Michael internally berates himself for freezing in the doorway as he follows Gabriel and Raphael down the Hotel hallways - he'll have to get Gabriel to tell him everything he's undoubtedly missing, he can vaguely hear Charlie's voice but he just can't focus on what she's saying.
What he can focus on is Lucifer, the way he just froze at seeing the older Angel.
The way his once-blue eyes are now blood-red, how his teeth have sharpened, how his eyes now glow light yellow like Charlie's do…the rubber duck on his hat, along with a snake wrapped around it.
How he looked like the only reasons he wasn't running were Charlie and Calliope on either side of him.
How fucking terrified his younger brother was at the mere sight of him.
Lucifer is gone because of you, Michael. You were the one that bound him in chains with spikes an inch long and thicker than my thumb going all over it that impaled him, you were the one that tortured him in front of the Court, you were the one that ripped his wings out of his back one by one as he begged you not to - you were the one that threw him headfirst into the portal to Hell when he was weakened, his powers bound, and had no way of slowing his fall or even not landing on his head. All for a crime he never committed, all for a crime that none of us committed. Lucifer's blood is on your hands, all the pain he went through, all the suffering he experienced - that's on you. And I hope you choke on it for the next ten thousand years, asshole.
Calli's words from Sera's office run through his head, right then, and Michael finds he really can't blame Lucifer for being so afraid…or Calli for being so angry they're here. If he were so afraid of someone that the mere sight sent him into a panic attack, he would want someone going absolutely rabid over the possibility of them being in the same room as him to.
After about an hour, Calli turns to emerald-green mist once more and heads downstairs, saying she's going to start on dinner - and it's Enchilada night. Judging by everyone including Azrael's looks, she makes good Enchiladas - really good Enchiladas. As soon as she's gone, Jesus and Moses trade looks - Jesus actually starts drooling a little, and murmurs "The thing I've missed most from being on Earth…"
Moses asks "Her cooking?"
"I kid you not, she made the best-"
"She took scraps and leftover ingredients and made the most amazing-"
"Oh, so you to, then? The last meal I had, I swear she made it all, it was so good-"
Gabriel frowns, asking "What are you two talking about?"
Both men trade glances, and Jesus incredulously asks "You've never had Calliope's cooking?!"
Moses asks "Not even once?! Haven't you three known her longer than either of us did?"
Raphael coughs into his fist, then says "It was more Lucifer that knew her than us…"
Moses crosses his arms, asking "Since…when, exactly?"
Azrael walks over, saying "Since…a few days after this world was created. Like…three, she said. Yeah, three." Michael opens his mouth, but Azrael says "No, wait, that was the day they all met…Michael here managed to startle her, she shot her first-ever beam of Angelic Energy into his chest, then took off after he got his sword stuck in a tree trunk trying to kill her. Lucifer spent the next two weeks tracking her down, and the rest is history."
Jesus whistles, then says "Oh-kay…Calli aged well then…sorry, farm boy at heart. So, uh, when did humanity come into the picture?"
Gabriel rubs the back of his head, saying "About…two hundred years later…plus another seven because Lilith disappeared."
Moses asks "That was the blonde lady, right? Really tall, curvy, Calli gave her a white shift to wear?" At the three Archangel's looks, he adds "Human souls don't have perfect memories most of the time, and it's been a while since those images played."
Raphael groans, then says "We didn't know Calliope had taken Lilith…didn't even know she was there when they were placed in the Garden."
Jesus facepalms, and says "Your brother was friends with someone for two hundred years, and you never even visited her house…comes home raving about cooking that's so good you could die from disappointment at the next meal that's not from her and never even get curious if she's really that good a cook..."
Moses adds "If Calli thought she wasn't welcome somewhere, she'd either avoid it…or you'd never know she was there to begin with. Yes, I do know that for a fact. Did someone tell her she wasn't allowed in the Garden?"
Michael blushes bright golden, and says "She…never made it an issue, actually. She was good about keeping to herself, in hindsight. Not making herself a problem when she thought it was clear she wasn't welcome…"
Jesus and Moses simultaneously facepalm, and Moses mutters a few choice words in Egyptian before saying "That'll do it…"
Angel, Molly, and Arackniss come around a nearby corner right then, Angel saying "-are the best, Mols! You haven't lived until you've tried her cooking!"
Arackniss adds "Much as I hate to admit it, she's even better than the chef damn old Padre hired." And that woman was the best cook he ever knew when he was still on Earth.
Raphael pastes a smile on his face, wondering for just a moment why everyone is talking about Calliope's food, saying "Molly! How're you settling in?"
All three spiders stop in their tracks, Arackniss obviously sizing them up while Angel gets a wary look on his face…as Molly bounces right over to them, expression overjoyed as she says "Wonderful, Archangels, how about you?"
Gabriel nods with a polite smile on his face, saying "Much the same. The hotel certainly surpasses anything I could imagine."
"Yeah," Angel says, walking over and taking Molly by the wrist, "that tends 'ta happen when, like, twenty people put their heads together. 'Specially when one of 'em is Shorty. C'mon, Mols! You wanna see Calli's bike? It. Fucking. RULES! She keeps it in the garage outside."
Arackniss waits until they're walking down the hallway before asking "C'è qualche motivo particolare per cui non ti fidi di loro?"
"Hanno torturato il loro fratello più giovane per un caso circostanziale di merda in un tribunale altrettanto stupido, 'Niss. Se possono fare una cosa del genere alla propria famiglia, allora non voglio immaginare cosa faranno a un Vincitore che ha una famiglia quaggiù. O alla famiglia di Winner."
Molly gasps, saying "Non lo farebbero! Raphael è sempre stato così gentile! E loro sono arrabbiati per tutto quanto tutti i vincitori!"
Angel deadpans "Il cielo ce l'ha con noi fin dal primo giorno, Molly. Si rifiutarono persino di provare a comportarsi bene finché Calli non fu direttamente coinvolta. Non credo che durerà più a lungo del loro soggiorno, senza offesa per i vincitori che sono venuti con te."
Gabriel glances between his brothers, Jesus, and Moses, and asks "Anyone know what they were saying?" The translation magic that lets everyone communicate with one another only seems to work if they're not actively trying to exclude some people from a conversation - if someone's deliberately speaking a language nobody can understand, it just lets the words be in that other language.
Everyone else just shakes their heads.
About two hours later, everyone starts filing down towards the kitchen when the entire Hotel starts smelling amazing, and they see Calli working literal magic as she puts four extra-large pans in the oven - there's three pots of sauce getting mixed, four different types of drinks, stuff for Salsa chopping itself as a massive bowl of chips gets filled from five extra-large bags of corn chips, and she's got enough fruit for the world's biggest fruit salad lined up to be diced.
Raphael gapes in shock, along with his brothers and the Winners that they came down with, and murmurs "Holy…"
Gabriel nods, saying "No kidding…"
Husk clears his throat, saying "What's even more impressive is that she never loses track of anything. Ever. Never even seen her burn anything so much as once."
Gabriel mutters "She must have an Angel's memory, then…" Angels like them have Eidetic Memories, means they can remember everything - it also means the three of them have been beating themselves up for a while now, going over everything from before Lucifer's Fall, but that's beside the point right now.
But...no wonder Calli still has so much anger for them, if she can remember every single minute in perfect clarity.
And then Calli glances over at the group, raises an eyebrow at them - likely at the three Archangels, specifically, they're well-aware - and says "Thanks for offering, but I don't need any help. Dinner will be out in about thirty minutes or so, and ask the other Residents if you have any questions about my usual cooking." She turns to start dicing the salsa ingredients by hand, runs a finger along the side of the bowl after tilting it to taste, then grabs a nearby chopping board small enough that it can only hold maybe two vegetables at a time and slides a small pile of spices that they're all sure wasn't there five seconds earlier into the pan before stirring it in. And then she chops the rest of the peppers, onions, and garlic before adding them in, stirring them in before shutting the fire off under the pan and putting it in a bowl - and then putting a large plastic bin over it and Sticking said bin to the counter, because Azrael will absolutely try and get a taste before the food is being served if she doesn't keep him out.
"Seriously," she says, not even glancing over at her captivated audience, "go on. It's not gonna cook any faster just because you're all staring at me. You'll know when it's out, the sound of a near-literal stampede will let you know even if you don't hear me."
Alicia starts shooing everyone else away, eventually turning towards Calli and saying "If you're not opposed, we could trade recipes afterwards? I was quite the cook myself, back in my life."
Calli grins, saying "So I've heard. I'd love to. Meet you after the dishes are done?"
Sure enough, just like Calli said, all the newcomers know exactly when it's time to head to the dining area - a massive room filled with tables big enough for ten people each, as opposed to the kitchen they were eating in before - as there's several near-warcries and the sound of feet pounding as several people sprint to the right room.
When everyone gets into the right room, they see Calli floating eight giant pans of Enchiladas with either white or red sauce over to the far table, along with the salsa, chips, a large tub of Sour Cream, the fruit salad she made, and six five-galleon drink dispensers - as soon as she's stepped away, there's a near-literal mad dash for the food, eight different Sinners out of at least a hundred looking to be the first to get a bite of tonight's meal.
"Easy!" Calli says, "Easy, really, there's plenty for everyone! This is why I'm always doing headcounts, so relax! Nobody's going to take your plate!" She then heads into the kitchen, saying "Eat without me, guys! I'll be back soon!"
Riley, who happens to be at the table closest to the door with Cherri Bomb, Pentious, Henry, Husk, Angel, Arackniss, and Molly, asks "You're not eating with us?"
Calli says "There's two people missing. Gonna make sure they actually eat instead of forgetting about the rest of the world for the whole day. I'll be fine, really."
Riley nods, and sits down next to Cherri Bomb as she animatedly describes the battle with the Exorcists to the ones who weren't at the battle. "-here uses his bottom two hands as a springboard for me, launching me up so I can throw three of my bombs at the fuckers! They exploded on contact, and Pentious and I made 'em special just for the fight! Filled 'em with scrap metal Calli Enchanted to be our own version of Angelic Steel, so they tore through them like tissue paper!"
Pentious nods, saying "I quite enjoyed the challenge, personally. Finding the right balance of explosives and shrapnel was quite fun, really."
Cherri socks him in the shoulder teasingly, and says "And here I thought you just wanted the excuse to spend time with me, Pen!" Pentious blushes brightly, he had used the idea of upgrading her explosives to spend more time with her.
Angel slaps his palm on the table, saying "You shoved one of those bombs into an Exorcist's mouth, Chers! Then roundhouse kicked another, grabbed the spear, and impaled them on it! Ooh, Pentious, let's tell 'em about Vaggie's idea of a trust exercise!"
Pentious groans, saying "She went full-drill-sergeant mode, took us to a rooftop overlooking a battle that was going on…and threw Anthony and I into it, alongside Niffty." And he got bludgeoned with someone's dismembered arm before Angel could pull him out. Not his favorite exercise, if he's being honest.
Calli heads into the kitchen right then, a grin on her face as she levitates the three plates she left behind in the kitchen, Enchiladas already on them, along with another bowl of chips and two bowls of salsa before opening a portal to just outside Alastor's office. Knocking on it, she says "Hey, Alastor? It's me, can I come in?"
The door opens after a moment, revealing Alastor standing in the entrance. His smile immediately widens upon seeing the food floating in the air, and he quickly takes the plate Calli floats over to him along with his bowl of Salsa, and they head into his office at once - revealing Lucifer sleeping on the couch Alastor keeps in his office, a blanket on top of him as he uses his arm for a pillow. "He's been out for hours now. I wasn't sure whether to wake him or let him sleep on until he wakes up on his own."
Calli sighs in relief, saying "Thank you, Alastor. Sorry for putting you in that position…" But she genuinely couldn't think of anything else she could do, right then.
Take Lucifer herself, leaving Charlie with Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael?
Not a chance, Lucifer would definitely have her head for it after she reversed the heart failure that would've given him. And leaving him alone to try and stop justifiably panicking wasn't an option either.
Alastor's fingers run along her scalp, and he says "It's no trouble, Lys Calla. Neither of you planned it, or anything." And then, as if to prove he means it, Alastor tilts her head up to face him fully and then kisses her until they have to break for air. He puts his plate down on the table he's got in his office - office/living space, at this point, since he's dropped Calli on the couch more than once for her to get an hour-long nap in while he keeps the Hotel running - and then does the same with the other two plates and the chips and salsa while Calli kneels down beside Lucifer to try and wake him up.
"Luce, can you wake up? I've got food."
Lucifer's brow furrows as he frowns, eyes slowly cracking open, and he slurs "C'lli?"
Calli nods, helping him sit up, and says "Yeah, it's me. How're you feeling?"
Lucifer runs a hand over his face and through his hair as he wakes up more, saying "Like shit…how long was I out?" He already knows he left Charlie to deal with her Uncles, and the only thing stopping him from completely panicking once more is the fact that Calli was there.
Calli helps pull Lucifer to his feet, saying "A few hours. It's dinner time, and I brought food. Want me to fill you in while we eat, or afterwards?"
Lucifer bites his lip as he thinks, then says "While we eat. Unless it's bad."
Calli nods, gesturing to where the table's ready, and says "So, nothing's gone wrong as of yet. We've got six Winners as well as Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. And, surprise, surprise, every single Winner they brought is either directly connected to someone who lives here or knew them well and were friends with them. Angel's twin sister, Pentious' cousin, one of Cherri's coworkers, Moses, Jesus," Calli glances at Alastor for a moment, before saying "and, erm, your mom, Alastor."
Alastor openly gapes at Calli, taking a solid minute to find his voice before asking "My what?! She's here?!" He knew his mother went to Heaven - call it a hunch, or call it she was the most wonderful woman he knew in his entire mortal life up on Earth! - but he hadn't had the faintest idea she was coming to the Hotel!
Calli nods, saying "Yeah. She knows you're here, to - outright said she'd been hoping to see you here, but you'd already taken Lucifer when everyone else got in…"
Alastor groans, putting a hand to his face and letting off a lot of feedback - that is going to be one interesting reunion. What is he even supposed to say?! 'Oh, yes, I'm a Sinner, quite a powerful one to, and you don't really want to know why that is, Mother.' He can already see that going badly!
Taking Alastor's free hand in hers, Calli asks "You want me to talk to her, first? At least try to help her see the why behind it all?"
Alastor nods silently - he loves his mother, even now…but he's no doubt she'd be extremely disappointed if she knew even a fraction of what he's done since she died. Even when he was alive, much less after he ended up down here. And the one thing he always hated the most when he was alive was disappointing her.
And then he dips a corn chip in his Salsa, and his ears pick themselves up from his head at once - first the Enchiladas she brought him, now the Salsa, he'd be a bit worried about how Calli seems to have gotten into the habit of putting some of her blood in anything remotely red for him if he didn't know she can't die and can make Blood Replenishers at a thought.
Still, he can't deny it tastes fantastic.
Alicia smiles as she and Calli head out to a balcony for their talk, and says "You're an excellent cook, Calliop- can I call you Calli? Everything was absolutely divine - no pun intended."
Calli nods, saying "Judging from the jokes from Jesus and Moses, Calara's still calling me 'Miss' - I've said she doesn't need to, but…"
Alicia hums, saying "But she's terrified of Alastor?"
Calli goes stiff for a moment, then asks "What makes you think that?"
"Because he's the only person other than Lucifer that I didn't see, and she was scared stiff of a Radio Demon…and my boy always did love Radio when he was growing up." She knew he would end up down here when she woke up in Heaven - or, at least, knew it was highly unlikely he'd end up in Heaven after he killed his father at eleven years old - so it wasn't hard to figure out the one person she didn't get introduced to over the course of the day is the fearsome Overlord Radio Demon.
Calli runs a hand through her hair, and says "It's Hell, Alicia. Not to be rude, but I just want to make it clear what kind of place this Hotel is in. It takes 'dog eat dog' and throws the two dogs into a massive fighting pit filled with other dogs doing exactly the same thing, all fighting for another minute of life. And, if you don't have the power to protect yourself…you could end up getting screwed over at once. With no way out, in most cases. And, sometimes, the only thing that keeps people from trying anything is giving them a good enough reason to think they'll end up dead a dozen times over if they do."
Alicia nods, saying "I see."
Calli sighs, saying "That said…not everyone down here should actually be here, in my opinion. Some absolutely belong here, don't get me wrong. Those psychotic assholes are down here for a dozen different reasons, and they'll never change. A lot of people are down here because they just didn't manage to measure up to Heaven's list of over a hundred different requirements to get in. But," Calli gazes out over Pentagram City, "every now and again, there's someone who's down here because they did something bad for a good reason. Alastor's one of those people, down here because Heaven doesn't care why someone does something, just that they did it in the first place."
Alicia lets out a soft "Oh…" After a moment spent staring out at the city, she asks "You know what he did to end up here, don't you?"
Calli nods, saying "I do." Glancing at the woman, she asks "Think you can look at him the same way if I tell you? Or should I just leave it at 'he's a good man, you raised him well' and start trading cooking tips?" Alastor's mother or no, she's not going to let her treat Alastor like he's a monster for what he's had to do down here in Hell...or what he did while alive that nobody else was going to do.
Alicia shakes her head, and says "No, I…I want to know who my son grew up to be. What he did in his life…the good and the bad."
Calli turns to face Alicia, staring at her for a solid minute, before saying "Fine. Technically, he was a serial killer. He didn't choose his victims randomly, though. His first kill was when he was eleven years old…" Judging from Alicia's expression, she knows exactly who that was. "And he always picked people that followed the same trend. Abusers, violent drunks, rapists, drug-addicted pimps…he must've taken over two hundred people like John Hartfelt off the streets before he was accidentally mistaken for a deer and shot in the head. Helped even more than that by doing so, to. One of his biggest kills was five human traffickers that had over thirty people ready to be shipped out that same night. Another of his victims had three kids and a wife that he'd beaten so badly earlier that day she was in the hospital and no longer there to take all his anger. You raised a good man, taste for getting rid of people like that included." If he'd shown up one night before she learned about magic, and killed Vernon and Petunia Dursley - heck, throw Marge in to, make it the Christmas they let Ripper tree her! - she'd have called him her guardian angel, dammit. Would've said she didn't see anything, after cleaning up anything and everything she could that might've tied him to the 'crime' even back then - and not out of fear, either. If someone killed the people that told her every single day they hated her, she wouldn't have grieved them.
Alicia claps a hand to her mouth, tears running down her face, and Calli asks "You want to see him?"
Alicia nods.
"You're not gonna yell at him or anything? Tell him he's a monster and deserves to burn down here? Disown him for trying to make, at least, the town or city he was in a better place than he found it?"
Alicia shakes her head.
"One moment." Opening up a small portal, Calli pokes her head in it and says "Hey, Alastor? Your mom wants to talk…and I think I broke her. Sorry?"
Alastor blinks, Lucifer having gone to his room about half an hour ago, then nods his head slowly. The next thing he knows when Calli widens the portal, his mother is tackling him in a tear-filled hug - when they sit down on a nearby chair, he manages to make out her saying "I'm so proud of you, so, so proud…" Calli, I don't know what you told my mother, but thank you for saying it.