugs?! I like to stab them with my knife!!!" she says with the most gleeful smile that I have ever seen on anybody.
"Ahm..." out of all the people that I've met so far, this one is the only one that creeps me out. But, for some reason, I don't feel her as threatening, just odd, which is strange, considering that Alastor also gives me the creeps, but in his case it's because he has an inherent air of threat emanating from him.
"Ahm... As interesting as that sounds, I'll have to decline."
"Your loss." says the little girl, and I see as she starts running around with a smile on her face, chasing bugs and trying to stab them. Freaky. But mildly entertaining.
I turn my gaze to the center of the living room, and as I'm about to tell them all, that I appreciate the opportunity to be part of such a cast of characters, I am rudely interrupted by an explosion behind my back that sends me crashing onto the floor. But more than harming, it was just annoying.
We all come out of the newly made hole on the wall, and to my surprise, I see the flying golden zeppelin that I had seen earlier at the distance.
And from the middle of the giant machine, a snake-like creature starts speaking.
"Well, well, well. We meet yet again, Alastor!" says the gleeful stare of the snake-man.
"Do I know you?" asks Alastor incredulously.
"Oh, yes you do. But this time I have the element of... SURPRISE!!!" and as the snake creature said that, a gigantic cannon appears from under the zeppelin. And I see that it starts glowing, as if it would be charging up an attack.
My fighting instincts kick in again. And without even thinking about it, I use a force vector to impulse myself towards the charging gun. The spear in my hand cuts down the metallic support that held the gun, and it falls to the ground with a loud noise as it is rendered entirely useless.
"Wait... what the fuck just happened?" says the confused voice of the snake-man.
And suddenly, I feel as the ground under the zeppelin starts rumbling. It starts opening into a black pit, and just a moment before it consumes me, I feel something dragging me far away from it. A black mass that has thrown me away from the destructive abyss beneath, and puts me down safely next to the other inhabitants of the hotel.
And immediately after, a set of gigantic black tentacles obliterate both the zeppelin and its inhabitants as the abyss underneath it consumes even the debris.
And it is at this point that I look at Alastor moving his fingers with the rhythm of the tentacles. That was him... it was all him. Now the threatening air he possesses is all explained.
And then suddenly, Alastor begins speaking with the same amused tone that he carried earlier
"Well, I'm starved! Who wants some jambalaya?! My mother once showed me a wonderful recipe for jambalaya, and I do have to say that after this young girl's impressive performance, I'm gonna have to make an effort in making it equally impressive! Yes, sir... THIS is the start of some real changes around here. And let's begin with that cheesy name of this wonderfully naive hotel!"
And suddenly I see a lightning bolt falling over the hotel's neon sign as it is suddenly turned from 'Happy Hotel' into 'Hazbin Hotel', and I can't help but think: 'I really have to get to know this red-dressed bastard, or he will be the death of me... if not all of us.'
Then I listen to Alastor's final remark:
"Stay tuned."