(See Part 1 for Disclaimer)
[Part 3]
"I'm sorry, do I know you?"
Moxxie stared at the sheep with a look of absolute confusion, which in turn confused the sheep.
"How can you not remember me? Or what you did?", he asked.
Moxxie shook his head, "The doctor told me I endured a serious head injury that's left me with amnesia, I can't even remember my own name. You said you brought me food and my medication, right? Can I have them, please? I'm beginning to feel a migraine coming on", he said.
The sheep sighed as he gave Moxxie his meal, which was a bowl of beef stew and a bread roll, a glass of water and two little white pills on a napkin. "The doctor said you'll need to take two of these by mouth, with food, daily until your head injury heals", he said.
Moxxie took the food with a smile, savoring the delicious taste of the stew since he was actually very hungry. "Thank you. So...you seem to know me, but I don't know you. Have we met before? Do you possibly know what my name is?", he said.
The sheep looked at him with an expression of sympathy.
He really does have amnesia...which means I actually can't be angry at him because he genuinely has no idea what I'm talking about, he thought.
"My name is Collin, and I want to apologize. I...mistook you for someone else, an imp that actually ruined mine and my friends' lives", he said.
Moxxie gave him a sympathetic look as he took a sip of his water, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, Collin. Would you mind telling me about it? It could help you feel better. It could also explain to me why there's a cherub in Hell too", he said.
Collin smiled as he sat on the edge of the bed, "Well to start off, I had a different job before this. I worked for this small organization in Heaven called C.H.E.R.U.B, where we offered protection services for the world of the living. Its only known members included myself and my two friends, Cletus and Keenie.
"In fact, Cletus was the one who founded our little organization. How it would work is like this: someone already in Heaven would ask us to bless someone they knew in the living world and we would protect them from dangers, especially death.
"One day, we told to give a blessing to a man named Lyle Lipton, a well known robotics scientist who was trying to commit suicide. We were supposed to convince to keep on living on behalf of those in Heaven who benefited from his technological advances", he said.
Moxxie took another bite of his stew, "So...what happened?", he asked.
Collin sighed, "A bunch of imps from Hell showed up to interfere with our jobs. Apparently, they were paid by someone in Hell to kill Lyle, and so they kept trying to convince him to end his life.
"My friends and I spent all day trying to convince Lyle that life was worth living, but those imps impeded us at every turn. Finally, everything escalated to a fight in an opera house, that ended with Lyle getting killed by a piano falling on him.
"I panicked because we had indirectly caused the death of a human, it wasn't completely our fault, but we were still partly responsible because we were the ones who started the fight with the imps.
"We tried to go back to Heaven through a portal but we were kicked out. Then, another portal opened, and a group of Cherubs told us that we were blocked from returning, as our actions caused the death of a human, and there wasn't anything we could do to be forgiven", he said.
"Wait, they didn't even let you explain yourselves? Or bring up the fact the those imps were trying to kill Lyle the whole time?", asked Moxxie.
"I thought the same thing but apparently no", said Collin, "After that, we were stuck in the living world for quite some time. I suggested that we could continue to help humans while we were there, but then Cletus twisted it to believing that if we helped enough people, we would be let back into Heaven.
"I didn't even think of that, despite how much I did want to go home, I mostly just cared about helping people because it's something I've always loved doing. Just seeing people safe and happy and so full of hope gave me a sense of fulfillment.
"My friends didn't share my sentiment and only saw helping people as a business transaction at that point. We tried our best to help people, but many humans weren't so welcoming of our assistance.
"Some humans yelled at us, some threw things at us, some would sick their large dogs on us, and one time, a human tried to catch us to sell us on the black market sex trade.
"After all of that, something in Cletus and Keenie just...snapped. They became broken and gave up on the humans altogether and started indulging in sinful acts, such as doing drugs and drinking excessive amounts of alcohol.
"I tried to convince them to stop and try to help humans again, but Keenie...she punched me in the face. That shocked me because, while she's hit me before, it was never that forceful or so full of spite and malice.
"Then Cletus told me to stop being such a useless goody two shoes and to give up on helping the humans, that they were all pathetic pieces of crap that were all doomed to fall to Hell eventually, and then...they both ditched me. They abandoned me!"
Moxxie finished with his meal and took both of the pills, "Then what happened?", he asked.
"I didn't give up on the humans, I continued to help them even if I wasn't met with gratitude. One night, I found myself near a children's hospital. I went inside and came across a child slowly dying from a terminal illness.
"They were sad and scared, but I stayed by their side and comforted them until the end. My actions had caught the attention of Dmitri, who had come to reap the child's soul and send them to Heaven.
"I told him about what happened to me and he offered to let me work for him, to act as a source of comfort for recently deceased humans since he's not so good at not coming across as scary to them.
"He shows compassion and mercy to all the souls he reaps, even the ones that are going to Hell. Lord Dmitri doesn't really have a moral affiliation, which is why he lives on the border between Hell and Purgatory, but he does care for others.
"He gave me a second chance and now, I'm working to help ease souls on their journey to Heaven by his side. I don't know if I'll one day be able to go back to Heaven myself, but at least I get to have food to eat and somewhere to live while I continue doing what I love", said Collin.
Moxxie smiled at him, "That's very noble and mature of you. I wonder what my job will be once I've recovered, I just wish I at least remember what my own name is...", he said solemnly.
Collin pondered for a moment before turning to him, "Maybe you should have a new name!", he said.
"Come again?", asked Moxxie.
"Well, your amnesia may or may not be permanent, so if you don't get your memories back, you'll need a new name to go by in the meantime", said Collin.
Moxxie thought about it and figured that made sense, he couldn't remember his own name and there was the very real possibility that his amnesia was permanent, so he'll need a new identity.
"Okay, got any ideas for a new name for me then?", he asked.
Collin took a moment to think of a good name, "How about Pippin? Its simple, quaint and charming. And everyone can call you "Pip" for short if necessary", he said.
Moxxie smiled, "Pippin? I like it, thanks a lot", he said with a yawn.
Collin gathered up the dirty dishes, "Well then, since you've eaten and taken your medicine, I'll leave you be so you can go back to sleep. You'll need plenty of rest to recover", he said.
Moxxie nodded as he curled up under the blanket, cuddling with the stuffed armadillo. "By the way, where'd you get that stuffed animal?", asked Collin.
"Lord Dmitri's son, Jayden, gave it to me when I was feeling distressed earlier", responded Moxxie.
Collin smiled, "Aww, that's sweet! Jayden is a good boy, I have a feeling you two will be good friends", he said.
Moxxie looked down for a moment before looking back up at the cherub, "Are...are we friends?", he asked shyly.
Collin was silent and blinked a bit, but then he smiled warmly. "Sure, of course we are. I mean, I'm already friends with all the other servants but I don't mind have one more friend", he said.
Moxxie smiled before he slowly fell asleep, allowing Collin to quietly leave the room with the dirty dishes.
[Time Skip]
Meanwhile, the remaining members of I.M.P were out putting up pictures of Moxxie with the words "Missing" and "Have you seen this imp?" written on them.
"We've been doing this for hours! I'm starving, can we take a break and get some f*cking food?!", said Loona.
"No! We're not stopping until we find Moxxie! So shut your stupid ass mouth and keep putting up those posters!", shouted Millie as she grabbed the hellhound by the shirt collar.
Blitzo immediately jumped between the two to break them up, "Now calm down, you two. No need to get all testy now", he said before turning to Millie, "Now, Mills, I know you're worried about Moxxie but it wouldn't do him any good if we don't have the energy to look for him".
Millie sighed and sat down heavily on the nearest public bench, "I'm sorry but I'm just so scared for Moxxie, especially considering what happened not too long ago. I know his psycho daddy is dead but that probably won't stop the Mafia from coming after Moxxie.
"What if they just got themselves a new leader and decided to get some payback or something? Moxxie wasn't in his right state of mind, there's no way he would be able to defend himself!", she said anxiously.
Just then, a male imp wearing nerdy looking glasses and a business suit walked up to them. He was holding one of their missing posters, "Hey, are you the people looking for this imp?", he asked in a nasally voice.
"Yeah. What's it to you?", said Blitzo.
"I saw him"
Millie suddenly perked up and rushed over to the imp, "You did? Where? When? Was he alright? Where is he now?!", she shouted desperately.
The imp stared at her nervously, "Geez, lady. Calm down, I saw him get off a taxi at the Ring Elevator about three and a half hours ago", he said.
Millie sighed and smiled, giving the random imp a hug before running off to the Ring Elevator. Blitzo had to stop her and remind her it was too long of a walk, so they drove there in their company van.
Twenty minutes later, they entered the elevator station and walked over to one of the receptionists.
"Hey, did you see this imp come through here in the last three hours?", asked Blitzo as he held up Moxxie's missing poster.
"Oh yeah, I remember him. He was that weirdo walking around in pajamas, with a dismal look on his face. He paid for a one way trip to the Envy Ring", said the receptionist.
The I.M.P crew looked at each other in confusion, wondering if they heard that correctly.
"Why the Hell would he go to the Envy Ring?", asked Loona.
"Are there any elevators going to the Envy right now?", asked Millie.
The receptionist looked at their computer for a few minutes before turning back to face them again.
"Sorry, that was the last ride for today. You're gonna have to come back tomorrow, some time around the afternoon, that'll be when more will be there", they said.
Millie groaned in frustration and slammed her fists down on the desk, Blitzo reached over to touch her on the shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Millie. At any rate, we should call it a day for now and come back tomorrow, there'll be an elevator we can catch. Let's just go home, get something to eat and collect our thoughts", he said.
Millie sighed as she allowed Blitzo and Loona to walk her out of the station back to their van.
[Time Skip]
Back in Lord Dmitri's mansion, Moxxie woke up from an especially long nap because he needed to use the bathroom. He slowly stood up from the bed and looked around the room.
Unfortunately, there wasn't a bathroom within the room, so he had to leave and find the nearest bathroom.
He opened the door and walked out of the room, being met by a large hallway with elegant wallpaper and oil paintings along the walls. Moxxie began walking, looking for a bathroom.
Just then, he began to feel a wave of nausea rush over him, which confused him because he was feeling just fine a minute ago.
Now, his vision started blurring, the nausea became more intense and he felt like he was going to pass out.
Moxxie staggered for a moment before falling over onto his right side, then he started vomiting, the brown chunky bile leaking out of the side of his mouth. A migraine even more painful than the last one suddenly struck him.
"help me...someone...please...", he croaked in a barely audible voice as tears welled up in the corner of his eyes.
Just then, three pairs of bird feet suddenly came into his cloudy line of vision. Barely conscious, Moxxie strained his neck to look up at whoever entered the hallway; it turned out that the three pairs of legs belonged to three bird demons.
They all looked like secretary birds, two males wearing black suits and one female wearing a black maid's dress.
They all looked nearly identical, except one male had blue markings around his eyes, the other male had red markings around his eyes and the female had purple markings around her eyes.
They all looked down at Moxxie with expressions of concern and sympathy.
"Oh, you poor thing! You look so ill, and you've vomited on yourself!", said the female.
"Wait, isn't this the injured imp Master Dmitri took in? Shouldn't he be resting?", asked the male with the blue markings.
"He must've left the room to look for a bathroom or something. In any case, let's get him to a bathroom and help him. Can't leave the poor chap here on the floor in his own bile, now can we?", said the male with the red markings.
The female secretary bird knelt down and gently lifted Moxxie into her arms, he looked very tiny in her grip considering he was just an imp and these bird demons were almost as tall as Stolas or Dmitri himself.
They brought him to one of the mansion's many bathrooms. It had ivory walls and white marble tile floors, the faucet of the sink and bathtub were made of gold, and the bathtub itself looked more like a jacuzzi.
Moxxie let out a pained groaned as he looked around the room.
"Don't fret, young imp. We'll take care of you, but I apologize. We should've introduced ourselves first, apologies for the informalities. I am Lucien, these two are my brother Lupin and my sister Lucinda", said the bird with the red markings.
"We're triplets, we're in charge of commanding the other servants in Lord Dmitri's home. I manage the female workers while my brothers manage the male workers", said Lucinda.
"Which means Lucien and I will be your bosses when you start working for his lordship, but until you recover from your injuries, we will do our best to care for you", said Lupin.
After introducing themselves, the triplet bird demons went to work: Lupin gathered some bathroom products, Lucien turned on the bathtub faucet and adjusted the temperature of the water, and Lucinda carefully removed Moxxie's clothes.
"Ah, nice and warm. Lupin, do you have the bath bombs and mineral salts and oils?", said Lucien.
Lupin nodded as he walked over and started adding the bath bombs and mineral salts and oils to the water, turning it into a bright pink color and the smell of fruits filled the air.
Lucinda then carried Moxxie over to the tub and gently sat him in the water, "Can one of you pass me the body wash and a sponge? Oh, and give me the shampoo too. There's dried blood in his hair and it smells quite awful", she said.
Lucien gave her what she asked for before he and Lupin went to go get some clean clothes and a towel.
Moxxie sighed in bliss as he felt the nauseous feeling slowly fade away. He hummed as Lucinda gently scrubbed his head with some shampoo.
"This feels nice, thank you", he said quietly.
Lucinda smiled, "You're quite welcome, darling. I would hope it feels nice, I wouldn't want to accidentally hurt you, you're already injured", she said.
She started rinsing the suds off of Moxxie's body just as her brothers returned with a towel and some clean pajamas.
"Are you all done yet?", asked Lucien.
"Just one more rinse", said Lucinda.
She poured one of last pailful of warm water on Moxxie's body before taking the towel from Lupin and using it to dry the imp. Then she took the pajamas and started dressing him.
"There we go, all spick and span! Now, let's get you back to bed", said Lucinda.
Before she could pick him up, Moxxie stopped her. "Wait, I still need to use the toilet", he said.
"Well then, we'll give you some privacy. Let us know when you've finished", said Lupin as he left the bathroom with his brother and sister.
Moxxie pulled down his pants and started urinating, all the while thinking about this new environment he's found himself in.
This place is so luxurious and the people here are really nice to me even though they don't know me that well, he thought, I wish I could remember if I knew anyone like them before this.
He finished using the toilet and knocked on the door, altering the three secretary birds that he was done.
They opened the door and Lucinda reached down to pick him up, "Alright, let's get you back to your room so you can get back to bed", she said.
They took Moxxie back to his room and laid him back in his bed, then they gave him a bottle of some purplish liquid.
"This is an antioxidant beverage. You lost some fluids after vomiting, so this will help build up your electrolytes", said Lucien.
Moxxie gratefully took the bottle and began drinking it, feeling cool relief from the burning feeling left in his throat after vomiting. When he was done, he handed the empty bottle back to Lucien.
"Rest well, young imp. Let us know if you need anything, his lordship has told us to tend to you until you've recovered and are able to work with us", said Lupin.
"By the way, do you have a name? We'd like to know how to address you", said Lucinda.
Moxxie smiled at the trio of secretary birds, "You can call me Pippin", he said.
"Pippin, eh? I like it", said Lucien.
"Yes, it's very simple, quaint and charming!", said Lucinda.
"Well then, Pippin, enjoy your nap. Don't hesitate to let us know if you need anything", said Lupin.
With that, the three servants left the room and Moxxie rolled over in his bed. He pulled the blanket over his tires body and cuddled the stuffed armadillo close to his body as he slowly fell asleep, a peaceful smile on his face.
[End of Part 3]