Chapter Text
Hell:
Hell was finally beginning to settle down. The silence almost felt like the world itself was trying to erase the scars of war. The traces of the rebellious wave Vox had unleashed were slowly fading.
The guests who had abandoned the Hazbin Hotel during the chaos Vox caused had started coming back. But they weren't the only ones returning.
Lilith, who had reached out to Charlie, told her she was coming back—and sure enough, just a few days after that conversation, she showed up at the hotel's front door. She didn't even refuse Charlie's offer to stay there as a guest.
Charlie was both shocked and overjoyed by the sudden return of the mother she hadn't been able to reach for eight years. At the same time, though, she couldn't suppress the hurt she'd been carrying or her need to ask where Lilith had been all this time. But whenever she tried to bring up those missing eight years, Lilith would change the subject, telling Charlie how much she'd missed her and how much she'd grown. After a while, Charlie simply gave up trying.
But Charlie wasn't the only one affected by Lilith's return. Lucifer barely left his room after she arrived. Then he disappeared, leaving Charlie a note saying he needed some time away, that he'd be alright, and that he'd come back once he was ready.
Charlie assumed he'd gone beyond the Pride Ring, somewhere in the lower parts of Hell where the other six Rings ruled by the Seven Deadly Sins were located. She knew her mother's sudden return had probably hit her father much harder than it had her. The longing Lucifer had carried for Lilith wasn't even comparable to Charlie's.
The problem was, aside from constantly telling Charlie how much she'd missed her, Lilith barely left the guest room she'd been given. She hadn't said a single word about Lucifer. Whatever she felt about him, she seemed determined to keep it to herself.
Whenever Charlie started worrying that her parents' relationship might already be beyond saving, Vaggie was always there to calm her down.
Meanwhile, Angel was still staying at Valentino's "workplace" instead of returning to the hotel. Husk was... completely falling apart because of it. He barely spoke to anyone, and he couldn't even sleep at night from worrying about Angel. Niffty and Baxter carried on with their usual odd behavior while doing their best to support Husk.
Vox had regained his body and, after promising Valentino that he would never let himself get carried away like that again, had returned to running VoxTech.
Yes, the war was over. But it almost felt like everyone else's personal war had only just begun.
Heaven:
The weapon created through Vox's idea, Carmilla's design, and Lucifer's power had shattered Heaven's shield. Heaven was now officially defenseless.
And... it seemed like conflict was beginning to brew from within as well. An unfulfilled revenge and a poisonous love: Lute.
Overwhelmed by grief and rage, her own mind had begun playing tricks on her, making her see Adam as a ghost standing by her side. She no longer spoke to anyone and rarely left her room.
The problem was... Adam's ghost was slowly eating away at her from the inside. It kept pushing her toward revenge, using Lute's love for him to do it. Her own mind had become utterly merciless toward her, and there was no one left by her side to save her.
She had been forgotten...
As time passed, Adam's ghost became more and more... persuasive. More insistent. Eventually, her own mind, wearing Adam's face, presented her with a plan:
Make a deal with the Ophanims.
The Ophanims were four-winged angels, ranking below the six-winged Seraphim but above the two-winged Archangels. They held considerable authority within Heaven's judicial system, known as the Heaven Council. They were a powerful, authoritative, and noble class of angels.
Their leader was Archon Lumiel. Lumiel was deeply devoted to tradition and authority, willing to do whatever it took to preserve both. He saw the abolition of the exterminations as a direct threat to Heaven's authority over Hell and strongly opposed Sera's compassionate, forgiveness-driven policies.
The rest of the Ophanims shared Lumiel's unwavering devotion to authority. Just because one sinner had managed to redeem themselves didn't mean the rest would follow the same path. They believed that ending the exterminations would only lead to more incidents like Vox's rebellion, more uprisings, and ultimately the collapse of Heaven's authority. They demanded that the exterminations continue.
Sera refused every time.
By striking a deal with Lumiel, Lute could overpower Sera. No matter how powerful a Seraphim was, there was a limit to how many angels they could stand against alone. So when Adam's ghost suggested the idea, Lute didn't reject it.
But there was one step that had to come first. She needed to gather the other exorcists who had been left without a purpose after Sera put an end to the exterminations.
That part wasn't difficult. The exorcists were executioners who genuinely enjoyed killing, making them easy enough for Lute to persuade.
Now the real game was about to begin:
Making a deal with Lumiel...
...and together, overthrowing Sera's rule.