The Riddle Of Magic

Chapter 8: Colored Perspective

Princess Charlotte Morningstar was almost beginning to regret the idea for a redemption Hotel.

Almost being the operative word. She wasn't ever going to give up on her people, but they made it really hard sometimes.

Her conversation with Alastor had nearly derailed her encounter with Vaggie, as the moth demoness had insisted on Charlie recounting his reaction to her explaining that the V Triumvirate knew about his grimoire; since Charlie had insisted on speaking with him alone.

Vaggie was also displeased that Charlie knew about the grimoire at all, her poor poker face having given her away at dinner.

She had smoothed things over with her girlfriend in the end, and they'd enjoyed the rest of their evening together, but the princess realized some matters were becoming easier the less they talked about them, and didn't like the idea of that at all.

It reminded her too much of Seviathan.

The clashes of the differing personalities of the Hotel's occupants were exasperated by a new resident, as everyone adjusted to a new presence in their midst. Each demon made the living situation progressively more complicated, and the princess couldn't help but worry how she would handle this Hotel becoming as busy as the one from the Other Hell.

She could barely manage four residents. How would she manage fourteen, let alone forty?

Four hundred?

Charlie laid her head on the desk in frustration. She wished she could talk to the Other Princess. Surely, her Authority wasn't the only reason the Other Hotel had residents. She must have succeeded in redemption, or at least be close to it.

Had she been as frustrated and afraid as Charlie felt now?

Surely moreso! After all, she didn't have a co-manager to rely on.

Granted, Charlie's own was currently nowhere to be seen. That wasn't unusual in the mornings; she was almost always the first into the managers' office, with the Radio Demon wandering in anywhere from a few minutes to an hour later.

But after an hour and a half, Alastor was nowhere to be seen, and Charlie decided to take a break from rearranging her business plan and answering inquiry letters to see where he was.

As she opened the office door, a small train of floating shadows drifted past her, exploring the room.

They would occasionally float close to her, but would shy away if she approached them, as if wanting to stay just out of reach. The Pidgin was the only one of the spectres that would engage her directly, other than Alastor's shadow.

Charlie let the shades be as she went to find her business partner. She was still trying to puzzle out their behavior - Alastor had just shrugged when she asked him why they acted how they did, and she had left the subject alone, not wanting to pry.

The spirits were everywhere, a variety of creatures milling about the halls and rooms. Something like this usually happened when the Radio Demon left the hotel premises, and Charlie had the distinct sense that he was somehow still watching, even though he wasn't in the building.

Husk neither confirmed nor denied that suspicion, brushing off having any idea about Alastor's abilities or where he was. He didn't care one whit where his boss had gone; if the guy was going to give him some peace and quiet, he'd take it gladly.

It gave the winged cat demon some relief, but not Charlie so much, as the spectres had a strange habit of leaving doors open all over the place, and moving objects seemingly at random.