Once the three demons had left the Hotel and its residents behind, Charlie began to go on a roll of babbling about her relationship with Vaggie, and how she felt. Aria understood that such a thing would definitely frustrate a couple and strain their trust at least a bit, however she wasn't looking forward to the never-ending string of complaints. And neither was Alastor.
"Three years!" Charlie ranted as Alastor escorted her and his ward Aria down the streets of the Pride Ring. "Three years I've been sharing my life with her, and I tell her everything! My hopes, my dreams, my insecurities..."
Glancing up at her beloved guardian, Aria noticed that this was the closest she could get in seeing Alastor's smile drop yet. His ruby red eyes were half lidded in sheer, absolute boredom, and so was her own expression too. As the two went on with accompanying the Princess, Alastor took off his monocle and cleaned it with his sleeve, while Aria dusted off some debris from her shoulders. Sharing a glance with the older demon, Aria matched his appearance with nothing but ennui written all over her face.
"...my embarrassing habits, even what deodorant I like, and she keeps something like this, from me?! Why would she lie for so long?! Did she think I wouldn't accept her? What about me—me says un-understanding— Misunderstanding— dis-under, wait what-" Charlie paused her blabbering to take a look around the location in which Alastor had led her to. "Where are we?"
Alastor's grin returned by full force as he opened up his arms, gesturing to the town around them. "Cannibal Town! There's a friend of mine I think you should meet."
A gasp left Aria's lungs. "Wait, is it her?" She questioned excitedly, her eyes glimmering with enthusiasm to meet that elegant, warm Overlord once again. Alastor chuckled and nodded in reply, to which the young lioness responded with a tiny squeal.
"In Cannibal Town? But it's..." Charlie asked, noticing the friendly atmosphere the residents seemed to display. Strangers greeted each other with bright smiles, and children frolicked around without a care in the world. "Surprisingly nice here." She smiled a bit.
"Isn't it though? And I believe it's all thanks to a very special someone." Aria beamed, linking her arm with Charlie's while Alastor did the same with her other arm. Alastor then took the lead once more in guiding the two ladies into Rosie's Emporium, where a long line of demons were waiting at the door.
The Radio Demon then opened the door for Charlie and Aria to walk in first before he entered the establishment after them. Right in the middle of the lobby was the Cannibal Overlord herself, Rosie, who was at her desk speaking to a young demoness with an affable tone.
"Well, who hasn't thought about eating their first husband alive?" Her lively tone chirped. "I certainly would've if he didn't taste so bad. Haha! I'll tell ya what, you bring ol' tall, dark and armless to me and I'll straighten him right out for you. Okay, sweetie? Here's my card and don't forget to contact me! I'm always here to listen."
After Rosie presented her business card to the cannibal demoness, her gaze shifted to notice Alastor, Aria and Charlie staring right back at her. "Oh. My. Stars! Do my eyes deceive me?" She gasped, peeking through the crowd to greet her old friend and his ward.
"Alastor? Alastor! And Aria too?! Where have you two been?" The Cannibal Overlord then made herself a way through the sea of demons to greet Aria first, bringing her into her arms for a sweet, tight hug. The young lioness giggled and hugged back, a sliver of affection lingering in their embrace. "Look at you, still so slim and bony! You must be starving- has Alastor been feeding you anything at all?!" Rosie broke away from the hug briefly to check on Aria's body, turning her left and right.
"I'm fine, Rosie. Truly. But thank you for asking." Aria replied, letting herself be spun around a bit by the oh so motherly Overlord, feeling a warm sensation clog up a small hole in her heart that she didn't even know existed. "Alastor's been treating me well."
Rosie nodded with an approving smile before approaching Alastor, gently tugging on his coat and spinning him around as well, making the deer demon let out a squeak that sounded something like a baby fawn. "And Alastor! These halls have really lost their sparkle without your lively presence and- oh!"
Charlie glanced up at Rosie awkwardly while the latter leaned down and let her black eyes scan the Princess up and down in a caring manner. "Who's this you've brought with you?" She asked before putting her hands on her hips, wagging her finger at Alastor like a strict mother. "Come now, Alastor, she's much too young for you- oh, I'm just kidding. I know you're an ace in the hole!"
"A what now?" Alastor replied with a confused expression, oblivious to what Rosie was implying. That was the thing that made Aria lose all her self control and finally burst out into peals of roaring laughter while Charlie rolled her eyes, unamused.
"An acE IN THE HOLE-" Aria clutched her stomach while she guffawed, causing her to eventually choke on her own spit and start to cough. "Oh my GOD, I'm gonna be double dead...oh no..." She whimpered, wiping the tears that came out of her eyes from laughing so hard.
Alastor shook his head in oblivion, but was still slightly amused as he reached out to pat Aria's back until she stopped laughing so much. Meanwhile, Rosie continued on. "Oh, but where are your manners, mister? Introduce us, why don't you?" She requested.
"Ah, yes." Alastor nodded and obliged, walking towards Charlie and gesturing to the Cannibal Overlord, who curtsied politely. "Charlie, this is Rosie. The most darling, delightful, and dangerous Overlord this side of the Pentagram!"
Rosie chuckled modestly and grinned at such compliments from her old friend. "Oh, always such a charmer, you."
"Well, he's completely right, Rosie. There's a difference between flattery and saying to absolute truth." Aria beamed, earning a small headpat from a very pleased Rosie in reply.
"And Rosie," The stag then said, pushing Charlie up to Rosie. "it's my absolute pleasure to introduce you to Princess Charlotte Morningstar, daughter of Lucifer and heir to the throne of Hell!"
Charlie looked up at Rosie and gave her an awkward smile, waving nervously. "Uhh, how do you do?" She greeted, her voice wavering a bit from her nerves.
"Well, well! Isn't this such a regal surprise? Come in, come in! Can I offer you something to eat?" Rosie exclaimed happily, pushing the princess to her desk before looking around to find something for her to snack on. "I'm sure I have a leg or an arm around here somewhere— but oh, who am I kidding?"
Rosie poked Charlie's stomach, gesturing to her slim figure. "Small thing like you? You're probably watching your figure! How about some nice pinky fingers instead?" She grinned, presenting a box full of cut off pinky fingers in pink wrappings. One could mistake them as cakes from how neatly they were packaged, but nothing could be further from the truth.
"Umm... No, no. Thank you, though." Charlie politely declined the offer, laughing stiffly while putting a hand over her head. Aria and Alastor followed behind, both taking a glance at the box of pinky fingers. Alastor looked intrigued, while Aria looked indifferent.
Rosie's grin widened as she put her hands together. "Oh, look at you! So polite." She praised the Princess, gently patting her head before pulling her to sit by a table with two couches. "Alastor, you could learn a thing or two from her and your ward." She then added. Alastor didn't respond to Rosie's quip, however Aria couldn't help but snicker just a little bit.
Alastor then walked up to Rosie while Aria leaned on the couch Charlie was sitting on top of. "Well, sit down, sit down. Tell auntie Rosie everything." Rosie said before turning towards Alastor, who leaned down to listen to her. Both Overlords were acting like two best friends who thrive on gossip and scuttlebutts. "Y'know, Alastor, I've got a premo-connect recently on a guy with around eight blocks of territory and not enough goons to run it. Prime pickings for a deal to be made, my old friend." She offered, smiling mischievously while resting her chin on her hand.
"I truly appreciate the offer." Alastor replied before walking towards Charlie's seat and leaning on the couch as well, standing next to Aria. "But we're here on business of another kind."
It was peculiar for Alastor to turn down a deal, Aria concluded, since she noticed the surprised glint in Rosie's eyes, even though they were black voids. The Cannibal Overlord then hummed and sipped on her tea. "Well, don't keep me in suspense! I am a very busy woman."
"Well, as you know..." Charlie stuttered, looking downwards nervously before going into a full on rant once more. "the extermination is coming early and it'll be here in a month and they're coming for my hotel and my friends first and I don't know what to do and I-I-I-I-"
Aria interrupted Charlie for her own sake. "We need your help, Rosie. Or more specifically, your cannibals help at the very least, to fend off the oncoming attack." She stated, while Charlie took a deep breath to relieve some of her stress. Alastor nodded in agreement with what Aria said.
"Wow!" Rosie hummed, putting down her cup before getting up from her seat. "When you ask a favor, you don't start small, do you, your highness? Oh come now, don't fret. I didn't say I wouldn't help. But is it correct for me to assume that there's more to this plan than a bunch of my unarmed cannibals?"
Alastor chuckled and leaned close to Rosie, with his eternal grin widening menacingly to further convince her to assist them. "Oh, your people will be far from helpless when we're done with them. And by the end, they will be free to eat. their. fill."
In response, Rosie took the offer with a warm smile. "Well in that case, sure! Why not? It would be an honor to help such a charming young, regal woman anyways. And what can I say?" She leaned over to Charlie, who was about to cry from the relief she felt in her heart. "I like your moxie, girl. And old Alastor has never done me wrong before."
"Oooh! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Charlie exclaimed, holding both of Rosie's hands gratefully.
Meanwhile, Aria smirked at Alastor and decided to tease him once more with Rosie's words. "Old Alastor? I can see it." She snickered, earning herself a gentle ear tug from her guardian.
"Oh hush your mouth, Aria. I'm still a hundred years young and in my prime!" He cockily replied, chuckling as he adjusted his bow tie.
_____________________________________________________
"Cannibals and cannibettes, assemble in the square!" Rosie ordered through a megaphone, gathering all of her cannibals to the town square, where Charlie would be to give her speech and convince them to join her in fighting off the Exorcists.
Seeing that the Princess was still a bit unsure about her words, Aria put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and gave her a soft smile. "Everything's gonna be okay, Charlie. We believe in you." She said, causing Charlie to return the young lioness' smile.
Rosie walked Charlie to the stage in the middle of the square, with Alastor and Aria following suit. "Now darling,you know that I'd do anything, anything for my clients. But I can't exactly command all of Cannibal Town to follow someone else into battle. Don't get me wrong, they love carnage and bloodshed, but you've got to win them over if you want this group to get in line." Rosie told Charlie, before speaking into her megaphone once more. "Settle in, settle in! We have an important meeting!"
As the cannibals started to crowd around the stage, Charlie looked around anxiously at the ocean of demons and sighed. "But how do I convince them?"
"With sparkle! Razzmatazz! And that oh so appealing moxie of yours, dearie." Rosie replied, walking up the stage with the megaphone.
Alastor followed suit. "It shouldn't be a problem." He encouraged. "It's not like you've ever failed to inspire before."
Aria tailed along and gave her own words of encouragement to Charlie once more. "You've got this. And remember what I said; Keep your chin up, Princess." She reminded.
Once Charlie got on stage as well, Rosie put her hand on her hip and turned towards her. "Now, fair warning. This group sticks together. So in order for you to convince any of them, you'll have to convince all of them. And there's one in particular..."
"Uuuuugh. Susan." Alastor groaned, rolling his eyes as his ears flattened from annoyance at even the mention of the name. Aria held back a giggle at the sight of Alastor being so offended by a random cannibal and wondered to herself what kind of beef he and Susan had to get him feeling so grossed out by her.
Rosie nodded. "Susan. Who's a bit of a..." She paused, trying to find an appropriate way to address said cannibal. "Uh..."
"Ornery old, misbegotten offspring of a leprous donkey?" Alastor finished for her, somehow appearing right beside Charlie in a comical way while puffing up his cheeks. Aria snrked and put a hand over her mouth to keep herself from laughing at Alastor's choice of words in describing Susan.
"Yeah, that." Rosie continued, giving a reassuring smile to Charlie once more. "She's a bit tough, but win her over and the rest will be easy as pie. Are you ready?"
Charlie nodded her head in reply, albeit her nerves. "I guess so. It's always worth a try, right...?"
Hearing this, Rosie turned towards her cannibals again and spoke through her megaphone. "Everyone! We have a very, very special royal guest this evening! Please put your bloody hands together for Princess Charlie!" She announced, giving way for Charlie to step to the middle of the stage and face Cannibal Town. Right after she waved at the crowd with a strained smile, a croaky, high pitched voice rang from the crowd.
"Boo! Bring Rosie back!" The voice jeered, the crowd moving a bit to show an elderly cannibal that looked like a relative of all the Karens in existence. (If your name is Karen but you're not a Karen, I appreciate you <3)
"Susan?" Charlie and Aria asked.
"Susan." Alastor and Rosie replied.
"Sorry, uh..." The princess laughed nervously again and leaned closer to the microphone standing in the middle of the stage. "Okay uh, my name's Charlie and I-"
Susan started to disrespectfully speak at the same time with Charlie so it was unclear what both demons were saying. It irked Alastor and Rosie, and it was testing Charlie's patience. Meanwhile, Aria was having a hard time controlling her anger and not just pounce on Susan and rip her tongue out to shut her up.
"Well, I run this hotel with my part, well someone and...Wait, let me start over. Angels are coming to kill us all and we need help defending our realm. So— we, uh... we need your help— With your assistance, we can make a stand for— I...I have a dream and I—"
"Booooo! Get off the stage, you pompous, entitled blue blood! Booo! We don't give a damn about some hotel! Leave before I eat those big, ugly eyes of yours! Boo! Get off! Where's the showmanship? Where's all the finesse? This is at best mediocre!"
Finally having enough of Susan, Charlie lost her temper before Aria and flipped the old cannibal off. "CURSE YOU, YOU OLD HAG!" She screamed, causing the rest of the crowd to gasp in surprise.
Rosie laughed and dismissed the crowd, moving the seething Charlie away from the square to talk to her privately. "Okay! We'll be back after a brief intermission." She addressed the crowd, before turning towards Alastor and Aria. "Alastor, be a dear and stall them, would you? And Aria too."
"Wait, Rosie-"
Alastor looked unready to face the crowd, especially Susan, but there was no going back since Rosie had already went off. Aria grimaced and shook her head, wondering what they could do to entertain the crowd and convince them to wait for Rosie and Charlie.
"Oh, great!" Susan's voice rang through the crowd once again, now addressing Alastor as she pointed her cane at him. "This clown again? You're gonna leave us here waiting all day, you skinny prick!"
Aria growled in response, but she refused to act on her anger for her sake and Alastor's. In response to Susan's comment, the Radio Demon's neck snapped a good 270° towards her direction before his body followed. "How about a joke?" He offered, using the microphone on the stage instead of his own.
"How about a toothbrush, you yellow-toothed cretin?" Susan jeered, testing Alastor's patience once again. At this point, smoke would've come out from Alastor's nostrils.
"Two cannibals are— er, eating a clown—"
"No one gives a flying feather! I'll eat you with your horrendous bob cut, and your bald head from behind! What a bore! You tattered coat numskull! Bum hack!"
Alastor finally lost his temper as well and broke the microphone into two pieces before hurling them at Susan's direction, just barely missing her. The broken mic caused an explosion to happen a few hundred yards away from the crowd, but miraculously it didn't harm any building whatsoever.
"M̶̦̹̹̦̍͋̈͐Į̸̯͖̳̏̇̂L̶̩̬̞͈̆̔͒̽L̶̳̫̫̘͊͛̊̀ ̵̰́Á̸̱͒B̵̧͚͉̪̭̅̈́̾̑Ơ̶̦͐͝U̷͓͗T̸̨͓̯̭̀̍͒̐͋͜!̶̗̾̊͐̅͠" Alastor yelled, summoning his own microphone staff. His eyes had flickered to radio dials from how agitated he was, and he stepped away from the middle of the stage towards Aria.
To relieve his anger, the deer demon merely raked his fingers through Aria's fluffy hair and gently pinched her cheeks, using them as stress balls. Aria didn't mind one bit, since his touch was soothing her boiling rage as well, but her heart was already thirsting for Susan's blood by then.
"May I kill-"
"No, darling."
_____________________________________________________
Finally, Charlie and Rosie returned from their intermission to reunite with Alastor and Aria. Just before Charlie turned to the crowd to speak, Alastor handed his microphone staff to her, while Aria put her hands on the mic and enhanced its power.
Relaxing her nerves, Charlie closed her eyes and started to sing out her emotions instead of trying to be professional. Once she started to sing, Rosie clapped for her while Alastor gave her a thumbs up, looking somehow baked. Aria concluded that it might be just his resting face. Meanwhile, she grinned at Charlie and nodded, urging for her to continue.
It took some time, but eventually, most of Cannibal Town were convinced by her song and started to follow Charlie's lead. Even Susan, who nodded her head in approval when the others cheered for the Princess. Aria decided to aid Charlie in convincing the rest of the cannibals by communicating with the younger generations, like teenagers and young adults similar to her age.
"Come with me, and you'll be, in a world of warcraft and aggression!" She sang, letting her voice ring through their ears. Instead of trying to control their minds or using her voice to torture them, Aria used it for encouragement. "Reach out, touch, what was once, just in your imagination!"
Noticing a timid young female cannibal, Aria walked over to her and pulled her into a spin, beginning to dance with her to make her smile. "We'll begin, with a spin! Travelling in the world of her creation!" She giggled, seeing that the more she vocalized, the more convinced the young cannibals were. "What you'll see will defy explanation~!!"
Seeing all of this, Rosie turned to Alastor with an excited gleam on her face. "They're dancing along, they're singing her song!" She vocalized, putting her palms on her cheeks from her enthusiasm.
"Surprised?" Alastor grinned happily, opening up his arms as he turned to Rosie as well. "Why, I knew she could do it all along!"
"She's bound to pass the test as Princess of Hell," Alastor and Rosie harmonized with each other while dancing hand in hand in joy, watching as Charlie led the group of cannibals to her hotel. "like her daddy she is madly powerful!"
"She's filled with potential that I could guide..." Alastor looked towards Charlie with a suspicious menacing smile before Rosie interrupted him. "I concur! Stick with her, you'll be on the winning side!"
All of Cannibal Town started to vocalize with each other like a choir, vocalizing their excitement to join in for preparing for the battle against Heaven in a little less than a month. "For the first time in our lives, we know that we are ready for this!" They cheered.
"We'll show Heaven a fight they won't forget!" Rosie added as Alastor passed her umbrella to her.
"It is time to take a stand,"
"It is time to lend a hand!" Charlie exhilarated, raising up the cane Rosie gave her in place of Alastor's microphone staff, since he needed it.
"Huzzah!"
"Against the angels and their deadly threat!"
"We cannot take it anymore, the time has come to go to war, prepare the fight, we're ready for this~!!" The crowd sang loudly, making their way to the Hazbin Hotel.
Charlie looked up to the crimson red sky and sighed. "I really hope that I'm ready for this..."
____________________________________________________
At the gates of the Hotel, Charlie, Alastor, Rosie and Aria led the army of cannibals from the left, while Vaggie came from the right with multiple big crates of Carmine crafted weapons. What surprised Aria and Alastor a bit was that Vaggie had grown her wings back.
"Looks like you had a busy day." Vaggie murmured, averting her gaze away from Charlie in a bit of shame.
Charlie did the same, awkwardness laced in her tone. "You too."
Deciding to finally face the harsh truth, Vaggie tried to plead for forgiveness once more. "Charlie, look. I—"
"Hold that thought." The Princess gently interrupted, rumaging through her pockets before pulling out a small keychain, presenting it to Vaggie. "Ah! I got you a souvenir from Cannibal Town."
Seeing that little keychain, it dawned on Vaggie that even when their relationship strained, Charlie still had her on her mind. Her lip quivered and she went to hug Charlie. "Oh, Charlie..."
After they broke the hug, Charlie glanced at Vaggie's wings and smiled. "The wings are new." She commented. "They look nice~ Come on, let's go home."
When Charlie and Vaggie entered the Hotel, Rosie took charge of the cannibals and allowed them to spread around the Hotel, leaving only Alastor and Aria standing outside the Hotel's gates.
"Today was quite a productive day." Aria chuckled, making sure her voice was low so only Alastor could hear her. "Wouldn't you think so too, Alastor?"
The deer demon nodded in response and looked down at his ward with a much softer smile, allowing his guard down since no one was watching them. "I agree with you, my dear. And I do have to thank you for assisting us with leading the cannibals. I'm so, so proud of you." He praised, leaning over to rub Aria's head and surprising her by planting a platonic little kiss on her forehead, just like a father would to the daughter that he loved unconditionally.
Aria's heart leapt in joy as her arms lifted on their own accord and wrapped around Alastor. She stayed in Alastor's embrace for a moment, savoring the warmth she felt.
"Thank you, dad." She murmured, feeling so full of happiness that she almost slipped out the words "I love you". But she held herself back then, figuring that it wasn't the right time to say that yet.
She then looked towards the army of cannibals rummaging around the Carmine crafted weapons, already ready to fight against the Exorcists.
"Looks like we've got a lot of work to do."