Chapter Text
When Alastor awakens the next morning, he is laying on his side with the teddy bear resting right beside his head. His clothes were changed, and his his head body felt light. He had no recollection of the previous night, and had no memory of the dream that came to him. All he could remember was the fear. And that exact fear chose to stay with him. He looks to the teddy bear, and chooses to keep it in his coat pocket. It brought him comfort in the night, so hopefully it could bring him comfort during the day.
Today he decides to leave a little message for his show, to give little heaping of encouragement to his listeners and to himself. He needed a break and decides to take the day to rest. Which was the topic of discussion that he had originally planned. But what better way to teach this lesson than to actually take the time to rest his own spirit and mind?
He decides to stay home as well as he felt as though he had gone through many days without any proper rest since the Radio show began, and so he wanted to take Emily's advice to take a break when he felt it to be necessary. He parades around his home in casual wear that seemed a bit foreign to him. A regular t-shirt, and some loose pajama pants, a type of style that even made his mother feel a kind of way. But she wouldn't pester him, as he just wanted to be left in peace with his own devices.
He sits at the window of the living room with several books floating around him, along with his journal that he would write in. He also kept a personal diary in order to record his dreams and experiences. His feelings and doubts. His fears. Everything was written into it. But he would never dare to let others see it.
'Even when I sit here and try to think of what happened to me last night, I can't seem to remember anything. I remember falling asleep with that feeling in my chest, but then I remember the sands of the beach. The voice of a woman. He taps his head and is able to recall some words. But the one that struck with him the most, was the term 'deal.'
He goes back through his notes about Hell, and refers to the section of overlords. He had no reason to take these notes down when he was reading througg the books in Sera's library, but he made sure to do so just in case.
'In Hell, sinners are permitted to gain power through soul dealing, or dealing with other sinners in general. The more deals under their belt, the more power they accumulate. But deals don't just work in Hell. They also work to keep a balanced structure of equality between heaven and hell, a form of a contract that keeps the peace between both sides. For example, punishment for a sinner must reside only to the domain of Hell and never to domain of heaven unless the King agrees to the punishment as long as it fits the crime, in order for it to be fair.'
He sighs lightly.
"Even when I am trying to rest, none of this is helping me...." He says quietly to himself. He closes every book that was surrounding him and puts them all away. When he looks to his journal he feels a need in his soul. A need to preserve what was written in some way just in case. He goes to his mother's room as he was alone for the time being and holds a hand up.
'This power....I'll use what I can for now before it dissipates..'
In the center of his palm, forms a box. The colors of it being yellow with diamonds of brown layered over its exterior to give it a more checkered design. He opens it up and holds his journal up in his hand. He forms a second copy and sets the copy into the box.
"The only way she could open this....is with this."
A simple key forms in his hand in the shape of a radio knob. He locks the box and sets in the middle of her clothes. He frowns. He wasn't sure as to why he was doing this, but something in his stomach made him fear for the worst. He holds the key tightly and tucks it away in one of the pockets of her dresses. He writes a simple letter and also hides it within the dress pocket as well.
"If anything happens....this will reveal itself...."
He steps out of her room and takes all of his books into his hands as if a portal was made in his palms. It's in this moment that he realizes what exactly.the power was that was passed to him. A small form of power that allowed for him to create.
'Makes sense considering that he was an angel that should have been apart of the creation of the world only to be shunned away...'
He looks around the house as if he was never going to see it again. He frowns even more and leaves through the front door without bothering to extend his wings. They merely remain tucked in behind him while his ears lay flat against his head. When he looks at his reflection he is carrying this expression of sorrow. He is carrying a smile, but he isn't relatively happy. There's this dissatisfaction in the pit of his heart that just would not leave him. What was it? Why did it suddenly appear? And why was it making him feel as though he had no choice? Could it possibly have something to do with the previous night?
He wasn't sure.
He decides to seek out some advice. But who should he speak to? At this point he could only speak to one person. He didn't want to speak to her, but Michael had some trust in her anyway. He spreads out his wings, and to the awe of the other winners they were surprised to see that he had another pair under his first. This also shocked him, but he had no time to question it. He flies up into the sky and goes to seek out the Seraphim.
His heart knew this wasn't a good idea, but his mind was so clouded that he couldn't tell the difference of what was wrong or right anymore. He flies up to her office window and knocks quietly. Sera jumps at the sight of his shadow before turning to him. She opens the window and watches him drop in onto his knees as if the strength in his body was vanishing. He looks up to her with a frown.
"Your....Your wings....why do you have two pairs? That shouldn't be possible.....and you've only been up here for a mere several months, almost close to a year...!"
Alastor wants to open his mouth to speak, but his voice is just caught in his throat. He lowers his head frowning. He sits with legs up.
"I just need your assistance.....I was not sure who else to turn to. You are someone Emily and Sir Michael trust more than anything, therefore I can only seek out your help. Please Sera..."
Sera is a bit surprised to hear this. She shakes her head and holds her hand out to him.
"Tell me what is plaguing you, and I'll see what can be done."
Alastor takes her hand and stands as she helps him up onto his feet.
He stands before her desk and describes the dream he had managed to see during the previous night, but with barely any recollection of what he saw or what was said.
She frowns.
"I'll seek into your dreams to find the answer. Sit and close your eyes while I check to see what has happened."
Alastor nods his head and does as told. His hands rest in his lap as he his wings sulked down behind him. He closes his eyes as Sera's hand rests to the crown of his head. Her hair strands separate as her eyes peak through.
Her own angelic soul forms into his mind as it wanders through the dream. That's when she sees them.
She sees him sitting back against the sand as a figure with long golden blonde locks reaches out to him. But when she looks over to her back she can see a figure hiding from within the woman's shadow. The figure gives off a horrific grin as the woman speaks with a different vocal tone.
"How about a deal little fawn?"
Alastor is hesitant as he crawls back.
"I don't have anything to gain from this....!"
"You have everything to gain. Status. Power. The ability to really let your murderous persona be free. You can live a life of blood shed without judgement."
Alastor heavily sighs, I won't be taking your offer. What I want is not something you or anyone could give to me. I already have all I need here. You're just delusional."
The woman's smile widens even more.
"Are you sure?"
The Radio Host stands up on his own and brushes himself off. But when he lifts his head, the woman rises up before his face with the shadowy figure peaking up from behind her with a giggle.
"You don't have your revenge....and he is in hell waiting for you.....but you also have solace. You could gain answers to all your burning questions. You already have doubts about heaven. You know what others don't, and you think far beyond the status quo. You are aware where as others continue to turn a blind eye just to keep others happy. But is that fair? You have someone doubting you, and yet you recieved help from the King of Hell himself...."
Alastor flinches as he turns away.
"You can't hide the truth for long....so make a deal with me and when you fall down to Hell I will give you everything you will need to survive and in exchange you will do favors, one at a time. You will be invincible and you'll have everything, you can even create your own radio show down there too."
"Silence."
"You can't refuse because you don't belong here."
Alastor's hands cover his ears.
"Shut up...."
"You killed them. You killed them all. Slaughtered them. Even if they were just as terrible as you....why should it be fair for someone like you to be an angel like this...? I've been watching you since you arrived, and the darkness in your heart is slowly fading. And we can't have that hun."
Her hand drives through his chest with claws that are extending out to be just as long as her hand. The tips and arm coated in a mist of black. Alastor's eyes are wide as the darkness in his heart starts to really come through. His other persona filled with an egotistical pride glares at her with anger. His hand grabs her wrist.
"Y—You....! Won't intimidate me...!"
"But you're trembling in your shoes, how cute."
She says with a smile. Her other hand reaches up to his cheek as she leans closer to his face.
"If you don't agree.....the soul of your mother will not be spared. The darkness in her heart will be awakened and she will meet your fate....is that what you want?"
Alastor's eyes widen as his ears fall back completely.
"Shhh, it's okay little fawn..." Her hand pets his head as if he was a dog meant to serve. His body is just aching as he couldn't use any of his strength to stop anything.
"Heaven will learn one day, you will see."
She smiles serenely as her face changes, to that of another woman that he did not recognize her eyes glowing red, as her skin became paler.
Alastor growls at her.
"W—What...are you...? You're still....Lilith...but you....you're using her body to travel....! Who are you?!"
She giggles and leans to his ear, "I am your pain. Your sorrow. Your sin. I am the reason you even have this double edged persona. Your negativity feeds me for all eternity. Your sins and your lies give me life...!"
Lilith's hand turns over as her claws curl inward as the tips scrape over and over down his back making him wince as sweat drips down his face.
The scenery of the beach changes to the void. The blackened realm of darkness ready to swallow him up. As the black threads begin to curl around him, and dig through the under layers of his clothes to sink into his skin. He cringes and groans.
In reality, Alastor is feeling even more exhausted that he should. If he could he would fall asleep right then and there. But his body was struggling to remain in composure.
"Give in hun...I don't want to hurt you...."
Alastor's eyes close tightly as he weighs in on his options. Options? What options? There was none. Even if he called for help somehow, who would reach him? Who would dare to face this creature in the abyss.
Sera's eyes are wide as she watches the scene. But what doesn't shock her is his expression that changes to something much more sinister.
"If you want me to accept this deal, then you will need to wait for me to fall! If I do, then perhaps I will accept. If I don't then you better cease your insignificant plans that will turn on you later down the line!"
Lilith's smile falls with boredom and disappointment.
"Fine...."
She giggles and forces him to wake up. Sera sees his memories play after he awakens from such a nightmare. He gets up and looks into the mirror seeing the bloody persona. He looks to his bracelet and notices it flashing. It was attempting to alert Michael. He glares and grabs a hold of the bracelet. He pulls onto its sides causing it to tremble and shatter.
Sera stops in seeing more as she steps back from him. Father away from him.
Alastor lifts his head up as he had slumped over.
"Sera...?"
Sera glares down at him with a frown, but also a look of disgust.
"This is no laughing matter.....we need to have a meeting to discuss this. A trial."
"Trial?....what did you see?!" He cries.
"You will know soon.....but for now I cannot have you outside and about with the other winners. You will need to be detained. Her hands flash brightly as they form golden cuffs. She latches them onto his wrist. He looks up to her with rage.
"I came to you for help! But instead you're choosing to imprison me?!"
"It will be for your own good Alastor."
He hated being told such words. His mother would use those words as an excuse back in the day, his father would do the same with a more authoritative tone.
"You don't know what is good for me!" He shouts with his teeth gritting tightly together.
"You know nothing and refuse to see anything outside of what you know! You are walking hypocrite, and you kiss the ass of the first man as he treats everyone like absolute trash! Like he's worth more than the cheap dollar store brand!"
Sera's eyes burst with rage as the light shines over his eyes. He freezes on the spot and shakes his head.
"You better know your place. You know better than to speak to me in this manner, and you know better than to speak about the first man as well!"
"And what about you?!"
"I am doing everything for this realm! You are just a sinning human who recieved a miracle only to waste it!"
The cuffs attach to a set of golden chains that form into her hands as she pulls them down forcing the Radio host to his knees.
"You will be put onto trial, in order for us to determine the correct course of action against you. You are a danger to heaven. I am sorry Alastor but this is the only thing I can do to possibly help you. Once you come into contact with evil, you are destined to fall...."
Alastor breathes and lifts himself up off the floor.
"The true evil here is you....I know about your little approval with Adam. I know your secret. And I can find a way for it to be revealed! Is that what you want?!"
Sera flinches, "How do you....?!"
He grins.
"I overheard you both talking while in the hallway. To think that you would allow sinners to be slaughtered without mercy...." He shakes his head.
"It is just a horrific scene....."
"Adam!"
Sera calls as the first man shows up with a drink in his hand and one of his girls at his side.
"What is it? Hm?....OH HO! Is that the Radio host?! So you finally lost a screw haven't you?!"
"Be quiet. We are preparing for a trial. Summon the others now, and make way to the trial room. Have your current lieutenant escort him to a cell now."
Adam sighs, "Alright, alright fine." He knocks his head back toward Alastor as he faces his current lieutenant. The exorcist angel nods her head and approaches the Radio Host without mercy. She grabs onto the chains and forces him to stand as his wings just tuck all the way into his back. Sera teleports them both as they appear before a set of prison cells that are empty. She drags the Radio Host forward as his eyes glared down to the ground.
"So you're one of the girls that go down to Hell to kill souls who are not even interested in harming those above correct?"
The angel doesn't answer him as she shoves him into the cell without a word. She stands on guard before the cell door in silence.
"You do not realize to who you serve. You don't serve your God. You serve the desires of the first man. A disgusting soul that brings shame to humanity."
"Silence." She turns to the soul as she lifts up her mask to reveal a light grey and purple skin tone with her eyes glowing with an orange glow. Her hair short and cut at equal height as it stopped just at her chin.
"You do not have any right to say anything about Adam or about me. You are the abomination here. Someone like you should have never have been trusted to try and be redeemed."
Alastor's brow lifts.
"And who are you to judge me? No one can judge me. That is not your job nor Sera's. That job belongs to the one at the top. But you wouldn't understand because of your own blind devotion to the first man, a type of devotion that is just unworthy and sick."
She opens the cell and kicks him back as he hits the wall behind him hard.
"I gave you a warning. Be quiet!"
Alasor chuckles as he sits with his head leaning back against the wall. He sighs heavily and gives off a small sad smile.
'I don't remember anything. But I feel as though my strength is dying. My chest is burning, and my mind is so cluttered yet empty. But no doubt, this is the end for me now. I failed.....'
His eyes stare at the ceiling as his eyes fill with tears—the memories of his time in heaven playing before his eyes. With a single tear sliding down his cheek he smiles.
"I'm so sorry Ma....."