Bustling, that was the atmosphere of Hazbin Hotel for Charlie Morningstar in her ambition of redeeming sinners, though the effort was near impossible with the start of her work already a misery with the less than successful commercial she attempted with Vaggie after meeting Alastor and his blatant desire to see failure in the making.
She hunched over in the chair of her office after two days of not a single visitor nor a word of rumor from the chaotic pentagram city as territorial war raged on below the hill of her hotel.
It certainly didn't help that Angel Dust, Vaggie, Nifty, and of course her new colleague, Alastor—The Radio Demon, we're getting acquainted in a less than friendly manner with so much indifference downstairs in the foyer while the princess was trying to find new ideas to boost her dream.
"Nothing is working," she began to stress so early into her work and ruffled her own hair aggressively. "There's gotta be something that can help!"
She shot out of her chair and marched to the window, leaning to it and seeing her realm so destructive and carnal with hatred as fires looked in various streets. A shadow of doubt cast her mind before she shook it off and forced that chipper attitude back into her body.
A smile donned her, a tired one, but a smile nonetheless.
"It will work. I just have to try harder."
She walked out of her office enthusiastically with intention to ease the start of her day with hope.
As she made her way downstairs she was greeted by the banter of Angel Dust and Vaggie going at it again for his disregard of representing the hotel as the first demon to seek redemption. The two fought in an exchange of words about his constant act of lust outside the hotel even when he promised to be good for Charlie.
"Are you ever going to take this seriously!?"
Charlie heard that from her girlfriend with such a scathing tone of disapproval, and looked from the top of the stairs to see her fuming at the spider demon who uncaringly sat at Husk's bar and drank from a long night of debauchery.
Angel being his usual self didn't even look at Vaggie and swigged another glass with a mocking breath of relief to the burning sensation in his throat.
"I'm on it alright—" he waved off waved like she was another patron to his work. "I'll get right tomorrow alright."
Charlie wanted to intervene but wasn't one for confrontation among friends. In stead she descended the stairs and narrowly avoid nifty zooming past her in a clean spree, almost stumbling back.
"Sorry Charlie!"
"That's alright." Charlie called out to her and sighed a tinge of frustrstion.
Her walk through the foyer resumed as she found some bit of good in thennew housekeeper making the hotel so spotless even in its run down state. Her gaze wandered in her stroll to the dust and cobwebs nonexistent now and gave her a feeling of gratitude she couldn't express when the little one eyed demon was a blur already in the common room, giggling maniacal to the bugs she found for her collection.
"Okay," Charlie drawled with uncertainty in thanking Nifty now and entered the lounge where she found her new host sitting by and watching Vaggie and Angel Dust from afar with a cup of tea in hand and his signature smile beaming darkly.
"Good morning, Charlotte." Alastor raised his cup to her before a long sip of the blood infused brew. "Are you enjoying the chaos of your friends as much as I?"
Charlie narrowed her eyes slightly at the mention of the nearby bickering and took a seat across the coffee table. "I don't find it entertaining like you, Alastor."
"And why not?" He set his cup down, musing the moment of her irritation. "It's one of the best forms of entertainment in the morning."
Charlie sighed and looked back reluctantly. "This isn't going to help with getting sinners to come. They'll leave as soon as they see how much fighting happens."
Alastor nodded knowingly. "Perhaps a little authority will smooth things out?"
Charlie turned back to him and shook her head in defiance as Alastor continued to watch. "No. I won't use my status as princess to make everyone behave."
It was evident her status was a touchy subject, and Alastor took a mental note for the foreseeable future while continuing to push the matter.
"Kindness will only get you so far dear," he told so mildly before his demeanor darkened.
He clutched a fist of malice to the princess and hissed darkly. "Sometimes you have to be the authority to get the results you want."
Charlie leaned away from his dark but receding demeanor, maintaining that chipper personality, though with obvious sense of naivety. "Well it's mean so no. Plus I believe they'll sort they're problems out soon."
Her enthusiasm cracked in her smile when a glass was heard to be smashed on Husk's bar, followed by the bickering now full blown yelling with Husk now involved.
Said enthusiasm strained under her twitched smile as Alastor widened his own, knowingly to the growing chaos.
"Are you sure?" He tilted his head, clearly mocking her a little while a change in the atmosphere happened behind him.
Charlie strained herself more to remain enthusiastic until the change in the room grew into a strange spark of light happening behind Alastor. Her frustration stopped and curiosity grew in her eyes as the spark grew behind the radio demon.
Alastor was in his own drone of pushing the princess into showing some authority, unaware of the growing light now swirling with a hole in the center.
It was a hole of lingering darkness with a figure fading in and out as Charlie stood abruptly and pointed.
"Alastor!"
The radio demon gave a confused look at the suddenly concerned princess and turned back to the the hole as it started to pulsate and hum, while the rest of the gang came into the lounge to see.
"What the fuck!?" Vaggie summoned her spear and readied to fight whatever was looming in the hole.
"Interesting." Alastor stood up and turned to the mystery figure standing in the hole. "And who might you—"
Before his question could be finished, the figure tossed an unconscious man onto the floor at Charlie's feet.
The looming figure in the dark hole had no visible appearance other than the outline of a woman under a clock and tears under her amber eyes before she turned away and waved her hand.
"Hold it!" Vaggie yelled and went to charge, but the figure barely looked back at her with but a whisper.
"Keep him safe."
The hole had shrunk into nothingness before Vaggie reach the cloaked woman, but now the confusion became a mystery when everyone saw that the unconscious person was a human.
Charlie was shock by the presence of the newcomer and sank to one knee to touch his tanned skin, but Vaggie was quick to kneel as well and stop her hand.
"Babe, don't." She wasn't as curious as her princess. "It's a human."
Charlie looked to vaggie with mild shock like the others but gasped from the corner of her eye at seeing a note taped to the human's chest as he laid there with Alastor checking his pulse.
"It's alive," his amusement was more now as Charlie took the note. "How interesting that a human was suddenly thrown at you, princess."
"Why a human though?" Husk was intrigued now and even stopped himself from having a glass.
Vaggie maintained a hard glare with her spear pointed as Angel Dust moved the human's snowy hair from his face and breathed a low whistle.
"Damn, not bad looking." He grinned lustfully while nobody noticed the blush across Charlie.
"Who the hell was that?" Husk looked to where the hole was just now but no particles were even left to sense.
Sadly no one had an answer, but the mystery grew when Charlie composed herself and read the note aloud for everyone to hear.
"Keep his soul safe.... Natasha"
"Natasha?" Vaggie narrowed her gaze with suspicion as Charlie checked the back, only to find it blank. "Anybody know a Natasha?"
Everyone shook their heads, even the radio demon himself as he pondered the whole situation.
Charlie in the moment ignored Vaggie's protests again and touch the human on his face, feeling what was soft skin for the first time as it made her heart race.
"He's pretty." Nifty commented with a sinister smile. "Maybe he's a bad boy."
"Oh I hope so." Angel Dust lips his lips hungrily with various thoughts of interacting with the human.
"Knock it off!" Vaggie scolded but remained guarded as she watched Charlie examine him closer with her hand tracing his chest.
"Wow…." She breathed in wonder of the scars on his muscular chest when she looked past the torn short. "Some of these look fresh and healed."
Alastor was too intrigued now by the note hooked the remained of said shirt with a nail, dragging it across to finish the tear and reveal that Charlie was right. Some of them were freshly hued in pink and still closing off with dried blood.
"Interesting," Alastor widened his sickly smile and raced with thoughts as his nail touched the skin.
His gaze lingered back to the note in Charlie's hand before he had an intrusion of desire. He loved drama, but he loved uncovering mysteries even more and it fueled the darkness in his mind.
"Alastor?" Charlie watched with the others as the radio demon chuckled and raised his hand at the human.
"Let's find out why his soul is important!" He cackled and thrusted his claws with a dark aura.
Everyone protested to his horror, the most being Charlie going to dive over the human to protect him, but the matter of being too late wasn't what had them stunned.
The moment his claws even touched the human with malice, a flash of light grew as a barrier and blasted from the unconscious man, deflecting the attack and sending the surprised demon into a wall.
There was always a moment in life where even the worst of demons were caught by surprise, and Alastor was that demon after bouncing off the wall as Angel Dust yelled, "HOLY SHIT!"
Vaggie dropped her spear in shock of the moment and almost broke character with a strained smile coming on. Husk dropped his bottle and gawked while Nifty was at a standstill for the first time.
"Alastor!" Charlie was concerned as well but apprehensive of moving from the human after what the radio demon attempted. "Are you okay?"
"Just fine." He grunted painfully and pushed himself up from the floor, glaring over his smile with rage burning in his eyes. "Seems our new guest has tricks up his sleeve."
Charlie just gazed down at the man as his breathing steadied again, wondering what human could do that.
Alastor, in his disheveled rage, dusted himself off after recovering and approached with the same malice now showing in the static of his form.
"I'll tear that—"
Charlie didn't give him a chance to finish and huddled over the human protectively. "No, you won't touch him!" She glared up to him in defiance. "Whatever you tried you deserved what you got, trying to attack a helpless human!"
She had a very valid point and it had the others on her side as they rounded the two protectively, glaring at Alastor as Charlie lifted the man in her arms and held him to her chest.
"She's right smiles," Angel Dust crossed his arms and stared with distrust. "Whatever you were trying, it's obvious it wasn't friendly."
"I just wanted to see his soul!" Alastor shouted angrily, the sound of static magnifying in his microphone. "He's a human in our realm after some stranger tossed him. There's clearly something abnormal about him and needs to be discovered!"
"Not by trying to stab his chest!" Charlie shouted back, hugging the man tighter into her form as she looked up to the others. "Guys, help me get him up!"
The shuffling of hands from everyone but the furious radio demon echoed in the room before they guided his limp form at Charlie's order, "Let's get him on the couch."
The man whimpered a breath as they carried him, his blank expression now discomfort while Charlie held his head.
"Shhhh," she soothed gently. "It's okay, you're safe. Nobody will hurt you."
She had no idea what happened, or even what to do as they closed in to the couch. However, something told her that whoever he was there was going to be a journey behind his appearance.
"Angel!" Vaggie snapped at the grinning spider demon as she struggled holding a leg. "Stop grabbing his ass!"
"I can't help it." Angel gave another squeeze before they all laid him down. "He's got a nice ass."
"Shit," Husk was struggling the most and grunted from straightening his back with an audible crack. "The fucker weighs a ton!"
"Vaggie, get me a blanket please." Charlie requested tentatively while shooting the distraught man in his unconscious state by caressing his head.
Vaggie nodded and made haste to the other room, running to find the afghan in the foyer.
"What was that anyway?" Nifty looked over to the still unhappy radio demon maintaining distance.
"I'm not sure myself." Alastor, even with his smile, couldn't hide the discomfort of his humiliating failure. "But whatever it was it was clearly his soul responding violently."
Husk gave a bemused look as Vaggie returned with the afghan.
"No shit, boss. You tried to delve into his soul and basically made you back the fuck up."
Alastoe growled dangerously as Charlie took the blanket and draped it over the human, continuing what care she knew to give, her expression one of a mix of fascination and worry.
It had been an interesting morning already and now the chaos silenced with mystery after all.
Vaggie had finally taken her spear off the floor and dissipated it knowingly that any threat potentially met the same result as Alastor. However, a lingering jealousy etched her mind as she saw how Charlie was enamored with touching the man as he calmed down to her.
"Babe, maybe not touch him so much?" She crossed her arms and glared.
Charlie blushed and frowned back at her but quickly dismissed it and continued her efforts to keep him calm.
"I'm just worried about him. I've never seen a human before and now we have one that some cloaked woman threw at me, and blasted Alastor into a wall."
Angel Dust grinned and more or less invaded the personal space by leaning down to the human's face.
"Maybe a kiss will wake up cutie here."
Charlie and the others simply rolled their eyes as the next response from said human came with more discomfort and slight movement in his form, as if he was trying to get away.
"Looks like he's having a nightmare." Vaggie suggested thoughtfully, making Charlie worry some more and double her efforts with soft whispers on his ear.
"It's okay. Nobody is going to hurt you."
His discomfort remained but slowly lessened to which he subconsciously leaned to her hand on his cheek, seeking that comfort which made her smile warmly.
Vaggie was still unsure and unhappy though with the whole situation. She raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend, wanting to know the intention behind those kind eyes sharing such care.
"So what should we do with him?"
Charlie motioned the next step without a hesitating thought, in which she said so firmly to Vaggie and the others.
"Whoever that mystery woman was clearly entrusted us to protect this human, so that's what we will do."
Her gaze shifted to the still distant radio demon. "And that means no attempts to read his soul."
Alastor rolled his eyes at the princess' dramatic authority but reluctantly nodded and chalked up the matter to her emotions fixed on the human.
It was more doable to understand that Charlie was expressing feelings than to understand her motive for the situation.
"Look," Nifty piped in and pointed to the human. "His eyes!"
Everyone looked down curiously as the human started to flutter his eyes open. He groaned with a tense headache barely soothed by the touch of the princess as he winced.
"Where….." he focused his blurry vision to the best of his ability and came face to face from looking up to the princess of hell smiling down at him. "What….."
Unlike her usually chipper and enthusiastic drive for meeting new people, Charlie beamed warmth and a gentle tone while massaging his temples.
"Stay still. We don't know if you're injured."
The human froze entirely as she and the others peered into his wide amber gaze. He slowly sat up with his stare carefully fixed from one demon to another with no a fathom of ability to process what just happened.
"I think you broke his brain Charlie." Angel laughed deeply.
The man remained silent and stared at the hallway across the lounge room until it finally clicked in his brain he wasn't where he expected.
He suddenly shook his head and proceeded to process the situation.
"You've finally lost it, Noctis. You're seeing people dressed up as halloween monsters and probably drank too much." He told himself while trying to massage his headache and understand his garments. "And who the hell tore my shirt open?"
Charlie's face brightened at the revelation. He was not so much a mystery now….
"You have a beautiful name sir."
Noctis looked around the lounge room for a brief moment before covering up his chest when so many people were staring, more so Angel Dust with that lustful gaze he carried.
"Oh don't cover up handsome. I like what I see."
He blushed profusely and stood up to pace back and forth after he wrapped said afghan around his form, which made the spider demon pout.
"Okay I'm definitely losing it because I'm surrounded by people who have really good masks on their face."
"Actually we're demons!" Nifty chimed energetically, blinking her one big eye up to him.
Noctis went wide eyed again in disbelief before his attention drew to each individual watching him carefully.
Angel insisted in blowing a kiss while Charlie rounded the couch to confront him as gently as she could put it.
"Noctis, we aren't human like you. We're demons and you're here in Hazbin Hotel, a safe haven for sinners seeking redemption."
Noctis just stood there like a statue, his eyes had become as wide as dinner plates to the nervous princess smiling sheepishly.
"He's gonna crack." Husk pointed out.
"Noctis?" Charlie went to touch his hand, but the man fell back on the floor and passed out.
They immediately surrounded, looking over his form and stared curiously while Angel commented with a smug grin.
"By the way, welcome to hell hotstuff."