Chapter Text
Vox had changed.
And who was left to pick up the pieces but his best friend?
Velvette stared at the blank lock screen on her phone, acting like she was focused and busy… she had been doing that a lot lately.
She felt exhausted from the earlier argument with Valentino, they were once again trying to decide if they should attend the monthly Overlord meeting or not.
If they refused to go then it wouldn’t be entirely out of character, it would be as if nothing had changed.
But something had changed.
Vox changed.
However- if they attended the meeting it would be like they were admitting that something was different, it was showing weakness. She found herself glaring at the locked on her phone at the thought as the elevator took her up to the higher levels of the building.
She and Val were hopeless, every time they came to a conclusion they second guessed themselves- or decided to play devil's advocate or… something. Then they'd actually begin to question if maybe the other side was right and they’d be back to spiralling. Usually Vox handled these hard- reputation shaping decisions… but they couldn’t rely on Vox right now. No. They'd have to do this without him.
One thing the two of them had agreed on was the fact that if either of them went- it had to be Velvette.
Backbone of the Vees indeed.
The elevator doors opened with a ding and she found herself walking out into a hallway with the other overlords making their way to the meeting room. They spared her glances but didn’t seem to acknowledge her other than that. Velvette pushes down a smirk. Their egos had been hurt. Vox had tricked them- and now they saw Velvette as just another overlord he swindled with his charismatic tongue.
Good. That’s best for everyone.
As she walked into the meeting room she took a seat beside Zeesi, a dinosaur overlord who had very vocally supported Vox only a few months ago.. She didn’t seem so vocal now- seemed to learn how to hold her tongue. Velvette once again flicked open her phone and stared at an empty notification wall.
…Vox hated it when she did that.
A stolen glance out the window showed the Pride Ring struggling to rebuild after Vox's weapon shot through the city. Apparently Lucifer was still struggling to recover from ‘The Might of Lilith’ even two months later, leaving the sinners to try and fix it themselves. But even then- sinners abilities usually were a range of destructive attacks, nobody in Hell has the same creation powers as Lucifer Morningstar.
And there was still the looming threat of the Angels.
Carmilla Carmine entered the room, her pale grey skin contrasting with her red eyes and bleach white hair that spiked in spires. Velvette tried not to roll her eyes. Carmine's terrible taste in fashion made her want to blow her brains out, that skin tight ballerina outfit seemed too prudish and too sluttly at the same time. Somebody put her out of her misery.
Her eyes flicked to where Alastor slid next to Rosie at the far end of the table. His deer ears flicked absentmindedly, his eyes drifting face to face without a care in the world. Velvette tried not to scowl, wasn’t he still injured from his battle with Adam? Or his battle with Vox for that matter? Why was he acting so confident when Velvette was pretty sure even SHE could take him in his state…. What on Earth was she missing?
Carmilla cleared her throat and Velvette turned her head along with her fellow overlords. She made a show of not putting her phone away- she didn’t want them to think she's changed too much.
Carmilla ignored her, “Welcome, Sovereign Overlords. I have gathered you here because of the ever present threat of the Angels… and the destruction of the greater half of the Pride Ring. We have to try and rebuild and fortify defenses simultaneously." Carmilla Carmine stated cooly, eyes half lidded as she carried on.
Velvette could have sworn she saw Alastor's grin sharpen at the mention of the ‘destruction’. Fuck, she’d have to tell Val later… Maybe Vox wasn’t as safe as they thought.
“Can’t we just focus on defenses and wait for the King to get his shit together?” Muttered an overlord in the back with a thick western accent, they had also supported Vox, Vel hadn’t bothered to remember his name.
Carmine let out a breath “We cannot rely on the royal family to fix our problems, they already proved they can’t.” A murmur spread throughout the table, they had all seen the fool Vox made a fool out of Lucifer… twice. Carmilla continued “We need to work together… for now… we need to focus our resources sparingly so we have a chance when Heaven comes for us and our souls.” And they will come for us, Velvette fidgeted. Sure that tiny angel who saved them from the cannon was on their side- but the others? They had tried to drag the little angel away- dooming the entire Pride Ring. What were their names…?
“Surely you're not asking for help, are you Carmilla?” The static voice pulled contrasting feelings from Velvette as she shot a look towards Alastor- who promptly ignored her. Asshole.
Carmilla rolled her eyes “Alastor- unlike you I don’t let my ego and pride blind my choices, you fought Adam. You know what we’re up against.” she says coldly
Alastor let out a hum in amusement, letting Carmilla continue without argument. Carmilla began listing the names of Overlords and supplying them with tasks. She left no room for argument, everyone knew by now she arms herself with angelic weaponry; nobody protested.
“Velvette, you and Valentino need to figure out what Vox meant when he introduced ‘Angelic Security’ a year ago, if he was onto something we need to know.” Carmilla ordered, it was the first time anyone had mentioned Vox, she caught Zeesi bristle. Vel made a show of shrugging, not looking up from her phone's lock screen. She did notice Alastor studying her…
She had to tell Valentino about his interest the moment she got back to Vee tower, this couldn’t be a good sign.
Then, without fanfare, the meeting was over. Velvette continued to swipe at notifications that didn’t exist as she slowly made her way to the elevator, looking as bored as ever. She blinked when at the last second Alastor slipped in as the elevator doors shut with a click of finality.
“Velvette! It’s been too long since we last talked! I had grown accustomed to our… chats.” He says all too cheerfully, the radio static distorting his voice ever so slightly like it always did.
Velvette played along, ignoring the feeling of dread in her stomach “Well I’m glad you're not tied to a chair this time.”
Alastor's grin sharpens “I miss that chair.” Vel blinks confused, He continues “We should all meet up again like old times! I miss you and Valentino's company… maybe you can even bring your friend.” Velvette's blood ran cold. Here we go-
Velvette rolled her eyes “Don’t talk to me about him, I told everyone before- he’s gone. We shut him down and the next morning when we woke up he was nowhere to be found.” Velvette scoffs “If he was smart he’d have left the Pride Ring by now, everyone here wants him dead or worse. He’d be an idiot to stick around.”
Alastor hums, “He’s not in the penthouse.”
A shiver ran up Velvette’s spine “What?” Had he been in Vee tower?
“And nobody has seen him in two months. So he’s not in the penthouse… he’s not mingling with the staff… So where did you hide the picture box?”
Velvette finds her courage to shoot him a defiant look “You think me and Val want anything to do with that bitch? He used us- then threw us out! Just like everybody else in that fucking meeting. So screw you for even bringing him up!”
“You haven’t changed the name of the company.”
“I don’t like paperwork. And Val’s an idiot.” Vel shot back.
Alastor grins “You were nervous when I walked in the room. Why? I have no vendetta against you. You and Val at least made being Vox's unwilling audience tolerable. Unless… unless you know something I don’t.” Alastor's eyes flicked to radio dials and Vel forced herself to hold her ground
“You’re the fucking radio demon. Of course I’m nervous.” It hurt Vel’s pride a bit to say- but she’ll say anything to keep the radio demon away from Vee tower.
A pause
“...I’m going to find him. And when I do you and Valentino will follow shortly after.” And with that Alastor dissolved into shadow, leaving Velvette alone as the elevator descended
…She was going to be sick.