WARNING: The following contains graphic violence and injury descriptions, strong language, sexual themes, mentions of domestic violence and gaslighting, as well as rampant demon horniness… so yes, it's intended for mature audiences.
VIEWER/READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!
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3rd Person POV
'What'm I s'posed ta tell'er…?' Ayden thought to herself as she walked up to the Goetia family mansion, her paws wringing each other anxiously.
It'd been a week since the whole "her father coming to explain his life and get to know his daughter before eventually realizing he was just trying to use her for some crackpot dream of worlds domination plan" and Ayden hadn't responded to any of Via's texts or even looked at them so she was nervous about possibly facing her after ghosting her the whole week during her power lesson with Stolas.
'I hafta lea'n how to control them so he can't make me use'em 'gainst 'my frien-huh?' Her thoughts were cut off when she saw a giant moving truck with imps trying to shove countless items into it and the sound of Stolas yelling was heard close by.
'Guess he fin'lly dumped the cunt…' Ayden thought remembering Stella, Via's mom and Stolas' wife who he constantly complained about during a couple of past power lessons when he wasn't asking her about Blitzø.
Once she made it to the front of the mansion,
"Hey Stolas?"
"Well do you want it all before tomorrow or not?!" He shouted through the phone and more squawking was heard before he noticed Ayden standing slightly behind him and questioned, "Oh Ayden when did you get here?"
She deadpanned at him before answering,
"Jus' now…"
"I'm sorry but I'm afraid today's lesson is canceled." He told her before turning back to the scene in front of him as Ayden shouted at the same time he yelled at Stella,
"What?!"
"You're the one who's too stingy to hire a second van!"
"But ya already canceled the last two less'ns in the last month-"
"Get that plant in there and piss in it while you're at it!" Stolas told an imp who was moving a large plant toward the truck.
"You promis'd you'd help me unde'stand these powers so I woul'n't-"
"Look I don't have time for this right now!" Stolas turned back to snap at her before facing forward again to yell into the phone again.
"Grrr…." Ayden growled through clenched teeth as her fists started to heat up and her hair started to flame up a bit before they extinguished as she gave a harsh exhale through her nose and turned to stomp away.
Once she was a fair ways away from the truck but not quite back off the property, Ayden thought to herself,
'Welp… 't's eitha find Via or go back to the off'ce whe'e Blitzø's givin' Loona 'the talk' right 'bout now…'
"Ma'be Via's free 'fter all…" Ayden declared, making her choice.
She looked back at Stolas, scoffing at how he was still yelling at Stella through the phone, before she snuck off into the mansion, keeping out of sight of the imp butlers who were still scurrying around trying to get all of Stella's belongings into the moving van outside.
'Now where's the-huh?' Ayden thought to herself before she saw Via climbing out of the kitchen window to the outside.
'What the…?' Ayden followed her, shifting to hellcat form to keep out of sight, following her all the way back to the city before she realized she was heading toward I.M.P. headquarters.
'Oh boy…' She thought to herself as she stayed outside while Via went into the building.
Inside, it was just as chaotic as Ayden was thinking with Moxxie watching with a smug grin from the couch as Blitzø had to dodge things thrown at him from Loona even as he tried to reason with her,
"Loona, honey, wait just a-shit!"
He ran backwards when Loona rushed forward looking totally pissed even as Blitzø tried to calm her down,
"Loonie, please, can we talk-"
*WHAP!*
An empty water dispenser jug hit him in the face, giving him a black eye.
"FUCK! Uh, I mean, wow! Good throw, honey! I-I'm so proud of you-uuuu!"
Right before Loona pounced on him, pinning him to the ground as she wrenched a picture off the wall and started beating Blitzø with it over and over again.
Millie walked past the smackdown to join her husband on the couch before she jumped up onto his lap while he poured her a mug of coffee so she could ask him,
"What's this all about, honey?"
"*Schlllll* Ah, oh!" Moxxie took a loud sip from his coffee mug before answering, "Blitzø finally talked to her about her attitude with clients."
"Glad Ayden's not here then." Millie commented, remembering how things were still tense between the two of them for the past week before their thoughts were halted when Blitzø moved the couch to use as a shield against a slowly approaching growling Loona as he told her,
"I just think some small tweaks might help you be more of a uh, people person, you know?"
"I am a people person!" Loona snapped before she reached forward and grabbed Blitzø by the collar to snarl in his face, "If I'm so terrible, how about you just grow a pair and replace me?"
"Okay, well, maybe I-Maybe I might." Blitzø stuttered before saying firmly.
"What?" Loona questioned, slightly taken back at the change of attitude.
Blitzø looked back at Moxxie as he gave him a thumbs up encouraging him to turn back to Loona and assert,
"Maybe I will, little missy! Yeah, that's right it's tough love time. So, now you can... go... to your desk!"
Making Loona growl before she dropped him to stomp back to her desk, the whole thing having been watched by Ayden as she was attached to the side of the building watching from the windows trying to find Via.
Inside, Via opened the front door to somersault in with her hair wrapped around her face and neck like a scarf to sneak around as Moxxie assured Blitzø while giving him a shoulder massage,
"Sir, if I may say so; you're doing the right thing. If we can't even hire a cheerful qualified receptionist, how can people trust us to massacre and mutilate their enemies for them? It's good for business."
'Oh crikey…' Ayden wanted to facepalm when she saw that Loona saw Via sneaking around but went back to her phone scrolling, letting Via sneak into Blitzø's office.
"Ok 'ere we go…" Ayden had to carefully shuffle to the side to get to the window leading into Blitzø's office to peek through the blinds as she saw Via rummaging through his desk, looking for something before she turned her head back 180 degrees to look at the framed picture of the I.M.P. group.
'Nooooo….?' Ayden thought to herself in disbelief as Via moved the picture to reveal a safe covered in spider webs with "Blitzø's stuf Do Nut Steel!" with a drawing of two horses drawn on in marker.
'Least she can't get i-'
Ayden's thought was cut off when Via entered the code 1-2-3-4 and the safe swung open, allowing her to grab her father's Grimoire and flip through it.
'Blitzø dammit…' Ayden deadpanned in her thoughts before her ear twitched as she heard Via whisper,
"Take me to see the stars."
A pentagram appeared around her as black and purple swirls of power streamed toward the ceiling before a portal opened on the wall.
In the few seconds before the imps crashed into the room, weapons raised, and Via stepped through the portal, Ayden caught a whiff of the scent coming through the portal and her blood froze in her veins at the familiarity of it.
'Oh shite! AH!' Ayden had let go of the edge of the building in her shock and was falling back towards the street when she grabbed and swung her chain to attach to a fire escape ladder in the alley and swung herself back down to the floor, landing in a crouch before she got up, reeled her chain back in, and tugged on her hair as she growled in frustration,
"Fuck me dead! Now I gotta go back the'e?! Ugh!"
She kicked a trash can over before settling down enough to harshly sigh,
"Haaah! She's gonna get'erself killed… 'lright then…"
She turned to the wall and drew the portal outline, picturing the one place she didn't want to return to but had to to find her friend; the City of Angels, her birth city, Los Angeles.
Once she stepped through and found herself on top of a church where people were outside shouting,
"Protest! Protest! Protest!"
While holding up signs that read "demons walk among us", "God hates you personally", and "- To Hell," making Ayden roll her eyes and focus up as she questioned to herself,
"Now whe'e could you b-?"
*SKRR!* *BEEP!* *ERRRRR!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!*
The sound of cars swerving to stop and honking more than usual caught her attention as her ear twitched and she sniffed the air, making her eyes light up a pinkish orange as she saw and smelled a familiar owl demon running across the street causing the gridlock.
'Bingo.' Ayden thought before she jumped across the buildings after her.
After avoiding the protest group and barely swerving out of the way of a golden statue guy, Via fell to the ground, dropping the Grimoire, as two ladies stared at her in alarm and disgust before she hurried to pick the Grimoire back up and scrambled into an alleyway, breathing heavily and quickly like she was about to have a panic attack.
"Heya Princess!"
Via looked up to see Ayden draped upside down over the edge of the building above her as she commented in a joking tone,
"Y'know we really gotta stop meetin' like this ev'ry time ya decide to run off on yer own."
"What the-?!" Via stood up to demand, "Have you been following me this whole time?!"
"Mmmmm…" Ayden put a digit to her chin as she looked up/down in thought before responding, "Jus' since yer house."
"So that's a yes then…" Via deadpanned with a matching expression.
"Yeh…"
"Ugh whatever.. not like you care anyway..." Via muttered under her breath and Ayden's ear twitched as she heard it and noted in faux dumbness,
"Well I'm 'ere a'en't I? Pre'y sure that means I don't not care so…?"
"Then why've you been ghosting me all week?!"
Ayden frowned a bit before she flipped over and grabbed the edge of a fire escape railing to land on the ladder, letting it slide down to let her down to the ground as she tried to answer in an unsure tone,
"I've jus'.. had a lot goin' on y'know?"
"No I don't know." Via looked at her with a hurt expression that Ayden barely saw before she shook her head and told her, "Just leave me alone. I came here to do something and I'm not letting you ruin it for me."
Before she stormed past her out to the street, leaving Ayden to stand there with her fist shaking by her side and a matching hurt expression on her face.
She turned to the grimy alley wall with her digit poised to draw the portal back to Hell when a voice popped up from a memory in her mind,
'Hey we've always got each other's backs right?'
''Course! Supa sta' duo?' Ally beamed at Taylor as she held up her fist and Taylor returned the smile as she returned the sentiment,
'Superstar duo!'
'Swoosh!' They both made a zooming motion with their hands side by side to the sky.
"Dammit…" Ayden let her paw fall, knowing she couldn't just leave her friend alone in a place she'd never been in in the Living World of all places.
She reached for her pocket to get her hPhone and text the others what was happening when she remembered she left it to charge in the office that morning before she'd left for the Goetia mansion so she muttered,
"Guess I'm rollin' solo on this…"
Peeking out from the alley, she saw Via running toward a Starstruck Tourz bus with a pamphlet in her hands and an excited expression on her face.
Figuring she couldn't follow her in her demon cat form for multiple reasons, Ayden went back into the alley to shift to her human form-
"Pft! Bleh!"
Only to wind up with a face and mouth full of her own hair once the transformation was complete.
"Ugh se'ously I gotta chop it in this fo'm too!" Ayden snapped as she realized her human form's hair grew out to be nearly floor length but the rest of her disguise was unchanged.
'Least she won't be able ta recognize me like this…'
She mentally noted before shrugging and harshly sighed, "Fine then…"
Rummaging through her satchel, she pulled out the red and black skull hair clip to pin her bangs out of her face and placed the aviator sunglasses on her face before running to follow the tour bus from a distance.
At an unknown location within the city, a couple was sleeping next to each other in an apartment when the woman's phone went off next to them and she rolled over to see a notification with a camera icon pop up on the screen.
Kicking off the sheets to bolt to a stand and hurriedly throw on some clothes, the woman opened her phone to reveal a picture of Ayden in her disguised human form running across a street and a pinned location on a map where it had been taken.
"The fuck is this…" The man beside her groggily muttered as he barely woke up.
"She's back!" The woman exclaimed as she threw her running shoes on, grabbed her purse, and rushed out the door, slamming it behind her.
*SLAM!*
*KRSH!*
"Hrr…"
Meanwhile, back with Ayden, she had rustled some leaves jumping to stay hidden in some trees lining the street that she had to disentangle her hair from its branches, still in her disguised human form, as she watched Via from a distance as the tour bus came to a stop in front of a celebrity's house as the tour guide announced,
"And to your left, you'll see the home of one of those influencers who thinks they're hot shit cause now they do TV shows."
Outside the house, a woman and her kid hop into a limo while a man half-lay, half-kneeled on the ground crying and begging before the limo drove away and the man stood up to kiss another man standing nearby wearing a pink bathrobe.
At the sight, Octavia groaned and turned away pulling her beanie down over her eyes making Ayden chuckle to herself,
"Heh… 'lmost makes me wanna pull her out now."
But she resolved to continue watching from afar until she really needed to jump in.
Once the bus got moving again and Ayden dropped out of the tree to follow on foot, she froze and turned to realize she was standing outside the Amoeba Music store.
Ayden's pupils contracted as another memory came up,
'You're crazy if you think I Prevail could ever be as great as Death Cab for Cutie.' 10-year-old Taylor playfully argued as she held up an album from the aforementioned band.
'Th'n I'm 's mad as.. 'The Kooks!' Blelelelelel!' 9-year-old Ally shuffled through the vinyl records to pull out an album by the aforementioned pop-rock band before making a silly face with her tongue wagging around while her free hand made a rock sign.
'Punk vs Indie forever! Hahaha!'
Ayden gasped as she was brought back to the present before remembering her mission and running after the tour bus.
A short while later, the woman from before arrived outside the Amoeba Music with their phone in their hand but seeing how they arrived too late, they looked back through their notifications to see that another Ayden sighting was a couple of streets away so they ran in that direction.
With every stop the tour bus made, Ayden was never too far behind but the whole time she kept passing by and remembering times at different places with Taylor back when she was still Ally, making it difficult for Ayden to focus on staying close to Via to keep her safe but not fully deterring her.
Once the tour finally ended, Ayden was watching from the top of some stores as Via tore the pamphlet that led her to the tour bus in half with an annoyed expression on her face.
"Heh the'e's two hours wasted." Ayden joked ruefully to herself before she walked with Via as she pulled her beanie down and walked straight through a crime scene, walking right over a man's corpse that was cut in half with glass shards sticking out of his torso.
When she saw a sign that read "Star Owl: Souvenir Shop" with a cool picture of a white owl with glowing blue eyes holding a skull in its claws in front of a starry night sky, she took a selfie in front of it and posted it to Sinstagram.
Just as she was walking past the shop's window, something must've caught her eye because she plastered herself against the window before sliding into the store.
Half an hour later, Ayden was still sitting on the roof of the store Via had gone into when she came out and started walking off so Ayden followed, making sure to keep out of sight.
This continued for hours; Via going to notable places searching for whatever she was searching for, snapping selfies to post to Sinstagram before moving on to other places: a castle-like building, the Starstruck globe metal statue, Holly's Wood sign, the Thien Hau Temple in Chinatown, and too many other places for Ayden to keep track of despite having grown up near the area as she followed her through all of them, all while the mysterious figure from before following her.
At one point, she almost lost track of her, but thanks to her tracking ability, as well as some help from local alley cats, she managed to catch back up with Via.
The sun was starting to set as Via kept walking through the streets seemingly alone despite Ayden not being too far behind with a mini tray of tacos from a food truck in her paws, having gained an appetite from all the running around.
Just as she crunched down on her fourth one, she saw a dark blur grab and drag Via into a dimly lit alley and Ayden's eyes popped open while she spit out the taco she just bit into,
"*PTOO!* Crikey!"
Dropping the tray, she ran along the rooftops before making it to the alley Via had been pulled into and saw a man with a black turtleneck, ripped jeans, and a black ski mask holding a knife in one hand against Via's neck to hold her hostage while her backpack was in his other hand as he threatened,
"Make a move and I'll slit your throat you-"
*PEW!*
A bullet straight through his skull and passed through his body to hit the ground killed the man instantly, cutting off his threat as his body dropped to the ground and his blood sprayed the wall.
"Ah!" Via slid down the wall she'd been held against looking in horror at the corpse in front of her before trailing her eyes up to see a human girl with super-long hair, a muscle top with shorts, and a scarf belt wrap holding a smoking Glock in her hand that she sheathed on a thigh holster before she jumped down from the building landing in a crouch on her hands and feet as she asked her,
"You 'lright?"
"Uhh yeah… thanks stranger."
"Oh I'm no strange'." The girl gave a smirking smile as she stood before putting a hand to her hip and jutted it out sassily making Via's eyes widen before realizing,
"Ayden?!"
"'Course. 'Ere's yer bag back by the way." She told her before picking her bag up to give it back to her so she could snatch it back.
"Why am I not surprised you've been following me this whole time?" She deadpanned before realizing and questioned, "Wait you have a human disguise?"
"Weeeelll…" Ayden kept a hand on her hip while the other went to scratch at her head as she answered, "Yes an' no."
"What?"
"The'e's uhh.. somethin' I need ta tell ya…" Ayden wrung her hands nervously and Via shouldered her backpack so she could cross her arms and draw out curiously,
"Okaaay…?"
Ayden bounced a bit in place as she struggled to find the right words before she just came out with it and told her,
"I'm a human demon hybrid."
Via just stared at Ayden for a few seconds before wincing an eye slightly shut as she tilted her head in confusion before asking,
"That's a thing?"
Letting out a small sigh of relief and the tension leaving her body that Via was taking this information surprisingly well, she shrugged and answered,
"'Parently an' I'm the proof."
"As much as I wanna continue that, it's gonna start soon." Via looked up at the darkening sky making Ayden ask,
"What's gonna sta't?"
"A meteor shower." Via answered with some hesitation before she decided to ask Ayden for help, "I don't suppose you know where to see the stars in this city?"
"'Cou'se I do; Griffith Obse'vatory up on the hillside." Ayden answered forwardly, motioning behind her with her thumb to the building and Via looked at her in disbelief as she exclaimed accusingly,
"You've known that this whole time?! And you've just been watching me get lost?!"
"You'e the one who told me ta leave ya alone, remembe'?" Ayden playfully flicked Via's face where she thought her nose would be making Via scoff sardonically,
"Tsh… alright fine you got me there…"
"C'mon, I'll show ya the way." Ayden held out her hand and Via looked at it for a few seconds before she took it and let her lead her through the streets.
They had been walking for about 5 minutes when Via noticed something,
"Y'know? It's kinda weird, we're almost the same height now."
"Really? I di'n't notice…" Ayden shrugged as she pressed a crosswalk sign button after having to jerk Via to a stop when she tried to cross without watching out.
"And why's your hair so long?" Via gently pinched a bit of her hair in her fingers as she questioned its length while Ayden tried to answer,
"Don' really know, the'e w's this whole thing with my dad last week and-"
"I thought you said your dad left when you were a baby?" Via interrupted and Ayden scoff-laughed as they started walking again as she offered,
"Why don' I j'st sta't from the beginning?"
"Ok then."
"So I was bo'n here in L.A….."
By the time the two of them made it to the Griffith Observatory, Ayden managed to tell Via most of her life story, still leaving some things out that she wasn't really ready to talk about.
"That must've been-" Via started to say when Ayden cut in with,
"Around the twist? Bonke's? Completely ba'my?"
"I was just gonna say 'hard to deal with' but yeah I guess those work too."
"It w's kinda ha'd but I'm.. al'ight now." Ayden tried to brush off her concern but Via didn't seem all that convinced as she asked,
"You sure?"
"To'ally."
"Ok…" Via gently squeezed Ayden's hand in a comforting manner making her face heat up a bit before she let go of her hand to gesture to the observatory in front of them with a dramatic flair,
"An' 'ere we a'e!"
'Good ta see ya 'gain…' She thought to herself since she hadn't been back there since that night…
"No way! Finally!" Via looked at the building excitedly, taking a picture of it, even as Ayden started to notify her,
"But I gotta wa'n ya-"
"Don't worry I'll be quick."
"No wait I-!" Ayden tried to stop her but Via ran off and she muttered worriedly, "Great…"
While she waited for Via to come out of the observatory, she looked at her hand as her face still felt kinda warm and her heart had beat a bit deeper.
'Wh't's happenin'...?' She thought to herself before Via came rushing out of the observatory with her eyes welling up making her ask her,
"Hey a'e you-?"
"Do I look OK?" She snapped at her which made Ayden put her hands up in a placating manner as she told her,
"'M so'y… I tried ta tell ya; smog 'round 'ere gets real thick…"
"Ugh… what was the point of all this then…?" Via went to sit on the edge of the viewing area with her knees tucked up to her chest as some tears started to fall from her eyes making Ayden's heart clench a bit at the sight.
Going up to be by her side, she shifted to hellcat form before loafing right next to her as she offered,
"Go on then."
"Huh?" Via turned to look at her in sad confusion before Ayden told her,
"Pet me."
"Tch…" Via scoffed a bit before admitting, trailing off toward the end, "From anyone else that would sound so weird and wrong, but from you…"
She trailed off before reaching out with one hand to scratch the top of Ayden's head, making her purr and Via admire,
"Wow.. you're actually really soft…"
"'T's the conditione', don' tell the o'hers o' else they'e gonna wanna pet me all the time too…" Ayden joked between purrs making Via chuckle lightly before her sad frown returned but she kept stroking her head as she let some tears fall again.
This continued for a few minutes before Ayden's ear twitched and she lifted her head up to sniff the air, her eyes lighting up grayish pink at the familiar scent.
There was a faint flash of blue light that caught both their attentions to the stairs leading up to the area before Loona revealed herself,
"Hey."
Making Via wipe her tears away with her sleeve as she responded,
"Hey."
And Ayden shifted to demon cat form to crouch on the edge next to Via as she muttered,
"Sup..."
"Oh… hey…" Loona did a slight double take, not expecting to see Ayden there before Via questioned her,
"How did you find me ehh.. us?"
"Your Sinstagram." Loona held up her phone where she had Via's account pulled up and she compared the latest picture to the building behind them as she leaned against the edge, "Nice pics by the way."
"Oh, thanks." Via sniffled making Loona ask her gently,
"You okay?"
"Can't believe I was so stupid. I spent all day looking for a place where I could see some dumb meteor shower. And all I get is... this!"
Towards the end, Via buried her head in her arms as she gestured with a thrown arm to the smoggy sky.
"Yeah, smog's a bitch." Loona noted while Ayden muttered,
"Tell me 'bout it."
Loona tried to light up a cigarette but no flames were coming out of her lighter even after multiple tries and, just as Ayden was about to offer some help, Via tapped her shoulder before snapping her fingers to make a purple flame come out of the tip of her index finger.
"Th't's so cool." Ayden spoke in awe as Loona's cigarette was lit up and she took a breath that ended up in Via and Ayden's faces as Via hooted slightly and Ayden let out a small kitten sneeze,
*hoot hoot hoot*
*choo!*
"Aww that's so cute." Via smiled slightly making Ayden crinkle her nose in mild annoyance before she sighed and they both went back to frowning as Loona told Via as she went to sit next to her on the ledge,
"You know, your dad's really worried about you."
"Right! That's why you're here instead of him. He couldn't be bothered to keep his promise, and now he can't be bothered to come and get me himself. He'd rather spend his time just screaming at my mum." Via vented, making Ayden look down in thought as she remembered Stolas yelling at Stella through the phone earlier, barely being able to stand those few minutes of it and having no idea what it must've felt like for Via.
"Why does he hate her more than he loves me?" Via questioned, tearfully sniffling some more so Ayden gently leaned her head on her shoulder to comfort her as she spoke softly,
"It i'n't 'lways that simple…"
"*Haaah…* She's right." Loona admitted after taking a long drag, surprising Ayden before she continued speaking, "This kind of shit gets messy, and everybody's got issues, especially dads. And sometimes they fuck up, well, all the time.. But, that doesn't mean they don't care..."
"If he cares, where is he?" Via questioned and Loona responded while motioning to the city,
"He's somewhere down there."
"He's here?"
"Looking for you."
"Guess he ca'es 'fte' all too.." Ayden gently smiled at Via.
"I mean… try to cut your dad some slack." Loona inhaled a drag as she kept trying to flick her lighter on before it finally lit up as she noted, "He may not always get it right, but... he's trying."
She looked at the I.M.P. logo sticker on her lighter giving it a faint smile before telling Via as she looked up at her,
"That's more important than you think."
"A lot mo'e impo'tant…" Ayden muttered with a slightly bitter edge to her voice that caught Loona's attention as she told her,
"Hey your dad may be a total douchebag but at least you got us?"
"Do I?" Ayden scoffed a bit before ranting, "Let's face'it, I'm nothin'.. mah whole life's proven that.. Ev'rytime I try to do good o' get close ta people, I jus' hu't them o' drag'em down into mah ga'bage life.. an' who sticks 'round when that happ'ns…? Noone good…"
There was a moment of silence before Loona reached over to give Ayden a harsh punch to the shoulder making her exclaim,
"OW! What the shite?!"
"Are you shitting me right now? Look at you." Loona told her incredulously as she motioned to her, "You've got a kickass job, Fatty and the Better Half are sharing their home with you, and this one's dad's giving you magic lessons, what more do you really need?"
"A pu'pose…" Ayden muttered as she rubbed her sore arm when Via suddenly spoke up,
"Screw purposes and fates and destiny and all that crap. You don't want or need anyone telling you who to be and what to do, trust me it's not all it's cracked up to be in the long run."
She put her hand on Ayden's as she told her,
"You are a snarky and stubborn pain in anyone's ass who has way too much fun being dramatic and showing off, like, all the time."
Ayden raised an eyebrow at the direction this was going in before Via continued with,
"And yet you risk anything to protect the ones you care about cause you're a serious badass."
Loona scoffed after she took another drag to say,
"Damn right… *Haaah…* Honestly sometimes I think Blitzø likes you more than me…"
"Nah he j'st likes drivin' me crazy, same 's you…" Ayden tried to deny half-jokingly that Loona returned with,
"Guess that kinda makes us like sisters then…"
Ayden snapped her head to look at Loona with her eyes misting over a bit as she whispered,
"What…?"
"I'm not saying it again… Denny." Loona deadpanned before giving a slight smirk that Ayden returned as she admitted to her,
"You'e the closest I got to a sista too Loonie," Before turning to Via to say, "and you'e pre'y much my best friend…"
Via looked at her in surprise before the trio noticed a light shining down on them and looked up at the sky in wonder as the moon shone through the dissipating smog.
After the three of them gaped in awe at the moon for a few more seconds, Loona turned off her lighter, threw her cigarette away, and stood up to stretch before holding out her hand as she asked,
"You both ready to go?"
Via gave her the Grimoire instead as she answered while standing with her bag on her back,
"Yeah."
"Yeh."
She helped Ayden up before Loona offered her her hand but Via greeted it with a hug that she pulled Ayden into as well so Loona could embrace the two of them.
After they released the hug, Loona gave Ayden an affectionate hair ruffle before she used the Grimoire to open a portal and stepped through, holding back a second to coax Via through before Ayden as they heard Blitzø exclaiming as he and Stolas, in his human disguise, ran towards them,
"Oh, Loona, my sweet baby girl! I'm so sorry, I'll never replace you no matter what you-!"
"RRH!"
*CRCK!*
He was cut off with a furious kick between the legs courtesy of Loona and he landed on the ground clutching his groin and wincing in pain as Loona told him,
"You're good."
Stolas looked down at Blitzø with confliction on his face before looking back up at Via as she started to apologize,
"Dad... I'm so sorry."
But was cut off when Stolas twirled her around in a hug as he reverted to his demon form and expressed,
"I'm just relieved you're okay!" He cradled her face in his hands as he asked her, "But, what would possess you to do such a thing? You know I haven't taught you spells like this yet.
"I just wanted to see the stars you promised." She told him making him question,
"The stars?"
Before he gasped with tiny white pupils appearing in his lower eyes as he remembered,
"Hah! Azathoth's tears! Oh, no. Oh, my dear sweet Via. I am so-"
Via stopped him from apologizing as she hugged him,
"I know, dad. It's okay, you're here now."
The two hugged each other tightly making Ayden and Loona smile as they watched happily until Loona noticed Blitzø going to hug her and she blocked him by smacking him in the face with the Grimoire with a ruefully smug face that Ayden matched before-
*PEW!* *BSH!*
Several fireworks started going off in the sky shooting out from a flaming Starstruck building in the distance making Loona question as she recorded it on her phone,
"What the fuck is that?"
"My acting career." Blitzø grumbled making Loona smile ruefully at him again as Ayden questioned,
"When'd that happ'n?"
"When'd you get here?" Blitzø asked her, making her deadpan at him before he laughed and told her as he handed her her hPhone, "Ha! I'm just kidding, we figured you'd be here since you weren't with us or Feathers over there. Glad you're OK too, you little Furball."
Pulling her into a noogie that she batted away before they all turned to watch the fireworks in awe for a few minutes before Ayden's ear unexpectedly twitched as she heard someone in the distance,
"Ally?"
She turned around to see, a few streets away, a woman with dark
brown skin and short wavy hair dressed in a green muscle top with black
capris leggings, green and blue running shoes, and a cross necklace as she shouted again,
"Ally!"
Seeing that she was getting closer, Ayden carefully snuck away from the group while Via gasped happily as she pointed to a firework overhead,
"Look at that one! Did you see that one?"
And Blitzø asked,
"Now, where the fuck are M n' M?"
"I'll get'em…" Loona groaned as she used the Grimoire to open a portal to them as Moxxie was struggling to drag a heavy bag full of art paraphernalia as evidenced by how he complained,
"Art is heavy!"
Millie hopped through the portal to join the main group before she saw Moxxie get stopped by another music salesman wanting to sell him his demo CD but Millie threw a knife at his head, killing him instantly.
Going back through to snatch the demo and throw it away, she directed Moxxie to the portal as she commanded him,
"March, mister!"
He sulked toward the portal before Millie just picked him up and carried him through to join the group.
"OK now where's Triple A?" Blitzø asked, noticing she was gone.
"Wasn't she just behind us?" Via questioned but they all turned to see she wasn't there.
Meanwhile, Ayden had gone to face the woman a few streets away from her teammates and friends as she greeted her,
"Ally-"
"It's Ayden now…" She corrected her.
"Ally. Can you please face me as yourself?" She asked gesturing to Ayden's demon cat form and she argued,
"This is mahself."
"I mean as your normal self."
"'No'mal self?'" Ayden questioned indignantly as she narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms before hissing, "Fine."
Shifting to her human form as she snarked,
"Happy now?"
"Yes. I knew you'd come back here eventually… It's so good to see you again, Ally…" The woman went to hug her but Ayden kept her at arm's length as she snapped,
"Is it now Ade?"
"You always were such a little drama queen." Ade just shrugged off Ayden's defensive tone before she retorted with,
"Jus' tell me what ya want 'lready..."
"I want you to come home."
"Not gonna happ'n." Ayden bluntly stated before the two of them started to argue,
"Yes you are. I found someone new who guaranteed me they can cure you."
"Enuff wi'h that! Ya can't 'cu'e' me!"
"We've gotten close before-"
"Oh suuuu'e that Shawn Valentien guy w's sooo close…"
"You pulled away too soon-!"
"That holy wate' coulda killed me!" Ayden shouted back, holding up her scarred hand to emphasize her point.
"Enough of this, we are going home." Ade grabbed Ayden's held-up wrist and started dragging her behind her even as she struggled before she yelled,
"No 'm NOT!"
Wrenching her hand away, she rapidly shifted to her demon cat form to ready a fireball in her paw.
"'M not goin' back to that pris'n!"
"Kid!"
"Ayden!"
Ayden's ear twitched and the fireball extinguished back into her paw when she heard Blitzø and Via call out her name before they all appeared at the entrance of the alley.
"Who're you?!" Millie readied her knives when she saw Ade before she screamed,
"AH! More monsters?!"
"They'e not monste's an' neither am I." Ayden declared boldly as she went to stand by them before she continued, "They'e my friends.. my family.. They'e the ones who accept me 's I am not 's what 'm 's'posed' ta be, like you and he think."
"So… you've met him then… you're father?" Ade challenged with a smug grin.
"I did… and he was j'st like ya said he w's."
"So you see I'm right about everything then.." Ade tried to reach out to grab her again but Ayden smacked her hand away to assert,
"No… You were jus' right 'bout him being a self-centered megalomaniac but I g'ss you'd know 'bout that since all ya ca'e 'bout a'e appea'ances."
"Excuse you…" Ade dared to come even closer to Ayden before she asked,
"Tell me; what happ'ned to yer accent?"
"You know Daniel liked us both better without it."
"Oh so it's back to Daniel then?" Ayden's shaky fist tightened by her side as her tail whipped around, puffed up in agitation before she ranted, "What eva happ'ned ta Rick o' Mike o' Satan knows how m'ny o'her men you've shagged in the last coupl'a yea's…"
"As if you can judge me on my life or love choices."
Ayden's heart clenched tightly at that statement and she externally flinched back making Blitzø shout,
"Woah! Too far whore!"
"Stay out of this demon scum!" Ade pointed to Blitzø before pointing to the rest of them, "That goes for all of you!"
"Kid, say the word and we'll drop this bitch so fast-" Blitzø reached into his coat for his pistol but a paw on his hand made him stop.
"Don't bothe'.." Ayden stated bluntly as she straightened back up to say, "'M done lettin' her drain me anymo'e…"
She stepped away from the group to face her mother as she told her threateningly,
"Don' bothe' tryin' ta find me eve' 'gain…"
She turned to walk back to the group when Ade roughly turned her back around by her shoulder to remind her,
"I promised I'd fix you!"
"Yeh well I don' need o' want that promise kept 'nymo'e…"
Ayden moved to turn back around, not noticing Ade snaking a hand toward her purse before-
"RRH!"
She lunged forward with a taser in her hand but Ayden's ear twitched right before she evaded the lunge and, using a fighting technique Millie taught her, grabbed Ade's wrist to twist the taser out of her grip, before using it on her instead to make her slump against the wall not completely knocked out but unable to move and do anything as she spasmed in place.
"Le's go…" Ayden muttered as she tossed the taser to the floor just out of reach of Ade's twitching hand.
"You sure you don' want us to rough her up even a little bit." Millie asked her, her knives still in her hand.
"Can we j'st go home 'lready.. Please…?" She practically begged tiredly making Millie and Moxxie's eyes widen a bit before he responded,
"Sure thing…"
"We'll… head off as well." Stolas told them, finally speaking up from where he and Via had watched the whole interaction with Ade with increasing concern between the two of them.
"Yeah I-uh guess.. I'll see ya.." Blitzø stuttered a bit while awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck as he talked to Stolas.
Meanwhile, Via walked up to Ayden and pulled her into a hug that she returned before she whispered in her ear,
"Th'nks fer lettin' me be me wi'h you…"
"Gladly… Thanks for being there even when I thought I didn't want you around…" She murmured back before they finally pulled apart so Via could go with her dad back to their home, with him adding before the portal closed,
"Oh! Lessons resume the day after tomorrow!"
*WHOOSH!*
"Alright I don't know about you all but I've had enough of his hellish shit-hole of a city." Blitzø announced before turning to Loona, "Beam us back Loonie."
With an eye roll, Loona used the Grimoire to open a portal back to the I.M.P. office with Ayden being the last to step through, taking one last look at her mother still only semi-conscious and glaring at her in disgust while Griffith Observatory was seen in the distance.
When the portal closed behind her, the imps were talking in the background but all she could hear was a whining noise in her ears as she processed everything before-
"Denny…?" Loona's voice vaguely reached her through the haze.
Her fingertips grazed Ayden's shoulder before her knees trembled and gave out, dropping Ayden to the floor as she hugged herself and started to sob to where she couldn't get a word out.
Through the blurriness of the tears in her eyes, she saw Loona's gray and white form kneel in front of her along with three other red blobs before she felt her gently hold her head in her hands, limply letting her as she continued to bawl and whimper with her eyes smashed shut and her claws starting to dig into her arms.
Then she felt something press against her forehead and nose and she slowly blinked her eyes back open to see Loona leaning her face onto hers to comfort her.
"Mention this again and I'll kill you…" Loona whispered non-threateningly, making Ayden choke out a small laugh.
Her sobs started to die down to loud sniffles when Loona pulled away so Moxxie could press his forehead against hers as he started to speak comfortingly,
"You don't have to be afraid to let it all out if you-"
"OK time's up, my turn." Before Blitzø cut him off to shove him aside so he could tightly hug Ayden, making her stop digging her claws into her arms.
Ayden's laugh became a little clearer as she stopped sniffling but some tears were still flowing from her eyes as she hugged back when Blitzø muttered in a tone of mixed bluntness and sincerity only he could pull off,
"Don't expect this sappy shit every day ya hear me Fuzzball?"
"'Course…"
Ayden's tears had all but stopped flowing and her breathing was more or less back to normal when Millie came over to touch her forehead to Ayden's while holding onto the sides of her face, her thumbs wiping away any remaining tear streaks, as she assured her,
"We gotcha sweetie…"
Taking a long, only slightly shaky, breath, Ayden closed her eyes gently before the scene cuts to her falling asleep on the couch back home in Hell with Moxxie draping her blankets over her and Millie gently brushing her bangs out of her face with one hand while the other tenderly carded through her hair, further calming her to sleep.
Once they were both sure she had fallen asleep, they quietly snuck out the front door where Loona and Blitzø were still waiting, the former still holding the Grimoire.
"She's asleep." Millie reported with a soft look before it hardened into one of defensive fury as Blitzø cackled in violent giddiness,
"Finally! Let's get this slut slaughter started!"
Back in the Living Realm…
Ade was holding her phone in one hand and an ice pack to her lower stomach where she'd been tased by her own daughter in her other while Daniel opened another can of beer to burp out,
"*BuURrP* Why even bother with the little shit? She wasn't even good before the whole change-y thing…"
"People are starting to ask questions about where she is and what really happened that night.."
"Sooo…?"
"If this gets out before it's been handled, things are gonna go to real shit real fast," She held up her phone to emphasize, "You both hear me on this?!"
Before slamming the ice pack onto the table to seeth,
"I don't care what you have to do, I want my daughter cured.. no matter what it takes..."
*Oh don't worry ma'am we're ~veeeery~ interested in helping your daughter.* The familiar voice of Agent One came through the phone before Agent Two added,
*We can assure you we are also prepared to do whatever it takes to help.*
"Good, because I put a lot of support, financial and other, towards your organization, as ridiculous as it's named, and I. expect. results."
*Rest assured Ms. Allen, we'll deliver...*
*Click!*
Ade hung up right before a gunshot pierced the beer can Daniel was holding making the rest of his beer spill out and making him droll,
"What in the Hell…?"
"Actually Pedo, we're straight outta there…" Blitzø's voice sounded from around them before the lights went out-
*SCHOOM!*
*CRCK!*
"GLCK!"
Before Daniel's cut-off choke sounded and the lights turned back on to reveal him still in his seat but his neck was snapped to where his head was lolling over the back of his chair with some bone bits poking through his neck skin.
"AHH!" Ade screamed as she bolted up and looked over to the kitchen counter where a locked drawer was in sight and reach.
"Hrh!" Ade bolted for it only for a familiar black and red-edged knife to sink itself into the floor in front of her, stopping her in her tracks.
"I know Ayden said we shoul'n't bother ~buuuuuut…~" Millie drawled out in violent anticipation before Moxxie finished her thought with,
"-we can't let you get away with everything you've put her through…"
The three of them stalked closer on all sides with their weapons raised and vengeful grins on their faces.
"AAAAHHHHH!"
Her screams echoed into the night in the Living World while back in Hell, Ayden slept peacefully…
AN- Woo! Did they actually kill Ade? Did they try and she survived? Did they spare her, unlikely as it seems? Do they know she's tied to D.H.O.R.K.S.? So many questions, so many possibilities to choose from… *insert Blitzø's plotting face*
Anybody who correctly guesses the D.C. character I spoofed in this episode/chapter gets a shoutout next chapter : D
Last thing, AHH I'm so excited for Full Moon to be released later today! X D But if Blitzø and Stolas's duet turns out to be to the song "Look My Way" by PARANOiD DJ I'm gonna cry D '''X Please refrain from commenting any spoilers for the episode till next week to give people some time to watch it but if you can't wait that long, you can DM me and I would be more than happy to discuss theories or favorite moments from the episode ^^
Until the next one, Bye!
