Octavia jolted awake at the sound of a door slamming, nearly knocking her out of her bed.

Apparently a full night's sleep was too much to ask for.

Pale orange light illuminated the tile floor, coming in through the now wide open door. A shadow was cast on the wall by a group of figures standing in the doorway, showing up as nothing but black silhouettes against the bright light.

At first, panic gripped her as she thought Monte or Stella had come for them in the night, the last couple days having put her on edge. There was the ever-present threat of danger, and although she knew that Monte had probably just stolen the book to piss them off, the risk of assuming neutrality and pleasantries wasn't worth it.

She groaned and rubbed her eyes upon realizing that the figures were not the two she feared most, but instead Blitzo and the rest of his little imp gang. One of the imps appeared visibly ill, leaning on Blitzo while they struggled to stand up. Their hair was a disaster too, frizzled and unkempt as they stepped into the room weakly.

In the adjacent bed, Stolas yawned and sat up, donning a nightcap and flicking on a lamp.

"Blitzy?" Stolas asked, "What on Earth are you doing here?"

"Shut it," Blitzo hissed, "We've got an actual fuckin' problem and you're helping us fix it."

"What happened?" Octavia asked, stretching and sitting up.

She noticed that Moxxie was missing from the group, which was already strange. Every time Blitzo and his gang had been together, Moxxie had always been right there, droning on about some dumb factoid that she couldn't care less about. A dark thought crept into her head, but she blocked it before it could fester, waiting to see what the imps said first.

"I'll tell ya what fuckin' happened!" Millie hissed, gripping the bed frame and propping herself up, "That rich bitch poisoned me and took my husband!"

Loona chimed in, "We think he slipped something into her food at dinner. And we found something in the hall that we think you guys should see."

Both Octavia and Stolas stood up, still tired but also curious. Octavia may not have known the little imp very well, but she still didn't want him in Monte's grubby little hands, especially after what the two of them had already been through. And although she had never been particularly fond of him, she hoped that he was okay. She knew what Monte was capable of, and didn't even want to think of what could be happening to him.

Stolas helped Millie into the hall, Blitzo leading the way as they came upon a taped off section of the wall. Despite her eyes still being unfocused from sleeping, she could make out holes and splotches of blood on the wall.

"Monte probably cornered the little guy right here," Loona said, "And it looks like he fought back, too."

"I'm not surprised," Stolas sighed, stroking his chin, "Monte has been trying to get back at me for years. I didn't think he'd get you involved, though, you're just little imps, little bastard. If he has issues he can take it out with me!"

He wasn't wrong. Monte had tried on multiple occasions to kill them, and it looked like this was going to be yet another one. She hadn't been particularly scared, though, since killing royals was much harder than most thought. Only blessed weapons would have the power to do that, and getting ahold of those kinds of weapons was almost as hard as becoming royalty in the first place.

Moxxie, however, would be in grave danger around him. She wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do with such a little guy, but it couldn't be anything good, especially considering the blood that was splattered around them.

Even Stolas, as stoic as he typically was when it came to imps, had visible concern on his face. Maybe it was because of Moxxie's closeness to Blitzo, or maybe it was because he feared what Monte was up to, but whatever it was, a new sense of worry had now come upon them.

"How long has he been missing?" Stolas asked, nonchalantly.

"About a day," Millie responded, "And we have no damn idea where he is."

She could tell that the little imp was trying to keep her emotions in check, her voice quaking with each word. And Octavia didn't blame her, either. If something like that happened to say, Stolas, she would be a wreck too.

"And so…" she suddenly hissed, both sorrow and anger clear in her voice, "You're gonna fuckin' help us find him. Because he's out there somewhere...with that creep...all alone…"

Millie stopped speaking and muffled a sob, while the rest of the group stared at the carnage around them.

"Dad," Octavia said, "You don't know what cabin Monte is staying in, do you?"

"No. And there's too many for us to just keep checking each one until we find it. Knowing Monte, you're little friend doesn't have much time left."

Millie sobbed louder, Loona shuffling uncomfortably in what appeared to either be an attempt to comfort her, or to pick her pockets.

"Look, we already have a fuckin' plan!" Blitzo shouted, "We split up, find him, and beat the shit out of that cock-sucking shitbag!"

"Look at where 'splitting up' has gotten us" Millie croaked, "I told ya it was a bad idea!"

"Do you have a fuckin' better one?"

"No, but I sure as hell know I could come up with a better one than you! Just give me a minute."

"Shut up! I can fuckin' handle it!"

"No, I can do it!"

Seemingly sensing the tension that was close to exploding, Stolas stepped forward and placed himself between the bickering imps, putting an arm on each of them to keep them apart from each other. Which was weird, considering her father had usually been the one to start fights, not stop them.

"Calm down you two," Stolas asserted, "We're not going to find your impy friend if you can't go two seconds without tearing each other's heads off."

The threat of losing Moxxie shut the two of them up, a defeated look in Millie's eyes. She felt sorry for her, not wanting to imagine the distress she must've been going through.

"Now," her father continued, "Blitzy, I need you to elaborate further on your 'plan'."

"I won't elaborate, but I'll tell you more," Blitzo said, "If that's what you want me to do."

"Blitzy, that's-nevermind. Carry on."

Knowing Blitzo, Octavia wasn't expecting a useful plan. But, she paid attention, if not out of necessity, then out of curiosity.

"Alright, here's how we're gonna do this shit!" Blitzo exclaimed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out some wadded-up paper.

Great, visual aides…

Because THOSE are just what they needed right now…

He continued, unfolding the pages and motining broadly to poorly-made sketches, "First of all, we make search parties and split off. Stolas and I will be up here searching the upper decks, Millie, Loona, and whatever the fuck the little owl's name is, you'll be searching the lower decks!"

Did he really not know her name?

Blitzo pointed to a penciled rendition of the group, their features heavily exaggerated to make borderline insulting caricatures.

"Once we find Moxxie, we get back together and go all bazooka-style on that fucker, and we shoot 'em with lead until he looks like swiss-fucking-cheese! Then, when he's good and dead, we can finally go and find that damned book, too!"

There was a drawing of what appeared to be Moxxie being carried back home, and then another one of him bent over and doing something with Blitzo and Millie, almost like he was picking something up off the floor with them on top of him...

Oh…

Nevermind…

Nope, not even gonna think about it.

"And what exactly is that ?" Millie pointed to the same sketch that Octavia had noticed.

She gasped with disgust, "Did you fuckin' draw us having a…?" Millie trailed off, "I knew you were fuckin' into that shit!'

Blitzo stammared and covered the papers with his hands, "N-No, that's not what it fuckin' is, where did you get that idea…?"

There was a collective eye-roll before Blitzo was able to regain his composure and continue rambling, Octavia fighting off the urge to gag.

"Anyways...if you perverts can stop making everything I say dirty, I think we can make this work. Best fuckin' plan that we're gonna get."

Everybody knew that Blitzo was trying to save face with that drawing, but they ignored it for the moment. Getting all worked up over something that petty wasn't going to get them anywhere.

"It certainly has some issues," Stolas said, "But I think we can make it work. We'll have to hurry though, Monte loves pain, and I know he won't hesitate with your friend if we don't intervene."

"Don't fuckin' remind me…" Millie whimpered, "He'd better be okay…"

Octavia was at a loss for words, touched by the imp's suffering. She thought of something, anything to say that might comfort her, even if it didn't work. Emotions were never her forte, but seeing somebody in such a low position triggered a sense of empathy that she wasn't even possessed.

"I think he'll be fine," Octavia said, silently hoping that she was right, "He seems like a fighter, at least from what I've seen out here. He can hold out until we get there."

Millie only nodded back, although Octavia interpreted it as a good thing.

A few seconds later, though, Millie fell back to the floor and gripped Blitzo's side, her pupils noticeably dilated and her gaze blank and distant.

"What do we wanna do with her?" Loona asked, "It's gonna take awhile for those drugs to leave her system, and I think we've all learned by now that leaving anyone alone ends badly."

"It'll change the groups, but I can carry her around if I have to," Blitzo said, "Although I won't fuckin' like it."

"Ex-fuckin-scuse me," Millie mumbled, "I can carry myself just damn fine!"

"Then pull yourself up. Like this hasn't already fuckin' happened today."

Octavia knew where this was going, but she still wanted to watch, just to see if they would all be proven wrong.

Millie followed through with the request, struggling to carry her weight on her own two feet. Octavia reached out and offered her hand, but Millie shoved it away, refusing to give up or accept help.

However, once her strength ran out, which happened rather quickly, she fell once again, sighing with defeat and exhaustion. She wasn't sure what Monte had given her, but it must've been something strong.

"Alright…" Millie kept her voice low, whispering to herself, "You can fuckin' carry me. Whatever gets your dick hard."

"Don't turn this into something." Blitzo hissed, hoisting her up over his shoulder before moving.

"And what if we can't find him?" Loona asked, "I mean, we couldn't even find the damn book. What makes you think that we can just pack up and find Moxxie just like that?"

"How many damn times do I have to repeat myself?" Blitzo barked, "Unless you have fuckin' better plan, this is what we're doing. At least I'm trying to find him!"

Loona sighed, before stepping forward next to Octavia and motioning for her to join.

"C'mon," Loona said, "We've got an employee to save"

Having Moxxie snatched up seemed to be bringing out their sensitive sides, since Millie had only heard Blitzo and Loona say anything remotely nice to him once or twice. She knew that they cared about him, it was obvious by their valiant attempts at searching. They seemed to be the type to hide affection with rudeness, which although cute at times, got on Millie's nerves more than she was proud to admit. Was it really that hard to say something nice every now and again? She knew they were good people, she had seen it in the past, she just wished she would see that side of them more often.

Blitzo tuned in and out of the banter surrounding him, a much more urgent thought plaguing his mind:

Was Moxxie going to be okay?

As much as he hated to admit it, over the last few years he had grown deeply attached to Moxxie. Something about him radiated safety and security, and he knew that he would be able to count on him if he needed something done. It was why Blitzo had hired him in the first place.

But, having a new worker to jokingly dunk on was also fun, and looking back, him and Loona had definitely gotten carried away. He was even reconsidering his words just a few moments ago, and regret filled him as he realized just how big of a jerk he had sounded like.

That's not to say he had never shown Moxxie any affection. When they had been captured in the human world on a kill, he had opened up to him about why he had been hired, and what he was good at. The little guy deserved so much more, and having him taken away had opened his eyes to how douchey he had come off as, even though he didn't mean everything that had come out of his mouth.

And he decided that now was as good a time as ever to try and clear the air, as much as he hated the idea of doing it.

"Hey," he said, walking up to Millie and placing a hand on her shoulder after Loona had finished talking, "I have something to say, and I don't wanna fuckin' repeat myself, okay?"

Millie turned around, nodding, "Make it snappy. I feel like shit."

He sighed and fidgeted with his hands, not sure if he was about to regret the next words to come out of his mouth or not.

"Look, Mills," Blitzo said, "With Moxxie...gone, I've, erm, had a lot of time to...to uh...what's the fuckin' word? Ah! I've had a lot of time to think."

"Go on," she responded, "I'm listening."

Why are you making this so fuckin' hard?

"Alright. Look, I'm sorry for the shit I said to Mox. I didn't mean it, I promise!" He cleared his throat, "I just...thought he was okay with it, ya know? Like how friends make jokes with each other? Something like that."

Millie frowned, but didn't seem to be outright mad at him. He couldn't tell if her face was truly downcast, or if the drugs were still wearing off on her.

"Don't say it to me, say it to Moxxie," she responded, "Whenever the hell we find him. I think he'd appreciate it."

"I doubt it. Why the fuck would he want to talk to me after all this?"

"He does look up to you, I hope you know that," Millie cleared some hair out of her face, "I think he'd like you saying something to him. I know Moxxie, he won't hold a grudge. Just tone down on the jokes a bit, alright?"

As much as Blitzo loved his sense of humor, he also knew that he had to make changes, even if those changes were a bit unpleasant and uncomfortable.

"I won't promise ya, but I'll do my damn best," he said, "Is that okay?"

"Good enough for me," Millie responded, weakly slugging him on the shoulder, "Now let's get moving. He'll love hearing it from you."

"Alright. I promise to be less of a douche, then."

"Good."

And with that, Blitzo made amends in his own way, hoping that he would be able to find his employee and clean the slate himself. Moxxie was typically a forgiving man, Millie was right about that, and he wasn't overly afraid of Moxxie holding a grudge.

He was far more afraid of the possibility that Moxxie was dead, which was becoming more and more probable with each second of idleness. Blitzo would never say it out loud, but he had become more attached to Moxxie than he had to most other people in his life, and the last thing he wanted was to lose somebody who had been nothing but kind to him, even if he hadn't deserved it.

Blitzo followed the rest of the group, pacing back and forth whenever they stopped moving. He had way more nervous energy than he thought he had, and it needed somewhere to go. And right now, that somewhere was apparently his legs.

Mox, just hold on for a bit.

And I'm sorry for all the shit I've done.

And I want us to finally be able to start over.

That is, if you're even fucking alive.

"So, you just gonna keep beating him, or what?" Stella asked.

Monte grinned to himself, popping a well-deserved cigarette into his mouth and watching the smoke from intricate trails in the air. He didn't typically smoke at night, but decided that tonight he had earned it after a job well-done. After all, what good would his services be if he wasn't able to claim the fruit of his labor?

Their first full day with Moxxie had been an interesting one. The little guy had quite the will to push on, but had the pain tolerance of a twig. Monte only had to throw a couple of punches before the little bastard gave up and was begging for him to stop.

He kept mumbling in his trauma-induced slumber, something about his wife and his boss, just like he had before. It was such a shame that he had people he cared so deeply for, since if Monte had anything to say about it all of them would be dead before Moxxie even had the chance to wake up.

The squirming and begging for mercy only made things better. Monte knowing he held so much power over somebody triggered a sense of authority and pride that he didn't get anywhere else. That, and the fact that they needed live bait, was the only thing keeping Monte from killing the guy on the spot, as tempting as it was.

"Until he starts talking, he can expect my fist to be in his face," Monte pounded his fist on the table, "Little shit deserves it."

"Very well," Stella said, "His little friends should be out looking for him by now, shouldn't they?"

"If they're not already, they will be soon. There's no way they haven't noticed him missing by now. Even dumbfucks like them should've figured it out."

Monte popped a window open, letting the cold, midnight breeze caress his face, inhaling the salty ocean air. It was a step up from the musty odor of blood and sweat emanating from the cabin. No matter how much air freshener he used, the smell wouldn't go away, so perhaps airing out the room would make the foul smell vanish.

"Smells like dogshit in here," Monte huffed, "You'd better make sure that awful smell isn't drifting out into the hall. I'm not letting that of all things give us away."

"And whose fault is that?" Stella grunted, "You're a fucking assassin, you should know how to deal with this."

"Normally I kill them and throw them into an alley, but I don't have that luxury right now, do I?"

"No need to get all pissy. I'll cover the door, alright?"

"You'd better!"

He listened carefully as Stella picked up a cloth and shoved it underneath the door, and then to Moxxie's soft and shallow breathing.

From the looks of it, he would have to be a bit gentler with his new little pet if he didn't want to accidentally kill him too early in the game. It would be like benching your star quarterback before kickoff., not even getting a chance to play

And he wasn't about to do that. It would be shooting himself in the foot.

"Hey, where did you put that damned book?" Stella hissed from the other side of the room, "You put it somewhere safe, right?"

After swiping the book, he had tucked it into his coat pocket, away and out of sight. Once he had gotten the idea of kidnapping Moxxie into his head, however, he became distracted by the excitement, and had forgotten to take it out.

It wasn't like the book was ever in any danger, though. Monte had experience with hiding things in his pockets, whether it be gold, guns, or grimoires. He knew how to keep things from falling out, and just to be sure, he tapped his pocket, feeling the outline of the book.

"It's in here," Monte said, taking the precious book out and waving it back and forth, "Happy?"

"You had the damn thing in your pocket the whole time? Do you know how moronic that is!" Stella fumed, "If anything happens to that book, my family is fucked!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Where do you want me to put it, your royal asshole-ness?"

"You're walking on thin fucking ice using that kind of tone with me!" Stella hissed, "I hope you know I'm only keeping you around because I require your services, nothing more."

"And I'm only helping you because of the money, and of course wanting that fucking bird dead."

"At least we can both agree on that," Stella sighed, putting her fingers to the bridge of her nose, "And you're sure you can get it done?"

"How many times are you going to ask me before you trust me? I can do it, you just need to let me do my thing."
Stella looked like she was on the brink of screaming, pacing back and forth and stomping her feet loudly. Her brow was furrowed, as if she were in deep thought, and her feathers were quite literally ruffled, sticking out like unkempt hair.

"Just put the book in the fucking safe," Stella grunted, "There's one in the closet, the code is 31, 22, 33."

Monte obliged and turned back around, heading towards the closet with the grimoire in hand. As much as they both hated each other, Monte knew that she wasn't going to get rid of him, at least not until the deed was done. Which would give him time to get what he wanted. Plus, she couldn't get rid of him if she was already dead, but that was a plan to dwell on later. Stolas was still the primary target, and he knew that there would be hell to pay if they didn't get going on it soon.

He opened the closet door, and sure enough, there was a large metal safe hidden underneath a shelf, still polished.

Spinning the dial from side to side and listening to the tumblers fall out of place, the safe opened with a hiss , and he placed the book carefully inside, not wanting to somehow damage it.

Staring at the book for a few brief seconds, he ran his hand along the hard cover before sealing the safe shut, listening with delight as the tumblers clicked back into their proper places, ensuring that nobody would get that book out and away from them.

Now I know what you're up to!

Moxxie had awoken from his sleep, careful to keep as still as possible. Any sign of movement of lucidity would catch Monte's attention, and he knew all too well where that would lead.

But, Monte had let his guard down, if only for a moment. Enough time for him to figure out what was going on, the combination to the safe, and the location of the grimoire. As long as he kept perfectly still, he could buy himself some time to plan and get the hell out of there.

That window would close quickly, however. Sooner or later he would catch on, and beat the shit out of him.

For now, though, any time without pain was good enough for him.

Moxxie grinned to himself, happy that he now had the faintest sense of hope of escape.

And a chance to get back at the bastards who had done this to him. Moxxie wasn't typically once for revenge, he prided himself on his conflict avoidance skills. But, desperate times called for desperate measures.

Monte, you're going down.

You'd better watch out.

You slipped up.

And you're going to regret it.