Chapter Text
It was an average, quiet morning at the Happy Hotel. The fiery red hue of Hell's skies had just lightened and most of the few denizens of the old hotel were still fast asleep.
However Charlie was already up, eager and ready for the day with a smile. Every morning she had to coordinate and prepare for breakfast. Afterward, she'd set up the various events and activities for the tenants to occupy themselves with. Today there would be a group therapy session after breakfast and some physical activities to let the guests blow off some stream.
It was going to be another nice and quiet day for her. At least it was supposed to be.
She heard the front door of the hotel ring from the kitchen so she put on her happiest face and marched out to greet her next potential guest.
However what met her were two of the most powerful wide-grinning demons in Hell.
“Charlotte, how I missed you!” Lucifer cried out and leaned down to give his only daughter the biggest hug she’d ever received from him. The abruptness of it made her whole body tense.
Charlie tentatively returned the hug “D-dad?” as soon as she spoke, Lucifer pulled away but kept his hand on either of Charlie’s shoulders. “Uh what are you doing with Alastor?” She leaned to look around her father to point at Alastor, who stood close by just observing the interaction with his signature grin splayed over his face.
Alastor made frequent visits to the hotel to check up on it whenever he had nothing else to do. That was fairly often, but recently he'd been away and seemingly busy. This was the first time Charlie's seen him in a little over a week. And he showed up with her father nonetheless. With how busy the King of Hell always was, it made Charlie wonder how a mortal soul like Alastor managed to get him away from his duties. Hell, he never even bothered to come visit his own daughter until today.
Lucifer nearly pushed Charlie away to move back to Alastor’s side. “Dear, you are getting older now and I know you have this dream thing… or whatever, but I think it’s time for you to think of the future!” He gestured his cane toward Alastor, who still stood there, saying nothing. “I know he’s a lot younger than you but what is a few centuries or two?” He leaned on his cane and chuckled.
Charlie had no words and only looked back and forth at the two looming figures as if it was her way of processing. In reality her mind was blank. It was too early for this and suddenly Charlie felt like it was a mistake getting up this morning.
Alastor finally chimed in with his chipper radio-backed voice. “What your father is trying to say is that we should get hitched! Tie the knot! Take the plunge! Conjugate-“
“What?!” Charlie’s exclamation startled Lucifer enough to where he nearly fell off his apple-topped cane. Charlie's heart dropped to her gut. Was this really happening? “D-dad you can’t be serious right?” Charlie’s laughed nervously. When she looked back to her father with a concerned smile, he did not look amused in the slightest. He stared her down with a stern glare that she knew all too well. “This is just a jo-…” she stopped and shut her mouth when the elder demon's frown deepened. She looked away from her father and she felt whatever confidence she had melt away in an instance.
It was really happening. She feared this day would come, but not so soon! Charlie knew that one day her parents could possibly urge her into an emergency marriage at any point in her life. With their warning, they loosely promised her the freedom to live as she wished as long as she would answer to her duty when they needed her to. But this was over a century ago. And as a young, eager and very naive young demoness, Charlie happily accepted. They even gave her time to think it over, but she was young and stupid- something neither Lilith or Lucifer understood.
Alastor’s laugh track pulled Charlie’s attention back to him. “My dear this is certainly not a joke. I’m afraid I’m deathly serious,” Alastor’s impossibly wide smile widened even further and it sent chills down Charlie’s spine. How could he be so calm and nonchalant about this? He was entering a role far beyond his station as a mortal soul. Alastor was always impulsive and acted on anything he thought could entertain him; he could be making a huge mistake.
“Al, why are you doing this? I know you have no interest in me, you don’t even give a damn about me!” She shot an accusatory finger toward him which, to Charlie’s surprise worked well enough to make him back off with an amused smile. Charlie knew her father would disapprove of this behavior but she didn’t care. But she dared not look at her father. If she even glanced at him, she’d lose this momentum.
Alastor only seemed more intrigued and amused at the situation. They'd known each other for six months and despite his intimidating nature, Charlie warmed up to him fairly quickly. It was always interesting how confident Charlie could be around him when no one else could. If he were honest to himself, Alastor could say that he'd warmed up to the unusually warm demon princess. She was one of the few that he could bear to be around for longer than five minutes despite her raging naivety and cheerful nature. Charlie awoke something unusual within him and he wanted to explore this pleasant feeling he would always have around her even further. It was as if Lucifer answered his prayers when the King of Hell himself showed up to his front door with a proposition.
“On the contrary dear Charlie, you do catch my interest in a way. I just think this arrangement can better solidify our partnership into something more permanent,” he bent close to whisper in her ear. “Your father proposed this arrangement and I think it’s an excellent idea. I believe the both of us will benefit from this.” He straightened his back and the pair turned their gazes to Lucifer who even seemed to be a tad nervous himself with both eyes on him.
Charlie sighed. 'This must be important then if dad's this spooked...' Her father was the most feared demon in Hell. He'd ruled Hell for over countless millennia and over those millennia he'd come across many bumps in the road. Whatever was happening now, it was important for Charlie to marry Alastor.
Charlie turned her gaze back to the taller demon and caught his attention again by stretching up closer to his ear. “What are you scheming?” She hissed through her teeth so only Alastor could hear.
The taller demon’s smile didn’t waver. In fact, he chuckled with an accompanying audience laughing with him. He reached down to grasp her hand and held it up between them. This was a secret he couldn't disclose, no matter how much he liked Charlie. He wanted to figure out the secret to his odd notions around her all by himself. “Nothing! Like I said, your father proposed this. My guess is that he wants to prevent me from harming you and your family,” he said nonchalantly. Charlie shivered at the ease of his words. It was as if the man had indeed considered it at one point. “He’s quite the businessman. Offering his daughter in exchange for peace!” he belted a strong chortle “Oh… how wonderful. I couldn’t help but accept. It was certainly a wild turn of events even I couldn’t have anticipated!” His wide smile grew in size and Charlie felt his tight grip tighten.
He mixed in a bit of truth to his lie. He truly didn't know exactly why Lucifer came to him asking to be his son-in-law nor did he ever foresee this wild turn of events.
She tugged a couple of times before slipping from his grasp and took a step back. “Right… Al you know this is a big deal right? And I’m not exactly single either you know!” Charlie explained with a strained smile and a nervous chuckle. “Do you really want to marry me because you’re bored?”
“Yes!” He immediately answered. His face lit up like a child in a candy store. “It’s nothing I could have imagined! It’s nothing anyone could have imagined! Who would have ever thought that I would become part of the royal family of Hell! Hahaha! We haven’t even announced the news to the denizens of Hell yet and I’m already simply elated!” He clasped his hands together as the sound of the laugh track came and went once more. He continued on a tangent of something when Charlie began tuning him out.
The young demon heiress leaned over to look at her father’s reaction to all of this. His apparent nervousness seemed to dissipate, but he still held onto the apple atop his cane tightly. He shot her a look of expectancy and nodded his head at her.
'I know...' Charlie internally sighed.
Charlie crossed her arms and sighed warily. It was still early and yet she already felt drained. Too many thoughts spun in her head and she didn’t know how to feel. Devastated? Angry? Sad? All of the above maybe? It didn’t matter. She knew this day was going to come, but she didn't know that it was going to be so soon- or with a mortal soul like Alastor. Though she guessed it could have been worse. She could be engaged to Harold Von Eldritch, her absolutely abhorrent ex-boyfriend in a political marriage.
It was strange how engagement didn't feel so heavy. Charlie almost felt like laughing it off. Maybe it was because of the ridiculousness of the situation? Her father and her business partner walked into her hotel and imposed a marriage on her. That was pretty crazy already. Or maybe it was because she was engaged to one of the most powerful demons in Hell and he was marrying her all because he was bored.