Charlie sighed as she stood outside, the extermination had passed. The 24 hour slaughter had passed. She could smell the scent of blood from the hotel, a smell that made her lower her head in self doubt.
Prior to that, Lucifer himself was the one who lit the firework to signal the end of the extermination, as Lilith insisted he do so until Charlie was ready.
She did as she was expected, holding up her finger and letting go of the fireworks. Demons began coming out of their hiding places and returning to normal life, as if the yearly massacre was simply another part of their routine.
Charlie retreated to her room,slumping in her bed. She didn't sleep as the massacre kept her awake the entire day. Hours passed before she eventually heard a knock at the door."Hm?"
"Charlie, come on out. The extermination has passed, you can't say locked up in there all day."
"Coming…" Charlie stood up and walked to the door,"Alright, I'm ready Vaggie."
"I know you're upset, but you have to move forward. Besides, Angel says he wants to show us a cool part of town he likes. He wants all of us to come. He'll be upset if you miss out."
"Kay. I'm coming with you. Let's go."
Charlie and Vaggie went out, the rest of the hotel was waiting for them.
"Alright, Charlie! Ya finally came out! You guys ready to see the cool stuff? I know Fat-Nuggets is! Right boy?
The pig oinked in response.
"Don't see why not." The princess shrugged.
town that was installed at his workplace and he really wanted to show them.
As they were walking, Husk noticed something up ahead,"Hey guys, you see a large crowd of people up ahead? You think something's going up here?"
Niffty squinted,"I don't know what's going on, but I have the feeling it's something bad."
"We don't know until we try. Stay close, we should be careful. It could be someone dangerous." Charlie said.
"Agreed, let's keep our distance and see what the commotion is about. Haven't seen people this riled up this the stock market crashed in 29."
They all went over, being careful as they made their way through the crowd. As they got closer, a large light in the center and people were surrounding it. Everyone looked up, their attention now focused on the large hole in the sky.
"Woah, what is that?" Cherri asked."I've never seen anything so bright before."
"Neither have I." Vox said wearily, keeping his distance,"But I have the feeling we should stay back. Could be an exterminator."
"But the extermination just happened. They aren't allowed to come back afterwards, right?" Niffty asked.
"I don't remember that being a rule, but I sure hope for our sake they're not allowed…" Husk mumbled.
Suddenly, a figure began descending down from the watched in awe as a heavenly and divine figure gracefully descended, floating above the heavens. They wore a white-gold suite with long sleeves. Their face was concealed by a pale porcelain mark with a twisted smile and closed eyes. They had blonde hair that went to their shoulders with a half-way man-bun.
Everyone was scared and uneasy, no demon made a move to attack as they knew how angels were. It'd be unwise to anger one, even if they didn't have a spear.
Whispers began,'What do they want?' and 'Why are they here?' and 'Haven't they killed enough of us as it is?' swirled around. Everyone kept their distance, uncertain if the angel/exterminator would turn hostile on them.
Charlie however, took a deep breath and said,"Guys, I'm going to approach them. I need to know what they want."
"Charlie!" Vaggie warned, but her warning fell on deaf ears as Charlie made her way through the crowd and approached the angel. They were slightly taller than her, but not enough to make Charlie feel small. She stepped up and said,
"Excuse me, but the extermination has passed. You should leave, because I don't like the idea of you guys killing more us. The streets are already filled with blood from yesterday, there's no need for more violence. Go back to heaven and don't come back until next year."
The angel tilted their head."If I wanted to kill anyone I would have done so by now." Their voice was soft-spoken and almost inaudible, almost ghostly. She wasn't sure if the mask was doing the person any favors, as hearing them was rather difficult."In fact, I'm not here to harm anyone, Charlotte. I'm here for another reason, because I've heard your little cries."
"What are you talking about?" Charlie asked.
"Your little prayers. I've paid close attention to them."
"Wait, are you god or something?"
"Not quite…"
"What?"
"I said not-Hey, what are you doing?" Charlie was approaching them, putting her hands on their face.
"I'm taking off your mask, I can't hear you that well."
"No. Don't touch-!" They tried to move away, but it was too late. Charlie already managed to take the mask off.
Everyone's faces fell when they saw a familiar face. He looked just like Lucifer, with the exception of being taller and having doe like eyes and a gentle expression. He looked petrified having not had the mask on.
"Who are you?" Charlie asked,"You look just like my Dad, but you're not him."
"Because I'm not him. I'm his twin brother, Michael...We've had a falling out, you know the war between Heaven and Hell? The one that ended with Lucifer getting banished to this wasteful pit?"
"Oh...yeah…"
"Look, I'm not even supposed to be here and I was trying to be secretive about my identity, but that didn't work…" Michael was trying to cover his face. He hadn't taken that mask off in ages.
"Sorry…"
"Look, just hand me back my mask and we just pretend that didn't happen. Because I'd rather not draw the attention of-"
"Long time no see, brother."
Michael clenched his fist."Hello Lucifer.."
They all turned, seeing Lucifer and Lilith there. Rarely did Lucifer and Lilith go out to mingle with the regular denizens of hell, so everyone was rather tense at their arrival.
"Hey Mom, hey Dad! Whats up?"
"Oh nothing, just wondering why my estranged brother is doing in my realm…He should know better than to step foot into my territory, especially since the extermination is the only time of year I let heaven inside."
"And apparently he's breaching our treaty…" Lilith said."You're not supposed to be here Michael. Are you here to cause problems for us or what?"
"No. I'm not here to cause problems for you. In fact, my reason for being here has nothing to do with you,brother,but with your daughter."
"What does Charlie have to do with this?"
"First off, because of her hotel project to 'redeem' sinners, second of all, she took my mask."
"What business do you have with that ridiculous passion project my daughter has?"
"Because I'm here to pick up one of the sinners Charlie rehabilitated and take them up to heaven."
Everyone fell silent.
"Wait, are you serious?" Charlie asked,"Do you mean it, uncle?"
"Yes."
"YIPPEE! MY IDEA WORKED! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" Charlie lit up, her idea wasn't a failure after all! She hugged Michael, who tensed up at the touch before reluctantly allowing her to do so.
Then came the important question.
"Who are you going to take anyway?" Lucifer asked.
Everyone stared at Michael, waiting for an answer, the tension was killing everyone.
He sighed before saying,"I'm here to take-"
