Chapter Text
“No! Emily! I will not permit that.” Sera once more yelled down at the young angel.
“He's been here a week and all of his friends still think he's dead! Not letting them know he's here is just cruel.” Emily desperately tried to reason with the older seraphim.
A week had passed since the unexpected arrival of Heaven's very first redeemed sinner and Emily had been overjoyed beyond words, Sera had been rather more stoic about the whole ordeal. The implications were beautiful to the younger seraphim, no more need for exterminations she had thought, more new people in Heaven; less pain and more joy for everyone. Sera was not so inclined.
“It's for their own good.” Sera asserted as she turned back to the large window that overlooked Heaven.
“Hooow?” The younger seraphim all but threw up her arms in exasperation.
“He martyred himself, Emily.” Sera's voice was strained as she cast her glance over her shoulder, “If sinners knew that martyrdom might, and I stress, might get them into Heaven, they'd be lining up to throw themselves upon exorcist blades, fruitlessly.”
“It still feels wrong not to tell Charlie.”
“Hell's misguided princess is not my, or your, concern.” Sera turned away, taking position back at her window overlooking the golden city. “None of them are.” The ice in her voice was new to Emily, and it was easy to notice that it only came out in regards to the denizens of Hell.
Emily mind was flooded with desperation at the situation. She knew now beyond a shadow of a doubt that the sinners of Hell could be saved. She needed to help them. She needed to help Charlie. She needed to help the hotel. She needed to help!
Sera stonewalled everything, every suggestion stuck down, every hope smothered. Emily's thoughts conjured concepts of clandestine conclaves, outside of Sera's view and behind her back. Those ideas withered as her eyes flittered up to screens littering Sera's office abode; could any secret activity remain secret long enough for anything to be accomplished? Unlikely, and it would take too long, too many innocent souls would be lost; not enough time!
The stress made Emily's eyes almost sting from how hard she crushing her eyelids shut as she desperately tried to think of some way to convince Sera or get around her eyes. Running her hands up and down her face, her mind racing as I searched for an idea, any idea. Then her hands knocked her Halo and it came to her.
Emily froze as she started to thinking it through, it was like a horrifying storm on the edge of her awareness creeping in. Would she ever be able to come back, would Sera ever forgive her, would they even accept her help like this, would this even work. So many questions she couldn't get the answers to, not in Heaven.
She could just take her time, wait for more redeemed sinners, build support, find some way to convince Sera, maybe get the exterminations stopped eventually; all too long. So many choices before her, and yet she had no choice at all, no other choice she'd ever choose.
Drawing in a steadying breath and taking a step back, Emily's trembling fingers slowly made their way up and wrapped around the circlet of soft light above her head. Silent tears of terror ran down her cheeks; she'd heard many times that courage was not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else was more important. That didn't help much with the fear.
Emily's eyes fell upon Sera's back and she needed to say something, anything, before...
Swallowing back sadness for but a moment, Emily managed to say the only thing she could say, “I love you, Sera.”
The older Seraphim's demeanour softened at the words as she felt certain that Emily would move on from this foolishness, casting a serene smile over her shoulder to respond.
“I love you too Em- what are you...” Sere's expression of serenity had quickly given way to confusion as she took in the sight of Emily's tears and her hands around her halo. Then came the horror as she realised what her young friend planned. Sera's voice was often even, large and filled with authority, Emily had never heard it so terrified and small as when it uttered a tiny, “No.”
“Goodbye.” Emily shut her eyes and pulled with all her might, feeling something just, break. Then the flames enveloped her.
“NO!” Sera screamed as she flew across the room with all the speed she could summon. It was already far too late. Emily was gone.
“GAAHH!” Screamed the young Seraphim as she came to, gasping breaths to try and focus as her body ached. Every bone and muscle, every vein and nerve, everything burned with a dull pain. As Emily managed to muster enough focus to take in sensations, she noticed the odd inversion. In Heaven she'd long since grown accustomed to the eternally gentle breeze and fulfilling inner warmth; replaced by a chilling through her whole body and an oppressive heat pressing in upon her skin.
Once she had finally managed to collect herself enough, Emily registered the odd weight in her hand, the cold sensation puzzling her for a moment as understanding hit her. Holding up her halo to her eyes caused tears to prick at the corners of her eyes; the soft soothing light was gone and a crack ran down centre where she'd see out of.
Closing her eyes for a moment and trying open her top eye simply hits her with strange mild headache, if she'd had proper context she'd likely equate it to the feeling a human would get crossing their eyes on purpose for too long. A part of her was simply gone.
Not knowing how to make peace with that the fallen angel knew she had to get underway. Emily struggled to force her legs to function; feat accomplished, she took in her surrounding. “What-How?”
Confusion consumed her for a moment as the walked down the familiar corridor, the unmistakable architecture of Heaven adorning the walls. She had feared that her actions hadn't even born fruit, that she'd not even left Heaven. Then she reached the door and upon opening it Emily took in red urban landscape of Hell, “Oh, right, the embassy.”
Gladdened that she had truly reached her desired destination (a rather odd way to refer to Hell) Emily scanned the horizon to locate her next goal; the Hazbin Hotel. It stood out quite well against most of the other buildings, now Emily just needed to make her way there. Through a city full of demons, as a newly fallen angel that barely had the strength to walk.
“This could be tricky.” Emily chuckled hysterically to herself for a moment, the weight of her actions felt crushing for a few moments, a feeling she banished from her mind as quickly as she could. “I can do this.”
A few brief and painful flaps of her wings later made her say, “Okay, I can do this on foot.”
“I'm so sorry.” Charlie's eye still watered a bit every time she looked at the portrait of Sir Pentious, especially if she was alone and in the middle of the night. So here sat the princess of Hell, daughter of the Morningstar, tearing up in her pyjamas. She still felt awful about everything, as noble as the sacrifice was, she still felt like a failure.
“Hey, Charlie.” The princess felt a loving arm wrap around her shoulder as her beloved girlfriend sat down next to her; nothing else need be said, this wasn't the first time Charlie had visited the memorial in the middle of the night.
“Hey, Vaggie.” Charlie leaned into the warm comforting touch, holding herself. Vaggie, worried that her girlfriend was feeling cold, unfurled her wings and wrapped one close around Charlie. The princess smiled softly as she nuzzled into the feeling of the soft feathers.
“Still getting used to having these back.” Vaggie noted as she flexed her free wing.
“They are very pretty, and soft.” Charlie noted as her eyes roamed over the flexed limb, a hand running along the feathers enveloping her.
“Come on, let's get back to bed.” Vaggie gave her beloved a tender kiss on the cheek as she guided her to her feet.
“H-H-Hey...” The pained and exhausted moan cut through the soft moment, and drawing attention to the unexpected appearance of a struggling fallen angel just as she was passing out, “Charl-”
“E-Emily!” The princess of Hell instantly recognised the supportive seraphim, out of her element and realm.
“What the fuck!” Vaggie likewise exclaimed as the pair rushed over to check on fallen angel that had fallen on the floor.
“What-How-Why, is Emily here?” Charlie as they turned over the unconscious seraphim, she was completely lost and desperately trying to determine an answer.
“Charlie, look at what she's holding.” Vaggie tried to keep the horror out of her voice, with some decent but imperfect success.
“Oh, fuck, is that what I think it is.” Charlie had no such thought, her horror naked as she took in the sight of Emily's cracked halo, still clutched tight. Searching her girlfriend's eyes in vain hope that she was wrong, Vaggie could only respond with a slight nod, her eyes full of empathy for the girl held between them, “What did they do to her?”
“-past them.” The muffled voices reached the slumbering Emily, pulling her towards wakefulness. She felt the suprising softness of the bed and drew in pleasantly cool air that confused her for the moment (She'd later learn that when Lucifer helped rebuild the hotel is put in some power climate control).
“I still can't believe it.” The familiar voice of Charlie Morningstar further cleared the cobwebs out of Emily's mind.
“I mean, it's Emily! You saw how sweet and kind she was, what reason could they have to cast her out?”
“I don't know babe, we just gotta wait now.”
“Ch-Char-” Emily groaned out, getting the attention of the princess.
“Emily!” Charlie rushed to Emily's side, Vaggie close behind. “I'm so glad you're awake! What happened? What did they do? Why did-”
“Babe, give her minute.”
“R-right, sorry.” Charlie backed up half a step her eyes darting over the side table. The sight igniting an ember of righteous anger, “I still can't believe they did that to you.”
Emily followed Charlie's gaze to see her own halo, still cracked and placed carefully on a pillow; it hurt. Talking was a strain, the trek from the embassy having left her with little energy, but she needed to explain what happened. “They didn't, I did.”
“What?! No! Don't blame yourself for their decision, Emily,” Charlie jumped to the obvious conclusion, taking Emily's hand to try and comfort her and prevent any sort of internalized victim blaming. Vaggie's eye twitched as her mind focused on the gesture.
“No, Sera tried to stop me, but I needed to get down here, to help...” A rounded nod to the surroundings of the hotel established what she meant, looks of shock on both the faces staring at her. Fallen angels were rare, but an angel falling by choice, that was unheard of.
“And tell you... about-” A hacking cough racked the seraphim, hell's air still a new experience for her. “Pentious.”
Charlie's expression fell at the mention of her lost friend, the sting of failure in her heart as tears began to sting at her eyes. Noticing this, Emily smiled as she was glad to finally be able to deliver this most joyful news.
Gripping Charlie's hand as she drew in a deep breath, determined to get this out in one, “Pentious is in Heaven.”
Once more the two lovers attending to the newly fallen angel were taken aback in shock at her words. Vaggie snapped out her malaise at the sight of her girlfriend holding hands with the cute angel.
“W-What...” Charlie felt numb, the shame of her previously assumed failure now tinged with a seemingly impossible hope.
“Sir Pentious is in Heaven, redeemed.” Her message finally delivered, sleep started to once more creep in on her mind as Emily managed to say, “You were right.”