Hello all!

I am aware that this took a long ass time. Apologies. I have been working a lot and went back to school, and found it hard to put passion behind this chapter. I managed to get some time where I was in the right swing of things to get this chapter done.

Anyhow, with that out of the way, let us continue forth onto this newest addition to the story.

From Prev Chapter:

He grabbed up the mallets once more, looking to the incubus with a smile. They seemed to ponder his actions before shrugging their shoulders. Leon nodded his head, attention back to the marimba. He ghosted the mallets over the body of wooden scales, remembering a tune that he practiced over and over again.

'This one's for you, Vinny.'

The first note hit and danced through the air.

Chapter 9: Before Is the Now

Earth, over 10 years ago.

Hands washed over the wooden body, mallets wrapped in red yarn tapping away onto the bars of rosewood. Fingers held firm, skating across the frame as arms undulated with patterns. Scales of notes sang through the air, building up the eerie song which wisped through the building.

The young man ignored the noises around him. School was over, and many students had already left the band room. That was fine with him. It gave him more peace of mind. More focus. Notes continued to play out on the instrument to his volition. He felt eyes looking over at him every so often, but that was it.

Black hair shook around on his head as his eyes flicked from side to side. He continued to play through the piece with intensity. Hands bound in tape covered the callouses that built around the base of fingers.

He didn't bother looking at the sheet music anymore, having ignored it for the past minute thus far. The tune and the energy now became second nature to his ears. He could hear what needed to happen next in the song, hands already completing what he desired before he could think of it. The muscle memory jostled his hands as four mallets echoed over the marimba.

The song grew in volume, his hands prepped to swing into the next phrase. The soft tones of the reprieve gave his hands a moment of relax, the heat that budded on his grip dulling ever so slightly from the continuous reps of the same song.

He took in a breath, hands parting to the air for the impacts of forte-

He felt himself pulled backwards.

Sputtering a mixture of gibberish and curses, the young man felt the energy of the music leave him. He groaned out in frustration, turning towards the person who ripped him away from his solace.

"Dammit, Vinny!" He barked. "You couldn't wait for me to finish? You know I have an audition next week!" The black haired boy argued to the other.

The shorter boy gave him a sideways smile. "I've been calling your name for the past five minutes, you idiot." A bag was tossed through the air, forcing the black haired boy to catch it before it hit the floor. In the process, he dropped his mallets. "Shit!" The polished handles of wood and yarn tumbled to the floor, bouncing off in different directions.

"Come on!" The shorter boy, Vinny, gestured. "Dad's waiting for us in the car. And you know as well as I do that if we hold him up, he'll make us walk home."

"He wouldn't do... yeah. Yeah he would." The black haired boy huffed, picking up the remaining mallets from the ground and putting them in the stick bag attached to the marimba.

"Get your lazy ass in gear, Noel."

"Who says you get to sass me, you little shit?"

"I did. When I found out I could outrun you, fatass."

"Oh, yeah? Fatass, am I?"

"N-Noel, wait! I didn't mean th-"

Vinny dodged a swipe from Noel, who proceeded to grab up his backpack and charge for the younger boy. "We'll see how fat my ass is when it's sitting on on your corpse!"

The boys ran out from the music room, one tailing the other. Screams of terror and laughter followed in their wake, all the way to the parking lot.

Present Day, Pentagram Market Festival

"Octavia, isn't this just magical?! Oh, the sounds, the smells, the demons. It's all so outrageous!" Octavia rolled her eyes at the comments of her dad. Though she could not deny that he was right. The 'farm market' was much more than she could have imagined. Not even accounting for the size of the place, the amount of people, or the things being sold. It didn't even feel like it was part of the Pride Ring.

Demons of all kinds; sinners, baphomets, succubi, imps, and all hellborns all rabbled around with one another. No deaths or surprise murders (at least that she had seen), no massive gang violence or drama, no major events that caused it to go haywire (though if that red dickhead showed up, that might change). It was all well organized. Save for a couple situations with people trying to steal, and a couple of tackled thieves, the day had been problem free!

The disguised Goetia followed her father to yet another stand, carrying a good collection of bags already from the day of shopping. New goth style shirts, a couple of posters for her room, a lava lamp that was filled with Morpheus eye fluid, and an automatic feather preener. (Who knew that a bird sinner wanted their feathers to look nice and invented such a thing? Not Octavia, but now she had one.) She shuffled pasted a pair of sinners who were talking to a scaly looking hellborn, noting that the number of people in this part of the market was less dense.

Octavia looked around at her new surroundings. Dad and herself had made a long travel to one of the corners of the market. The number of demons milling about was thinner, though still filled with the same mood.

The energy was... different, to say the least. There wasn't as much tension, even with Pentagram City being a few miles away. No shouting or aggressive situations she and her dad couldn't handle. The vendors were pushy, but not horrible. Most demons just seemed like they were in a better mood than what she was used to deal with from school and around the mansion. Maybe it was because of that 'Tax Day' that her dad discussed now being over. Octavia wasn't sure.

Music mixed together in a hodgepodge of conflicting tunes, instruments, and beats. The multitude of concerts or performers all over the event lent itself to chaos, though the closer you got to one, the less likely you were to hear the others. That meant that open No-Mans-Lands like where she was had a cacophony of ugly noise to deal with. She didn't mind it too much though, compared to worse sounds at home.

Octavia turned away from the crowds. Thanks to her height, she kept a trace on her father, noting his appearance at a booth a few spaces away from her. Lugging her items along with her, she scooched between other demons. Ignoring some of their comments or snide looks, she used an open finger and poked the side of the taller disguised Goetia.

"Hey dad, this stuff is starting to get heavy. Do you think we can drop this off at home real quick?" Stolas peered down at his daughter with large eye before they crinkled up in delight.

"Of course, my owlette. Here, let me finish buying these new books and we can do so." Stolas handed a small stack of bills to a shady looking hellborn female, who smirked at the two of them before handing over a small stack of books. Octavia raised an eyebrow, craning her neck over to look at the items in question.

"'Imps In The Shee'-"

"Aahh!" Stolas tucked the books against his chest, a blushed adorning his face as he swung his arms around and tucked the books behind himself. "You need not look at these, Via. It's something just for your father." Octavia gave a deadpanned look to the mess that was her dad before huffing.

"Whatever. Let's just leave." Stolas nodded to his daughter's words.

"Let me just find a secluded corner or a secretive place to open a portal. I don't want any demons putting two and two together." He whispered. Octavia conceded to that point. She felt a tug from her arms, as several of the bags covering her sleeve were pulled away. With a smirk, Stolas hefted the taken objects into his own arms, alleviating some of the strain on his daughter.

Octavia smiled, taking the first steps deeper towards the corner of the fairgrounds.

Then the notes played.

(AN: Song: You - Bluecoats, Albert Avery, soundcloud /albertavery98/you-bluecoats)

It sounded like the chime of a bell, echoing through the air with a loose, wisp-like sound. The sustained tune danced listlessly through the air, accompanied by the notes to followed right after. Octavia turned her head towards the noise, the volume emanating down the walkway to her flank.

Stolas, also hearing the tambour of the song, couldn't help but listen in as the sounds of cymbals and acoustic drums filtered in behind the chiming notes. His eyes shifted to Octavia, who seemed to take steps towards the place of origin. Not bothering to hide his own slight interest, he accompanied, allowing his legs to give him strides towards the song.

Octavia turned towards the song just as the first impact of a snare drum came into volume.

Then the music swelled.

Octavia drew closer, finding herself behind a multitude of other demons who seemed to listen in with their own curiosity. It was thanks to her height that she was able to peek over top of the shorter individuals and look upon what was going on.

A demon stood behind a massive instrument, wide and covered with an assortment of metal and wooden pieces. Pale, grey face stared down onto the object of resonation. A pair of sticks with small balls on the ends were adorned in each hand. Octavia shifted passed a stockier hellborn, getting a better look. The demon shifted around the body of the instrument, their hands ghosting over the wooden planks as sticks danced across them, giving more tones to the air.

White hair shifted around as they continued to pulse, move and shift on the strange instrument. Octavia looked just behind him, noticing a light red demon. An incubus was also playing. They seemed to go along with the flow of the white haired demon, sitting behind a drumset and giving more life to the cacophony of sounds coming from their fellow performer.

The beats of the incubus followed in tandem, and sometimes led the other instrumentalist. The somber, smooth music contrasted with the nearly oppressive sounds from other performances abound. The volume allowed itself to be the strongest however, with Octavia being close enough to let the rest of the songs within the area fall to white noise.

The song grew soft, with the drumset switching to the cymbals and bells of their suspensions. The music swelled once more, the white haired sinner playing in sets of four notes, chords reverberating as the drums bounded along with it. The build of climactic tune expanded everlong, with the reprise of sound filling the space around the two musicians.

The final notes struck, with a graceful drop onto a secondary set of bells attached to the main frame. The chime-like noise whispered through the air, with the white haired musician bringing their arms down with an exhale.

Some demons clapped at the final moments, most merely walking away after the free performance in search of more to buy. A few scoffed, shaking their heads in negativity before departing. Stolas raised an eyebrow.

"Odd. I found the melodies quite soothing. Rather enjoyable, if I may say." To which Octavia nodded in agreement. Her father's taste was usually pretty bland in her opinion, but she kept that to herself for now.

"What do they call that thing he played on? I've never seen such an instrument before." She pondered, walking closer to the booth where it lay. The crowds had thinned, leaving much space for her to move. The two musicians were now locked in conversation. The incubus leaned against the side of his vender's booth, speaking to the white haired demon with a smirk on his face.

"For a shortstack, you sure know how to play. I can tell you messed up a few parts though. Luckily for you, I covered them with some extra beats." The incubus grinned toothily at the white haired demon.

"Cut me some slack. I haven't played since I came to Hell. It's not like I can go down to the local California Keyboards and rent one of these during my free time." The sinner said in defense.

"Funny you mention that place. I'm pretty sure I stole some instruments from them a few months back." The incubus chuckled. He scratched the back of his head in reminiscence. "Ahh, good times." The incubus went to speak again, only to notice to two figures listening in on the conversation. He looked over at the strange looking hellborns, giving a once over before placing himself before his wares.

"Sup." He gave a two finger salute. "Interested in anything you see? Other than the sinner. I'm keeping him." Leon couldn't stop the light red from flushing his cheeks. He glared at the back of the incubus.

Octavia waved her hands in negative. "No. Nothing like that. We were just curious is all." She admitted, her eyes going to the strange instrument. Then to the sinner who played on it. "We'll leave."

"Speak for yourself, Princess. I'm quite curious about this strange contraption." Stolas stepped passed his daughter.

"Dad!"

"P-Prince Stolas?" Octavia and Stolas froze, both turning towards the voice.

They were met with the sight of a familiar imp, standing side by side with an imp of equal relation. The male looked up at them with a mixture of confusion and shock, the female gazing at them with a raised eyebrow. Moxxie spoke. "I had no idea that a demon of stature would come to one of these. Then again, you don't look like yourselves at the moment."

"Well, they did go to Loo Loo Land. I guess their standards aren't sky high." Millie chimed in, a cheeky grin on her face.

"Touché." Was all Moxxie could say in response.

Octavia pointed at the duo. "Aren't you the little imps that work for that red dickhead?"

"If you're referring to Blitzø, then yes." Millie piped in before ducking passed the two of them and tackling the white haired sinner. Unprepared for the assault, they both went down in an instant. "Oh, Lee! You did so good up there! I wanted to record it, but some massive pile of ass was standing in the way of my phone!" She seemed to squeeze the sinner into submission, his palm tapping against the ground in surrender.

"Great musicianship. I'm curious if we would be able to play together in some manner, though that would require you to have full access to an instrument like this." Moxxie mulled over, ignoring the gasping sinner as he felt his bones fold to the surprising strength of the female imp.

"It's... okay, Mills. You... you can let go... now." Millie released her hold, letting the sinner gain access to air once more.

"You two know this weirdo?" Octavia couldn't help but ask. Said sinner was still on the ground, attempting to breath with an incubus looming over him, nudging him with a boot.

Moxxie looked to the two Goetia. "Leon was hired by Blitzø a few months ago. He's the accountant of the business now."

"Yep! He's the newest member of I.M.P., and it's been great having him around." Octavia looked to the sinner, who slowly removed themselves from the floor and took in another breath of air out of desperate need. He shook his head free of ground debris, allowing the Goetia demons to finally get a good look at him.

'He's a lot smaller up close.'

'Are those... holes in his throat? Is that a plug in one of them?'

"Wait. If you littler ones are here, then Blitzy must be here as well, correct?" Stolas said with excitement. He deflated with a shake of a head from the male imp.

"Sorry, your highness, but Blitzø was preoccupied for the day, and decided not to join us." Moxxie explained.

"Oh, a shame." Stolas deflated. He perked up however, instead walking towards the instrument that Leon had played on. The instrument set contently at the stand still, the incubus from before cleaning up some of the auxillary pieces from his drum set. "As I said before, this intrigues me. I've never heard of such an instrument, nor of the types of sounds it produces. It reminds me of a piano in design, though clearly you use a type of stick to hit them instead."

The incubus nodded their head, eyes casting over the tall 'hellspawn' in front of him. "You're right." He explained. "This instrument is called a marimba, and this one specifically is an Adams 5. Good quality product back on Earth." The incubus gave a sulty smile. "Though you seem more the type to play a woodwind... perhaps something you could blow~"

Stolas gave them incubus an interesting look. "So you use your Asmodean Crystal to collect things from Earth? I thought such a thing was illegal? After all, incubus go topside to fornicate with humans in order to increase the influence of Lust on Earth, correct?" He inquired. Stolas knew it was illegal, but he had a fake appearance to maintain, after all.

The incubus smirked. "Technically, you're right on all that. However, we are allowed to bring home trinkets from our... sexual relations." The incubus smirked. "Let's just say that most of my instruments are 'gifts' in a way."

Stolas couldn't completely argue with that logical loophole. "How much for the 'marimba', as you call it? Money is of no issue." He said behind his demon disguise. The incubus smirked.

Octavia watched her father's 'expert' bartering skills go into play. She rolled her eyes, hefting the bags of purchased goods onto her shoulders via the straps.

"How are you doing, Princess?" Octavia cranes her head, then downwards. The female imp from Loo Loo land is giving her a large smile, her own hands full of merchandise. "I take it that you've been enjoying the market?" She shrugged her shoulders.

"It's been fine." Octavia muttered. 'Better than Loo Loo Land by a longshot.' She thought to herself.

Millie smiled. "I'm glad. Little girlies like yourself need to be able to go out and explore stuff like this. I'm sure you remember my darling husband, Moxxie, right?" She pulled forward a stumbling little red imp, who nearly fell over from the items in his arms swinging to and fro from the sudden hoist.

"I remember, yeah. He offered morphine to me." Moxxie blushed.

"Sorry about that, by the way." He said sheepishly.

"You two know this girl?" A voice of static plucked the air. The white haired sinner from before walked up from behind the two imps, his height standing well above theirs.

"Oh yeah!" Millie gestured her arms to both the sinner and Octavia. "You two have never met. Leon, this is Prince Stolas's daughter." She whispered the last part from behind her hand. "Princess, this is Leon, I.M.P.'s accountant and a friend of ours!"

Leon gave her a smile, offering a hand. "Nice to meet you." His voice grated the air as though a damages radio played the words. "I'm not sure if I should bow or something. Then again, never met a royal before." Octavia gave him an unimpressed look. However, she took up the hand weakly.

"So..." Leon pulled back, looking over a little bit. "Your dad and Blit-"

"Don't." She glared at him.

"Got it." Leon surrendered. "I won't bring it up." He looked down at her apparel. "'Fuck You, Dad', huh? I've heard of them, but never got a listen." He pointed out.

Octavia raised an eyebrow. "An old man like you listening to 'Fuck You Dad'? You seem like you would listen to music my dad does."

"I have no idea what your dad listens to, but I enjoy Rock and Metal mainly." Leon crossed his arms ."And I'm not that old. I was 27 when I died." He argued.

"Leon, you're older than us?" Moxxie sputtered out. "I mean, sure, you're mature, but based on your appearance, I had assumed, well..." His words fizzled out.

Octavia crossed her arms over her chest. "You're older than the old man behind you. Makes sense though, considering you sound like you smoke a pack a day." She smirked.

Leon gave a light glare back. "At least I have good taste in music." His voice crackled in the air.

"Oh, so I don't have good taste?" Octavia jabbed.

"Not what I said." Leon huffed. "If you ever want to listen to the kind of music that started goth and emo punk, let me know. I can tell that's probably more your flavor anyway. Your father should have the number to I.M.P., so I'll leave it up to you." The Goetia gives him a raised eyebrow, but she says nothing. She looked past him, noting that her dad was holding out a large stack of bills to a gleeful looking incubus.

"Well... take care, Princess." He offers lamely, having noticed she wasn't even looking at him anymore.

"Not my name." She said snidely.

"Well, what is your name?"

"I'm not sure I should tell you. You could be a kid diddler for all I know." Leon shook his head.

"Okay then. Bye Princess."

"Like I said. Not my name." She reiterated.

"Of course, your Majesty."

Some Time Later

Leon, Moxxie, and Millie made their way from the main doors of the market. Music could still be heard as they ushered themselves out, mixtures of different tunes and beats creating a broth of white noise to crowd the air. The pentagram in the sky began to dim somewhat, it's hot red glow dimming to a cooler maroon.

"Lee, this was so much fun!" Millie said in delight. She toted her bags over her shoulder, the heft of the various items not bothering her in the slightest. "We gotta do this again next year!"

"Other than that baphomet trying to take one of our bags, this was a pretty safe event." Moxxie admitted. "I wasn't expecting so many different hellborns attending this sort of thing. Sinners and imps, sure, but it felt like everyone in hell was represented here." Moxxie struggled somewhat with the bags on his person, but thanks to Millie taking the heavier of the items, his load wasn't too cumbersome.

Leon pulled out his hellphone, opening up his taxi app and sending a notification for a car to come pick them up from the outskirts of the parking lot. Based on the time it usually took for someone to come, he went ahead and messaged early, as they still had a lot of ground to cover before they were outside the region where a car could spot them, let alone park long enough to let them aboard. "I think it comes down to the fact that sinners kinda bring whatever they want to the table. Not to be insensitive, but most demons kinda fall into tropes or lifestyles depending on what ring they are from."

"Oh, is that so?" Moxxie raised an eyebrow. "Well, then. I suppose that you would know where Millie and I were raised, based on your 'stereotyping'?" He ended with finger quotations.

Leon put an index to his chin, a hum of static channeling through his breast pocket as he 'hmm'ed in thought. The three continued to walk down the dirt paths, the hill of the market leading them downwards into the parking zones below. "Millie is definitely from Wrath. I've met imps from there before, and they're all as rustic, aggressive, and foolhardy as she is."

"Aww, thanks Lee!" She giggled. "I'm sure you meant that as a compliment, right?" She asked, her voice dropping lowly.

"O-Of course. No offense meant behind it." He stammered out quickly. "Kinda like the south of United States. I'm sure you've been there before, depending if you've ever kill anyone there."

"Oh, for sure!" She perked up. "There was even this guy who reminded me of my Pa's neighbor. Too bad he was a scumsuckin' piece of shit who killed his own kid over a lottery ticket." Leon wasn't sure which direction that went, so just left it there. He turned to Moxxie.

"You on the other hand. It's clear you're a red hellspawn from Wrath, but based on the way you carry yourself, hmm... you carry yourself like an imp from Gluttony, maybe even Greed." Moxxie gave a look, but didn't say anything to refute his guess. "I could be wrong though. After all, environment doesn't always equal end result."

"You're right about that!/Couldn't agree more." Millie and Moxxie said in tandem.

"Sinners though..." Leon went back to his point. "There are so many cultures on Earth, that when they end up here, there can be a thousand different ideals that can get mixed up in Pentagram City. I'm not trying to put either of you down, it's just that Earth has so many different groups of people that when they get mixed up, you have no idea what to expect. Especially from the sinners who end up here."

Leon looked up at the Pentagram in the air. The rays of red light simmered with heat, the slow rotation shifting aimlessly through the darkening skies. He took in a deep breath, exhaling. "And those who hopefully never will." The bags shifted on his shoulders as he hoisted them up higher. He smiled back at his two friends. "Regardless of all that. I'm glad that you two are the way you are. It's nice to have friends of good company." Moxxie and Millie soaked in the words, giving each other a smile before locking lips. Millie pulled away, hugging her husband close before turning to the excluded individual.

"Glad to be of service, Mr-Diverse-and-Unique-Sinnerman." Leon chuckled at the goofy statement.

"Nah, I'm as bland as they come. The only thing I got going for me is that I can read numbers and sheet music." Leon paused. "Speaking of which, did that Prince guy, Stolas I think, buy that marimba?" Leon asked. He was met with a nod of a head from Moxxie.

"Prince Stolas seemed to find it interesting." The male imp expressed lamely. "Based on the money exchanged, I'm going to say that he bought it for himself. Though whether he will learn to play it is a mystery." Leon nodded.

"Well, if he wants someone to teach him. I would be down for that. Heck, maybe we could get him involved in playing together. Myself and the Prince on Marimba, you on guitar." He suggested. Millie laughed, trotting past him with her bags heft in both arms.

"I would love to see that. You could probably ask B~ to ask Stolas about it if you're that interested in it. Playing that thing again, that is." She offered. "It sounded good, even if you apparently messed up."

Leon smiled. "I might just have to do that." He dug into his pocket for his phone. "I forgot what it was like to play one. My fingers are still kinda raw from where I gripped the mallets, but it's a good feeling. That's the first marimba I've seen in years, so letting it just collect dust because some rich guy wanted to add it to their collection wouldn't be ri~..." Leon stopped walking, Moxxie nearly running into his back.

"Leon, what's wrong?" Moxxie stepped back, moving to the sinner's side.

"What up, Lee?" Millie turned around to face him. Then she noticed the look on his face.

Leon stared down at his phone screen, the maroons of his eyes dilated wide as his read across the short message.

Message: 3 Min Ago

Blitzø (Boss)

'Ur Fyrd'

Message: 2 Min Ago

Blitzø (Boss)

'Fyred*'

Message: 2 Min Ago

Blitzø (Boss)

'Your Fyred'

End Chapter

Oh boy. What happened? Is this due to Leon not being needed anymore? Maybe something involving Loona? Only the next chapter can possibly tell.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. As always, if you enjoyed the story thus far, please leave a review if you wanted to express your feelings about it thus far and follow/favorite. Thank you all.

Until Next Time, See Ya!