After the current had taken her a fair distance away from the flaming wreckage, only then did Octavia finally resurface from the blood, gasping for air as she grabbed onto a nearby stalagmite and searched frantically for a certain Cat Demon.
"Mick?" she called. "MICK!?"
Alas, no matter how many times she called out to him she couldn't see him. Soon enough, terror began to fill the young Demon's heart, for now, she was on her own in the middle of a river of blood with no more means of safely travelling on it. She tried not to panic, but the thought of more monsters swimming the crimson waters made for a pretty bad deterrent. But aside from that, what she was most afraid of was the fact that she was now alone, a fear that had long haunted her dreams and existence for a multitude of reasons. Oh, what she wouldn't give to wake up from this terrible nightmare.
"Octavia!" A voice called out, snapping her from her thoughts.
Snapping her head around, looking for the source of the voice, Octavia gasped in shock and relief upon seeing the very Demon she was looking for. As she watched him swimming towards her with a piece of driftwood under his stomach, Octavia couldn't believe her eyes when Mick looked back at her with a relieved smile of his own.
"Mick!" She cheered, launching herself from the stalagmite and grabbing hold of the driftwood as it passed by her. "Oh, thank Lucifer! You're alive!"
"Well I was the last time I looked," Mick chuckled, being just as happy to see her as she was to see him.
Gladdened to see that the Cat Demon was alright, Octavia couldn't help but look back in the direction from which they came, her face quickly turning serious for a moment as she gazed upon the flaming wreckage that was once their boat.
"The Golgothan?" she said, looking for any signs of the monstrous piece of waste. "Is it…?"
Though she was unable to finish her question, the look of glee Mick had in his eyes gave the Goetia Demon her answer.
"It's okay," he replied, raising his fist in victory. "We fucking roasted it!"
At those words, the two Demons cheered themselves for their victory, unable to contain themselves with how much joy they felt at that moment. After everything that had happened to them in the last 24 hours, their close brushes with death especially, having one win was worth so much more than they could have hoped for… However, their celebration was cut short when a new sound caught their attention, one that was growing louder and louder as they continued to drift. Suddenly, Mick's eyes widened with horror as the source of the noise came into view.
"Uh… Octavia," he gulped, pointed a terrified finger up ahead. "Are waterfalls supposed to flow UP!?"
Snapping her head around to see what the Cat Demon was talking about, Octavia too gasped in horror. Just as Mick had described it, just a few yards ahead was what could only be described as a waterfall in reverse. As the blood flowed towards it, the current swept it upward into a vast black opening that led to who knows where… and the two drifting Demons were floating right towards it with no way to avoid getting caught up.
"Oh no, not again!" Octavia exclaimed, unconsciously gripping onto Mick's hand in fear.
"Hold your breath!" Mick added, following his own instructions.
Taking one large gulp of air just in the nick of time, all Octavia and Mick could do now was to wait and hope that they would end up somewhere better as they were both swept up in the current, both their heads going completely under as the reverse waterfall carried them into the unknown.
Lulu World. One of, if not THE greatest theme park in all of Hell, and most certainly NOT to be confused with the shameless rip-off that resides in the Greed Ring. Needless to say, since this park was the sole property of none other than Lucifer himself, it too was under the same protection as the residences of the Hellish Nobility. However, that didn't mean that the Exorcists weren't allowed to take advantage of the surrounding areas. For example, though they couldn't step foot inside the park, they weren't restricted when it came to flying ABOVE it. As such, should any unlucky Demon be simply walking outside the fence, all any of the crueller Exorcists had to do was pick them up off the ground, fly them up so high they couldn't see it anymore… and just let them drop. Those who didn't end up getting impaled on protruding spikes from the park's attractions ended up becoming smears on the ground that the resident cannibals were able to drink through a straw.
Due to this, the whole of Lulu World had to be shut down for the whole week after the Extermination was over. Much to their dismay, it fell to the workers who ran the park to clean everything up now that there were no angels to worry about. Since the crack of dawn, they had been shovelling up every chunk of flesh and hosing down every ride, trying to get the blood out of it, before performing other forms of maintenance.
One ride, in particular, Slash Mountain, being one of the most popular of the attractions, had the fortune of being one of the first to go through the procedure. Had it been in operation, Demons would get in a boat-shaped car and glide over a river of blood, passing by over 100 terrifying animatronic mascots carrying bladed weapons and laughing insanely, before going on an exciting 7-story splashdown drop over a bloody waterfall and soaring across an entire lake of blood and metal swords tied up into the shape of trees. However at this moment in time, given how many bodies had been dropped near the ride, the entirety of the blood was completely drained, allowing the maintenance workers to haul out the bodies that were clogging up the machinery. Soon enough, however, every scrap was cleared out.
"Alright, pump it up!" the head overseer called out, a husky pig-faced Demon with four large tusks sticking out of both sides of his bottom jaw.
Upon those instructions, his Imp subordinates started operating the nearby control panel, and soon enough a gushing flow of fresh blood began spurting out of a large pipe sticking out of the concrete ditch that served as the attraction's lake basin. Nobody really knew where the blood came from, in fact, most of them didn't even care, but from what the manager of the park understood, Lucifer had an underground reserve of the stuff just sitting underground that needed to be used, and Lulu World seemed to be the best option available.
At first, all seemed to be carrying on as it normally should, however as soon as the lake was half full and the blood was pumping through the attraction, one of the workers heard a strange noise coming from the main blood pipe. Leaning over the safety railing and looking down into the half-empty ditch, he noticed that the blood in the pipe was suddenly churning in an odd manner, until…
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
"What the flying fuck!?"
Startled by the sudden screams which followed the two figures bursting out of the tube, the worker instantly fell back in shock, his jaw-dropping to the ground as he watched the screaming forms of Mick and Octavia shoot up into the sky and plummet face-first in the pool along with the piece of driftwood that they had. Coughing out all the blood that they had taken in as they both broke the surface, the two Demons looked around, trying to figure out where exactly they landed. To their delight, the fact that they were able to see a familiar red sky only meant one thing, and that was the fact that they were no longer in the underground river... They were back in the Pride Ring!
"Holy shit," Mick gasped. "We made it! We're alive!"
The moment those words left the Cat Demon's mouth, the pair of them cheered with a mixture of joy and relief. Tackling each other in a blind hug, neither one of them even cared about the awkwardness of it, because for the both of them, the horrible nightmare was finally over.
"Hey, what the hell are you little bastards doing down there!?"
With their moment of celebration rudely interrupted, both Mick and Octavia snapped their heads straight up, seeing the pig-faced manager leaning over the safety railing and snarling down at them as he contemplated just how two strangers ended up interrupting his work. Pulling away from each other with an uncomfortable glance, Mick could only say the first thing that popped into his head as he called up his answer to the manager.
"Oh… hey," he said awkwardly. "You wouldn't happen to have a Hellphone we can use, would you?"
"AAH!"
"OOF!"
It took no more than a few minutes for the burly workers of Lulu World to pull Mick and Octavia out of the half-filled blood pool, pick them both up by the scruff of their necks and forcefully carry them over to the front gate of the park, not even bothering to open it up as they tossed them both over the fence with a painful thud.
"And stay out, you fucking waifs!"
Needless to say, neither Mick nor Octavia appreciated being treated in such a manner, especially after all that they have been through in the last hour alone. However, it was clear that the pig-faced Demon couldn't give a rat's ass with how he treated the pair of them as he stared back through the fence at them lying flat on their backs in the carpark. Of course, Octavia was NOT going to take such disgusting treatment lying down.
"Oh yeah?" she snarled, staggering off of Mick's back and rising to her feet, before attempting to march right back up to the fence and rip the pig's head off. "Well fuck you too, you fat bastard!
However, before Octavia could force her hands through the bars of the fence to take hold of the swine's flabby neck, Mick quickly rose to her feet, ignoring the severe amount of pain in his back as he put himself between the Goetia Demon and her potential murder victim.
"Octavia, no!" he scolded, grabbing her by the shoulders and holding her back. "Come on, he's not worth iiiiiiiiiiiiiioh god, he's got a gun! RUN!"
Of course, the Pig Demon was carrying a pistol in his pocket! After all, it's Hell! So why wouldn't he!? That was about the second thing going through Mick and Octavia's minds as they both ran for it as soon as he took it out, the first being the words "Shit! Shit! Shit!" Thankfully, the pig-faced asshole didn't bother pulling the trigger, feeling that the scare he gave the two was enough as he snickered while watching them run through the carpark.
After about 10 minutes of running, fleeing as far away from Lulu World as fast as their legs could carry them, both Mick and Octavia finally allowed themselves a moment to catch their breath as they sat on the edge of the pavement of a random street. Now that they were back on the surface, all they had to worry about now was the potential mugger, which after dealing with the Golgothan sounded like a walk in the park right now. Of course, in Octavia's case, getting mugged would just be the icing on the cake, considering she was still completely pissed about being treated with such disrespect earlier.
"What an asshole!" she snarled, slamming her fist against her knee. "I mean I know it's Hell and all, but he didn't have to be such a dick after you asked to use his phone. And what the fuck's a waif, anyway!?"
Rolling his eyes at the question, Mick was a little beside himself about whether or not he should answer given how pissed off the Goetia Demon clearly was. Alas, he soon enough relented.
"It's basically a fancy word for an under-age hobo," he answered, not even attempting to sugar-coat his words. "I'm surprised you don't know it."
As the Cat Demon expected, Octavia did not take that answer well. In fact, she was so pissed off upon hearing the clarification, she rose to her feet, picked up the nearest piece of garbage and threw it away with an infuriated yell. Not that he could blame her obviously, given the circumstances. Although to be fair, given how they looked and smelled, thinking that the two Demons were a pair of homeless people would have been an easy mistake to make. With their clothes ripped up, missing, and/or stained red from the blood river, added with the fact that they both stink of shit, vomit and weed, how could anyone think otherwise? Soon enough, Octavia found herself once again taking a seat on the sidewalk and letting out an exasperated sigh, showing that she was finally done with her little outburst.
"Calmed down now?" Mick joked, hoping to lighten the mood a little.
Deciding not to give a verbal answer, Octavia responded with an unamused glare, clearly not in the mood for jokes. However, her expression quickly changed to a look of worry when she suddenly noticed something odd about how Mick looked, aside from the obvious blood soaking.
"Uh… Mick," she said awkwardly, pointing a finger towards the Cat Demon's back. "You've... got a knife in your shoulder."
At those words, Mick's eyes snapped wide open and he reached a hand over his back. Sure enough, the Cat Demon felt a solid metal object poking just a centimetre or two into his right shoulder blade, undoubtedly something he got stabbed with after the Golgothan exploded and the blades went flying everywhere. More than likely the reason why he was unable to notice it until now was because of all the adrenaline still pumping through him after dealing with such a traumatic experience… that or the sheer amount of weed he had been smoking had dulled his senses to the point where he just didn't feel anything.
"Aw shit!" he exclaimed, reluctantly reaching for the handle of the blade and giving it a good hard pull, freeing it from his shoulder in an instant. "AH! Sweet Christ that's smarts!"
"JESUS! You okay!?" Octavia said worriedly, completely astonished that Mick did such a thing on his own.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Mick replied, trying to brush it off despite his painful grunt. "Besides, it's not like this is a Heavenly blade, I'll heal in a day or two. Heck, might even make a good few bob after I sell this knife off."
Despite his obvious joke, Octavia did see the point in Mick's choice of words. After all, as Demons, such things like injuries and illnesses aren't as hazardous to them as they would be living humans. Granted they could still get hurt, and feel the horrible after effects, but none of it would get them down for very long, in fact even if they were to receive a fatal injury, the only real thing that can kill a Demon permanently were the weapons that the Exorcists carried. Heck, once they reach a certain age, even Hellborns like Octavia would be as ageless as the Sinners are, as such even they were subject to the quick healing despite still feeling the pain. Because of this, Octavia was able to ignore the injuries to her hands despite wrapping them around barbed wire before she and Mick actually met.
Of course, despite that particular detail, that didn't change the fact that the Exorcists and the weapons were something to be feared, which was evident by all the bodies that still littered the streets around the two Demons. Taking a few glances at the area around them, both Mick and Octavia grimaced as they saw body after body either being shovelled up, pried off any protruding objects that they were impaled on, or simply being eaten by the resident cannibals after getting cleaned out by the surviving opportunists who felt the need to loot them. In a nutshell, the very sight of it all was something out of a nightmare. In fact, the only consolation either Mick or Octavia had was the fact that none of the Demons who were still walking around paid them any attention, more than likely thinking they were just a pair of homeless people, the type of Demons they tended to ignore anyway.
"No matter how many times I see it, the aftermath of the slaughter is just… too horrific for words," Octavia sighed, remembering all the times she had to see the same thing every year through her bedroom window.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Mick said in agreement. "You should have seen what the west side of the Pentagram was like last year, now THAT was a mess."
Both Octavia and Mick couldn't help but cringe at that, the pair of them recalling their respective events all too well. In fact, the memory was so disturbing, Octavia felt the need to change the subject.
"So... what now?" she asked, her mind completely blank despite having a little time to recollect herself.
At first Mick didn't really give an answer, instead choosing to readjust his mask and take another look around. After recollecting his own thoughts, he then said something that caught Octavia by surprise.
"Well, the first thing we need to do… is get you home. After being out of contact for so long, I imagine your dad's got all 26 of his legions searching for you by now."
Octavia just couldn't believe her ears. Despite risking his life to help her multiple times in the last 24 hours alone, putting up with her moodiness and the fact that they still barely knew each other, Mick was still willing to do more for her. Just how generous was this guy!? Well, in any case, the Cat Demon did have a point. While her mother's parenting may be… questionable, there was no denying how much of a doting father Prince Stolas was. In fact, she wouldn't be surprised if Mick's assumption was correct and that he had already had everyone under his employ tear up at least a third of Hell by this point. However…
"How are we going to do that?" Octavia asked, trying to comprehend what it was that was going through Mick's head. "We're miles from my house and neither of us has any cash or our Hellphones."
Sadly, Octavia did have a point. Not only did the river of blood carry both her and Mick far away from where they originally fell, which was evident by the location Lulu World was housed in, but thanks to their unfortunate circumstances, neither of them had their wallets and their Hellphones were nothing more than either shrapnel or blood-soaked scrap by now. However Mick didn't seem to be deterred by that fact.
"No problem," he said, casually rising to his feet. "Leave that to me."
Unable to understand what Mick had in mind, all Octavia could do was sit and watch as the Cat Demon casually strolled up to a random Demon walking by, one who had purple skin, blue teeth and was wearing a black and white striped suit and speaking to someone on his Hellphone.
"Excuse me, sir," Mick said, tapping the Demon on the shoulder to gain his attention. "Would you mind allowing me the use of your phone, please?"
Of course, the Demon responded in the only way he felt appropriate when a random stranger was interrupting his phone call and demanding his personal property.
"Piss off!"
One snap and shove later, all Mick could do then was roll his eyes in annoyance.
"Well," he muttered. "I tried to be nice."
POW!
Within a matter of seconds, the Cat Demon gave the random Demon a punch to the stomach, forcing him to keel over in pain as he snatched up his Hellphone. As the Demon fell to the ground, passing out from being completely winded, Mick couldn't help but notice a black leather wallet sticking out of his pocket. Shrugging his shoulders, he decided to help himself and grabbed that as well, his face only turning sour the moment he looked inside it.
"Only 10 Souls?" he muttered, taking out the only money bill and casually tossing the wallet over his shoulder. "Fucking cheapskate."
Witnessing all of this from the sidelines, Octavia was slightly shocked by the quick turn to violence that the Cat Demon had used. Then again, after everything that they had both gone through, a little violence was more than acceptable. Hell, she would've done the same thing if she were in his shoes, in fact, she practically was back at Lulu World.
"Here you go," Mick said, casually tossing Octavia the Hellphone and pocketing the cash. "Go ahead and call your dad. Tell him where you are and have him come pick you up."
Feeling the phone in her hand, Octavia couldn't help but allow herself to smile with relief as a small tear crept to the corner of her eye.
"Thanks, Mick," she said, dialling her father's number.
Being the only condition her father had before she was even allowed to have her own phone, Octavia knew both his and her mother's numbers by heart, which was just as well considering this condition was justly needed for situations such as this. Dialling her father's number and placing the Hellphone to her ear, she swallowed a nervous gulp as heard the dial tone before hearing a familiar voice.
"Hi… Dad," she said awkwardly, suddenly pulling the phone away from her ears before it was suddenly bludgeoned by a loud wail from the other end of the call.
"VIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
It took about five minutes before Octavia was able to calm her father down enough for them both to have a somewhat normal conversation… well, as normal as it could get given the amount of blubbering and cheers of joy her father kept spurting out for her safety despite Octavia constantly assuring him that she was alright. After giving him a quick rundown of what happened to her, choosing to spare him some of the more horrific details such as the river of blood and the Golgothan for when she was sure he could handle it, Octavia then gave her father the exact details of where she and Mick found themselves. The moment he received that information, Stolas told his daughter that he would be sending a car to pick her up immediately. About an hour after Octavia hung up the phone, a black limousine came driving around the corner, causing her to gain a relieved smile.
"Looks like my ride's here," she sighed, turning back to Mick who leaned up against a nearby lamppost. "Are you sure we can't give you a lift?"
Octavia had made the initial offer when she finished the phone call to her dad, feeling that she should at least do that much for Mick after what he had done for her, but alas, the Cat Demon gave her the same answer as he did then.
"Nah, I'll be fine," he said, giving the Goetia Demon a casual shrug. "Besides you wouldn't want a mangy thing like me cramping your style on your ride home."
As much as she wanted to give a retort, Octavia knew that she wasn't going to win this debate. Despite barely knowing him for a day, she had a very strong feeling that Mick was the type of person who was just as stubborn as she was. When the limo finally pulled up next to them, the Goetia Demon took yet another nervous gulp, knowing that now was the time to say something she had kept mentally trying to form the right words ever since she and Mick got back to the Pride Ring.
"Listen," she said, turning towards Mick with a soft gaze. "Thank you for saving my life… twice. I know I wasn't the most pleasant company down there, but I want you to know that if there is anything I can do to pay you back, I'll be more than happy to see it done."
Hearing this, Mick couldn't help but snicker. After all, it wasn't every day that people said nice things to each other in Hell… especially when said person was a member of the Hellish Nobility.
"I appreciate that, but you don't need to do anything," he chuckled. "Just try to lighten up once in a while and we'll call it even."
"Oh shut up." Octavia laughed, giving him a playful jab in the shoulder, causing him to wince since it was the one the knife was in earlier.
After that, Octavia stepped inside the limo, however before she closed the door behind her, she took one last look at the Cat Demon and gave him yet another one of her rare smiles.
"Seriously Mick… thanks," she said. "You really are an okay guy."
Though Octavia couldn't see it from behind his metallic mask, Mick too gave the young Goetia Demon a gentle smile, one which was followed by a small deferential bow.
"As a wise man once said: one is glad to be of service," he replied, placing one hand over his chest, the other pointing off to the side and keeping his head low.
Octavia didn't know whether this was meant to be a joke, or that Mick was trying to show proper respect, but nonetheless, she couldn't help but laugh. If she didn't know any better, she would say that he was nothing short of a gentleman.
"You are SUCH a dork." She mused, closing the door and rolling down the window, allowing Mick to see her face just a few moments more.
"Well, if you're ever near Deagle's Apartments again, be sure to drop by my place," he said. "Maybe we can grab a coffee or something."
Once again, Octavia couldn't help but smile.
"I'd like that," she said.
"See ya... Octi,"
Those were the last words Mick had been able to tell her before Octavia's chauffeur got the vehicle moving again. Staring back at the Cat Demon through the back window, she couldn't help but feel a little sad to see him shrink further and further away as she was driven home. The moment he disappeared out of sight completely, she let out a heavy sigh. But even so, despite not being able to see him anymore, there was something the Cat Demon said that still stuck with her.
"Octi?"
As far as she knew, no one had ever called her that before. Most Demons normally called her by her full name, or in the case of her father and a few close relations, she was called "Via" for short. It may have been silly to get so worked up over a new nickname, especially when it came from someone she had only met yesterday and yet… she actually kinda liked it. She didn't know why, but she actually liked being called that for some reason. In any case, one thing was for sure. Despite all the awful things that had happened to her over the last 24 hours, meeting the Cat Demon was certainly not one of them.