Pain awoke from his sleep to the feeling of being shaken. He groaned and swatted the other imp's hands away. "Leave me alone, Panic, I'm tired."
"P-Pain, where are we?" Panic whispered hoarsely.
Frustrated, Pain groggily sat up and looked around. Fear began to set in as he realized that they definitely weren't in the Underworld anymore. It was dark, but he could see a few things. There was a box in the corner, a hand-knitted rug in the center of the floor, and a door on the opposite wall. Looking down, he saw himself in some kind of nest made from cloth scraps.
Panic watched as Pain stood up and walked over to the door. He couldn't quite reach the handle and had to flutter his tiny wings to give him an extra foot or two. It was locked. Pain cursed under his breath.
"What do we do now?" Panic asked, shuffling his feet.
"Knock it down, I guess." Pain answered.
It looked sturdy, all that thick, dark wood braced with metal. Were they being held captive? Pain backed up a few steps and rammed it with his shoulder, producing a loud thud. "Don't just stand there, help me!" he shouted to Panic.
The green nymph jumped when he shouted, but quickly joined in. It was definitely impossible, the two were proving that quite well. "Maybe we can shift into something?" Pain suggested.
The two joined together as halves of a ram and began to butt the door with their horns. The door still wasn't budging. They split, leaving Panic on the floor in fear and Pain against the wall swearing.
"Dammit! How are we gonna-"
"Sh."
Panic held a finger up to Pain's mouth. Pain was about to slap his hand away when he heard something. He listened closely to the sound of footsteps coming closer and closer. They stopped at the door, and the sound of something unlocking made their hearts pound. Slowly, the door was pushed open. A heavy switch was pulled, lighting a torch in the room. There, in the doorway, was a rather young woman. The two backed up, unsure of what to do.
"Who are you?" Pain asked. "Why are we here?"
She smiled in an odd way that made both of them instantly uncomfortable. "My pets are curious, aren't they?" she cooed.
Pets? What was she talking about? "What do you want?" Panic asked in a much less confident tone.
The woman bent down as if she were talking to a puppy. "It's morning, sweetie, time to wake up!"
The pair didn't like hearing someone address them like small children. Their arrogance turned to fear once more as she closed the heavy door and began to approach them with something in her hand. Panic immediately ran and tried to hide in the box. Pain was much slower and was easily caught. He felt something constrict him and began to protest. "What're you doing?! Put me down, put me down!"
"Aren't you feisty?" she giggled.
Pain could sense it now. Something was wrong with this woman. She didn't feel right at all. When she placed him back on the ground, he looked at what she had done. There was a harness around his torso. He attempted to shift into something small and escape, but attempting to use his ability made his body sting. The material had been blessed, he was utterly powerless! Before he could really kick up a fuss, he noticed the woman attempting to coax Panic out of the box.
"Come on, darling, this one's for you!" she said and held another black harness.
Panic didn't respond and tried to force himself further into the little box's contents. The lid was flipped open and he was removed, squirming all the while. The woman had just fastened the device when Panic sunk his teeth into her hand. She shrieked, but did not let go. Her expression grew bleak. Pain could tell by the look on the other imp's face that he was trying to morph and failing. The woman held him up by the shoulders. "That will not be tolerated in this house!" she said and placed him under her arm.
Pain blinked in shock as she smacked Panic's rear seven times. He kicked and shouted, but to no avail. After the last, he was held by the shoulders again. "You will behave or you will face the consequences." she said, firmly.
Panic was placed on the ground, pouting as his harness was adjusted properly. The woman picked him up again and held like a child would hold a cat, then attached a leash to Pain. "Come," she instructed, "we'll go have breakfast."
Pain obeyed quietly, but made sure he didn't look happy about it. He looked at Panic, who was also sensing the strange aura the woman produced. She was sick, sick in the head. Gods knew what she wanted from them, but they sure didn't like it thus far.