CH 35: Welcome To Heaven

The fresh dawn of the red sky brought a sense of uneasiness to Esme as she scurried throughout her suite, packing several belongings for her trip to heaven. The trip was set to last two days, one for them to meet the court and get situated, and the other to officially plead their case. Even though she is calmly packing her suitcase, her mind is still being filled with thoughts of anxiety with every minute that passes. What if this doesn't work and Anthony gets his hopes up with thoughts of reuniting with his sister, only to have that possibility snatched away from him? But, what if it is possible and she never sees him again? What if the only connection she has to her human world is taken away from her without any promises of continued communication? As she attempts to steady herself with a shaky breath, she hears a loud, explosive noise come from the lobby. She swings her door open and runs to the balcony, looking over at the red smoke.

"Che cazzo?!" She screams, hovering down in a mist of green magic, landing right in front of Charlie and Vaggie. It seemed that every single time the hotel began to quiet down, someone was - quite literally - crashing the party. 

"What the fuck is with that wall?!" Angel huffs from the couch. Now officially on edge, Esme stands there in her complete siren form, her fangs descended and her claws ready to rip through whoever was behind that disaster. The attention that the hotel had gained over the last months had proven to be a torn in her side, always bringing some unwanted visitor to their doorstep. 

A familiar voice comes from behind the rubble, "What up hoes?!" The voice laughs, mocking the shock that is still displayed on the patron's faces. Esme immediately drops her hands and her magic, now with a lively expression on her face as Angel pops up from the couch. She recognized that voice, goodness it had been ages. 

"Holy shit, Cherri Bomb? Long time no see, baby~"

She quickly jumps into the hotel, smiling at him, "Angie, ya bitch, you've been texting me depressing shit all day." Cherri had entered the scene with Angel decades after Esme and him reunited, and the new pair quickly became friends. At first, the dynamic challenged Esme, raising her concern,  but her defenses were soon lowered when she got to know the depths of the blonde's character. 

She walks over to him, both Charlie and Esme approach slowly.

"Figured we could tear shit up like old times. It's been fuckin' forever!" She turns to Charlie, "Here hold this." She tosses an explosive into her hand and Charlie naturally panics.

"Oh my god, oh my god!" Esme scoffs at Charlie's reaction and encompasses the small bomb in green magic, flinging it outside where it explodes. For goodness' sake, she was the princess of hell and yet had zero survival skills up her sleeve. The two watch the smoke in the distance while the main floor is continuously filled with conversation. 

"Well, I love seeing ya Cherri, but I'm too tired. I need to pass out." Angel goes to slump on the couch, but Cherri pulls him back, preventing the poor man to have a moment of rest. That was the thing that always irked Esme about the girl, she always pushed Anthony to keep going even when his body was giving him clear signs of needing to slow down. She had this intense aura to her with an endless bounce in her step with heaps of energy to burn. Sometimes it was exhausting even to watch her. 

"Aw you can sleep when you're double dead, fuckhead!" She continues, "Come on! What you really need is a recharge, a reinvigoration, a re..."

"Responsible night on the town!" Charlie cheers, catching Cherri's attention and completely displaying zero regard for the interaction between the two. It was comical, really, how both of them seemingly lacked the ability to respect the boundaries of others, just in their own different ways, "That is a great idea..." She continues on and on with her introduction, until, "It's soo nice to meet one of Angel's friends, ugh he never brings anyone around."

"Ouch.." Esme huffs.

"Oh, um, except for you of course!" She nervously stutters, "B-But you really aren't his friends, you're more like family! You're one, big, loving fa-" Ending the awkwardness for the princess' sake, The Siren walks away and approaches her old friend,

"Cherri, hunny, how ya been?" Esme sings with a hand on her hip. She takes a moment to scan her physical appearance, taking in all of her details before she speaks again, "The hair is lookin' as great as ever." 

Cherri laughs and swings her hair back at her compliment, "Good to see you too, Es. God, it's been ages. Still with the old television screen?"

"God no." Esme rolls her eyes, "Got off scot-free." She smirks, stretching out her arm and eyeing her fingernails. Cherri was right, it had been literal ages since the three of them went out for a night on the town. She would often accompany the pair on their visits to discos and whatnot, which was an eerie mirror to her past with Rosie and Alastor. The common theme being that Esme always found herself within the company of a fun-loving duo. 

"Anyway!" Charlie interrupts, "Angel and everyone else have been working sooo hard, I think they deserve to have a little fun."

Cherri puts her hands up and shakes her head in distaste, "Wait, I am only here for Ang- oooh" She lights up when Charlie places a wad of cash in her hands. "Oh nevermind, let's goo!~"

Esme laughs, "You were always a gal for a bargain~" She teases with a smug expression drawn on her face. Such a shame that she wouldn't be able to observe first hand how a night on the town with everyone would go. Could you just imagine, her playing babysitter to quite literally every soul within their walls? Ha! 

"Anyway...the portal to heaven should be opening right abo- OH NOW!" Charlie shouts before turning around to see the portal appearing right in front of the stairs. It was a beautiful golden orb, warm and inviting, yet there was a sense of unease that came with it. 

Esme turns to Angel, "I'll see you soon, promise!" She gives him a hug and winces when she hears Charlie screaming.

"ESME, C'MON LET'S GO!"

She sighs and shakes her head with a smile. In her heart, she hoped that Charlie's optimism didn't exist in vain, but her brain knew otherwise, "Behave out there." She points at him, narrowing her eyes at her nephew with tenderness. 

"Ya, you too - toots." 

As Esme walks to the portal, her eyes lock with two glowing crimson eyes from the upstairs balcony. She smiles sadly, allowing herself to linger on his form. Those eyes, those eyes that she wanted to be on her at all times finally followed her wherever she went. She didn't want to part from him, but she knew that only within a couple of days she would be within his hold again. Just the two of them, on a park bench, listening to him yap about whatever intrigued his mind that day. She takes in a deep breath and goes to wave goodbye when Charlie reaches through the portal and grabs her by her coat, yanking her inside. "Oof!" She lands with a thud on the sparkling ground. "That was unnecessary..." She groans as she lifts herself from the tile. 

It was cold, distant and uninviting. 

"Vaggieee, look at this place. It's so clean!" Charlie gleams. "Isn't that amazing?" It was clean indeed, with the air containing a fresh fragrance that had a hint of synthetic perfume to it. 

It was cheap. 

Fake. 

"Yep, super cool..." Vaggie responds with a monotone expression. Esme turns her head to her, dusting herself off, but noticing her changed demeanor. If she were honest, she wasn't too excited about this place given Vaggie's reaction to their arrival. Charlie was nearly exploding with joy, whereas her girlfriend appeared that she would rather be anywhere than within that presence moment. The two walk over to Charlie who is standing by the front gate. Esme jumps as an angel pops out from behind the desk.

"Hiya!~ Welcome to heaven, can I get your name please?" Oh, yeah, this would make sense. She did always hear about Saint Peter waiting at the gates of paradise. Wow, that ended up being accurate - who would've known?

Esme watches as the Angel flips through his book searching through the list of names. She looks around the space to take in the magnificent view. As she looks down at the floor, she can see her reflection through the tiles. It was spotless and well...heavenly.

"Oh, um, my dad got me this meeting so try...Lucifer....Morningstar.."

"Oh, fuck! Yeah...umm...." The angel begins to laugh nervously, refusing to make eye contact with any of them. He flies down, "Are you sure you're in the right place because I think you may be a little lost."

"Is there already a problem?" Esme steps forward and extends her hands in a peaceful gesture, but there is nothing peaceful in her poking fangs, "We were told that we were welcomed here."

"We're here for a meeting..." Charlie says softly.

There's a bright light above them and two terrifying-looking creatures emerge from the light,

"Damn, now I know why they say 'fear not' in that book..." Esme whispers, only to be hushed by Vaggie with a quick swat on the arm.

"Saint Peter, we can take it from here." There's a flash of light and suddenly they appear less horrendous, standing before the three of them. They are beautiful woman, blessed with exquisite features, "Greetings, daughter of the Morningstar. I'm Sera, the High Seraphim of Heaven. You're gifted to be here."

Cocky much?  Esme thinks, showing an uncomfortable and agitated smile. There's a squeal from the smaller one as she races over to Charlie,

"Hi, I'm Emily, the other Seraphim! Though, you can call me Em, Emmy, E, whatever you want. I go by whatever" She laughs, "Welcome to heaven!" Well, she nearly matched Ms. Morningstar in energy levels and naivety. 

"And who is this you brought with you?" Sera echoes from behind Emily, her eyes landing on Esme and standing steady on her. 

"Oh, right, well. I hope this isn't a problem, but this is Esme she's here to assist us with the court proceeding." Charlie smiles, motioning her arms in her direction, "She has vital information that we think the court will loove to hear." 

Esme bows her head and takes a few steps forward, reaching her hand out, "It's very nice to meet you." Her hand remains in the air and Sera looks her up and down smiling before Esme drops it, realizing she is not going to be greeted. So much for being polite...

"You must be that siren Lucifer mentioned." Sera smiles in an apprehensive state. Lucifer? He had been in contact with them? What could he possibly have shared with them about her? She was an overlord, a siren, certainly she was a demonic being of no possible redemption. She was nothing of use to them. If anything, she could be a potential threat. No, even that was absurd. 

"He...what?" Esme turns to Charlie in confusion, "But you sa-"

There's a loud organ that places from the gate as St. Peter begins to fly above them, "Dearly beloved, it is my pleasure to say unto thee..."

~ Time Skippy because the author hates this song ~

Gosh, I'm so pleased to show some outsiders around,

After you see our realm you'll never want to go back down

Esme smiled at the young woman's kindness and pride in her home, it was refreshing really. The space was beautiful, nothing like she had ever seen before. She felt so lucky to be able to represent Charlie's mission, and Angel's redemption, while visiting such a spectacular place. She was truly lucky, more than she knew.

Of course it is just temporary,

I'm sorry you can't stay.

Humph, like you wanted us here in the first place. Esme thinks with a smug smile plastered on her face.

Cause every single day in Heaven is a happy day,

Welcome to Heaven!

"So. what do you think!?" Emily rushes over to Esme, grabbing her hands. She chuckles in response, nodding her head up and down, "It is beautiful." She responds, "Truly, nothing I've ever seen before." Her response makes the young seraphim beam with excitement,

"Come! There's still so much to be seen! Oh, I'm just happy that we can finally show a sinner what heaven is like..." Esme smiles as Emily continues to ramble, trying her best to be as polite as possible when she feels her legs pushed out of the way. A group of small children rushes past them.

"Careful where you're going!" Sera instructs, "I apologize, ladies, that one is always a handful. Always causing commotion with the others." She shakes her head with a smile.

Esme freezes at the sight. She watches a small child running joyously and carefree. She can't see her face, but she has immaculate brown curls down her shoulders and two curls at the top of her head resembling two ears. Esme's heart begins to beat faster and she can feel her hands shaking. She takes a breath and places a hand on her chest to soothe herself.

For whatever reason, this was troubling for her to see.

"They're...so young," Esme whispers, suddenly feeling Charlie put a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"They make it home here, come on - let's go!" Emily cheers, attempting to turn Esme around to walk in the opposite direction, but her eyes follow the young angel who runs into the arms of an older woman, being picked up and swung around. Esme still can't see her face, but the little one laughs hysterically, her small sounds striking a deep nerve within The Siren.

Her eyes lock with the woman, in a second that feels like a lifetime. They hold their gazes as Esme slowly walks with the group, keeping her head turned. She couldn't break away, she felt like every inch of her body was demanding that she go over there, but she couldn't understand why.

Who is she? How do I know you?

The woman smiles at her sweetly, in a nurturing manner, which causes Esme to gulp nervously. She quickly turns around and follows the group when she hears a small voice.

A familiar voice.

A voice that she's heard every day for the past 90 years in her mind.

"...Mama!"

~ Author's Note ~ 

🖤Words: 2456🖤

~ Artemis🦌💗