The Riddle Of Magic

Chapter 18: Ballad of Angels

"Alrighty! Thanks for coming, everyone!" Charlie announced to the residents of the Happy Hotel as they clustered by the bar. "Alastor and I wanted to go over plans for Extermination Day tomorrow."

"You mean we're staying here?" Husk asked. "I figured it was every demon for themselves."

"Nope, we're all a team here, and we're going to look after each other. So, to help with that, we're going to have a buddy system!" Charlie explained with a friendly smile. "Husk, you're with Angel-"

The spider demon cheered and while the cat demon groaned.

"Baxter, you're with Niffty," the princess continued, to no complaints. "And Cherri, you're with Vaggie."

Vaggie blinked. "Wait... then you're with-"

"Why with me, of course!" Alastor said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "It's only right as the managers of this fine establishment! And in the event of things going sideways, I'm the one who can most reliably get us to the palace!"

"Why the palace?" Baxter asked, ever curious.

"Well, my fishy friend, when the Exorcists come they're going to be drawn to anything with power - whatever has the strongest essence. Our darling princess here will be a highly visible target! And the palace is the most secure place on this ring."

"Wait, if Blondie's gonna draw the Exorcists, then shouldn't she be somewhere else?" Angel asked.

"I'm not leaving the Hotel," Charlie insisted.

"Hon, maybe it might be for the best if you went home, just for the day," Vaggie suggested.

"I'm not doing that, babe," Charlie replied. She appreciated her girlfriend looking out for her, but the hotel was where she belonged. "I can't just leave everyone here alone." Besides, if the Exorcists did notice her, she wanted to talk to them anyway.

"But Smiles has his voodoo, yeah?" Cherri pointed out. "He's taken care of territory before."

"It's not-" Charlie just caught herself, right as a loud feedback rang from Alastor's radio staff, making everyone clutch their ears. "It's my responsibility to take care of this place, I can't just abandon it."

Vaggie's pale eye shone with worry. "But-"

"It's her decision, so that's all there is to it!" the Radio Demon cut off the discussion. "We've already talked it through, and reruns are boring. Here's how tomorrow will work!"

He was an Overlord, Charlie remembered, and the princess felt a strange thrill at his exercising authority, taking his share of command of their group.

"There's four teams, and four directions! I can't keep the barrier around the whole of the property and keep it sound. We're going to position each team at key points around the main floor, to draw the attention of the Exorcists as needed."

"You're using us as bait?" Vaggie exclaimed, and the group's cohesion dropped as they all began talking in various levels of alarm.

"Vaggie, please!" Charlie gasped, stunned at her girlfriend's lack of trust, especially all they'd been through as a group. "That's horrible! It's not like that at all! Each sinner team is going to be a kind of bottleneck. Rather than them swarm randomly, we need to make sure the Exorcists are deflected toward key points, if they decide to approach the Hotel. If anyone is seen, we want to make sure it's at the appropriate time so we can protect everyone."

"We know they're gonna approach," Husk grumbled. "They come for him on his own," he gestured to the Radio Demon, "With the two of ya - the question isn't 'if', it's 'how many'?"