Everyone watches in abject amazement as Loona spars with Calli in hand-to-hand combat, getting the thrashing of her lifetime in the process - she's still doing better than Michael, hilariously enough, switching between human and Hellhound forms to get the advantage on Calli in retaliation for her obviously going extra-hard on her. And, as they all found out, yes, Loona does bite when in her Hellhound form.
Loona rolls onto her back after Calli throws her to the side, then groans and says "Yeah, ok, I'm taking five…" She's pretty sure Calliope just knocked her soul out of place for a moment there, because moving feels like the biggest challenge in the world right this instant.
Vaggie's hand comes into view, and Loona rolls her head to the side and sees the woman is kneeling next to her with a sympathetic expression on her face. "Yeah," she says, "been there. She's absolutely going extra-hard on you because you'll be around Charlie, Emily, and Octavia so much." Point of fact, she's genuinely expecting Calli to fight the two of them herself in a few rounds, basically forcing the two of them to learn to fight together well.
Loona groans, taking the offered hand after a moment, and asks "Did she put you through this, to?"
"Oh, worse. We were training for a massive battle…worst and best training sessions of my life." She came out more beat-up than Lute ever managed, but she also came out of them a better fighter than she ever was as part of the Exorcists.
And then, just before Calli can start another round with Blitz, her phone goes off.
Blitz silently sighs in relief, Stolas going just about boneless at the same time - call him crazy, but his childhood was spent reading anything and everything he could get his hands on and he read plenty of history books about how Hell's ruling system was founded, far too many to not have a very healthy respect/fear of Calliope Peverell's abilities.
Especially not after she came back from a three-day trip up on Earth erasing evidence of Blitz's excursions up there, along with destroying the demon-obsessed not-quite-lunatics' facilities, resources, and all the evidence they had that they weren't actually lunatics before she killed them. Plus, when she saved him from Stryker without getting so much as a scratch on her.
Calli accepts the call, puts it on speaker for everyone, then beckons Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Emily, and the Cherubs over while saying "Finally, Sera. What, did running Heaven get harder when you decided to publicly Fall Heaven's second bundle of undiluted sunshine and joy? In a row, no less? With witnesses?"
Raphael and Gabriel trade exasperated glances - Calli just can't seem to stop herself when it comes to picking fights with Sera. Though, they have to agree, she's usually the one with the moral high ground, somehow or other.
Like right now, for instance.
Everyone hears an irritated sigh from Sera's end of the line, but she says "Let's get to the point of why you messaged me, Calliope. You said you'd come across three of Heaven's Cherubs?"
"Yeah, up on Earth. Yes, before you ask, I can come and go freely when I want or need. They gave me the most interesting story when they realized I wasn't human. Said they were part of some kind of nonprofit organization that focused on saving humans, and the last job they did ended badly by pure accident. Ringing any bells?"
There's a very aggravated sigh from Sera, before she says "Yes, I vaguely remember what you're talking about, Calliope. Why are you contacting me about them?"
Everyone stares in shocked horror at Calli's phone, including Calli herself, and the red-haired woman incredulously asks "Why am I- are you kidding me? I've got three of your Cherubs, do you want them back up there or are you going to be an utter bitch yet again because shit happened that they had no control over?"
"The decision is final. And that was before they entered Hell and became corrupted."
"I cast a spell on them before even opening up a portal, they haven't been corrupted down here one iota." Calli glares at the phone, looking like she wants nothing more than to crush the thing in her hand, but then motions for Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael to come over while saying "You'd better let every single one of these Winners back into Heaven, Sera, or so help me the war you've been so eager to start all this time is going to be knocking down your front gate in a bright green explosion, you hear me?" Gods, but Sera always manages to get to her, with her self-righteous holier-than-thou attitude. And her utter lack of care or concern for anything or anyone other than herself - despite how much Emily said she professes to have the best of intentions and everyone's interest at heart, her actions tell another story.
Mind-controlling Eve, Falling Lucifer when they freed the poor girl, having him tortured before he was actually sent out of Heaven, Extermination, all of it - she doesn't care one bit, not for anything other than her precious status quo, what she deemed to be 'perfect.' The problem with 'perfection,' though, is that one little mistake and it's all over.
"Is that a threat?"
"No," Calli bites out, more venom in her voice than a Black Mamba, "it's a promise. Now, you get to be the one to explain to these three why a freak accident nobody could've seen coming is grounds for exile from the only home they've ever known." She shoves the phone into Gabriel's hands, then storms off/flies back into the Hotel while hissing something loudly - presumably 'this is why she's a fucking bitch! This right here!'
Lucifer gives the three Cherubs an empathetic gaze as Sera explains in no uncertain terms that they'll never see Heaven again because the life of the man they were directly and actively influencing died due to their actions. Michael honestly looks like he wants to hit something, Raphael looks like he wants to cry with the Cherubs, and Gabriel looks absolutely disgusted.
By the time Sera's finished, Gabriel looks like he wants to throttle Sera, Michael looks like he's still in Hell by a thread of self-control, and Raphael is crying silently, hugging the nearest Cherub to him as Emily does the same with the other two.
As soon as Sera stops talking, Gabriel coldly says "Thank you for the clarification, Sera. It was most enlightening."
"Gabriel?! What- Calliope said-"
"She never specified which three you were talking to. Congratulations." He promptly hangs up as Sera starts talking, likely trying to come up with some reason why the three full-on sobbing Cherubs can't be allowed back into Heaven.
Lucifer takes the phone, saying "I'll get this back to her."
Moses glances towards the window Calli flew up to, asking "Is she…always like that with the High Seraphim?" Not that he blames her, of course - after that explanation of Sera's, he's willing to bet Calli's dealt with Sera far too long to ever be anything other than ready to strangle the Seraphim.
Lucifer nods, saying "Oh, big time. Calli didn't like her even before my Fall, got into a screaming match with Sera every time she came up to Heaven with me to offer her support when I'd present my next idea to the Council."
Jesus asks "I take it Sera was the one always shooting them down?"
Lucifer snickers for a moment, saying "Pretty sure the rest of the Council members were too scared to do so after the first time Calli verbally tore into Sera…aside from the detail that her magic kept subtly breaking the room before she fixed it again and again, anyway."
That, they can all imagine with ease - they've seen it happen, after all. The hallway she was in when they heard her shout at the top of her lungs about the kids looked like she was trying to rip it apart before she fixed it, for instance.
Raphael pauses when he hears Calliope's voice coming from a door in the hallway he's found himself in - he was looking for Lucifer, as Charlie said he's currently holed up in his 'office' somewhere in the hotel, he can't remember where as he was too worried about Lucifer's panic attack to focus on Charlie's tour.
Instead, he ended up…completely lost, hasn't got a clue where he is or even how to get back down to the Lobby without materializing there and starting over. Well, Calli must know how to find Lucifer's office, right? She rebuilt the place via her magic, after all!
Coming closer to the door to knock on it, Raphael stops when he hears Calli's voice say "-he can behave himself around you and Fizz, 'Modeus, then sure. As for Levi, so long as she doesn't actively attempt to make everyone feel inferior to her, then sure, she's more than welcome. I know Charlie's been missing everyone, after all."
Mustering up all his nerves after she stormed off so angry, Raphael knocks on the door - the talking stops, and a moment later she's opening the door with a look of utter surprise on her face. Blinking a few times at the sight of him, she gives him the universal 'come in but give me a moment' gesture before asking "Anything else? If they've got any dishes they want prepared, they just need to text me. If not, the menu's finished. Talk soon, probably about honeymoon locations because that's the only thing I can think of that won't be weird coming from me. Yeah, no, I've got at least ten different places I could get for you off the top of my head and another fifteen if you give me ten minutes to remember them all. I'll send a list, you two pick one out, I'll get you there for however long you want. And, relax, they're all Warded to the nines and then some. Did it back before Humanity was even a thing, one by one."
Raphael glances around at the room Calli's using as she's still on the phone, noting all the ways it's so different from his and his brothers' own room they're sharing. For one, the bed is absolutely massive. Giant round bed, at least a Queen but probably way bigger if he had to take a guess - likely for her wingspan, if he had to take a guess. The room itself looks bigger than should be possible, to - it's at least three times the size of their own bedroom, and he's fairly certain it should've annexed at least half the room space on each side.
And then…there's the pictures.
The moving pictures, something he's been curious about for absolute ages now. He saw more of them once before, in her old cottage before it was destroyed, and now his curiosity rears its head once more. Maybe he could ask about them?
Once she's off the phone, Calli glances at Raphael and asks "Need something? Because, unfortunately, I'm actually busy catching up on paperwork." After she stormed off, too angry at Sera to trust herself not to seriously hurt someone by accident, she decided she'd tackle the growing pile of parchment rolls on her desk.
Raphael blinks, then asks "You guys have paperwork to?"
Calli nods, saying "Luci and I split it, but yeah. Even with only one Ring to manage on a regular basis, there's still a certain amount of paperwork involved. And I've let my half pile up a bit, unfortunately."
Raphael blinks, saying "Yeah, well, you're really busy. Cooking for everyone, helping with the trust exercises, whatever it is you do in the lower rings for most of the day…"
Calli shrugs, saying "What, like everyone else isn't? One good thing about insomnia, though, extra hours to get shit done."
Calli marks a few more things on the parchment roll before moving onto the next one, and Raphael curiously asks "You use a quill?"
Calli nods, half her attention on him and the other half on the roll of parchment she's writing on, and says "Old habit I picked up in school. And, since most everything had to be signed with a Quill in the Wizengamot or with Gringotts, I never really kicked it for official stuff."
Raphael blinks, and decides to just nod along - he followed barely any of that, pretty much everything after 'school' went straight over his head. After a minute, he says "I was looking for Lucifer, actually. But…"
"Go outside, his office is the giant apple on the left side of the hotel when you're facing it. If you were looking for Luci's office, how did you end up here?!" This floor isn't even the right one to get into the tower! Plus, her room is closer to Alastor's tower for the very simple reason that his ended up being on the side where they'd all been sleeping in the original Hotel space. All the non-guest bedrooms are in that area - Lucifer's included - out of sheer habit at first, and then they'd already picked their rooms out so what the heck might as well keep them like that.The detail that Charlie insisted Lucifer have his own workspace that he doesn't sleep in helps, to.
Raphael just shrugs, saying "I…got lost. How I ended up in front of your door is a mystery to me to."
Calli gives him a slightly skeptical look, but doesn't comment otherwise. After a moment, she goes back to her work - just as Hedwig flies in through the open window, some kind of small animal trapped in her talons…which she then rips apart, ripping the head off and swallowing it whole before starting to work on the body as she lands on one of several perches around the room.
Right, Snowy Owl. Good reminder.
Raphael honestly can't tell whether it's a warning to him or just a coincidence, but he's going to err on the side of caution and say it's a warning not to mess with Calli. After a moment, he swallows and glances around the room before saying "Interesting layout. How did you…?"
Calli snorts, not looking away from the parchment, and asks "Do this? Is that what you were going to say?"
"Um…yeah, more or less."
After a moment, Calli says "It happened over the course of several nights, maybe a week? My magic changed it as I spent time in here. It was the same layout as the other rooms before then. But, the first morning, I woke up and the bed was like that. The next, there were vaulted ceilings up there. The room slowly grew, the furniture got fancier…eventually, I actually had to Transfigure everything so it wasn't ridiculously fancy. The pictures, though, I added on my own." Her magic seems to accept that anything she Transfigures is to be left alone, but even then there's only so much she can do to tone it down. Plain furniture is an impossibility, elegant but not gaudy is a very real effort, and the room gave her a migraine and a half before she got it looking the way it is now - something she'd feel comfortable showing other people, rather than feeling like she was either trying to show off or trying to subtly put them down.
Raphael nods, wandering over to the bookshelf against the far wall, and sees…books on Warding, Runes, Potions, Alchemy, even one with a title that just looks like a bunch of squiggles and literal chicken scratch. He can't actually say he recognizes any of the subjects, personally…up until he reads one title that starts with 'Blood Magic' and quickly realizes he must be looking at her collection of spellbooks from her old world. There's another titled 'Sacrificial Magic and Rituals' next to the Blood Magic book, and he very quickly decides there's no way any of that is schoolbook material.
"That's advanced material on different magical areas. You probably won't understand any of it, but they aren't cursed or anything. And you definitely won't understand the book on Parselmagic and its applications. Thought you were looking for Lucifer?"
Raphael hums, then says "I can ask him later. I don't really want to be in here without you present, and…" And I'm insanely curious, now.The safest book on the shelf - for his peace of mind, anyway, he really doesn't want to read through a book on Sacrificial Magic after knowing she's shoved a knife through her heart at least twice now to seal Roo - seems to be a plain brown one that doesn't have a title. He pulls it out, praying it's not a diary or a research journal or anything - no, it's almost worse though.
It's…a photo album, one with more of the moving pictures. The first one he sees is one of two adults holding a baby, the woman with dark red hair and familiar green eyes - and the baby with the same red hair. Calli's parents, he realizes after a moment. It took him a bit to find her own facial features in them, but…she's got the woman's cheekbones and eye shape, close to the same color hair and eyes, the man's jawline and the shape of his nose…which means the baby is…Calli.
He's honestly not sure why it's such a surprise, he knows how people come into the world, he's a Healer after all! But…Calli's just always been around as long as he can remember. Fully-grown, with her magic and Hedwig - for all they knew, she just popped up out of the ground!
But this…she was a baby, once upon a time. Had a childhood, grew up…
The next is of Calli and two other people, a flaming ginger boy and a girl with bushy brown hair all in matching uniforms - school uniforms, maybe? They're in front of a magnificent castle, Calli in between them and looking the happiest he's honestly ever seen her. Another picture of the two adults from before, slightly younger and dancing in a courtyard together. One with Hedwig sitting on a young Calli's arm, almost like they're having a conversation.
Each picture almost feels like a punch to his gut with guilt, though he's not sure why per se - she didn't say he couldn't look at them, and he's not reading her diary or anything.
Guilt at thinking so badly of her for so long, then? He gets the sinking feeling in his gut it's a yes for that one, unfortunately.
The next picture is a group of about fifty adults, her parents among them, all looking grim for some reason - aside from the guy with the eye sitting on top of his face, he just looks slightly deranged.
And then a shadow falls over the book, and he sees Calli standing there looking like she's almost upset about the intrusion into her past. When she doesn't say anything, though, he quietly asks "Who were they?"
Glancing down at the photo, she says "They called themselves the Order of the Phoenix. A vigilante group that formed in order to oppose the latest Dark Lord that had risen. Led by the then-Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus I've-Got-Too-Many-Names-And-Titles Dumble-fucking-dore. Riddle needed to be stopped, don't get me wrong, but the bearded goat wouldn't ever deign to get his hands dirty doing any actual work." Her expression twists for a moment as she stares at the picture of - apparently - war veterans, her parents included, and she adds "He just liked to hide being his reputation of second chances and mercy. Offering people up to be sacrifices for his 'greater good.'"
Raphael blinks, remembering Lucifer mentioning Calli's apparent grudge against this Albus, and says "I…I'm sorry, I didn't know." He can put two and two together and come up with the knowledge that her parents were sacrifices to him, just as much as Calliope herself was.
Calli shrugs, taking the album and snapping it shut, saying "You couldn't have."
Glancing at the photos on the wall, he quickly realizes one of them is the second picture from the album - her and her two friends. Seeing she's still upset for some reason - the reminder of her past, or Albus, perhaps? - he walks over to the pictures and asks "How do they move?"
"Magic. There's a spell I know that can animate them, showing a set amount of time around when the photo was taken."
After a moment, one Raphael spends studying every detail of the short - malnourished, so obviously malnourished to his trained eyes - little girl with curly red hair sandwiched between her two friends, the Archangel asks "Who are these two? You look happy."
Calli audibly sucks a breath in through her teeth, but her voice is mostly even as she says "My two best friends back then. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger."
Raphael nods, putting two and two together and coming up with a very upset four once again, and asks "And…this one? The group of red-heads?" He has to do a headcount to come up with nine read-heads other than Calli, with her in the middle of the group, right up front with this Ron and Hermione on her other side yet again.
"That was Ron's family, the Weasleys. His parents, Molly and Arthur, and then Bill the Curse-Breaker, Charlie the Dragon Tamer, Percy the eventually-to-be Undersecretary for Minister of Magic, Fred and George the brilliant prankster twins, Ron, and then Ginny. They…they took me in when they didn't have to, welcomed me with open arms."
Raphael can tell what she isn't saying…they're the first family she ever knew, the first group of people she ever found that accepted and wanted her rather than hated her like her relatives. And, from the way her voice is suddenly thick with emotions, he should probably stop asking about them.
Moving onto the next photo, he sees…a group of teenagers sitting together on some steps, Calli right in the middle with Ron and Hermione in their spots beside her - older than the other photos, looking…different, changed. Haunted, almost. There's rubble in the background, a few holes the group is positioned around…some kind of battle happened. Ron's sister is the most obvious one, with their shared red hair, but he doesn't recognize anyone else. Glancing over, he sees Calli's gaze is locked onto the photo…she looks like it physically pains her to look at it, but she can't bring herself to look away either.
"We called ourselves the Ministry Six, after we'd gone to try and save my Godfather from being tortured there. It was a trap, though nobody knew it. Ron, Hermione, and I, Ginny, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood. The six of us went there…and ended up in a full-scale battle. Thankfully, we'd held our own against the twelve of Riddle's minions that ambushed us until the reformed Order came. Though, we lost Sirius in the fight to Bellatrix. Yes, the next picture is of Sirius and I. My godfather…for, you know, two years, a few visits, and a little over two weeks spent together. The one you're looking at now was taken near the end of what would've been our last year at Hogwarts."
Raphael's gaze wanders to the next picture, the guy with wavy hair next to Calli - he was in the picture of the Order of the Phoenix. Another of this Albus' sacrifices, then.
There's other pictures, to - one that's obviously Ron and Hermione's wedding, another between Neville and a girl with blonde hair he doesn't recognize, Luna and a slightly-older man, Hermione holding a baby with red hair, a boy with hair the same color as hers…he doesn't doubt there's more in that photo album of hers, maybe a few lifetimes' worth of photos. She had more in her cottage, along with a stained-glass window with two deer, a wolf, and a black dog that moved to - he remembers staring at it in awe, the one time Gabriel brought the two of them to her cottage about two years after Lucifer's Fall. He remembers the carnage they found in the kitchen, the destroyed table and dried golden blood and gore sprayed all over the room…the kitchen knife on the floor he now knows Calli gave to Lilith to defend herself with, godsshemusthavebeensoscared-
Snapping out of his thoughts at a sharp breath from Calli, Raphael turns to look at the woman and sees she's got her back directly towards him. "Calli?"
"You should go. Whatever question it is you have for Lucifer, just…go find him and ask him."
A rumble of thunder draws Raphael's attention, and he glances out the window to see there's dark clouds rolling in ominously - when did those get there? Glancing at Calli's back again, he asks "You alright?"
No, not even slightly - actually stabbing a knife into her heart is less painful than this. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Raphael opens his mouth to argue, to say she's very far from alright just by the sound of her voice, but Hedwig lands on Calli's shoulder and shakes her head at him before starting to preen her hair.
As soon as Raphael's out the door, Calli drops to her knees and the sobs she was keeping trapped inside her burst free - gods, does she miss her friends. She misses Hermione and how she always had the answers they needed, she misses Ron with his unwavering stubborn determination to protect the two of them, misses Neville with his quiet, steady presence, Luna and how she always had the answers they didn't even know they'd need, Ginny and her fiery passion...as much as she loves the family she's pieced together, she misses the one she lost to time and old age just as much now as she did when it first happened.
Lucifer comes practically running up to Alastor and Alicia, phone in hand, and says "We've got a not-so-slight emergency. Calli just texted me, saying she's having a day and can't cook dinner. What's the biggest dish you two know how to make and what would go with it?"
Alicia blinks, then says "I could whip up a pot of Jambalaya. As for sides…Cornbread, Corn on the Cob and Cheddar Biscuits?"
Lucifer nods, saying "Sounds delicious, I'll make every single ingredient you need, I'll help cook, whatever you two want, let's go."
Alastor glances at Lucifer as they all get aprons on, Lucifer making all the ingredients Alicia lists off one after another, and asks "What do you mean she's…having a day? Calli was fine when she flew back to the Hotel." Pissed off, yes, but nothing debilitating or anything…right?
Lucifer grimaces as he takes one of the knives to start chopping the vegetables Alicia requested, and says "Calli's just as depressed as me, if not more so. She's just a heck of a lot better at functioning day to day most of the time…unless someone accidentally rips off the bandaging she's got wrapped around it all, that is. Some days are bad all on their own, but…the only time I can actually remember her having one was…I think it was four months after I really met her. After that…I guess my company helped? It was the only time I actually saw her like that, at least."
Alicia hums, asking "Well, who or what could've prompted her to have another episode, to put it one way?"
Lucifer frowns, then groans and says "Somebody might've asked about the pictures."
Alastor raises an eyebrow, asking "The moving ones?" He's seen them, yes, but given the detail that none of the people in them were anyone in the Hotel, or that she spoke of on a regular basis...he knew enough not to poke at what was likely a festering open wound. Turns out, he was right.
"Yeah…she's got a photo album and several pictures up on her walls, ones from her old world. When I found her crying about the one of her Godson, I asked why she had them if they hurt her that much. She said she couldn't not have them, that it was all that was left of them." It had been her Godson's birthday, and every year afterwards he couldn't ever find her that single day - she was always back the next day, always looked so damn tired afterwards, but he never asked anything. Hugged her until she needed to escape, but didn't ask any questions - it was always ridiculously obvious she wasn't alright, and she probably would've told him she was anyway.
It's halfway through dinner when the rain finally breaks, and all the Sinners plus Charlie, Vaggie, and Lucifer groan in defeat…right before Emily suddenly bursts into tears and wraps her arms around the nearest person - Charlie, as it happens.
Cherri calls out "Nobody go outside until the rain quits, you're going to have a real bad time if you do."
Molly frowns, asking "What's so bad about a bit of rain?"
Angel flatly says "Acid, Mols. We get acid rain down here."
Riley says "Oh, fuck!"
"Yeah," Arackniss drawls, "this place wasn't made to be some nice reward for all our hard work."
Lucifer runs a hand along his face, saying "I seriously doubt this place was made for human souls at all, honestly."
And then, just as suddenly as Emily burst into tears unexplainably, Lucifer's phone rings. Glancing at the ID, he frowns and picks up, asking "Ozzie? What…is that Bee? Why is she crying like that?"
"Hey, Lucy, yeah…we were hoping you'd know the answer to that. Bee showed up about an hour ago, saying someone in Hell was drowning in a black abyss of depression…and now she just suddenly burst into tears and is trying to strangle Satan, she's holding onto him so tight. You having a bad day, or something?"
Lucifer shakes his head, saying "No, I'm good…oh, shit, I know who it is. Thanks for the call, Bee should stop crying soon."
"It's Calliope, isn't it?"
"THEY'RE SO ALONE, PRACTICALLY SUFFOCATING UNDER IT ALL! IT TASTES SO BAD!! WAAAHH!!"
Lucifer winces, then says "Just try to keep her focused on you guys for the next hour or so, alright?" If Calli's affecting even Bee with her grief-stricken depression, far apart as the two of them are, then fuck it's bad today. Really, really bad.
And he seriously doubts Calli can choke down a Calming Draught in the state she's likely in.
Raphael looks oddly guilty as he asks "Something's up with Calliope, isn't it?"
Before Lucifer can say yes - or ask how the fuck Raphael knows that, perhaps - Emily asks "This is what Mom's feeling?"
There's the sound of several glasses hitting the ground simultaneously, no less than four people spit-take their drinks, Alastor lets out a lot of radio feedback from his staff, and Blitz lets out an emphatic "FUCK!" He's quickly followed by 'Holy shit!' and 'Oh, fuck me, if she's her mom…'
Calara in particular looks like she wants to shout 'I knew it!' for all of Hell to hear, but thinks better of it as Emily vanishes in a flash of light.
Lucifer stares where Emily was just sitting, Stolas looking like he wants nothing more than to get between Octavia and Alastor for some reason, and says "C'mon, Bambi, let's go. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!" He's still swearing as he opens a portal up to a hallway Raphael recognizes now, and then grabs Alastor by the lower arm since it's alarmingly clear Emily calling Calli her mother was not something he was prepared to hear. Thankfully, his brain seems to restart when Lucifer drags him through the portal…right as the rain suddenly gets about ten times heavier.
After the portal closes, someone asks "Wait, now she can control the weather, to?"
"Maybe it's just that she's influencing the weather? Instead of actively controlling it, at least."
"Well, fuck, it's not like she's not already some kind of reality-shaping goddess or anything…that's fucking awesome, think she can make an actual sun down here or something? Maybe a night sky? It's been ages since I saw anything other than red up there."
Vaggie gives everyone an unimpressed look, and says "Right now, I doubt Calli's up for anything other than maybe getting wasted at the bar."
Husk and Michael trade horrified looks at that, unnoticed by anyone other than Angel, but don't say a word. Still, neither of them needs to ask if the other is going to start either hiding or getting rid of the stronger drinks at the bar.
Gabriel follows Raphael as he speed-walks down a hallway, saying "Slow down, Raph! Do you even know where you're going?!"
Raphael skids to a stop, guilt written all over his face as he says "I was looking for Lucifer's office earlier today, had a question for him. I couldn't find his office, but I somehow ended up outside Calliope's room. I went in to ask her how to find Lucifer's office, and…"
Gabriel's expression turns to resignation, and he asks "What happened?"
"I…asked about the pictures."
Gabriel blinks, asking "The pictures?"
Raphael nods, saying "Remember the moving pictures she had back in her cottage? When the three of us went there that one time?"
Gabriel nods, groaning as he runs a hand over his face - he was curious about them to, but he buried his questions and curiosity as a lost cause since Calli was both gone and likely to kill them if they ever saw her again. That's changed, yes, but…still. "And, when you left?"
"She didn't seem…angry, at least. But…"
"But then she didn't show up at dinner…"
Raphael nods, grabbing Gabriel's hand and taking off once more - Gabriel barely has time to steady himself when Raphael stops in front of a door before his younger brother knocks on it.
And then, after a minute where there's no answer, he knocks again.
And again.
And then he just starts rapid-fire knocking almost as fast as his wings can go.
After ten seconds of that, the door gets yanked open to reveal…Alastor there, looking utterly pissed off. He glares down at both of them, smile looking distinctly like he's fantasizing about ripping them apart. After a moment, one where the room behind him darkens so they can't make out Lucifer and Emily sitting on either side of a very unconscious Calli - they still one hundred percent saw it, though, Calli's arms wrapped around Emily so tightly it's debatable whether she was trying to strangle the young woman or not - the Overlord asks "What?!"
Gabriel swallows, now understanding exactly why nobody crosses Alastor - not only is he taller than almost anyone in the Hotel, there's something about him that screams 'PREDATOR! RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!' right now. The magical symbols running through the darkness behind him doesn't make him any less threatening either, nor does the power radiating off him strong enough the two Archangels can practically taste it.
Why Calli is even remotely comfortable with this guy, much less comfortable enough to sleep next to him, is a whole new set of questions the Messenger has for Calliope the next time he catches her alone…preferably with Alastor preoccupied on the far side of the Hotel.
Raphael swallows a few times, then says "We just wanted to check on Calli. See if she's alright."
Alastor gives him a deeply unimpressed look, one that says he doesn't believe that for a moment, but at least the creepy-as-all-heck Voodoo symbols disappear from the air around him. Not in the darkness behind him, but at least the air. "She's not. She is, however, out cold." The two Archangels can hear exactly what Alastor isn't saying - that he doesn't care how powerful or important they are in Heaven, if they wake her up he'll rip them to shreds and do it with an extra-large smile on his face.
There's suddenly a tapping sound, and Alastor, Raphael, and Gabriel all look towards the spot in the darkness where it's coming from. When Alastor makes a hole in the shield - yes, both visiting Archangels realize, he made a dome around the doorway - Lucifer is standing there, jacket missing and his hair looking extra-messy. After a moment spent taking in the situation, Lucifer groans, rubs at his eyes, and says "Please don't tear them apart until they actually do something worth the effort."
Lucifer jerks his head back towards Calli, who they can see is still dead to the world despite Raphael's knocking, and Alastor's microphone lets out a staticky hiss. Gabriel and Raphael exchange a glance, when did Lucifer get to know Alastor well enough that they can have a silent conversation like this?
"I'll handle whatever it is they need. You keep my sister company, the last thing she needs is to wake up alone right now."
Lucifer grabs Raphael by the upper arm and drags him away, Gabriel following close behind - thankfully, they hear the door close and lock behind them. After a moment, Raphael asks "Is she alright?" Lucifer shakes his head, saying "No. Hasn't been really alright since long before this world was created. She's just really good about either pushing it so far down even she can't feel it most of the time or hiding it when she can't do that first bit."
Gabriel looks stunned for a moment, trying to imagine the woman that screamed her lungs out and broke his nose up in Heaven breaking down in tears and uncontrollable sobs. Raphael frowns, saying "You mean…she's got High-functioning Depression?"
Lucifer whirls around so fast both his brothers are surprised he hasn't got whiplash, and hastily says "Whatever you do, don't tell her that. She's never gotten within a hundred miles of an actual diagnosis and has absolutely no intention of ever doing so, alright? But…that's probably as close as anyone's going to get, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's true."
Gabriel clears his throat and they keep walking, asking "What about Emily?"
Lucifer rubs the back of his hair, and says "She…called Calli 'mom' to her face. It went about as well as expected…" Calli froze, stared at Emily for a moment…then burst out into another round of sobbing, clutching at her so hard a prybar wouldn't have been able to move her arms even an inch.
A single nudge away from a complete meltdown was not the right moment to drop that nuclear-strength bombshell on Calli, but…what the heck, right?! There was never going to be a perfect moment anyway!
Raphael gets down to the kitchen, needing a 3 am snack after not being able to sleep whatsoever tonight, only to get the surprise of his life when he sees Calli sitting at the table next to Stolas and Blitz, each of them with a glass of what looks like different kinds of smoothies. Blinking for a moment, he asks "What's going on?"
Blitz shrugs, saying "Three different dumbasses up at a ridiculous hour. You?"
Raphael shrugs, saying "Couldn't sleep for once. Three?"
Stolas runs a hand through his feathers, then points to Blitz and says "As Blitzy is so elegantly calling it…Self-destructive dumbass." He points to himself, saying "Depressed dumbass."
Calli raises a hand, saying "Depressed, self-destructive dumbass. Takes one to know one, I guess." She woke up about ten minutes ago, in the middle of some kind of nest on the floor made of pillows and blankets, Emily and Alastor curled up to her - currently, the two of them are curled up with each other…and looking adorable together, not that she'll show the memory to anyone.
Raphael sits down at the table, saying "I didn't take you for self-destructive, really."
Calli snorts derisively, and says "You weren't there for the best of those choices. First one that comes to mind…when Death came back for me after I'd sobered up from the end of my bender, he'd told me not to go looking for my friends' and family's souls. I didn't listen. Figured that, even if they couldn't remember me, it'd be the next best thing to having them all back."
Blitz whistles in shock, saying "Now that is some next-level fuckery."
Raphael gives the Imp a look, which gets returned with a 'what?!' look, and gently asks "I take it you didn't find anyone?"
Calli shakes her head, saying "No, that's just it. I did. One. I stopped looking after that."
Raphael glances at Blitz, hoping to head off any other commentary, but sees he's unusually serious for once. After a moment, the Healer asks "What happened?"
Calli stares into her smoothie, saying "Found Hermione - Emily, she was called then - working in a Library one summer, saving up money before she went off to college with a full-boat scholarship. I knew it was her in an instant, same quirks, same smile, same love of knowledge…but, still, despite Hermione being right there, she looked at me and didn't even ask if she'd seen me somewhere before." She doesn't know what she was expecting, honestly - but, something.
Something other than seeing her best friend, the girl she spent six years in the Gryffindor Dorms, another year in that tent, and over a hundred years meeting up day after day, look at her from someone else's face and act like they were just meeting for the first time.
Stolas puts a hand over Calli's, saying "That's…I'm so sorry. I can only imagine how much it must've hurt."
Calli just shrugs, taking a long pull at the straw, and eventually says "Like I said, self-destructive dumbass, at your service. D had said it was a bad idea, that it would only hurt me, but…occasionally, I have to learn things the extra-hard way." Occasionally, she needs to learn them the extra-hard way many, many times before it sinks in.
Raphael can't take it any longer, and promptly slides over and pulls Calli into a hug. Calli freezes, going stiff as a board in Raphael's arms even as her smoothie suddenly sprouts flowers, and asks "What-"
"You look like you could use a hug." Calli doesn't relax, exactly, but she doesn't pull away either - she shifts her elbow so it's not digging into his ribs, but the tension doesn't leave her body even as her magic sends tiny little shocks into his arms and side every few moments. Considering the detail that they barely feel like anything at all, more like a mild version of when a limb falls asleep, Raphael's more than willing to bet she isn't even consciously aware it's happening.
The looks on Stolas and Blitz's faces, though, are absolutely priceless. Stolas looks like he wants to hide, and Blitz looks like Raphael has a death wish altogether.
Raphael frowns, asking "What?"
Blitz deadpans "If you're going to try and steal her away from the Radio Demon, of all people, fucks sake, do it after we've cleared out to the far side of the Ring."
Calli blushes, saying "He's not."
Raphael asks "What do you mean?"
"Guys, seriously, the three of them hated me until recently." And, to be honest, she's not sure what exactly changed their minds about her. Gabriel hadn't specified what exactly happened to change their views on her, after all - the Pensieve, maybe? She hadn't actually thought it would do that, she'd wanted them to know just why she wasn't giving them any kind of chance and nothing more.
Stolas shakes his head, saying "At least half of Hell knows about the Radio Demon, and how powerful he is. I'm less surprised he's caught the attention of someone as powerful as a near-mythical figure such as Calliope here and more surprised you are unaware of just how much of a threat he is when he wishes to be."
Raphael swallows, asking "And you know because…?"
Blitz says "Most all of Hell gets radio reception, so most all of Hell has heard his Radio Show at least once. He'd broadcast peoples' tortured screams on his show, along with straight-up torturing them, among other things. Trust me, everyone knows about this guy and nobody wants to cross him if they can help it."
Raphael swallows nervously, then quietly says "Oh…" Wait a minute, Alastor is Alicia's son?! He can't see the resemblance, he really can't.
"Plus, there've been videos of him getting taller than the hotel is, tearing through dozens of opponents all by himself, one of them he just turned everything pitch-black and when it let up there were bodies everywhere. Not a single one of his enemies that time survived…whatever he did."
Raphael glances at Calli incredulously, but manages to hold back his questions - still, why is she dating him?! He'd really like to know why she's so comfortable with this guy, comfortable enough to sleep next to him, when he's apparently so dangerous.
Calli just rolls her eyes at him as she sits upright once more, saying "It's Hell, gentlemen. Sometimes, you do what you have to do so nobody will screw with you."
Blitz gives her a doubtful look, asking "You're saying he's not a bloodthirsty cannibal that would happily rip apart anyone who crosses him for his Radio Show, to say nothing of how he can become someone's worst nightmare for the last few minutes of their life?"
Calli pinches the bridge of her nose, and says "No. I'm saying there's more to Alastor than his hard-fought reputation. There's a difference." She removes the flowers from her smoothie, carefully eying the contents of the cup before drinking some more, and everyone's sure she's done with the conversation when she goes to wash the glass. And then she frowns at the sink before even turning the water on, asking "Why's the garbage disposal smell like a distillery?"
Blitz goes over to investigate, leaning over and sniffing, then says "Oh, Christ on a stick, that's gotta be at least eight different perfectly good drinks right there! What kind of idiot wastes that much really good alcohol like that?!"