Chapter 8: Over Me.
A spectrum of lights danced overhead, breaking through the fog of the dimly lit bar in contrast of the vibrant and booming dance floor. Greetings of brash and lustful nature's were all but uncommon in the constant bustle of nightclubs, and Erosa watched as the prophecy of formication and mindless indulgence was fulfilled at every corner - Drinks, dancing, and damnation through good times. Sir Pentious sat patiently, awaiting Polter as the other reptilian in question returned from fetching their first round of drinks.
"Did we have to meet at a club?" Erosa asked, annoyed at the invasive flashing lights and constant stream of people throwing themselves away from caution around their seat.
"Why not?" Sir Pentious asked. "It's where all the cool sinner's hang out these days!"
"I guess." Erosa answered as he waved a hand. "I'm just not a fan of the ones that use your body as currency. No disrespect for the craft, but it's not my type."
"The women are rather nice, you gotta admit." Polter chimed up with a faint grin of satisfaction
Erosa sighed. "Honey, you're saying that because one of them gave you a free t-shirt."
"Like I said. The women are nice."
"Agreed." Sir Pentious said. "Now, shall we discuss your temporary employment?"
"In a public place where I can only hear you in this specific booth." Erosa declared against the booming sounds of music and debaucherous youth. "You want to talk about employment here."
"Stop questioning my methods!" Sir Pentious exclaimed. "They work! That's all you need to know!"
"Fine. Yes, let's discuss employment." Erosa said. "First things first I need to know what kind of stuff you're throwing me and my wife into. We're a team, not just two separate people."
Sir Pentious displayed a frown. "Eh, no. You're part of my team now! At least for the time being, and what I say, goes. You two will be handling different positions in my minion army until this deal is totally finished!"
"Like the movie?" Polter asked.
"What movie?" Sir Pentious asked in return.
"I, uh... don't worry about it." Polter waved, heading out of the seat. "I'm gonna get another drink. Did you want anything, dear?"
"Milk would be fine." Erosa said as he glared at Sir Pentious. "I'm just ready to hear what we have to do."
Polter nodded, giving her husband a wink before disappearing into the multicolored fox. A blush formed under Erosa's fur, and Sir Pentious was wondering how to skateboard in order to appear more relevant. The serpent suddenly displayed a hand on the table.
"Here's the sitch." Sir Pentious began. "I've got a spider problem in Upurass. It's preventing me from executing the next phase of my plan, and that is totally not cool, dude. Something, something, expanding their operations here. That won't happen. I won't allow it. Get one of their bitches and yeet a lesson or two straight into those minds of theirs! I don't care who, only that it happens. Does that catch?"
Erosa gave a side eye to the exploitation occurring on the dance floor. "Yeah, yeah it caught - Spiders not building webs where they belong. Nothing we can't take care of."
"Excellent!" Sir Pentious exclaimed. "The deets will be sent to your phone. All you need to know is that they very clearly look like spiders. Y'know, multiple limbs, gay stuff. The usual."
"Any chance one of them is here tonight?" Erosa asked curiously.
"No, I already checked." Sir Pentious denied. "One of my trusted sources tells me they're on the other side of town tonight, near Vulgarity Avenue at the old storefront. They wouldn't dare enter the same space as Sir Pentious!"
The black cat raised an eyebrow. "The Crimson Hue? Huh. Figured that old plaza would have been torn down by now. Appropriate that it's full of nothing but cobwebs, I guess."
Sir Pentious unleashed an almost forced chuckle as he began his departure, his hat rolling it's eyes if they could be considered eyes. "Ah, humor! I love it! Keep working on your jokes as I exit the establishment dramatically! Totes see you later, friendos!"
Erosa sighed as he watched their new business partner disappear into the mist. A claw from the black cat trailed across the aging table, and Polter soon returned with two drinks before taking the spot once reserved by the other serpent.
"Did he already leave?" Polter asked.
"Already." Erosa answered, head leaning into his hands in a collection of overwhelming emotions. "Ah, Christ in a carpenter's ass, this is gonna be rough. I mean, spiders? You remember the first time we got one of those pricks alone and they turned out to be a black widow?"
"Thank the antichrist for antivenom." Polter sighed. "Still have the bite marks."
"Same here." Erosa said.
"Speaking of bad decisions, can we talk about Styx and Blitz for a minute?" The reptile suddenly chimed up, recieving a twitch of the ears from her partner.
"I thought it was Blitz and Styx?" The cat in question pondered. "Heck, why not just go by River and Blitz? Looks much nicer carved into a tree."
"Whatever." Polter brushed off. "Why are you suddenly okay with them?"
"I'm not." Erosa deadpanned, taking a sip of their drink. "I'm just thinking. I still don't understand the whole thing with them under the bridge. Did Sivah want me to find them? Did he know I'd want to kill them? I mean, I'm pretty stubborn but that's a whole different penis. I need to figure out who my enemy really is here."
"Could have just been coincidence." Polter suggested. "Sometimes things just happen for no reason, like plot holes in poorly written stories. You just have to fill in the blanks yourself."
"That's not satisfying, though." Erosa disagreed with a disapprovingly sour stretch of the mouth. "I want to know what that bird is planning now, and I want to know what happened to Roselle. Seems like Sivah just snapped and decided that everyone needed to die."
"Was he like that before?" Polter asked.
"Ah, sorry, hun, I forgot you only met him once." Erosa apologized. "He always has a bit of distrust against me, but I brushed that off as superstition against black cats and he never bothered me about it. He just seemed unhappy with everything."
"Unhappy enough to scorch the earth and murder their husband on a whim?" Polter piped up with intrigue.
"All I'll say is that my surprise was brief when I saw him attack that bar." Erosa said. "Humans are just like that sometimes - Unexpected, spastic, and irrational. A ton of bad things can happen and it's something smaller that triggers the violent tendencies."
"Sivah isn't human." Polter declared. You said he's been down to the other rings before we met."
"He was." Erosa began.
Polter's eyes widened. "Motherfucker?"
"Motherfucker exactly." Erosa said. "I overheard him and Roselle talking one day. Didn't say how it's possible, I just know that he's special enough to get extra privileges and be more demon than human now. Maybe he did something so evil that Lucifer had no choice but to give him full access, or he got really lucky and stole that necklace from royalty. That would explain why he looks like a knockoff Goetia with black fur instead of white. He's literally a generic brand villain."
"Generic brand can be the same as store brand."
"Not unless you're willing to pay a steeper price for the privilege of just a name. Sivah is running away from something. What is he running away from?"
"Maybe his fancy powers are running out and he needs souls to keep it going." Polter said. "The necklace could have just been a safety net."
"Or he's just a batshit insane sinner who was given too much power and never supposed to go past the Pride Ring, and now he's going mad because that kind of power doesn't belong to him or save him from the mind games it plays." Erosa finished towards his wife. "Fancy magic is nothing but bad news."
The wife in question shrugged as she downed the rest of her drink."I don't know, dear. At least he's not coming after us... you don't think he would, would he?"
"Oh, he'll be back." Erosa declared. "People like him always come back."