As I flew back to the hotel with the girl in my arms, I felt something poking at me. When I looked to see what it was, I was stunned.
She used to have wings. Those sadistic angels—it wasn't enough that they blinded her in one eye, they also had the gall to strip her of her wings.
I was furious. I wanted to barge right in and mutilate and torture whoever did this to her.
Unfortunately, I had no way of entering Heaven or any way of searching for who did this.
But right now, I had to get this girl back to the hotel and let her rest in a proper bed.
A few minutes of flying later, Stygian arrived at the hotel, landing in front of the door.
As he entered, Charlie was cooking in the kitchen.
"Hey, Stygy! Is that you?!"
"Yeah! I just got back from outside!"
I walked inside, heading upstairs to one of the guest rooms, and looked for a nice, cozy bed for her.
I placed her on top of the queen-sized bed to let her rest properly. After setting her down, I finally had a good look at her state.
The missing eye was obvious, but what caught me off guard were her missing wings, her singed white hair, and raggedy clothes.
She had really gotten the worst of it. Not even the poorest sinner had it this bad.
I placed a blanket over her to keep her tucked in so that she wouldn't fall off the bed.
I walked out of the room and headed downstairs to where Charlie was setting up the table for us to eat together.
"Hey Stygy, why did you go upstairs?"
"Well... I think we may have found our first tenant here."
Charlie suddenly smiled at Stygian like he had just given her the greatest gift she had ever received.
"Really! What are they like? Are they hungry? Ooh, we should invite them while we eat!?"
"Whoa, calm down, Charlie. They're not in the best shape right now, and I don't think they'll want to eat for a while."
"Oh... okay. But you better tell me more about them once we're done eating, okay, love?"
"Of course, my love."
She giggled and kissed me on the cheek.
"Well, don't just stand there. The food's getting cold."
I chuckled a bit and got in my seat. We usually don't talk while eating Charlie's food, since Charlie said she wanted me to savor the taste of the food she made.
But what she didn't know was that her cooking was... bad. Like, straight-up poison bad.
The first time I had tasted her cooking, it took all I had just to not pass out from the flavor.
How Charlie eats this without puking is beyond me. Fortunately, my body slowly adapted, and I became immune to the deadly taste of the meal.
After we had finished eating, Charlie got up from her chair, picked up all the dishes, and placed them next to me.
"Well, mister, have you forgotten what day it is today?"
I looked at her and sighed. It was my turn to do the dishes. Charlie and I had a set schedule for who would do the dishes, and today was my turn.
I picked up the pile of dishes she had set beside me and began cleaning them by hand.
"Good boy. And no magic. I'll cut up some apples while you clean and talk to me about our new tenant."
I sighed. I could finish the dishes with my magic in seconds, but Charlie forbade me to use it on things like these. She said it would make me lazy.
As I was washing the dishes, Charlie had a cutting board and four apples she had gotten from the fridge.
"So, who's the new tenant?" she asked while cutting the apples.
"Well, they're probably new to Hell since they're not as well off like most sinners here, who've already established themselves in Pentagram City," I said to Charlie while still washing the dishes.
"Oh, that's awful. Is that why you brought them here?"
"Yeah. I thought it would be safer for them to stay here with us."
"You're so sweet, love. Don't worry, they'll be safe here so long as I'm here," she stated joyfully.
"That's good to hear. Also, once they wake up, could you help them wash up? They're really filthy."
Charlie stopped cutting the apples for a second and looked at Stygian, who was cleaning the dishes, and asked him:
"Why would I do that, love?"
"Well, they're a girl, and since you're also a girl, I thought it would be alright for you to help her out."
Charlie was stunned for a second. Her own boyfriend had brought back a stray.
But this would not affect her. Nope. She was completely cool and collected. She began cutting the apple again with a creepy smile on her face.
"Of course, dear. I would love to help her."
"Ah, thanks, Charlie."
"Anything for my boyfriend. In fact, I'll bring some apples up there for her so she has something to eat when she wakes up."
"That's fine. Also, I'll be going to the human realm for a while, so please look after her, okay?"
"Of course, dear. I would never let anything bad happen to our very first tenant. Now, would you excuse me, I'll just bring these apples to her room."
"Okay, love."
Charlie ascended the stairs with some uncut apples and a knife in her hands. Meanwhile, Stygian had just finished with the dishes and headed to the human realm to go do his job.
"Don't worry, love. I'll make sure nothing bad happens to our new tenant."