Chapter 11: Seized Heart of Lust

April 30

"Have you seen Kamoshida?" Ryuji asked when he met with Ren and Octavia during school the next day. "You really think he changed?"

"I hope so," Ren replied.

"Guess we just have to trust Morgana that it will work," Octavia said.

"Oh, perfect timing!" Ms. Kawakami said, coming over to her students. "Study hall will be held instead of PE today. I'm letting you know just in case you haven't heard. MR. Kamoshida has taken the day off."

"He ain't here?" Ryuji said, surprise in his voice.

"Don't tell anyone that you heard this from me…" Ms. Kawakami said. "But we received word that Mr. Kamoshida is placing himself under suspension. It's such an important time before the tournament too… Principal Kobayakawa went to talk to him about it, but he supposedly wasn't making any sense…"

"Wait, a suspension!?" Ryuji exclaimed.

"Heh, ironic," Octavia coughed, hiding her smirk behind her hand.

"Not so loud!" Ms. Kawakami angerly whispered. "The talks about your expulsions may be put on hold too… I don't know too much about it, though… Anyway, I've relayed what's going on to you." She then left after saying that.

"Looks like something happened…" Ryuji noted. "At least it sounds different from a mental shutdown…"

"Right," Ren nodded.

"I guess we just have to wait and see what happens next," Octavia said.

Ryuji: Man, all this waiting's got me so antsy. We should go on a trip or something. Whaddya think?

Ann: Sorry, I'm gonna have to pass.

Ryuji: What, are you busy?

Ann: Yeah. Collin and I'll be visiting Shiho in the hospital after school for the next few days. I can't do much to help her, but it'll be nice to at least see her face.

Collin: And any small blessings I can call on will hopefully allow her to heal faster as well.

Ryuji: Gotcha… I hope she wakes up soon.

Ren: Go cheer her up.

Ann: Yeah, thanks. I'm totally down to go somewhere once things calm down though.

"So, have you done anything interesting lately?" Octavia asked as the two went to perform another medical trial with Takemi.

"I found a TV in my room and bought a DVD player for it," Ren said. "I also started learning how to brew coffee with Chief- that's the guy that's taking care of my here in the city."

"You'll have to let me try it sometime," Octavia mused. Once they were at the clinic, Takemi wasted no time in getting them back in the exam room, handing a cup of yellow medicine over to Ren.

"Here you go… The effects should be instant this time," the back-alley doctor said. Ren nodded, drinking the cup in earnest before looking confused as he didn't feel anything. "Let's see. Eyes are focused. Looks this way. One, two, three, four… Nothing yet, huh?"

Ren shrugged, before pinching the bridge of his nose. "Mouth is burning… nose itchy…"

"Oh, there it is. The inhibitory effect is just as I had hoped," Takemi nodded. "Your weight was the primary reason it took longer to kick in than expected… Yes, this is what I expected from a teenager. We're making great progress. Practice makes perfect, right? Okay, hold tight. Once I compile all the data, we can move on…"

The conversation was cut off when the clinic phone rang, Takemi picking it up. "Hello, Takemi Medical Clinic of Internal Medicine. How can I help you? …An emergency, huh? But we're not a designated hospital… Besides, the head physician here is Tai Takemi." She got a surprised look before setting the phone down. "Awfully rude, just hanging up on a lady like that."

"What was that about?" Octavia asked.

"Oh, he basically just called the wrong number," Takemi explained. "An ambulance driver was looking for a transfer location. All the designated hospitals are full. But to think they'd accidentally call a general practitioner… Must've been a new paramedic… He seemed to at least know my name though."

"You say that like you have a reputation," Octavia noted. "IS this to do with that "Plague" comment from the officer last time?"

Takemi sighed. "I've been blacklisted by the larger medical community. They call me the Plague… due to a grave medical error I made."

"A medical error?" Octavia pressed.

"This goes back to my old job… I used to work at a university hospital in the city," Takemi explained. "I was never actually convicted of anything, but I'm still considered a pariah in the medical industry." She looked at the cousins. "Does that scare you? Participating in clinical trials run by a doctor like that?"

"I don't mind," Ren replied.

Takemi gave a small smile. "You seriously are one strange kid. Well, that's fine. Being ostracized has enabled me to focus on my own research and development. Regardless, I look forward to working with you. I'll be sure to add some additional "Medicine" for you, my little guinea pig." It was then that the phone rang again, Takemi picking it up. "Hello, Dr. Takemi's Clinic of Internal Medicine… Huh? One order of teriyaki chicken?" She hung up on that before turning back to Ren and Octavia. "You're all good for today. You can go home now. Come again soon, if you're still alive."

'Now I want to know exactly why she got blacklisted,' Octavia thought as they left for the day. 'She's called the "Plague" so… did something she do lead to the death of a patient?'

[***]

May 1

Ann: The board meeting's tomorrow, right?

Ryuji: We're gonna get expelled if Kamoshida doesn't have a change of heart by then…

Octavia: We did all we could.

Ren: I'm sure he will.

Collin: He'll definitely change! I mean, I hope so to. It'd would be really bad if he didn't…

Loona: Damn straight.

Ryuji: It's a little too early to be giving up now. Guess we're gonna find out one way or the other tomorrow. We just gotta brace ourselves for all the possibilities.

[***]

May 2

DAY OF EXPULSION

That morning, everyone was gathered in the gymnasium for a sudden morning assembly. The student body was abuzz with chatter as they wondered why they had all been called here as soon as they got to school. Some thought it might be because of what happened with Shiho, or perhaps even the calling card. Ann and Collin stood together, both feeling tense as to what was going to happen today. The Cherub gave his friend a reassuring squeeze of the hand to calm her nerves.

"Let's begin this school-wide assembly," the principal announced, standing at the podium on stage. "As you all know, a tragic event took place the other day. Thankfully, we have been informed that she has pulled through, but it will take time until she recovers. Everyone here has a bright future ahead. I implore that you rethink the importance of life and-" His speech was interrupted by the gym doors suddenly opening, with Kamoshida stepping trough, his head hung low. "Mr. Kamoshida, what's the-"

"I… have been reborn. That is why, I will confess everything to you all…" Kamoshida said, slowing walking up on stage. The act certainly caught everyone, even Ann and Collin, off-guard. "I have repeatedly done things that were… unbecoming of a teacher. Verbally abusing students… physically abusing my team, and… sexually harassing female students," he confessed to everyone. "I am the reason why Shiho Suzui tried to kill herself!" He fell to his knees while the students all started muttering in shock. "I thought of this school as my own castle… There were even students that I sentenced to expulsion, simply because I didn't like them… I will, of course, rescind those…I am truly sorry for putting innocent youths through such horrible acts… I am an arrogant, shallow… and shameful person. No, I'm worse than that…" He threw his head to the floor. "I will take responsibility and kill myself for it!"

Everyone was in a panic now, with the principal running over to him. "Mr. Kamoshida! Please get off the stage now!"

"Everyone, return to your classes!" a teacher ordered.

As Kamoshida started to break down, Ann grit her teeth and shouted, "Don't run, you bastard! Shiho's still alive, ever after all the things that made her want to die! You have no right to run from this!"

Kamoshida looked up at her. "You're right… You're absolutely right… I should be punished under the law and atone for my crimes… I did horrible things to Takamaki-san as well. In return for giving Suzui-san a position on the team… I… I tried to force her into having relations." That made the student body balk in disgust. "As of today, I will resign from my position as an instructor and turn myself in. Someone, please call the police!"

As all this went down, Ren, Ryuji, Octavia, and Loona watched together in another part of the gym. "Wow…" Ryuji breathed, surprised by the change of heart.

"This morning's assembly is over! Return to your classes immediately!" a teacher ordered.

"Isn't this just like what that calling card said?" a student wondered.

"Does this mean the Phantom Thieves thing was for real!?" another asked.

"Was something done to Kamoshida!?" the student exclaimed.

"Come on, there's no way you could steal someone's heart!" his friend scoffed.

"But why else would he say things like he'd kill himself or turn himself in?" the girlfriend pointed out.

"Maybe because it almost got leaked?" her friend suggested. "Don't they go easier on you if you turn yourself in?"

"I wonder what happened…" a student said.

"Who knows?" his friend shrugged. "But man, Kamoshida turned out to be one sick bastard."

As the murmurs got louder, the teachers became more stressed. "Return to your classrooms at once!" the teacher exclaimed. As the student body cleared out, the Phantom Thieves managed to stick around to regroup and talk about what they had just seen.

"His heart really did change…" Collin said.

"Seems like it," Loona nodded.

"But, was this really for the best?" Ryuji wondered.

"Dude, I'm pretty sure Kamoshida raped Shiho, so yeah, this is for the best, letting him rot in prison," Loona shook her head. "Why are we even questioning this?"

"And there's what Kamoshida said…" Ren pointed out.

"You mean the police stuff? Well, that's true…" Ryuji said. Suddenly, Mishima and some of the volleyball girls approached the group. "What the…?"

"Takamaki-san… I'm sorry!" Mishima said, giving a bow. She looked at him in surprise. "We all knew… but we pretended we didn't."

"Takamaki-san, I had it all wrong…" one of the girls said. "I'm sorry I spread rumors about you!"

"I didn't know at all…" the other girl shook her head in shame. "Kamoshida was forcefully pushing himself on you… It must have been so hard for you!"

"I'm sure there's a ton of people that want to apologize to you," the first girl stated. "We're so sorry!"

"No, it's okay. The same goes for me too…" Ann replied. "Besides, it's all in the past now."

"Hey, you there!" a teacher said. "Return to class at once!"

"W-Well, see you later then…" the volleyball girl said before walking off with her friend.

"I can't apologize enough for what I did to you," Mishima said, turning to Ren. "I swear I'll make it up to you someday."

"Looks like Kamoshida ain't the only one that had a change of heart," Ryuji said as Mishima left.

"I'm so happy for you, Ann," Collin smiled. "Now all those false and nasty rumors will go away!"

She shook her head. "My thing doesn't really matter. We made Kamoshida apologize about Shiho… That's more than enough for me."

"We should tell her about it as soon as possible," Collin said.

"Yeah," Ann nodded, a smile coming back to her face.

[***]

After school, Ren, Ryuji, Morgana, Octavia, and Loona all met up at the hideout to discuss the change of heart. "I totally freaked out… He really did have a change of heart…" Ryuji said. "And we were luck his mind didn't get messed up either! This was an A+ job!"

"Does this mean that they won't have a mental shutdown even if their Palace disappears?" Morgana wondered. "I see… So we need to persuade the Shadow without killing it, and then send it back to its real self. Our targets won't undergo a cognitive collapse if we do that."

"We get to beat them up, make them confess, and get no consequences?" Loona asked. "I'll admit, it's more satisfying than just straight up killing the guy."

"Works for me," Octavia nodded.

"Hey guys," Ann said, coming up to the hideout with Collin.

"So… how'd it go? With Shiho, I mean…" Ryuji asked.

"She's regained consciousness!" Collin cheered.

"For real!?" Ryuji exclaimed.

Ann nodded, before tears of joy started falling from her face. "It was only for a little bit, but I got to talk to her! I was able to tell her that Kamoshida admitted to what he did!"

"Shiho… told us she was sorry…" Collin said, crying a bit himself. "She found out that Ann had been flirting with Kamoshida for her sake…"

"And here I was, wanting to apologize for her," Ann said.

"Kamoshida's at fault for all this," Morgana assured them.

"I know…" Collin nodded. "Shiho's mom is thinking of transferring her to another school after she recovers. The whole sexual harassment and attempted suicide… Unfortunately, humans tend to put labels on people after that, especially in this county. Sounded like Shiho had the same idea too."

"Yep, reputation is a bitch, even here in the human realm," Octavia nodded, understanding that much from the way Stella always went on about the subject.

"It's gonna get lonely…" Ryuji said.

"But I think it's for the best… I'm sure it'll be hard if she stays here," Ann said.

"She's alive, so you can always visit her whenever you want," Octavia stated.

Ann nodded to that. "…I need to change too."

"That aside, I was surprised you two could hold yourselves back against Kamoshida's Shadow," Loona said.

"It wasn't like that… I just wanted Kamoshida to apologize himself," Ann stated.

"You're so kind, Lady Ann," Morgana sighed.

"No matter how much of a shitbag he was, finishing him off woulda left a bad aftertaste, huh?" Ryuji questioned.

"That's not it," Collin chuckled. "I think revenge is best served if I make him repent. Realizing what he's done, he'll grovel for forgiveness the rest of his life, you know? I just believe there are fates worse than death."

"Holy shit…" Loona cursed, not expecting that intensity out of the cherub. 'That's kinda… hot? Gah, what am I thinking!?' She shook her head. "A-Anyways, that's all settled… But you know, I have to wonder why Kamoshida is the only one with a Palace. Is there more to the Metaverse than that?"

"It isn't necessarily limited to him," Morgana said. "It's something anyone could have if their heart became warped with desires."

"Anyone…" Octavia muttered to herself. 'I bet Hell would be full of Palaces from the way people act down there. Our entire society is driven by desires, be it Pride, Lust, Wrath, or any of the other Deadly Sins…'

"Wanna check it out?" Morgana asked.

"N-Not right now," Octavia shook her head, coming out of her thoughts. "For now, let's lay low while the conversation is still on Kamoshida."

"Then again, it's totally impossible for someone to find out what we did at his Palace," Ryuji pointed out.

"Yeah, about that… Weird rumors about you guys are already going around," Ann said. "Stuff like, you got together and threatened Kamoshida with something close to physical violence…"

"The hell!?" Ryuji exclaimed.

"People aren't going to easily believe that phantom thieves really exist," Collin pointed out. "The calling card's being treated like it was a prank by someone who knew what Kamoshida was doing."

"Makes sense…" Loona shrugged. "Even though we were the ones that changed his heart, I still find it hard to believe."

"Somehow, demons and angels being real seems more plausible than what we did," Ren said jokingly, getting a laugh from the others.

"Let's wait for things to settle down for the time being," Ann suggested.

Ryuji nodded, before pulling out his phone, eyeing the Treasure they had stolen from the Palace. "Anyways, let's see how much this medal can be sold for. It'd be better if we pawned it off ASAP… Oh, got a hit!... Wait, thirty thousand yen!? That's all a gold medal's worth!?"

"The Hell? That's like, what, three hundred souls?" Loona said.

"Even less than that, probably," Octavia added.

Ann suddenly got a sneaky look. "Remember that time in middle school? I lent you some money."

"There's no way I borrowed thirty thousand yen from you!" Ryuji shouted, standing up from his seat.

"Wouldn't it be around that much with compound interest?" Ann said cheekily.

"Interest my ass!" Ryuji scoffed.

"I'm not saying that I'm taking all of it," Ann sighed. "I mean, it's your fault for not paying me back all these years! It's just common sense!"

"Damnit…" Ryuji cursed.

Morgana giggled before composing himself. "I agree with laying low and keeping an eye on the situation. However, you dragged me into this. It would be nonsense not to celebrate a successful mission."

"I guess we could blow this dirty money on something fun," Loona grinned.

"Discussions among phantom thieves are to take place over luxurious food. How about it?" Morgana suggested.

"Hey, wait… Nah, I guess that's fine," Ann shrugged. "There's somewhere I want to go then."

"Where's that?" Ren asked.

"It's a place Shiho and I have been wanting to go for a while," Ann stated.

"I owe money, so I can't complain," Ryuji sighed. "You good with that?"

"I want ramen," Ren said.

"We can eat that whenever, Ren," Octavia laughed.

"I'll leave it to your discretion as well, Lady Ann," Morgana said.

"Sure, food is good," Collin agreed. Loona and Octavia nodded in agreement as well.

"I'll call and check the prices later then," Ann said.

"When should we go?" Ryuji asked. "Wanna do it soon, like tomorrow?"

"Slow down, blondie. I still wanna revel in our victory," Loona said.

"Why don't we go on the last day of the holidays?" Octavia suggested. "One last hurrah before we come back to school."

"We can go on Children's Day, May 5th," Ren added.

"So, who is going to sell this?" Loona said, holding up the medal.

Morgana took it from her. "Leave that to us. We know a store that'll buy anything. Don't we, Ren?"

"Okay, I'll that to you guys," Ann nodded.

Loona: Is that gold medal for real? When did it get inside his Palace…?

Ren: Morgana said it's a fake copy created by Kamoshida's cognition. He should still have the real one.

Ryuji: What…? You're telling me Kamoshida's still got the medal?

Collin: Who cares? What matters is we changed his heart. Besides, wouldn't it be stealing if had taken the real thing?

Ann: I don't think he'll be proud of that medal anymore regardless.

Ryuji: You let go of stuff pretty easy, huh? Wanna forget about my debt?

Ann: That's different. Five hundred yen is a lot of money for a middle schooler, you know. Do you even still have that dolphin anyway?

Octavia: Is it bad to mention that my middle school allowance was way more than that?

Loona: Sure, flaunt your rich status in front of the poor people, Octavia.

Collin: I'm pretty sure everyone else here is at least middle class…

Ren: What was that about a dolphin?

Ryuji: Stop digging that up!

Ann: Back in middle school, we went on a field trip to the aquarium. But Ryuji had to spend all his money on a souvenir, so I lent him some for the train fare.

Ryuji: I said I was sorry… That was for my mom.

Collin: That's so thoughtful of you, Ryuji.

Ann: Well, I guess I can call it even after all we've been through.

Ryuji: … Thank you. Anyways, we don't gotta worry about selling that medal off if it's a fake! End of story!

[***]

Meanwhile, at Stolas' Mansion…

Stolas knew what the sudden chill in the air meant, even before his front doors were thrown open unceremoniously. "Oh, ex-brother-in-law!" called a sing-song voice which made the prince instantly let out a sigh of annoyance. Marquis Andrealphus was the brother of Stella, and a consistent thorn in Stolas' side. Andrealphus was every bit as cruel as Stella was to him, if not more so considering that Stolas had seen the icy peacock throw just as much vitriol at his sister whenever she wasn't looking. They were a terrible twosome of trouble for the prince, and it didn't help that Stolas had been seeing more of Andrealphus ever since the funeral.

"What do you want, Andre?" Stolas asked, his tone full of amusement.

"Oh, Stolas, I see that you're still in mourning even though it's almost been a month already," Andrealphus said, his body over in an overexaggerated way as he inspected the dark attire Stolas currently wore. "Shouldn't you be over that already? I mean, it's not like it was your fault that my niece is dead- oh wait, it is, isn't it?"

Stolas glowered as Andrealphus reminded him of the plan his family had come up with. To stage Octavia's death they needed to come up with a reasonable excuse for her to have "died," and seeing as Extermination Day was far off from now, they decided that poisoning would be the best course of action to take. Of course, that also meant that Stolas would be the one under fire for the death, seeing as he was an expert with plants and "should have known better" than to use said poisonous plant as a cooking ingredient.

"You see, this is why you have your servants try all of your food before you eat it," Andrealphus said in a patronizing way, patting Stolas on the shoulder. "Why if she had been living with me, this never would have happened."

"Like I'd ever let Octavia live with you," Stolas shot back, making the marquis take a step back and put a hand to his chest.

"My oh my, Stolas, are you actually growing a spine now?" the peacock gave a chuckle and ran a hand slowly down the prince's chest. "You know, I think anger suits you well. So disappointing that you never showed my sister this fierce side of yourself. It's almost… attractive, shall we say? But oh well, that just leaves you open to the next woman that will give you your next heir."

"As if," Stolas scoffed.

Andrealphus rolled his eyes. "Right, I forget that you like sucking imp dick now… or is it that you're simply just interested in men? Perhaps you just need someone that can give you the best of both worlds." The peacock suddenly appeared behind Stolas, beak close to his ear. "I don't have an heir of my own either, Stolas, and you know how your father gets when we dawdle with these kinds of things…"

Stolas shivered, feeling very uncomfortable with the position he was in. "What are you implying, Andre?"

The marquis smirked, drawing a hand over Stolas' hip. "Well, I just thought you might like to keep your relations "in the family," so to speak. If my sister wasn't to your liking, then perhaps you'd like the male model more? As for an heir, I'm sure that grimoire of yours has all kinds of spells that can fix that problem. At the very least, it'll give us one much more agreeable than that dower girl my sister popped out-"

Stolas growled, his eyes flashing as he ripped himself out of Andrealphus' grip. "I will not be having you insulting my daughter in life or death, Marquis Andrealphus," Stolas said, his body shaking as he felt his demonic powers leaking out. "As for this "offer" of yours, you can shove it up that ice-cold hole you think I desire oh-so much. So, if you're just here to taunt me, then I suggest you leave!"

Andrealphus couldn't hide the slight blush at seeing Stolas being so assertive but gave a sigh and dropped his flirty façade. "Fine, but my offer still stands. I wasn't here for you, anyway. I'm just coming to pick up the last of my sister's things for her. I'm still surprised that she found a potential suitor so soon, and in your older brother nonetheless!"

"Yes, because Duke Raoul is so into her," Stolas rolled his eyes. It frankly disgusted him how lovestruck Stella had acted around Raoul when he saw them together, despite his brother's obliviousness to his ex-wife's attraction to him. 'Not that I ever wanted her, but she could have at least spared me her scorn all those years…' he thought. 'To be so openly replaced by a quote-on-quote "more agreeable" brother is insulting…'

"If we're both lucky this might be a "Taming of the Shrew" experience for her," Andrealphus chuckled. He clapped his hands, summoning his imp servants from outside and having hem come in to collect Stella's things. The peacock sauntered into the kitchen and helped himself to some of Stolas' tea, much to the prince's annoyance. "At the very least, Stolas, your daughter looked beautiful in her coffin. Almost like she wasn't dead and just sleeping… She's lucky to have died young and in such a way that her beauty wasn't tainted."

Stolas gave a huff, feeling displeased that his daughter's "death" was being taken so lightly. The other part of their plan to fake Octavia's death was to create a body double that they could bury in Octavia's place, seeing as no one would believe her "death" to be true if there wasn't a body to be found. His daughter revealed that she had been working on a life-like decoy of herself as a taxidermy project, which both impressed and disturbed her parents. 'Did she make it because she was planning on running away…?' he thought. Stolas shook that thought from his head. 'Either way with a bit of magic it worked, and now everyone thinks that Octavia is dead, and her death is the reason for Stella and I's divorce… Oh, I hope you're safe up there, my Starfire…'

"Oh Stolas!" Andrealphus said, snapping fingers in the prince's face. "Have you been off in dreamland again? I was asking you about what you thought of the recent situation in Lust?"

"The what?" Stolas tilted his head.

Andrealphus sighed, pinching the bridge of his beak. "Don't tell me your mourning has also made you ignorant to the latest current events as well." The peacock pulled out his phone and brought up an article. "If you haven't heard, recently Ozzie's closed for unknown reasons, but then opened back up soon after with Fizzarolli in charge of the place. Apparently, Asmodeus isn't making public appearances anymore, and the overall output in Lust is at a record low."

"And why should I care?" Stolas questioned. "Neither of us live in Lust, Andre, so whatever politics are happening there are of little concern of me."

"Just thought you should know," Andrealphus shrugged. "Oh look, my servants have gathered all of my sister's things. I won't stay and ruffle your feathers anymore, Prince Stolas…" The peacock gained a smirk as he flashed his tail feathers. "But I'll keep my offer to you open. You know where I live if you ever want to see what the head of my family branch can do…" Andrealphus flashed a "call me" sign before stepping out of the door.

Stolas flopped into a chair, holding his head over the table and sighing. "Butler, bring me the strongest drink we have and get Blitzy on the phone," he ordered. "I need to cleanse myself of Andre as soon as possible…" As his butler ran off, Stolas decided to send a text to Octavia to make sure she was alright.

Stolas: How are you doing, my Starfire?
Octavia: Fine Dad. Making new friends up here and completing this ordeal.

Stolas: Oh, so soon? Will you be home earlier than I expected?

Octavia: No, I don't think it's over just yet. Feels like we just started, actually. How's Mom?

Stolas: You'll have to ask her yourself. I haven't seen her since the funeral.

Octavia: …Oh. Did it go over well? The funeral, I mean.

Stolas: You looked lovely, my dear. Leave all the politics of Hell to me… Oh, by the way, did you know there's going to be an art exhibit in Tokyo soon? I hear that a famous artist will be making an appearance there.

Octavia: Cool. I'll see about checking it out. You know I love art. It's one of the fun things we did as a family… Do you think we could go to one of the Goetia museums when I get back?

Stolas: It's a promise, my Starfire. Love you.

Octavia: Love you too, Dad.

Author's Note

If it seems like we've only been doing Takemi's Confidant so far, that's because at this point in the game, which Confidants are open is very limited. You really only have Death, Chariot, Hierophant available during the events of the Kamoshida arc, so that means that for the early game we just have Takemi's story to follow during downtime. Don't worry, though, as the next arc opens up more Confidants for Joker and the HB crew to interact with.

I don't have a lot to say about the main part of this chapter, as we mostly just get some introspection on how Octavia, Collin, and Loona feel about the events unfolding. We'll get more original scenes with them next time during the celebration. (Also a tease for some small sparks between Loona and Collin, hehe)

Finally, Stolas has an unpleasant encounter with his ex-brother-in-law, Andrealphus (who's name is a pain to spell and I immediately set it as an Autocorrect option so I don't misspell it again). Andre hasn't appeared in the show yet, but he's going to be a major part of the Hell subplot in this story so I needed to set him up now. I imagine that he's similar to his sister but more confident and pushy with a cooler head. I like the idea that he's also after Stolas as a one-sided romantic rival to Blitzo, so getting to play Andre as a kinda creepy guy with a flair for the overdramatic was fun.

There was also a setup for a future part of the Hell subplot in Stolas' part, but I'll leave that up for speculation, dear readers.

Next Time: The Phantom Thieves celebrate their success and Loona decides to open up to Ren.