Chapter Text
“You have just destroyed the sanctity of this realm! Now all of Heaven will be torn because of this!”
***
It had been only a month since the snake man, Sir Pentious, had appeared in their home and in that time it had become apparent that he himself posed no real threat. Emily wanted to tell Charlie about this but Sera forbade it, reminding her that such a thing would go against the laws and virtues of Heaven.
In the time since the court hearing, Emily had managed to keep a smiling face on for the others though that didn’t stop her stress. She stressed over what to do about the revelation that a Sinner could be redeemed, she stressed over the possibility that such a discovery would be hidden away, and she stressed over what to do about it. It had been blasted into her mind on several occasions that acting out of line would end in her falling from Heaven, that she would experience the worst, most agonizing thing known.
The thought of that scared her.
Staying in Heaven meant she could work to convince the rest of the Seraphim to work with Charlie, it also meant she had to play by their rules. But being cast down, that would mean she no longer had any standing with Heaven and could only help redeem Sinners from Hell itself. In any case, Emily only wanted to be useful, to be more than the one who makes others smile, to be someone who changes things for the better.
When Sir Pentious first arrived it was a confusing day. Sera had to leave the room to collect herself after realizing what had just happened and Emily immediately jumped to greet him. His voice was raspy and he had a very exaggerated lisp as he happily shook her hand.
“It’sss sso good to meet you, Misss Emily!”
A Sinner, redeemed.
He seemed to be a good man, his kind personality and oftentimes silly demeanor didn’t add up to him being a Sinner. How could someone like him not end up in Heaven? What could he possibly have done in his life that led to him being sentenced to damnation? Not one bit of it made any sense to Emily and when Sera reentered the room she quickly hurried to place Sir Pentious in a secluded place of residence.
Though he was once a Sinner, he was treated fairly, provided with a new home, food, and the friendship of one of the Seraphim. Emily happily listened to Sir Pentious’s stories, from the silly ones to the more serious ones, she listened. She learned all about the dynamics of each member of the staff at the Hazbin Hotel and its guests and even learned about his rivalry with a demon named Alastor and his fancy for a woman by the name of Cherri Bomb. Boy, did he go on quite the spiel about her.
A week after Sir Pentious’s arrival a hearing was held to determine his future in Heaven. While many voted to hide him away, many others voted to allow him to have free reign like all the other Winners. By the end of the hearing it was decided that he would be allowed to remain in the dwelling given to him and he would be allowed to socialize among the Winners, the one caveat; he had to swear never to speak about the truth of his arrival. After much protest from him and Emily, it became obvious that there was no way either of them could have their cake and eat it too as the Council could easily revoke their kind offer and damn the both of them. In the end, Sir Pentious did agree to this condition and was released to start his new life in Heaven.
The following week was far more hectic for Emily and she couldn’t spend as much time as she would have liked with Sir Pentious. Tensions between her and Sera from the court hearing with Charlie had been arising all over again. Maybe it was due to the hearing with Pentious or maybe it was simply the unresolved distrust of the Seraphim, but Emily simply couldn’t bring herself to sit back quietly again. She spent days trying to broach the subject of redemption and those horrible Exterminations with Sera. She tried desperately to understand how Sera could have allowed this, to understand what she planned to do with Sir Pentious if the truth got out through him.
But her attempts to talk did nothing but aggravate Sera, she became impatient with Emily and her typically gentle and reserved demeanor was slipping. Finally, the week the argument started, she lost her temper and raised her voice.
“I will no longer be tolerating this kind of talk from you, Emily!” she exclaimed, her voice barely below a full yell. “I warned you then, I will warn you one last time; if you keep this up, you will fall just like Lucifer!”
“Sera, you have to listen!” Emily shouted as she followed close behind her older sister. They were in one room of their dwelling before Sera stood and started down the hallway. “Charlie has to know about this! You’ve seen it! Redemption is possible, you were wrong!”
Her older sister couldn’t keep her temper any more, eyes opened all over her hair, halo, and chest. “Is that really what you want?” She asked, her voice now at a yell. “Do you want to be cast down? Do you want to end up just like Lucifer?”
Emily stopped dead in her tracks and shook her head, “Do we really have to keep arguing about this? We know the truth now! There is no need for the Exterminations!” Sera only turned her back on her and continued down the hallway. “You know they’re wrong! You know they go against everything we stand for and now there is a chance to amend that! Sera, please just listen!”
“I am going to a Council meeting,” Sera said, her hand now on the front door. “When I return I expect you to have finally dropped this.” She turned back to face Emily and leaned down to her height to place a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll see you later today.”
And Sera left, leaving Emily alone to her own devices. Yes she was still young, especially compared to most of the other angels, but she was capable of making decisions! She was able to participate in those meetings and she should be able to voice her concerns and belief that Heaven can help all souls.
But there was no way to do that now.
Eventually Emily resigned herself to filling the time with a book as she didn’t have anything special planned for the day. She was barely through the third chapter when something told her to visit Sir Pentious. Though she tried to resist the feeling, a cold sweat beaded on her temple and a shiver ran down her spine the longer she sat there. With a loud thud, Emily slammed her book down onto the table and hurried outside, she wasn’t sure why she had this urge, she only knew it felt important.
Soaring high above several residential buildings, she finally spotted Sir Pentious’s home. Even from a distance it was obvious that his front door was wide open and worse, it was barely holding on by its hinges! Emily tucked her wings in and took a dive toward the home. When she landed she heard a loud commotion, thuds, yells, and shattering glass. Though she was afraid of who she might find or what she might find happening, Emily rushed in shouting Sir Pentious’s name.
“Pentious! Oh where are you?” She rounded a corner to find a living room and his battered body on the ground. “Sir Pentious!”
He stirred at the sound of Emily’s voice and felt her hand on his shoulder just moments later. There was golden blood running down the side of his face, presumably from a bad cut on his head and he tried to form words but they only came out as unintelligible groans. Emily began treating his wounds, not realizing Sir Pentious’s assailant was still in the home with them.
She had barely wrapped up a cut on his arm when he finally managed to croak out a warning, “Behind you…”
A silver blade came to Emily’s neck. Knowing what she did now about the Exorcists, she figured this was one of them. She put her hands up to show they were empty and the gruff voice of a woman spoke up, “What are you doing here?”
“Helping this poor soul that you attacked,” Emily replied, motioning down next to Sir Pentious. “Why would you do this? He did nothing wrong!”
The blade against Emily’s throat pressed down harder and she could feel the sharp sting of it breaking her skin. She still didn’t know who it was behind her, Lute could be ruled out, her voice wasn’t that rough and there was no way she would do something like this no matter how badly she wanted to.
“This before you is an abomination!” the woman’s voice exclaimed. She let out a sharp huff and grabbed Emily by the shoulder, forcing her to turn around. “No matter what anyone else says, that will always be a Sinner!”
So she was an Exorcist. Tall, thin, completely gray skin and short black hair, with sharp green eyes, her uniform was just as bloodstained as Lute’s. Emily narrowed her eyes at her, but the Exorcist didn’t let up. The blade was pressed against her neck once again, this time from the side. Before the Exorcist could make another move, Sir Pentious stirred again, lifting his still bleeding head.
“Don’t you touch Misss Emily!” He could barely keep himself up as his voice rasped.
The Exorcist scoffed, “Silence Sinner!” she swung her blade toward him, pushing Emily away and cutting Sir Pentious again. “I should have killed you sooner!”
Now in a panic, Emily felt the eyes on her chest and halo open, giving her improved sight of the scene before her. The silver blade swung down one last time, aimed right for Pentious’s neck! Emily let go of all her reservations and transformed into her full angelic form. With a third eye on her head, no hair in the way, and waves of angelic energy flowing off her, she lunged right for the Exorcist.
In the span of seconds the Exorcist was pinned against the wall by a table, her blade on the ground and her black hair a tangled mess in her face. Emily then turned her attention back to Sir Pentious and his wounds, he was wrapped up for the larger cuts and healed near fully for the smaller ones by her power.
When things had calmed down between the two, their attention then turned back to the Exorcist who was still stuck to the wall. Her sharp eyes bore holes into Sir Pentious’s soul, making him uncomfortable, he tried to keep a brave face on but his resolve was quickly faltering under the angel’s glare.
“Who are you?” Emily asked, now returning to her usual form.
She met the green eyes of the Exorcist, who quickly broke eye contact. “Vikki.”
Well, the name was a good start. Emily decided to continue pressing for information as she had a horrible feeling that Lute may have been behind this in some way. “Who ordered you to do this?” she asked.
“No one, I came here of my own accord.” Vikki answered. She struggled against the table that was keeping her pinned down for a moment before giving up. “And before you ask, no, Lute didn’t have anything to do with this.”
“Then why would you attack me?” Sir Pentious asked, it was clear that he was now more angered than afraid, though that flicker of uncertainty still passed his eyes. “I have done nothing to you.”
Vikki narrowed her eyes and fought against the table again. “You are just as responsible as all the rest of those filthy Sinners for Adam’s death!” she shrieked. “You were there, I saw you! I saw what became of Lute! I want my revenge! I want to make you pay!”
Emily stepped in, “I think we’re done here, Vikki.” She didn’t want the situation to escalate again. “I’ll contact Sera and have her handle this from here.” She turned to Sir Pentious, “And you can stay with us for the night while we find some people to help clean this place up.”
***
It was later that night that Emily heard anything more about the Exorcist, Vikki. Sera returned home much later than usual to find her younger sister and Sir Pentious sitting at the table and playing cards, she gave them a small wave and entered another room. While it was her job to keep the balance of order in Heaven and to ensure nothing goes wrong, the conclusions of the meetings she had been in all day worried her. She looked into her mirror and brushed her hair back, ensuring she still looked put together after the long day. Sera still had to speak with Emily and Sir Pentious before the Council fully confirmed and enacted their decided course of action.
Stepping back out into the hallway, she could see Emily place down the hand of cards she had. The mischievous grin on her face must have meant that she had just placed down a winning hand. Sera smiled, though she could only see part of the game, she knew it was a fun and joyous moment for the two…
And she would soon have to ruin that.
“Emily,” Sera called, still standing in the hall, not daring to go any further. “Could you come here? I need to speak with you.”
“Sure,” Emily excused herself and hurried to join her sister. “What did you need?”
Alright, here it goes…
“The Council has decided to delegate any disciplinary action of Vikki to Lute, the new commander of the Exorcists.”
Emily’s eyes widened and her face fell from its typical smile to a disappointed and shocked frown. She shook her head and glanced back toward the other room where Sir Pentious was. “Sera, I thought you said the Council would rectify this.” Her brows were furrowed, making her look more angered now.
The mere sight reminded Sera too much of the Angel Dust case. The look on Emily’s face when Adam revealed the truth about the Exterminations, how could she have been so stupid as to allow her little sister to attend that meeting? No. She had to remain steadfast and diligent.
“They have.” Sera’s eyes flicked away from Emily’s for just a moment before forcing them back on her sister. “Emily, I can assure you that Lute will take action against Vikki for her insubordination. No angel should ever commit such acts of violence against the human souls of Heaven.”
“Unless they used to be a Sinner.” Emily’s tone dripped with sarcasm and rebellion.
Sera sighed, “You know that’s not what I mean.”
As hard as she resisted, the eye on Emily’s chest opened in anger. “Then what do you mean? Because the way I see this is the Council has done nothing but perpetuate their hypocrisy!”
“Watch your tone, Emily.” Sera warned, holding back her own temper. She could feel her own eyes threatening to open if she didn’t keep calm. “Sir Pentious will be safe from now on, measures have been taken to avoid another incident like this. I can promise you that Vikki won’t bother him again.”
“But–”
Sera held her hand up, it was more than enough to silence Emily. “Let’s drop this, I don’t want you to get any more dangerous ideas.” She motioned back down the hall where Sir Pentious was surely still waiting patiently for Emily’s return. “He can stay in the guest room for tonight, make sure he’s comfortable and his door should be fixed by midday tomorrow.”
***
Emily awoke extra early the next morning, a mixture of stress and frustration prevented her from getting any restful sleep anyway. When she stepped out onto her front porch, she found Sir Pentious already out there, examining a leaf in his hand. Something in his face gave away clear sorrow and maybe regret as his eyes continued to fixate on the small plant before him. To Emily it seemed there was nothing special about the leaf, afterall, there were plenty on any tree and even on the ground. So what was so special about that one?
Unless it wasn’t the leaf itself that was significant.
“Pretty interesting little leaf.” Emily said as she sat next to Pentious. She smoothed out her skirt as she waited for an answer from him.
“Yesss, I ssupose,” he responded, still distracted. He rested his head on one hand and set the leaf down in his lap. “You know, I don’t think I ever saw a leaf in Hell.”
Emily turned toward Sir Pentious, one brow furrowed in confusion and piqued interest. “Really?” She asked, finding herself surprised at the sudden and totally unprompted admission. “Are there no trees there?”
“I’m not ssso sure.” Sir Pentious fiddled with the leaf a little more and a small sigh seemed to escape him. “Perhapss I never noticed, but it iss nice to ssee one again.”
“Everything that’s happened to you just isn’t fair.” Emily let her temper get the better of her, the eye on her halo opening as a result. If she could just convince the council! If she could just get them to understand then maybe, just maybe she could finally help Charlie and Sir Pentious!
The leaf flitted away in the breeze and Pentious stood, “Well, the way I see it,” he said, taking in a deep breath of the early morning air, “Is without the exterminations and the battle at the hotel, I would not be here and Heaven would still believe redemption is impossible. Yes, things have been unfair, but they led the way to fixing that.”
“I suppose that’s true,” Emily sighed. She stood to join Sir Pentious as he slithered away from the porch. “Say, where’re you heading?”
“Back home, Sera let me know that my door should be fixed.” He answered.
Emily smiled, “I’ll join you!”
She and Sir Pentious happily made their way through the promenade, talking and joking as they went. Like any other day in Heaven, it was perfectly sunny and aside from the ones on the ground and around the buildings, there really were no clouds in the sky. Plenty of Winners were going about their business, while Emily was glad they were all living happily, she couldn’t help but resent the fact that so many were suffering and being killed in Hell. It was all the work of Heaven itself and even if she didn’t know about it, her inaction made her partially responsible.
As both Emily and Pentious reached his home, they found the front door as good as new. Sir Pentious smiled and turned the doorknob to find that even the damage to the wall from Emily throwing a table was fixed. He invited her in and they admired the quick work to fix up his home.
“Could I offer you anything, Emily?” Sir Pentious asked.
She was just about to accept his offer but quickly stopped herself before saying anything. “I’m sorry, Pentious,” she said, apologetically, “But I have a meeting to get to soon. But I’d love to have tea with you tomorrow if you’re free!”
Sir Pentious nodded and walked her back to the door, “I would love to! Now then, I don’t want to make you late.”
Emily gave him a goodbye hug and hurried outside to spread her wings. She flew over the tops of buildings and as she closed in on the court building, she spotted something that nearly caused her to crash into a pillar.
Vikki marched next to Lute, a polished silver sword on her Commander’s waist and likely heading to the same meeting Emily intended to. The sight sent a flood of frustration through her as she remembered the council’s decision to let her offense of attacking Sir Petious go. Though she tried not to let it get the best of her, Emily had to land and walk the rest of the way to the meeting. She caught up with Lute and Vikki as the door to the building opened. Given the fact that Emily wasn’t exactly meant to be at the meeting that day, she worried that she wouldn’t be able to find the right room, so she slipped in after the Exterminators.
Unlike most other meetings, this one was held in a room at the ground level. Emily figured it was a smaller, less important meeting though that begged the question of why Sera would attend. Vikki opened the door to the meeting room and let Lute in before her. As the door closed, Emily reached out and hurried in after them. She found a place in the back of the room and settled in to wait for it all to start.
In the center of the room, Vikki was told to sit at the very front and Sera entered. She settled at a bench and picked up a folder and read through it for a moment. The room sat in silence the whole time, waiting for Sera to begin with the meeting. It took several minutes before she set the folder down and cleared her throat.
“Vikki,” she started, the most formal tone in her voice as possible. “As it was determined, the new Commander of the Exorcists, Lute, was put in charge of your punishment for your indiscretion towards one of Heaven’s residents.”
Vikki looked to Lute and stood from her seat. “That’s right,” she responded.
“Has she decided?” Sera asked.
Lute stepped in and visibly straightened her back, her yellow eyes scanned the room for a moment, nearly landing on Emily but passing by her and returning to her post. She cleared her throat and spoke for Vikki, “I have had her sword revoked and she will be trained rigorously both physically and on the treatment of Heaven’s residents.”
Sera considered Lute’s answer for a moment, at the back of the room, Emily’s blood began to boil. How could her sister even allow such a weak and unfitting punishment to be carried out? As she quietly forced herself to calm down, holding her hands to her chest to keep her eye closed, Sera nodded and looked out around the room.
“Very well, Lute, Vikki, this will be carried out as soon as this meeting is adjourned,” she said. A moment passed as her eyes landed directly in Emily’s direction and a sigh escaped her, “As the head of this council, I will add this condition; Both of you are to stay away from Sir Pentious. I don’t want to hear that either of you purposely bothered him again, am I understood?”
Both Exorcists nodded, Vikki took her chance to speak up, “It won’t happen again, I lost my temper and never should have acted out like that.”
“Your apology is appreciated,” Sera picked up the file from her desk and her eyes grazed over Emily in the back of the room. “This meeting is dismissed.”
Everyone stood from their places and moved to different seats or left the room entirely. Emily watched as Lute placed a hand on Vikki’s shoulder and led her to the door but she herself remained in the room. Just before she could do anything, Sera appeared beside her, a sour look across her sharp features. Without a word she took her little sister by the wrist and led her to a back room away from everyone else.
It was a small storage room, just big enough to fit the both of them but just small enough to leave Emily pressing her back against the wall. Sera pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a frustrated sigh, “Would you like to explain to me why you’re here?”
“I came here to talk to you about Charlie’s hotel,” Emily responded, attempting to steal a glance at the door, just hidden behind Sera’s pure white feathers. “You know those ‘consequences’ aren’t enough! Vikki attacked a human soul and all she faces is the loss of her sword? If anything, she should have apologized to Sir Pentious!”
“Enough!” Sera shouted, eyes sprung open all over each thick curl of her hair, halo, chest and sleeves. Unlike before, she didn’t bother to compose herself, letting the eyes stay where they were, staring into Emily. “How many times do I have to tell you? This kind of thinking will only end badly for you!”
A bead of sweat ran down Emily’s temple as she fought off eyes of her own from opening. She opened her mouth to say something but no words or even any comprehensible sound came out. She watched as Sera smoothed her hair back while sucking in a deep breath, her eyes closing as she regained her composure and turned toward the door.
“I have another meeting to handle here, I expect you to leave and forget about that hotel.” She turned the handle and walked out, leaving Emily alone in the closet, her back still pressed against the wall.
When she did finally manage to pry herself away, she found the room in a full meeting with several different angels seated. With the soft flap of her wings, Emily hurried over to the door and left, catching Sera’s eye as she did.
Out in the lobby wasn’t any better.
Just as Emily thought she was home free and began planning to head back to Sir Pentious’s home, Vikki approached her. At first she didn’t notice her and they nearly collided. Emily quickly began to spout her apologies as she registered the gray uniform of the Exorcists. Vikki’s green eyes were emotionless, focused on the Seraph before her as she waited for her to stop talking.
At the first pause in Emily’s apology, she spoke, “I would like to apologize to you.”
“What?” Emily blinked, realizing now fully who it was she had just come face to face with.
“I am sorry,” Vikki said, her voice just as professional as Lute’s though only just tinged with enough remorse in her tone to be barely believable. She continued to just stare at Emily, seemingly expecting her to respond to her apology. Vikki shifted, nearly breaking that impenetrable professional guise. “I know it’s not enough, but do know that I mean it.”
Emily turned her head away but kept eye contact. “Thank you, I appreciate that.” She did, she really did appreciate the fact that Vikki seemed to be apologizing for her actions all on her own accord, but there still wasn’t any real justice for Sir Pentious. Vikki likely hadn’t said anything to or about him, not that she could, she had been ordered to stay away from him.
With a swift nod, she excused herself and left, leaving Emily standing alone in the lobby. Emily watched as Vikki took brisk steps toward the door and opened her wings as soon as she was outside and flew away. At that moment, the idea that maybe Lute had told Vikki to apologize crossed Emily’s mind and she turned on her heel to head back to the meeting room. She wasn’t too sure of what exactly she planned to accomplish but one thing her body told her to do was go back and speak with Sera, no matter what.
Surprisingly, the door wasn’t locked nor did anyone pay Emily any mind when she first entered. She walked right up to Sera, who was busy giving her presentation, and spoke loudly to halt the meeting, “We need to talk about Sir Pentious, Sera.” Everyone in the room shifted their attention to her and Sera gave her a rather unpleasant look that clearly said not to push it any more than she already had. “The Hazbin Hotel works, your verdict was wrong, Sinners can be redeemed and you know that!”
“Emily, I need you to leave. Now. ”
But it was too late, the whole room erupted into incredulous whispers and side looks. It was only then that Emily realized that those in attendance were a good mix of high ranking angels and low ranking angels. Many of them can’t have known about any of this, many of them now have to explain why they know. The damage was done, Sera and her council could never keep so many different ranked angels quiet about this. So many of them were like Emily, they believed full heartedly in the virtues of Heaven and now are forced to fathom the same reality that she did just about a month ago.
“Sir Pentious doesn’t deserve to be treated the way that he has been! All those souls that you ,” Emily jabbed her finger at Sera, “Allowed to be killed don’t deserve that either! I can’t sit by any more! You can’t keep lying, Sera!”
“Emily!” Sera shouted, the murmurs around the room quieted down and the council stared at her. They had never seen either one of the Seraphim lose their temper! “I can’t keep warning you! After what you’ve done here, I can’t keep protecting you!”
From the back of the room, Lute stood from her seat with a scowl on her face as she looked around at the chaos that was beginning to unfold. “You have just destroyed the sanctity of this realm! Now all of Heaven will be torn because of this!”
Before she knew what else to say or do, Emily felt herself being pushed out of the meeting room.