Hagalaz (RadioApple)

Chapter 11 - Dark Desire

"She was my star model, Vox! You want me to stand idly by!"Velvette was on the warpath and Vox was having trouble controlling her.Alastor was making his presence known in response to the taunts aired only a few days earlier.Knowing that the radio demon was back to business was indeed a problem. He was a mystery, an inscrutable figure and it sent him into a rage.The three Vees were in the Vox meeting room below their main tower.The room was very large and spacious with a large table in the centre and windows that projected directly into Vox's personal aquarium. The latter was in charge of some demonic electric eels, a necessary food and source of sustenance for his energy in addition to that generated by the whole city of Pentagram."Velvette, if we stoop to his provocations we will now be giving in to his game. Alastor is only provoking us."
He agreed with Velvette, of course, but he could not afford any more extreme and out-of-control measures. Calming Valentino after the death of his director had not been nearly as easy, but he knew he could count on the young woman's pragmatism."We are losing important assets, Vox! I don't know if you realise the situation we are in. If we want to show our strength we have to hit hard and NOW! Let's show who we are to the other halfwits who get in the way."Vox sighed heavily, his body enveloped in a rush of electricity as he pondered the implications of those words.Valentino was eager to act, if Velvette had dragged him he wouldn't have said no; Angel Dust was still staying in the damn hotel, a snub to everything he stood for."If I say we'll act, Velvette, we'll act but according to my order!" he blurted out at last, rising abruptly from his chair and causing a slight power outage. The lights in the meeting room barely flickered as a devilish smile lit up Vox's screen.

"Oh, someone seems to have had an idea..." hummed Valentino, pleased and eager to find out how they would respond to those taunts.Vox was quick to chuckle as he turned to look at the best working partner he had.If he wanted to beat Alastor, he had to anticipate his moves and find a weakness. His plan required cunning, strategy and coordinated work between the parties who had to quiet their own tempers in the name of the greater good.Alastor would fall for good and they would gain complete control even over the council of overlords.

§

In the event room of the Hazbin Hotel, the comfortable seating, including sofas and a couple of armchairs, had been temporarily replaced by long tables with painting and creation tools on them.Charlie was enthusiastic since her return to LuLu Land and the success of the escape room had convinced her that new experiments and exercises could be attempted involving the entire staff.The only exception to this plan of hers was Alastor; he had been missing for several hours and no one knew where he had gone.On each seat a name had been marked and an exercise to be done together with the person sitting in front.Lucifer was very pleased to participate in such an event.He used to create rubber ducks in his workshop, well hidden from everyone's eyes, but this time he really had a chance to show off his skills.Angel Dust was sitting in front of Cherry Bomb, Vaggie and Nifty were together as a team since Charlie had decided to be an impartial judge, while in front of him sat the bartender; Husk.Lucifer felt slightly uncomfortable about that situation since he had never addressed the demon too much. In fact, apart from Alastor, he had not become familiar with any of the permanent residents of Charlie's hotel.

Too many years had passed since he had last allowed himself to have a sincere contact with what was in fact his 'people'. He had tried in the past, but seeing no results he had eventually given up. He had never had Lilith's strength. In hell Lilith had prospered, she had created everything while in contrast he felt trapped with only her comfort; as long as she was there.The ruler of hell had closed himself off, distanced himself from everyone, and his city had become prey to scoundrels and criminals. Neither did the other royal members, the Goetia or the Sinners, seem interested in management so much as in maintaining their own power.Once they sat down in front of each other he gave them an embarrassed smile, uncomfortable with starting a conversation."Hey... Husker, right? Dude... bartender... How... How are we doing?" his smile was extremely pulled and he felt like a complete idiot. For a brief moment Lucifer found himself envying Alastor, not for any particular reason, but for his ability to always maintain a smile at every opportunity without looking like a complete idiot.