Daughter Dearest

six

“Smiles is back, and he brought someone with him. Probably another sinner.” An accented voice spoke in passing, immediately going to lounge on a nearby couch. 

A sinner? Venus quit looking around, her face morphing into that of confusion. 

A girl with long blonde hair swept into the lobby with a broad, welcoming grin plastered on her face. She came to a stop in front of Venus. 
“Hi! I'm Charlie, welcome to my hotel! — Welcome back Alastor!” The demon, Alastor, hummed in greeting and disappeared into the shadows. 

“It's a pleasure to meet you, Charlie. . . I'm not sure why exactly Alastor brought me here, but the place certainly does have some charm to it.” Venus smiled slightly, the blondes smile brightening at her words. 

They were easily the same height, something that caught both of their attention relatively quickly, though it went ignored past an obvious look of pleasant surprise. 

“Well, the hotel's purpose is to rehabilitate sinners so they could have a chance to go to Heaven.” Charlie stated excitedly, her eyes were practically stars as the woman in front of her seemed genuinely interested. 

There was that word again. Sinner. 

“I'm sorry, what is a sinner?” Venus questioned, the confusion lacing her tone was evident. 
Charlie opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, the same accented voice piped up from the couch. “You're a sinner if you lived up there, died, and wound up down here, Toots. That's just how it is.”

“I don't think I died.” She said slowly, pulling her phone out of her dress pocket. She clicked it on and her lock screen was still very much the same as it was: her and Peter at Coney Island for his fifteenth birthday with the blazing sun high above — the blue sky with cirrus clouds as the perfect backdrop for the photo. 

Both were holding ice cream in one hand and a decently sized stuffed animal was tucked into each of their sides. Venus's was a pastel Llama while Peter's was a dragon. 

Natasha had taken the picture. That was the day he called Venus mom for the first time. And she cried. 

Even as she swiped open her phone, everything remained the same. The opened messages from Peter and Wanda. The phone call to Thor and Loki that she had made thirty minutes after she replied to Wanda — it lasted a good forty-five minutes.

“I didn't die.” Venus confirmed finally. “I was talking to a friend of mine on earth and heard someone whisper my name. That happened a lot when I was much younger, so I thought nothing of it. . . I got an absolutely horrendous migraine and then I think a portal opened? I'm not sure. I blacked out, but when I woke up, I wasn't far from hitting the ground.”

She paused for a moment, looking away from the device in her hand to meet the eyes of the girl with seemingly large dreams. 
“If it wouldn't be too much trouble. . . I'd love to stay here and help. Your end goal isn't out of reach; I happen to have experience in guiding.” Venus smiled, hoping she came off as endearing as she did whenever it came to Peter. 

“It would be no trouble at all! I mean, we don't have very many sinners looking for redemption at the moment, but you're more than welcome to stay here for as long as you'd like to!” Charlie gushed, excited at the prospect of having another person at the hotel. 

Then she paused, a look that translated to the gears turning within her head appearing on her face before it brightened once again. “Come on! Let's go introduce you to everyone!” 

Charlie grabbed Venus's arm and pulled her toward what seemed to be a common area of the hotel. 
She followed without any force, allowing the more energetic girl to lead her. Charlie called out something about a staff meeting that had a few extras enter the room. 

Once everyone was seated, the introductions began. Alastor was nowhere to be seen. 

Venus went first, having realized she wasn't in a place where everyone knew her. She just gave her name and occupation on earth — Avenger —, leaving out the part where she was the princess of a far off realm. 

The little character, Niffty, was the first to formally introduce herself by jumping onto her back and carefully observing her every breath, before going off to kill a large bug that scurried across the floor.

Then was Sir Pentious, an extremely expressive snake demon who spoke in a very respectful manner — a way that she hadn't heard in quite some time. 

Vaggie reluctantly introduced herself to the newcomer, keeping it short. 

Charlie stepped in and introduced Angel Dust, who then mentioned all of the adult films he had starred in. She also introduced Husk, the bartender. Venus had a feeling she'd be spending some time with the winged cat demon.

★†★

All of three hours had passed since introductions when Venus's phone rang, the familiarity of Bulletproof by Godsmack ringing out into the kitchen — Pietro had changed her ringtone as a joke and it never changed it back. 

Thor's name was on screen, flashing as the song continued to play. Before she could click the answer icon, it quit ringing and a text came through. 

I'm sorry, sister. 

Her stomach dropped the moment she read the notification. No no no no no. NO! 

She picked it up and hurriedly unlocked the device, clicking on the notification and then immediately on the call icon. It rang twice before it was picked up. 

“Please tell me that you are merely jesting, brother. Please say that you didn't go against the one singular thing I asked of you.” Venus stressed openly, placing the device to her ear. 

“It was an accident. I truly tried, but the young spider became sad when he heard that you wouldn't be here for some time.” 

“One thing. One fucking thing I asked of you, Thor. Loki and I have kept secrets for centuries that would've had Odin cast you out had he learned of them, yet for this, you cracked in less than a day? . . You knew, of all people, that I didn't want my son — your nephew — to know where I was. Which is why I said to tell everyone that I was visiting Asgard because our parents needed me! I'm quite literally in Hell, as in, I am no longer on earth!”

Venus groaned loudly, the sound nearly becoming a growl as she clutched her head in her other hand. “Listen well, brother. . . Tell them to treat it as if I am in Asgard. As soon as I know my purpose here, I will tell them what I know, until then, I need no distractions.”

She hung up before he could reply.