Yeeeess! I did it. I'm sorry for this rather long delay. I'm very sad about how shitty my release schedule is. Don't know if it will ever get better, but I'm always happy whenever I do get a chapter out. Hope you all will enjoy this party.
"Chapter 9"
"Beyond doubt, beyond fear"
King Baal.
The Silent King of Ars Goetia.
The one who's invisible web casts shadow over The Infernal Realm and every soul living and suffering in it.
Living beyond Pride far above. Protecting and containing everything that walks on it's burning streets. Forever looking at the bright Star above even him. The realm of Heaven. Purpose given to him by the master he chose. The Great Governor, Lucifuge Rofocale.
There are very few beings in the realms of Hell that can match the authority of the Overseer and Great Governor. Each one casting their own shadow over the World of Torment.
Governor and Overseer spread the promise of Order and Subjugation. Forever at odds with the Chaos sowed by King of The Fallen Lucifer and Satan the Adversary. And between all of them, enigmatic Mephistopheles. Never fully supportive nor disruptive to any side, always doing enough for the flames of Discord to never truly die.
The Pentagram those beings form is one even Hellborn shall always be afraid of.
There is no peace. There is no freedom. There is no one who shall be spared.
No matter who it is. No matter what they did.
All ye who stand on this accursed ground.
Suffering shall come.
That is the promise of Hell.
Moxxie would never in his life even dreamt of a moment like this. Being stuck in a suit making him look like an Ars Goetia. Kneeling in the presence of one of the most horrific beings in all of Hell. King Baal. Moxxie in the past few days had the absolute worst luck in all of Hell. Is that damn ring working even without being put on!? Moxxie wanted to run away so much, but he knew in his heart that he would be murdered in an instant. The entire hall was drowned in silence. Not one Goetia attempted to move or make a sound.
"*Belch*" Almost all of them
Some absolute idiot, obviously extremely drunk was stumbling through the hall, barely holding himself up on his feet and holding very eagerly the almost empty bottle in his hand
"Yeeeaah... Kneel before yar KING ya little shitssss..." A stork looking Goetia in a dark blue suit was stumbling through the kneeling crowd
Moxxie felt like he wasn't the only one in that hall that wanted to strangle this moron. Lady Stella from what he could see was very enraged as well. But they couldn't do anything. All they could do is watch and hope this drunkard wont end up causing all of their deaths.
"Theresa? *hic* What your doin her my sweet?" Stork said as he approached one of King Baal's legs and started caressing it
They are dead. They are all dead. It was a fun journey. Moxxie couldn't say if it was the worst way to go, but it definitely was up there. Meanwhile King Baal did not say a thing, just turned his head slightly to the left to look at the Goetia, Baal's head was now half like a man and half like a frog. Neither betrayed any emotion, no rage, no nothing and yet this was probably the most terrifying thing Moxxie has ever seen. No Goetia ever made him feel like this. This feeling of being absolutely powerless in every possible way. But the worst part about all of this was that he felt like worst was yet to come. As the silence continued and the idiotic Goetia tried to kiss King Baal's sharp leg it slowly rose up away from his hands.
"Sweethart? Wher yu goi-"
*STAB* *tik*
In a single moment the Goetia's mouth was pierced by King Baal's leg, impaling him instantly.
*BREAK*
And the now dead body let go of the bottle which broke on the floor, spilling the remains of the substance that caused this being's demise.
*Fsss* *SLAM*
Slowly King Baal pulled his leg out of the body and let it fall on the floor. His face was still mostly unchanged, but there was something new in it as King Baal moved his free hand over the body of the dead Goetia, as if he was taking something. But as he did so there was a slight, blink and you miss it flinch in his fingers and soon King Baal took a more alerted stance and started looking over the Hall. Something was wrong... Very wrong. And Moxxie's heart sunk as the Overseer's sight locked onto him.
*Tik**Tik**Tik**Tik**Tik*
King Baal slowly approached them. Moxxie tried his best to calm down. Slow down his heart. Silence his breathing. Stop his sweat. All for naught. But he tried so hard. Tried to give himself hope. No. There was someone else there. There had to be. It wasn't about him. It wasn't about him...
*Tik**Tik**Tik*
Lord Baal stopped right before Moxxie. Looked down directly onto him. Moxxie felt like he was about to cry. He was going to die. And he didn't even know why. Slowly The Overseer moved his head closer towards Moxxie. Moxxie in an act of desperation put one of his hands up, covering his terrified face, as if it would change anything about his fate.
...
But there was nothing. The hall was silent, the loudest noise was that of his beating heart, but he could feel he was still alive. But for how long? Was King Baal playing with him? What was going on?
*touch*
Then Moxxie felt something. A hand touching the back of his bowing head. It felt... peaceful. Calm. Soothing. Much like King Baal's face which looked more relaxed and empathetic. King Baal bowed his head, closed his eyes and in that moment Moxxie felt something. As if he was surrounded by comfortable cloth. And in that moment he heard a voice. A whisper with power of a tsunami. A peaceful, comforting and yet all powerful voice of a being beyond anything Moxxie has ever known.
"Poor severed childe. I welcome thee once more." It was a voice Moxxie felt like he heard it in his own heart and in that moment King Baal removed his hand from Moxxie and gave to Prince Gaap a small nod
Suddenly the music slowly started playing again. The Goetias started to rise up from their knees and came back to their more jovial selves and all Moxxie could do was watch in sheer confusion as to what just happened. As Moxxie looked up at the Overseer he saw no clear expression on his face that now distorted halfway through into a cat. Neither side showed any feelings be it negative or positive. What Moxxie saw as he looked at King Baal was like embodiment of silence.
"Get up."
But before Moxxie could think on it anymore he was quickly pulled up by someone. It was Lady Stella. She looked... relieved. And yet angry.
"I... is something-"
But without a word she grabbed Moxxie's hand and moved further to the back of the main hall. She stopped near the stairs leading up to the rest of the Estate.
"Damn Andrealphus and his fucking-"
"My Lady! What is going on!? What just happened?!" Moxxie was very worried
Stella started to calm down after Moxxie spoke up and crossed her hands.
"I am infuriated by what almost happened." Stella was very serious "You were about to be found out and killed."
"B-but I wasn't." Moxxie said as he checked the body he was in again, to make sure he still lives "I wasn't right?"
"No." Lady Stella did not seem very annoyed with this question "In fact what you did there allowed you to be webbed."
"Webbed? WAIT! Did I... marry King Baal!?" Moxxie was extremely confused
"No. Of course not!" This question though did seem to annoy Lady Stella, but she quickly calmed down "It's-"
"Well mr. Maximilian" Suddenly Prince Gaap appeared and patted Moxxie on the back "You could have said something about this need of yours. I would quickly make some preparations to avoid this... awkward scene."
"I... well I just-" Moxxie scratched his head as he didn't know what was going on
"Eh. No need to say anything. I get it, getting cut off is not the most pleasant topic for small talk." Gaap's voice while empathetic had some form of condescension in it "Say. What did you do? Killed your summoner? The summoner scuffed something? Some idiot priest broke the circle?"
"Umm... I would rather... NOT talk about it." Moxxie tried to make him drop this subject
"Suit yourself, but don't worry. Happens to the best of us" Prince Gaap shrugged "I had this happen once. One mortal summoned me about TWELVE times once. Always asking to get another woman on his leash, get her to bark whenever he asked. At some point it became tiring and on the thirteenth time I let him know WHY it's an unlucky number."
"*gulp*" Moxxie could only imagine what he did to that man
"Pfft. Had to wait about 4 days before I could go back. Can you imagine?" Moxxie would rather not "At least those slaves of that idiot kept me entertained."
"The most important thing is that Maximilian could be welcomed back." Lady Stella interrupted as she looked at Moxxie "Without consequences."
"True. But I have one more thing to ask. HOW did you know King Baal would be here?" Gaap asked Moxxie "Heard from my sweetheart at the gates you had some GREAT need to be here so you obviously knew."
"I... prefer not to reveal my sources." Moxxie tried to play along with it
"You seem to be not very fond of revealing anything Maximilian..." Gaap said with a voice that could pierce one's heart "Smart. Very smart. As expected of Baal's Faithful." Then Gaap's tone became more lenient and nodded "Eh. I guess I'll need to find this leak. Don't want my future surprises to be so easily revealed."
"I wish you good luck sir." Moxxie said politely
"Thank you Maximilian. And enjoy your stay." Gaap said and pulled his hand towards Moxxie who in a moment shook it with some hesitance. Gaap then turned to Lady Stella "As for you. I think we can talk later. After I deal with some important matters."
"I will meet with you when you need me." Lady Stella bowed her head
"And I will enjoy every minute we can spend together." Gaap said with a smile and moved away from them towards King Baal
"..." Moxxie did not say anything for a moment "I... Well..."
"You wanted to know of the webbing yes?" Lady Stella quickly put Moxxie back on track, away from this awkward moment
"Y-yes." Moxxie was eager to do so
"it is a tradition of ours. Every Ars Goetia at birth gets to be webbed by King Baal. One strand of his web is connected to us and all of our lives are then woven into King Baal's invisible web far above Pride Ring where he lives and oversees each and every single life of Ars Goetia." Stella for a moment looked at the ceiling as if she could see through it to look at the sky of Pride "And you just became a part of it."
"I... What?" Moxxie found this hard to grasp "So it's not a metaphor about his web?"
"No. Far from it. In fact it is the reason why Exterminations are not as severe as they could be." Lady Stella said as she looked upon King Baal who was now drinking something and was spoken to by Prince Gaap. In her eyes there was clear respect and fear of this being "This Web is there to protect Hell if there ever came to be an invasion from Heaven on us. You could say that lives of Ars Goetia are the first line of defense of this realm."
"Oh..." Moxxie did not know what to say, but the thought that Exterminations could be far more severe than they already are was frightening "Is there... a way to get rid of this web?"
"Just saying that would make you marked as a traitor ready to be re educated by King Baal personally." Lady Stella was once again VERY serious "But to answer your question. This tradition is held as sacred by many of our kind and the ways of breaking it are very few, I know of two. One is a ritual going wrong, completely locking an Ars Goetia outside of Hell."
"And the second one?" Moxxie asked, but he felt like he already knew
"Death. If there is no life, there will be no strand." Stella explained in a grim tone
"Do... do all of Ars Goetia have those?" Moxxie asked
"Most of us do. But there are rebellious sort that intentionally cut off their strands." Moxxie could already imagine one Goetia who probably belonged to them "For them torture is the most lenient form of punishment. I hear one of Baal's favorite ones is stuffing one's stomach with baby rats and back of their eyes with bug eggs that when grown up will eat through both and will become King Baal's food. You could say the tortured one becomes a living food cellar."
This was one of the worst images Moxxie had in his head so far and the reality must have been far worse.
"But... will I have it now? Even as an imp?" Moxxie was scared of that, if this is what cutting it would bring then what about non Ars Goetia being a part of it
"I don't know." Lady Stella was honest "I have no idea how this suit Real gave you works, but I will make sure to get a proper explanation Bard."
"Th-thank you my lady." Moxxie felt better as she said that
Slowly the music started to shift. It became a bit slower and Goetias around started to dance in a more close and personal way with one another. And as Moxxie looked at Lady Stella she was just silently looking in the direction of Prince Gaap. Her eyes were sad, but as Moxxie looked around something started to rise up in him and before he knew it, his body moved, he placed his cane against the staircase and grabbed Lady Stella's hand.
"WH- What are you doing Bard?!" Stella asked in a perplexed tone as she was made to follow
"(EXACTLY! WHAT AM I DOING!?)" Moxxie thought to himself in horror, but what came out of his mouth was was "Standing in the back and just talking to one another could arise suspicions My Lady. We should try better to blend in."
"I-I do not believe it is- AHH!" Stella tried to finish as Moxxie made them go into a dancing position and Moxxie started leading the way.
Moxxie had no idea what came over him. What piece of his clearly deranged mind thought there is a semblance of good idea in all of this. But as he watched Lady Stella, he felt... terrible. He wanted to try something. Anything. To make her happy. Free her mind off of misery. Moxxie was all too familiar with misery. He felt it a lot in his life. Through all the failures and his existence as a whole he often times felt miserable, but he found freedom from it. A paradise alongside Millie. They both found a paradise with one another in this world of misery.
And now as Moxxie looked at Stella he saw a person in even greater misery. In greater sadness. He wanted to help. Give her at least for a short a moment a paradise to be happy in. But this didn't change the fact that what he was doing now was REALLY damn weird and stupid and Lady Stella looked very confused as well, but surprisingly she wasn't getting angry. And so they went with the flow of the melody.
"You are overstepping your boundaries Bard..." Lady Stella said calmly as she spun as Moxxie moved her hand above her head
"I am well aware My Lady." Moxxie said with an awkward smile as he pulled Lady Stella back to him
It felt weird being this assertive. Especially towards someone like Lady Stella, but this new body as much as he despised what it represented made him feel so... different. But now was not the time to ponder about it. Now they went with the flow of the music. And so they were in the flow for a good minute.
"You restraint is most confusing matter Bard." Lady Stella said calmly
"E-excuse me?" Moxxie was concerned about that line
"You bring me to this dance so eagerly and yet now that we dance in each other's arms you do not allow yourself to touch me anywhere where it would be inappropriate." Lady Stella pointed out as she looked at Moxxie's hand that never even once went below Lady Stella's waist "'Tis most confusing matter in all of this surprisingly."
"Well I- I would never want you to feel uncomfortable like that." Moxxie explained, but Lady Stella just raised one of her eyebrows "I just wanted to... give you something pleasant tonight."
"I see." Lady Stella then spun around once and she came back to Moxxie with her back against his chest while his hands were holding hers, making them cross and she spoke directly to him "Thank you Maximilian."
Moxxie had no idea how to react to this. It was so strange, but... not unpleasant. As they went back to normal position where Stella kept on staring at him with her beautiful eyes. Moxxie smiled awkwardly, hoping maybe Lady Stella could return it. She did not. But her eyes did soften up, just a little bit. It wasn't much, but it was a step forward. Keep doing enough of them and you will arrive somewhere. But where that is Moxxie did not know yet. But taking a step after step was a pleasant experience all the same.
*THUMP*
Then Lady Stella stopped Moxxie's leg with hers.
"But next time ask me for permission." Lady Stella said in a more serious tone "I may even agree."
"A-as you wish... My Lady." Moxxie said
And this time his smile was less awkward as he felt strangely happy he could have this moment. Holding her hands in his, or rather Goetias hands. This time larger than hers. And their delicacy made Moxxie feel more calm. More confident. It was like for a moment he had a new life, a new place to belong to. Something he never was quite sure of in the first place. Forever lost about who he is. And now, in here. It felt simpler. And he never wanted it to end.
"YOOOOOOUUU!"
Suddenly a voice screamed from behind them and as Moxxie turned around he realized they were now further to the left side of the Ballroom where the musicians were playing. The voice came from one of them. A rather rough looking humanoid gray Demon with one lazy eye, sharp teeth with some of them missing, very tall horns, wings and black hair. He was holding a violin and he was pointing at them with his violin bow. He looked slightly intoxicated and severely pissed off.
"YOU!"
Moxxie immediately started to sweat as this Demon started approaching them. Some Goetias around seemed to have noticed this commotion, but some other ones seemed to not care in the slightest. King Baal though seemed the most attentive out of all of them as he was holding a glass of his own. But so far no one intervened. Moxxie knew he had to say something.
"I-I'm sorry... what-"
"Out of my way Big Guy"
But the Demon quickly pushed Moxxie away. He was pretty strong despite being not as large as Moxxie was now. But this was not confused Moxxie the most. It was that he seemingly wasn't pointing at him. It was Lady Stella.
"Is something the matter mister-"
"SHUT UP WHORE!" Demon interrupted her and pointed the string of his bow at her "Do not do anything! Or I will cut you to pieces!"
"..." Lady Stella did not say anything, just started raising her hand
*SLICE*
But in a moment's notice the Demon swung his bow right at Lady Stella's hand. It was... bleeding. Lady Stella seemed shocked as she looked down at the wound on her hand. It was shaking. The bow itself with blood on it's string revealed a dim glow.
"Yeeeah! Bow made out of Heavenly thread! Very strong, reliable... and I got it just for you! For this moment! SO MANY YEARS FOR THIS MOMENT!" Demon pointed his bow at her again and Lady Stella seemed taken aback by this sudden threat to her life
Moxxie shook his head as he saw that and immediately rushed over to them. He tried to grab the Demon's arm, but...
"Sir, I think you-"
*PUNCH*
The Demon without even looking back hit him with his free arm right in the stomach. Moxxie lost his breath immediately and fell on his knees. This Demon was VERY strong. But as this Demon did it Stella took this opportunity to quickly take a few steps back, but the Demon followed. Still for some reason no one did anything.
"No interruption! NONE!"
"I fail to recognize your reason for this... transgression." Stella said calmly
"Ooooh. Do not play coy BITCH! You are the one who ruined me!" Demon pointed at himself as he said it and his voice carried a lot of anger "I was meant to be the one! You stole it from me!"
"Without a shadow of a doubt you are mistaken sir. I never even met-"
"LIES! YOUR KIND ALWAYS LIES! AND EVIDENCE I HAVE HERE!" Demon then pulled out a Black Pearl in a golden ring. It was identical to one of the Pearls Stella now had on her neck... How? "I gave up so many years ago... But here you are, here I am. Revenge. IT WAS MY-"
*PUSH*
*BREAK*
Suddenly a fat, gray owl Goetia stumbled upon the raging Demon and pushed him through the nearby window that lead to the courtyard. He was holding a very big mug in his hand and his clothes were stained and smelled of very foul beverage. In a short moment King Baal moved passed them and went out the window where the musician fell through, creating an even bigger hole in the colored window, utterly destroying it and part of the wall.
"Wh- WAIT! I CAN EXPLAIN! I WAS-"
*FLGHR*
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
No one wanted to know what was going on out there. But the party continued on at Prince's Gaap's gesture and in a second everyone seemed to forget about this strange event.
"Sh-shorry ma Dear Ladie... It sheemsh I losht my wai..." The Owl said as he was stumbling back and forth, barely holding himself on his feet "Wh-wh-where can I find zhe reshtrum in thish plache. I wuld rathe not shtain zhe floo."
Lady Stella just looked with utter confusion at the drunk owl and in a moment Prince Gaap approached the Owl.
"Up the stairs to the first floor, to the right and go through the doors to the left at the end of the corridor." Prince Gaap said quietly to the drunkard
"Ahh. Shtarish... Horrid Thoght..." Owl shook his head, but then quickly bowed his head "Zh-zhank yu shon. Wish the owne of zhish houshe was ash polite *belch*."
"Yeah. I'll make sure to tell him to be a better host next time I see him." Gaap's voice carried clear sarcasm and disgust, but the owl did not seem to notice and happily went on his merry way as he tried pathetically to climb the stairs "Anyway..."
Gaap then approached the window where the ungodly sounds of Baal's punishment upon the demonic musician could still be heard. As Moxxie looked there he noticed that both sides of the ballroom had Stained window on them with different ornaments. Seemingly depicting one of Prince Gaap's foul exploits.
"Ahh... It was one of my favorites. Depicting my clear victory over God by swaying an entire Order of nuns over to me, giving away their very bodies and hearts for me to consume" Prince Gaap said as he stared longingly at the hole in the wall "What did I do to deserve this?"
"Ugh..." Moxxie really did not want to think about it
"Ah right." This groan seemed to remind Gaap about Moxxie's existence and he helped him get back on his feet.
"Breathe. You wont get far if you wont." Gaap said as he patted him on the back, finally Moxxie regained this wonderful ability
"HAAAH! Thank you..." Moxxie said as he held his stomach and breathed heavily. He felt deep shame over how useless he was.
"Do not be discouraged Maximilian." Gaap playfully patted his shoulder "The mere fact that you tried to help unlike so many others speaks volumes of your character."
"Oh... thank you My Prince." Moxxie was weirded out by this sudden compliment "It was nothing really. Not like I even did anything useful."
"Nonsense. Even though you hold no allegiance to this sweet flower you still tried be of any help even if it meant your death. It is a commendable quality. Especially from Baal's faithful." Again that title, Moxxie should ask Lady Stella what that means "The more this night goes on, the more I sense we could work splendidly together."
"It's... a great honor to hear that My Prince." Moxxie was really confused about Gaap's character, then he remembered something "WAIT. What about Lady Stella!?"
"I'm fine b-Maximilian." Lady Stella said to them while not looking at her wounded hand
"No my Lady! Your hand!" Moxxie pointed at her hand slowly being covered in blood
"He is right my sweet. We can't have you bleeding here." Gaap said as he took her hurt hand into his and a small bit of energy started flowing through his hand and then in a moment a small bug started growing on Lady Stella's hand. This bug looked like a tick slowly crawling on Lady Stella's hand, but it's body was swelled and glowed with a bright green light. "Do it."
*SQUASH*
Without hesitation Lady Stella closed her hand and squashed the bug in it. As she opened her hand again it was stained by this green matter that quickly went into her wound and it closed. Now it was as if nothing ever happened.
"Is... Is doing all of that really necessary?" Moxxie asked as he remembered the simple healing spell from Lady Stella's grimorie "I think there are simpler and... less vicious ways to heal."
"Hehehe. You are funny Maximilian." Gaap turned to him and put his hands on Moxxie's shoulders "Where would be the fun in that?"
"I just don't see a point to-"
"To not see a point must mean you are young so I can't fault you for ignorance." Gaap said as he looked Moxxie in the eye as if he could look through Moxxie's disguise and rip apart his very being with his stare alone "Healing for the sake of healing is something left to the realms of Heaven. Realms of slaves. Useless Saints. Pathetic Cherubs. Naive Seraphims."
Prince Gaap's tone became more threatening, his arms tightened around Moxxie's body and his eyes looked up, like he could see all of those terrible beings he listed right now before his very eyes. His eyes were full of glee and pride. For a moment Moxxie could catch a glimpse of what they really are and he wished he closed his eyes.
"Realms that we left to become lords of ourselves." Gaap said in a chilling tone "This is why we left that Light behind. So we could have control over our lives and lives of the lesser than us." Gaap then looked again at or rather down at Moxxie "What's the point of power if one can't control anything with it? What is the point of control if one can't exert it over anyone else?"
"My Prince." Lady Stella said, taking Gaap's attention away from Moxxie and bowed "I thank you for your assistance."
"Hehe. See?" He said to Moxxie and let go of his shoulders "Excuse me for this... accident. Didn't think someone I do wish for our talk to continue, but I sense that an important matter between me and this lovely lady will soon have to be discussed."
"Oh..." Moxxie did not know how to feel about it
"If that is your wish." Lady Stella was very submissive
"It is my wish." Prince Gaap said confidently and then turned to Moxxie again "Maximilian while we will still remain for a short while here you will have to excuse us. I have to attend certain matters that arose just now and I would prefer for Lady Stella to be in closer proximity to my person. I hope it is not a problem."
"N-no..." Moxxie was hesitating, but Lady Stella's eyes were telling him to agree "It's not a problem."
"Excellent!" Gaap said and clapped his arms once "Then please enjoy yourself. Maybe taste some of our dishes around here. Admire some of the works of art done in my name that are yet still intact. And if you want to talk yet again if we are not found here I advise you to wait." Gaap said as he looked over the entire room "Good evening."
And Lady Stella and Prince Gaap walked away. King Baal also seemed to be done with the rebellious musician and came back to the ballroom while still holding his cup which was now drenched in blood, he walked towards Prince Gaap as well and the Prince started to say something towards him and Stella seemed to be part of this discussion. Moxxie was now alone aside from Goetias sometimes passing him by.
"Keep an eye on her and Gaap."
Moxxie turned around as he heard, but saw no one. No. It was Andrealphus's words that still echoed in Moxxie's mind. Whatever Gaap and Stella wanted to discuss he had to be on the lookout for any threatening moves from the Prince. But what would he do if something happened? How could he stop anything when he already failed so miserably? Moxxie tried not to think about it and just took one of the dishes from the nearest table.
As Moxxie tasted it his mouth was assaulted by incredibly strong taste. It was undoubtedly some kind of sea life, caught most definitely in ring of Envy, but it was adorned with great amount of spices, but they did not overpower the taste of the fish itself. I only empowered it. As if breathing new life into it. Moxxie took some of the other pieces of food. Each one different and yet somehow each one incredibly tasty in their own way, but then Moxxie noticed one dish in his hand had a strange glow to it. While he did not feel pain in an instant he noticed what it was. There was Light imbued in one of the dishes. Light of Heaven.
"(They are... eating it?!)"
Moxxie was greatly confused as he carefully placed the dish back on the plate. As he looked around he also saw one Goetia near one of the tables sniffing something on it. It was that light being snorted like a drug. Then his mind went back to that play. Both times he was on it he felt great danger from the light, but many of the Goetias all seemed to become obsessed with it the moment it showed itself.
This is why we left that Light behind.
They left the light and they yet still desire it. Yearn for it. The way all of this worked put great strain on Moxxie's mind. Then as Moxxie looked to the right side of the hall he saw bunch of Goetias standing in a circle, laughing about something. Some of them went and gone, but there were 3 that never left that area. One of them was a Goetia that looked like a parrot in colors of green, blue and yellow in a black with 3 flowers coming out of his breast pocket all in the colors he had on his feathers. Another Goetia there was a Raven in a blue and yellow suit, this one looked similar to Prince Gaap, but the similarity was only apparent at first sight. And the most stand out small compared to the others Belethian with orange fur and way more cheerful attitude when compared to someone like Lord Derangi, this Goetia had a small red suit.
Next to this group was a small female imp with long black hair, tattered clothes, ram like horns and lots of bruises on her legs and hands. There was also a collar around her neck, connected to a chain held by the Parrot Goetia. She had a very empty look, looking around like a lost child. Moxxie then reminded himself of that he saw this group before, but there were more imps. Moxxie knew she was in danger and got closer to those Nobles and as he did so he saw the Raven holding another chain that was lowered into a small partol those nobles were standing next to. The Raven was the first one to notice him.
"Ahh. Hello there. Just wait a moment, we will be done soon." Raven said as he looked down again at the portal
Suddenly the chain started to shake a bit, the Raven barely held onto it and as it calmed down he slowly pulled it out. As he did so a skeleton was revealed. It had the same collar as the female imp, but it's horns were black and white like that of a male imp. Other than that nothing could be told of this imp. Everything was stripped down from them. Their flesh, organs and even hair. In a moment the raven threw the skeleton carelessly away onto the pile of bones and bodies next to them. Some of the more fleshy corpses there were seemingly still breathing while others were mutated in strange ways. What were they doing here?
"BAH! Another boring one!" Orange Belethian said "This is list is no good anymore. We need to come up with new formations!"
Belethian quickly threw the scroll he had in his hands into the portal and stepped on one of the drawn runes on the floor surrounding the portal. Portal closed itself as the cat wiped one of the runes revealing a circle with a pentagram inside it and at it's center being another pentagram. Each one having a rune on each of their points.
"We need to come up with new formations!" Parrot repeated cat's words in a mocking tone
"I swear will pluck every single feather of yours!" Belethian said to the parrot
"Want to join? Draw one for the last?" Raven asked as he pointed at the imp at the back
"Wh- I... I just..." Moxxie had to quickly collect his thought "Wh-what are you even doing here!?"
"Hmm? Are you that new?" Raven asked and looked back at the other 2 who were more concerned with arguing with each other "It's a game. Each one draws a portal with runes, we open it and throw one of the imps there to see what is on the other side."
"I-is it always so..." Moxxie looked at the corpses near them "Lethal?"
"Mostly." Raven nodded "Sometimes they survive and tell us what is on the other side. Sometimes they mutate and if they are alive we keep them as new pets. But most of the time they are just gone or dead in all kinds of ways."
"Right." Moxxie's disgust slowly reignited as he thought about all of it, for a moment he forgot how much he despised those nobles, but now he had a chance to save at least one imp from them "Well... I can't allow you to do this to that one!"
Moxxie said with confidence and pointed at the imp there. She just looked confused and pointed at herself as if there was anyone else there.
"And why is that?" Raven asked him as he looked with suspicion at Moxxie
"I- well... It's my... slave actually." Moxxie felt dirty by just saying that word "For a long while I've been looking for her. She has been serving my family for a long time and recently she was gone and I... I wanted to have her back."
"..." Raven did not look convinced as he looked back and forth at the imp and Moxxie "Is she now? HEY!"
Raven screamed out, making both Belethian and Parrot Goetia silent. The Raven pointed at the Parrot.
"Know anything about this slave?" Raven pointed at the imp
"Know anything about this slave?" Parrot repeated with a smile
"I'm serious now." Raven was not amused
"I'm serious no- *PUNCH* OWWWW." In a moment the Raven punched the Parrot straight in the beak, the force of it made even Moxxie feel it "Bought her a week ago on slave market! What about it!?"
"HAHAHAHA!" The Belethian laughed very hard at the Parrot's misfortune
"Is that right?" Raven looked back at Moxxie
"R-right! She must have been caught and sold off when she disappeared!" Moxxie said as he grabbed his head "It can be hard to keep track of all of them. But Sophia is VERY dear to us"
"Sophia? You bothered to remember her name?" Raven asked
Moxxie did not know what else to do. He had to do something to convince them of it. He just hoped the imp would play along.
"Y-ye! Sophi good clean! M-master good! Sophi not! One day master travel. Bring Sophi. Travel long! Sophi lost." The imp despite clearly having not so great grasp at English managed to understand what Moxxie was doing "Caught and sold."
"Right." Raven said as he looked back at Moxxie "What in all the rings is she saying?"
"Sophi is a great cleaner, very reliable one. But when we've been moving to another house Sophia got lost on the way. Must have fell down or something. That's when she must have been caught." Moxxie tried to go along with her story
"Well my heart aches at this story, but it is not me who you should discuss this with. Ask that idiot." Raven pointed at the parrot who was smelling one of the flowers in his suit
Moxxie carefully approached the Goetia
"Umm, sir? Can we speak?" Moxxie asked
"Can we speak?" Parrot said with a weird tone
"Y-yes. I want to speak. I want to speak about this imp." Moxxie pointed at the imp
"I want to speak about the imp." Parrot repeated his words again
"Can I have her back?" Moxxie tried to ignore it
"Can I have her back?" Parrot though did not stop
"Sir. Can you please answer my question?" Moxxie asked
"Can you please answer my question?" And now he was getting on Moxxie's nerves
"Stop parroting me!" Moxxie had enough
"HA! GO IT!" The suddenly Parrot laughed
"NOO! DON'T GIVE HIM WHAT HE WANTS IDIOT!" Belethian screamed at Moxxie
Moxxie on the other hand already knew this would be terrible experience
"Can you now answer my question now?" Moxxie said already knowing what will come
"Can you now answer my question now?" It was predictable and yet still disappointing
"Yes?" But Moxxie quickly thought of something
"Yes?" And he seemed stupid enough to fall for it
"Iwillgiveherbacktoyou." Moxxie very quickly said
"Iwillgiveherbacktoyou... Wait what?" And he actually fell for it
"HA! Nice one." Belethian said happily and patted Moxxie on the leg
"Thank you sir!" Moxxie said with a smile and was about to reach out to the imp
"Waitwaitwait! Unfair. Did not agree!" Parrot quickly stopped him
"You did agree sir." Moxxie said calmly
"He is right idiot." Raven was clearly very happy to annoy this parrot as well
"WAIT! I did not finish!" Parrot was now making shit up on the spot "I will give her back to you! AFTER she does her duty!"
"And that duty is..." Moxxie said, but he could already tell
"She goes in the new portal one of us makes. She comes out. She goes with you. She dies, well... find yourself a new one!" Parrot was visibly proud of this dumb scheme
"Is it... really necessary?" Moxxie asked the Raven
"Can't prove he lies." Raven said while clearly having capability to prove it "Besides. Only she remains and we want to have some more fun."
"YEAH! Need to try a new combination!" Belethian was jumping high with excitement, right at Moxxie's head level
"But what if-" And in that moment Moxxie thought of something incredibly, horribly, awfully stupid "Could I go in instead of her?"
"..." All of the Goetias were silent, but in a moment the Raven spoke up "Ahh, I see what is going on."
"Huh?" That did not sound good
"Yeah. I see what you are doing." Raven slowly moved towards Moxxie who felt quite uncomfortable as he got closer and put his hands on Moxxie's arms "That was your plan from the start right?"
Then suddenly his demeanor changed to a very happy one
"Wha?" Moxxie obviously did not know what he meant
"Don't play dumb! I could clearly see it in your eyes when I explained this game!" Then the Raven put his face closer to Moxxie's "You are the type of guy who LOVES getting close to danger huh?"
"Ah, umm. Hehe. You got me." Moxxie tried to play along with this narrative and forces a smile on his face "Is this a problem?"
"Depends. How old are you?" Raven asked
"Umm. 31" Moxxie was honest here although he felt like he should have added a 0 there as well
"What!? You are almost a baby. I must say you look old for your age." Raven said as he looked over Moxxie "Eh. Don't worry. We are not some old timers that will wag their fingers at you. In fact I envy you. So many things still ahead of you which granted could be cut short here."
"*gulp*" That last part Moxxie clearly hear
"Ahh I remember when I was your age. So much time I thought had passed and yet now... it's like a single drop in an ocean. A small grain of sand in a giant hourglass. I miss this innocence about time." Raven looked into a distance as if remembering that distant time "He. Trust me. The worst is still way ahead of you. The more you will experience the more that void will make itself known once the novelty passes. No escaping from it."
There was a strange melancholy in this Raven's voice and every other Goetia around seemed to understand as well. Moxxie did not know though and when he looked at them he knew he was lucky he didn't have to know.
"But let's stop reminiscing! Little guy wants an adventure!" Raven then put his hand over Moxxie's head and on his shoulder and brought Moxxie closer to him "Want me to draw you something? Or you want to try?"
"Well..." Moxxie had to carefully think about it, but had to hurry with his decision "I-I will"
While he didn't know how to do it exactly it could be for the better if he did it. These Demons most likely would open up a portal to some horrid realm and whatever Moxxie would open may be safer, but then again it could end up being much worse.
"Suit yourself young man!" Raven let go of him and the Belethian came at Moxxie's feet with a white crayon in his hand, it was glowing, but it was not made of light of Heaven
"Here. Draw your runes and drop one bit of your blood in the center." Belethian said and Moxxie carefully took the glowing crayon "Now. You draw a runic word on the circle. On the points of each star though you draw some of our runes. Doesn't matter which ones though."
Belethian finished and started to erase runes from the circle and both pentagrams while Moxxie was thinking over what to write. Moxxie did study Runic words at some point what did he mean by their runes? Is nobility using their own kind of runes? Moxxie though had no time to think about it and asking about them would probably result in their suspicions being raised. He had to think of something. He had to write something. As Belethian finished Moxxie knelt down and started with the the outer circle. Moxxie thought of which word should he write in. He did notice that the word previously drawn was fulfillment. It gave Moxxie an idea that no matter what he would write it would result in something terrible.
*pat* *pat*
Suddenly though someone patted Moxxie on the arm. It was the Belethian.
"Want good result? Write a word that affects you. Words with a power like that give the best result." Belethian said quietly
Moxxie wondered what he meant by good, but if there was one word that affected him more than any other now.
Silence
Silence. He was deeply uncomfortable with silence. Especially now when his quest was tied to making a song. Breaking the silence. Silence surrounding Lady Stella. Silence that is the face and language of the Overseer. Silence that divided Octavia's family. Silence Moxxie was terrified of. It would be a bad idea to write it and yet without his own accord his hand slowly wrote it on the circle and the world around him became quiet. Silence.
It was done.
"Oookay. Now for our runes." Belethian pointed at the stars
Moxxie did not know their runes, but he did saw some of them. On King Baal's staff. They were there. Some of them remained in Moxxie's mind and he proceeded to write some of them from his memory upon both pentagrams. Finally he was done. The portal was almost complete.
"Interesting combination." Belethian seemed appeased with this work
"But your skill with writing them is a bit lacking." Raven commented
"But your-" before Parrot could finish the Raven raised his fist at him and got him to shut up "Have fun buddy."
"Sophi wish luck!" Imp said happily "Master Safe!"
Moxxie just nodded.
"Now for the final touch." Belethian said and put his finger in his mouth "Blood."
And this was the hard part. Moxxie had no clue if any blood could even come out of it, but he had to try. He put his finger on his beak, closed his eyes and quickly bit.
*STING*
"(OWOWOW)" Moxxie screamed in his mind and his mouth was assaulted by terrible taste of blood
How could this suit bleed? How did Andrealphus made this? But this was not the moment to ponder about it. Moxxie opened his eyes and carefully put his finger over the circle. His heart beat hard and fast and he held his breath as the single drop of blood finally hit the floor.
*Drop*
*FWOOSH*
And the portal opened. It was in sickly green color and it spiraled in an ominous manner. What could there be on the other side?
"Umm, Do I get some kind of line or..." Moxxie asked the Goetias there
"Ah right. Wait here." Belethian quickly went to the pile of corpses and from behind it he took out some kind of vest with a rather long line attached to it's back "Put it on."
"Thanks." Moxxie took the vest and carefully put it on himself "I-is it going to last?"
"Sure. It's made out of a strong material boy." Raven reassured him "Then again. You could always fly."
"W-well gravitational forces would probably be different there and it could be hard to get back. And that way I can signal if anything is wrong too." Moxxie explained as best as he could
"Eh, fair enough." Raven just shrugged "Ready when you are."
Moxxie nodded and looked at the hole in the floor. Shifting with a promise of a nightmare waiting on the other side. Moxxie couldn't help, but have this come to his mind.
"(I am undoubtedly, unquestionably and most certainly the biggest idiot in-)"
*PUSH*
"AAA-"
Before Moxxie could finish he was pushed by the Parrot Goetia straight into the portal. The parrot received mixed reactions from his peers.
"You know he wouldn't jump in on his own." Parrot said to the others and they just quietly nodded before the Raven stepped on the line before it fully fell into the hole
Meanwhile inside the portal...
"-AAAAAAA- OH!" Moxxie in the middle of his scream suddenly stopped falling and the vest on him slammed very hard into his chest "(FUCKTHEMFUCKTHEMFUCKTHEM!)"
Moxxie was extremely pissed off. He genuinely despised those damn Goetias with all his heart and soul. But after dangling on this rope for a while he started to calm down and realized something worrying.
...
...
There was nothing around him. Not a speck of light. Not a single entity. Nothing to grab onto. Nothing to discern where he was. It was a void. Infinite void.
"...Hello?" Moxxie said, but there was no answer
...
...
Only silence. Deafening silence.
*THUMP*
*THUMP*
*THUMP*
Moxxie looked around as he heard the strange thumping, but saw nothing.
*THUMP*
*THUMP*
That's when he felt it... It was his heart. He could hear it beating far beneath the suit he was wearing. This place was so quiet he could hear the muffled sound of his beating heart. The only source of light in this empty realm was the green portal quietly swirling far above him and it's light itself was barely reaching him. Never before Moxxie hear such authentic silence. It was like he was about to drown in it. And the darkness. Even with his eyes he could barely see his own body in this void. Then Moxxie got an idea. He tried looking through his pockets and pulled out the lighter Andrealphus gave him. Maybe this could light up the area enough for him to see where he was exactly.
*tsk*
*BOOM*
And suddenly the Lighter blew up with a great flame, almost burning some of Moxxie's feathers, but in nick of time Moxxie pulled the lighter away from his face. The fire was great, bright and hot. A light of an old star. But even this light was not enough to light up this realm. It seemed like he accidentally opened up a portal to an actual void. Moxxie couldn't tell if he was disappointed, but he definitely expected something... else.
"Well at least it wont be hard waiting here..." Moxxie said to himself and the mere sound of his voice made his entire body shudder, the volume of it clashing against the silence broken only by distant whirling of a portal and cracking of the flame in his hand "What am I doing?"
Moxxie said to himself as he was now completely alone. An imp impersonating a Goetia in order to accompany another one to write a song about her for the royal boyfriend of the boss he despised. And now in this strange quest he was dangling in the middle of an endless void. Was this a comedy?
"My life now sure feels like-"
*BOING**BOING**BOING*
"WH-AAH-AH-WOW!" Suddenly Moxxie was being pulled up and down by the rope violently which made him drop his lighter, but soon it finally stopped "Wh... what just..."
But then Moxxie looked up and he immediately knew. Those pieces of shit were making a joke on him.
"I hate them with a great passion." Moxxie said to himself as he watched the lighter fall deeper into the void , now being just a small spark and then back at the similar in size portal above him "At least that girl will be saf-"
*ding*
But then without warning Moxxie heard a very new sound. A very distant, quiet ding. Moxxie looked down again and saw the flame... It wasn't falling. There was a ground far beneath him. But... where is the ceiling? Is this a gigantic cave? Where...
*ghhhrrrrrr*
A deep murmur suddenly shook Moxxie's body. Something shifted, writhed, turned. Something just... moved.
*THUMP*
In a moment Moxxie became quiet and his heart slowed down it's pace to a terrible crawl. Moxxie carefully looked up at the portal, but what worried him could be seen above it. The upper part of the void... It was moving. It was like looking at strange, gargantuan, slimy serpents slowly unraveling themselves and as they did Moxxie could see them. Shining brightly against the void.
Stars.
No... No those were not stars. They were galaxies. The light of distant Galaxies suddenly assaulted his eyes and the serpents moved down passed him. Then he felt lighter. The rope started to move up, but he was not pulled. No. He was moving up, but there was no force. No gravity. When he looked down he saw the body of one of the serpents move the lighter as well and it slowly too started flying up. In a few moments it rose up to Moxxie's face once again who carefully caught it and turned it off. But as the flame dissipated Moxxie saw something else.
Part of the void did not shift. Before him was something like a giant wall spreading out into both left and right seemingly endlessly. Or was it up and down? Moxxie couldn't tell anymore as he was moving in this space with no gravity. And then Moxxie noticed one place where this wall did not spread. The galaxies behind it with their dim, distant light revealed something Moxxie wished he did not see. It was a body. Brobdingnagian body. Immeasurable in it's size. That is when it hit Moxxie as he looked around. Where he was before, was no empty void. This thing was clutching it's strange hand or whatever it was in it's slumber and Moxxie's portal was opened between it's... fingers? Could they even be called that? Moxxie did not care. He just tightly clutched the rope, ready to shake it as hard as he could to make them take him away from here. QUICKLY.
*ghhhhhhrrrrrrggghhhhh*
And then the nightmare continued as another deep murmur was heard and then the the slumbering titan opened it's eye. It's eye looked like a galaxy. It's size, it was everywhere. It was so bright, so overwhelming and it looked straight at Moxxie. It saw him. Compared to it he was so miniscule and it saw him.
*ghhhhhhrrrrrrggghhhhhrrrrrrrr*
And slowly it moved towards him.
"(Take me out...)" Moxxie said as he started to shake the rope "(Take me out!)" He kept on doing it as the stars in the monster's eye got closer and closer and Moxxie put more and more strength into pulling this damn rope "(TAKE ME OUT! TAKE ME OUT! TAKE ME OUT! PLEASE TAKE ME OUTTTT!)"
*PULL*
Then as Moxxie was close to tearing up the rope was finally pulled from the other side and he was pulled up towards the portal. But all Moxxie could do was stare at this being. Horrified as he realized how small even the realms of Hell really were. As he saw something not even God could create.
*FWWW*
And finally Moxxie was pulled out of the portal and in a short moment it was closed.
*ghhhrrrrrr*
Pain.
Awakened.
See.
Moving.
Looking.
Thinking.
Where.
Knew.
Shifting.
Moving.
Moving.
Moving.
Moving.
...
Meanwhile in the realms of Hell Moxxie was once again in the ballroom still holding tightly the rope.
"Welcome back boy! How was your first jump?" Raven asked, but Moxxie could barely hear his words "Hey! Boy!"
Moxxie only looked down on the portal and quickly took off the vest and in a quick motion erased one of the letters from the circle. Never again. Never. Ever.
"Damn. What did you see there?" Belethian asked, but Moxxie couldn't speak
He felt cold. He looked at the imp. Quickly moved towards her. He felt weak in his legs. He needed his cane back. He took the girl's hand and moved away. Far away from them. From there.
"Sheesh. What do you think was there?" Raven asked his companions
"Want to find out?" Belethian asked as he pulled out a crayon
"..." Raven did not speak for a moment "Nooo. Let's try something else."
"H-hey *hic*" Suddenly a drunk Woodpecker Goetia approached them "I... I know a fun one!"
Moxxie though was now picking up his cane again. Thankfully no one picked it up while he was gone. Surprising, but at least he still could normally move. Especially now.
"What wrong?" Sophia asked
"N-nothing. Really. Just..." Moxxie still had that image before his eyes, he wanted to run from here so badly
"Master scared!" Sophia pointed out "Sophi help!"
"No. You don't need to. And I'm not your master." Moxxie said to her, he had to get this poor girl away from here "And is your name really Sophia?"
"Me not know. Never had name thing." Sophia said
"H-how?" Moxxie asked her
"Not know. First remember, Sophia run after rat. Rat bit. Sophia angry. Caught and wanted to bit. Ended up feeding. Liked me rat. Killed when Mister Rope found." Sophia explained
If Moxxie understood correctly her first memory is chasing after a rat she made into her pet. Killed when she was enslaved. Moxxie needed to get her out. By any means necessary. Moxxie just without a word took her by the hand again and moved towards the exit. He looked down on Sophia and she kept following thankfully. She seemed very lost
*BUMP*
Then suddenly Moxxie bumped into someone. As he looked at this person he noticed that this Goetia was wearing the same jacket as the Goetia Moxxie met near the gates. He knew that from the golden chain at it's breast pocket. He must have went back to the party.
"I'm very sorry sir." Moxxie quickly bowed his head and Sophia did so as well
"Don't worry shrimp." Goetia said back
Moxxie quickly was about to move passed him until something clicked in his head.
"(Wait... Shrimp?)" there was only one person Moxxie knew that called him that... and knew to call him that "Wait a moment."
Moxxie quickly grabbed this "Goetia" by the arm and as he turned this person around he saw a horse skull in a hat where the head would be.
"What the?" This was very new
This hat was the same George the rider wore and the skull was one of the skulls of the horses from the Carriage. And as Moxxie looked down he saw someone in the coat itself.
"William!?" Moxxie had no idea what the fuck was going on and he was even more confused as he looked at their feet and smelled a familiar scent "George!?"
"*grumble*" George grumbled
"H-hey..." William said in an uneasy tone
And Moxxie himself just quickly looked around and brought those morons behind the exit doors of the estate and pushed those idiots against the wall.
"What the fuck are you doing!?" Moxxie was very confused and pissed
"Now listen Shrimp. I would LOVE to tell you this story, but for now I'll tell you that... we have our reasons." William said with a very awkward tone
"*grumble*" George grumbled
"You tell him George." William said
"hhnng" Horse skull made a noise
"I, you, ugh." Moxxie's head was about to explode, first that damn portal, now this. It was all too much. He wanted this day to end so badly.
"Hey, you okay shrimp?" William seemed concerned "Also where is Bitch Boss? And who's this girl?"
"Hey!" Sophia just waved at them
"AH!" That's right! Lady Stella is still with Gaap. "Oh no. Nononono."
Moxxie was panicking now, but then he looked again at William and George in their outfit and got an idea and carefully looked around if no Law Enforcer was looking
"You know what. FINE. I wont ask how did you get in or WHY are you in this ridiculous outfit." Moxxie said
"Hey. Not all of us have Glittery Maestro Andrealphus to make us disguise shrimp!" William burst out at him and Moxxie just gave him a very annoyed look "Also you wont ask?"
"No. But I WILL require you to do something in return!" Moxxie said with very commanding tone
"O-okay?" William seemed surprised at Moxxie's sudden change in attitude
"You see this girl?" Moxxie pointed at the girl who was now looking at nearby moths flying around and tried to catch one
"Some new girlfriend of yours?" William asked
And Moxxie just gave him the most angry look he probably ever did
"Okay. Okay. Wont ask. What about her?" William quickly backed off
"Get her out of here! If you could go in that means you know how to get out! Get her out of this place!" Moxxie was desperate now "Please."
"Oh, I. Hmmm." William did not seemed confident in that plan
"*grumble*" George just grumbled
"Yeah. It may be problematic." William said as he looked at the main gates
"Ugh. Then... WAIT HERE!" This was the most quiet scream Moxxie could do "Me and Lady Stella will get here and we will get out together! But you stay HERE. Wait for us. Do not draw attention to yourselves. You understand!?"
"Uhh, yeah, I do." William's tone did not spark any confidence
"Ugh. It will have to do." Moxxie though had no choice, he had to get to Stella, know if she is okay. Moxxie then looked at Sophia and knelt down "Sophia."
"Huh? Master ask?" Sophia answered and released the moth she caught
"I'm no... ah. Sophia. Stay with them." Moxxie pointed at the two morons next to him "Do not go anywhere on your own. Okay?"
"Yes! Sophi stay with funny master!" Sophia pointed at the skull at top of this duo
"Okay." Moxxie said and patted Sophia on the head before looking back at the two imps "if anything happens to her-"
"We get it. We'll keep her close." William said carefully "Now go get our boss."
"Right." Moxxie with this reminder stood up and went inside the estate while looking back at Sophia, happily standing next to them, he dearly hoped this would work.
Moxxie quickly went back. Other Goetias were still to busy getting high. Drinking and having their fun to notice literally anything around them. Sadly though he couldn't see Lady Stella anywhere or Prince Gaap. But he did notice those Goetias already preparing to open another portal. Damn it! If what Moxxie opened was anything to go by whatever would be opened could be a GREAT danger here. He had to do something about it! Moxxie then noticed King Baal next to one of the tables. Drinking something out of his cup. It smelled like a strong vodka. Gaap and Stella were not around him and while some Goetias sometimes approached he seemed to be mostly avoided, probably out of fear, but he may know where they are. Moxxie quickly went up to him.
"Umm... Excuse me. Your majesty." Moxxie tried to get his attention and knelt down "My King. Please can you help me."
*TIK* *TIK*
King Baal turned around slowly. As Moxxie looked up his face was now halfway turned into a cat. His eyes though betrayed that he was very drunk now. Moxxie did not know how much alcohol a King such as him has to take to get drunk and probably a quarter of that would kill him most likely. Moxxie quickly bowed his head and raised his hand in the same way he did at the start.
"Your Majesty. Can you do me an honor and tell me where Prince Gaap and Lady Stella are." Moxxie asked, but there was no answer so he looked up
King Baal said nothing. Made no noise. Just looked around a bit and made a shaky hand gesture. He pointed at the top of the stairs at the back. When Moxxie looked there he could see Lady Stella. She was walking away and next to her was Gaap saying something to her. He had his arm around her. When Moxxie saw that he immediately bowed his head towards Overseer.
"Thank you, your majesty. Truly." Moxxie thanked King Baal, but he did not seem to care and just gulped down another round of this strong vodka "Umm. One more thing Your Majesty. Those demons over there." Moxxie pointed at the Goetias playing their game with portals "They are doing something dangerous. I think it should be stopped for everyone's safety!"
But King Baal did not seem to hear those words. He must have been already too drunk. This only meant one thing. He had to get Lady Stella out of here quickly. Moxxie quietly got up and moved towards the stairs. But right before he could get on them.
"Serjo!? Is that you!?" Suddenly a female voice spoke out
Moxxie stopped his movement and slowly looked in the direction where the voice came from. As he did so he saw a beautiful Swan Goetia. She was about as tall as Lady Stella and wore a white and purple suit adorned with shining amethysts. It was similar to Lady Stella's, but it was not quite as large. This Swan had a pink beak and golden eyes that looked longingly at him. Moxxie had a very bad feeling as he looked at her.
"Serjo..." Swan moved slowly towards him
"Umm." Moxxie looked around in hope there was someone else around who was actually the result of said reaction, but sadly this Swan was moving towards him and him alone "He-hello?"
Then without a word the swan suddenly embraced him. Her touch was gentle and her smile was loving. Moxxie though felt like he was slowly being killed on the inside. Whatever was happening it was wrong. Very wrong.
"I've been looking for you for weeks!" Swan's embrace tightened as her voice became more joyful "I'm so happy I decided to come here in the end!"
"(Looking for what!? This is a mistake)" This woman must have mistaken this suit for someone "Wh-why?"
"Why!?" Swan suddenly broke her embrace and her expression became more angry *SLAP* and she slapped Moxxie right in the beak "You were GONE! You did not contact me! I looked for you in the manor! In your other houses! I searched everywhere and... I expected the worst at this point."
"M-my Lady. I'm very sorry, but-"
"Don't say anything. I understand." Swan interrupted him and looked away with shame in her eyes "You did not want to see me. Hear me. You wanted nothing to do with me." Her voice became more melancholic with every word "I know what I did was wrong. Spending your money on Light in situation you were in... When you got angry at me and closed your doors I... I felt terrible Serjo." Swan then looked at him again with more hopeful look "But I changed Serjo! I put drugs behind me and I swear on King Baal standing over there that I will NEVER do that or anything else like this to you ever again!" Swan seemed close to tearing up as she pointed at King Baal who was just nonchalantly chugging another shot of vodka, not paying attention to them "When you were gone I... I expected the worst. I was afraid that something happened to you. But now I understand. Please Serjo. I don't want you to hate me anymore!" Swan came closer to him trying to embrace him again "I don't want to be alone..."
"My lady I..." Moxxie stopped her from advancing though, he couldn't do this to this person "I'm very sorry, but I am not who you think I am."
"Excuse me?" Swan now looked more annoyed "Are you doing some shitty coming out story on me RIGHT NOW!?"
"What? NO! I am NOT this Serjo!" Moxxie tried to explain to her and for a moment he looked up the stairs and Lady Stella and Gaap were gone "I'm VERY sorry, but I need to-"
"What are you saying?!" Swan quickly stopped him and she looked over Moxxie's body "Of course it is you! I know you better than anyone else in this shitty Estate or this entire wretched realm!" Swan very loudly proclaimed her distaste, but it fell on deaf ears of everyone around "I KNOW Serjo. And I know it's you! Down to every feather!"
"But I AM NOT SERJO! I DON'T KNOW ANYONE WITH THAT NAME! AND I DON'T KNOW YOU!" Moxxie finally exploded and the Swan became silent and still like a statue "I'm sorry I... I really need to go."
Moxxie then quickly moved up the stairs and this time he was not stopped. Moxxie with every step he took now felt more and more terrible. This whole party was slowly descending into deep insanity and he knew he had to get Lady Stella out of here as fast as possible. But most importantly he was worried about what that Swan said. She was VERY sure she knew him. But how? He was wearing a suit, it couldn't be similar to anyone. Moxxie had a very, VERY bad feeling about all of this.
Finally he climbed on top of the stairs and saw a beautiful hall at the top of it with all kinds of arts and statues, but he had no time to admire it. He had to find Lady Stella. But there were many corridors going from this hall and there were also second set of stairs leading further up. Moxxie couldn't search through all of it. It would take too much time. He tried to look for any sign of where they went, the crushed petals on the floor, the lost feathers, anything, but there was simply too much of all of it spread out in every direction. All he knew is that they went deeper into the Hall so that's where Moxxie started.
*CREAK*
But then as he went further into the Hall he heard one of the doors open from behind and when he looked back he saw one Hellhound in shape of a Gray Pitbull wearing a powerful armor, but with no helmet come from behind the corner.
"Excuse me Your Majesty, but what are you looking for here?" The bodyguard asked and aprroached Moxxie
"I... I wanted to deliver Prince Gaap a message." Moxxie tried to bluff and get information out of him "W-would mind telling me where can I find him."
"..." The dog did not respond and just looked over Moxxie "What is the information?"
"It-it's from King Baal. It's about the Lady he took along with him." Moxxie quickly tried to come up with something and then it came to him, he made the same salute he did towards King Baal as well "As one of Baal's Faithful I am obliged to let this message remain a secret towards anyone, but Prince Gaap."
"Hmm." The guard seemed to take his words into consideration all the while Moxxie wondered if he did anything right in this situation "I see. Prince Gaap then would be in his chambers at the end of the Hall on the 3rd floor."
"Thank you sir!" Moxxie said and quickly moved towards the stairs
"Excuse me, but I did not finish!" Moxxie halted his movement as he heard that "First I would like to see Baal's seal on the message."
"(What seal?)" Moxxie thought to himself
"King that remains in silence must have given you a sealed message. Let me see it." The guard was getting closer "I will make sure not to break it."
Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. DAMN I-
*BREAK*
*THUMP*
Suddenly Moxxie heard the sound of breaking glass and in the next moment the guard fell on the floor. Behind him was the Swan Moxxie met a few moments ago, holding a broken bottle. It must have been a very huge one.
"Y-you? I-Why-"
"I don't know what is happening to you Serjo." Swan replied calmly "I don't know why are you acting as if you don't know me. And I don't know what's so important that you do... this." Swan looked down on the knocked out Guard "But if it's important to you then... I wish to help."
"Oh." Moxxie did not know even her name and yet... What was he wearing? That thought made him more and more scared.
"But you WILL tell me what's going on! Do you understand?" Swan then said with a more threatening tone and pointed the broken bottle at him
"I understand. I really do." Moxxie said, but had a feeling he should not promise anything, but there was part of him that wanted to know more and there was a part that wished it could strangle that part of himself.
The Swan then nodded and tried picking up the Hellhound. She seemed to have a problem with that. Moxxie wanted to quickly go up, but he knew he had to help. He approached her and helped her move the armored mutt. He was rather heavy. Or would be for Moxxie in his previous form as this suit was surprisingly strong. Both of them slowly dragged him to one of empty rooms and closed the doors.
"Hah, hah. Thanks Serjo." Swan thanked and kissed Moxxie on the cheek, Moxxie was rather surprised. A Goetia just... No he had to focus. And with this focus came realization.
"You know you could have just removed that Dog's armor right?" Moxxie told her and she seemed to realize that as well as he told her that, but then she quickly shook her head
"And risk looking at this Mutt's junk? Not in this or any other life my Dear." Swan said and Moxxie chuckled a bit while also repressing this not very pleasant image "Now go. I want my explanation."
'Right. Right." Moxxie quickly regained his composure and moved towards second set of stairs
He moved up once more and felt guilty. Why is every day becoming somehow harder and harder? And stranger? Moxxie already dreaded what next few days will bring, but as he thought of Lady Stella he thought (Maybe it will all be worth it at the end?).
It must be... Right?
Moxxie arrived at the 3rd floor and saw great doors at the end of the rather beautiful hall. There were only 2 big corridors on each side. One on the left was leading to another set of few doors. Most likely for distinguished guests or rooms of different nature while on the right it lead to corridor filled with paintings and displays of strange artifacts. Moxxie though knew where to go. He moved passed-
...
Suddenly Moxxie felt cold. In one area. At his waist. His real waist. That gun made of ice made itself known again. Moxxie slowly looked to the right, but saw nothing. No. He felt something... He moved forward. Away. And the cold slowly faded away as well. He moved towards the doors and opened them.
*OPEN*
"Huh?" Prince Gaap seemed surprised
And Lady Stella's beak was agap as she was sitting on the great bed in this bedchamber that was right now mostly covered in darkness. Only illuminated by the light of several candles glowing in purple color.
"Wh-what is-"
"What are you doing here!?" Lady Stella quickly got up and moved towards him, but Gaap stood in her way
"Now now. We don't need to get physical here... Are we?" Prince Gaap looked at Lady Stella who quickly stopped her advance "But I must question this intrusion as well. What may you be doing here Maximilian? Didn't you remember what I said?"
Moxxie noticed that Prince Gaap removes his red and gold suit, leaving only a white shirt on his black like a night feathers. And several scars on his body. Some possibly self inflicted.
"I-I was worried." Moxxie was honest before the Prince "I wanted to make sure Lady Stella is... safe."
Moxxie looked with great worry at Lady Stella who seemed to be holding a very explosive mix of surprise and frustration in her eyes. And... her dress was in the middle of being taken off. Moxxie felt ill.
"Well Mister Maximilian. I think you made sure already." Prince Gaap now looked the most pissed he looked ever since Moxxie got here and lightly put his hands on the doors "Now if you would be so kind-"
"I did not made sure yet." Moxxie though had no time for doubt and stopped him from closing them
"Excuse me?" It was a quiet rage that now seeping from Princes beak
"I said I did not made sure yet!" But Moxxie had no time for fear "What are you doing here."
"It is NOT your business b- Ghk. Maximilian!" Lady Stella tried yet again to approach him, but the Prince did not relent
"What does it look like? You must not be so young to NOT know. Right?" Princes tone became more aggressive
"..." Moxxie felt something stir inside him, something he knew already from seeing so many Goetias around this damn estate, disgust "I do. And I can't help, but question why would someone like her do this!"
Moxxie even surprised himself with how authoritative his tone became and looked at Lady Stella who also seemed surprised at this sudden change in character.
"Why indeed." Prince Gaap was mocking him and turned to Lady Stella "Would you want to tell him My Swee-"
*GRAB*
"Her name is Stella." Moxxie said as he grabbed Gaap's hand, but Gaap himself as he turned towards did not seem impressed
"It seems I need to explain." Prince Gaap looked down at Moxxie again "What she does is gaining my support. For a cause that is important to her and her family."
"Huh?" Moxxie took a quick glance at Lady Stella who now was not looking at him
"What she does now is do what anyone in her position is ought to do." Prince Gaap took Moxxie's attention back with those words "Pay respect."
"Respect? With that?" This was ridiculous
"Respect has many forms. I happen to value one particular kind over the others. Is that so strange?" Prince Gaap seemed genuinely confused "Come now. Do you really think anyone can give support for nothing? In this realm? With the likes of us?" But now he sounded insulted "Do not make me laugh Maximilian. You as Baal's Faithful should know it well enough. Really what I do here is a kindness. For someone with as much influence as me doing something so trivial for my approval is merely a small, miniscule price. What is worth one's inner pride before someone like me?"
Moxxie wanted to break the hand he was holding right now. But Lady Stella looked at him with stare that begged him to leave. To let go.
"I did come to like you Maximilian. I may even respect you one day. But first you must respect me and this woman's wishes. Hers is the wish to be here. Hers is the wish to pay me respect. Hers is the wish for you to leave." There was a lot of venom in Gaap's words, venom that slowly did affect Moxxie. Gaap slowly moved his head closer to Moxxie's "Do NOT squander all of that. For your sake and hers."
Moxxie thought about it. He looked again at Lady Stella and her wishes visibly did not change. She was afraid. She was sad. And... he was the result. Moxxie slowly let go of Gaap's hand. Slowly took a step back and turned around.
He had no doubt.
No fear.
"Now. Where were-"
*PUNCH*
He was just very, very angry.
With one punch, right in the back of Prince's head the Crow was send flying very hard, right into his wretched bed.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
There was rage.
...
There was silence.
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It was quite fun to write. And yeah. I sneaked in some Lovecraft. What about it? I've been planning that scene for a while. I wanted to try my hand in some cosmic horror. And if you are confused as to what the hell Georgie and Willy are doing there next chapter will shed some light on it. I hope. Also if you wonder where the name "Serjo" came from. It's from Morrowind I've been playing recently. It is a funny name to me because "Serjo" means "Really" in Polish so whenever it appears I read it as "Really" and it makes for a funny effect.
And with all the issues I had with making this chapter... Oh boy. Internet was gone for a few days. Been some issues with life. My Birthday is in like 2 days and there is a mess in a church in memorial of my Grandpa who passed a year ago... because he was buried on the day of my birthday... So yeah.
Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts.