The shrill scream of her father was enough to tell her that something was wrong. And it wasn't a "I've been kicked in the crotch by an angry goat" scream, it was a "there's some major shit going down" scream.

Octavia burst in through the cabin door, only a few steps behind her father, the hallway eerily empty behind her.

"What's going on?!" Octavia asked.

Stolas was crouched at the foot of his bed, rummaging around like a madman. His breathing was sharp and shallow, and it looked like he would start hyperventilating at any moment. If she didn't know better, she would've thought he had gone insane.

Flicking on a light, the room was filled with a salmon glow, like an artificial sun. It didn't seem to do much for Stolas though, still shuffling around like his life depended on it, Octavia scared to get any closer in fear of disturbing him.

"Dad?"

Her request was met with silence, her father suddenly leaping to his feet with an angry yet also nervous expression on his face, eyes glowing red.

"We've been robbed," Stolas hissed, "And I know exactly who did it."

Staring at the empty safe revealed the ugly truth: The grimoire had been taken, and she was pretty sure she knew who Stolas was talking about too. It was too obvious.

Monte.

She knew something was awry the second he had approached her in the staircase, and then even more so when she figured out Moxxie had the same thing happen to him. After she had told her father what was going on, he told her everything, and they had been caught off-guard when Monte himself decided to crash their dinner just a few minutes ago.

How had he known where the book was? Unless he had been following them, he wouldn't know. And she swore she had checked behind her before coming to the cabin earlier in the day. The last thing she wanted was one of her father's enemies knowing where they were sleeping.

Then again, she didn't know too much in regards to what this man was capable of. Perhaps he was stealthier than she had let on.

Instinctively, she glanced over her shoulder, just to make sure he wasn't waiting for them outside. It was impossible for them to be too careful now that they knew there was at least one person onboard out to make their lives hell.

Or maybe worse.

Bastard.

Heaven forbid she get a whole day to herself without her dad's shady business catching up to them. Sure, the trip hadn't been perfect, but she had been naively hanging onto a thin thread of hope that maybe, just maybe things would somehow sort themselves out. That maybe she would find a way out of this hell, and have a break from her ass-backwards family.

Apparently it had been too much to ask for.

And then another dark thought hit her

What if this was only the beginning?

What if he has something else planned?

"Dad, I don't think-" Octavia started, before her father cut her off.

"Where's my Blitzy?" Stolas asked, "We're finding that book if it's the last thing I do."

Octavia groaned and followed her father as he stormed out of the room angrily, panting and growling like a primal animal, eyes glowing even brighter than they had been before. It almost scared her, even though she knew it wasn't directed at her specifically.

She knew how pissed he was going to be if they didn't find that book, and rightfully so. Without the book, he was nothing more than a tall demon with a large crown and bitchy wife. The Goetia family's status and power depended on that book.

In hindsight, making such a big show of storing it was probably a bad idea.

The book had its advantages, being able to go to the human world and everything, along with more spells and powers than she could count. It was dependable and always worked, with one exception.

The new moon.

Whenever the new moon was out, the book would be rendered useless, unable to do so much as cast a simple spell. It would only be for a night or two, but it was still frustrating when it happened.

Nervously staring out the window and looking at the fading crescent moon, she knew their time with the book was fading.

Why her dad wouldn't let her use the book was beyond her. She was mature enough, if not more than he was. He trusted a goddamn imp he barely knew more than he did her. And she would be lying if she said it didn't bug her a little bit.

Not that she hated Blitzo, at least not at the moment. Sure, she wasn't the biggest fan of his boisterous and annoying character, nor was she fond of his relationship with her father, but she also saw how happy he made him, regardless of how perverted she believed it to be. He was surely a step up from her mother. Plus, he and his crew were probably their best bet in finding the book anyways. And she could tolerate them for a few minutes. They could also serve as protection if Monte came after them again, which was something that she wouldn't deny. The man was certainly up to no good, she just had to figure out exactly what the hell it was that he was up to.

Stolas's step size increased, and she began to find herself struggling to keep up, which surprised her. She wasn't exactly a runner, but she didn't consider herself slow by any means either.

Confused bystanders quickly moved out of his way, Octavia keeping her face stoic to draw the least amount of attention to herself as possible. Even though her family was famous, she was never one to bask in the limelight, unlike her parents. Her enjoyment of solitude had always separated her from her family, standing out from the crowd

"You're not going to make a very good queen if you never leave your room," Her mother's voice echoed in her head, "You don't want to be a bad queen, now do you?"

If only her mother had known that she was the reason she never came out.

Her father led her up a flight of stairs, before storming down the hall and banging on a door, pounding so hard that Octavia feared he would break it if he wasn't careful .

A woman with thick curlers in her branch-like hair opened the door, looking more pissed than ever.

"What the hell do you want?" she hissed, waving around a hairbrush, "Do you have any idea what time it is-?"

"Wrong room, sorry," Octavia said with a flat voice, jumping out in front of her father and slamming the door in her face and moving one room right.

"Blitzy!" he knocked, "Open up. We have an issue."

There was a loud crash from the other side of the door, followed by angry shouting before Blitzo stepped out, bags under his eyes and his mouth hanging open.

The imp shouted out behind him, "I'm sorry for stepping on ya, Loonie. But you shouldn't have been in the way. You know I can't see shit in the dark!"

A female voice screamed back, "Asshole!"

Blitzo ignored the calling, instead leaning against the doorframe and sighing loudly.

"Look, if this is you trying to drag me into some late-night rich-snob ass-blasting fuckfest or something, I'm not interested."

Octavia gagged, while her father smiled for a moment before returning to his serious face.

"As appealing as that sounds," Stolas cleared his throat, "I'm afraid we have a bigger issue right now. Get your employees, too. Meet me in my cabin and I'll tell you everything.

He giggled.

"And once we take care of it, there might be a little surprise waiting for you afterwards in my bed."

Just going to pretend you didn't say that so I don't throw up.

Blitzo groaned, "Fine. I'll get them. But if Millie rips my ass off because I had to wake her up, I'm holding you responsible for it, bird-brain."

"Oh Blitzy, you always know how to make me laugh." Stolas smiled briefly, "I'll be waiting for you, my friend."

Stolas took her hand and they began walking back to the cabin, an uncomfortable silence hanging in the air. It always amazed her how quickly her father's mood changed, switching between happy and concerned like a lightbulb to a switch.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked, "What if he's watching us?"

"Then he can sort it out with me ," her father responded, "That book is too important for me to risk losing. And Blitzy, too!"

"Fine." She didn't really believe her own words, but decided to go along. It wasn't like she had much control in the first place. And her father was right. If they couldn't get that book back, they would be in loads of trouble, and she sure as hell knew she wasn't ready to deal with whatever that "trouble" was.

"Millie, limp-dick, get the FUCK up!" Blitzo's voice shouted.

Millie covered her ears, not wanting to deal with whatever horsehsit her boss was going to get them out of bed for. Not that she wasn't up for an adventure, but it was late and all she wanted to do was sleep.

She had no idea what time it was, the clock in their room obscured by the darkness.. And not having the energy to try and check, she turned around and closed her eyes again.

Shortly after dinner, and their dessert, she had led Moxxie down to the cabin. Since they were both at least mildly drunk, although Moxxie still had the worst of it, they laid themselves down and tried to sleep, propped up on their sides in case they threw up. Millie had done enough drinking in her time to know what to do.

Moxxie seemed on edge, but since his filter was dissolving after finishing yet another glass of wine with dinner, he told her what had happened, his voice either squeaking or trailing off the entire time. And although parts of the story seemed a bit off, she simply attributed it to the alcohol.

Her husband snored softly next to her, the first time he had been completely relaxed all day. The poor guy deserved it, and she hoped that Blitzo would leave them alone.

"Fuck off!" she moaned, "I'm tryna sleep my big-ass dinner off."

A pillow hit her in the face, the zipper catching her sheek.

"Blitz, what the fuck?" she hissed as he used the same pillow to whack her husband over the face.

"It's an emergency," he said, "At least according to Stolas."
"Stolas?" Moxxie mumbled, his voice groggy and unarticulated, either from sleep or the lingering effects of his hangover earlier.

"Yes, you know, the horny rich owl that won't stop following me? The one with the big-ass crown and moody daughter? That one."

"Sir, there's no reason to be rude."

"Yeah, that's my husband you're talking to!" Millie said, her voice dry and raspy.

"Shut the fuck up and get some water," Blitzo grabbed the two of them by the shoulders, "You sound like you've got fuckin' throat herpes!"

Her boss ran over to the door and threw it open before dragging them out and plopping them down into the hall, the air cold compared to the comfort of her bed.

"This had better be good," Millie growled, "Because if it ain't I'll rip your ass off!"

"Hey! I need that! For...things…" Blitzo responded as they both dragged Moxxie down the hall, the alcohol still messing with him.

Not bothering to put up a fight, she begrudgingly went along with him, remnants of sleep still fogging up her brain. A clock on the wall read one fifteen, only having been a couple hours since dinner.

"What exactly is this 'emergency' that you dragged us out of bed for?" Moxxie asked, "Because I need my sleep. Studies show that getting less than eight hours of sleep per night can lead to fatigue and reduced cognitive-"

"Moxxie, shut the fuck up!" Blitzo grunted, "Nobody fucking cares."

Moxxie shut his mouth, walking down the hall towards Stolas's cabin, which was only a few more doors down.

As Blitzo stepped ahead of her and knocked on the door, she wondered what would await them on the other side of that door. An 'emergency' by Stolas's standards could mean anything from "I've been shot" to "I'm lonely," and the anticipation only excited her further. If she was lucky, this emergency would involve killing someone, which she would do with glee.

"Who is it?" Stolas asked playfully, "I don't want to let any strangers in-"

"Stolas, you know damn well who the fuck we are. Let us in before I break that door down with Moxxie's head!"

"Wait, what-?" Moxxie was cut off.

A feathered hand emerged and opened the door, an owl-like head poking out with a frown on their face, sharply contrasting the playful voice that had greeted them through the wall.

"Come in," he motioned inwards, where Loona and Octavia were already standing in the corner of the room.

Millie entered last, closing the door behind them and sitting on one of the beds, Moxxie flopping down next to her.

"You alright?" Moxxie asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she responded.

"Just making sure."

"Oh for fucks sake he's always so worried about you," Blitzo said, pointing to Moxxie, "But I've never seen you guys more than five fucking feet apart. Y'all need to get those sticks out of your asses and loosen up.."

"Lower your voice, Blitzy," Stolas walked over to them, "We don't want to draw any unnecessary attention to ourselves, now do we?"

Her boss sat down and pouted, like a toddler just having been scolded by their parents.

"You'd better have a good reason for waking us all up," Blitzo gritted his teeth, "I'm not sitting here all night just because you're 'oh so lonely' or some shit."

"As much as I enjoy your company," Stolas paced back and forth, "We are dealing with a very urgent matter."

"And what might that be? And why should I care?"

"Well, I assume you'll need my grimoire to keep your business going, will you not?"

Everyone's faces froze at the mention of the grimoire, knowing how vital it was to all of their lives.

And that's when she saw it.

The safe that the book had been placed in earlier in the day now lay empty on the floor, it's contents having been removed with haste and destruction, burn marks etched into the sides of the solid metal.

Blitzo appeared to be the most alarmed, knowing how royally fucked they were if that book was gone. He cupped his hand over his mouth, jaw hanging open.

He began laughing, "Very funny, Stolas. Hiding the book just so you could get me in your bed. Now tell me where the hell it is."

But instead of joining in, Stolas remained stoic and solemn with eyes full of dread.

"Blitzy, this is no joke," Stolas said with a serious tone that she had never heard him use before, "My book has been stolen. And you and your imps are going to help me retrieve it."

For the first time, instead of coming back with some smartass rebuttal, Blitzo sank down with a blank expression. There was worry in his typically bright and beady eyes, and that was when the severity of the situation truly hit her.

Moxxie seemed to have the same thought, piping up after having been nearly dead silent all day, "So what exactly is the plan here? Because we need that book."

"I know, imp boy," the owl sighed, "I have no idea how long it's been since I've been without it."

He cleared his throat, "Now that you know why I've assembled you all here, I'm going to propose a little plan. Something that I need all of you to cooperate with."

They all nodded.

"Good. You will split up into groups and search the ship. He's probably hiding somewhere away from the cabins., so go as deep into the ship as you can. And don't get caught alone, either. He's a man who harbors more ill will than most, and I can't afford any of you getting picked off. Am I clear?"

Everyone agreed, "Yes."

"Don't dilly-dally, get going!"