mazeofrelationships | Yes, there are Soul Mates in Hell

Ever since she was a little girl, her parents had told her the stories about soul marks. She'd stare in awe at the apple-shaped marks on their hands, listening to how they first met and fell in love, how her mother knew the first man wasn't for her when her mark failed to change color.

Even after her parents separated, Dad's mark still glows bright red, meaning he and Mom truly are meant to be. She doesn't know why Mom left, Dad would never say anything in the interest of sparing her feelings, and after a while he started to distance himself from her. But he still visits, his mark still glows, and Charlie knows someday Mom will come back and she and Dad will patch up whatever the issue is.

Charlie's mark isn't an apple, rather a pair of dark gray wings. Marks don't necessarily have to match, it's the change in color that indicates you've found your soul mate, but half the couples down here have matching or complementary marks. And while Charlie hasn't been too concerned about finding The One, she's never stopped hoping that that day would come sooner than later.

One day after an extermination, her mark begins to glow as she makes her way through the streets, looking for survivors.

Edited 2026-03-07 00:48 (UTC)

Vaggi's always hated her mark. It's an apple. A small apple, but still an apple. Lute always grumbled that it probably meant Adam, but it never did change color around him.

She has no idea, and mostly keeps a glove on it to hide it away. Some of the girls have found each other, some don't know or won't share their marks, and honestly Vaggi's tired of it.

And then Lute is ripping off her wings and stabbing her in the eye. She's barely able to slink back to lean against a dumpster, totally ignoring the fact that her mark is now glowing bright shinging red.

Thankfully, there are more survivors this time around, meaning less families to notify that a loved one who thought they'd be safe outside for even a minute is forever gone. A while ago Charlie set up a safe spot for extermination survivors, but it doesn't seem like enough because these exterminations should not keep happening in the first place.

As she rounds a corner, her mark glows even more having gone from dark gray to gleaming silvery-white. And that's where she spots a young woman collapsed against the dumpster, badly injured; ignoring her mark and everything else, she immediately approaches her and holds out a hand.

"Come with me. I'll get you patched up."

"Oh..." Vaggi looks up at her, blinking her one good eye, and wincing. "Um... thanks." She takes the girl's hand, standing up, and crying out a bit in pain, then grabbing the dumpster and hissing. Everything hurts.

"Oh, they did a number on you, didn't they," Charlie observes, offering her shoulder for the girl to lean on. "I've got plenty of first aid supplies at my place." It's a penthouse suite attached to a building Charlie has...Plans for.

"Er, yeah." Her entire back is bloody, and obviously her eye is gone. "You don't have to... I'll be alright." She might be bloody and broken, but she's still bad at accepting help. It's... an exorcist thing.

Charlie's too concerned with getting this girl to safety to notice anything off about the blood, just that there's a lot. "I can't just leave you here like this! Besides, those wounds could get infected and I don't think you want that."

She carefully helps the girl towards the hotel, whose sign is currently burnt out. The penthouse is much nicer, she promises.

"My name is Charlie, by the way."

"Oh, uh, yeah probably not." What's an infected wound?

She holds onto Charlie, limping after her. "I'm Vaggie. I'm, uh, somewhat new around here."

"And you were already attacked by the exorcists," Charlie mutters. "Don't worry, Vaggie, you'll be safe from now on. They won't be back for a while, and hopefully we'll have a way to protect ourselves next time."

Oh, they won't be back. And they won't be back for her at the very least. They were very clear about that.

"Yeah. That would be... good." She sighs, not really wanting to say any more. Her head's spinning, and she's... actually embarrassed. She's starting to realize that what she and her sisters had done was actually pretty terrible.

"Easy now, we're just about there." There's an external elevator to the penthouse so they don't have to walk through the messy and rather dirty hotel that she's struggling to get clean.

Once they're in Charlie's room, Charlie gets Vaggie settled onto the bed on her stomach before taking out her first aid supplies. "This is going to sting, so you may want to bite down on this." She hands her a folded washcloth.

"I'll be alright." Vaggi settles on her stomach, sighing deeply. "I've had worse. Thanks, Charlie. You don't have to do all of this for me."

"I know, but I want to. I want to take care of the people down here, especially when they've had such a rough time." And it's more than that, Charlie realizes. She'd do this for anyone, but the moment she saw this woman she knew she had to reach out to her.

And even after only five minutes, having Vaggie in her room like this just feels right.

It doesn't take long for Vaggi to actually relax, sinking into the bed as Charlie takes care of her back. What is it about this girl that just gets straight to her heart?

"Still. You have a huge heart, Charlie. I can tell that after ten minutes."

Usually when anyone says that, it's followed up with a "but": Kindness doesn't amount to anything down here, these people are here for a reason, even if they wanted to better themselves Heaven doesn't care. And that just makes her want to save everyone more, because they've become so beaten down that they can't even imagine better.

Vaggie doesn't say any of that. Charlie smiles as she makes sure to clean up all the blood and any dirt or dust that might have gotten on her, and then apply the strongest bandages she can.

"Okay, now sit up...this next part might be more difficult." Eye injuries usually are.

There's unfortunately a blood spot on the sheets where Vaggi's eye was, and she winces. "Uh, sorry. There's a stain. I can wash it later if you want."

She does turn around and look at Charlie again.

"It's okay! I've got a good washing machine here, I can clean it." The penthouse is better equipped than the hotel, and if Charlie could install her personal machines in the hotel she would.

But right now, she's gently pushing back Vaggie's bangs, wincing at the sight of the space where her eye once was. She does her best to be very gentle as she cleans it, trying to calm the anger and horror in her heart.

She knows how much Heaven loathes sinners and wants them dead, but something about seeing how badly they hurt this particular woman really gets to her.

Vaggi can't look her in the face while she tends to where her eye was. She closes her other eye, sighing. How is it possible that there's someone this sweet and kind in Hell, of all places. If Adam were right, everyone down here is a callous asshole only out for themselves. But this woman is sweet and kind and giving, everything that Heaven says people should be.

A lot of people down here are callous and crude and violent, but they don't need to be. Everyone has the potential to be good and kind, Charlie thinks, and some of the sinners don't even belong down here.

She finishes cleaning and then wraps a bandage around where Vaggie's eye was.

"There. Does it still hurt? I can get you some painkillers."

"I'll be alright. Somehow it doesn't hurt all that much. It probably will later."

She smiles, small and blushing. "I can be on my way now, if you want me to."

"Well, you let me know when it does." Charlie inhales deeply. "Actually, I'd...rather you stayed. I don't want to send you off all alone with those wounds, and...honestly, it gets a little lonely here with just KeeKee, Razzle, and Dazzle."

She's afraid if she lets Vaggie leave she might never see her again, and she just can't let that happen.

"Oh... you want me around?" Vaggi blinks a couple times, and manages a small smile.

"Who're they? Are they your friends?"

"I do," Charlie says. "And...you could say that." KeeKee, a small black and white cat, pads over with a meow. "This is KeeKee, my cat, and Razzle and Dazzle are two stuffed animals my dad enchanted to be sentient. He's...not really able to spend a lot of time with me, so he made sure they'd protect me."

"Oh." Vaggi smiles a bit. It's odd to her to think about being that alone. She's had her sisters around and Adam all up in her face.

"Hello, Keekee. It's good to meet you." She holds out her hand so the kitty can sniff it.

KeeKee meows, sniffs, and immediately rubs her head against Vaggie's hand for pets.

"Aww, she likes you already!" Charlie smiles, then her face become serious. "Say, Vaggie? I...need to ask you a question." She swallows. "You were an angel, weren't you? Your blood...I didn't think much of it at the time, but..."

Charlie/Vaggi - Vaggi was destined for Hell, but not meant to fall

Re: Charlie/Vaggi - Vaggi was destined for Hell, but not meant to fall

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