Chapter Text
The first thing I noticed was the smell of smoke. It invaded my senses with the subtlety of a brick wall, pulling me from the safety of darkness. My eyes flickered open, grit sticking to my eyelashes as I squinted against the light. A crimson sunset sky greeted me as noises began to filter into my consciousness. Gruff yells and grunts coming from the left, metal clashing and gunshots scattered around me. All reminding me that I wasn’t safe.
Quickly I took stock of my body, my legs ached, and my muscles tightened painfully across my shoulders and back. But I’d certainly felt worse.
It’ll do for now, time to move.
Pulling myself to my feet, I looked closer at my surroundings. The pavement spilled out beneath me, littered with rubble and bodies. Tall concrete buildings towered over the street, closing off the square I was in.
“Where am I?” I whispered incredulously, astounded by the sheer destruction around me.
My heart raced, taking in the appearance of the bodies before me. Bloodied torsos and severed heads piled on top of eachother in a sick parody of jenga. They were held together by a metal spear, like a toothpick stabbed through a fancy burger. Pale silver with gold accents, sticking into the concrete. But…. They weren’t entirely human. Wings, tails, claws and horns adorned them. I crept closer reaching a hand out. Only to freeze in shock. Dark navy skin greeted me. But it was definitely still my hand. The old scar on my thumb stood out, ropey and white like lightning against a night sky. My introspection was broken by the sound of shattering glass behind me
“Look! There’s another one!” Yelled an imposing figure dressed in shades of black and white. The large wings on their back lifted them safely over the broken glass and they pointed a familiar spear in my direction.
Right. Not safe.
I quickly tabled my puzzling appearance and took off for the opposite end of the street. I ducked between buildings, choosing a smaller passage to stop my pursuer from using their wings. I could still hear them behind me, cursing as they navigated the tight turns. The sounds of the battles around me filtered through the concrete maze making it harder and harder to hear how close my attacker was. Sadistic cackles and explosions culminating in a symphony of screams.
All I could do was run. My chest was burning as my lungs heaved in air and smoke. A faint ringing in my ears telling me that I couldn’t keep this pace up as injured as I was. My muscles protested but I kept running, turning sharply left at the next crossroad I found myself outside of the safe haven of back alleys.
Shit
I faltered, my steps slowed. I couldn’t go back, they were surely right behind me! But I can’t be out in the open either, they’ll catch me!
Too late. My dithering cost me. Hands came down on my shoulder spinning me abruptly.
“Got you bitch!” They said smugly, a wide grin flickering on their mask as they shoved me to the ground.
“You made me run. I don’t like running” they intoned, cocking their head to the side. They reached out and raised my chin, bringing my eyes up to theirs. “Oh but you’re such a pretty thing! It would be such a shame to ruin you….. oh well” and they shrugged, whipping the blunt end of their spear into the side of my leg.
White filled my vision, as fire licked through my veins. I was screaming. I’m sure I was. But I couldn’t hear it. I couldn’t feel anything but the agony radiating from my shin. Slowly my vision returned, granting me the image of wings flared out dramatically behind the figure as they prepared to plunge the spear into my chest.
When suddenly…. They stopped. Glancing surprised and annoyed towards the town we just came from. I could just make out through the ringing of my own ears, the sound of a gong.
“Next time bitch, I’ll come for you” they said, releasing their hold on me. They took off, joining a stream of hundreds of similar figures heading towards a golden portal in the sky.
“What the fuck” I croaked out. The adrenaline was quickly fading with my attackers retreat. This only solidified my original worries. It was not safe here. I needed to find some shelter and figure out what the hell was happening.
I gently pressed down on my leg, feeling the bone with my fingers. I was lucky that I had some experience. Not that you could really say anyone was lucky when gaining that experience… but, it had come in handy more than once. I was glad to find that the bone was still intact. Time to try weight bearing. I stood with my weight on the right leg, gently resting my left one on the ground. It held. Just.
“Back at square one” I muttered to myself, exhaustion pulling at my limbs. Taking a look across the city. My random directions had landed me on the edge of the town. Slightly up on the hill, a metropolis sprawled out beneath me. It smouldered, brilliant gold patches of fire that broke up the concrete monotony at the centre. It seemed to be split further into sections. There was a district flooded with neon light, one with no light at all and one that had bright white coloured buildings, to name a few. A real hodgepodge of styles that formed a loose star shape.
I turned my back to it, looking further up the hill. A large building stood behind me. It was a perplexing mix of physics defying architecture and stolen items, with the hull of a boat sticking out halfway up the side. A metallic tower sat on the roof with a large antenna reaching for the clouds. The globes along the front of the building proudly illuminated the name “Hazbin Hotel”.
A hotel huh…. Hotels usually have a decent amount of trash, and people coming and going all the time. No one will notice me poking around. I hobbled around to the back of the building, quickly scouring through the top of the trash.
Not much here. Maybe it was collected recently. I grab out a decent sized box and place myself in a shaded corner. I don’t have the energy to be picky right now. This’ll work until I’ve rested enough to move again.
Despite my still racing heart, and sore body, my eyelids begin to droop. The warmth of the air comforting my exhausted brain. The world faded quickly back to darkness.