Chapter Text
Their last picture before....
The light had dimmed over the famed white sands of Boracay Isle, casting the sky in rich shades of rose and fuchsia. The island was part of an archipelago far from the Sloth Ring mainland, a collection that included Somnus Isle. It was the same place where Alastor had hidden with Nathaniel decades ago, during a time when everything between him and Lucifer had fallen apart.
Waves, clear as glass, lapped at the shore while a warm breeze brought the scent of salt and blooming frangipani. It was the kind of sunset that invited peace and contentment. But for Alastor, none of it mattered anymore. His microphone staff felt like dead weight in his grip, his knuckles pale from holding it too tightly. Just a few steps away, Lucifer spoke in quick, clipped tones to the resort staff and to the palace guards they had brought from Pentagram City. Alastor could hear the strain in his husband’s voice. He kept his eyes fixed on the horizon, his thoughts churning with fear and guilt.
This trip had been meant to be perfect.
After months of endless work—late nights in the palace, managing Hell together, meeting with delegates, dealing with different factions, and negotiating with Heaven—this vacation had been their chance to reset. Slow down, reconnect, and breathe again. The children had been excited, counting down the days, eager for a break from school. He had promised them adventure.
And Boracay Isle had delivered on every promise. The water looked even better than the photos, the sand soft as powdered sugar beneath their feet. The first two days had passed in bliss: swimming, building sandcastles, eating fresh mangoes by the shore. Lucifer had challenged Nathaniel and Exodus to swimming contests, laughing and pretending to give them a chance, though he never let them win. Lucifer was too much of a sore loser for that. Genesis and Isaac had lounged on either side of him, all three of them sunbathing in sunglasses, soaking in the warmth. Marie had stayed nearby, happily constructing and demolishing sandcastles over and over. Their toddler had been thrilled. The island had seemed perfect.
Then this morning, Nathaniel had approached him, beaming, “Ma, we’re gonna check out that cave everyone’s talking about, the one in the hidden lagoon. We’ll be back before lunch, promise!”
Alastor should have said no. Or gone with them. Or at least asked more questions.
But he had just smiled, ruffled Nathan’s hair, and said, “Be careful, sweetie.” As if caves of Sloth Ring weren’t dark, winding, dangerous places. He had forgotten how some of them pulsed with Hell’s strange energy. Places where the realm’s unpredictable forces sometimes bled through.
Now the sun had nearly set, and the children were still missing. Lucifer’s phone remained silent. The kids’ phones rang endlessly with no answer. The resort staff had seen no sign of their return, and the bodyguards assigned to trail them had lost track after the children entered the cave. Alastor and Lucifer had searched the cave themselves, but found nothing. And worse, Lucifer couldn’t feel them. He had once told Alastor that the children glowed in his senses like massive beacons, a trait from their seraphim heritage. But now, it was as if those beacons had been snuffed out.
Tears welled in Alastor’s eyes as the weight of his thoughts pressed down on him. He could hear Lucifer barking out orders, calling for an island-wide search, demanding every available being comb the island and the nearby ones.
This place had been meant to be paradise. But for Alastor, it had turned into a waking nightmare.
“So, what did you think?”
Alastor looked at the two women seated on the couch, clearly expecting praise. He had poured a great deal of time and effort into filming and editing the commercial, despite the fact that he didn’t particularly like the medium. He had always found television to be too loud, too chaotic, and not the most elegant way to express oneself. But the ladies had insisted on using that noisy picture box, and as a good business partner, he had gone along with it.
Charlie and Vaggie exchanged a glance before turning back to him.
“I’m sorry. What the fuck was that?” asked Vaggie, clearly exasperated.
“Uh, yeah. Just one note, Alastor. I mean, first of all, thank you so much for making this, it’s seriously impressive, but... maybe the tone was a little off?” said Charlie, trying hard to sound gentle. “We want people to want to come here, and this made it look, um…”
“Bad. The word you’re looking for is bad,” Vaggie cut in bluntly.
“Funny. I was going for hilar—” Alastor began, but he didn’t finish. A knock at the door interrupted him.
All eyes turned to the entrance as the knocking continued, each one louder than the last, growing more urgent by the second.
“I’ll get it!” Charlie called out as she hurried to the door, bouncing with energy as she moved.
She swung the hotel’s front door open, her face lit with her usual cheerful smile, fully expecting to greet new guests, perhaps new souls seeking redemption in her beloved hotel.
“Hello there! Welcome to the Haz—”
She stopped mid-sentence. Five children stood on the doorstep.
The oldest, a teenage boy, immediately slumped in relief at the sight of her. “Charlie! Oh thank Hell you're here!” he said, like he’d been holding it in for miles. “Okay, so we’re not exactly sure what happened, but somehow, we ended up in Pentagram City. Not our fault, by the way. Just in case Ma and Pa ask.” He gestured wildly with his hands as he explained.
The smallest boy, who looked like he was in middle school, crossed his arms and gave the twins beside him a pointed look. “Well, I think some people shouldn’t have walked forward when one of us specifically said not to.”
“You’ve got a lot to say for someone who’s, like, two feet tall,” said the female twin dryly.
“Yeah, real chatty all of a sudden,” the male twin added with a smirk.
Then both twins turned their attention to Charlie.
“You’re way taller than in the pictures—”
“—and your hair’s long again. It was short in—”
“—we brought Baby Marie, look, look—”
The girl had her arms securely wrapped around a sleepy toddler whose head lolled against her shoulder. The baby blinked up at Charlie with wide, strikingly familiar eyes.
Too familiar.
Charlie’s heart skipped a beat.
The kids were staring at her, talking to her, like they knew her. Like she was supposed to know them.
“Eldest sister!” the twins shouted in unison, grinning wide. Charlie’s breath hitched in her throat.
“Can you guys shut up for two seconds? I’m the one who’s gonna get chewed out for this!” the oldest boy said as he stepped forward, pinching the bridge of his non-existent nose.
“Ah yes, the burden of being the eldest. So noble. So doomed,” teased the female twin.
“Don’t worry, brother dearest. Our lovely older sister will try to cushion the fall. Probably,” her male twin added, both of them grinning like trouble.
They continued bickering around the older boy, their banter flowing easily, but Charlie barely registered any of it. Her focus had returned to the toddler’s face.
Round cheeks. A small button nose. Wild, fiery red hair streaked with burgundy shadows. Glowing red eyes. Pointed deer-like ears. She looked like a tiny girl version of—
But then Charlie spotted it: the apple-red cheek marking.
The same marking that only members of House Morningstar had. In fact, now that she had a good look, all the kids had the same marking.
Her hand rose to her own cheek instinctively, fingers brushing the exact same spot.
The eldest boy kept talking, but his voice had become static in her ears because now she was truly seeing them—
The twins had her same porcelain skin and the same blonde hair with streaks of white.
The younger boy had the same complexion too, but with fluffy deer-like ears just like the toddler.
And the eldest boy…
Her stomach twisted.
Now that she could fully process it, why he had unsettled her the most, it was because he looked exactly like her father. Like an actual carbon copy of her dad.
The realization hit her like a crashing wave.
Siblings.
These were her… That means her dad…
“So, uh… can we connect to your WiFi?” asked Nathaniel.
The lobby of the hotel buzzed with idle chatter as the residents passed the time, waiting for Charlie to return. Alastor sat stiffly on the far end of the couch, quietly nursing his wounded pride after seeing how poorly the other residents had reacted to the commercial he had worked so hard to produce. He had put real effort into it, after all!
“Okay, what’s taking the princess so long? All she had to do was greet the new guests, right?” Angel muttered, scrolling through his Helltok feed as various dance trends flashed across the screen.
Vaggie sighed, visibly growing concerned. It wasn’t like Charlie to take this long. “I’ll go check on her,” she said, standing and heading toward the entrance hall.
As Vaggie disappeared from view, Angel shifted his attention to Alastor. “Hey Smiles, looks like Charlie and Vaggie want to redo the whole commercial. So this time, maybe you should make better use of the incredibly talented celebrity you’ve got right here.”
From behind the bar, Husk let out a low grunt as he scrubbed the inside of a glass. “You’re a porn star.”
“A famous porn star, thank you very much, Whiskers,” Angel replied proudly. “I’ll have the horniest sinners knocking these walls down to get in. I bet the new guests are already my fans!”
No one responded, and the others quickly went back to checking their phones. Angel eventually glanced back at Alastor, who remained still on the couch, eerily motionless without a phone in sight. The radio demon just sat there like a porcelain figure. Angel’s grin widened.
“Hey Mister Fancy Talk-Creepy Voice, how ‘bout you and me tag team the next commercial?”
Alastor chuckled and replied without looking up, “Ha! Not in a million years.”
Angel rolled his eyes. “Well, you’re not even my type anyway,” he muttered under his breath.
As time dragged on and neither Charlie nor Vaggie returned, the room gradually filled with renewed murmurs of conversation. Angel eventually grew impatient again. “Geez, it’s been like five whole minutes. What’s taking so long?”
“Maybe the new guests are giving them trouble?” suggested Niffty, peering toward the front hall.
“If they were, I’d know,” Alastor said, casting a quick glance toward the hallway. “My shadows haven’t sensed anything threatening.”
Before anyone could respond, Charlie finally stepped back into the lobby. Her face gave nothing away, just a hint somewhere between shock and quiet exhaustion. The room fell silent, everyone looking at her at once.
“Sooo...?” Angel raised an eyebrow, leaning forward. “Are we getting a new resident or not?”
Charlie hesitated for a moment before letting out a weary sigh. “Yes. Technically.”
Before anyone could question her further, five children burst into the lobby behind her, their voices rising in a joyful, overlapping chaos.
The twins immediately launched into an argument over who had gotten them lost—twice—on the way over. The youngest boy complained about being hungry, his stomach audibly growling, while Vaggie followed behind them, carefully carrying a toddler in her arms. The little girl reached out her chubby hands toward the couch, giggling with delight.
And then Nathaniel, the eldest of the group, spotted someone.
His face brightened in recognition. “Maman!” he called out.
Nathaniel Morningstar - the eldest of the siblings! you can read more about him in All My Bones Are Rusting
Genesis (female) & Exodus (male) Morningstar - the chaos bringer twins!
Isaac Morningstar - the youngest male sibling, our lil techy boy
Marie Morningstar - the youngest! where alastor's genes really fought back XD
If you want to watch more of the family dynamic you may visit my tiktok as I've made a few silly animatics of them! or just watch it here!