Hagalaz (RadioApple)

Chapter 12 - Fraud -

Alastor showed up again at the Hazbin Hotel when it was late at night.The day he had spent in Cannibal Town had proved to be a waste of time. He had found nothing that could help him with his 'problem', plus he had had to avoid attracting too much attention from Vox's drones that were following him as usual.His 'old friend' was beginning to move his pawns on the chessboard and clearly wanted to use any expedient to get him into trouble.The radio demon, for his part, had only started with the Vee and would soon put each creature back in their rightful place.Crossing the threshold of the hotel lobby, he was greeted for once by silence accompanied by the dim lights that illuminated the room.

His arms and hands clasped behind his back, he walked calmly towards the lift until he noticed that there was still a light on coming from Husk's bar.The small establishment that it once was had been replaced with a space all of its own in a larger room, ready to accommodate many more souls than currently resided in the hotel. He had no intention of lingering to find out who among the guests might have lingered until he heard someone humming.He stopped in the middle of the lobby, his ears at alert ready to catch who it was and what they were singing even though the song seemed extremely familiar.A static sound followed the realisation as the strings pulling up his smile tensed up, barely hurting him; he knew that song very well. His indifference soon turned into a surge of curiosity mixed with annoyance and irritation. That song touched part of his soul that he had well hidden, memories of a distant being that were now faded vestiges he only wore in appearance.

He approached the door of the separate room where Husk's bar was located.The room was empty, the bartender was absent, of course, but sitting at the bar with a drink in front of him was no one else but Lucifer himself.A finger traced the edges of the glass, his gaze distant and that song coming from his lips in a soft murmur.
"You're never fully dressed without a smile," was his mother's favourite song... as far as he could remember.Hell had an extraordinary capacity: the more the years passed, the more the memories of his mortal life vanished like snow in the sun.Hell's ruler was leaning against the counter as he hummed, and in front of him was a glass with a gold-coloured liquid decorated with pieces of beehive inside.

A static sound filled the silence of the room as the notes of that song covered the empty spaces, attracting Lucifer's attention. The latter roused himself from his torpor, lifting his gaze upon hearing the music and was not surprised to find the radio demon in front of him.Elegant and smiling as always.
"Ugh...it's you."
Muttered Lucifer in response with a bored expression; he had no intention of being seen by that demon in that pathetic condition. He took the glass in his hands and took a sip of the beelzejuice he had simply embellished.It tasted extremely sweet, hardly tasted like whiskey, just slightly more bitter at the end.The music continued to stay in the background as the radio demon approached the bar counter.
"What a beautiful and pathetic sight, Sire."

Alastor's comment was extremely amused. It was very amusing to see the great ruler of hell reduced to that pitiful state.Now that he could observe him more closely he could better recognise the signs of loss and regret, but above all the air around him smelled of failure and shame.
"Yeah, well... thanks for the comment and now you can get out of my way."
Before he could take a sip of his drink the radio demon took the glass from his hands to bring it close to his own lips.Lucifer glared at him before another glass with the same contents appeared in his empty hand.Alastor's senses were engulfed by the strong sweetish taste of the drink with a slight whiskey aftertaste. He took a sip before placing it back on the bar counter as Lucifer seemed to enjoy it in perfect tranquillity.