Alois the Trancy Cat

1: Annoying

Alois Trancy could sum up his current situation in just one word: Annoying. Just the other day, Claude, his butler, had informed him and the staff that his daughter was back in the human realm and would be staying with them for a short while until she set out on her next adventure. Eloise Faustus was supposedly one of the most agreeable demons ever to walk the earth, and unlike her father, she could quite easily express her emotions.
At first, Alois hadn't seen this as a problem. He just thought he'd hang out with her for a few days or weeks until she left for her next adventure, and things would be otherwise normal.

How very, very wrong he'd been.

Eloise was beautiful, black hair and golden eyes like her father, a petite figure with a surprisingly blessed bust for such a young demon, and a sweet, giggly personality. If she'd had a slightly darker complexion, he would've suspected Hannah had been her mother, as the timid maid seemed so very happy to see her. However, it turned out that Hannah had merely taken care of Eloise from time to time after her mother had been killed by an angel when she was just a little imp. The triplets seemed to like her too, and it turned out they'd been childhood friends and nothing more.

None of this really posed a problem.

The problem was that all his servants were treating her better than him!

Whenever he tried to bully Hannah, Eloise would stand up for the maid, reminding him quite harshly that he was but a human and both she and Hannah were powerful demons that he held no contract with. Whenever he yelled at the triplets, Eloise would remind him that there were four of them, including her, and that each of them could snap his neck as easily as a twig. And when he'd made the mistake of trying to get Claude to put on a dress...

Well, let's just say that he was currently sulking in a corner of the wine cellar, wearing nothing but some lingerie - which was doing very little to keep him warm at the moment - while munching on a strange, cat-head-shaped cookie, and coming to understand a few things.

1. The wine cellar seriously needed cleaning, and

2. Never try to put Claude in a dress when Eloise was around.

He gave an annoyed sigh. Though the cookie was by all accounts delicious, he was really wishing he hadn't agreed to house the imp, if even for a short time. How was he supposed to wield his authority as Lord Trancy if that brat was around? He was about to get up when he heard a blood-chilling scream of horror:

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!"

That... that was Eloise, he realized. What's she screaming about?

And then he heard the sound of bones snapping and crunching. What was going on up there? He wanted to know, but he certainly wasn't going to find out in his current state of dress. Finally, he heard Eloise screaming in rage, "DIE, YOU BASTARDS!" Followed by screams of agony and strange voices he didn't recognize begging for mercy. The screams were cut off with a series of sickening CRACKS! And then everything was eerily quiet.

Then there was a knock on the cellar door, nearly scaring the boy to death. "Alois... something's happened to Father... and you're not going to like what you see," it was Eloise, and her voice was trembling, like she was trying not to cry.

"What's going on, Eloise? Where's Claude?!" Aloise demanded as he moved to gaze up at the imp, only to gasp when he saw that her dress was blood-soaked and tears were running down her face, which also had blood on it.

She held out a clean bathrobe so he could cover himself, and from how her hands were shaking, it was more than clear to him that something was very wrong. "It's best if you see for yourself," she said, her bell-like voice cracking. "You won't believe me otherwise." Seizing his hand as he pulled on the robe, she dragged him out of the cellar. There were blood and corpses everywhere, all people he suspected to be his enemies, and he had no doubt his demons had come through for him and detained their leader...

Until they came to the ballroom, and the sight made the boy's blood run cold.

There were Claude, Hannah, and the triplets, all mutilated and just barely alive. Claude's limbs had been rendered from their sockets, and he'd been castrated, as had the triplets. Hannah's ample bosom had been sliced up with a broken wine bottle, her right eye was gone, leaving her totally blind, and by the looks of it, she'd been raped as well. Their demon strength was no doubt the only thing keeping them alive right now. Even though he didn't like any of them accept Claude... this was horrible, worse than what happened to him.

He went to Claude's side first, kneeling before the broken demon. "Claude... what the bloody hell happened?" he asked, not sure if he'd get an answer.

The sounds that came from Claude's mouth were a slur of words to the young Earl's ears as blood poured from his lips. He couldn't understand a thing.

"He says it was an ambush," Eloise translated, and Alois realized that Claude was speaking the demonic tongue. "They never saw it coming. They'll heal, and live, and in a few weeks, this will be nothing but a bad memory."

"But... who's going to take care of me until then?" Alois asked, tears running from his blue eyes. "You're obviously in no shape to do anything!"

Claude raised his head with difficulty to address Eloise, again speaking in the demonic tongue. Eloise's eyes widened. "You want me to care for him? The brat that traumatized Hannah and is abusive to his demonic employees on a daily basis?" A nod from Claude. "Fine... but only because you're my dad and I love you." Claude gave a smile - a real smile - before he passed out.

Slowly, Alois looked up at Eloise. As much as he didn't like her, she was going through a lot right now. The demons who were essentially her family had been maimed, and now the duties of maintaining the Trancy Manor were placed on her shoulders. "Alright, Eloise, for the time being, you're my maid," he said, trying to be strong. "For Claude's sake, I'll try not to be a burden."

Just as he said that, there was a poof of smoke, and when it cleared, Alois was a cat. A CAT! Eloise stared at him for a moment, before scooping him up and cuddling him happily. "Aww! You're so cute as a cat!" she said, rubbing her cheek against his.

Yep, his situation was annoying, alright. Suddenly stuck as a cat with a strangely strict imp as his caretaker and no Claude to stand up for him. Fucking annoying.