Chapter Text
First, came a boom like a clap of thunder that shook all of Hell to its core. What followed was the sound of a bone-crunching crack as the sky split apart at its seams. An unusual streak of luminous yellow burned overhead, as if the heavens themselves took a paintbrush and struck it across the canvas that was Hell.
Everyone had stopped what they were doing and turned to watch as the streak continued down, speeding closer to the inevitable ground. Though most didn't know it, Hell had never seen something like this since the dawn of its creation when its king and his wife were cast down from Heaven.
Charlie stared from out the broken window of her hotel, a feeling of wonder and dread bubbling inside her. She wasn't sure what was at the front end of that streak, but she knew it couldn't be good.
Before anyone could ask or try to stop her, Charlie fled out the door and dashed over to where she predicted it would hit. She knew no one would chase after her. And even if they did, they were too tired and wounded from the last extermination to catch up. They had suffered severe losses, almost a third of sinners had been culled. But the other side hadn't been without their casualties too. Adam's second in command had been killed as did many of the other exterminators.
If Charlie wasn't the Princess of Hell, she would have probably been out of commission for a while too. But just like her beloved hotel, she had stayed upright and mostly intact through the chaos.
When the impact finally came, another powerful quake rattled the ground, causing Charlie to nearly lose her footing. A torrent of fire and brimstone spewed up in front of her, the already suffocating air becoming even thicker.
Yeah, whatever this was was definitely not good.
A part of her wanted to turn back, but she had already come so far. Had already survived the worst of the extermination. With a deep breath, she slowly approached the cloud of never-ending black smoke and found herself on the edge of a five-story-sized hole.
Charlie squinted down to where the smoke was the thickest, but couldn't make anything out. She knew it wasn't smart to face whatever was down there alone and defenseless. But against her better judgment, she slid down into the crater, her fists clenched to her sides.
"Hello?" she called out through the fumes.
Something was different about this smoke. Being born and raised in Hell, Charlie wasn't affected by even the hottest of flames. But this, this was making her cough and sputter.
"Hello?" she asked again louder this time. Or at least she tried to despite her wheezing.
The sound of something scraping against the ground caught her attention.
So someone was here.
Heart racing, Charlie followed the noise and prepared herself for what she might find.
But what lay in the heart of the crater was the last thing she ever expected.
It was a man. An actual human man covered in a shredded and torn robe.
It wasn't the usual sinner who vaguely used to resemble a human but was now some sort of monstrosity with claws and fangs.
In fact, the only thing that wasn't human about him was the pair of bat-like wings attached to his back.
Which he was now trying to cut off with a jagged piece of rock.
"Hey! Please don't do that!" Charlie rushed towards him as blood started to trickle out. "You're going to hurt yourself!"
"Like hell I'm going to wait for those cunts to come find me and rip me to shreds!" He didn't even glance up from his task and instead continued to slice faster. "At least, I'll die with what's left of my dignity!"
Charlie paused. She knew that voice. She had just heard it a mere few hours ago, taunting her and her friends.
But there was no way...
"Excuse me, but have we met before?" Charlie peered down at him.
The man finally stopped his self-mutilation and sighed. "Not like this, kid. I looked a lot less... fleshy."
Charlie blinked at him. And then blinked again. The man stared back at her, seemingly waiting for a response. When he didn't get one, he shrugged and went back to what he had been working on.
There were few times when Charlie was left absolutely speechless. She was usually one to start screaming, crying or hyperventilating when something shocking happened.
But seeing the man who she used to know as a large, imposing demonic-looking angel now reduced to a normal-sized, thin, not ugly human.
Well, it was enough to make her faint.