The Riddle Of Magic

Chapter 21: Adagio For The Fallen

Working alone in the office bothered Charlie too much for her to get much work done, so she took to going over her managerial notes outside in the garden.

Vaggie and Cherri were chatting quietly as they monitored social media for post-Extermination day updates, keeping an eye out for demons posturing for turf wars.

Angel had gone to run some errands, so he'd said, not bothering to tell her where he was going. The princess decided to trust him to take care of himself - because he was an adult, and had largely handled himself before coming to the hotel, but mostly because she didn't know if she'd be able to handle any more fretting without falling to pieces.

Charlie had scarcely slept the past two nights, worried as she was for her business partner, and what his absence would mean for the hotel.

She didn't have any more information on his status. Alastor's shadow didn't seem keen to have her too close to the deer demon, and had snarled at her when she'd come to check on him yesterday, as well as this morning. It was increasingly territorial toward the other spectres as well, chasing them from Alastor's study.

Unable or unwilling to approach the stronger shade, the smaller ones trailed throughout the Hotel's halls and rooms, leaving Niffty to speed about in order to keep things in their place.

The creatures didn't bother her at all, keeping their distance as usual. But since Alastor had collapsed she hadn't seen the little Pidgin anywhere, and she couldn't help but worry for the spirit who had helped her in the fight against Blue.

Yet another stress.

But it was a nice day barometrically, for what it was worth. A cool breeze rustled through the garden, and the blonde demoness tried to focus on work to distract herself. She decided it would be nice to get new flowers inside the common areas, in case any visitors came through.

The greenhouse was flourishing thanks to Niffty's diligence, and Charlie wandered through the rows of flowers, letting the mingling scents calm her. There were quite a few nice looking blooms, and she debated between a few different arrangements. They had some interesting amaryllis bulbs, the new growth far darker than usual, but she saw that their pink hydrangea clusters were getting on the larger side, and could do with a good trim.

She plucked one of the hydrangea blossoms, holding the soft ball in her hands. The petals were smooth as velvet, and the clean scent was soothing.

As she tallied how many more flowers she needed, the princess considered visiting some of the demons who had written to her to see how they had fared during Extermination Day. Perhaps petitioning them in person might encourage them to sign up. It would also get her out of the building for a little while, let her see how her people were doing.

A pang of anxiety struck her so suddenly she hissed in a breath, and the flowers crushed in her fist.

Sulphur's sake, she couldn't just leave now, Alastor needed her! What if she was gone, and something worse happened to him?

Her throat was tight with anxiety, and swallowing was an effort as she fought to keep her breathing in check.

Alastor's shadow hadn't come to get her the entirety of the day yesterday, and waiting for an update was the purest form of torture. She needed to know if there was something that could help her partner.

The shadow had to understand that she cared about Alastor - it clearly did, too. They both wanted the same thing, for the deer demon to be back to his cheerful, energetic self. They needed to work together to make that happen!

She resolved to go check on him, and make the spectre understand her feelings, no matter what it took. She wasn't going to let a spirit scare her!

I can't take shit from demons, and I can't take it from spectres either!