The blackness passed in what felt like the blink of an eye. Moxxie had no idea how long he had been out for.

When he finally came to, he was greeted by a bright light and a set of voices calling out to him from his side. He had completely forgotten where he was. He knew it wasn't home, it looked nothing like home did. Wherever he was, it was a dark and unfamiliar place where he immediately felt unsafe.

The next thing he felt was the searing stinging coming from all over his body. It was beyond any pain that he remembered feeling in his life. So strong that he couldn't even muster up the strength to scream. All he could do was silently bite his lip and hope the pain would die down.

Something bad had happened to him. The memories were foggy, but he could feel them slowly returning. A man in red, a bright green glow, and a burning sensation over his entire body.

Through the ringing in his ears, Moxxie could finally hear what the voices were saying to him.

"Hey, can you hear me?" a male voice asked, "Moxxie? You alive? Come on, please be alive!"

A bell of familiarity rang in his head. That voice was one that Moxxie had heard before. Where he had heard it, he couldn't quite remember. The voice was one that he felt oddly comfortable around. Moxxie wanted to respond to him, but he could barely choke out a simple wheeze.

Once his eyes adjusted to the light, Moxxie finally figured out where he was.

A dark, gray color-scheme greeted him as he was finally able to take in his surroundings. He was staring at the walls of his prison cell. Two figures were seated before him, their faces only a few inches away from his. It didn't take him long to finally figure out who they were.

"Holy shit!" Octavia exclaimed as she was somehow standing up right with hunched posture, "What…what the hell did they do to you?"

As expected, she fell to the ground a second later. With injuries like hers, she was going to need all the rest she could get. She had suffered injuries that were on-par with his, if not worse. The last thing they needed was for both of them to be out-of-commision on the day of their escape plan.

"I…I think you saw what he did," Moxxie spat out, "H-How bad does it look?"

The silence that followed spoke volumes. Moxxie was almost glad that he couldn't see just how awful the beating he had taken had been. Simply feeling the pain over his body was enough for him to know that it was bad. Bad enough that he wondered if he was going to survive..

"Thank heavens you're awake," Edrich said, "We need to get you patched up. Now. You need to be in shape in three days."

"Yeah…" Moxxie responded.

The burns were bad. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. Even though demons like him were able to recover from burns relatively quickly, the next couple of days were going to be grueling and miserable.

Against all odds, he had come out of that torture chamber alive. Every single instinct Moxxie had told him that he was going to die in that very room. That Alastor was finally going to snap and kill him. And although at times Moxxie wished that Alastor had followed through and killed him simply to end the pain, he knew now that he had a chance at living to attempt an escape. Or, at least something that resembled an escape.

Looking at his arm, he could see bandages underneath his clothing. They were already stained blood-red. Edrich and Octavia had somehow managed to patch him out for the time that he had been out for. Moxxie had no idea whether it had been an hour or a day.

On his chest was an ice pack. Moxxie didn't have the slightest clue where it had come from, but it felt amazing to him. Anything that wasn't outright painful was now a sensation that he enjoyed.

"Wh…when the hell did you do this?" Moxxie asked as he tried to sit up, "How…?"

"Don't move too much," Edrich replied, "I know imps tend to be a bit more resistant to burns, but he still got you pretty bad back there. Just like Princess Octavia, you two can't be moving too much. It's a miracle that the two of you made it out of there alive in the first place."

He nodded in response.

"I don't have a lot of time to stick around," Edrich said, "I have to go to my next shift. But I got some bandages on you and there were some painkillers in the bag from earlier. Make sure the cameras are off when you take them. His Majesty cannot know about this at all. Okay?"

Edrich suddenly rushed out of the room, slamming the door behind him and sprinting down the hall to yet another one of his Guard stations. Moxxie watched as the light from the hallway ceased, leaving him alone with Octavia in the dim light of their depressing little cell.

It had all happened so fast. Moxxie found himself staring at the lightbulb over his head. He felt as if he was ungrounded from reality. Nothing about what had happened felt real. It was like being trapped in some horrible nightmare, where each sensation was painful and the second dragged on for hours. Time itself seemed to be slowing down around him.

The only positive that had come out of that interview was encouraging the rebels. It had almost gotten him killed, but it had ensured that the flame of rebellion was still burning strong. Hell was going to need a lot of it if there was any hope for change.

"How long was I out…?" Moxxie asked.

Octavia shifted uncomfortably before answering his question, "Around six hours. We only have two more days until….you know…"

Moxxie's heart sank as he realized that his injuries had cost them precious time. Hours that they could have spent finalizing the plan had been spent unconscious and bleeding on the floor. They only had two days now to finalize what they were going to do and how they were going to leave the prison alive, while also finding a way to take down Alastor at the same time.

Which brought about the next concern.

Were the two of them going to be in shape for the big day? With their injuries, he was beginning to doubt that they would be able to charge Alastor's forces unarmed. Sure, white scar-tissue was already forming over some of his burns, but there was no telling whether or not he would be healed in time.

"We made it, you know," Octavia whispered, "Barely, but we both survived. How many demons can say they've done that before?"

The only other demons that had ever survived an encounter with Alastor were Millie and Stolas. It brightened his spirit slightly to know that he made it through, even though it was the most pain he had ever been through. If they managed to escape, going to therapy and picking up drinking were the first things on his priority list.

"Yeah…we did," Moxxie sighed, "Just wish he hadn't almost fucking killed us along the way…"

"We still made it," she replied, "Plus, we're demons. We only got a bit burned, we can recover from that. At least we weren't thrown into the pit…"

He was unsure if Octavia had heard Alastor's closing remark to him. That there was a spot in the pit of fire with his name on it. Their worst fears had been realized: Alastor planned on throwing them in the pit. They wouldn't get the luxury of a swift death. Yes, the possibility had been on the table before, but now it was confirmed. If their escape plan fell through, they were set to die the most brutal death imaginable.

"You heard what he said, right?" Moxxie said, "He promised to throw us…into the pit. If we don't…get out of here soon, we're in big trouble…"

"No shit," she snapped, "But right now there isn't much we can do. Like it or not, our hopes are resting on that lanky soldier to get us out of here. I don't like it, but it's the only thing we have left."

As much as he hated it, she was right. Their hopes were resting on Edrich now. For the first time ever, it was out of their control. All they could do was wait and make sure they would stick to the plan.

"You saved the rebellion back there," Octavia said, "I heard everything he was offering you. You could have taken it all and gotten us out of this mess. I give you a lot of credit for not giving in. I've been in that cell before. It's not easy. And I think he was trying a helluva lot harder with you than he was with me."

She had a point. He was putting everything he had into trying to get him on his side. Moxxie knew why, too. The rebellion had grown too strong for him to handle. For the first time ever, he felt that his own authority had been threatened. There was something amiss.. Alastor must have seen something about the rebellion that Moxxie didn't. Having hell's head honcho trying to negotiate with a little imp like Moxxie was almost poetic, in a way. It showed that the tides were finally turning in her favor.

Moxxie double-checked that the cameras were off before he spoke next. Couldn't risk Alastor hearing what he had to say.

"I think he saw something in the rebellion. He's threatened, Octavia," Moxxie said, "He saw that if we have the right tools, we can plow through his Guard. That the discontent has hit a breaking point. He was under the impression that he was supported by all demons. His delusions are finally being proven untrue. If we can escape, it will only break him down further. Which is why we have to do it. The fate of hell itself is in our hands now. Did you ever think we'd be doing this?"

The princess shook her head, "No. I don't think I ever thought I'd be doing this. I mean, I knew my family was famous and everything, but I never thought something like this would happen. Anything from more than two weeks ago feels like a dream."

It was something that Moxxie could relate to. To think that he was living a normal life two weeks ago felt unreal. He never would have thought in a million years that he would have become the face of a rebellion. Where he would end up defying the most imposing man in hell. A simple assassin's life seemed far more appealing in the moment.

"We almost missed the soldiers back at Imp City," Octavia said, "We heard about the Guard moving towards the outskirts. My father wanted us to stay back and wait for things to blow over. I wanted to try and warn you guys. You….I think you know how that ended for all of us."

He remembered the surprise that he had when the two Goetias had barged into their office. How they had arrived at the very last moment, forcing them out of the barricade of an office that they had created. Moxxie wondered how things would have gone if they had stayed inside of the office. Where they would have been temporarily safe from the Guard and their murdering.

The simple fact that Stolas had apparently wanted to leave him and the rest of his comrades to fend off the Guard themselves made his blood boil, until he realized the position that Stolas had been put in. Coming to warn them was an offense that would have already made him eligible for execution. As much as Moxxie hated the idea of being abandoned, he knew why Stolas had done it. Little did they know that both of them would have ended up being put on Alastor's hitlist.

"I don't blame him for staying behind," Moxxie said, "Attacking a man like Alastor is a fool's errand. He was probably just trying to keep the two of you safe…"

"That's exactly what he said," Octavia replied, "After…after what happened with mom, I don't think he wanted to risk something happening to us again. It was why he had signed the allegiance with the Guard. He…he didn't want another one of us ending up in that terrible pit."

She was right. If Moxxie had witnessed a death as brutal as Stella's to someone close to him, he would have done everything in his power to make sure it didn't happen again, even if getting there meant he would have to make some morally questionable choices.

"I get that. If something like that had happened to me…well, I would have done the exact same thing. Even in hell, people still care about their families," Moxxie said, "I remember watching Millie on the broadcast when she went in for interrogation. Then Stolas. Then you. Those were some of the worst things I've seen in my life, and I wouldn't wish that pain on anyone. Both the pain of experiencing it and having to watch someone you care about suffer. It's a punishment that was made for hell."

"You got that right," Octavia said as she weakly managed to sit up, "That fucker almost killed both of us. We both went in there thinking that we were going to die. But we made it out…somehow."

Moxxie nodded, "Yeah, all we gotta do is hope he doesn't toss us into that pit."

"That's where we can't do a lot , remember? That part of the operation is in Edrich's hands. Like it or not, we're stuck here."

"Yeah..I know. I hope he can at least get us together with the others before the whole thing happens. You know…in case it doesn't work…"

He didn't want to admit it, although it seemed fairly obvious that there was a large chance of failure. If he was going to die in some botched escape plan, he at least wanted to see MIllie and Blitzo one more time before he passed on, dying one of the worst deaths imaginable.

But once again, that plan rested on Edrich.

The thought of never seeing Millie alive again caused a pit to form in his stomach. He hated the idea with every fiber of his existence. Millie meant the world to him. She had been there for him more than most demons ever had. If their story was truly coming to a close, he wanted to see her one last time before it happened. To get everything that he wanted to say to her off of his chest before it was too late and he would never get another chance.

"I understand that," Octavia said, "I want to see my father again. We…we haven't always gotten along, although mostly over petty matters. If I can get everything off my chest before we give this thing a shot, I'll feel a lot better about risking my life."

"As will I. Edrich had better hurry up…"

What was going on in Octavia's head must have been hellish. Having to deal with watching one of your parents die, and then having to try and save the other one from suffering the same fate. It was a very much "sacrifice now to hope we don't suffer like before." And that was what Moxxie hated about it.

He glanced up at the cameras again and saw that they were off. He took this as an opportunity to try and get some of those painkillers inside of him. The throbbing in his limbs and core was coming close to unbearable.

"Octavia," Moxxie whispered, "Can you pass me some of those pills? I…I really need something to get this shit under control right now…"

Octavia shifted, "Yeah, of course, here…" she passed a bottle to him, "It says to take two at a time. I took some earlier, they kick in after like an hour or so. You'll be thankful you took 'em."

"Thank you."

Moxxie eyed the pills and poured a couple of tablets into his hands. They didn't look like anything of remarkable qualities, but it was better than sitting there with nothing to help him power through the pain and discomfort. Alastor had battered him until there was next to nothing left.

But he wouldn't give in.

The pills went down dry and uncomfortable, but they went down. All he could do after that was sit and wait for the bleeding to hopefully stop. Parts of his bandages were peeling off already. Scar tissue was starting to build up over the wounds, but there was still a while for Moxxie to go before he was in the safe zone.

What followed next was a few minutes of a lull in conversation, something that Moxxie had grown used to. The silence that had once been uncomfortable was now something that he simply accepted. It took more effort than he liked to admit to speak anyways. He must have hit his chest on the door on the way out of the interrogation room. He still felt lightheaded.

"I know I said it before, but I'm glad I didn't have to do this whole damn thing alone," Octavia said, just as the camera's lights turned on, "I mean…it was much better to do this with someone who could push me in the right direction. I would have gone insane doing that by myself."

"Same here," Moxxie laughed weakly, "We definitely wouldn't have gotten this far alone."

It was a common topic of discussion. He wondered how he would have fared if he was the only one who made it out of the city. If he had endured the last week of hell on his own. He didn't imagine his morale surviving such a hit like that. He would have surrendered himself to the authorities within a day begging for mercy.

Sure, they had ended up in the prison anyways, but they had started a rebellion along the way. Hell knew who they were. Riots had started in their name. The two of them had killed soldiers, defied orders, and broken into the most secure building in all of hell. That was far more than either of them could have done by themselves.

"Watch it," Moxxie whispered, "The cameras are on. He can hear us now…"

"Ah shit, yeah," she said as she glanced at the cameras, "Didn't notice that."

He yearned for the day that Alastor's surveillance was gone. When he could speak without worrying about being heard and apprehended. The simple life of an assassin was one that he wanted back. The years before the takeover felt like a distant memory, a fever dream. Everything that he had taken for granted was gone, and the chances of getting it back were slim to none.

"I miss the days when we didn't have those damned things," Moxxie whispered, "They're so fucking intrusive."

"No shit," Octavia replied, "It's his whole schtick"

"Well, he really needs to find a new one."

"Being dead would be a good start."

-o

-o

Millie sat in the corner of her cell with a deep feeling of existential dread.

The last week had been one crisis after another, each one getting increasingly worse. First, the siege of Imp City. Then, their arrest. After that, it was watching Alastor try to capture Moxxie and Octavia. Following that was the crisis with Loona's mob, which had been suspiciously quiet over the last few days.

The worst of it had just come to pass.

Watching Moxxie as his torment unfolded in that room was too much for her to watch. She knew how it felt to be in that cell. She knew just how much pain he was going through. Alastor knew it too, and was constantly pushing him to his limit. Moxxie had been trapped in the lion's den. Somehow, he managed to get out of there alive.

Or, at least she hoped so.

A loud crash shortly after Moxxie had been thrown out the window had been the last thing she heard before the broadcast was cut out. Moxxie had been alive by the end, but she had no idea if he had made it out after that. He had been burned, battered, beaten, and probably had broken a few bones. There wasn't a chance in hell he was getting out of there without some form of medical attention.

Stolas seemed to have shared her anxieties. The same had happened after Octavia's session, which was already hard enough for her to watch. The poor girl was barely an adult. She didn't deserve all of it. How Alastor could do such sickening things without so much as a twinge of remorse was foreign to her. Yes, her job consisted of murdering, but they only killed people who deserved it. Or, more specifically, those who they were being paid to kill. Even then, they never made their kills as long and drawn-out as Alastor did.

"That…that was fuckin' hard to watch…" Blitzo said with an empty voice, "That bastard needs to get put in his fuckin' place."

"He…how could he do something like that…?!" Millie shouted, half-distraught, "Moxxie's the kindest demon in hell. I don't…how…? He kept it going for so long too…I don't even know if Mox made it out of there…"

She hated not knowing. The lack of closure was killing her. She needed to know whether or not Moxxie was alive. And fast.

Stolas appeared just as anxious as she was, "He did the same thing to my precious Via…" He took a deep breath, "I…I don't know if she actually made it out. Edrich is the only one that can give us the answer to that…"
He was right.

The next time Edrich came by their cell, she was hounding him for answers. She needed to know. To know whether or not it was worth it for them to continue fighting. If Moxxie and Octavia were dead, there was nothing left for her personally to fight for. Liberating hell was an amazing goal and all, but with two members down, she didn't know if it would be possible to do.

Being in the cell unable to do anything was the worst part. She couldn't go out there and fight on her own. They were relying on a single man with a set of fancy keys and a gun to get them out of there. The plan was shaky, poorly thought-out, and yet she found herself hoping for it.

Edrich was also lacking in one of his promises. The reunion that he had mentioned before had yet to happen. With two days before their escape, time was running out. If she was going to die, she wanted to find out if Moxxie was alive and to see him one last time if he was.

The hours following the broadcast of Moxxie and Octavia's torture were tense. Nobody dared to speak. They were all busy processing the horrifically clear images that were ingrained into their memories. Ones that Millie would pay to forget and never have entered her mind again. How was she supposed to go on after seeing that? Knowing that a far worse fate would await her if their escape plan failed.

Even worse, now Princess Morningstar and her wife were on the kill list. He was going all-out. Alastor was killing every last prisoner who had any part in blocking his rise to power. They were nothing more than cattle being led to the slaughterhouse to him. Alastor intended to keep his spot on the throne under any means necessary.

The stare on Alastor's face after Moxxie had sent his message to the rebels was fresh in her mind. The pure hatred and rage in his eyes, unfiltered and on display for all to see. It was just a small glimpse into the monstrosity of his mind. He was a madman. Someone that needed to be taken care of, not the other way around. Alastor didn't belong on the throne. No, he deserved nothing more than the pit of fire. If Millie could throw him in there herself, she would do it in a heartbeat. To give him the slightest taste of his own medicine. To get revenge for the hell that he had put them all through.

A knock on the door startled Millie out of her thoughts of violence and revenge.

"Hello?" Edrich's voice called from outside, "May I come in?"

All eyes fell to the door as Edrich poked his head inside before entering fully.

Millie didn't wait another second before she sprinted over to him and began demanding answers from him. If anyone knew what had happened to her husband, it was going to be him. That was all that she needed at that moment. Closure. To know whether or not Moxxie had survived.

For a brief moment, she wondered if she truly wanted to know. If it would be better to live in blissful ignorance. If something had happened to Moxxie, it would destroy her. Half of her will to go on was knowing that she would get to see Moxxie again. If that was gone, so was most of her motivation and energy.

But she decided that her curiosity was stronger. She was going to figure it out one way or another.

"W-What happened to Moxxie?!" she shouted at him, "Is he alive? Please tell me you know something….please…"

The man's hesitancy to respond almost broke her and made her assume the worst. Edrich's eyes looked into hers, with a hint of sympathy visible in his iris. She couldn't tell if he was about to bring her bad news or not. She just wanted the man to stop being a statue for a second. She needed that closure more than anything on the plane of existence.

"SAY SOMETHING!" she shouted, "PLEASE!"

A few seconds later, he snapped out of whatever trance he was in. As if he was relieving some terrible memory, or having some awful vision.

"He's alive, don't worry about that," he said in some of the most relieving words she had ever heard from anyone ever, "He got beaten up pretty bad, but he's still alive."

She breathed the heaviest sigh of relief in her life before letting a smile spread across her face. The news was far from good, but it was magnitudes better than hearing that Moxxie had been killed. Her fighting spirit would live on another day.

Stolas was the next one with an urgent question of his own, "What about my daughter? Did she make it out?!"
This time, Edrich didn't hesitate in answering her question, "Yes, she did. Like Moxxie she got beaten up pretty bad, but she's still alive. Moxxie and I patched her up before he was taken away," He glanced at the cameras, which had noticeably turned off since he stepped in the room, "They'll be in fighting shape in a couple of days. That's all we need."

The look on Stolas's face had the same relief as Millie's. Their loved ones were still alive, and they still had a personal reason to keep fighting. They were fighting not only because they hated what was in front of them, but because they loved what was behind them. Fighting for both hell and their families.

"Thank you…." Stolas said, "Very much."

"Of course, Mr. Goetia," Edrich said, "Now, I'm here simply to deliver rations. Make these last, I have no idea when His Majesty is going to give you any again, if at all. He likes to starve his prisoners before he kills them from what I've seen in the past. Don't become another one."

"Speaking of," Blitzo chimed in, "We still on for your little plan? Ya know, the one that saves our asses from being served to us on a silver platter?"

"As of now, yes," Edrich said, "With Princess Morningstar and her wife now on the execution list, things just got more urgent. It's not just your lives on the line. Now it's the life of the only woman that can pose a threat to Alastor. And if she goes, any hope we had of getting him off the throne is done."

That realization hit Millie like a brick. Princess Morningstar was the only demon with powers that were strong enough to pose a threat to Alastor. If something went wrong, any hope of winning the fight was out the window. Alastor would stay on the throne for the rest of their days while everyone suffered. The ones that died quickly would be the lucky ones.

"Shit…" Blitzo muttered, "I don't like that."

"It's all we have to work with," Edrich said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be going now-"

"Wait!" Millie called out right before he stepped out the door, "Before you go, I need to ask ya something."

Edrich stopped in his tracks and stared at her. There wouldn't be a better chance to ask him anything than now. Any hesitation was going to cost her precious time. And if she wanted to see her still-living husband before their dangerous escape, it was going to have to be soon. Otherwise there was a good chance she would never see him again.

"Before you go," Millie said, "I know we mentioned it before, but just in case. Is it…can you somehow sneak them into our cell? So I can see Moxxie one more time before we go off and…you know…"

A smile spread across the man's face.'

"Of course. I will arrange for it as soon as possible. Most likely tonight or tomorrow night while I'm changing shifts. I promise you you'll get to see him. I'll check my schedule and see if I can sneak them in."

With that, Edrich ran out the door again, off to do some of his soldier duties. Millie didn't mind though. All that mattered to her was that she was going to get to see Moxxie one last time before they risked their lives.

"Well, that makes things…less grim…" Stolas commented, "I hope he follows through. Octavia shouldn't have to do something like that alone. Ever."
The three of them had been lucky enough to have each other for company, as with Moxxie and Octavia. The hope now was that they could finally reunite. To have their groups united, aside from Loona. Loona was going to be a far more difficult target to track down, seeing as she hadn't appeared in the news for a couple of days. Millie couldn't help but wonder where she was.

"All we need now is Loonie…" Blitzo sighed, "I hope she's okay…"

"She is, Blitz," Millie said, "She's tough as nails, remember? Nothing can stop her out there. Just look at what Moxxie and Octavia were able to do before they were captured! If she has a mob like it said on the news, she's probably in better shape than they were anyways. Once we get out of here, we'll find her."

Blitzo seemed to take her words to heart, which was all she wanted. The man deserved some relaxation. At least he hadn't been forced to watch Loona get thrown into that chamber. That was a pain that she wouldn't wish on anybody, even her worst enemies. Millie wouldn't forget that for a long time.

There was nothing left for them to do after that aside from waiting. Waiting and waiting for a better tomorrow. Hoping that Edrich would fulfill his promises and get them the hell out of that prison. Millie rested her head on the ground and tried to rest, fueling her fighting spirit with the knowledge that Moxxie and Octavia were still alive.

Now she was waiting for the reunion.