Noctis limped into the lobby after getting firsthand use of the new elevator, and he couldn't be any happier that they finally had one that functioned without the malfunctions the old one had. His enjoyment though wasn't to last when he mostly leaned on Beezlebub for support and to find the lobby was as Angel Dust described.
Cherri and Husk were in a shouting match with Velvette who was demanding for his presence and potentially ready to pick a fight with how her power flared.
Michael was standing in the lobby with what appeared to be an ashen body in his arms.
Blitz was drunk and getting dragged to the lobby couch by Millie and Moxxie after downing more liquor than intended.
And finally the freed exorcists were standing by with no weapons but a serious aggression toward the overlord and her workers that were already sorting out the equipment they dragged in.
"What. The. Fuck." Noctis disbelieved what he was witnessing while getting closer.
He looked between the entire situation and wasn't sure at this point if he had the mental energy to calm things down. But Loona was quick to step into that situation when she didn't care for other peoples feelings.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
Everyone stopped mid of their activities and went silent except for Blitz and his shenanigan of falling off the barstool after downing another drink.
Noctis was actually impressed by the bristling hellhound and her ability to make the entire lobby quiet just by raising her voice and flicking her tail aggressively to show she meant business.
"Good girl." He praised and rubbed the top of her head.
Loona immediately perked up and calmed down just for her own satisfaction of Noctis helping her affection.
Like a lost puppy she held onto him and nuzzled into his neck, whimpering and purring while the lobby eased a little of the tension by seeing her docile nature.
"Right…." Husk drawled before he looked to Charlie. "You wanna handle this, princess?"
"Handle what exactly?" Charlie asked before establishing her place in front of Noctis, crossing her arms and standing protectively against Velvette. "What exactly are you doing here anyway?"
Velvette knew this was gonna be a drama show but she couldn't care at all about it, not with how she rolled eyes and snapped her fingers for her girls to start unpacking the equipment.
"I'm here to pay my debt, but you wouldn't understand that since your daddy gave you a treasury." Velvette sneered at the now confused princess.
"Debt?" Noctis questioned before anyone else.
He flinched when the fashionista grinned and teleported into his space at the disregard of Loona snarling again.
"Yes, you adorably naive prat." She teased a gentle flick of his forehead and retracted when Loona snapped her jaws. "Easy Fido."
"It's Loona!" Loona raised her hackles higher.
"Whatever." Velvette dismissed and turned her attention back to Noctis. "Listen here and listen good because this is once in a lifetime opportunity I'm doing."
"Oppurtunity" Everyone exclaimed, annoying the overlord even more so.
"Yes, just out of the goodness of my blackened heart." She sneered sarcastically but put on a sweet smile for Noctis. "Listen, we got off on the wrong foot."
"Obviously when you and those two idiots tried to enslave me." Noctis pointed out flatly, ignoring how Loona tucked under his neck like an omega protecting her alpha
"Right, not my idea anyway." Velvette said, though her tone didn't convince anyone, not even Vaggie who stood ready with her spear.
"Why are you here?" Charlie asked with readiness to summon her trident.
"As I said, to pay my debt." Velvette spat.
"Meaning?" Beezlebub was curious enough now to stand behind Noctis with a hand on his shoulder.
"Velvette we are ready." Melissa called from the lounge.
"Ready for what?" Noctis asked, just before Velvette grinned and used a little bit of magic of her own to summon a tape that measured him on the spot.
Vaggie wasn't liking this much like the rest of the gang, so she nodded to the exorcists that wanted to see her in the first place.
These girls were quick to undo their wings and use flight to surprise Velvette when they flew up and came straight back down in a large protective circle around Noctis.
Weapons or not, they would fight.
"Stay away from our lord!" The eldest barked this order and raised her fists, but Velvette scoffed at the threat even when Husk and Cherri got in it as well.
"Oh shut it and let me work." Velvette said uncaringly and teleported to Noctis, breaking the space between with how she was taking measurements at the disregard of Loona ready to bite her.
"If you hurt him….."
Velvette rolled her eyes and maintained her thoughtful process of each number her tape gave. She didn't bother addressing how rough she handled the bewildered Noctis that was barely standing as is and looking over to Michael.
"There we go." She hummed and teleported back to her girls, handing the numbers to Melissa on a notepad. "Get to work. I want this done in two hours so we don't make Vox suspicious."
Melissa nodded and started barking orders while Charlie decided to press the matter with a more subtle approach.
"No offense Velvette but last time you and the other Vees were trying to enslave Noctis and slander my name."
"Your point?" Velvette dismissed, earning a huff from Charlie before she put back on her friendly face.
"My point is you are not exactly the most..... trustworthy.... So what did you mean by paying your debt?"
Most demons with the mentality they possess would have acted out for being called or insinuated as untrusting, but Velvette wasn't affected at all by it. If anything she felt challenged and wanted to make things very clear to everyone in the room.
And so she could crossed her arms and glared at the princess and former exorcist with the other angels still standing ready to fight.
"Adam planned to wipe out hell, right?"
"Yeah, why do you ask?" Vaggie responded in a skeptic tone.
"Because if hell was to be wiped out I would no longer have any servants or business to keep my everyday life going peachy. So yeah, I'm paying off my debt by making your bloody angel some clothes so he can look like a proper fucking leader!"
"Don't call me an angel." Noctis said in a stern tone.
Velvette cocked an eyebrow at his dislike of what he was, seeing as how he had the wings and that halo-crown to go with his appearance, but she shrugged and resumed her command of her workers.
Noctis was already at his wits end as is but still had so much to deal with. Next thing was Michael who remained still the entire time but now approached with the ashen body in his arms.
"And what the hell is that?" Noctis sighed.
"It is the collected ashes of those bodies…..son." Michael answered with a hitch in calling him son. "Your princess demanded I help so I burned them all and made the ashes into a singular body."
Noctis softened his expression and looked to Charlie after she held his hand.
"You did this?"
"I know you wouldn't want them to stay there." She smiled lovingly, massaging her thumb over his hand. "I know you'd want them to be respected."
Noctis was at a loss of words to express his gratitude, so he did the next best thing or better in Charlie's case. He kissed her more tenderly than he had ever done before and parted just enough to touch his head to hers.
"I love you so much." He whispered against her lips, feeling the breaths of her giggling while Velevette internally gagged at the moment.
"And I love you more."
"So that's all the sinners together?" Angel Dust asked the nodding archangel and turned to Noctis. "So what are you gonna do now?"
Noctis didn't need to think about the next step. He parted from Charlie, from everyone that was holding him up or protecting him, and limped to the doors at pure disregard of their concern.
"Noctis you need to rest." Carmilla told him firmly and tried to grab his arm, but was rejected by the way he leaned away.
"I have to do this, mom." He grabbed the door and took himself out to the renewed grounds and started to descend each step with a pained grunt.
His defiance wasn't respected though. He was still grabbed by Carmilla and forced to stop.
"I am your mother and you will not defy me!" She scolded, and tried to pull him back.
Strangely though she couldn't move Noctis even when he barely had the strength to stand. It was like his body became a mountain both sturdy and unmoving while the others came out to see she was being ignored.
A flicker of uncertainty stayed for the overlord before she saw what made her so attached in the first place. Despite being broken and exhausted, Noctis still had the same fire in his eyes that would erupt whenever he had something to do.
And this was that time.
"I am finishing this." Noctis didn't leave room for argument.
Everyone expected Carmilla to enforce his time of rest, but she nodded and helped him down the steps.
Charlie and Vaggie were the most confused now when Carmilla was the most adamant about Noctis being on recovery. Their experience of seeing the overlord be motherly to Noctis was something they knew all too-well from over the year of her involvement. Yet here they were, watching the two slowly walk past Dazzle's statue and find something that caught his attention.
"This will do." Noctis slowly patted the dirt for his own certainty, and looked to Michael.
Words were not needed at that point when the archangel nodded and joined them by gently laying the blank body on the ground. Still they gathered, circling out of their own curiosity while Velvette held back on the steps for her own reputation.
The only praise for this was Husk patting Noctis gently on his bruised shoulder before the real work started.
"Bury it and do it right." Noctis ordered with no room for argument, then turned his gaze to the freed exorcists. "Help him."
Michael did not protest for anything in the matter. He knew better and so did the freed exorcists that circled closer. He dropped to his knees and disregarded the dirt touching his armor before the first scoop of dirt was lifted in his hands.
The freed exorcists followed with unearthing this spot, scooping the dirt in their hands like they some common sinners. They didn't care though, not when they all felt their status as angels was tainted and unworthy with all the bloodshed on their hands.
"You're burying the body?" Angel Dust asked a little surprised.
Noctis nodded but perked up from his determined glare when his perverted disregarded the relationship with Charlie, Vaggie, Beezlebub and Loona. Noctis blinked repeatedly to the warm and fuzzy kiss on his cheek when Angel hugged him tenderly from behind.
"Don't ever change." Angel whispered, though it felt more as a plea than a request.
Noctis chuckled quietly and leaned back to Angel, feeling the warmth of that fur calm his nerves in a way none of the girls could when they were always wanting his attention.
"Angel….."
"Yeah toots."
"Take me back upstairs." Noctis said politely, and was easily scooped in the four arms of his friend that obliged.
————————————————————
A few hours later of much needed rest but still completely useless, Noctis sat up in the bed of the penthouse suite with a rather tired Loona sharing the same bed with Beezlebub, both which were somehow sprawled over his form and snoring even louder than him.
He was silent and blankly staring at the tray of food Beezlebub materialized earlier as the growling of his stomach became unbearably annoying. He was hurting and completely exhausted but the hunger was too strong to ignore when the burgers were still visibly steaming with heat.
He didn't understand how but his best guess was Beezlebub using her powers to make it work.
He licked his lips and grinned with an idea.
Meanwhile the lounge room was full with everyone but Charlie who just came back from checking on Michael and the freed exorcists.
"The burial is done." She said and sighed with relief after taking a seat between Vaggie and Angel. "Ugh, this is all too much."
Vaggie just smiled and and took Charlie with the usual petting of the hair after laying her head down.
"Proud of you babe."
"Proud of what?" Charlie covered her face and whined while Angel joined by rubbing her back. "I got so many people killed for my dream."
Angel could understand that as he tried to be optimistic for her.
"Hey we all knew the risk. You can't save everyone when you're fighting the system."
Like the usual child she acts when things don't go her way, Charlie rolled her face into Vaggie's lap and whined pathetically enough to make most of the people in the room laugh.
"I'm proud because you're stepping up." Vaggie clarified, feeling her lover start to cry.
"What's there to be proud of?"
Now that was a stupid question and it was stupid enough to make Husk skeptical and irritated to the point of putting his two sense.
"You can't be serious after everything!" He exclaimed.
Charlie barely looked from the corner of her eye to the tipsy bartender that gestured to the new hotel.
"Kid you stopped extermination day, helped Noctis kill Adam, and you stepped up for him."
"Stepped up how?" Charlie asked though disbelieving his words.
"You stepped up when he crashed out from showing us all those bodies in that mountain your dad did. You ordered Michael, the most feared archangel, clean up the mess and even went out to make sure he was burying the body properly."
"It's what Noctis would have wanted." Charlie hugged herself.
"Exactly!" Husk exclaimed with the others agreeing.
"He's right you know." Millie chimed in while holding Blitz over a throw—up bucket. "You're basically stepping up as Noctis' right hand."
"Or his omega as Loona puts it." Moxxie clarified with a matter-of-fact attitude.
"Omega?" Charlie questioned.
"You don't know?" Moxxie asked and coughed his throat to explain when Vaggie and the others shook their heads. "Well for a hellhound the omega is the right hand of the alpha in a pack. By Loona's nature as a hellhound she is working toward being that."
"Somebody hang me." Blitz gagged in the bucket with reassuring pats on his back from Stolas.
"But our relationship isn't like that." Vaggie protested, though Moxxie shook his head at them.
"Maybe not but Loona by nature is trying to establish herself at the top of the pecking order of what you have going on. It's how hellhounds act when they want the attention of who they consider their alpha."
"So basically there's gonna be an attention seeking throwdown?" Husk questioned before pouring himself a drink.
"Depends on whoever makes Loona backdown. If none then she will be the omega." Millie clarified
"My daughter is not staying with—" Blitz paused with a nasty burp in the trash can. "Some feathery fucktard."
"Ignore him." Stolas advised with a smile. "He's just protective."
Vaggie rolled her eyes at the overbearing fatherly protection and got up after moving Charlie off.
"I'm gonna go check on Noctis."
Charlie thought it to be a good idea and decided to follow Vaggie to the elevator but felt Carmilla firmly stop her with a hand to the shoulder while Clara and Odette came from the kitchen with a list.
"We need to talk."
That was a little surprising for the princess but she complied when the overlord took her away from the group and showed her the reason behind this strange encounter. The fridge was opened to be full per usual of Charlie staying on top of groceries needs, so it didn't make sense that Carmilla was showing the fridge.
"What's wrong with my fridge?" She gave the overlord a confused look.
"You don't have enough food for Noctis." Carmilla snapped her fingers, and Odette was quick to hand over the tablet she always kept. "The blood Odette took while Noctis was unconscious shows a spike in metabolism."
"Meaning?" Charlie was not understanding the irritated demoness when anatomy was not her thing.
"It means Noctis is going to need—"
Suddenly Charlie's phone rang with Vaggie's caller I.D. showing. Of course she interrupted the already annoyed Carmilla who crossed her crossed and waited to hear what poor excuse would stop their conversation.
"Vaggie?"
"Charlie we have a problem with Noctis."
That made the princess hitch her breath before she asked in a panic, "Is he okay? What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"He ate all that food on that tray and he's still hungry."
"Wait what?" Charlie blinked repeatedly and turned to Carmilla before putting her phone on speaker. "Say that again for Carmilla to hear."
"Noctis is still hungry even when he ate all the food on that tray Beezlebub summoned."
"All of it?" Carmilla questioned, though it sounded more of a confirmation.
They could hear Noctis in the background. "Vaggie do you know if there is a good pizza place around the city?"
Carmilla gave a deadpan stare and sighed. "I was afraid of that."
"Afraid of his appetite?" Charlie was still not understanding but about to get a reality check.
"No, you ignorant fool!" Carmilla raised her voice and made the princess flinch. "His entirety, this is not something of demon or angel caliber we are used to handling. He is a divine beast, remember?"
"So it's bigger?" Charlie tilted her head before the light bulb in her brain finally flickered to life. "Oh god, he's gonna be…."
"Exactly." Carmilla said sharply and nodded. "We are dealing with the metabolism of the leviathan now."
"But we already addressed that before." Charlie reminded, not that it mattered when Carmilla turned the tablet to her.
"What do I do?" Vaggie asked, unfortunately ignored.
"See this?" Carmilla tapped a claw to the screen. "These results are from before, when we all thought he was human."
She pointed to the next page of results. "Now these results are after his fight with Lyoria."
And finally the last one that had Charlie a little worried. "And this is the day after you two killed Adam."
"Problem solved. Beezlebub woke up and made more but you need to see this." Vaggie raised her voice over the phone.
Charlie read over the results with a concerned eye, seeing the drastic changes of his anatomy from blood tests to the very bone structure.
"That can't be right." Charlie handed the tablet back. "That means everything about him has doubled and he's still growing."
"GUYS!" Vaggie screamed through the phone.
"What?" Carmilla screamed back, alarming both groups.
"Get your asses up here now!"
————————————————————
A few minutes later Charlie followed Carmilla and her daughters to her penthouse suite and walked in without a care if warning she be made. They entered to find the room was still intact but Noctis was not in the bed as he should be. He was sitting on the floor with Vaggie and Beezlebub keeping him up right while Loona cuddled the pillow with his scent during her deep slumber.
"Honey…." Carmilla took a cautious step during the laughter of the sin that enjoyed seeing Noctis enjoy his meal...or meals in this case.
"That's right baby, eat all you want." Beezlebub purred lovingly and kissed his head.
"Brother?" Clara peeked around Odette and approached as the sounds of gluttonous eating sounded in the room.
Noctis was still very injured from his battles with Michael and Adam but he was strangely transformed again and having himself a large feast of everything Beezlebub materialized with a snap of her fingers. His behavior was abnormal however with the way his eyes shrink their slit pupils and the growls on the bottom of his chest were almost feral. Bits of food and sauces were messing the floor and he wasn't paying attention at all.
"Baby?" Vaggie rubbed his back to get his attention but was met with animalistic devouring.
"Note it. Note it." Carmilla snapped her fingers at Odette.
Noctis rolled up a freshly hot supreme pizza and unhinged his jaw before swallowing it whole, forcing it down as a lump in his throat.
"Holy shit." Clara gasped into her hand.
"More." Noctis growled and Beezlebub complied happily with making another helping of burgers appear.
He barely licked his lips and engorged while everyone in the room was astounded by the appetite.
"Should we be concerned?" Charlie asked.
Vaggie cocked a brow at Charlie. "Which part? The amount or his cholesterol?"
"Noctis stop!" Carmilla finally stepped in when he shoved three burgers in his mouth and swallowed without chewing.
He gasped for air. "I can't. I'm so hungry."
"Vaggie…." Charlie drawled after seeing the mess, and slowly looked to her worried lover. "How much has he eaten?"
"I don't fucking know!" Vaggie snapped with a gesture to the tray. "I lost count after he ate the first tray and that had burgers and tacos on it."
"We got anything to drink?" Noctis asked, and Beezlebub materialized a literal keg of juice.
"Try and give us something accurate of a measurement." Carmilla demanded as calmly as she could while Noctis went straight to pouring the keg down his throat.
"Oh don't worry." Beezlebub answered them happily, watching the food disappear again. "He has eaten 17 burgers, 46 tacos, 8 pizzas, all in a time span of 15 minutes so he should be getting full soon."
"How would you know that?" Odette asked while jotting this all down.
"Well he's still Romna." Beezlebub stated matter of factly. "He always had a huge appetite after he became the leviathan, and I counted."
Suddenly everyone in the room was startled, even Loona herself being jolted awake, by the massive burp that rang out in the bedroom and travelled through the new hotel.
"What the fuck was that!?" Angel Dust hollered from the lobby.
"Okay I feel better." Noctis sighed with relief and tried to stand up, forgetting his injuries in the midst of Stolas popping out of thin air after that commotion.
"What in the nine rings was that!?" He yelled.
"Noctis stuffing his face." Vaggie said flatly as she and Beezlebub got him back to bed.
"That was a burp?" Loona cocked an eyebrow before getting comfy again under the covers.
"Did you get all that?" Carmilla asked Odette, who nodded and showed her notes.
"Baby are you okay?" Charlie asked after Noctis got comfy with Loona, only to see the results of his gluttony take hold.
"Yeah." He sighed and barely looked up from his pillow while the rest of IMP came in. "Anybody want some tacos?"
"I won't say no to free food!" Millie dropped the drunken Blitz in the floor for Stolas to handle, and marched over to the platter on Charlie's dresser.
"There was still food?" Vaggie asked skeptically, watching the imp devour.
"That's not important right now." Carmilla looked to Odette and nodded for some odd reason.
Actually in this case Noctis knew exactly why when she took out a needle and grinned sadistically, making his heart speed up just a little before a vial was removed from her coat pocket.
"What the hell is that?" He asked after scooting back to the headboard, feeling his own body go pale at her giggles.
"Just a steroid shot to keep you healthy." Carmilla smirked at his fear and made quite the elegant strut around the bed with Clara. "Now be a good boy for mother and bend over the bed."
"Say what?" Noctis questioned even when the obvious was about to happen. "OH HELL NO! YOU ARE NOT LETTING THAT PSYCHO PUT ANYTHING IN MY ASS!"
"We also need blood samples." Odette giggled with a dark glint in her eye.
"Am I interrupting something?" Michael asked from the doorway, his presence bringing a cold pause to the unsightly restraint of Noctis.
He was completely filthy like the freed exorcists behind him but entered the suite without permission as the Carmine family was trying to hold Noctis down.
Loona was already up and defensive without a shred of care to her mostly naked form visible underneath the comforter. All that mattered was Noctis and she showed that by getting in between on all fours with a viscous growl.
"We're just um….." Charlie tried to play it off but it was impossible when Loona and Beezlebub were nude in her bed and with their man.
Strangely Michael didn't have an edge of discomfort or disapproval to the room, but rather a determined look underneath the dirt he accumulated.
"I'm just here to inform that the burial is done." He said calmly and took a breath. "And to ask what the point of it was to bury those remains as one body?"
Noctis ceased his struggling with Odette making the injection but felt no residual pain when the question froze his blood, already wondering how one sided Michael could be.
"You just buried every sinner but somehow don't understand the reason?"
There was a slight hitch of anger in his voice before he stood up despite his fatigue and injuries, and stepped away from everyone, including Loona and and the uncaring Beezlebub sitting up with her chest exposed.
"I don't understand why burying sinners is something needed." Michael admitted.
Noctis could almost spit in the archangel's face after he adjusted his shorts. The look of hate had come back from the conversation in the Garden of Eden, and Michael could feel the pressure rise from the boy.
"There is no reason behind burying the sinners YOU HELPED Adam slaughter."
Charlie could see this was not going to end well and tried to calm Noctis with a touch of her arm, but the lack of understanding seemed to trigger her mate to the point of forcing his body to transform.
Odette and Clara were not sure if they should intervene but thought together and acted to get a sedative ready from the satchel of medicines they carried.
"No!" Carmilla said quietly.
Both sisters froze, knowing better than to defy their mother and just watch with her as their adopted brother confronted the archangel.
Michael raised an eyebrow at Noctis' lack of concern for his own well-being but stayed on the matter at hand.
"They are sinners." He gestured to the people around while Velvette had snuck herself a little recording from around the doorframe. "They are not worthy of even having their remains buried. I only did it as to appease you."
"When the fuck is it okay to just pay respects by appeasing someone!?" Noctis criticized.
"When I established the fact that you are my son!"
"Oh so now you think you can just declare me as your son!" Noctis concluded hatefully. He looked to Vaggie who nodded in disgust.
"Perhaps we should discuss this like adults?" Stolas advised as he stepped between, but Noctis pushed him aside.
"Stay out of this, Stolas!"
Noctis saw the goetia prince narrow his eyes in disappointment but watched him step back with a reluctant nod.
"Just don't start a fight you can't finish." Stolas stated and went back to tending to Blitz.
"Should we leave the room?" Moxxie whispered to Mille, who shook her head with four burritos in her mouth.
"Why are you getting angry?" Michael asked, which was a very bold thing to say.
Noctis laughed at the archangel as he rapidly collected every reason behind this confrontation but chose to state the obvious.
"Maybe because I was hoping you'd feel something after being freed but you act like they don't matter!"
"Sinners don't matter. They made their choice." Michael said coldly, grasping the hilt of his sword to control his aggression.
"They do matter because they are people!" Noctis shouted.
Charlie really tried to stop Noctis this time but Vaggie was quick to hold her hand and pull her back.
With a snap of his fingers Noctis and Michael were both teleported to the newly formed grave of the ashen corpse that Noctis had yet to see.
"Shit!" Vaggie bolted out of the room first.
"Oh this is getting good." Velvette chuckled after everyone else ran out, prepping her camera for a good close-up recording.
"Someone get me another bucket." Blitz groaned on the floor.
Back outside, Noctis thrusted a finger at the glasslike casing that shimmered and began pouring himself with anger and sorrow.
"Youre telling me you don't see a damn problem with this!?"
"Why does it matter to you?"
"EVERYTHING!" Noctis snapped just as Charlie and the others came running out of the front doors.
Suddenly an ominous atmosphere of piano and drums played around Noctis and Michael, both glaring at one another while Charlie ran down before anyone else to stop this fight.
She pressed herself to her mate, even as his attention was completely locked into the seemingly heartless archangel.
"Baby look at me." Charlie pleaded gingerly, holding his face in her hands. "You need to stop. You're exhausted and you're weak right now. Pick a fight another day."
Noctis ignored that for all it was worth to this standoff while the music rose higher with Michael being the one to speak by surprise after he picked up some of the dirt he used.
"You say there is value."
"Comparing the dead as if they are meaningful."
"But you know it, the weight these sinners made."
"Always staining their afterlife with the sins they laid."
"And the worth of a single soul, you know not it's price."
"To choose sin over grace, that is what blinds your eyes."
"Do you find them all important, even when they choose to live in pain and lies?"
Noctis flared his transformation more and ignored the pain in his body as Michael gestured to the grave. Oddly there was a heavy pressure from the archangel that almost knocked Charlie to her knees, but Noctis kept her up.
"How can you value life with no worth?"
"Or find reason to cherish?"
"You cannot see like I do, not with your ignorant eyes."
"That's enough." Charlie snapped and stepped between. "Noctis is—"
"They had a breath….."
Charlie flinched at those mumbling words and turned back to see Noctis wasn't hunched over from his injuries. That didn't make it better though when his transformation was opening wounds again.
Still he glared at the archangel and countered Michael.
"They all had breath."
"They all had hearts."
"They all had life."
"They all had souls…..and you chose to sleep during the wickedness of one man."
For the first time in his existence, Michael flinched and showed emotion to those facts.
He was angry as the music deepened to Noctis' words.
"They had a right to live."
"They had a right exist."
"They had a right to be people!"
"But you chose to submit to grief rather than make a stand."
"Oh this is gold." Velvette laughed while recording from the back of the crowd.
"Noctis…." Charlie watched him walk, not limp, but walk to the angering archangel and stand defiantly against him.
(Michael) "Who are you to tell a soul of its value?"
(Noctis) "More than your kind can do!"
"Popcorn?" Husk questioned Angel Dust, who pulled a small bucket from his chest fluff and nodded.
This was getting out of hand and fast with the two of them now in eachothers faces as the conflict rose to a mixing aura of remembrance, showing extermination day in in two perspectives. One sheened in blue and the other red.
(Both) "Who are you to tell me how to be righteous!?
"Your beliefs are flawed when you're barely conscious!"
"The way of the holy is driven the way I perceive!"
"You stand on the wrong side and say mercy only some may receive."
Suddenly the pressure of Michael's power was too much for Noctis and he became overwhelmed by his own fatigue when his legs gave out. Everyone would think that Michael would at least be gentler for the one he called son, but they were forgetting mercy wasn't what he was created for.
Instead he slapped a hand on Noctis' shoulder and pushed him down completely on both knees and held him there.
"You were created to bring a balance!"
"Not to side with these disgusting sinners!"
"Perhaps what you feel necessary is much thinner!"
"You cannot help their sins be undone!"
"So wake up…..son."
"Stop it." Charlie tried to push his hand off and held Noctis as he hung his head, but the lack of mercy showed again when Michael maintained his grip and slapped his other hand on Noctis and held him there like a peon compared to a deity.
"These sinners are not your people!"
"They are not your kind!"
"They don't deserve a second chance!"
"Stop this foolish follow and open your mind!"
"Come back home…..Romna!"
Now it was making sense to the gang why Michael was acting this way. He was still holding onto the past and clinging to what he had for memory of a brighter before.
But Noctis wasn't having that even though he was still forcefully kneeled in silence. Everyone started to worry that Michael was pushing things too far for Noctis to handle when he was powering back down.
"Baby?" Charlie peeked under his hair to see what was going on. "Baby it's okay. Just stop fighting for a little bit and—"
Charlie yelped and jumped back when Noctis only moved his arms and grabbed Michael by his wrists, forcing them to slowly collapse and crinkle as the atmospheric piano music rose to a rebellious tune and sped up.
"Noctis?" Charlie looked in awe after Vaggie ran over to help her up, both in awe like the others when his aura seeped out and shaped into Pentious and Moira.
Michael looked surprised by the rebellious nature of the boy and the outlines of his deceased friends, even helping Noctis stand on his shaky legs and glare with him.
"I won't let it stand!"
"I won't let it go!"
"It will not be forgotten!"
"It will not let be hidden!"
Harder and harder he pushed until he was back on his feet, thanks to the help of the souls that shared the same glare for the intimidated archangel.
"This is my power!"
"This is my choice!
"You may choose to cower!"
"BUT I AM THEIR VOICE!"
He shoved Michael back, enraging him.
"There is nothing HOLY if you can't see the pain of those who weren't given MERCY!"
He shoved again, stumbling Michael back on his own after his Moira and Pentious outlines disappeared.
"You don't deserve peace or relief when you chose to be in a sleeping grief!"
And again.
"You claim to be my father but that is not true when sparing sinners is something you won't bother!"
Michael was shaking at this point as Noctis grabbed him by the pauldrons and jerked him down, screaming the finality of their confrontation.
"You are like the council! You let the sinners deaths happen freely! You chose to let morals run thinner! AND JUST LIKE THEM YOU ARE GUILTY AND A SINNER!!!!"
Everyone looked stunned by Noctis making the boldest declaration anybody could say to Michael, who was just standing there and scowling at the defiant boy.
Velvette had not given a damn about the situation or Noctis for the most part, but ultimately found some respect after dropping her phone in shock. Even she didn't have such courage as to call the the most powerful archangel a sinner or guilty for his inaction.
Charlie whimpered behind her hands, and she squeaked when the silence dragged between these two beings.
"This is gonna get nasty." Angel drawled quietly to Husk, who nodded with his playing cards already out.
Alastor was even shocked by Noctis but feeling genuinely impressed by his words that shook Michael to his core.
"We're so dead." Moxxie was already letting out crocodile tears behind Millie.
"Get out of my sight." Noctis finally ended the silence with that order, his eyes unwavering of command. "And you know what, fuck you and what you think of sinners. They are my responsibility now."
You could almost hear the tightening of Michael's jaw before he disappeared to heaven in a flash of light, leaving Noctis with his stunned friends and family, and of course Velvette.
"He really just…." Angel couldn't put words together for what he just saw.
"Yeah…." Husk was equally surprised. "Kid called him a sinner."
"Why are you gawking?" Blitz burped drunkenly in Stolas' arms. "Hey, I'm talking to you….bird puss."
"Noctis…." Charlie didn't know what to say about this, but it definitely proved how the man she loved was not going to tolerate anymore of the hatred.
The attention drew though to Velvette after she picked up her phone. She clapped her hands slowly and descended the front steps just as Noctis gave into his weakness and leaned on Charlie.
"Bravo….Bravo for you." She praised with that smug grin of hers. "You certainly know how to make a fucking impression."
"Not now." Vaggie got between them.
"Oh but now is the perfect time." Velvette exaggerated her approach of Noctis as he wiped off the sweat of his actions. "Such flare and authority, calling the right hand of god a sinner." She preened at the drama. "Oh you are definitely my investment, darling."
"Investment?" Noctis replied confusedly.
Velvette nodded and turned her back to him with a flip of her bouncing hair, uncaring of the gang glaring suspiciously as she went back into the hotel to finish her work.
"I always invest in the winning side." She said smugly.
————————————————————
Later that night…..
Noctis was standing alone on the rooftop after escaping the needs of his girls, albeit with great force of his power when his body was suffering even more from his confrontation with Michael. Everything had hurt already but now he was relying on pain medication he dare not ask where Angel Dust got it from. Still it brought enough relief for him to move some while leaning on the railing to look up at the night sky with wonder.
He didn't care to watch the hotel thin out with Velvette and her crew leaving in a limo, followed by Rosie doing god knows what with Alastor when she had been absent most of the day.
The world, or his world in particular, felt much smaller after finding some peace in the fact that Michael was finally gone and Adam was dead.
He blinked a few times to his own satisfaction of ending the contraption of the first man. It wasn't long though he became aware of footsteps approaching. He looked to the door and smiled when he saw it was just Charlie already in her pajamas and bringing him a glass of her favorite juice.
"Everybody okay?" He asked and took the glass before the weight of her stress pressed against his chest.
Charlie sighed with relief and nuzzled what part of his chest wasn't in bandages, and hugged him gently around the waist.
"They're okay, still shaken up though by your fight with Michael."
Noctis looked down at his princess and smiled at her warmly. He began to softly stroke her unbanded hair, feeling the tingling sensation of her soft hair. Slowly but surely his touch gave Charlie some comfort.
She sighed again and looked up to her mate, holding him tighter.
"Why did you stand up to him like that?"
"Because him treating the dead like it's nothing doesn't fly in my book." He replied with a frown.
Charlie relished the conviction she felt from his words. It seeped into her everything she believed in and gave the confidence to speak her mind.
She had missed this. She missed the peace of being mates without the interruptions they've endured together.
"I thought I was the only one who cared, but seeing you cry over the dead and stand up to Michael because he thinks we are nothing..." she paused briefly to kissing his chest and nuzzle the spot. "I don't care how messed up things are. I'm glad you came into our lives."
"Me too, baby." He whispered and looked up to the heavenly realm.
"What will you do now?" Charlie asked and looked up with Noctis after turning to put her back to his chest.
Noctis thought hard on that and hardened his gaze while Charlie took his wings around for her own warmth, feeling the heat of hell leave as soon as the unforgiving sun disappeared behind the Outland Mountains.
"Well for starters I'm gonna keep working to being this divine beast I'm supposed to be and get stronger."
"Me too." She glared with him. "We can both work on our powers and the hotel."
"Also—" he paused with hesitation of his next idea until remembering how hard Charlie was fighting for redemption. "I'm not gonna just protect both realms."
Charlie looked up to him, surprised being an understatement after he finished tell her.
"I'm gonna use my status as seraphim lord to show both realms I'm not gonna tolerate anymore bullshit. I didn't tolerate Michael's and I won't tolerate any others."
"How will you do that?" Charlie asked, and he grinned down at her.
"If that heaven grimoire is true that I am a higher authority, then I'm gonna use it."
Charlie giggled at the idea of her mate being an authority figure but truly believed he could make it happen after all that was done.
"Can I help?" She asked sweetly and stood up on her tiptoes to kiss his chin.
"I'd be dumb if I said no." He chuckled.
Charlie just smiled wider and looked for a bit longer in the cold night to the heavenly realm, watching a few stars between the realms shoot across the sky. Her amazement of this journey was far from over though with the hotel now on the map for both realms and attracting attention that would soon come to her doors.
Friends, enemies, many troubles to come and disrupt their lives.
But she would be ready.
"MOTHERFUCKER YOU STILL OWE ME 21 HOURS OF SERVITUDE FOR GETTING MY ASS BEAT BY LYORIA!" Angel Dust screeched from his room.
"Uh oh." Noctis and Charlie paled, remembering the deal back at the goetia palace.
—————————————————————
Meanwhile in Heaven's cells…..
"Don't worry." Jophiel said warmly, sliding a tray of food to a frightened Pentious hiding in his corner. "I won't let Sera persecute you unfairly."
"How will you do that?" Pentious stuttered, coiling tighter in his corner as the chains rattled around his wrists and neck.
Jophiel smiled somberly at his fear and distrust, knowing it would take more than words to convince him.
"As soon as Noctis heals I will bring him to help."
"Noctis?" Pentious perked up at that name. "He's alive?"
"Yes." She replied sweetly.
"Does that mean…." Pentious couldn't finish but held onto the hope he was feeling from her brightening smile.
"Yes, Adam is dead and your friends are safe."
Pentious choked up and began smile, his eyes gushing tears of relief that his death was not in vain.
"He did it." He cried, trying to dry his eyes. "He actually did it."
—————————————————————
"Is it done?" The speaker asked, holding a gentle hand to Michaels shoulder as he faced her.
He dared not look up to her but answered truthfully, "It's done. He has new motivation."
She smiled warmly and nuzzled her beak to his head.
"Worry not, my child. This only needs to last until he is ready to be tested by you."
To Be Continued In Season Two…..