𝐇𝐇 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐃𝐄 - Hazbin Hotel

pt 13

A cloud of fire materialized in the dark palace premises, illuminating the great hall a little until the flames dwindled to show the image of the king of hell.

Or what was left of him.

As soon as he looked around, a deep urge to weep seized him. He could even feel the warmth of tears running delicately down his cheeks as he took step after step through the wide corridors, where the huge family photos seemed to be taunting him to his very face. The same way his brothers had mocked him before the decision was made that he would be completely banished to what he was today.

Looking at it this way, apparently they were right about many things. He was still too naive and believed that his new life in hell would change all that in one turn just because he felt that by taking out the crown (which to tell the truth, was of no importance to him whatsoever) he had other people he loved too much to put up with anything. He had his precious Charlie and... his beloved wife.

He stopped in front of a particular painting, showing the two of them with a still small Charlie. Their faces etched in an expression of eternal happiness made something inside him break into a million pieces.

He loved his family. Of course he did. Perhaps he had not been as much of an example of a father to Charlie as he would have liked as he neglected much of his growing up due to the deep depression that filled his body after that unexplained departure by Lilith. Even his intrusive thoughts and the pain of what happened were so many that he felt it was best to isolate himself to dedicate his time to something that would produce some kind of emotion different from those that used to torment him every time the past came back to his head like an avalanche of darkness that consumed him little by little. And that perhaps it would have if it weren't for the fact that his little girl had called him after so long so that they could recover what they had lost and be father and daughter again.

But even if he didn't express it verbally. He knew that the hole Lilith had left was still there... and that was why he held out hope that she would return. It didn't matter in what context or what the reasons were, he just wanted her to come back and show him that bright smile, those long golden hairs and the sound of her sweet voice.

He wanted her back.

However, as the years went by, he felt that this longing was becoming a mere illusion. The illusion of a person he loved and that every day was fading from his mind due to her absence.

He caressed the material of the photograph, looking closely at the shine of his wedding ring that he never took off despite the emotional storms and sudden events. For he still believed in his love for Lilith. He still believed he could have her by his side again. He believed that they could be a happy family again but....

His Charlie definitely seemed to have found a family. And it was made up of her own people, the ones he sought to help through her idea. And Lilith... he still hadn't heard from her but he was more than sure she was fine.

And what about him? Nothing. There was nothing. Just a body made up of more emotions than anything else. And he felt frustration at that. He felt deep frustration for still waiting for his beloved and for having deceived her without realizing it. But he also sensed other emotions, the kind he remembered experiencing when Charlie was born and he discovered that he could love in the same way and even more a being so small and full of energy.

He thought of Clauneck.

He thought of the revelation.

He thought of Alastor.

Yes, he had only gone to Carmilla's fortress to begin his plan to get closer to the demon until he could apologize to him for having told him such nonsense about raising a child that was not his but that he had loved from the first moment he saw him.