TW: Mentions of Abuse
Chapter 73: A Royal Problem
October 1st.
We all met in Café du Pécheur to discuss what has happened yesterday.
"So, yesterday, someone managed to hack my brother Lindsey's website." Boris said, "Then Astrid came along and revert the hacking with her incredible computer skills."
"But the question remains, who would hack the site in the first place?" Astrid wondered, "Was it to try and target us?"
"There are a lot of questions that need to be answered." Arthur replied, "For now, I think we should be careful online."
"That and in-person." Cattleya said, "Because who knows, maybe that hacker has some sort of hitman or hitwoman to try and hunt us down."
"Why do you gotta worry us like that?!" Willow said,
"Sorry, sorry! Too carried away in this situation!"
Darnell entered the café and looked at us.
"Oh no, it's Darnell…" Arthur said as he was surprised.
"Seems like you and him know each other." Lars said as he then sighed, "What does he want?"
Darnell walked up to us.
"Excuse me, can I… talk to you guys for a moment?" He wondered,
"Yeah? Why?" Lars wondered,
"Let's not chat here. I want to go somewhere private."
"Right… Like we trust you."
"I need you all to trust me."
"...What is it?" I wondered,
"Just come with me. None of you are in trouble. There's someone that needs your help."
"Our help?" Boris wondered,
We all followed Darnell out of Café du Pécheur and onto the streets. There, we saw a Goetia demon around my age curled up into a ball, weeping. Her face was badly bruised.
"Hey, what happened to you?" Willow said,
"Stand back, Octavia here is not a people's person when she's like this." Darnell said,
"Octavia?!" Arthur said, "That's Octavia of Ars Goetia?!"
"You know her?" Boris asked,
"No, I only know her name."
"Well anyways, Octavia needs your help. Something… bad, has happened to her recently." Darnell said,
"What's wrong?" I wondered,
Octavia looked at us.
"...It's my mother, Stella." She replied with sorrow, "She hurt me…"
We were shocked.
"Oh good riddance…" Arthur said, "We're sorry to hear…"
"Why the hell would she hurt you?" Boris wondered,
"...It's a long story…" Octavia replied, "It had someone to do with my Dad, Stolas… I don't know what, but she kicked him out due to something that ruined the name of our family… I tried to stand up and defend my Dad without knowing anything about what's happening, but she hurt me and kicked me out too…"
Octavia continues to weep. Selene and Astrid then comfort her.
"Sounds like family issues…" Selene said,
"I can't believe she would do such a thing to you and your father." Astrid said,
"She always does this even when I was born, but emotionally and mentally to us." Octavia said, "But I wasn't expecting her to abuse me physically."
"What a horrible bitch." Lars said, "We're sorry that you had to go through it all."
"...It's fine… I don't want to go back to that place, it's not safe…"
"...Why not come back to my house?" Arthur asked, "I have a brother that can take care of you."
"Really?"
"Yes. Don't worry, my brother is a little serious, but he has some freedom like me."
"Thank you… What's your name?"
"Arthur. Arthur Dovmain. Nice to meet you, Octavia."
Selene and Astrid got Octavia up as they and Arthur went back to Arthur's house. The rest of us were just standing there, struck.
"Damn, whatever happened, we have no clue what." Boris said, "Darnell, do you have any ideas what?"
"I don't know, but all we know from Octavia is that she's been like this since she was born." Darnell replied,
"Maybe it was some sort of arranged marriage." I said,
"Could be the case." Willow said, "Arthur's parents did have an arranged marriage together, but they were friends."
"I don't think Stolas or Stella were even friends in the first place." Cattleya said,
"I'm also 99% sure that they weren't friends either." Darnell said as he sighed, "Anyways, I gotta get going."
"Thanks, for, uhh… Thanks for letting us help out." Boris said,
"It's nothing."
Darnell walked away. Cattleya sighed.
"Well, looks like we got another potential heart to steal…" She said,
"How do we know if it's Stella we're gonna go after?" Boris wondered,
"Just a feeling. Besides, Arthur's parents were rebelling Goetia demons from Envy that tried to rebel against a certain Goetia family in Pride…"
"Huh, you know? You're onto something, Cattleya." Lars said,
"Yeah." Willow said, "Let's wait until we hear from Arthur as he and Selene and Astrid are gonna take Octavia somewhere safe…"
Later, Bernie was at home doing dishes when he heard a knock on the door.
"Hmm? Who is it?" He wondered,
Bernie stopped doing dishes to answer the door. He opened it and revealed Arthur, Selene and Astrid with Octavia.
"Brother, I have someone that wants to stay here." Arthur said,
"Huh? Who are you?" Bernie asked Octavia,
"I'm Octavia." Octavia replied,
"The daughter of Stolas?!"
"...Yes."
"Ummm, sure, come on in."
They went in as Bernie closed the door, still shocked.
"So… What brings you here, Octavia?" Bernie wondered,
"It's an issue with my mother, Stella." Octavia replied, "She hurt me and kicked me out after I stood up to my father after she kicked him out while I don't know what was happening…"
Bernie was shocked.
"Oh…" He said, "I'm so sorry to hear…"
"It's fine…" Octavia said,
"Here, you do wanna live here for a bit, yes?"
"Yes, please."
"Make yourself at home. Do you have anything to entertain yourself? Like a phone?"
"Yes, I do."
"Good."
Bernie turned to Arthur.
"Don't worry, she's in good hands." He said to him,
"Thank you, brother." Arthur said,
October 2nd.
Darnell was talking to someone on the phone.
"Yes, The Phantom Thieves' next target is probably going to be Stella next." He said, "Which is perfect because someone else in the Goetia family is part of our plan."
"...Let's make sure that these thieves can change Stella's heart." The voice on the phone said, "Before then, you must help them change her heart."
"Right… I'll do that when they're ready."