You and the Princess stand alone on the rooftop, like the day before, anxiously waiting for the angel's reappearance.
You have your answer for him. You and Charlie unanimously agreed upon it, with there being very little debate between yourselves.
Needless to say, the angel will probably not like what he's going to hear.
There is a noticeable chill in the air as you and Charlie stand together, ready to face him down.
"Take my hand?" your companion asks, a look of worry in her eyes.
Wordlessly, you do as she asks, giving her a reassuring smile that everything will be okay.
"Thank you, sweetie..." she says, with a gentle smile of her own.
No matter what happens, you and Charlie will make your stand.
Together.
With the loud crash of what sounds like thunder, the angel suddenly reappears before you. His enormous white wings are stretched out to his sides, clearly trying to intimidate you and the Princess.
"So... I take it the two of you have made a decision?" he asks.
"We have." you reply.
"Ah, excellent." the angel says. "So, when can we expect Alastor's termination?"
"Yeah, about that..." Charlie replies. "While we appreciate Heaven's generous offer to help with the hotel, we feel that we can take care of things here ourselves."
The angel was clearly not expecting that response.
His eyes widen slightly in surprise, before his brow furrows into a frown.
"You're... refusing our deal?"
"We are." you reply. "We're not going to murder one of our own staff, just to get Heaven's so-called 'help'."
"Hmph... very well then." he says.
He raises his arm up, and you notice it begin glowing with that familiar shade of blue magic. Only, you feel totally fine.
What's going on?
"What are you doing?" you ask in confusion.
You notice Charlie's grip on your hand suddenly vanish, and you turn to face her to see what's wrong.
You gasp in horror, seeing Charlie's entire form completely restrained by the angel's magic.
She is being held down to the floor by his magic, and is unable to move a single muscle.
You see her screaming in terror, but cannot hear her in the slightest.
"Since the two of you actively refuse to cooperate..." the angel mutters.
Reaching his other hand into his dark grey robe, he pulls out a jagged silver dagger.
"...then I'll need to eradicate the problem at its source..."
Slowly, the angel makes his way toward Charlie, holding the dagger firmly in his grip.
"You don't have to do this! Just let her go!" you plead.
The angel scoffs at your words. "My Lord expects results. And I cannot have the two of you get in the way of that."
Raising his blade up, he adds "I'll start with her. Then take on that radio demon bastard myself."
You can see Charlie mouth the words "No, please!"
"My apologies, Your Highness. It was nothing personal..."
"No!" you shout.
He thrusts his blade toward the Princess, as you try to leap out in front of her.
Your vision is swiftly replaced by darkness.
A ceaseless, never ending void that completely surrounds you.
Everything is gone.
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"Charlie!" you scream as your eyes fly open.
You're staring at the ceiling of a room that seems oddly familiar to you.
Your bedroom.
The bedroom of your shitty, run-down apartment, in your shitty, run-down neighborhood.
You've never been more grateful to see them again.
You slowly sit up in bed, desperate to catch your breath from the obvious nightmare you just had.
"Only a dream... thank God..." you whisper.
With a deep sigh of relief, you slowly push your bed covers to the side and walk toward the closed window of your bedroom.
If there was one thing you liked about this God-awful place (referring to both the apartment and Hell itself, of course), it was the view you had of the city.
You were in one of the highest floors of your apartment building, so you could see plenty of the surrounding buildings and houses.
Off in the distance, you can see the lights of the Happy Hotel, still shining brightly. It was one of the tallest buildings in the region, so it's fairly easy to see.
Those far away, distant lights mentally confirm to you that what you just experienced was, in fact, only a dream.
The angel hadn't actually destroyed the place.
Stupid nightmare. Just a bunch of bullshit made up by your overly-anxious brain.
There's nothing to worry about.
With that thought firmly planted in your mind, you head back for your bed and lay down.
Pulling the covers back over your body, you make yourself comfortable with the idea that everything will be okay.
Unless...
This was a message sent from the angel.
He's done it before; sending messages through people's dreams. When he told the Princess he was "here to help" during one of her own dreams, last night.
Maybe it's a warning that he's going to murder Charlie, if he doesn't get the answer he wants.
But, if he actually did that... it'd probably start a war between Heaven and Hell. It'd bring about the apocalypse.
The end of the world as you know it.
And you sure as shit wouldn't feel fine, since the girl you love would be six feet under.
Dammit. You never should've applied there, in the first place.
Never gotten yourself involved with all this bullshi-
*Knock knock knock*
What? Why would someone be at the door this late at night?
You thought the IRS only existed on Earth.
*Knock knock*
"(Y/N)? Are you okay?" a familiar, feminine voice gently calls.
Incredibly surprised, you sit back up in bed.
"Charlie?" you call back to her. "What are you doing here?"
You quickly get back up and open the door, seeing Charlie standing out in the hallway with a concerned expression.
"I just... wanted to make sure you were alright, after what happened today."
She came out here all by herself, in the dead of night, just to check up on you?
"I'm fine, but... how'd you get here? I didn't tell you where my apartment was, or anything." you ask.
"I... may have told my limo driver to follow you home after your shift, heh heh..." she awkwardly giggles.
Wow, totally not creepy or anything, Princess.
"But I got home, like, hours ago." you say.
"It wasn't that far of a walk from the Hotel." she replies.
"Ah."
"Yeah..." she replies, suddenly averting her eyes from you.
She almost looks embarrassed, looking down toward the floor with an uneasy expression.
"Uh... I feel like I should ask you the same question." you say. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, totally! I'm fine, don't worry!" she says with an assuring smile.
"Charlie. Are you sure?"
After a moment, that little smile disappears and she gives a deep sigh. "...honestly, I don't know anymore."
You gesture toward your room and say "Here, come inside."
"You sure? I'd hate to impose, or anything."
"I'm sure. Hopefully, we can get all this shit out of our heads by talking about it. At least for tonight."
"...thanks, (Y/N)." she replies, following you into your living room.
----------------------------------------------
"Make yourself at home, Charlie." you say, flipping on the nearby light switch.
"Thanks!" she replies with a gentle smile, before sitting down on the couch.
She looks around at the now properly-illuminated living room, clearly curious of your current living conditions.
"Yeah. It's definitely not a castle or anything, like you're probably used to, but... it's home." you say.
For better or worse.
"It's not that bad! It's really um... quaint!" she says.
"Well, that's one way to look at it." you chuckle.
She laughs along with you for a moment, as you sit down on the couch beside her.
Her laughter gradually fades, but a gentle smile remains firmly on her lips.
Also, it might just be the kinda-sorta shitty lighting in the room, but is she... blushing?
This girl gets more and more friggin adorable every day you see her.
"So, did you figure out what we're gonna do about... you know?" you ask.
The gentle and (dare you say it) loving expression still in her eyes, she asks "What do you mean, hun?"
"I mean... the whole Alastor situation."
"Oh... right..." she says, the smile abruptly disappearing and her dejected gaze shifting to the floor.
"I've been thinking it over. A lot, and... I really don't think we should accept the angel's deal. I don't wanna have to murder someone, just to get Heaven's help..."
You're of a similar mindset. But what would the angel think? Would he be understanding of her decision and just let bygones be bygones?
Or would he... do what he did in your dream?
You're about to tell her about the nightmare you just had, when Charlie suddenly speaks up again.
"When you said you were 'fine' earlier, something felt off to me. Was there... something else on your mind?" she asks with concern.
"Yeah. Remember the dream you had last night? Where the angel told you he was on his way?" you ask her.
"Yeah...?" she says, clearly urging you to continue on.
"I just had one myself. A nightmare, where he... did something awful to you. All because we refused his deal."
The Princess's eyes widen in surprise at your words. "And you think he sent it as a... warning, or something?"
"I don't know." you reply. "It might've been just a random, scary dream I had, but after he sent you that one earlier today... I don't know for sure."
You pause for a moment, to properly gather your thoughts.
"Look," you add. "I don't want to sway your decision in any way. And I know I'd feel awful having to take out Alastor, too. But... I'd feel so much worse if anything happened to you."
She seems genuinely touched by your words, and that soft smile you love so much returns to her face.
She takes a gentle grasp of your hand, intertwining her fingers with your own.
Looking into your eyes, she says "Thank you, (Y/N). Thank you for being one of the first people to genuinely... care about me. It... it means a lot."
Slowly, she begins leaning closer to you, before gently pressing her lips to your own.
Your eyes lower as you lean into her kiss, never wishing for this moment to end. It's way better than you could've ever imagined.
Being together with the girl of your dreams.
You've never really believed in the idea of "love at first sight". But, thinking about how you felt when you first saw the Princess on TV all that time ago... what else would you call it?
Eventually the kiss ends, and the two of you pull away from each other, lovingly gazing into each other's eyes.
"So, uh... that just happened." you say with a chuckle.
"Heh heh, yeah..." Charlie giggles. "And it sure was nice..."
"That, it was." you reply.
Looking up at the nearby clock on the wall, Charlie says "Oh wow. It's really that late already?"
"Well, time flies when you're having fun." you joke.
"Hehe, true. I should probably head back to the hotel soon, though. I at least wanna get a bit of sleep tonight before that angel guy shows up again."
"I don't wanna have you walk all the way back there, by yourself. Why not stay the night?" you suggest.
"You'd be okay with that?" Charlie asks in surprise.
"Of course! What kind of boyfriend would I be if I wasn't?"
She gives you another smile before saying "Thanks, honey."
"No problem, sweetie." you smile back. "You could take the bedroom if you want. I can stay out here."
"Now, what kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't offer to share the bed with you?" she flirts.
Gently taking her by the hand, you ask "And you'd be okay with that?"
"Of course~"