The harsh wind whistled through the ruined office space, papers blowing out, furniture crumpled and exposed to the elements, drops of rain from the night sky licking at the drywall and concrete. There was no front door. There was no front wall. The residence upstairs was hastily evacuated, small leather chairs and a television visible, frozen in time.

The two imps carefully stepped inside, waltzing around the debris, some pieces still smouldering. The man took note of the destruction, although whatever utility that information would have is unknown to him. "Crumbs..." There was shock, confusion, frustration in his voice.
The hellhound nodded solemnly. "I don't know if they got to him or…" Her breathing began to pick up. "Oh fuck, if they got to him… what the fuck would we even-"

Moxxie rubbed at his forehead. "Okay, okay, look… they don't want him. Do they? They want the book." He lifted his head up to look Loona in the eyes. "They weren't chanting 'give us Blitz'. Their wording was very specific."

Loona threw her head back, leaning against the wall, closing her eyes and exhaling. "I hope not…"
Millie scratched the back of her neck, looking through the empty walls, trying to find any evidence of where their boss had gone. "Is there anywhere he could've hidden?"

Loona shook her head. "Not in- look, do you seriously think he'd just hide from us like this?" She grit her teeth. "He's gone. He has to be."

Millie raised a hand up. "But where? I mean, for gosh sake, Loona, people don't just disappear like this."
Moxxie paced around, crunching rubble under his hooves. "Okay, okay… here's what I'm thinking…"
His wife turned to him. "Yeah, hun, let's hear it!"
The man smiled for a fleeting moment, dividing his attention between the two in front of him. "Either the Vigiles Goetia got him or… Loona, the grimoire's gone, right?"

A nod in the affirmative.

"Right, what if… what if the boss used the grimoire to escape? That would mean he's in the living world and would explain both his disappearance and the grimoire! On the other hand… the Vigiles capturing him would explain that too."

One of Loona's ears perked up as she listened to Moxxie. "…wait…" She looked into the ruins of the walls… the ceilings… the doors… "There's barely any damage to the side and back of the building." She pointed down into the interior of the office. "See? That wall wasn't busted through… and neither was that one. All the damage is near the front door."

Moxxie rose an eyebrow. "Near the front door… meaning…?"

"Meaaaning that there's no way they could've gotten to Blitz. He ran for the back, all of the ones coming through the front were focused on me, and no other entry points means… well… that's all of the Vigiles accounted for." She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "'Surrounded', my ass."
Moxxie straightened up a bit, a triumphant smile on his face as he pointed to the hellhound. "Ahah! So he did use the grimoire… but wait, if he used a hole in the wall to escape…" Moxxie looked outside, through the destroyed glass façade… then looked down. "You think an imp could survive that?"
The other two followed, Loona with a deadpan in her face and Millie wincing as she sees just how far down it is. The wife replies first. "You're breakin' a leg… at least."

"Yeah, no, you're not walking away from that. There's basically nothing to grip onto, that's a straight tumble down." Loona was the first to back away from the smashed window. "And look, if he did that… the Vigiles would know. And… and I watched them leave. They went down, then up."
Moxxie backed away, holding onto Millie's shoulders and helping her step off the edge, before turning to Loona. "How far down?"
"A floor."

The imp shook his head. "That's not enough."
The hellhound quickly replied. "No, it isn't."

Millie blinked a few times. "Why did we get an office this goshdarn far up!?" She walked as far away from the ledge as possible, sitting down on a sturdy desk, one of the few pieces of furniture still standing, to get her bearings. "Phew… okay, he used the book, but… what in tarnation are we gonna do about it?"

Loona followed, leaning against the wall. "Yeah, Vigiles or not, it's not like it matters. Either way, we can't help him."
Moxxie sighed. He found a ruined swivel chair and sat himself down on it. "…agreed. Unless we get another grimoire..." He looked down, a subtle expression of guilt on his face. "I hope he's alright…"


A steel door opens. Solitary confinement cell. Protest, scuffling, cries of pain and desperation. The sound of an imp hitting the floor. A slam that reverberates through the empty room and into the imp's bones.

Complete darkness.